The Stone Key

Xiao Chen burst out of the Sun Star Palace like a meteor, his body blazing with intense light, desperate to flee millions of miles away from this chaotic ground.

Bang!

At that moment, an enormous hand suddenly descended outside the Sun Star, blotting out the sky like the heavens themselves collapsing. Xiao Chen was completely engulfed.

Clang!

Caught off guard, Xiao Chen raised his hands to meet the attack, straining to lift the colossal claw. The impact rattled his body to the point of breaking, as mysterious primal laws surged against him from all directions.

This was an assault of both divine power and divine law!

The situation was dire. The opponent was unimaginably powerful, and the sudden strike had taken away Xiao Chen's initiative.

Thump!

It sounded like a heavenly drum being beaten. The giant hand struck Xiao Chen's body, and the world beneath that hand collapsed into nothingness. Even Xiao Chen's body began to shatter.

A terrifying combatant, with inexhaustible divine power and inscrutable laws that commanded awe!

"Return to Origin!"

Xiao Chen shouted. He reshaped the world within the void, rapidly restoring his nearly destroyed body, and struggled to break free.

"It's him!" Old Goat and Xiao Chen recognized the giant hand at the same time. It was the same hand that had rushed over earlier and struck down at the Lishi Beast, the Lotus King, and the Stone Corpse, only to be shattered by the three kings before vanishing. They never expected it to block them here at this critical moment.

This person's strength was extraordinary, placing unprecedented pressure on Xiao Chen. He did not want to linger. Transforming into a grain of sand, he became an eternal world unto himself and vanished from heaven and earth.

Boom!

But a sound like an ancient clamor from time immemorial shook him back into reality. The enormous hand grasped heaven and earth, enclosing the world Xiao Chen had become, forcibly trapping him.

In that moment, all laws of space and time, divine techniques and curses proved useless—there was no escape from this battlefield.

Meanwhile, within the pure land of the Sun Star, the Heaven-Defying War Treasure, blazing with chaotic light, emitted one last dazzling, radiant flash before vanishing completely into thin air.

The Lotus King dissolved into a rain of stone lotuses and disappeared with it, gone without a trace.

Several kings and combatants, their eyes gleaming with cold light, shot out of the Sun Star in an instant.

Swish!

The spiral of water vapor was the first to emerge, immediately spotting Xiao Chen trapped. In that moment, they did not need to think—Xiao Chen had clearly colluded with the Lotus King.

The Lishi Beast, the Stone Corpse, and the warrior blazing with blood-red light followed closely behind, charging forward to tear Xiao Chen apart.

"This is it! Forcing me to go all out!" Old Goat shouted, then suddenly replaced the Otherworld Supreme Dao Origin with a different, unknown Dao imprint.

This was his own origin Dao—not that the Otherworld Dao was weak or shallow, but because only a Dao created by oneself was truly suited to oneself.

In that instant, Xiao Chen's entire body blazed with divine light, growing ever brighter, eclipsing even the Sun Star.

Many across the Celestial Realm looked up in astonishment, their eyes filled with disbelief. A single man's radiance had overpowered the Sun Star, illuminating the land. Clearly, this powerful Heaven-Defying Warrior was no ordinary being; his true body must have appeared in the King's Star Palace!

Was this to be a decisive battle to the death? Celestial Realm giants and Heaven-Defying Warriors who had returned from the ages generally did not manifest their true bodies, nor did they lightly wage war—to avoid a true life-or-death confrontation, whose consequences could be unimaginable and unforeseeable!

"Flee!"

Old Goat had only that one word. He appeared extremely weak, struggling to sustain the Dao imprint as it merged with the divine diagram for Xiao Chen's use.

Swish!

In that moment, Xiao Chen felt even stronger. His light illuminated the heavens as he transformed into a divine rainbow, charging forward. All barriers of worlds—even the great Dao itself—were pierced through.

Even the descending giant hand was shattered by his body as he burst through, fleeing millions of miles away.

This turn of events caught everyone off guard. Several kings and combatants revealed looks of shock, then their eyes grew even colder as they gave chase.

This was an unimaginable pursuit—several kings and combatants chasing a single target, something unseen in the Celestial Realm for a very long time.

"You bunch of cabbages, why are you chasing me?" Old Goat transmitted through Xiao Chen's body. "The Heaven-Defying War Treasure has already been taken by the Lotus King. It's inside her stone lotus. If you don't stop her now, she will soon refine it into her own—and you will have lost it forever!"

Swish!

The blood-red light flickered. The combatant who had rushed over from the Celestial Realm's ancient battlefield vanished instantly.

Bang!

The spiral of water vapor also tore through heaven and earth, withdrawing from the chase.

Thump!

And the mysterious giant hand delivered one final strike at Xiao Chen before following the other two into the distance.

Five powerful beings had left, but Xiao Chen still could not stop. The Lishi Beast and the Stone Corpse had no intention of letting him go, continuing their relentless pursuit.

"You two cabbages have something wrong with you! Leaving the Heaven-Defying War Treasure to chase an old man like me—do you really think you can kill me? Don't you know that beings at our level are nearly immortal? You're just wasting your strength!"

The Lishi Beast and the Stone Corpse remained unmoved, pressing the chase without relenting, with no intention of letting Xiao Chen and Old Goat go.

"Are these two your mortal enemies from a past life? Why are they so set on killing you?" Xiao Chen asked Old Goat.

"I've got plenty of enemies—I'm at odds with the whole world," the old rogue answered irately. "I don't give a damn about these two cabbages. Let them chase; I'll wear them out!"

Clearly, the Lishi Beast and the Stone Corpse had sensed Old Goat's aura and recognized his true identity. Now they were seizing the chance to strike while he was weak, aiming to finish him off.

"Are you the Stone Emperor?" Xiao Chen finally asked, having long suspected as much.

"If I were the Stone Emperor, would I be afraid of these two manifestations? I'd just swat them dead like the toads they are!" Old Goat fumed, then added, "The Stone Emperor is a supreme being of his generation—he never flees, never backs down. He'd lose face if he did."

Xiao Chen: "..."

"We have to shake these two flies, or we really might get done in. Change course—head toward the Lotus King's divine domain!"

Old Goat showed a hint of anxiety. Xiao Chen knew the old rogue sensed real danger and quickly turned eastward.

After flying over a million miles, a thunderous crash came from ahead. Chaotic light erupted into the sky as the aura of the Heaven-Defying War Treasure burst forth once more.

Boom!

Endless chaotic light completely flooded the area. Vaguely, they could see the Lotus King and several others locked in fierce battle.

"You old bastard! Did you really get the Heaven-Defying War Treasure into the Lotus King's stone lotus?" The Lishi Beast seemed genuinely shocked, then without further delay, shot into the sky toward the region blazing with chaotic light.

The Stone Corpse also revealed a look of surprise. "Damn it, old thing—the war treasure really isn't with you!" He too sped away, no longer chasing Xiao Chen.

"I knew it. These two are the most cunning bastards—how could they give up the Heaven-Defying War Treasure for an old grudge?" Old Goat let out a long breath, then promptly collapsed, completely drained.

A flash of light, and he tumbled out of Xiao Chen's body, appearing suddenly aged. In that moment, his originally graying hair turned pure white, and his body seemed to stoop.

"Goddamn waste—a complete waste. This is going to cost me a long time to recover!" Old Goat shook his head repeatedly.

Xiao Chen glanced at him askance. "You old rogue, you had me fight tooth and nail alongside you, and in the end you just gave the Heaven-Defying War Treasure away to someone else. What a generous favor—what a heavy gift! What's your real relationship with the Lotus King? Someday you can go ask her for repayment, but how are you going to compensate me?"

"Don't worry—none of those cabbages will get it. The Lotus King and I are just using each other. I gave her the war treasure, yes, but she and the treasure are not fated to stay together. We need to get back to the Sun Star right now." Old Goat's expression turned serious; he wasn't joking. He was dead earnest.

Xiao Chen looked at him dubiously, but since there was no immediate danger, a detour wouldn't hurt.

The two turned into shadowy figures, evading the senses of all cultivators on the ground and heading for the Sun Star. In truth, no one was paying attention to the sky at that moment—every divine consciousness was probing eastward toward the Lotus King's domain.

They returned to the Sun Star Palace without incident. Old Goat dragged Xiao Chen straight into the ultimate formation he had carved earlier, shouting excitedly, "Witness the miracle!"

"You old rogue sure have plenty of tricks up your sleeve!" Xiao Chen already knew what he was planning.

"...Kid, no more talk. Quickly summon the divine diagram. We're turning this around—let them all cry!"

"Snatch the war treasure back from the Lotus King? You already gave it to her. Aren't you afraid she'll come after you later?"

"I cooperated with her out of mutual convenience. I did what I promised—delivered the war treasure into her hands. The cooperation is over. Now it's every man for himself, and we each take what we can." Old Goat said this with full confidence, then added, "Even in my current sorry state, I can still laugh across the Celestial Realm." But his voice trailed off, clearly not as confident as he sounded. His condition was indeed very poor.

"If I recover, even those dead primordial ancestors coming back wouldn't matter! We're all kings and combatants—who's afraid of whom?" Old Goat seemed to be psyching himself up, gradually regaining confidence. "One day, I shall walk the earth again!"

"So what I'm seeing now—is it a sliver of your divine will, or just a shred of your consciousness?" Xiao Chen looked at him strangely. "Is your true body lying dead somewhere?"

"...You little brat, what do you know? Hurry up and activate the diagram to seize the treasure!" Old Goat urged. "The Celestial Realm is very complicated. Even the ancestors of the Floating Void Island have revived, and there may be other combatants returning from the ages. If a few legendary supreme kings also reappear, things will get very bad."

Xiao Chen wasted no time, fearing complications. The divine diagram spun into place at the center of the ultimate formation.

"Heh heh, I am a genius. Carving out two formations—one positive, one negative—connected to each other. While they fight to the death, I snatch away the fruits of victory. That's what you call having everything under control, winning the battle from ten thousand miles away!"

Watching him narcissistically preen, Xiao Chen felt an urge to punch him. This old rogue's face was thicker than city walls. He was just a schemer, not some master strategist.

Hum!

The divine diagram hummed with strange sounds, shifting and changing within the great formation, growing hazy and indistinct.

"Here it comes!"

Old Goat's eyes shot out a strange light. In his excitement, he actually pulled out a handful of his own beard.

From the great formation burst a surging, roaring wave of energy. Chaotic light blazed as the Heaven-Defying War Treasure shot out. Xiao Chen quickly suppressed it with the divine diagram and sealed it away.

"Excellent! Ha ha!" Old Goat laughed wildly, but then his expression changed. "Kid, quick—merge with me! Several big cabbages are charging through behind!"

In the center of the formation, a black hole erupted with terrifying energy as powerful beings prepared to emerge.

"Lishi Beast, here's your stone box back!" Old Goat shouted with deep resentment, hurling the stinking stone box into the black hole.

The vile contents inside the stone box splattered all over the Lishi Beast and the Stone Corpse like a bucket of filthy blood, reeking to high heavens. They roared in fury. "You damned old bastard!"

"Calling me a beast and a corpse—we'll meet again. Three thousand years from now, when I truly return!" Old Goat bellowed back without flinching, then swiftly merged with Xiao Chen. He even trapped the ultimate formation within the divine diagram, and they shot into the sky.

But even so, they could not stop the kings from emerging. The black hole did not close with the formation's disappearance. Two great kings burst out one after another.

"Go!"

Xiao Chen and Old Goat fled for their lives as they cleared the Sun Star, pushing the great Dao origin law to its absolute limit, reaching a million miles in an instant.

"Go to ground!"

They dove directly into the earth, turning into a streak of light that flew through the planet's core, eventually becoming still rock, silent and hidden, their auras concealed.

On that day, the Celestial Realm erupted into complete chaos.

Several kings and combatants had contested the Heaven-Defying War Treasure, but in the end, all had failed. An unremarkable little old man had snatched it away, catching everyone completely off guard.

"The Lotus King had it and lost it—truly unexpected."

"And what about this? They say the Lishi Beast and the Stone Corpse were drenched in dog's blood."

"And the other combatants all failed too—unimaginable."

People talked endlessly.

Deep beneath the Celestial Realm's earth, Xiao Chen used the Pangu Stone Token to conceal his aura, then hid within the divine diagram. He was now questioning Old Goat about the true identities of the kings and combatants who had pursued them.

"The blood light that rushed from the Celestial Realm's ancient battlefield into the Sun Star—if I'm not mistaken, it should be a stone man king named Shan Jun, returned from the ages as a Heaven-Defying Warrior."

"As for that giant hand that blocked us, now that I think carefully, it feels very familiar. It must be the ancestor of the Floating Void Island. Hard to believe the Floating Void old ancestor really didn't die."

"And the king hidden within that spiral of water vapor, if I'm not mistaken, should be the Water King, Song Dafei."

Hearing Old Goat's words, Xiao Chen fell into deep thought. The Lotus King, the Lishi Beast, the Stone Corpse, Shan Jun, the Floating Void Ancestor, Water King Song Dafei—six Celestial Realm kings and combatants appearing at once was truly terrifying.

None of them had manifested their true bodies, only avatars, yet they were already unmatched in the world. What scene would unfold if their true bodies emerged?

"How many kings are there in the Celestial Realm?" That was the question Xiao Chen cared about most.

"Not many. The Celestial Realm has always been a cycle of new generations replacing the old. When a powerful new king emerges, an aging old king must fall. Since ancient times, the number of kings has remained stable." Old Goat gave Xiao Chen a vague answer, avoiding the exact number. "But the occasional Heaven-Defying Warrior returning from the ages is a variable."

Xiao Chen found this puzzling, but the old rogue was always cryptic and wouldn't explain further. Instead, he urged, "The most important thing now is not to discuss this, but to see what the Heaven-Defying War Treasure actually is."

Xiao Chen was also curious. Eager to know what the treasure in the Sun Star Palace really was, he released it as chaotic light flashed before them.

"Peel off the chaotic stone skin!"

The war treasure was encased in a thick layer of chaotic stone skin, extremely hard. They had to keep chipping away, slowly cracking the layer until the treasure inside began to emerge.

"Witness the miracle!" Old Goat was practically drooling.

Xiao Chen was also intensely focused, staring at the treasure cradled in his palm.

Crack!

The chaotic stone skin finally shattered completely. Flecks of light sparkled as it fell away, revealing the treasure within.

The moment they saw it, both of them were petrified. How could something that several Celestial Realm giants had fought and bled for be so… ordinary?

Old Goat held up a thumb-length stone key, tears streaming down his face. "I plotted and schemed with my crippled body, snatched this treasure out of the very mouths of tigers and dragons—and this is what I get?! A piece of junk?!" He cursed loudly. "Wasn't it supposed to be that the moment you saw this treasure, a whole new window of cultivation would open for anyone? Then what the hell is this rotten key supposed to open? I could forge a hundred of these with my eyes closed!"

His disappointment was understandable. The stone key was utterly unremarkable. Though it was made of stone, exceptionally hard and difficult to decay, there was no fluctuation of divine power, no trace of any mark upon it.

Xiao Chen took it and examined it over and over, finding nothing special.

"Son of a bitch—do we need to take this crappy key somewhere and open a door?" Old Goat fumed. "Not even a single hint."

Xiao Chen was also speechless. All that effort for the Heaven-Defying War Treasure, and it turned out to be a stone key. It might hide some earth-shattering secret, but for now, it was utterly useless.

"Stone key… stone key… let me think…" Old Goat suddenly muttered to himself, repeating the word "stone key."

"Has there ever been a mysterious stone key like this in the history of the Celestial Realm?" He searched his memory, recalling the countless events he had witnessed over the endless ages.

After a full half hour, Old Goat suddenly shouted, his expression growing extremely agitated. "I remember!"

"What do you remember?" Xiao Chen's heart surged with emotion.

"A billion years ago, when I was still a lowly Perfected Being, I once had the chance to witness two stone man kings playing chess beneath a Cosmic Tree…"