The Yellow Earth Giant and the Lost Diagram

Within the ancient demon city, having taken the critical step toward revival, could he not stand against heaven and earth?

Several Otherworld Ancestral Gods were shaken, their hearts filled with reverence for the unfathomable power of the three Supreme Ancestral Gods. Could there truly be a race so defying the heavens? Did their realm harbor such a terrifying existence?

The three Supreme Ancestral Gods dwelt in eternal, unknown domains, each in a separate realm. They sat still as fossilized stone, cross-legged amid the hazy void, never moving. They did not answer that question. After a long silence, a divine thought descended: "Though he took that most critical step, he may not have truly succeeded. Even in that ancient age, he may have already begun his path toward falling."

"What?!" The Otherworld Ancestral Gods who had been listening to the decree were all stunned.

"If he truly ascended to the peak, why would he seal himself at the end of the ancient age, refusing to manifest in the present? This alone says enough," the Supreme Ancestral God said, his voice flat yet shaking the minds of all who heard.

"But he remains a threat," said Lu Lopes, deeply uneasy. Only those who had personally experienced it understood how terrifying the life-form born within the divine city could be—capable of killing Ancestral Gods. This was a horror that made all tremble.

"Sealed at the end of the ancient age, he finds no safety," the Supreme Ancestral God revealed only this one message before falling silent.

This was a race that should never have appeared in this world. All Otherworld Ancestral Gods knew this, yet they felt they had still underestimated the terrifying potential of Keke's clan. Looking across the entire history of cultivation, that family had produced only three or five individuals, but each was heaven-defying. One of them had taken that critical step—truly an apex of terror.

At the end of the ancient age, in a wide valley wrapped in ancient vines, the giant divine city shone with brilliant light. The snow-white little beast Keke was refining her treasure.

The little creature was adamant about forging a treasure shaped like a small bowl, leaving Xiao Chen and the others speechless despite their attempts to dissuade her.

The divine objects collected by this clan across ages were countless, but today they had all been crushed to pieces, transforming into a sea of divine source. Hundreds of millions of divine radiances burst forth, more dazzling than the sun and moon many times over.

Keke cried out 'Ya-ya' and began to refine her formidable treasure according to the method learned in dreams. The Seven-Colored Jade Shell floated in the sky, shimmering with seven-colored radiance.

"Rumble—"

Heavenly thunderbolts struck down, one after another, smashing against the translucent jade shell, attempting to shatter it. The ten-thousand-zhang lightning descending from the nine heavens was as thick as a mountain, containing boundless divine power, deafening. It connected the firmament to the seven-colored jade shell.

Thunderous roars were like a giant from the beginning of the world driving a mighty chariot across the sky. Dazzling lightning drowned everything in the world.

"Boom—"

The vast earth shook. The great divine city trembled. The lightning, which channeled the power of the world, was vast and unfathomable.

One terrifying black hole after another appeared in the sky, all torn open by the divine thunder. It seemed as though the firmament itself was about to be shattered and this continent sunk.

At the end of the ancient age, millions of living beings trembled, prostrating themselves toward this direction.

The seven-colored jade shell in the sky was slowly refined by the ten-thousand-zhang lightning, turning into jade pulp. Radiant streams of color burst forth.

"Dong—"

Just then, the entire earth shook violently. Within the great lightning, like a waterfall of the gods, a humanoid being coalesced and surged toward the jade pulp.

"Bang—"

The nine main vines atop the stone statue's head lashed out, writhing like green mountain ridges, striking the humanoid being and sending it flying.

In the distance, Xiao Chen and Jin Sanyi were astonished. That humanoid being was clearly very powerful, having been born from within the heavenly thunder—inconceivable.

"Chi—"

At that moment, the humanoid being transformed into brilliant divine light, riding ten thousand layers of heavenly thunder, and struck again.

"Rumble—"

Thunder shook heaven and earth. The nine main vines rolled upward, dragging down all the lightning, forcibly driving the ten-thousand-zhang radiance into the jade pulp.

Keke was busy refining when she was interrupted; all her snow-white fur stood on end from the shock.

"Ya-ya, ya-ya!" The snow-white beast glared with wide eyes, as if blaming her ancestor for being so reckless.

Not far away, the mobile suit gleamed with cold metallic luster. "Refine the essence of that heavenly thunder into the treasure. It will greatly improve its quality."

Within the ten-thousand-zhang lightning, the humanoid being was the lightning essence born of heaven and earth. It was fully smelted into the jade pulp. The little beast was busy and happy, quickly shaping the jade pulp into the form of a small bowl.

The ten-thousand-zhang heavenly thunder was absorbed. Heaven seemed angered, and from the firmament countless more lightning bolts descended, thick as mountains, drowning the divine city.

"Enough. Don't rush the treasure to take shape. Merge all that divine source into it," the mobile suit instructed from the side.

Keke looked at the shattered treasure hoard in the sky, her large eyes burning with intense light. That was the source of divine power formed by the destruction of countless divine objects. The pure power contained within was simply unimaginable.

It was the essence of countless divine treasures, refined and extracted. Merged into Keke's treasure, even a piece of scrap iron would become a supreme divine artifact—let alone the Seven-Colored Jade Shell, which was unique in heaven and earth, having appeared in this world alongside the heaven-defying little beast Keke.

It could be said that Keke's choice was absolutely correct. The Seven-Colored Jade Shell was the ultimate refining material.

Without a doubt, the sacred Seven-Colored Jade Shell, after being tempered by heavenly thunder and infused with the essence of countless divine treasures, would undergo a qualitative transformation.

"Ya-ya!" Keke had never been so diligent. She exerted all her strength, merging the divine source into the small bowl that was about to take shape.

The sky suddenly seemed to hold a dozen suns side by side; the dazzling light was impossible to look upon directly.

This was a process of witnessing a miracle. A supreme sacred treasure destined to be recorded in the annals of cultivation history was about to be born.

Just then, Keke drew half of the Eternal light within Paradise Lost and cast it into the treasure.

"Rumble—"

Blazing light illuminated the divine city. At the moment the treasure took shape, its aura even suppressed the stone statue's presence by a fraction.

"Bowl! Take shape quickly!" Keke muttered, her little paws moving back and forth, all her divine power and consciousness poured into that supreme treasure.

When the final thunderous roar sounded, the divine source was completely merged into the small bowl. Countless thousands of lightning bolts were also absorbed into the smooth, jade-like bowl.

At that moment, the newborn treasure began to madly absorb the quintessence from all directions, even forcibly plundering the heavenly thunder from the sky. The ten-thousand-zhang lightning that had already stopped once more crashed down wildly, but this time it was like water flowing into a bottomless pit, all absorbed by the seven-colored small bowl.

Behind them, Jin Sanyi was practically drooling, wishing he could snatch the bowl. This treasure was heaven-defying, a true supreme artifact.

"Bowl! Refined successfully!"

What divine power did it possess? One could already catch a glimpse.

"Ya-ya! The bowl is forged!" Keke adored it, turning it over and over in her paws.

Just then, the blood-man that had been frozen in the distance by the stone statue regained mobility and struck down with three supreme divine artifacts. He was fully comparable to an Ancestral God, even surpassing an ordinary one—a slaughtering lord incarnated from the divine blood of the three Supreme Ancestral Gods.

"Bang—" A main vine pierced through heaven and earth, shielding Keke in the first moment. It instantly pierced the blood-man who had suddenly attacked, sending tens of thousands of blood rays splashing everywhere.

The other eight main vines swept across the sky, suppressing all the blood light. Then they shook mightily, and the vast divine power ground the blood-man into complete annihilation.

In the distance, Xiao Chen was horrified. What kind of power was this? It could utterly annihilate an Ancestral God-level being!

The indestructible Demonic Blade, the ancient and weighty Immortal Shield, the ancient pagoda that could suppress thirty-three heavens—the divine power of the three supreme artifacts condensed into a light treasure and descended.

Clearly, the nine main vines had deliberately let it through, intending to use the three supreme treasures to temper Keke's newly forged treasure.

"Shua—" Keke showed a serious expression, sending her newly refined treasure into the sky.

Ten thousand streams of divine radiance blossomed. This was a luxurious contest of treasures.

Keke used the divine power of Paradise Lost as her support to sustain her newly forged treasure. Meanwhile, the other three artifacts, though not wielded by a master and not present in their true bodies, were still the sacred relics of Supreme Ancestral Gods. Their divine might remained irresistible.

In the end, the nine main vines moved again, suppressing two of the artifacts. Only then did Keke's treasure gain the upper hand over the Demonic Blade.

"Refine that Demonic Blade. Merge it into your treasure," advised the mobile suit beside her.

After a difficult contest, with the help of the nine divine vines, Keke fully smelted the divine power of the three supreme artifacts into her own treasure.

When everything calmed, Keke flew out of the divine city, beaming with joy. Jin Sanyi and the others gathered around to look at the heaven-defying treasure.

Xiao Chen held it in his palm, feeling its warmth. It was less a seven-colored jade bowl than a small water cup, or even a wine cup. But in Keke's paws, it was indeed a small bowl.

Translucent throughout, like the luminous cups used for wine, it was warm and glossy, shimmering with seven-colored light. The most amusing feature was the seven-colored plum blossoms on its surface—closer inspection revealed they were tiny paw prints, Keke's unique, inimitable mark. And at the bottom of the bowl was a carving, lifelike: a naive little Keke trapped there.

Seeing Xiao Chen and the others laugh, Keke grew a little embarrassed, muttering softly, "This is to prove it's my treasure…"

"You can keep it for me to drink wine from later, haha…"

"Give it back!"

Much later, Fatty Zhuge shouted toward the divine city: "Great merciful, all-saving Ancestor! You can't play favorites. Spare a few treasures for us too!"

The great divine city was silent. The hundred-zhang-tall stone statue stood巍然. Not far away, the mobile suit, forged entirely from Ancestral God artifacts, slowly spoke: "There is indeed a supreme treasure that appears from time to time, but I fear no one can take it." As he spoke, the firmament trembled. A hazy corner of a formation diagram passed across the sky, accompanied by five brilliant War Swords. Vast, immeasurable power radiated forth!

This time, Xiao Chen said nothing. He shot into the sky. Thirty War Swords spanned the heavens. The incomplete formation diagram merged with his body as he pursued that corner of the diagram.

At the same time, Keke sent her treasure into the air. The small seven-colored jade bowl possessed the power to press upon heaven and earth, as if it would swallow the entire world. She also used Paradise Lost to assist in surrounding that corner of the incomplete diagram.

Below, the mobile suit paused visibly when he saw Xiao Chen condense a larger fragment of the incomplete diagram along with thirty War Swords. Even the nine main vines atop the great stone statue stirred.

"Shua—" That corner of the incomplete diagram slipped past Paradise Lost like a ghost, evading the seal of the seven-colored jade bowl.

"Summon the divine diagram!" Xiao Chen shouted. His body merged with the incomplete diagram, shining brightly, enveloping that corner of the diagram.

The distance between them shrank infinitely. That corner of the incomplete diagram trembled, hazy mist flashing continuously.

"Unite!" Xiao Chen roared, using his body to complete the diagram, riding it down to seal it. He was about to trap that corner of the formation diagram when, at that moment, light flashed. The corner of the incomplete diagram vanished, escaping beyond heaven and earth, disappearing without a trace.

"It's useless. That corner of the incomplete diagram is lost in the past, impossible to ever obtain," said the mobile suit.

"Ancestor! Help us!" Keke called to the great stone statue within the divine city.

But the stone statue remained motionless, giving no response.

"Your ancestor cannot help you now either. Unless someone can truly bridge the past and present, no one can obtain that diagram."

Xiao Chen felt deep regret. He had seen that corner of the incomplete diagram twice now, yet could not take it.

Just then, rumbling sounds came, as if a giant from the dawn of creation was walking this way. The open valley shook. A yellow earth giant, as tall as heaven, strode toward them step by step. Each footfall made countless mountain ranges leap up.

Except for his head, his whole body was formed of yellow clay, yet it appeared robust and powerful, muscles bulging like coiling dragons wrapped around him.

"That's—" When Xiao Chen saw the head, he started. It was a petrified stone head, remarkably similar in material to the stone statue in the divine city. A petrified head! Seeing that enormous yellow earth body, Xiao Chen seemed to understand something.

He tightened his grip on the half Stone Man skull in his hand. He was sure that the stone statue and the stone skull were still different, as if something were missing.

"Let's go quickly," the mobile suit urged. "This place is no longer safe." The nine main vines pierced through heaven and earth, opening a spatial passage, forcibly sending Keke, Xiao Chen, and the others inside.

"Ancestor, he…" Keke was very worried.

"Don't be afraid. The old ancestor should be able to handle it," the mobile suit comforted.

"That thing—it's not a monster from the Otherworld, is it?" Xiao Chen asked.

"Hard to say," the mobile suit shook his head.

With a flash of light, Xiao Chen and the others rapidly traversed space, returning to the real world—the underground palace of the Divine Capital. During this process, Xiao Chen thought of many things. The ancient demon city contained such earth-shattering secrets. If that were true, then the deepest reaches of the Death World must be terrifying beyond measure!

Without a doubt, the ultimate depths of the Death World were magnificent and tumultuous, with unimaginable things happening there. The stone statue was not the Stone Man, nor was the Stone Man the stone statue, but Xiao Chen finally began to grasp certain secrets of the Stone Man.

"Boom—"

The underground palace beneath Luoyang was pierced through. A main vine swept across, while at the same time a huge yellow earth hand reached down. Xiao Chen, Keke, and the others were shocked—had the world-shaking battle from the end of the ancient age now spilled into the present world?!