The Pursuit of the Three Sovereign Mirror

The Three Sovereign Mirror clung to the Heavenly Stele with a sharp ring, instantly making Xiao Chen the target of every Stone Man King present. They moved as one, all giving chase.

In the chaos, the Stone Crow swooped toward one of the great tombs, his body transforming into a black sun hanging in the sky. Rays of ominous light cascaded down like falling banners, wrapping around the tomb and carrying it away.

Lu Zhan let out a sky-shaking roar. His colossal fiendish claw reached out, covering another great tomb. At the same time, the Lishi Beast, the Suspended Old Ancestor, Shan Jun, and the others all made their moves, each trying to claim the remaining tombs for themselves.

The other Stone Man Kings changed color. As they flew over the great tombs, tens of millions of rays of light burst forth. The remaining tombs all shattered, and the kings fought over the treasures that scattered everywhere in a dazzling display of flowing colors. Strange and rare artifacts flew out in all directions.

All the kings contended using their supreme Daos. Light blazed on every side. The shattered tombs were divided, and each obtained a portion of the spoils.

As for who had obtained the Little Stone Emperor's innate demon stars and the remaining stone weapons, that was anyone's guess. None had time to inspect their gains, for they all immediately gave chase toward Xiao Chen.

The most precious treasure of all was the Three Sovereign Mirror, and its allure to the kings far surpassed any other battle treasure.

Xiao Chen fled with the Three Sovereign Mirror in his grasp. This scorching hot potato, which had filled him with joy at first, now gave him a splitting headache. Though it was an incomparably rare treasure, escaping with it would be anything but easy.

Pursued from behind by all the kings, he felt that true escape was impossible—it was extremely dangerous. If he did not abandon the mirror, his life would almost certainly be forfeit.

But the Divine Diagram manifested its mysterious power. When it merged with Xiao Chen, it became like the one that had fled, elusive and impossible to grasp. The pursuing Stone Man Kings tried to join forces and forcibly restrain him from a distance, but none succeeded.

Xiao Chen could clearly feel their terrifying pressure, and cold sweat streamed down his back. Yet he dodged each attack by a hair's breadth, time and again.

This reminded him of the fall of the Stone Emperor, Shi Zhongdi. In that distant age, several Stone Man Kings had joined forces and forcibly restrained him, leading to his tragic end.

If he were not currently merged with the Divine Diagram, he too would likely have met the same fate as the Stone Emperor.

The Eight Aspect Worlds spun, and Xiao Chen strode through the eight worlds at a speed that had reached its absolute limit. But the pursuers behind him were no ordinary beings—they were the most powerful kings in all the realms. A single one of them could sweep through an entire great world. These were the eternally enduring, supreme existences, and their speed was equally terrifying.

Xiao Chen could not shake them off at all. If speed were not his forte, he would have been caught in an instant.

"A single king can hunt you through heaven and earth, making life worse than death. With so many pursuing you, there is no hope of survival." The Suspended Ancestor's secret transmission reached Xiao Chen's ear. "If you want to live, cast aside the Three Sovereign Mirror, and the danger will resolve itself."

Xiao Chen gave no reply, flying with all speed. But the murderous aura behind him grew ever more intense, and he was nearly locked on.

A powerful king's incomparably terrifying divine sense probed close. A catastrophic attack was about to descend! The situation grew increasingly desperate, for a strike from a king could destroy heaven and earth and smash an entire great world. If hit, there would be no escape from death.

Xiao Chen held his king-tier divine city above his head and draped the ancient scroll over his body, readying his defenses. At the same time, he constantly shifted direction, traversing ten thousand li in an instant and leaving behind countless afterimages.

Dong!

A dull sound rang out. At last, a Stone Man King made his move. A powerful spiritual beam, like a bolt of lightning, shot toward Xiao Chen.

It was a soul attack from the outset. Psychic force of this kind was the most terrifying—if the soul was wounded, the injury could last a lifetime. The king-tier divine city above Xiao Chen's head let down cascades of auspicious radiance like a curtain of jewels, shielding his body.

At the same time, the ancient scroll trembled. The magnificent mountains and rivers within it emerged vividly, as if a real great world had interposed itself between Xiao Chen and that terrifying divine thought.

The Five Kings transformed into the essence of the Great Dao and stepped forth simultaneously, standing tall amidst the picturesque landscape to block the dreadful divine thought from behind. One of them raised the stone imperial seal of the Little Stone Emperor and slammed it down.

The seal left behind by the Little Stone Emperor blazed with light. Divine patterns surfaced, and a large 'Emperor' character flew out from the stone seal, surging forth with a momentum that could swallow mountains and rivers.

Boom!

The seal of the Little Stone Emperor crashed onto that incomparably powerful divine thought. A world-shaking explosion followed. The ancient scroll rustled loudly, and the magnificent mountains and rivers within it actually developed terrifying cracks, as if the real world had been struck by a tsunami and an earthquake.

The essence of the Five Great Daos forced back the onrushing divine thought. This was the first time the ancient scroll had displayed its unfathomable power! However, Xiao Chen still spat out a mouthful of blood, struck by the residual shockwave and suffering no light injury.

The ancient scroll was a rare and supreme treasure. In the hands of a Stone Man King, it would naturally not be harmed. Since he was not yet a Stone Man King, merely being able to block that lethal strike was already an extraordinary feat.

Xiao Chen gained a whole new understanding of this treasure. It was immensely powerful, but not something he could fully control. The ancient scroll swirled dimly. The cracked mountains and rivers within were moistened by the essence of the Five Great Daos and quickly healed.

Annihilate!

Another cold shout came from behind. A stream of flowing light shot forward, breathtakingly beautiful, enough to make one's heart drunk. But it represented death—it was the manifestation of the Dao's rhythm.

This time, Xiao Chen did not dare to meet it head-on. He tore through space at extreme speed, flying wildly. Having withstood one lethal strike did not mean he could succeed every time.

Each of the nine pursuing kings was a living fossil who had cultivated for a hundred million years! They were the ones who had emerged triumphant from all the beings across the myriad worlds—the strongest figures to have ascended through the ages, representing the current pinnacle of combat power in all the heavens and realms.

A single one was enough to destroy everything. With nine gathered together, unless the Little Stone Emperor were reborn and returned to the height of his power, no one could stop these nine kings.

A crack!

Without even a sound, the patch of sky just behind him had been turned into a honeycomb, with who knows how many wormholes punched through it. Beyond those black holes lay countless unknown great worlds.

The barrier of the great world had been smashed through—this was far from being as simple as dimensional space! Xiao Chen broke out in a cold sweat. Being hunted by nine Stone Man Kings truly left him with no way out. He could not shake them.

Would he really have to abandon this Three Sovereign Mirror? This was an excruciatingly difficult decision.

A treasure of this caliber had fallen into his hands by chance. To just throw it away now was truly unbearable.

Dong!

Spiritual fluctuations that could deafen the ears surged in like a vast ocean. This time, two kings had joined forces.

Xiao Chen wished his Eight Aspect Worlds could give birth to eight more aspects. He needed greater speed—he fled at extreme velocity, constantly changing direction and crossing through layer after layer of dimensional space.

"Keke, haven't you taken the Three Sovereign Mirror off yet?" Xiao Chen asked urgently.

"Ya ya… I'm working on it…" The little beast replied in a childish voice, its snowy-white paws desperately clutching the Three Sovereign Mirror, trying to pry it free from the Heavenly Stele.

"Let me try…" Xiao Chen was anxious to use this legendary treasure to fend off the powerful pursuers behind him.

"Ya ya… it's off!" Keke cried out in surprise. Its little paws trembled repeatedly, as if grasping a red-hot branding iron.

"Give it to me!" Xiao Chen took it.

"Careful, it absorbed a lot of my divine power," Keke warned.

As soon as he took it, Xiao Chen was shocked. 'A lot' could not even begin to describe it. On the spot, a third of his divine power was drained away, leaving his body feeling hollow.

"This thing is a bottomless pit!" Xiao Chen's hand quickly left the mirror's surface. Gripping it by the edge, he flipped the mirror and shone it behind him.

At that moment, Lu Zhan extended his fiendish claw. The enormous talons were as thick as mountain peaks, terrifying, gleaming with a sinister, sharp light, and wreathed in endless bloody radiance—the bloodthirsty aura formed from slaughtering countless beings.

Shh!

When those five bloody rays tore through the air, this time Xiao Chen did not retreat. Within the Three Sovereign Mirror, the same colossal fiendish claw appeared, and five terrifying bloody rays shot out, returning along the same path!

Bang!

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosion came from behind. Lu Zhan's body shook violently. The other Stone Man Kings were also greatly startled, their expressions turning grave.

Lu Zhan's own attack, those five bloody rays, ended up leaving five dreadful wounds on his own stone body, where golden blood flowed.

The Third Stone Treasure of the World had shown them its terrifying side. If wielded by a Stone Man King, would its user not be able to dominate the world, fearing no enemy? The eyes of every king grew even more fervent. No one would choose to give up.

"If you don't let go now, when will you?!" The Suspended Ancestor once again secretly transmitted to Xiao Chen: "Even if you hold the Three Sovereign Mirror, you cannot withstand the attacks of the kings."

"Dream on!"

Just then, someone attacked again. Xiao Chen blocked with the Three Sovereign Mirror while simultaneously shining it toward the Suspended Ancestor, redirecting the attack. Terrifying divine light flew back, and a furious roar came from behind.

But Xiao Chen was startled to see the Three Sovereign Mirror grow noticeably dimmer. He immediately understood what had happened.

The Three Sovereign Mirror, though a heaven-defying supreme treasure, still required powerful divine power to drive it. The third of his divine power that it had absorbed earlier had been payment for exactly this.

Now it seemed that after absorbing that portion of divine power, the Three Sovereign Mirror could probably only withstand three more strikes from a Stone Man King—it was not unlimited! "This…" Xiao Chen cried out in alarm. He was not a Stone Man King and could not continuously provide divine power to the stone mirror. If this went on, he would eventually run dry.

He began to flee again, rapidly restoring his divine power. He had to keep his body in peak condition at all times, able to drive the Three Sovereign Mirror.

"Ya ya ya ya—"

Understanding what had happened, Keke quickly poured divine power into the Three Sovereign Mirror. At the same time, it opened Paradise Lost and called out to the three skeletons and the Little Defiant Dragon, telling them to prepare to assist.

This way, the immediate crisis was resolved.

But he still could not shake off the pursuing Stone Man Kings. If this continued, death was inevitable.

"Where is Old Bone Skull? And that old crow—why haven't they shown up yet?" Xiao Chen muttered to himself, hoping the Stone Crow would come to support him.

"Those who believe in me shall have eternal life. I, this old man, have always been with you." At that moment, Old Bone Skull's voice came from afar.

Another cold snort rang in Xiao Chen's ear—that was the Stone Crow expressing its displeasure.

"Kid, it's not that we won't act, but we can't help. You'll have to look after yourself," Old Bone Skull transmitted. "To tell you the truth, the situation is very bad. There are still Stone Man Kings lurking in the shadows, watching eagerly. We're keeping an eye on those hidden enemies for you. Otherwise, even if we joined forces with you, with the Three Sovereign Mirror in hand, you still couldn't withstand the combined assault of all the kings."

Sss! Xiao Chen sucked in a breath of cold air. This had turned into a huge mess. He had become the prey of all the kings. Everyone was watching him, and at any moment, more might join in and try to kill him.

The very thought sent chills down his spine.

"What should I do?" Xiao Chen's scalp was truly tingling. A single Stone Man King was enough to send him fleeing for his life. If all the giants of the Celestial Realm jumped out, he might as well kill himself.

"Do I really have to throw away the Three Sovereign Mirror?"

"Ya ya! Don't throw it away!" Keke immediately became a little miser, clutching the Three Sovereign Mirror tightly, while telling the Little Defiant Dragon and the three skeletons to pour divine power into it quickly.

"Decide for yourself…" That was Old Bone Skull's voice.

"Even if I seize it, I may not be able to keep it. Unless the Little Stone Emperor is reborn, no one can withstand the absolute kill of ten kings!" That was the Stone Crow's voice.

Xiao Chen was nearly in despair. It was truly unbearable to lose the Three Sovereign Mirror.

"I really don't want to give it up," Keke said aggrievedly, looking at Xiao Chen.

"I don't want to give it up either. This is a crucial treasure for the war to come…" Xiao Chen gritted his teeth and said, "We have to leave the Celestial Realm. We can't stay in this world any longer. The supreme powers of all the heavens have gathered here. The longer we stay, the more dangerous it gets."

At the same time, murderous intent surged in his heart. He absolutely could not just throw away the Three Sovereign Mirror like this. Even if he had to abandon it, it would be on his own terms—ideally, by diverting the disaster elsewhere.

"Target: the Otherworld!"

Xiao Chen was now thoroughly determined to make a huge scene, stirring up the chaos even wider and greater.

"If you dare to descend to the lower realms, then come!"

Xiao Chen suddenly counterattacked. Using the Three Sovereign Mirror, he split open a stretch of giant mountains. Leveraging the divine power of the kings, he shattered the barrier of the great world, opened a colossal wormhole, and charged through.

He was searching for the coordinates of the Otherworld. After breaking through the barrier of the great world more than twenty times, he felt that he was not far from the Otherworld.

And throughout this process, the consumption of divine power was incalculable! Behind him, Lu Zhan was furious and alarmed. He had long since seen what Xiao Chen was planning to do. He leaped ahead of the others, not hesitating to burn his own source power, using the essence of the Great Dao to pour down ten thousand zhang of divine radiance, pressing down on Xiao Chen.

This was not a direct attack but entirely a suppression from the Great Dao, squeezing in on Xiao Chen from all directions. The Three Sovereign Mirror could not fully absorb that kind of pressure.

Xiao Chen instantly felt as heavy as a mountain. Seeing this, the other kings also manifested the essence of their Great Daos, pressing down on Xiao Chen.

"Ya ya… this is horrible!" Keke muttered in discomfort.

"Kid, quickly flip the Three Sovereign Mirror! Press your palm against the front face and pour in divine power, using the back face to resist the essence of the Great Dao!" At that moment, Old Bone Skull's voice rang in Xiao Chen's ear.

Xiao Chen had his doubts. Pouring divine power into the front face—wouldn't that attack himself? But he trusted that Old Bone Skull would not harm him, and immediately did as instructed.

Hum!

The Three Sovereign Mirror gave a soft tremble. Xiao Chen felt that the divine power he had just recovered was instantly drained by more than half.

At that moment, he discovered that the back face of the Three Sovereign Mirror emitted faint fluctuations. The overwhelming pressure of the Great Dao from the kings behind him was actually being held back!

"That is…" Xiao Chen was astonished. Only now did he notice that on the back of the Three Sovereign Mirror, there were three blurry, shadowy figures—engraved marks that had been nearly worn smooth by the passage of time.

It was these three faint, indistinct figures that were absorbing the pressure of the kings! The kings behind him were furious and alarmed. They knew that Xiao Chen had discovered another terrifying power of the Three Sovereign Mirror.

"This Three Sovereign Mirror…" Xiao Chen's heart shook. This stone mirror definitely had origins beyond imagination. Its power surpassed what an ordinary stone weapon could possess. It seemed to be more than just a weapon.

At that moment, Xiao Chen finally located the coordinates of the Nine Provinces and the Otherworld, and then he charged forward without looking back.

The kings behind continued their pursuit. Xiao Chen flipped the stone mirror again, using their divine power to blast open the gate to the Otherworld! Lu Zhan's face changed instantly. He tore through space with his powerful divine sense and sent the news ahead.

Xiao Chen did not look back and directly crossed the wormhole, entering the Otherworld! Behind him, some Stone Man Kings stopped here, hesitating and uncertain. In the end, some retreated, for they had thought of certain ancient legends—that the Otherworld was ominous, harboring secrets unknown to man.

In the past, a king from the Celestial Realm had descended to the lower realms and been mysteriously lost in the Nine Provinces. Some suspected it was the work of mysterious powers within the Otherworld.

In a sense, both the Otherworld and the Nine Provinces were considered lands of ill omen by the Celestial Realm. Under normal circumstances, kings would not easily descend.

But only three stopped. The others all charged through. Moreover, after the hidden kings pursued this far, several more followed suit.

All in all, the number of Stone Man Kings had not decreased. Such a terrifying peak combat force had all entered the Otherworld at once.

As soon as he entered the Otherworld, Xiao Chen began to sense for the aura of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps.

"Where is it?" Xiao Chen frowned.

Those Ninety-Nine Stone Steps were extremely eerie, possessing unfathomably mysterious power. Unless one entered a certain range, it was impossible to sense their existence. But once one entered that domain, an incomparable pressure would immediately descend.

"Xiao Chen!" Behind him, Lu Zhan's fiendish visage twisted in rage. His body towered ten thousand zhang high, and his roar shook the earth.

The Otherworld had long since received the news he sent. All cultivators had hidden themselves, not wanting to be caught up in the war of the kings.

In the history of the Otherworld, there had only been a few instances of large-scale invasions by enemies, but each time, the bones had piled up like mountains, blood had flowed like rivers, and the world had shattered.

In this moment, everyone was extremely tense. They firmly believed that the heritage of the Otherworld was indelible, for they had unfathomable hidden strengths! But once an enemy army attacked, terrible calamities were unavoidable.

"It is said that both the Nine Provinces and the Otherworld are lands of ill omen. What that means for the Nine Provinces is still unclear, but the Otherworld must be connected to those Ninety-Nine Stone Steps…"

This was Xiao Chen's speculation. Because the Otherworld was not the ultimate enemy of all worlds—it too had been conquered by invaders. Though it had ultimately driven them back, its original world had been shattered several times, and the entire race had even migrated to another world.

After several great catastrophes, the world they lived in had changed. The only constant were those Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. If any ominous power existed, it must be there! Perhaps it was precisely because the Otherworld also feared that ominous power that for a time, the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps had been lodged in the Eternal Unknown. It was not until the great war of that year destroyed the Eternal Unknown that the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps were moved back to the Otherworld.

Xiao Chen was searching. He had to get there! Only before the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps would the powerhouses of the Otherworld and the pursuing Stone Man Kings all be filled with wariness. If a battle broke out there, nothing could be better.