The Former Invincible Stone Sovereign

The descendant of the Stone Sovereign—that peerless king who once challenged the world—now appeared in the Celestial Realm before Xiao Chen’s very eyes. It was utterly unexpected.

Eight savage beasts of different species roared as they charged toward him, pulling two divine chariots. Their cries shook the heavens like thunder. Their enormous, clawed hooves gleamed with cold light as they trampled toward Xiao Chen’s body, while lightning and heavenly fire spewed from their maws.

Xiao Chen remained as calm as still water. With a light wave of his hand, all the lightning and fire dissolved into nothing.

The men inside the chariots remained silent, their true faces still hidden. Releasing wild beasts to trample Xiao Chen was a gesture of both power and contempt—a deliberate insult.

“Ha ha…” A long laugh came from one chariot, carrying a mocking tone. “Trample this sinner to death! Let him know that the Celestial Realm is not a place he can casually enter. In the end, he’ll be nothing but dung beneath the hooves of livestock!”

All eight beasts were primordial savages, formidable and powerful. Their scales gleamed with blazing divine light as they bore down on Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen’s eyes shot two beams of cold light. He reached out a large hand and pressed down on the eight beasts in a single motion. No matter how they struggled—pounding the void with their hooves, roaring at the sky, expending all their millennia of cultivation—they could not budge.

The void shattered beneath their efforts, but under Xiao Chen’s hand, the eight primordial savages rapidly weakened. With a light pinch, a tragic roar rent the air. A mist of blood scattered before him—the eight violent beasts, body and soul, were utterly annihilated.

Then Xiao Chen shook his enormous hand. A Heavenly Mark surfaced, merging with the great hand like a colossal stele. He struck.

Boom!

Waves surged like a thousand cliffs—the power of the Heavenly Mark, not weaker than the incomplete Formation Diagram, was the true imprint of a divine stele, not a phantom of the past. Its vast, ocean-like force sent both chariots flipping through the air, shattering them into flying ash.

Two indistinct figures shot out, narrowly evading the sweep of the Heavenly Mark. They had used livestock to humiliate Xiao Chen, and this was their simple, direct answer.

They were forced to reassess him, immediately correcting their mistaken impression. Though the man before them was not an Ancestral God, he exuded danger.

Just then, Xiao Chen frowned. That brand, which he had suppressed, stubbornly surfaced again in his heart, on the verge of manifesting.

Bang!

The middle-aged man seized the moment. As Xiao Chen frowned, he struck with supreme divine arts from above, while his hands, sharp as blades, locked onto Xiao Chen’s throat.

He was a War Ancestor—possessing a physical body so formidable that even Ancestral Gods found it dazzling, and wielding forbidden divine arts. In some ways, he was even stronger than an ordinary Ancestral God.

Xiao Chen’s eyes blazed as two piercing beams shot forth—a flexible use of the Heavenly Mark that instantly shattered the descending divine art. At the same time, his fingers, joined like a sword, met the middle-aged man’s hand-blades.

A chilling sound echoed. Xiao Chen’s finger-sword severed the War Ancestor’s hand at the wrist.

“Ah!” The middle-aged War Ancestor sucked in a cold breath and retreated swiftly, utterly astonished. How could someone who was not an Ancestral God possess such a terrifyingly powerful physical body? After all, Xiao Chen was not even a War Ancestor—his divine perception had not reached the Ancestral God level, and he had not comprehended the primal laws of the myriad worlds. Yet his body and perception rivaled those of an Ancestral God. Such a being was called a War Ancestor. Clearly, Xiao Chen’s divine perception had not reached that threshold.

But how could the middle-aged man know? Xiao Chen had once performed a living sacrifice on an Ancestral God, executing both the sacred and living sacrifices, forging such a monstrous physical shell.

Swish!

As the middle-aged War Ancestor retreated, the younger man struck from the flank. His hand covered the sky; the primal laws of the myriad worlds descended. Space was ground away, and Xiao Chen was cast into a chaotic source!

This was a powerful Ancestral God, seizing the critical moment with a single decisive blow.

The moment he was thrown into chaos, Xiao Chen cried out in alarm. He could no longer suppress that brand in his heart. The form of the former invincible Stone Sovereign manifested before him.

It could appear as flower, water, stone, star, earth, or metal—everything in heaven and earth could be presented. Its divine essence reached its extreme; a king walked again, as if reborn. The Great Dao was hidden within, eternal and undying, manifesting in the world!

There was no divine power, no remnant perception, yet this form of the Dao was even more terrifying, impossible to block. It appeared before Xiao Chen in the chaos, facing the young Ancestral God.

Through the chaotic source, both the middle-aged War Ancestor and the young Ancestral God saw that demonic and untamed silhouette. Though indistinct, it shook their divine perceptions, as if they had glimpsed a long-lost ancestor. Their cultivation, stagnant for years, seemed to stir, as if about to break through a barrier and ascend another level.

Seeing this, Xiao Chen was both shocked and furious. If this Dao imprint were allowed to pass down, it would recreate an invincible Stone Sovereign. He could not permit that to happen.

With a fierce shake of his hand, divine light flashed. A scroll unfurled, covering the Dao imprint and cutting off all connection to the two men.

Just then, in the scroll’s magnificent rivers and mountains, five figures stood. A faint, misty aura flowed from them, forcibly driving the Dao imprint back into Xiao Chen’s heart.

Xiao Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief. He dreaded the Dao imprint escaping—if it created another invincible Stone Sovereign king, he would be a sinner for a thousand ages. The former invincible Stone Sovereign’s power was unimaginable, enough to sweep heaven and earth.

Bang!

He activated the Formation Diagram and burst out of the chaotic source, once again facing the two mighty opponents.

“What was that just now?” The Ancestral God—young in appearance but impossibly old—was still shaken, as if reliving the moment. He felt he had nearly united with the Great Dao, merged with the primordial source of heaven and earth, on the verge of immediate ascension to a higher step. But Xiao Chen had brutally cut it off, isolating him with the scroll.

“What exactly was that?”

Both men glared at Xiao Chen. They were now certain this man was no ordinary—he held many secrets that might bear on their future cultivation and status. They could not let him go.

“Want to know?” Xiao Chen charged at them. “Leave your soul imprints, and I’ll let you meet him!”

As he spoke, he activated the Formation Diagram, leveling it before him. This was a great killing instrument—not even Upper Ancestral Gods could easily resist it.

The middle-aged War Ancestor retreated, unwilling to face its edge. His figure spun around Xiao Chen like a demonic shadow, his speed reaching an unimaginable level.

He surpassed light itself, distorting time and space. This was pure physical power pushed to an extreme, manifesting mysterious force—a dual divine art of time and space intended to grind Xiao Chen to death.

But in the center, Xiao Chen stood unmoving. The Formation Diagram drifted mistily around him, spinning slowly—a stabilizing pillar in the turbulent sea.

“Infernal Binding Pillars!”

The War Ancestor bellowed, unleashing his ultimate technique. Nine pillars emerged from all directions, thrust into the void like a cage, sealing Xiao Chen in the center.

Each pillar bore carvings of Ancestral Dragons and unicorns, exuding a majestic aura as if true divine ancestors were enthroned upon them. Even an Ancestral God would pale and struggle to breathe under that pressure.

Weng!

The nine pillars shook violently, as if beating iron wings. Their sound threatened to split eardrums as they converged on Xiao Chen, grinding him away.

Ancestral Dragons, unicorns—the phantoms of nine Ancestral God-level deities emerged, merging together to crush Xiao Chen!

The Infernal Binding Pillars lived up to their name. Within the sealed space, blood mist swirled. Not even a ray of light could escape, completely sealed off from the outside world.

They intended to grind away Xiao Chen’s form and spirit in that closed hell!

But they had not recognized the true origin of the Formation Diagram. With a thunderous crash, thirty-three War Swords soared up. Clanging sounds rang without end, sparks flying like shooting stars across the heavens.

Clang, clang, clang!

The Infernal Binding Pillars were chopped into dozens, hundreds of pieces, littering the ground like scrap metal. All nine Ancestral God-tier weapons were utterly ruined!

The Formation Diagram shot out directly, covering the middle-aged War Ancestor.

Bang!

Though his speed was beyond measure, he could not evade the diagram. It clipped him, and his body exploded into pieces. Yet even so, the fragments of his body fled in all directions, narrowly surviving the ordeal.

As Xiao Chen prepared to pursue, the youthful-looking Ancestral God seized the perfect opportunity and struck from behind.

“Eternal Longing, Sun Westward!”

As the supreme divine art descended upon Xiao Chen, the distant, timeless voice rang out, surging like towering waves.

This divine curse was terrifying. A river of time took tangible form, rolling toward Xiao Chen like a vast, living river, intending to grind him away with the most dreadful power of the ages!

At the same time, nine hundred and ninety-nine crimson suns, billions of times more blazing than the true sun in the sky—enough to ignite even an Ancestral God—crashed down upon Xiao Chen.

Eternal longing, sun westward!

That was the horror of this forbidden divine art: a twofold absolute kill, capable of destroying an Ancestral God.

A river of time—no force could wear it away. Even as powerful as Xiao Chen was now, he dared not charge directly into it, only redirect it.

Two Heavenly Marks vibrated, sweeping the onrushing river in another direction. This was a mystical, ineffable battle—neither man made physical contact, yet they commanded time itself, fighting all the more perilously.

Meanwhile, the countless setting suns crashed down upon Xiao Chen. These suns had extinguished several War Ancestors and ignited the blood of Ancestral Gods. They now bore a demonic power, more than capable of destroying cultivators of the Ancestral God rank.

Xiao Chen raised the Formation Diagram across the sky. One by one, the suns burst into bloody flames around him, like giant comets trailing long tails as they struck the earth. Heaven and earth shook, threatening to drown him beneath the onslaught.

Amid the thunderous roar, the savage collisions raged for the space of a breath.

Xiao Chen never underestimated his enemies. In the end, he shattered the many suns, then sent the Formation Diagram sweeping in all directions while the Heavenly Marks descended, sealing the other side.

Boom!

The eternal river changed course, forcibly diverted. The westward-falling suns were shaken back, forcefully pressed into that river of time.

With a rumbling roar, the eternal river suffered an unimaginable collapse!

Xiao Chen drove his War Swords toward the Ancestral God.

“Kill!”

Thirty-three War Swords, their cold light illuminating all directions. Three of them pierced through the Ancestral God’s body, unable to be stopped by any divine art.

Xiao Chen opened the scroll, intending to roll him inside.

But at that moment, the brand within his body broke free of its own accord, charging out on its own.

The young Ancestral God, who had used “Eternal Longing, Sun Westward,” felt his body tremble. He was about to merge with that brand.

“Heavens… it’s truly… the ancestor…” he shouted, on the verge of union with the Dao imprint. At the same time, the War Ancestor rushed over as well.

Xiao Chen realized he had gravely underestimated this Dao imprint. He had thought that without a dominant consciousness, it would be like a dead thing. He never expected that, as the former invincible Stone Sovereign himself had said, it was prepared entirely for his descendants.

The former invincible Stone Sovereign’s form appeared, its divine essence concealing the Dao—like mountain, like water, like wind, like cloud, like moon and star. Every grass, every tree in heaven and earth was its embodiment. The primal source of the Great Dao, sealed through the ages, manifesting in this moment.

Borrowing a body to transmit the Dao was on the verge of becoming reality!

In that instant, Xiao Chen unleashed the Formation Diagram, the scroll, and the Primordial Demon City—all together—trying to suppress that Dao imprint.

But that brand seemed elusive, nearly impossible to capture or seal in time.

Xiao Chen burned with anxiety. It was about to merge with the young Ancestral God. Then, suddenly, his body trembled. Five distinct imprints surfaced simultaneously.

Each of the five figures had a unique divine essence—one as still as a deep abyss, one with battle will that pierced the sky, one with an overbearing aura that dominated a thousand ages…

They seemed reborn, embodying five Great Daos. With majestic presence, they descended with a thunderous roar.

Boom!

The moment the five imprints manifested, they instantly cut off the Dao imprint from the young Ancestral God. They pressed down, trampling the former invincible Stone Sovereign of the Otherworld beneath their feet!

Five divine essences, five Dao imprints—they held the Otherworld Dao imprint fast!

“No…”

Both the War Ancestor and the young Ancestral God roared in fury. The sight struck them like a blow. The legendary supreme being who could make even the powers of the Celestial Realm bow their heads, who could force the myriad worlds to submit—their invincible ancestor—was being trampled so humiliatingly underfoot. The outcome was too much to bear.

The former invincible Stone Sovereign’s imprint shook, trying to break free of its confinement. But the five sovereigns held it firmly in place, impossible to escape.

This was the battle of ancient days—both sides had fallen, yet the struggle continued even now.