The Failed Stone Man

Which path should he take? Xiao Chen asked himself this as he stood at the crossroads. He needed to make a clear decision, to settle on a definite goal.

He gathered the corpses of the old farmer, Mo Xiaowang, and the others. They did not return to the Nine Provinces immediately but instead walked deeper into the Death World.

Thus had they severed the foundations of the Wood Female Saint. Looking back now, the great battle seemed deceptively calm and unremarkable.

Perhaps many things were like that—only profound in the moment, then passing like a breeze over the earth, like white clouds against a blue mountain, quickly fading to stillness until they left no trace at all.

"You have destroyed the Wood Female Saint's foundation. The matter has definitely escalated. The gods will tear apart heaven and earth to find you," Babula said with concern.

"If one comes, we kill one. If a pair comes, we kill a pair." Though Sha Polang spoke boldly, even he felt the truth of the warning.

"We should not return to the Nine Provinces for a while," Xiao Chen said after a moment's thought. "Let us cultivate quietly here in the Death World."

Ahead, a great black river surged endlessly across the dead land, like a dark demonic dragon stretching for who knew how many tens of thousands of li.

Xiao Chen was no stranger to the Netherworld River. Tracing it upstream from its deepest reaches for hundreds of thousands of li still would not reveal its source.

In the rushing waters, white jade bones occasionally leaped above the surface, flashing with eerie light as they spied on the group, who radiated no strong aura.

"Let us walk a while longer and each contemplate our own path of cultivation," Xiao Chen said. He felt a powerful urge to walk the Stone Man path here in the Death World.

With the King's Divine City in hand, this was the best choice.

But the three-thousand-year agreement from that past age still stood, with more than a hundred thousand years remaining. If he condensed a Demon City, he would need to slumber for at least two full cycles of civilization—he would never make the appointment in time.

The others naturally understood that Xiao Chen had reached a crossroads. The Little Defiant Dragon said, "If we cannot reach the Stone Man King realm now, it will be impossible to turn the tide of battle. I am deeply worried about the great war three thousand years from now."

Indeed, knowing the depths of the Otherworld's power, Xiao Chen too felt a constant, gnawing unease. If they did not produce a few Kings, they simply could not contend.

Sha Polang also grew serious for once. "Why not set aside all other matters, use the King's Giant City you possess, and cultivate in solitude to walk the true Stone Man path?"

They advanced along the black Netherworld River. The water was as dark as ink, enough to make one's heart shudder, and its thunderous roar was like ten thousand horses galloping, deafening to the ear.

Just then, strange ripples came from ahead. Countless bone creatures, like a tide, fled in terror from the depths of the Death World.

"What happened?"

The group was startled and gazed into the distance.

A vast horde of fire seed beings, some flying, some running, stretched white and unbroken into the distance—hundreds of thousands, even millions, their end nowhere in sight.

"Let us go see." Xiao Chen now had enough capital to roam freely through the Death World. Aside from the deepest, most mysterious places, he could go anywhere.

Sha Polang was beside himself with excitement. Having awakened in this world, if powerful fire seed beings lay ahead, they would become his nourishment. He believed that with Xiao Chen and the Little Defiant Dragon present, even two or three legendary Ancestral Lords would be nothing to fear.

With a roar, a bone mammoth as large as a small mountain charged forward, its soul screaming in rage.

Sha Polang shook his long hair, striking a narcissistic pose. He absurdly rolled up his Western-style sleeves, lifted the charging mammoth with one hand, and said, "Speak. What is happening ahead?"

The mammoth immediately sensed the power of those before it. Its mountain-like body trembled as it sent a soul fluctuation: "Ahead is a death storm—no one knows what it is! All fire seed beings are fleeing in terror..."

Sha Polang tossed it aside, then grabbed several more powerful fire seed beings to interrogate, but still received no clear answer.

Just then, the millions-strong bone army swept close. The ground shook, and the black Netherworld River surged in waves dozens of meters high.

Xiao Chen and the others rose into the air, flying above the tide of white bones as they pressed forward.

Like muffled thunder rolling, an endless sea of white bones stretched before them.

Boom!

At that moment, they saw tens of thousands of bone creatures explode ahead, their bodies shattering into bone dust that scattered on the wind. The essence of their bones formed streaks of white light that surged forward, as if some colossal being was absorbing their bone energy.

"I have heard that when a King ascends to Ancestral Lord, they require vast amounts of bone essence. It seems some behemoth ahead is about to become an Ancestral Lord," Sha Polang said.

The boundless sea of bones blocked the path ahead. The death storm swept through, crushing countless bone beings, their essence converging toward the battlefield ahead.

"There is indeed a big presence," Xiao Chen said, already sensing the powerful divine energy fluctuations. Then he suddenly smiled at Babula. "Speaking of which, you once turned into white bones, did you not? I nearly forgot—I still have something of yours. Let me return it now."

He took out a section of leg bone and tossed it over, instantly covering Babula's forehead with black lines. In that ancient battle, Xiao Chen had forcibly taken a piece of Babula's leg. So many years later, having it thrown back like this drove Babula to the brink of madness.

"You..." Babula panted heavily.

Sha Polang shamelessly said, "If you don't want it, give it to me."

"Go stand over there!"

Xiao Chen and his group advanced another hundred li before finally seeing what lay ahead. It was completely unexpected. There stood a massive Dead City—not a King ascending to Ancestral Lord, but a Stone Man calling the life essence of the bone creatures to him.

The stone city was not large, far smaller than the Demon Cities they had seen before. It resembled a small stone fortress.

Above the small stone city, a Stone Man whose arms alone had turned to stone floated cross-legged in meditation. All the bone essence was converging toward him.

"Such a small divine city, and he has not taken the final step, yet he emerges into the world..." the Little Defiant Dragon mused.

"I have seen this man before," Xiao Chen said in surprise. This was one of the former powerhouses of the Otherworld. In that distant age when the Yellow Clay Altar had rampaged through the Otherworld, he had glimpsed this man in passing. More than a hundred thousand years later, he had become a Stone Man—an alarming rate of growth.

"No. Apart from his arms, which barely qualify as Stone Man parts, the rest of his body has not even reached the level of a Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor. A very strange feeling," Xiao Chen frowned. "It feels less like a Stone Man and more like a Seventh or Eighth Heaven Half-Ancestor."

"Since he is an Otherworld powerhouse, there is nothing more to say. Capture him first," the Little Defiant Dragon said, his battle intent running high.

Babula's expression was cold. He clearly recognized the man ahead, but seemed to bear no grudge, and did not wish to be involved.

"Dealing with him is simple. He appears to have just emerged from a failed attempt at a divine city. He is greatly weakened right now. Not even a Stone Man—a Fifth Heaven Half-Ancestor could threaten him."

This was the result of Xiao Chen's careful observation.

He held the stone jar in his palm, gently stroking its surface. The Stone Man King imprints on it blazed with light, and a powerful Stone Man battle form materialized in the void.

"Take him!" Xiao Chen commanded.

The Stone Man King puppet let out a roar that shook the entire Death Continent. Millions of fleeing fire seed beings prostrated themselves, not daring to move.

The Stone Man, who had been suspended in stillness above the stone city, opened his eyes in shock.

The moment he saw Xiao Chen and his group, killing intent flashed in his gaze. But when he noticed the Stone Man King puppet, shock replaced it. Without a word, he rose into the air and attempted to flee.

With a roar, the Stone Man King puppet erupted with overwhelming combat power. Its oppressive pressure split the Death Continent itself. The "War God Domain" descended, covering heaven and earth, sealing all directions. The Stone Man could not break free.

Boom!

With a single punch from the Stone Man King puppet, the stone city ahead shattered, collapsing into the earth. The Stone Man himself was as if struck by lightning—his crossed arms broke at the elbow, his chest caved in, and he spat blood as he crashed to the ground.

Such was the power of the Stone Man King battle form. Aside from aberrations like the Wood Female Saint, no one below the Ancestral God level could withstand it.

Boom!

The Stone Man King puppet, its aura towering to the heavens, threw another punch. The fallen Stone Man could not resist. A thousand divine beams shot forth, but all dissolved in the void, unable to stop the titanic fist force. He exploded, his body shattering across the earth.

Sha Polang and the Nine-Headed Serpent stood dumbfounded. Even Babula showed surprise. Xiao Chen himself was taken aback. The Stone Man King puppet's power was devastating—the battle had not been suspenseful at all. Two brief punches, and it was over.

Light flashed. The Stone Man King imprint returned to the stone jar, appearing and vanishing in an instant.

Xiao Chen and the others descended, arriving beside the fallen Stone Man. They fixed his flesh-and-blood head in place.

"I never expected to meet you in this world. Tell me—why have you appeared here, condensing a Dead City?"

The Otherworld powerhouse's stone arms had been shattered. Only his flesh-and-blood head remained intact, and his soul was preserved.

"Kill me if you want." At the same time, his gaze fell on Babula with puzzled recognition, then he cried out in shock, "It is you..."

"If you will not speak, I will take the knowledge by force."

"No!" the Stone Man roared, trying to detonate his soul.

But Xiao Chen had absolute power to suppress him. He could not even destroy himself.

Two golden beams shot from Xiao Chen's eyes, plunging into the Stone Man's sea of consciousness. In moments, he understood why this opponent had been so easily shattered.

Strictly speaking, this was not a powerful Stone Man at all. He was a powerhouse who had advanced through an alternative method.

This Otherworld Half-Ancestor, named Linghu Sha, was indeed far from the true Stone Man realm. He had merely taken a shortcut.

Linghu Sha had discovered the ruins of a shattered Primordial Demon City in the Death World. Digging it open, he unearthed a Stone Man corpse. Using a secret technique, he refined it, then reassembled the ruins, achieving his current state.

With the cultivation of a Seventh Heaven Half-Ancestor, he had forcibly turned both arms to stone, stepping from the Half-Ancestor realm into a broken Stone Man state.

Xiao Chen was deeply interested in that secret technique. He forcibly searched Linghu Sha's sea of consciousness and found it.

Among the gods of the Otherworld, there were indeed some stunning geniuses. In the past, someone had used an alternative method to walk the Stone Man path, constantly collecting Demon City ruins and Stone Man corpses, nearly taking the final step.

This struck a deep chord in Xiao Chen. He skimmed through the technique—though it was only a hypothetical cultivation path with many flaws and gaps, it gave him boundless inspiration.

He was at a crucial crossroads, needing to make a choice. After reading this secret method, new ideas blossomed.

Perhaps the Stone Man path and the Supreme Ancestral God path were not the only two roads.

Starting from a Stone Man corpse and Demon City ruins—a very unconventional inspiration.

"Hm? That is..." At that moment, Xiao Chen's face changed drastically. He had found a memory fragment in Linghu Sha's consciousness that filled him with grief and fury.

Xiao Keke, the snow-white little beast, was covered in seven-colored light, struggling desperately between heaven and earth. Its fur, pure as snow, was stained crimson with blood...

In the end, it forced its way onto the Ancestral Lord Warship. But at the moment the warship tore through the barrier between worlds, the gods struck with full force. Their divine laws rained down upon the ship, severing a section of its hull.

"Ya-ya—"

A single, unwilling childish cry, and it was over. On the severed section of the Ancestral Lord Warship, a few blood-stained little paw prints were so vivid, so heartbreaking, that Xiao Chen's grief and fury peaked.

"Keke..." he whispered. This poor little creature was Xiao Chen's reverse scale. After searching through the entire memory, he crushed the skull before him with a bang.

Then, emotionlessly, he performed the Sacred Sacrifice, absorbing all the life essence into the Demon City in his hand, and finally refined and stored the divine city itself.

"Keke... is it still in this world?" the Little Defiant Dragon asked, his expression a mixture of joy, shock, and sorrow.

"I do not know. I only found a shattered image—an ending that is no ending. I believe... being struck by so many divine laws, I find it very hard to believe Keke truly lives. But half the Ancestral Lord Warship did break through the barrier between worlds, so there may yet be a shred of hope."

They departed from the place. They had flown barely ten thousand li when strange ripples came from ahead once more.

"What is this? Are we cursed today? Another Stone Man appears?" Sha Polang asked with shock and uncertainty. "Why are they all gathering at once?"

Just then, the distant death mountains silently collapsed, turning to ash and vanishing.

It happened with terrifying speed. The range of peaks ahead crumbled like sand, vast stretches of land flattening into plains as the great mountains vanished without a trace.

This was a horrific scene, deeply shocking.

A sheet of grey mist rolled forward, shattering everything in its path as it surged toward them.

"The Land of Prophecy!"

Xiao Chen's eyes blazed with divine light. He knew what this mist represented, for he had experienced it before and nearly lost his life.

"The Death Heaven Palace... Great Might Nether King... we meet again..." Xiao Chen now feared this treacherous place. He shielded Sha Polang and the Nine-Headed Serpent as he flew ahead.

The Little Defiant Dragon and Babula did not need his light barrier for protection.

"This is the terrible mist formed after an Ancestral God falls..." Babula frowned.

Xiao Chen advanced with a heavy heart. He had always harbored doubts about the Death Heaven Palace, believing its prophecy was shrouded in mystery, that things could not be so simple.

Regardless, he would investigate thoroughly this time, to see whether Tianwaitian, Renwairen, Yingxiong, and the others had truly been dragged back here and fallen.

The grey fog stretched endlessly, forming its own separate space that only appeared once every few hundred years.

Within it drifted many enormous objects—giant boulders that even Ancestral God soul power could not wear away, excellent refining materials floating like islands.

If one had not reached the Ancestral God realm, entering this mist required luck to reach the Death Heaven Palace. In that bygone age, Xiao Chen and the others had drifted for years before landing on that great palace.

Xiao Chen swept his powerful divine sense across all directions, locating the correct path in an instant. He brought the others along and flew swiftly forward.

Several hundred li in, shadowy outlines appeared ahead. A vast, magnificent palace complex drifted slowly, floating and sinking within the grey mist.

"Such a magnificent palace!" Babula exclaimed.

"We are rich!" Sha Polang's eyes glowed green with excitement as he rubbed his hands together.

They drew close, approaching the edge of the boundless heavenly palace.

"That is..." Xiao Chen showed surprise, his eyes blazing with divine light. He saw half an Ancestral Lord Warship moored on the great stone steps of the Death Heaven Palace.

"Keke..." the Little Defiant Dragon cried out.

They saw no sign of Keke itself, but the blood-stained little paw prints on the severed section of the warship were a shocking, vivid crimson.