A Decade of Quiet in the Death World

Ten years had passed since the last earth-shaking war. In the Death World, those years had been uneventful, with no major upheavals.

Not a single person who had entered this world had returned to the Nine Provinces.

"The sun's two spans above the hill, I've climbed halfway up the mountain slope. Sister Mountain Fox, don't you run..." Only a born optimist like Totti could sing every day in the Death World.

On the mountaintop, two bald heads—one large, one small—emerged alongside a serene, water-like young woman. It was Bo Shi's family.

"Sorry, climbed the wrong mountain today," Totti said, flicking his golden hair. "My waiting sister is on the opposite peak." With that, he vanished in a flash.

On the opposite side, cultivators had used divine power to carve patches of pure land from the deathly mountain ranges. Even in this world of the dead, many peaks were now covered in flowers and grasses.

"I—I—I am who? I am Ji-Ji-Jin Sanyi! Sis-sis-sister, haven't you heard of me?" The stuttering voice of Third Stutterer came from the woods ahead, far away. "Hey, hey, hey, don't run! I'm not that rogue Totti!"

"Jin Sanyi!" Golden light flashed as Totti appeared. Having once received the aid of Eternal Light, his cultivation was now not weaker than Third Stutterer's, and his tone was full of confidence. "You're ruining my reputation again!"

"So-sorry, I-I-I misspoke! I was actually talking about that fatty Zhuge. Just accidentally said the wrong name," Jin Sanyi explained earnestly.

"Third Stutterer, are you talking about me?" Fatty Zhuge was growing more dashing by the day. The demonic art passed down by the Martial Ancestor—'eat what you need'—had sent his cultivation soaring. His skin was fair as snow and very glossy. His plump, round face was rosy as a newborn's. All excess fat had been refined away; divine power surged within him.

"Lo-look at that... oh, how careless of me! I was talking about that rogue Sha Polang," Jin Sanyi said, not even blushing as he withdrew his earlier words.

A translucent crystalline skull slowly emerged from the forest, patiently polishing its own cranium with a silk cloth.

"Are you talking about me?" The skull's spiritual fluctuation carried this question.

"What the hell? Is this coordinated? I mention one person, and one person appears? You guys have nothing better to do than all come to this female cultivators' residential area?" Jin Sanyi wiped cold sweat as he deflected. "This time I curse that rogue Xiao Chen. Let's see if that block of wood can respond and appear!"

BOOM!

Just then, an earth-shaking sound came from a hundred li away. Rolling smoke and dust shot into the sky like wolf smoke. Even at this distance, one could see clouds collapsing and the smoke's devastation.

"Those battle maniacs fight every day, every hour. I bet a Lord is going to be disturbed and come looking for trouble soon," Fatty Zhuge muttered.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The group soared into the sky, gazing into the distance. It was Chu Xingkuang, Wu Xingfeng, Yan Lingkong, Juedao, Samo, and others locked in fierce battle. On another side, Meng Xilüe, Xuewu, Cang Hai, and Zhao Zhongyang were engaged in bitter combat. Farther still, Wu Ming, with the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell over his head, battled the experts of the Divine Village.

That region was crowded with shadows, chaotic and tangled, with unceasing battle.

"To be honest, their cultivation is growing way too fast. We really need to step it up," Jin Sanyi said with a sigh, actually just trying to divert everyone's attention.

"That's easy. We can spar every day too," Totti, Fatty Zhuge, and Sha Polang responded simultaneously.

Jin Sanyi immediately sensed trouble. "Alright then, let's form teams and fight!"

"Good!" The three nodded at once, then charged at him together.

"I—#a%%... I meant split into groups, not a gang-up!"

"Right, we already split into groups. The three of us are one group, fighting you alone in your group."

"What the—!" Jin Sanyi was straightforward. He pulled out the Doomsday Heavenly Halberd, swept it in a wide arc, and fled. The three immediately gave chase.

Such was the current Death World: most were in bitter cultivation, but amidst the oppressive silence, there were also moments of laughter and joy.

For ten years, Keke had been sleeping, while Xiao Chen had spent his time in the young female sovereign's giant city.

Over this decade, he seemed hardly to have cultivated at all. No divine power emanated from him. He merely made a few casual gestures each day, sometimes even strolling idly outside the city or spending a few days in the broken temple of the Living Buddha Ji Gong.

His War Body had been perfected. To improve further would be extremely difficult unless he broke through to the Ancestral God realm. What he needed to cultivate now was his divine consciousness. Only when his spiritual cultivation grew stronger could he truly transcend.

Although the Nine Provinces' side had achieved considerable results in the last great war, from what Yan Huang and the others had conveyed, Xiao Chen could no longer be optimistic about the current situation. The Otherworld possessed absolute deterrent power; what they had seen was merely the tip of the iceberg.

The Nine Provinces had seen countless civilizations rise and fall. Throughout that process, the Otherworld's strong had been accumulating strength.

According to the ancient Tianren elder, the early Otherworld's supreme figures had vanished several civilization cycles ago. It had been an extremely long time since they had last appeared in the world. And the stone man who had burst onto the scene ten years ago, sweeping all before him and dominating the heavens, was a peerless figure from the Tianren era. Only after the great war had the old Tianren slowly pieced together his identity.

Such terrifying sedimentation and accumulation sent chills down one's spine just thinking about it.

The Nine Provinces had fewer than ten Ancestral Gods—on the surface. But in truth, every civilization cycle certainly had one or two who escaped the great calamity and survived, like the old Tianren elder. If such latent forces were added together, the number of Ancestral Gods would absolutely exceed ten.

Not only the Nine Provinces Ancestral Gods knew this; the Otherworld gods could fully imagine it as well. But the Nine Provinces' Ancestral Gods still could not reverse the situation.

The Otherworld's foundations were too terrifying. No one knew their true trump cards. The old antiques who had escaped the great calamity dared not act recklessly. After all, they were the defeated. The Otherworld's supreme figures who had once defeated them had not been seen for several civilization cycles, but one could be certain they still lived. They were very likely using various methods to attack the final step.

The deeper one understood, the more desperate it felt. Xiao Chen felt a sense of loss, a feeling of powerlessness against the heavens.

Perhaps only by uniting with the Primordial Celestial Realm, as the old Tianren elder had said, could the battle situation be completely reversed.

"In truth, the living beings of our Nine Provinces are truly brilliant. Prodigies appear from time to time. Legend has it that once, someone fully took that final step. He could sweep all before him, leading the Nine Provinces' strong directly to the Otherworld, slaughtering until the Otherworld gods fled at the sight of him."

These were the words the old Tianren elder had spoken to Xiao Chen ten years ago. Even now, they seemed to echo in his ears.

But still—no one knew why—he was ultimately shattered, his body split nine ways across heaven and earth...

As for that stone man who had successfully taken the final step, even the old Tianren elder could not say exactly which era he was from. Above the Tianren era, there had been two cycles of civilization that had been destroyed.

He took the final step, then was still shattered. Had the Otherworld gods joined forces to break him? The thought made one shudder.

Yet the old Tianren's answer was not that.

"According to legend, it might be related to what lies at the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. As for the specifics, no one knows."

The stone man who had successfully taken the final step was ultimately split across heaven and earth, sending a tremendous shock through the Nine Provinces' Ancestral Gods.

"The Heavenly Emperor was also a peerless genius. After reaching the peak of the Ninth Heaven of Ancestral God, he did not walk the stone man path at first. Instead, he used the flesh and blood of Supreme Ancestral Gods to continue advancing recklessly, nearly taking that final step. But when he was still a hair's breadth away, he ultimately stopped. During that period, he swept all before him, went directly to the Eternal Unknown, and smashed the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. Strangely enough, the Heavenly Emperor could not compare with the first stone man in skill, yet he nearly tore the place apart. Eventually, for some unknown reason, he retreated. Perhaps he sensed danger."

"After that, the Eternal Unknown was permanently guarded by three Ancestral Gods. Legend has it that although the thing at the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps shattered the first stone man into nine pieces, it itself was probably cracked as well. Some speculate that if no one guarded it, two or three Supreme Ancestral Gods would have the strength to shake the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps."

"And in the end, the Heavenly Emperor walked the petrification path. He had nearly taken that final step with a body of flesh and blood. Walking the petrification path again—one can imagine the combat power he would have had once he succeeded. He would have dominated all realms, sweeping everything under heaven—past and present—without equal. But in the end, he perished..."

"Some say the Heavenly Emperor failed on the stone man path. Others say he successfully took that final step, but merely followed in the footsteps of the first stone man, and was mysteriously destroyed. No one knows the truth..."

Ten years had passed. Although Xiao Chen was now very powerful, he was even more deeply awed by the unfathomable depths of the Otherworld. He even felt a sense of powerlessness. He held the half-stone skull in his palm, examining it over and over, trying to discern its secrets, but as before, he found nothing.

This was the skull of a stone man who had truly taken the final step. The stone man split into nine pieces—no wonder the Nine Provinces' Ancestral Gods had treasured it and stored it away.

"Ten years. It's time to move around a little."

Xiao Chen took a single step and was out of the young female sovereign's giant city. Traversing a distance of tens of thousands of li, he reached the Divine Village in just a dozen paces.

The cultivators of the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds had all been rescued. Now, traces of cultivators could be found everywhere on the outer regions of the Death Continent—ancient battlefields, mountain ranges...

Even the bare death mountains, because of these people's arrival, had been dotted with flowers and fragrant grasses by divine power, restoring much of their vitality.

Ahead, cultivators were locked in combat—not life-or-death struggles, but pure sparring to mutually improve.

Sword light shot into the sky. Magical treasures danced. The scene was extremely brilliant, with many participants.

Xiao Chen stopped nearby and soon spotted many familiar faces: Wu Ming fighting Zhao Zhongyang, the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell's radiance piercing the heavens, its chime long and resonant, while Zhao Zhongyang's entire body's acupoints bloomed with sword light, ringing like metal, sharp and fierce, locked in a dead heat.

On the other side, Chu Xingkuang, Wu Xingfeng, Juedao, and others were locked in fierce battle with Xuewu, Meng Xilüe, Cang Hai, and their group.

"ROAR!"

A roar shook the sky. A heroic figure with flowing golden hair burst into the midst of the strong, unstoppable. With one fist, he blasted away a king of the hundred races. It was the Golden Lion King, second only to Keke in talent.

CLANG!

He struck the Indestructible Imperial Heavenly Bell with his fist and rushed past—none of the strong could stop him!

The Golden Lion King transformed into a streak of golden divine light, charging directly to Xiao Chen's front, and raised his fist to strike!

"Half-Ancestor Fifth Heaven!" Xiao Chen was deeply shocked. This Golden Lion King's talent was truly rare through the ages—indeed second only to Keke!

He absolutely did not have Xiao Chen's various encounters; he had cultivated purely by himself to this realm in a mere few hundred years, leaving his peers far behind!

BANG!

Although astonished, Xiao Chen was not afraid. His right hand reached out and fiercely caught the crystalline fist that sparkled with specks of golden light.

There was no doubt—this was the divine power of a Fifth Heaven Half-Ancestor. The Golden Lion King's majestic body trembled violently, and that raging tide surged to the heavens like a vast ocean, only to be forcibly deflected into the sky by Xiao Chen.

"With your talent, how could you not have left? You should have taken the Ancestral Dragon Ship!" Xiao Chen grabbed his fist, puzzled.

"I left the chance to my son!" The Golden Lion King replied coldly, his heroic form enveloped in a mysterious golden radiance.

Their bloodline was always single-inherited; even father and son rarely met. The population was sparse. Fearing a repeat of the tragedy, he had given the chance to escape to the young Lion King.

"Let me show you another power of mine!" Just then, the Golden Lion King warned coldly, and his third vertical eye opened a sliver.

Immense danger descended. Even someone as powerful as Xiao Chen felt the breath of peril. His hand moved reflexively, tracing a profound trajectory and blocking before him.

BANG!

A violent tremor shook Xiao Chen's palm, actually stinging slightly. He was deeply alarmed. The Golden Lion King's vertical eye had only just opened a tiny slit, emitting only a faint gleam of light!

Xiao Chen channeled his divine power, slowly pressing down with the Hand of the Supreme Being, preparing to test the true might of the Golden Lion King's vertical eye.

But at that moment, the Golden Lion King closed his unopened vertical eye and retreated a few steps. "Now I have even more confidence!"

"Ya ya!" Just then, the snow-white beast Keke rubbed its big eyes, wobbling crookedly through the sky as it approached, mumbling dazedly, "You guys are always fighting, you've woken me up."

"You!" The Golden Lion King's eyes immediately went wide. He soared into the air, charging toward Keke.

"Yellow Fur..." Keke's single word left everyone speechless. The mighty Golden Lion King, in its mouth, was forever Yellow Fur.

The Golden Lion King threw a punch. With a clang, Keke groggily tossed out the Seven-Colored Jade Bowl, covering the Lion King's fist. "Yellow Fur, you can't beat me. I slept my way to Half-Ancestor Sixth Heaven."

Many cultivators below felt like fainting. This person cultivated... this little creature slept. Truly no justice—heaven was utterly unfair!

Only a few close acquaintances understood that Keke's clan's cultivation method was unique: they grew and cultivated through sleep.

Xiao Chen felt gratified. The little one was growing very fast. It shouldn't be long before she reached the Half-Ancestor Ninth Heaven. Then she could go to her mother and claim the so-called ultimate gift. And he would also have to set out on a journey—he absolutely had to gather the other Heavenly Marks into his hands.

Just then, a graceful figure approached. It was the ethereally beautiful Yan Qingcheng.