The Living City Awakens

The valley lay as vast as a plain, its surrounding peaks entwined with ancient vines tens of thousands of years old, coiling from one summit to another like enormous, sinewy flood dragons.

"It—it grew out of the city!" Lu Lupesi was stunned, his face etched with terror, his very frame trembling.

For a powerful Otherworld Ancestral God to lose his composure so utterly spoke to the grave and dreadful nature of what was unfolding.

Lan Yufeng's countenance changed on the spot, his voice nearly trembling as he said, "How... how is this possible!"

The two swiftly re-formed their bodies, but it was clear they had suffered no light injuries.

"Don't force it!" Lan Yufeng stepped forward to stop them.

"Move aside! Give us the Supreme Ancestral God's pagoda—we must destroy its foundation at all costs!" The two radical Otherworld Ancestral Gods would not listen.

Just then, the thirty-three-story ancient pagoda floating in the void suddenly blazed with light and flew toward them of its own accord.

"Do you see? This is the will of the Supreme Ancestral God guiding us! Why hesitate? Let us join forces and raze its foundation!"

Aier, Lu Lupesi, and Lan Yufeng exchanged glances, their hearts filled with dread before this colossal ancient city.

For they knew full well what kind of entity lay ahead. If it truly possessed consciousness, even if still in the midst of transformation, annihilating them would likely cost it no great effort.

Behind them, the little white beast Keke blinked its large, dazed eyes. It seemed to recall many things in a flash.

And Xiao Chen was utterly shocked; dimly, he sensed the secret of the primeval demonic city. The giant city was not a dead thing—it appeared to be a colossal living being!

"Since the Supreme Ancestral God has given the command, we have no choice. Attack!"

Lu Lupesi, Lan Yufeng, and Aier advanced at the same time. The five Ancestral Gods stood in a row before the giant city.

Such battle power could annihilate any terrifying foe, unless a Supreme Ancestral God came in person; no single being could withstand them.

But even with such strength, the five Ancestral Gods had no confidence whatsoever. They were all deeply tense, for attacking this giant city concerned their very survival.

"Kill!"

At that moment, they shouted in unison.

Divine power surged to the heavens; dazzling light instantly flooded the valley. Each unleashed their unique divine arts and ultimate techniques—some formed hand seals, others raised divine weapons, and still others summoned starry rivers from the cosmos.

In that instant, a million auspicious rays shone before the ancient giant city.

Lu Lupesi condensed his body into the Nine Great Seals, his divine might shaking the heavens. Ancient scriptures poured from his lips, combining with his physical seals to unleash a vast divine power that rocked the world.

Aier, meanwhile, displayed a peerless divine technique. Thirty divine kings materialized before him, each in a different posture, radiating earth-shattering might as they together suppressed the foundation of the city—a manifestation formed from his divine consciousness fused with destructive force.

Lan Yufeng raised his jagged long blade, channeling the power of myriad worlds as he cleaved downward, creating an eternal sword-light.

The other two Ancestral Gods were even more terrifying. They directly summoned a howling, surging river of stars from the cosmos, compressing countless stars to the size of pearls, converging and cascading down from the heavens.

The brilliant starlight illuminated the entire valley; their divine power shook the ages.

At the same time, the pagoda bloomed with divine radiance of its own, shrinking from the size of a palm to stand as tall as the heavens as it smashed down.

"Boom—"

The majestic giant city trembled violently. Great sections of its walls were torn up. The five Ancestral Gods, along with a supreme treasure, struck at the city's foundations.

Nine main vines lashed out simultaneously. "Puff, puff!" Blood flowers burst; blood mist filled the air. All five Ancestral Gods were pierced through, and the pagoda was also entangled.

But the five Ancestral Gods were undying for ten thousand ages, imperishable through eternity. Even if their physical bodies were destroyed, their divine consciousness remained intact, allowing them to re-form their bodies instantly. So they did not retreat.

The five fought fiercely before the city's foundation, determined to destroy it!

"Ya-ya!"

From behind, Keke grew anxious and wanted to rush forward.

Xiao Chen pulled it back, saying, "Don't worry. Wait a little longer."

"Boom!"

Heaven and earth shook. The giant city suddenly burst forth with dazzling divine light, sending the five Ancestral Gods and the ancient pagoda flying backward.

At the same time, the nine main vines danced wildly, like nine Ancestral Dragons crossing the sky.

"Bang!"

The five Ancestral Gods had just re-formed their bodies when they were all pierced through again. This time, the white blossoms on the divine vines released streams of auspicious radiance, grievously wounding even the souls of the five Ancestral Gods.

Even the ancient pagoda was suppressed, rapidly shrinking in size and losing much of its luster.

Meanwhile, a rumbling sound came from within the giant city. The earthen mound at its center grew at a visible pace, rising higher and higher.

"That is..."

"Why is this happening?"

"It has progressed even further than we imagined!"

In that moment, Lu Lupesi and the others changed color. Even the two radical Ancestral Gods showed fear.

Inside the giant city, the rumbling continued. The earthen mound slowly cracked open, and in the central region, a colossal stone statue gradually emerged from beneath the ground.

Or rather, it grew out!

Yes, it grew out from beneath the giant city!

The stone statue was a full hundred zhang tall, standing shoulder to shoulder with the city. Its face was sharply chiseled, its features distinct, exuding a heroic aura.

So lifelike was it, as if it truly had flesh and blood, a living being.

This was an imposing young man of a stone statue, radiating an extraordinary presence—not overbearing or arrogant, yet it seized the heart and compelled a desire to kneel in worship.

Merely a stone statue, yet it stirred such strange feelings. Even the minds of the Ancestral Gods were affected.

Draped over the stone statue's head was not long hair, but ancient vines spreading in all directions, many winding over the city walls. Among them, nine emerald-green divine vines bore white blossoms, wafting a delicate fragrance.

The five Otherworld Ancestral Gods were all shocked. The vines did not merely signify life force—they were the very hair of this massive living being!

The giant city gave birth to a life form, but who would expect it to be a stone statue?!

Though the five Ancestral Gods had heard many legends of the primeval demonic city, at this moment they were stunned. No such precedent had ever been recorded in the past.

Perhaps no one had ever known what the demonic city would ultimately transform into.

The life-giving divine vines were merely its hair. The terror of the colossal stone statue could well be imagined.

"Retreat!" Just then, a voice emerged from within the ancient pagoda. At the same time, its light blazed brilliantly, but it was too late. The stone statue within the giant city stood unmoving, yet the nine main vines transformed into nine jade-green Ancestral Dragons, dancing across the heavens, closing in an instant.

One after another, the five Ancestral Gods were crushed, and the ancient pagoda suffered repeated heavy blows!

Overwhelming divine might shook the ages. From within the pagoda suddenly burst a black demonic blade and a weathered Immortal Heavenly Shield.

"The three Supreme Ancestral God artifacts have all appeared!" The five Ancestral Gods' weakened divine souls reformed, instantly rallying.

But their joy was short-lived. The three supreme artifacts trembled violently, clearly enduring unimaginable attacks.

The nine main vines left terrifying marks on the three supreme treasures!

With a flash of light, three hazy figures rushed out from within the three supreme artifacts. Together, they opened a pitch-black passageway and shouted, "Retreat!" With a wave of their hands, they swept up all the half-ancestors and pushed the five Ancestral Gods through.

In the same instant, they too withdrew into the black passage, retrieving the three supreme treasures, trying to escape this spacetime.

But just then, the colossal stone statue trembled. The nine main vines shattered space, piercing directly through!

"Puff, puff, puff!" Blood sprayed. Divine souls were shattered!

Lu Lupesi, Lan Yufeng, and Aier were crushed; only their divine souls escaped. Had the three hazy figures not given them a push at the critical moment, they would have been utterly annihilated.

As for the other two Otherworld Ancestral Gods, they were not so fortunate. Swept by two main vines, they were reduced to ashes, completely obliterated.

Though the half-ancestors were not the primary target, the glancing sweep of the nine main vines still turned half of them into eternal dust.

"Go!"

Lu Lupesi, Lan Yufeng, and Aier, their divine souls grievously wounded, finally led the surviving half-ancestors in a hasty escape through the spatial passage, emerging above the divine capital Luoyang.

The three hazy figures, with the three supreme treasures, were about to charge out as well. But at that moment, nine vines lashed out within the passage.

"Bang!"

The three supreme treasures flew out, but the three hazy figures shattered in an instant, utterly eradicated without a trace!

"O Supreme Ancestral Gods..." Lu Lupesi, the other two, and the many half-ancestors cried out in alarm.

The nine main vines did not enter the real world but vanished within the spatial passage.

Though the three supreme treasures had burst forth, their light dimmed greatly, covered with fearsome marks.

They circled briefly above the heads of the crowd before tearing into the heavens and disappearing beyond the sky.

In unknown distant reaches beyond the heavens, three seated figures in three separate regions shook simultaneously. At that moment, a single drop of fresh, crimson blood seeped from each of their foreheads, glaringly conspicuous, like a vertical eye opening.

At the same time, the three supreme treasures shot toward these three regions, falling into their hands respectively.

Lu Lupesi, Lan Yufeng, and Aier—these three Ancestral Gods—having brushed with destruction, let out a long breath of relief.

"So that living demonic city really does exist..."

"That family's people were too terrifying! Someone truly reached that step!"

"Even the three Supreme Ancestral Gods each lost a powerful strand of divine consciousness—unimaginable!"

The many half-ancestors around them were horrified.

They had come to reclaim their world's supreme treasures but were returning in miserable defeat.

That family, which no longer existed in reality, had been terrifying to the extreme in that distant, primordial age.

In the ancient age, to lie in wait for an enemy's arrival—such a family was truly monstrous!

The three surviving Ancestral Gods had reason to believe that some terrifying entity orchestrated all of this. That past temporal realm seemed far from as simple as they had imagined.

In that ancient spacetime, Xiao Chen and Keke had not yet returned. They were slowly walking toward the enormous divine city.

"Ya-ya!"

The little white beast murmured, waving its small paws at the stone statue within the giant city.

"Chi—"

A main vine shimmering with green divine light abruptly tore through the void, extending beyond the city walls like a jade-green divine bridge, reaching all the way to the little creature's feet.