The Petrified Giants' Mutual Annihilation

Deep within the abyss, the tenth Heavenly Stele had once suppressed a colossal black hole that refined countless sinful souls and drained the Stygian River dry.

And beneath the black river lay an ancient, decayed city, its age beyond reckoning.

From the stone well within that ruined city, a bizarre skeletal creature, its body partially petrified, crawled out.

Boom!

The stone spear crossed the heavens, piercing heaven and earth. In that instant, the entire Death Continent trembled violently—a testament to the terrifying force of that strike.

Clatter…

The ochre-yellow giant, now only its petrified head intact, was struck by an overwhelming power and rolled noisily through the dead city.

Its petrified head, shrouded in hazy yellow light, silently destroyed everything in its path. The ancient, broken city was nearly annihilated; even the sole surviving section of wall crashed down with a thunderous roar.

Nor was the city's master, that strange being, in any better state. Only the left half of his petrified skull and chest remained, while the stone spear lay quietly before him.

Stone-man combat was neither swift nor urgent, yet it was terrifying. Once a blow landed, the outcome was inevitable—their battle prowess was too tremendous, unfathomable.

Above the black Stygian River, the Martial Imprint eyed the stone spear with burning desire, but the Old Ancestral Dragon warned him gravely, “Do not approach within half a step.”

Even an Ancestral God was this cautious—one could imagine how dangerous the dead city truly was.

Rumble…

A deep rumbling came from beneath the Stygian River, like muffled thunder. The once-ruined dead city was noisily reassembling, gradually taking on the grandeur of a colossal fortress.

The black river above, disturbed by this, surged and roared like ten thousand stampeding horses.

Whoosh!

The ochre-yellow giant's remaining head shot upward, bursting out of the reassembling ancient city, about to break through the water's surface and soar into the sky.

Boom!

The ancient city swelled, its walls instantly towering like mountains, surging out of the water to encircle the petrified head and confine it back within.

Roar!

The ochre-yellow giant's head let out a beast-like bellow, shaking violently.

Crack… crack…

The ancient city split apart—one could imagine how immense the divine power of this collision was. The destruction of a demon city was beyond ordinary comprehension.

At this moment, the city's master seemed to gain new vitality. Merging with the stone spear as one, he shot upward, piercing toward the petrified head.

Thud!

It was like striking a leather drum. The unadorned spear tip pierced the stone skull, producing a dull sound. Brilliant light illuminated the pitch-black Death Continent.

Xiao Chen and the others, watching from a distance, all showed shock. The power contained in that simple strike was too terrifying. They clearly felt the Death World tremble three times, shake three times, leaving them breathless.

Boom!

The ancient city below shattered into dust. At the same time, the ochre-yellow giant's head split in two. One half instantly ignited, turning into a mass of yellow divine light that pounced on the strange being.

Bang!

The strange being used his divine will to drive the stone spear, piercing through the yellow light. But residual radiance still enveloped his petrified left chest.

Crack!

His petrified chest instantly caught fire, turning into a blaze of brilliant divine radiance.

This was a suicidal, destructive duel—neither side held back. Both were grievously wounded, mutually destroyed.

And there was no intention of stopping. In the next instant, they rushed together once more.

Boom!

A fierce collision. The two terrifying beings completely turned into divine radiance, fully burning. They tangled together and marched toward annihilation.

Just then, from the depths of the Death Continent, an overwhelming surge of divine power flooded in. A dark cloud covered the land, approaching rapidly.

“Hide!” Yan Huang said in a low voice.

Everyone could already sense that it was an Ancestral God-level powerhouse.

The moment they vanished, a powerful White-Bone Ancestral Lord arrived at the scene. Seeing the two mighty beings nearly utterly destroyed below in the ruined city, a blazing light flickered in his eyes. He transformed into a white streak and charged downward.

His target was that stone spear. But just as he was about to seize it, the black Stygian River erupted. Ten thousand divine beams soared into the sky.

The two already-annihilated terrifying beings manifested residual projections once more, entangled the White-Bone Ancestral Lord, and set him ablaze together. In an instant, the black Stygian River raged.

From afar, Xiao Chen and the others stood stunned. The two petrified beings were so terrifying—at the moment of their imminent destruction, they dragged an Ancestral God-level being down to utter annihilation, body and soul.

One must know that Ancestral Gods were eternal and nearly impossible to truly kill. Yet in that single instant, he turned to ash. One could imagine how terrifying the divine power burned by the two petrified beings was.

In the Eternal Unknown Place, the three Supreme Ancestral Gods trembled simultaneously. In that moment, their eyes blazed like divine fire.

“A nearly invincible tool of war has been destroyed like this…”

“By what kind of existence was he slain?”

They could only sense that the ochre-yellow giant had vanished; they could not truly peer into everything happening in the Death World.

In that instant, the space above the black Stygian River fell into utter chaos. The radiance burned by the two petrified beings twisted the fabric of this world.

Boom!

Just then, from the distant depths of the Death Continent, a terrifying aura surged forth, shaking the soul.

A majestic Primordial Demon City flew through the skies, then descended with a thunderous crash into the Stygian River, replacing the original ruined city.

It suppressed the chaotic spacetime, while the residual divine glow left by the two petrified beings was absorbed like water ripples by this giant city. Clearly, it had come for this remaining strange power.

Whoosh!

Light shot into the sky. A rainbow pierced the gloomy sky of the Death World, streaking toward a distant unknown location—it was the previously unadorned stone spear.

The newly descended giant city erupted with a sky-destroying wave of divine power, surging toward the stone spear in an attempt to retrieve it.

But the stone spear tore through time and space, impossible to stop. It left behind only an afterimage and vanished completely.

Boom!

Below the Stygian River, the newly arrived ancient city emitted a great tremor, then fell into utter silence, sinking into eternal deathly stillness.

Yan Huang and the Old Ancestral Dragon exchanged glances, shock in their eyes. They had never expected events to unfold like this.

“Primordial Demon Cities do not normally attack one another. Only when one is on the verge of destruction, in that final moment, does another city fly over to absorb its residual power…”

“That final step… it seems no one can truly succeed in taking it,” several Ancestral Gods murmured among themselves. Having ventured deep into the Death World for over thirty years, they naturally knew many hidden secrets.

Ya ya… Keke muttered, pointing in the direction the stone spear had vanished. The little creature was very unwilling to see a stone weapon fly away.

“Let's go try to find it,” Xiao Chen said, gripping the half stone skull in his hand.

“Forget it, it will be very hard to find,” the Old Ancestral Dragon shook his head. “Even the newly flown-in Primordial Demon City couldn't keep the stone spear. Searching blindly will be even more futile.”

Xiao Chen channeled divine power into the half stone skull, hoping to see if it would react specially. But the result was disappointing—the stone skull remained still, with no strange changes.

“Eh…” Suddenly, two plain stone masses, each the size of a dragon's eye, appeared between Xiao Chen's fingers and palm, emerging without a sound.

Ya ya! Keke cried out in surprise, and the several Ancestral Gods immediately gathered around.

The two unadorned stones, both about the size of a dragon's eye, had a texture nearly identical to that of the half stone skull.

The Old Ancestral Dragon looked somewhat surprised, then showed a grave expression. “At the final moment of destruction, I saw that the petrified parts of the two stone beings did not all burn… These seem to be the remnants.”

The group examined them carefully. The two simple stones were of the same material as the half stone skull—true stone bodies, not mere petrification.

“These seem to be the essence of those two terrifying beings. Only such a small portion of their entire bodies had truly transformed into stone.”

Just then, the half stone skull emerged from Xiao Chen's fingers, expanding to the size of a normal cranium. The two dragon-eye-sized stones flew into its mouth.

Then, silently, the half stone skull shrank again to the size of a pigeon's egg and disappeared into Xiao Chen's palm.

Everyone was astonished, but said nothing. Only Keke curiously turned Xiao Chen's hand over and over, examining it endlessly.

The Old Ancestral Dragon looked at the giant city beneath the Stygian River and said gravely, “We should leave this place quickly. Although no one has truly taken that final step, these beings still possess terrifying combat power, even if they all have grave flaws. Still, we must be cautious.”

The others nodded in agreement. Staying in front of a Primordial Demon City that still retained some residual life force made even Ancestral Gods feel uneasy.

This time, though fraught with danger, they returned safely to God Village.

Keke released all the cultivators she had taken into Paradise Lost. Although they had not been able to rescue everyone from the fleeing Curse World, half of them was enough to ensure all traditions could be passed down.

God Village became even livelier. With so many cultivators, they had to open up new Pure Lands around it.

In front of God Village, within the relocated Primordial Dead City, Xiao Chen couldn't help pressing the several Ancestral Gods for answers.

“To attract the attention of the Otherworld Supreme Ancestral Gods… Why, exactly?”

“To create an opportunity for the Martial Ancestor,” Yan Huang said flatly.

“Hasn't the Martial Ancestor already entered the deepest part of the Death World?” Xiao Chen asked, puzzled. “What does that have to do with the Otherworld Supreme Ancestral Gods?”

“The Martial Ancestor is going to sacrifice himself to accomplish a great deed,” the Old Ancestral Dragon replied.

Their answers were limited, and Xiao Chen could not deduce clearly.

The three Otherworld Supreme Ancestral Gods, in the Eternal Unknown Place, sat motionless like fossilized statues. They were guarding an ancient set of stone steps.

“After the Martial Ancestor gathers everything he needs in the depths of the Death Continent, he must silently rush through the ninety-nine stone steps.”

“What we must do now is make the three Supreme Ancestral Gods gradually relax their vigilance, so they focus their attention on the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds. Only then can an opportunity arise.”

“Are those three Supreme Ancestral Gods truly that terrifying?” Xiao Chen was shocked.

“It's not about how terrifying they are, but about the rush through the ninety-nine stone steps—it must be done without anyone discovering it.”