Not far from the river was a large-scale village, housing about a thousand families. The men in the village were hunters, while the women worked the fields. Strangely, the large village did not have a single restaurant. At this moment, a bunch of young teens were playing by the river.

The child called Hu Zi was smiling happily as he placed his hands upon his hips. He, too, felt that he should have secured first place with that throw.

"Che! What are you being so proud about? Big Brother Meng hasn"t even made his move yet!" Another child snorted unhappily and retorted.

With this, Meng Qi also walked out with an arrogant sneer. Youths of this age were the most compet.i.tive. How could they stand seeing someone else being stronger than them?

Crackling his knuckles fiercely, he walked over and picked up one of the rocks. Numerous green veins bulged on his muscular arms as though there were earthworms living under his skin. Just looking at him caused on to feel a sense of terror!

"GO!"

Grunting heavily, Meng Qi raised the rock over his head easily and threw it out with all his strength!

The huge rock drew a beautiful arc as it flew high into the sky and landed far away in the river.

"Dong!"

Huge ripples spreaded out from the peaceful water surface.

Hu Zi"s face turned ugly instantly. He had no choice but to admit that Meng Qi had outdone him!

"Haha, I"ve won! Alright, if you"re willing to bet, you need to be able to accept the results as well. All your harvest today is mine now!"

Meng Qi revealed a wide grin as he beckoned at his little friends to gather up the fish and prawns on the river bank.

"Hu Zi, don"t be discouraged, you are one year younger than Meng Qi, and the stuff he gets to eat at home is better as well. Next year, you will definitely be stronger than him!

Yun Dou"er patted Hu Zi on the back and attempted to cheer him up.

"Big Sister Dou"er, will I really be as formidable as Meng Qi when I"m one year older?"

Hu Zi"s face brightened slightly as he looked at the girl expectantly.

"Of course! Come, let"s go and take a look at what we caught today," Yun Dou"er a.s.sured him confidently. Following that, she skipped her way to the river bank.

"Haha! Our luck is really not bad! There"s actually a Golden Ban!"

A huge cage was pulled out of the water. Within it were several one meter long lobsters. Apart from that, there were many other resplendent multicolored half-meter long fishes. The most eye catching of the lot, however, was a small creature resembling a freshwater soft-sh.e.l.led turtle. It was completely golden in color and although this creature was only the size of palm, it was enough to cause Meng Qi to laugh happily with joy.

"d.a.m.n it!" Yun Dou"er spat lowly. The Golden Ban was really good stuff. It was extremely nutritious, and was equally hard to capture.

The Golden Ban could only reach the size of a palm after living or at least 500 years. Those below the age of 500 would only be as big as coin!

Only upon reaching the age of 500 years could they achieve a breakthrough and grow past the size of a coin.

But one could not underestimate the value of this creature based on its size. Its blood and Qi essence was incredibly nouris.h.i.+ng. More importantly, its flesh was delicious beyond compare, causing any who tasted it to be full of praises!

Of a thousand people who tasted the Golden Ban"s flesh, there would be a thousand different tastes and experiences. In addition, its flesh contained such nouris.h.i.+ng blood and Qi. It was no wonder why its price was so high!

Just selling a tiny thing like this would earn enough money to feed an ordinary family of three for a year or two!

The most disappointing part was that the catch from this cage originally belonged to Hu Zi. But after being instigated by Meng Qi and losing to him in a bet, this Golden Ban was not fated to be his.

Although Hu Zi was very reluctant to see such a good catch go to another, he was a man of his word. Since he lost the bet, the Golden Ban would naturally belong to Meng Qi.

Right now, he was planning to lower the cage again after Meng Qi and the rest left. Since a Golden Ban had been caught at this spot, there might still be more in the area.

At the same time, while the kids were packing up, a huge shadow flashed through the water and quickly disappeared.

Being oblivious to the appearance of the huge shadow, the kids were currently basking in excitement. These fishes and prawns were naturally not worth much money. They were far inferior to the large beasts the adults caught in the mountains. But in that moment, the only thing that mattered was the joy in the catch.

This was the same as how fis.h.i.+ng enthusiasts might not necessarily like eating fish. They simply enjoyed the fis.h.i.+ng process.

n.o.body noticed that the waters had suddenly become quiet. Large amounts of fishes and prawns were fleeing the area desperately, and there were no signs of the large groups of fishes anymore.

The group was still immersed in the joy of catching the Golden Ban. There was only the last cage remaining to be retrieved. One of the youths from Meng Qi"s group went forward and pulled on the line attached to the cage, slowly pulling the cage in.

"Look! I caught a large lobster!"

The youth laughed happily as he turned around to showoff his lobster.

"Ge Ge!"

"What"s wrong with all of..."

Seeing the fearful look on everyone"s faces, the youth revealed an expression of pure confusion. Wasn"t it just a two meter lobster? Was there a need for everyone to be so frightened?

But before he could finish his words, he immediately felt that something was wrong. Where did that huge shadow come from?

"Pa!"

A huge claw smacked downwards before he could react, turning him into meat paste!

"Run!" Hu Zi screamed at the top of his lungs and immediately fled in the direction of the village!

The other youths were also scared out of their wits as they ran. Meng Qi only grabbed the Golden Ban and similarly ran in the direction of the village.

"Splas.h.!.+"

An enormous golden figure rose out of the water and stepped onto the sh.o.r.e. It was over fifty meters wide and about a dozen meter tall!

Numerous golden patterns could be seen on its back, and the exposed parts of its skin seemed aged and ancient!

With just one look, it was obvious that this was a Golden Ban magnified countless times!

Large amount of water ran off the creature"s body as it stepped onto the sh.o.r.e. It paused for a moment and looked at the disappearing backs of the group of youths, and with a low bellow, it began to move!

That one move fully exposed its incredible agility which was in direct logical contrast to its ma.s.sive body. Large holes would appear under its feet wherever it pa.s.sed. These pits were formed by the explosive might of its four limbs as it moved!

As it moved, it sent a claw slapping towards the nearest boy. Then, without bothering to look, it continued forward!

"HELP!"

At this time in the village, there were only seven, eight people in the streets. They heard the cries for help from a long distance away and immediately ran over in the direction of the distressful calls!

To the village, children represented the future. They held endless possibilities!

Every child was the greatest treasure of the village. Thus, when they heard the childish voices crying for help, they rushed over without bothering about which family the children were from!

These adults were all over three meters tall and were essentially small giants!

Each one of them were equivalent to a body cultivating Xiantian Lord! Their blood and Qi energy was exceptionally abundant!

Regrettably, they did not understand cultivation, and only knew some clumsy martial techniques.

At this time, the seven, eight adults had rushed to the village. The first thing they saw was a golden beast over fifty meters in width and a dozen meters tall!

"Heavens! What a huge Golden Ban!" someone exclaimed with shock. The heavens were protecting and pitying them. This village had existed for so many years and housed several ten generations of ancestors, but no one had ever seen such an enormous Golden Ban!

"Hurry up and save the children!" A middle-aged man raised his voice. Even though they were facing such a terrifyingly large Golden Ban and they knew that they were not its match, these people did not show any signs of retreating.

The others also nodded their heads and charged forward to meet the Golden Ban!

"Hou!"

The Golden Ban"s archaic roar spread through the entire village, causing the expressions of numerous strong men in the village to change in an instant. At this moment, regardless of what they were doing, all the men dropped their work and hurriedly picked up their weapons as they rushed to the village gate!