The Stone Key and the Escape from the Celestial Giants

"By the grace of two Stone Man Kings, I quietly observed the game for many days. In the end, they said they were going to a mysterious place to open a door—and mentioned three words: 'stone key.'"

The Old Goat’s voice grew hazy, as if lost in ages past. "Whatever I have achieved today, I owe to my days watching those two kings play chess. I was truly grateful. But that farewell was eternal."

He paused, his gaze distant. "I remember it clearly: divine flowers drifted, each petal crystalline, as the two Stone Man Kings, transcendent and otherworldly, ascended upon a rain of blossoms into the heavens—and they never returned."

"No word at all?" Xiao Chen asked.

The Old Goat sighed. "Not until thirty thousand years later, when the Celestial Realm was showered with falling petals, every one of them stained with blood, and the heavens themselves trembled. Only then did I learn that both kings had fallen on that day."

"How did they fall?"

"Perhaps only two or three kings knew the truth. My cultivation at the time had achieved something, but I was still far too low to fathom the schemes of Celestial Realm giants. I only knew that those two peerless Stone Man Kings had truly vanished forever."

The Celestial Realm held countless secrets, and Xiao Chen, having arrived so recently, understood very little. Hearing this ancient tale deepened his sense of the realm’s unfathomable mystery.

"I later reached great heights and tried to trace those events, but all the people and matters of that age had long since passed away. Even the few giants of that era had returned to dust. Everything was erased by time."

Xiao Chen was profoundly shaken. These shadowy fragments of the past revealed a Celestial Realm far vaster and more mysterious than he had imagined.

"Even when I cast taboo arts to pierce past and future, I found not a single trace. Everything I sought seemed to have been utterly obliterated, as if it had never existed in history. That has baffled me for ages."

Though the Old Goat’s tone was flat, Xiao Chen detected an extraordinary undercurrent. The 'knot' in the Old Goat’s heart touched upon a terrifying, hidden history.

"I do not know why those two kings fell. Their achievements at their peak shook the ages; even after I myself became a king, I held them in awe. Many of the techniques they displayed have never been surpassed."

Eons had passed, and the Old Goat had reached equal heights, yet in speaking of those two, his reverence and awe remained undimmed. It showed how deeply they had impressed him.

"Though I never discovered the final truth, many events of that era struck me as deeply suspicious." His eyes suddenly blazed with piercing light. "The Otherworld and the source land of the Nine Provinces both appeared within the myriad worlds at roughly the same time, as if born from the void. Soon after, the great war erupted, shaking even the Celestial Realm."

The Old Goat’s voice dropped. "I did not witness that war, but I heard others speak of it: the setting sun like blood, the kings in their twilight. And at that very moment, I was meditating beneath a World Tree in the Celestial Realm when I saw petals falling—stained with blood—drifting from nowhere. That place was the exact site where the two kings had last ascended to heaven. When they fell, the petal rain began there."

He turned to Xiao Chen, his expression bleak. "An Otherworld king fell in the war, and the Celestial Realm stirred. I do not know why that sacred ground manifested such visions. I believe there must be a hidden secret."

For a long moment, the Old Goat was silent. Then he spoke again, his voice heavy. "In those distant days, I overlooked a crucial clue: the stone key. The two kings had mentioned those three words vaguely, but I dismissed it. I even mistook it for 'stone medicine,' a medicinal pill refined by Stone Man Kings. Eons passed, and all those memories were sealed within me—until today, when the words 'stone key' struck me like thunder. It was never 'stone medicine'—it was 'stone key'! And that is the only faint thread I possess. Yet even now, knowing those three words, I still do not know what happened in that age. Where did those two kings, whose power was unrivaled in the heavens, go? Why did they still fall?"

Xiao Chen pondered the Old Goat’s tale for a long time, turning the stone key over and over in his hand, but finding no answers.

"Let us take this stone key to the site of the World Tree," Xiao Chen suggested. "There might be something there."

The Old Goat agreed.

Concealing their tracks, they flew swiftly through the earth, racing toward the central domain of the Celestial Realm. The realm was vast beyond measure, and they traveled millions of li before reaching their destination.

Holding the Pangu Stone Token, they cautiously emerged onto the surface. The fresh air met them. This was a lush primeval forest, with ancient trees towering and vines entwining in a scene of pristine wilderness. The legendary World Tree of old no longer existed; eons had reduced it to decayed soil. Yet here, Xiao Chen saw a fragment of its severed root, as vast as a mountain, buried beneath the earth. It had long lost all vitality, petrified into hard rock that rang like metal when struck.

They found nothing here either. Just as they were about to leave, Xiao Chen idly tapped the petrified root with the stone key, and a miracle occurred.

The stone key, which had never radiated any divine power, suddenly emanated a faint, mysterious aura—serene yet profound. Light swirled around Xiao Chen and the Old Goat; blurred petals began to fall around them, and above their heads, a hazy sky appeared.

In that sky, two figures stood erect and lofty. Then a window opened in the firmament, followed by divine petals stained with blood, drifting downward.

The scene was simple—no dazzling light—and then vanished as quickly as it had come.

But the Old Goat was deeply shaken. "It truly opened a window. But what was it?"

Xiao Chen’s mind raced. Was the source land of the Nine Provinces, and the Otherworld, connected to that window? Based on what the Old Goat had said earlier, there seemed to be a link.

"I knew that old wretch was here!" The Sharpening Beast’s icy voice rang out, his childlike body utterly at odds with his cold tone as he stood in midair.

"The old relic certainly is sentimental!" Crimson light blazed as the Reverse Heaven War Warrior, Danjun, looked down from the void, surrounded by a sea of blood.

"Heh heh..." The Stone Corpse’s sinister laughter echoed. Of all those present, he was likely the most ancient, having survived countless great catastrophes in the Celestial Realm; almost all cultivators his age were dead.

A spiral of water vapor, like two surging rivers, swept in from thousands of li away—the Water King, Song Dafei.

Rainbow light erupted as a stone lotus bloomed; the Lotus King descended, ethereal but carrying a faint killing intent fixed on the Old Goat.

Boom! A giant hand shattered the air, reaching down to seize Xiao Chen and the Old Goat. It was the Suspended Ancestor of the Suspended Island—the most direct, making clear his intention to kill.

"You bunch of cabbages! If my body weren't damaged, would you dare look down on me like this?!" the Old Goat shouted as he fused with Xiao Chen, swiftly dodging the giant hand's strike.

"The heaven-defying war treasure you all are fighting over is nothing but this stone key! If any of you can explain its secret, I will hand it to you directly!"

"The heaven-defying war treasure is a stone key?!" The Sharpening Beast’s eyes flashed with disbelief. "I find that hard to swallow."

Xiao Chen brandished the stone key. "The treasure is here; its aura has not changed. Why do you not believe?"

"Even if we cannot destroy you today, you will still pay a price!" The Stone Corpse’s voice was frigid, corpse mist billowing around him.

"Indeed, a price must be paid to settle this!" Danjun’s stance was equally resolute.

Even the Lotus King, who had previously cooperated with the Old Goat, now wore a cold, distant expression.

This time, the Old Goat had deceived everyone, snatched the treasure from the tiger’s mouth without much effort, and left the Celestial Realm giants utterly humiliated. Their demand for satisfaction was inevitable.

"Fly? Dig underground?" Xiao Chen asked the Old Goat silently about how to break the encirclement.

"We’re locked on. It will be hard to escape. Even if we break through, they will deduce our hiding place within days. No one can withstand the combined might of these six. We must settle this one way or another."

"Six giants. How can we settle it? Are we supposed to just wait to die?" Xiao Chen frowned deeply. Even with their two bodies merged, they could not sweep any enemy, as these were incarnations of peak powers.

"There seems to be only one way now—descend to the Lower Realm!" That was the Old Goat’s final resort.

But Xiao Chen fell silent. If these six followed them down, they would tear the world apart—the Nine Provinces would cease to exist. Of course, if they used the descent wisely, they might also severely wound the Otherworld. But the Old Goat’s next words shocked him.

"Ancestral Gods can descend, but kings have their reservations."

"Why?"

"Because in different ages, two kings descended to the Lower Realm, and both died inexplicably. To this day, the mystery remains unsolved. It hangs like a shadow over the minds of Celestial Realm giants. Unless absolutely necessary, they will not descend lightly."

Xiao Chen’s thoughts immediately turned to the ninety-nine stone steps of the Otherworld, then to the nine lamps and the heavenly steles, and finally to the Death World. He felt that besides these factors, no power in the world could destroy a Stone Man King.

Boom! At that moment, the six giants struck, their combined assault aimed at Xiao Chen and the Old Goat—a release of their fury over the heaven-defying war treasure as well as their hatred for the Old Goat. Not all of them were disappointed about the treasure, though; beneath the Stone Corpse’s ancient stillness, the deepest fire burned with greed.

"Let's go—descend to the Lower Realm!"

Xiao Chen fled, covering tens of thousands of li in an instant, racing toward the chaotic channel by which he had first entered the Celestial Realm.

"I haven't set foot in the Lower Realm in several civilization ages," the Old Goat said. "I'll take another look. I don't believe that mysterious curse can destroy me." In their desperation, he agreed.

Behind them, the six giants followed unhurriedly, bombarding them relentlessly. The Old Goat groaned, barely sustaining his great Dao imprint with a pained expression. Xiao Chen felt as if his body were tearing apart, on the verge of annihilation at any moment.

The situation was dire.

Just then, Xiao Chen was startled to see two colossal Primordial Demon Cities standing upright on the land ahead. Sensing the approach of the six giants, both cities trembled. At the same time, the Otherworld king’s Dao imprint within his body shook violently, trying to break free—a dire sign.

"What giant’s territory is this?" Xiao Chen asked.

"The Stone Corpse’s border. This should be an important site of the Otherworld faction."

"So it is." Xiao Chen understood: descendants of the Otherworld king’s imprint had reached a terrifying level and formed divine cities.

"Boy, you're not thinking of..." the Old Goat began, alarmed.

"I am thinking of..." But before Xiao Chen could finish, the divine cities below reacted first.

Boom! The two colossal cities trembled violently, then tore themselves from the earth, charging into the sky—though their foundations were badly damaged—blocking Xiao Chen.

A lion must use full force even to catch a rabbit!

At that moment, Xiao Chen was utterly ruthless. He unfurled the ancient scroll, and a magnificent landscape of mountains and rivers spread out, covering the sky and sweeping everything before it. The Primordial Demon Cities shuddered, releasing boundless divine light to counter him.

The scroll spanned hundreds of li, its majestic landscape seeming to bring the five Stone Man Kings back to life, as if they were about to step forth, blazing with ten-thousand-zhang radiance.

At this moment, Xiao Chen was comparable to a Reverse Heaven War Warrior and could unleash the scroll’s full power. Divine might surged, and even the six giants behind him changed color.

Boom! The scroll slammed into one of the cities, shattering its divine gate and collapsing half its wall, sending massive stone rubble crashing down.

"That scroll!" the Stone Corpse exclaimed, his eyes wide. No one knew better than him its power and mystery—it had once sealed his six corpses in the chaos tunnel leading to the Wasteland.

"What a treasure! Seizing this will be no worse than the heaven-defying war treasure!" the Sharpening Beast’s eyes gleamed.

Xiao Chen struck again. The scroll swept forward, continuing its assault on the already damaged city. With a tearing sound, half the Primordial Demon City collapsed, and the remaining half fled instantly. The other city, sensing the danger, also retreated at lightning speed.

Xiao Chen took six direct hits from the giants on his back. If he had not reached the level of a Reverse Heaven War Warrior and merged with the divine diagram, he would have been utterly destroyed. Even so, he suffered grievous wounds.

He spat a mouthful of blood and continued his pursuit. The two incomplete stone men were extraordinary—able to fly through the sky—and they were descendants of the Otherworld king’s imprint. He was determined to destroy them even at the risk of his life.

Like a dream, like lightning, Xiao Chen materialized before one of the cities. The scroll enveloped it, and in a burst of blinding light, the city’s shattered foundation was ground to dust.

At the same time, thirty-plus War Swords flew out from Xiao Chen’s divine diagram, merging with the scroll to attack the other city.

Boom! That city’s foundation also collapsed, crashing down.

It all happened in an instant. Both divine cities had their foundations destroyed. With two despairing roars, divine flames surged as the two cities exploded. Two incomplete stone men charged madly into the sky, hurling themselves at Xiao Chen.

Boom! Xiao Chen took another barrage from the six giants and finally fell from the sky.

"Kill!" Xiao Chen acted with cold cruelty, sweeping the scroll across the land below, shattering the Otherworld faction’s stronghold. He felt that at least three Otherworld powerhouses had been crushed.

But his own body was now nearly broken. He fled weakly into the distance.

Destroying two powerful cultivators of the Celestial Realm Otherworld faction who had embarked on the Stone Man path and possessed unlimited potential, plus three Ancestral Gods—Xiao Chen felt it was worth it.

Eight pursuers now followed him: the six giants and two incomplete stone men. It was a terrifying concentration of power.

Closer! At last, Xiao Chen approached the chaos channel leading to the Lower Realm.

"I’m almost done for, boy—hurry!" the Old Goat urged.

The six giants kept pounding them. Xiao Chen’s body shattered several times, only to be restored by the divine diagram. Meanwhile, the ancient scroll blazed with millions of zhang of light, absorbing and deflecting most of the incoming attacks.

Xiao Chen finally plunged into the chaos channel—only to find the way blocked by the colossal palace from the Wasteland!

Inside the channel, chaotic light flickered. The enormous palace stood in their path, making Xiao Chen frantic.

"This..."

Boom! The six giants descended, their presence shaking the chaos channel. They strode in, followed by the two despairing stone men, now maddened beyond reason.

"A dead end!" the Old Goat cried. "Finished! I’ll have to lose a strand of my essence and only return after thirty thousand years!"

Xiao Chen ignored him. He summoned the scroll, merging it with the divine diagram, and crashed into the palace.

It had been an impenetrable wall, but now it rippled like water, undulating gently. Xiao Chen plunged straight through. The Great Palace of the Wasteland, a sacred site of old, shared its origin with the divine diagram and the ancient scroll, so it naturally allowed him passage.

"What?!" The six giants behind him were enraged. They had held back from approaching the palace, not expecting Xiao Chen to pass through so easily.

Boom! The Stone Corpse pounded the palace, sending chaos surging and the structure shaking violently. But the Sharpening Beast and the Lotus King quickly stopped him.

"Do not be reckless! This palace is as mysterious as the ninety-nine stone steps of the Otherworld—not to be touched lightly!"

"Then we just let them go?" the Stone Corpse’s voice was frigid.

"We will work together to drag them back!" the Suspended Ancestor suggested.

"Do it!"

The six giants sat down swiftly.

In the Wasteland, black wind howled. Blood-red light flashed around the Great Palace, grinding everything to nothing.

Xiao Chen had finally returned. He let out a long breath.

But then the Old Goat’s face changed. "Those six bastards cast a spell—they left marks on us and are now trapping us!"

"What can we do?"

"It doesn't matter! You can return safely to the Nine Provinces. At most, I will die for thirty thousand years and then reappear in the world!" The Old Goat’s voice, for once, shed its usual roguishness and took on a heavy tone.

"The Stone Emperor returns..." At that moment, the voices of the six giants echoed through the chaos channel into the Wasteland.

"The Stone Emperor returns..." The Old Goat’s figure began to blur.

Xiao Chen was horrified and immediately tried to block the effect with the divine diagram and the scroll.

"It is useless. When six kings act together, none under heaven can stop them." The Old Goat seemed calm now. "I am eternal. Even if I am ground to dust this time, I will still return in thirty thousand years. You must go. Remember, you owe me a great debt one day you must lend me the divine diagram."

"Take the Stone Emperor..." Xiao Chen stared at the fading shadow, but he could do nothing to stop it.