The Heavenly Stele Bursts the Stone Corpse

The Stone Corpse's power was beyond doubt—he was one of the longest-living Stone Man Kings in the Celestial Realm. At this moment, his demonic form towered a billion zhang high, his head scraping the heavens, his feet treading the earth, his breath inhaling and exhaling sun, moon, and stars. Rolling demonic clouds drifted in and out of his seven orifices like rivers of the underworld in surging torrents.

"I don't believe you can refine this Heavenly Stele!" Xiao Chen resolved silently. Holding the meter-high Heavenly Stele in his arms, he began channeling divine power into the stele.

"Ya ya..." Little Keke also stretched out a pair of snowy-white paws, pressing against Xiao Chen's back to assist him in jointly offering up the divine stele, preparing to unleash a heaven-shaking blow.

The Stone Corpse used his supreme demonic body to evolve divine laws and principles, fully displaying the deathly corpse-path's demonic essence, attempting to forcibly refine the Divine Diagram and the Ancient Scroll, merging them with himself to achieve the eternal, undying holy corpse heavenly way.

Just then, the Heavenly Stele swelled, rapidly growing larger, emitting a pressure that made one tremble, as if a savage beast capable of annihilating worlds had been awakened from slumber.

The Stone Corpse sensed the danger at once. Frantically gathering the origin power of a Stone Man King, he spewed out starry rivers and vast nebulas from his body, trying to bring Xiao Chen and the others out with him.

But once the Heavenly Stele expanded, it had become as heavy as a mountain, capable of crushing worlds. Although the wind stirred within his belly and stars danced chaotically, he still could not shake the Heavenly Stele.

"ROAR!" The Stone Corpse bellowed. Since he dared to covet both the Divine Diagram and the Ancient Scroll, he naturally had extraordinary power. He began to recklessly unleash his king-level combat strength for a final refinement, but the Heavenly Stele, growing ever larger, blocked him from within and rose straight up!

"Impossible!" The Stone Corpse was shocked and felt an impulse to curse out loud. He cried out, "That's not a Heavenly Mark—it's a real Heavenly Stele! How could it be in my belly?"

He had known Xiao Chen from earlier days and knew Xiao Chen possessed the Heavenly Mark, but the Stone Corpse would never believe that Xiao Chen had actually brought a real Heavenly Stele into his arms.

At that moment, he was like a mortal who had swallowed a hundred-jin stone. His face turned pallid, his breath came like a bellows, and he looked as if he might go mad!

"This is... NOT REAL!" The Stone Corpse roared in fury. His stone face trembled as a great tremor sounded from within his belly. The Heavenly Stele shook and expanded to the limit Xiao Chen could drive it, already piercing through the Stone Corpse's stone belly and entrails, almost emerging from his throat.

The Stone Corpse went wild. His stone hair stood on end and turned from green to blue to black. A murderous light flashed in his eyes. With a great cry, his massive body took one step to the center of the ancient land, right in the circle of battle among the several Stone Man Kings.

This old corpse was completely throwing caution to the wind. 'If I'm doomed, everyone else will be too!' was his malicious thought at the moment. His enormous body was in the middle of the crowd, and with a bang, it split open.

"Looking for death!" "Madness!"

The nearby Stone Man Kings, seeing the Stone Corpse showing them such contempt, all attacked together, striking out at him.

But then they sensed something wrong. The Stone Corpse's features were twisted, his mouth hung open uncontrollably, his teeth had all fallen out, his stone lips were cracking rapidly, and his neck was grotesquely swollen!

With a thunderous roar, the Stone Corpse's mountain-like stone body blazed with light a billion zhang high, and in that instant, it exploded!

Overwhelming energy filled the sky and earth, directly blasting even the remnants of the ancient killing formations in the region into collapse. A tidal wave of energy instantly tore through the void, creating several terrifying wormholes that shot toward countless unknown great worlds.

Even though Stone Man Kings were eternal and undying, at this moment they all changed color and felt the urge to curse. That Stone Corpse was too ruthless! He had charged into their midst and self-destructed—savage to the extreme! Was he being cruel to others and even more so to himself, trying to grievously wound everyone?

But in the blink of an eye, they understood what had happened. A colossal Heavenly Stele fell from the shattered corpse of the Stone Corpse, crashing to the ground like a great mountain, splitting the earth and shaking the heavens.

Every one of them had the same thought: the Stone Corpse must have gone mad to swallow a Heavenly Stele! It made no sense at all! Legend had it that the Little Stone Emperor's tomb contained a Heavenly Stele of unfathomable might, and everyone believed the Stone Corpse had encountered that stele.

Xiao Chen, draped in the Ancient Scroll and merged with the Divine Diagram, and protected by the king-tier divine city's embryo form, barely weathered the fierce energy waves. He took Keke and flew away at top speed.

"Where do you think you're going!" Lu Zhan spotted him at once. A gigantic demonic claw reached out, smashing all the stars that had burst from the Stone Corpse's body after the explosion, hacking at Xiao Chen and Keke.

"Seize the Three Sovereign Mirror!" Xiao Chen shouted, as if speaking to someone hidden in the shadows. At this, the surrounding Stone Man Kings all charged toward the Three Sovereign Mirror, which had been knocked to a distance by the violent energy and was left unguarded.

Lu Zhan was extremely reluctant. He viciously swiped with his palm but then pulled back the outstretched claw. Even so, his divine power surged like a collapsing sea, rolling in on them.

But Xiao Chen could withstand such a palm strike. As long as he did not truly engage Lu Zhan in direct combat, he still had great confidence. A colossal stone seal flew out from the Ancient Scroll, expanding to ten thousand zhang and smashing down.

"Boom!" The annihilating palm force was blocked from behind, not harming Xiao Chen or Keke.

"Withdraw!" Xiao Chen growled lowly. The Heavenly Stele, which had fallen to the ground and shrunk to a meter in length, shot back like a bolt of lightning. The many Stone Man Kings were startled, but they did not block him—they were fiercely contending for the Three Sovereign Mirror.

Meanwhile, the shattered fragments of the Stone Corpse's body surged in all directions. He intended to flee from the drilled-out wormholes toward various different great worlds.

"When I return, I will take both the Divine Diagram and your soul-force!" The Stone Corpse's voice was as cold as ice. At this moment, he was beyond furious. His stone body had shattered into pieces—this was immense disgrace and terrible trauma. He was nearly driven mad.

But this old fossil was by nature suspicious and cautious. Once his body broke apart, he did not dare stay in the Celestial Realm. He split into several parts and immediately fled through the wormholes toward other unknown worlds.

Xiao Chen was shocked. This Stone Corpse was far too powerful. The Heavenly Stele had exploded his body, yet he showed no signs of perishing. Truly terrifying.

He gained a deeper understanding of how fearsome a Stone Man King was!

Combatants of this level already represented the strongest battle strength of all heavens and myriad worlds. After all, beings like the Little Stone Emperor were rare across the ages and could not exist in this world for long. In a sense, Stone Man Kings were the mightiest!

A cold light flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes. He shook the Ancient Scroll, and the five Stone Man Kings stepped out together, instantly fixing the Stone Corpse's right foot, which had been trying to escape at the last moment.

"Boom!" The Little Stone Emperor's great seal and holy sword struck it simultaneously.

"Bang!"

That withered stone foot could not escape. After being hit, it instantly cracked, and then the blurry Ancient Scroll descended, enveloping it and drawing it into the magnificent landscape.

The body of a Stone Man King could not be refined in a short time, but Xiao Chen believed in the Ancient Scroll's potential. It had limitless growth and would inevitably absorb the king-level divine power given time.

Furious roars came from the wormholes. The Stone Corpse was utterly enraged, but he did not want to return to the battlefield of several Stone Man Kings.

Xiao Chen transmitted a message: "Old Corpse friend, safe travels. I await your return with a walking stick."

"Good, good, good!" The Stone Corpse's fury lit the heavens, burning to the nine heavens. He wished he could swallow Xiao Chen alive. With boundless rage and regret, he vanished into the wormholes.

Seeing the battle raging around the Three Sovereign Mirror, Xiao Chen frowned deeply. It would be very hard for him to seize the mirror. With so many Stone Man Kings present, he had no hope.

Just then, he spotted a certain Stone Man King breaking a formation inside a great tomb, also searching for something.

"Keke, can you take the entire great tomb into Paradise Lost?"

"Ya ya... hard." The little thing shook its head and muttered, "One great tomb, one world. Seven great tombs, seven worlds. At most I can take up one."

"Good, take that one!"

Xiao Chen pointed to the seventh great tomb, because the stone soldiers from the first three tombs had already been taken. He chose the last—this way he could obtain a stone soldier as well as one of the Demon Stars born with the Little Stone Emperor.

"Okay." Keke nodded vigorously. Then he opened Paradise Lost and absorbed everything, including the remnants of the ancient killing formations within the tomb.

"So heavy! I can't lift it!" The little thing frowned and sweated profusely, using even the last of his strength.

"I'll help you!" Xiao Chen assisted Keke in collecting the seventh great tomb.

"Rumble..."

The seventh great tomb slowly rose from the ground, flying toward Paradise Lost. Finally, with a thunderous crash, it landed inside, shaking the entire Paradise Lost three times.

That Stone Man King's eyes shot cold light as he rushed out from another tomb. Xiao Chen and Keke saw this and flew backward at great speed, not wanting to truly clash with him.

Just then, the Stone Man Kings in the battlefield also noticed this change. Killing intent spread everywhere. They not only wanted to seize the Three Sovereign Mirror, but the seven great tombs had long been regarded as theirs for the taking.

"Kid, you're ruthless enough—you want to dig three feet deep, not even a bird feather left behind..." Old Skeleton wobbled out from one of the great tombs, light flickering in his eye sockets. "The seven Demon Stars will be hard to find in such a short time. I, old man, might as well take a tomb myself. Getting one Demon Star would not make this trip in vain."

Old Skeleton opened his mouth, swallowing the sky and earth, drawing one great tomb into his mouth. When he tried to swallow a second, the Stone Man Kings in the battlefield could no longer tolerate it, raining down a flood of divine principles and curse techniques on him.

Although the most precious Three Sovereign Mirror was being contended over by them, no one could be sure they would get it. Comparatively, the tangible great tombs were the real treasure.

Each great tomb, besides the various heavenly treasures collected by the Little Stone Emperor, also contained a powerful stone soldier and a Demon Star born with a king. If one collected all seven natural-born Demon Stars, their power might not be inferior to the Three Sovereign Mirror.

Old Skeleton changed color, turned into a streak of light, and fled into the distance.

At the same time, that other Stone Man King followed suit, taking one great tomb and shooting into the sky, fleeing away. He was wise enough to know he could not contend for the Three Sovereign Mirror.

By now, Xiao Chen had already carried Keke to the edge of the hundred-thousand-li ancient land. He was not greedy; he made no attempt to fight for the Three Sovereign Mirror. With all the kings in a frenzy, the most important thing was to preserve his life.

Because once the Three Sovereign Mirror was seized by someone, the Stone Man Kings would have their hands free, and he and Keke would have no way up to heaven or down to earth.

But when he charged to the edge of the hundred-thousand-li ancient land, he frowned. The area was sealed by the kings, to keep outside kings from entering the contest.

"Would I have to use the Heavenly Stele and Divine Diagram to smash through the great world barrier and create wormholes to escape?"

In the end, Xiao Chen did not do this, because he sensed strong warriors lurking outside the ancient land. If he acted rashly, he might be ambushed as a 'fat sheep'.

Just then, Old Skeleton also showed his figure furtively not far away, then turned and rushed back into the depths of the ancient land. Xiao Chen saw this and also turned back.

The battle at the center of the ancient land reached a fever pitch. The Suspended Old Ancestor transformed his body into the void Dao, covering the sky as he reached toward the Three Sovereign Mirror. Shan Jun also condensed his body into the Dao, a thousand divine principles and ten thousand Dao rhythms pressing down overwhelmingly.

At the same time, the Stone Crow turned into a black sun and roared, "Great Sun Heavenly Wheel!" Black light exploded, and a nearby three-eyed Stone Man King's skull was nearly shattered.

Lu Zhan, meanwhile, condensed three demonic shadows from his own body, each divine might covering the ages. He summoned the soul shadows of the three Otherworld Ancestors, and with them he sent the Lishi Beast flying, its beast body nearly shattered.

The six all exerted their utmost, stretching out their great hands to seize the Three Sovereign Mirror at the center.

But at that moment, the Third Divine Weapon under heaven suddenly turned crystalline as jade, bursting forth with dazzling brilliance. First, a black sun exploded within it, then several demonic shadows lunged out with hideous power, followed by the void Dao and ten thousand Dao rhythms...

"It is replicating the fierce attacks of the six great powerhouses here, misdirecting them against each other!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The sudden change caught them off guard. None of the six had expected that the Three Sovereign Mirror, with no one controlling it, would be so terrifying. The mirror surface directly reflected their most fierce attacks.

All six spat out Stone Man essence blood and were thrown backward, each suffering not light injuries.

They were enraged and, ignoring everything, charged forward again. But just then, the hundred-thousand-li ancient land shook violently. Powerful kings had broken through the seals they had set up and forced their way in.

Four peerless kings of extraordinary origins, having recharged their energy for some time, now directly charged into the field, striking at the six great kings, contending for the Three Sovereign Mirror!

Xiao Chen was horrified. He had never imagined this would draw out so many Stone Man Kings. The sight was absolutely appalling!

It was almost comparable to the ancient war between the Nine Provinces' origin land and the Otherworld. So many top beings joined the fray—truly heaven collapsed and earth split, rivers flowed backward.

If the Primordial Celestial Realm were not strong enough, and the ancient killing formations within the great tombs did not protect the area, millions of li would have been utterly destroyed.

Ten great kings vying for supremacy—their divine might, impossible to imagine, pierced through all heavens and myriad worlds. Terrifying black holes covered the sky like a honeycomb.

Xiao Chen sighed. If the Little Stone Emperor were here, who could contend with him? This would never have happened.

The Three Sovereign Mirror was indeed powerful, but without a master to guide it, under the heaven-shattering power of the ten peerless kings, it shook and swayed like a lone boat in a vast sea.

Finally, the Three Sovereign Mirror was sent flying by the superior power of the ten supreme kings that swept through the heavens, flying straight toward Xiao Chen.

At the same time, the mirror's surface happened to turn toward Xiao Chen, and a blinding, dazzling beam shot out from within.

"Ya ya..." Keke tugged at Xiao Chen's sleeve, wanting to flee, but it was too late.

Xiao Chen was horrified. He quickly brought the meter-high Heavenly Stele into his arms, holding it before him.

He did not dare use the Divine Diagram to block, for the War Swords were not fully gathered and could not unleash its true might. He feared the Divine Diagram would be scattered once again.

"Ding!"

A crisp sound rang out. The terrible event he had anticipated did not happen. The Three Sovereign Mirror did not reflect the supreme power of the ten kings. Its light rapidly converged, and the mirror's surface stuck fast to the Heavenly Stele.

"Ya ya!" Keke immediately hugged the Three Sovereign Mirror and the Heavenly Stele like a little koala. Xiao Chen was stunned, then instantly grabbed the Heavenly Stele and flew away, displaying the fastest speed of his life.

"Where do you think you're going!" The ten kings all changed color. Except for the Stone Crow, they all gave chase behind him.