The Six Heavenly Marks

This news was earth-shattering; no one had anticipated it, truly shocking.

The beastly claw reached down time and again, but each time its flesh split and blood sprayed, azure scales falling away.

The nine ancient lamps flickered, their light grievously wounding the terrible figure in the heavens—yet they had no effect on other living beings. They were supreme weapons specifically restraining power that exceeded the limits of this world.

"I will take those lamps and break open your graves!"

A soul-shaking roar rang out, and the terrible being descended with the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. The beastly claw, shrouded in black mist, reached down once more.

Divine flames surged. At that moment, the nine ancient lamps suddenly blazed with ten-thousand-zhang radiance. Nine great torrents of fire converged into a single shadow condensed from holy light.

"Pfft!"

From the sky came the sound of limbs shattering. Rivers of fresh blood cascaded down, seething through the heavens like tidal waves. Even the colossal beastly claw was severed.

"What?! Nine ancient tombs, withered and silent for ages—yet you have actually caused your dry bones to give birth to soul-light…" The terrible figure in the sky roared, driving the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps back into the void, daring not act rashly.

"Fine, fine, fine! Your soul-flames have undergone an anomalous transformation!" Its voice was icy and sinister, repeating the word three times. "But in the end, you have already fallen. Even if an anomaly has occurred, you can only block me briefly. When I return, I will take the lamps and breach your tombs! The nine lamps, supreme treasures, shall be mine when united!"

Dark clouds roiled in the sky. The Ninety-Nine Stone Steps, like a vast demonic mountain range, slowly rose, finally tearing through the void and vanishing completely.

And so that terrible being withdrew, leaving behind great patches of blood and many azure scales on the ground. As for the severed beastly claw, it rapidly rotted away and vanished.

At last, all living beings relaxed; it had felt as though a thousand-jun boulder pressed on every heart, bringing all to the verge of collapse.

The invisible pressure had dissipated. The calamity of annihilation had been averted.

Xiao Chen stood dumbfounded on the Nine Provinces, lost in thought. In recent times, legends of primordial great powers had continued to emerge, and even the soul-bones of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had appeared—what did this portend?

Although the being at the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps could not exist in this world for long, and there was no true Five Sovereigns-level figure in the realm, it still caused unease.

"I will return!"

During this period, Keke returned to the Nine Provinces and reunited with Xiao Chen, returning the Heavenly Mark.

Xiao Chen had finally gathered all six Heavenly Marks. For five thousand years, he had cultivated in solitude on a desolate island, barely taking a step beyond. Yet although the Heavenly Marks were complete, Xiao Chen had not truly and thoroughly comprehended them. He did not rashly go to read the seventh Heavenly Stele, but quietly contemplated.

In those passing years, several great battles had occurred in the Celestial Realm. The Three Sovereign Mirror and the Five Emperor Tower had both flashed into existence, but both had vanished again.

Now the little one's divine powers grew ever greater; the curse on his clan was on the verge of disappearing. He had already traveled far on the path of the Upper Ancestral God.

Not until another three thousand years had passed was the peace broken. The Ninety-Nine Stone Steps appeared once more, and that figure descended upon the Nine Provinces again. Yet this time, though the Nine Provinces were nearly shattered, crushed to ruin by the oppressive force, he ultimately retreated.

This was a far more serious cataclysm, deeply unsettling Xiao Chen. Logically, such a being could not live long, yet he had defied common sense.

Only later did Xiao Chen unexpectedly learn that this primordial great power had refined the Otherworld's First Ancient City, entrusting his flesh and primordial spirit to it, thereby attaining imperishable longevity. The news shook the world; even the Stone Kings of the Celestial Realm were deeply shocked, each harboring new schemes. No one wished such a being to live long in the world—the threat to all kings was too great.

To this end, Xiao Chen once personally went to the Otherworld and saw that First Ancient City from afar. The colossal ancient city stood towering and majestic, containing an overbearing and unyielding aura.

This was undoubtedly a city left behind by a being who had surpassed the Stone King level in the primordial era during his Nirvana; otherwise, it could not have such majesty. Only such a First Ancient City could preserve the terrible being's body imperishably.

Of course, to live longer, the First Ancient City had been placed at the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps, sealed and suppressed in a double layer, only thus truly preserving that person.

Many Stone Kings were watching, all wanting to see what changes this fearsome figure would undergo.

Time always passes imperceptibly. In the blink of an eye, one hundred thousand years went by. During this period, many events occurred.

The civilization of the Nine Provinces did not flourish greatly. The last great impact had nearly annihilated it entirely; technological civilization was knocked back to square one. Yet the continuation and inheritance of life were never severed—though they had retreated from the starry sky back to the earth.

It was not until around one hundred and five thousand years later that a great event shook all the heavens.

In former years, those heroes who had left the Nine Provinces began to return one after another.

Not only had Chiyou not died, and Laozi not perished, but Xingtian and Zhuangzi had also all returned alive. And these were merely the first wave. Subsequently, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao, and Shun also set foot on the homeward journey, reappearing on the Nine Provinces and in the Celestial Realm.

This was a powerful force. These people could be said to be the most outstanding talents from several cycles of the Nine Provinces' civilization. Having successfully returned, their cultivation had already risen to a very powerful realm.

Their return was a sign—the long-awaited counterattack might be about to begin.

Then many legendary heroes manifested one after another, several times assaulting the Otherworld, inflicting great damage upon it. Yet in the end, when facing that First Ancient City, they withdrew.

The great war dragged on for a thousand years. Then the actions of Renmo Ge Qian became the spark. He assassinated the Stone King Lang Ya in the Celestial Realm, nearly killing him outright.

Subsequently, Yao, Shun, Chiyou, Xingtian, and others attacked, smashing the Otherworld gods, shattering several Primordial Demon Cities, and leveling millions of colossal mountains there.

They ignited a vigorous and spirited great war. Fuxi and Suiren ultimately appeared, and Pangu King swept across the heavens with his stone axe.

The Otherworld faction's strongholds in the Celestial Realm were destroyed. The Stone Kings allied with the Otherworld split, ultimately withdrawing from the battlefield. The Otherworld faction itself retreated from the Celestial Realm.

It could be said that after this battle, undercurrents surged through all the heavens and myriad worlds. The Nine Provinces and the Otherworld briefly entered a stalemate, with no one acting rashly.

In these past ten thousand years, Xiao Chen had not participated in the war, but had settled his mind in bitter cultivation.

The more he understood and comprehended the Heavenly Stele Profound Art, the vaster and more profound he found it. He did not rush to cultivate the seventh stele's method. For these ten thousand years, he had remained calm, constantly summarizing and accumulating—only through accumulation could sublimation occur.

Sun rose, sun set; the years flowed by. After long years of silence, Xiao Chen finally gained something. The six Heavenly Stele methods gradually merged and became thoroughly understood.

Many insights arose in his heart. On a moonlit night, all six Heavenly Marks manifested, floating and arranging themselves around him.

The six Heavenly Marks were equivalent to six miniature Heavenly Steles, each with various engraved images appearing on them, vivid as if alive.

The six Heavenly Marks rearranged their sequence. When locked in various positions, the manifested imprint patterns vanished, revealing their original patterns. However, there was no great discrepancy from when he had faced the actual Heavenly Steles directly; only the complex supplementary patterns disappeared, leaving the essential main images largely the same.

Six Heavenly Marks, six main patterns—the carving marks were clear, the divine charm natural, surrounding Xiao Chen.

The first pattern faintly emanated multicolored light: a majestic celestial palace stood atop cloud-capped peaks, while misty clouds half-hid myriad jade towers and pavilions.

The second pattern was ghostly and somber: a pitch-black hell gate stood ajar, revealing a world of deathly stillness and darkness, overflowing with boundless death energy.

The third pattern showed a farmer plowing with an ox, a herder grazing sheep and horses, a fisherman casting a net, and a merchant hawking in a shop. It gave off a simple breath of life—the myriad conditions of the mortal world and the dust of the mundane, all in the Human Path diagram.

The fourth pattern depicted a woman with a human head and serpent body standing side by side with a man with a dragon head and human body. Behind them, a dark, dense swarm of ten thousand beasts galloped and roared, dust blotting out the sky, the earth trembling, the deafening sound seeming to penetrate through the stone.

The fifth pattern showed a boundless sea of blood with thousand-zhang waves and ten-thousand-zhang billows. A ten-thousand-zhang mountain of white bones stood in the center of the blood sea, unmoved as the surging tides raged and crashed against it.

The sixth pattern showed high in the sky, dark clouds dense, rain pouring in torrents, colossal lightning tearing the void, magma surging—disaster and evil everywhere.

These six root patterns surrounded Xiao Chen. The six patterns gradually condensed into six solid stele bodies, and then the six steles merged and connected, forming a stone disk with a hole at its center, with Xiao Chen seated alone in the middle.

"Ya ya…"

Not far away, Keke's large eyes went round. The little creature had awakened and was especially sensitive to this sight.

"Clack, clack!"

The six stone-carved diagrams joined into a disk. Xiao Chen was calm as a still well; at this moment, he felt all sorts of things—Heavenly Path, Human Path, Hell Path… The six diagrams combined did not give birth to a Primordial Demon City. Instead, the six diagrams surrounded his body, manifesting a solid form that transformed into a stone disk.

"Six Paths Reincarnation Disk?!" The little creature stared in surprise from a distance, then muttered, "No, the Heavenly Stele cannot be so superficial."

Xiao Chen gradually understood. He needed to give birth to a Primordial Demon City through Nirvana; what he saw and felt made him glimpse a profound and far-reaching Dao.

Why be bound by form? The stone disk before him could also be considered a stone city, could it not? And this was merely the beginning of transformation. The six carved diagrams might seem like the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, but they were vastly different—this was only a preliminary manifestation.

As the transformation began, the six stone-carved diagrams gradually grew hazy.

The stone disk blurred. Heavenly Path, Human Path, Hell Path—all were erased.

Then, humans, birds, flowers, and beasts emerged one after another, full of vitality. But then came withering, finally turning to earth and scattering on the wind… This was not the end. The earth nourished the flowers, giving birth to seeds, beginning a new cycle of reincarnation and rebirth.

Natural alternation, not constrained by traditional reincarnation—not the transmigration of souls, not vague and ethereal cycles, but true material transformation.

In that moment, Xiao Chen felt as if he had undergone a wondrous journey: from newborn to maturity, then to aged decrepitude, and finally back to yellow earth.

Flesh and blood turned to yellow earth; yellow earth was not the end. Lush vegetation grew from it, then was eaten by animals, turning back into flesh and blood… A flash of light, and Xiao Chen finally woke. The stone disk dissolved into six diagrams, and the six Heavenly Marks sank back into his body.

At this moment, he felt that the power of life was endless, his soul imperishable, eternal and undecaying through the ages.

Xiao Chen had finally thoroughly understood the six Heavenly Stele methods. Vaguely, he felt he needed to contact the seventh Heavenly Stele. With a flash of light, he vanished from his spot and appeared directly in the Curse Realm.

Standing above the deep abyss, at a thought, the morning sun shone down; moonlight descended. The deep abyss brightened, and the Heavenly Stele rose of its own accord.

Then a beam of sword-light shot into the sky—Dugu Jianmo emerged from the stele.

"I am off!" With no further words, Dugu Jianmo transformed into an iron sword and charged into the underworld, vanishing.

Xiao Chen nodded and said nothing. He then looked toward the seventh Heavenly Stele.

The six Heavenly Marks all appeared simultaneously on this colossal stele, flowing with light. The six carved diagrams once again manifested, each revealing ancient characters.

The seventh Heavenly Stele was a summary and sublimation of the first six. Xiao Chen's body and mind were both stirred; it felt as if he were adhering to the stone stele itself.

Suddenly, his mind trembled—he understood an even greater secret of the Heavenly Steles.

Cultivating the Heavenly Stele Profound Art was only the beginning. Within each Heavenly Stele there were still things: flesh and blood, Dao imprints, tombs, engraved diagrams. This shook him profoundly. The speculations about the eighth Heavenly Stele might all be correct! For he truly saw that there were inexplicable things within the Heavenly Steles.

He could not see through them, could not penetrate them—vague and indistinct, appearing and disappearing—this was most frustrating.

But Xiao Chen stilled his mind and gradually calmed down, no longer peering into the interior of the steles.

His body and mind merged with the patterns and characters on the seventh Heavenly Stele, earnestly reading and carefully observing.

The summarizing stele inscriptions and diagrams carried the cream of the great Dao. Truly, the Heavenly Marks were needed as a guide.

At this moment, all six Heavenly Marks trembled; it was they that stimulated the various primal secrets.

Suddenly, mist shrouded the seventh Heavenly Stele, veiling it in a mysterious curtain. A human head carving first emerged at the location of the first Heavenly Mark.

It seemed to have grown out from within the Heavenly Stele, manifested through the Heavenly Mark. Soon, other Heavenly Marks also had mysterious power flowing; six heads appeared indistinctly, as if they truly were…