Ancestral God Corpses and a Sleeping Transformation

The colossal dragon corpse lay sprawled across the island. Its head was pierced, the Ancestral Dragon's primordial spirit killed. White brain matter mingled with blood; the shattered skull bore a terrifying claw-shaped hole. Nearby, the Ancestral God's corpse had been crushed to paste, finger impressions still clear in the collapsed flesh. Blood pooled everywhere, leaving only a headless spirit—eyes wide, staring, soaked in gore.

Xiao Chen was shaken to the core. These were the remains of Ancestral Gods! An entire cycle of civilization produces only a handful of such beings, yet here lay five of them, all slain by horrific means.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of extreme danger from behind. The black waters of the once-still Dead Lake began to churn. Black mist, chilling to the bone, spiraled rapidly onto the shore. Xiao Chen left an afterimage as he teleported a thousand zhang away, turning to stare back.

The lake erupted. Black waves surged onto the island. What had been deathly still now convulsed violently—stillness to frenzy in an instant.

Two blood-red eyes, each the size of a house, glared at him with savage intent. A pitch-black hand blotted out the sky, reaching for him. Xiao Chen vanished, shooting into the air.

The black waves rolled upward, filled with boundless baleful energy and deathly aura, flooding toward the sky to engulf him. The terrifying shadow in the lake rose up, its blood-red eyes blazing, two massive black hands tearing through heaven and earth.

Its divine might was immeasurable. Each black finger gleamed with cold luster, over ten zhang long alone. The towering body radiated overwhelming power. Ten fingers could rend the sky! The pressure of an Ancestral God!

Xiao Chen held the half stone skull in his palm, instantly condensing the Divine Diagram. His body grew hazy as he dove downward, preparing a world-shattering strike. The incomplete Divine Diagram did not blaze brightly, but it carried a power that made the universe tremble.

He merged with the diagram and pressed down. The half skull in his hand blocked the sky-obscuring black hand. The violent divine power was silently absorbed. At the same time, the Divine Diagram rotated, grinding down on the giant shadow in the surging black waves.

The black waves shattered. Dense deathly aura burst forth, coalescing into tangible demonic mist that writhed like a legion of fiends. The Divine Diagram spun slowly, suppressing all beneath it.

The boundless black mist scattered. Xiao Chen descended, his body fused with the diagram, arriving near the colossal shadow. Now he could see clearly.

It was a giant hundreds of feet tall, its skin pitch-black and gleaming like forged iron, exuding explosive power. But there was no life fluctuation—its skull had been pierced, empty inside. Its disheveled hair, tens of zhang long like iron cables, still dripped with brain matter and blood, a gruesome sight.

"This is an Otherworld Ancestral God," Xiao Chen judged immediately, recognizing the patterns on its tattered battle armor as Otherworld in style.

The Divine Diagram descended. Half of the giant's body shattered, blood spurting as it turned to ash. A dense baleful aura surged from the body, forming a fiendish spirit that roared in the sky.

"A malevolent spirit born from baleful energy entering the body!" Xiao Chen understood. The Dead Lake was truly sinister—its gathered baleful energy could coalesce such a powerful demon, possessing the Ancestral God's flesh to unleash terrifying might.

The incomplete Divine Diagram revolved, pulverizing the fiendish spirit in the sky. Half of the Otherworld Ancestral God's body crashed onto the island. A sixth Ancestral God corpse. Xiao Chen felt a chill. This place was utterly cursed. But recognizing the Otherworld origin gave him some relief—not all belonged to the Nine Provinces.

The Dead Lake fell still again, eerily quiet. Xiao Chen felt that this baleful energy must have a great origin, not born of nothing. If it truly emanated from some powerful being, the lake was truly hair-raising.

He landed on the island and began to examine the corpses carefully. The Ancestral Dragon was undoubtedly a god of the Nine Provinces. The colossal wild-ox corpse, mountain-like, was likely one of the Twelve Zodiac War Ancestors of the Nine Provinces. The blood-red ox seemed unusual—its body bore no wounds, yet it was dead, its powerful flesh possessed earlier by a malevolent spirit. Beside it, Xiao Chen saw a line of ancient script: "Utter annihilation, fallen into the abyss. Ancestral Gods perished here long before." This Ox War Ancestor had fallen here later; the others were far more ancient.

These were not experts of the current civilization—they reached back into the distant river of time.

Carefully inspecting the old corpses, Xiao Chen confirmed that aside from the black giant from the lake, two others were Otherworld Ancestral Gods. The blood-soaked flesh still held fragments of battle armor; his cultivation could restore their forms, revealing Otherworld patterns. A cataclysmic battle had occurred here—whether they had slain each other or been killed by another terrifying being was unclear.

Xiao Chen's blood ran cold. The victims had been pierced through the skull by claws or crushed by great palms—direct and brutal. The battle seemed to have ended quickly.

But then his eyes blazed. These Ancestral God flesh shells were immense treasures. He possessed the forbidden techniques of the Martial Ancestor—the Sacred Sacrifice. Sacred Sacrifice was heaven-defying: outwardly following the heavens, but inwardly more rebellious still. It sacrificed oneself to empower something external, deceiving heaven and seizing creation. His physical body was close to a War Ancestor but not yet there. With these corpses, he could perform Sacred Sacrifice, extracting their essence to forge a supreme treasure body.

At that moment, the Heavenly Stele, which had stood motionless, suddenly quaked, emitting a vast, unfathomable divine power. From the sky came Keke's startled cries.

The little beast had flown down but was suppressed by the Heavenly Stele. Xiao Chen shot upward, finding a funny sight: Keke had covered itself with its enlarged small jade bowl, occasionally waving the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree. The Heavenly Stele vibrated with terrifying power, threatening to crush bowl and tree.

Xiao Chen descended first into the abyss, but the Stele did not suppress him—perhaps acceptance for cultivating its techniques. Keke, snow-white, emerged from behind the Sacred Tree, still angry, and immediately opened Paradise Lost to envelop the Stele. Xiao Chen quickly stopped it. With him present, the Stele calmed.

"Ya ya!" Keke waved its paws at the Stele indignantly, refusing to submit. It was annoyed at being driven off so humiliatingly.

Xiao Chen brought it down to the island. Seeing the Ancestral God corpses, Keke's eyes went wide in shock.

Then, the shattered body of the Ancestral Dragon suddenly emitted specks of light, gathering toward Keke. Xiao Chen was startled—the dragon's flesh contained immense mysterious power, yet it flowed to Keke on its own, truly strange. Keke was initially frightened, enlarging its bowl to cover itself, but when it felt the gentle light, it relaxed.

"How can this be?" Xiao Chen wondered.

Meanwhile, Keke looked comfortable, basking in the divine radiance as it floated in the air, its white body glowing. It squinted, growing drowsy. "So sleepy…" it mumbled, flipping over in the void and falling asleep, curling into a fluffy ball, breathing softly.

Xiao Chen stared in disbelief. Sleeping in midair? The light from the Ancestral Dragon's flesh did not stop; it accelerated, blindingly bright, engulfing Keke. Soon, a seven-colored cocoon formed around it. Through the cocoon, Xiao Chen saw colored spots appearing on Keke's body like scales, and two small bumps emerging on its head.

He was uncertain but sensed its power growing stronger. Reassured, he walked toward the Heavenly Stele. His heart raced—this was a new Stele, completely different from those he had seen before. Its marks were a mix of diagrams and ancient script, not just meridian patterns. The ancient characters were bold and vigorous, each stroke like a small Ancestral Dragon. This was priceless. The Stele diagrams plus several Ancestral God flesh shells formed an immense treasure.

As Xiao Chen studied the Stele, a great boulder at its base suddenly trembled, and a massive head thrust out!