The Capture of an Otherworld Ancestral God

The Heavenly Stele in the abyss swelled to a height of over ten thousand zhang, a mountain peak that pierced the very firmament. It forced back the nine Ancestral Gods and crashed against the three supreme treasures of the Supreme Ancestral Gods.

The entire Curse Realm shook. The world seemed on the verge of collapse. A terrifying aura drowned the heavens, leaving everything a blinding white, utterly invisible.

"Go!" Yan Huang commanded in a low voice. Though he wanted to draw the attention of the Otherworld powers, he had no intention of sacrificing them in vain.

Several figures dashed into the starry sky, hoping to use this opportunity to breach the world barriers.

From the eternal unknown, a Supreme Ancestral God who had sat like a fossil for eons abruptly opened his eyes. Two beams of divine light pierced straight through the world barriers, appearing in an instant over the Curse Realm and enveloping the Old Ancestral Dragon and the others.

Save for Xiao Chen, who held the half stone skull, Yan Huang, Mo Xiaowang, and the rest were all exposed, materialized beneath the heavens. The Otherworld Supreme Ancestral God, with eyes like blazing torches, had seen through the ruse from countless thousands of miles away.

Nine blurred figures appeared in an instant upon the starry sea. Nine Otherworld Ancestral Gods acted in unison, reaching down to suppress the Old Ancestral Dragon and his companions below.

The vast, immeasurable power of the Ancestral Gods crushed the stars of the Curse Realm into silence. Countless celestial bodies dimmed forever.

The collision of Ancestral Gods began! Both sides fought fiercely.

"Six Paths of Reincarnation!" "Momentary Glory!" "Destroying Cosmos!" The Old Ancestral Dragon, Yan Huang, the Old Farmer, and the others all struck, displaying the unique and terrifying might of Ancestral God-level powerhouses.

In that blaze of divine light, galaxies within the cosmos ignited, then shattered in an instant, becoming eternal domains of darkness.

Such was the great collision of Ancestral Gods!

Boom! The sky of the Curse Realm split apart. The Old Ancestral Dragon, Yan Huang, and the others were driven back to the continent. The nine Ancestral Gods above them were all peerless masters suppressing them through sheer numbers.

"We couldn't draw the three Supreme Ancestral Gods out of the eternal unknown after all," the Old Ancestral Dragon said in a low, regretful voice.

Xiao Chen was shocked. Even now, the few Ancestral Gods still harbored such thoughts; their ambitions were vast and mad indeed. The three Supreme Ancestral Gods had sat like fossils in the eternal unknown since time immemorial, refusing to descend personally. There was clearly a reason.

Boom! The nine Ancestral Gods pressed forward with majestic might, shaking heaven and earth with every step.

"Fall back!" Yan Huang ordered. They retreated swiftly to the side of the Heavenly Stele.

"Kill!" The word was not shouted aloud but emerged from the collision of killing thoughts released by the nine Otherworld Ancestral Gods—a heavenly killing sound!

A bone-chilling aura sealed the sky. Thirty thousand spans of high altitude turned a deathly white, filled with nothing but cold, murderous intent.

The nine Otherworld Ancestral Gods advanced on the Heavenly Stele. All manner of divine arts erupted in an instant. Brilliant light illuminated the continent and shook the entire starry universe.

The Heavenly Stele, tens of thousands of zhang tall, shook violently. The dense patterns upon its face blazed with divine light, sweeping upward to strike at the nine Ancestral Gods.

At the same time, the supreme treasures of the three Supreme Ancestral Gods—the Demonic Blade, the Immortal Heavenly Shield, and the Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Tower—poured down endless divine blood like bottomless vessels, drenching the Heavenly Stele.

It was a terrifying sight. Three rivers of blood, ten thousand zhang long, fell from the high heavens, drowning the Heavenly Stele.

Bright red blood stained the ancient monument. The mighty stele shuddered violently, then slowly shrank, sinking back into the abyss.

"Stone Man blood!" the Old Ancestral Dragon growled, his eyes shooting two terrible beams of light. He was clearly enraged.

"Those three treasures have been steeped in Stone Man blood. The blood endures, and now they turn it against the Heavenly Stele," Yan Huang said, his expression grim.

"All of you, withdraw!" The voice of the old stone turtle came up from the abyss.

The Heavenly Stele sank into the abyss. Xiao Chen and Yan Huang and the others descended with it.

Stone Man blood stained the sky, sealing the abyss shut.

Xiao Chen felt the half stone skull in his palm grow warm. He had an urge to offer it up and use it against the divine blood above.

From the abyss, the old stone turtle extended a giant stone claw and pressed down on his hand. "Don't act rashly."

"But this divine blood is too overbearing. It's suppressing the Heavenly Stele," Xiao Chen said, worried.

"You're wrong. The Heavenly Stele retreated not out of weakness but to avoid harming itself in a clash with the Stone Man blood. It's not time to use the stone skull yet." The old turtle paused. "You should withdraw through this Dead Lake."

Just then, the nine Otherworld Ancestral Gods charged down, attacking the suppressed Heavenly Stele.

The old stone turtle's eyes gleamed with strange light. Xiao Chen and the others prepared for battle.

But then the Heavenly Stele began to shake. All the patterns upon its surface emerged, then flew free of the stele, turning into a blaze of blinding divine light. It surged upward and instantly rolled up one of the Otherworld Ancestral Gods.

The other eight Otherworld Ancestral Gods, their forms hazy, erupted with world-destroying power, striking at the dazzling radiance.

That brilliant light was the essence of the stele inscriptions, a concentration of power and profound divine principles. It shattered time and space, blurring past, present, and future. Though it did not pierce through the ages, it succeeded in breaking through the blockade of the eight Ancestral Gods and captured one of them.

Above, the treasures of the three Supreme Ancestral Gods flared with intense light. The Stone Man blood within them poured down like an ocean, drowning the abyss.

Boom!

The brilliant light formed from the stele inscriptions coiled around the captured Ancestral God and branded itself back into the Heavenly Stele. That Otherworld Ancestral God—a supreme powerhouse—was plastered against the stele's surface, drenched in blood, unable to escape.

"Six Paths of Reincarnation!" the Old Ancestral Dragon roared, unleashing this peerless divine art against the pinned Ancestral God.

Screams tore the air. The eight Ancestral Gods above struck simultaneously, trying to neutralize the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

"Momentary Glory!"

"Tiger and Serpent in Battle!"

Yan Huang and Mo Xiaowang attacked swiftly as well. This was a golden opportunity to eliminate an Otherworld Ancestral God.

At that moment, Heavenly Marks appeared between Xiao Chen's palms. The two Marks vibrated gently, and the Heavenly Stele before him shook in response.

Two stele shadows shot from Xiao Chen's palms, breaking through the divine arts of the eight Ancestral Gods and imprinting themselves instantly upon the massive stele.

The sealed Ancestral God let out a muffled groan. The two Heavenly Marks and the true Heavenly Stele squeezed him between them. In that instant, he fell, powerless.

The old stone turtle nodded at Xiao Chen. "Before the Heavenly Stele, you are best suited to act."

The eight Ancestral Gods above struck furiously, trying to stop it, but it was too late. The captured Ancestral God had already fallen at the foot of the Heavenly Stele.

Keke let out a cry and offered up the Seven-Colored Jade Bowl, immediately trapping the grievously wounded Ancestral God inside.

Mo Xiaowang charged forward, savagely twisting off the Ancestral God's neck. He held the dripping head in his hand. The Old Farmer pierced the body through with the Great Annihilation War Spear and hoisted it upon the spear point.

Ancestral Gods were not so easily killed. For now, they had only split the body apart. A special method of refinement would be needed to annihilate both flesh and spirit completely.

"You have taken one Ancestral God. Take it with you. You can use it as a sacrifice on the way," the old stone turtle said, looking at the pitch-black Dead Lake before the Heavenly Stele. "Withdraw from here. If fortune smiles, you will not encounter too much trouble."

"A sacrifice?" Xiao Chen was shocked and puzzled.

The old stone turtle pointed at the black Dead Lake. The waters began to churn.

The Old Farmer, Yan Huang, the Old Ancestral Dragon, and others did not hesitate. Carrying the split body of the Otherworld Ancestral God, they plunged into the black lake.

The old turtle watched them jump into the Dead Lake. "Go. Remember, you must make a sacrifice, or the passage will be very dangerous. But if luck is on your side, you might even obtain a stone weapon."

Then the old turtle looked up at the sky. "The great formation of the Curse Realm must be about to activate."