The First Sacred City Rises

The stone kings stood shoulder to shoulder, chanting ancient incantations to summon the First Sacred City.

The ground split open in the ancient ancestor forbidden zone, mountains crumbling like paper in the wind, great rivers vanishing into the desert as if swallowed by dry earth. From deep beneath the strata came a pulse that chilled the soul.

The First Sacred City rose slowly, about to burst through the surface.

In ages past, the great ancient demon emperor had once dwelt within this city—and was refined alive. This city was left by the Otherworld Saint Ancestor; it was far from simple!

In the distance, Xiao Chen, partially restored by Shi Zhongdi, began to summon the Heavenly Steles. With so many stone kings gathered, this was a gift from heaven.

Seven steles shot into the sky, arranging themselves across the firmament. At that moment, their Dao resonance and divine radiance blazed to the fullest, piercing the clouds, swelling until they towered level with heaven itself—then they pressed down upon the kings.

Lu Zhan and the others flew back, dodging in all directions. When seven steles combined, no one could stand against them unless a sovereign was present.

The kings retreated, but from below, cries of agony rose without end. Many Otherworld cultivators were ground to ash.

"Turn!"

Xiao Chen's face was pale; even though his flesh had sublimated into a king-grade powerhouse, controlling seven Heavenly Steles simultaneously was a terrible strain. He channeled his mystic art with all his might, and the steles wheeled around, crashing toward the ancient ancestor forbidden zone.

At that moment, the First Sacred City emerged from the earth, its body gleaming with black light. An oppressive, terror-inspiring aura spread everywhere—mighty, formless, surging through clouds and mist, wielding a divine force that madly devoured everything around it.

The Heavenly Steles descended. Seven steles, like mountains, pressed down at once.

"Boom!"

A thunderous impact erupted. The First Sacred City was smashed into the ground, but it did not shatter. Pausing for a moment, it tore open the earth, dodged the steles, and shot upward.

Under the control of the kings, it was far more agile than the steles. It swiftly pressed toward Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen's expression changed. He truly could not control seven steles for long. In that instant, he quickly shielded himself with the stone tower, evaded the First Sacred City, and rushed toward the seven giant steles. Since he could not control all seven at once, he chose a single one—the seventh Heavenly Stele.

His figure moved like a dream, merging with the stone prison. In a flash, he vanished into the seventh Heavenly Stele.

"Rumble!"

The divine stele trembled, as if endowed with life, like a stone dragon rising into the sky once more, meeting the First Sacred City in battle.

"Bam! Bam! Bam!"

The two collided repeatedly. A single stele lacked the overwhelming power of seven together, but it made up for it in agility, matching the First Sacred City's speed.

Exchange after exchange—both the First Sacred City and the giant stele blazed with ten-thousand-zhang radiance. Any cultivator caught in their vicinity was ground into powder, body and soul utterly destroyed, leaving nothing behind.

"Kill!"

The war cry shook the sky. Countless armies descended from the heavens: the troops of Suiren, Fuxi, Shennong, and behind them more than ten divisions—the Great Court, the Cypress Emperor, the Central, the Curling Beard, the Chestnut Land, the Lillian—a host of clans. They covered the sky, their banners flapping, clouds and mist churning.

The great army pooled all divine power to suppress the First Sacred City and sweep away the Otherworld kings.

And the Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao, and Shun led thousands upon thousands of troops, their standards unfurling as they swept through heaven and earth. Sword-light and shadow, divine principles and order—all rained down below.

"Kill!"

Millions of skeletal warriors cried out. Endless beings from the Death World poured into the Otherworld, making the battle ever more complex and terrible.

Today was destined to be a day of blood and slaughter.

"Lu Zhan, we have come to aid you!"

The sky was torn open. At that moment, the aura of the Primordial Celestial Realm rushed forth, and powerful presences instantly shrouded the four directions.

Four great stone kings appeared simultaneously: Stone Corpse, Suspended Void, Lishi Beast, and Zixiao King!

As soon as the four kings struck, all the skeletal armies shattered, turning to bone powder that scattered on the wind. Before stone kings, all were but ants, utterly unable to withstand them. "Boom!"

Upper Ancestral Lords joined forces, casting curses upon the Death World, but the four kings shook the void and strode through heaven. All curses shattered, and then they charged toward the countless multitudes of the Nine Provinces in the sky above.

This was absolute power—they could sweep aside every enemy below the stone king level. No one could stop them!

At the same time, Lu Zhan and the other kings, while controlling the Sacred City against the seventh stele, also attacked skyward. The arrival of four kings eased their pressure.

Pangu King, Keke's father, Ge Qian, Shi Zhongdi, the Martial Ancestor, and the Stone Crow all struck at once to intercept them. The battle grew white-hot.

Suiren, Fuxi, Shennong, the Yellow Emperor—they showed no fear. Their bodies blazed with the divine resonance of the Dao, enveloping the countless armies as they held their ground against the four kings.

"Suiren, I shall kill you!" Stone Corpse spewed corpse mist, overturning a great tomb and pressing it down upon Suiren.

"Bam!" Divine fire shone through the ages; all corpse mist was scattered.

On another side, Lishi Beast let out a long howl, a savage, primeval aura flooding heaven and earth. Several strands of order and divine principle wove around him.

Shennong stood in the Dao, creating heaven and earth, evolving into myriad things. The five grains—rice, millet, broomcorn, wheat, beans—ornamented his divine radiance. A hundred herbs spread in the four directions, the light of the Dao and its mystical essence endless. He shattered all of Lishi Beast's primordial laws and dissolved them into nothingness.

Suspended Void Ancestor manifested his divine might. The starry sky tilted as if he were lifting the entire universe and pressing it downward. The Yellow Emperor shot a beam of dazzling light from his hand—the Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge shot out, crossing the boundless sea of stars, piercing through the cosmos, causing Suspended Void's face to turn ashen.

Zixiao King was even more formidable among the strong. Purple qi rolled across a million li, surging upward. But Fuxi's Eight Trigrams were unmatched in all the world, laid out in the eight directions, evolving ten thousand laws, extinguishing that ten-thousand-colored divine radiance.

"Rumble…"

The fierce battle on the firmament pressed on. In the end, Stone Corpse was sent flying, Suspended Void Ancestor's expression darkened, Lishi Beast nearly had his body shattered, and Zixiao King staggered repeatedly, his form on the verge of collapsing.

"Roar!"

A long cry rang out as two beams of golden light streaked across the sky. The Golden Lion King and the Golden Sacred King Huang Xinren arrived and immediately blasted the unsteady Lishi Beast away.

This father-and-son pair were supremely gifted, a match for Keke. Unstoppable, they directly suppressed the Celestial Realm stone king Lishi Beast.

Three civilization cycles had passed. Across all heavens and myriad worlds, new men had replaced the old. Many old kings fell; new kings were born.

"Roar…"

Another long cry came from the deepest part of the Death World. A towering stone king charged forth with irresistible force, enough to make any onlooker tremble.

"Zixiao merges with Hongjun—the yin-yang primal chaos is born anew!" In that instant, Zixiao King and Hongjun united into a single being, forming a vast Taiji diagram. His power multiplied severalfold, directly ascending to the absolute peak of stone kings.

Even Lu Zhan and the others in the distance changed color. This Zixiao King had indeed reached the apex—he was worth several stone kings combined!

"Zixiao King, I shall kill you!" A charming cry rang out. A peerlessly beautiful female stone king appeared—the saintess of the Heaven-Defying Clan. Having become a stone king once more, she challenged her ancient foe Zixiao King.

"Ya ya!" A small snow-white beast materialized beside her—it was Keke. After three civilization cycles, the little beast's strength had also advanced by leaps and bounds. Although she had already broken her clan's curse and could take human form, she herself had not changed at all.

Keke held the ancient scroll, spreading it out to seal the divine abilities and laws of the sky. It was unmatched across all ages, unheard of, unseen, with power that was absolute and peerless.

In the sky above, a sacred flower bloomed, radiant with flowing light. Within its crystalline petals, a white-clad maiden stood gracefully, advancing and retreating in unison with Keke, blocking the attacks of other surrounding stone kings.

The one upon the Dream Flower was none other than Qingqing. After three civilization cycles, she had finally emerged from seclusion. At this moment, she controlled dozens of War Swords, forming a divine diagram of endless Dao resonance that attacked Zixiao King, Stone Corpse, and the others.

"We have come too!"

Shan Jun, the Lotus King, and several other Celestial Realm giants appeared on the battlefield. Some had only become stone kings in the last civilization cycle but were already more powerful than old stone kings. Some chose to side with the Nine Provinces, while others joined the Otherworld.

The war spread, growing ever more chaotic, spilling over into the Primordial Celestial Realm.

This battle killed until rivers of blood flowed and mountains of corpses piled up. The Otherworld was utterly shattered. Many fled to other worlds, occupying realms abandoned in the void.

The terrible fighting engulfed many worlds, staining the sky with blood. Many mighty ones fell.

In the end, heaven and earth grew dark.

Suddenly, a hair-raising roar echoed across all realms.

Ten thousand divine beams surged—the Three Sovereign Mirror appeared once more. A demon king among the stone kings struck without warning, sending Huang Xinren and his son, who had been locked in combat with Lishi Beast, flying.

In the distance, the Stone Crow's expression changed. The demon clan had three kings: himself, the Primordial Calamity Star; Lishi Beast, a younger descendant; and one above him—the first demon king of the Primordial Celestial Realm, the oldest ancestor of the demon race.

In ages past, the Primordial Calamity Star's hidden retreat had been near this king. Everyone thought the first demon king was in seclusion; no one expected that three civilization cycles ago, he had seized the Three Sovereign Mirror.

Clearly, he now stood with the Otherworld. Wherever the Three Sovereign Mirror swept, even stone kings were helpless—all attacks were reflected back upon their senders.

Shi Zhongdi let out a long cry, charging into the sky with the Five Emperor Tower against him. But the Five Emperor Tower had only two layers; three layers were missing, making it an imperfect treasure.

Shi Zhongdi fought the first demon king, but against the third-ranked divine artifact under heaven, he could not suppress it. Everywhere the Three Sovereign Mirror turned, any attack was nullified—nothing could withstand it. Whether the attack of a stone king or the laws of an Upper Ancestral God, all were reflected back to kill their original masters.

"Roar!"

At that moment, within the light curtain of the nine lamps, the demonic holy shadow suffered a grievous wound. With a howl, black mist surged, demonic energy shaking the myriad worlds. It forced its way out of the nine-lamp barrier, rushing into the sky to stand before the mysterious stone gate, letting out a bone-chilling low roar that made all powerhouses across the heavens tremble.

At that same moment, the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps reappeared, rapidly reassembling themselves intact.

Pangu King also let out a long cry. A vast palace emerged, crashing through the void—the great palace of the Chaos Land, blazing with ten-thousand-zhang radiance, manifesting in empty space.

On the other side, beneath Fuxi's feet, light flickered, and a Yellow Clay Altar took form—the very altar condensed from the flesh and blood of many Ancestral Gods.

And at this moment, Xiao Chen had already charged out of the seventh Heavenly Stele. He burned his divine blood with all his might and began to summon the eighth Heavenly Stele.

The Otherworld and the Death World had long since become interconnected. Without such preparation, even if Xiao Chen exhausted his heart's blood, he probably could not have moved the eighth stele.

"Rumble…"

From the deepest part of the Death World, the eighth Heavenly Stele descended slowly, accompanied by endless blood-red lightning.

"Ya ya!"

At the same time, Keke flicked her wrist, tossing a stone key that flew into Pangu King's hand.

On this day, at this hour—the Yellow Clay Altar, the Heaven-Reaching Death Bridge, the Divine Diagram, the Stone Steps, the ancient lamps, the Heavenly Steles, the great palace of the Chaos Land, the stone key, the Three Sovereign Mirror, and the Five Emperor Tower—all appeared in the same world, at the same place.

Though held by different people, they were all gathered close together, almost a complete collection of all heavens' sacred relics.

"Boom!"

In that moment, the entire world seemed to shatter and then instantly reform.

The sacred relics of all heavens realigned themselves. The great palace of the Chaos Land merged in an instant with the mysterious stone gate at the end of the Stone Steps.

Crystalline petals of sacred flowers drifted through the sky…

The demonic holy shadow was the first to react, letting out a hair-raising howl.

In Pangu King's hand, the stone key blazed with brilliant light, dissolving into a rain of radiance, gradually vanishing.