A colossal stellar river pattern hung high in the heavens, identical to the one drawn in the Jueyin Valley with the blood of the Celestial Serpent!
Within that star river, each star was as vast as a mountain range, making the distance between the firmament and the earth seem compressed by billions of times.
Beneath the stellar river gathered clusters of clouds, either condensed from searing flames, transmuted from Yin energy, or coalesced from miasmic poison.
The sky was a dismal grey; the earth, a monochrome expanse of grey.
Lying prone upon the ground was a stone statue so enormous it resembled a mountain range. The statue was clad only in stone loincloths around its waist, its every muscle bulging, rendered with astonishing lifelikeness.
At the statue's heart, a faint, ethereal starlight pulsed.
That starlight ceaselessly gathered the power of the stars from the celestial river. The light radiating from the pattern above descended like a downpour, collecting entirely upon the statue's breast, over its heart.
The statue, carved with supernatural artistry, revealed every sinew and every hair, visible in intricate detail. Magnified hundreds of times, one could discern countless black specks across its surface, moving slowly like minute ants crawling upon the stone giant.
Upon the palm of the statue’s right hand, one of these tiny figures looked upward, its expression one of sheer astonishment.
This was Shi Yan.
Since arriving here, he had found himself resting on the palm of the statue’s right hand, surrounded by clumps of strange, swaying flora.
These plants moved with the breeze, towering ten meters high, as thick as a man’s waist, resembling strands of human hair. —He did not know that, viewed from the zenith, these bizarre plants appeared no different than the statue’s own body hairs.
To Shi Yan, the statue’s right palm was immeasurably wide, dwarfing the Divine Stone Plaza of Tianyun City by dozens of times.
Standing on the statue’s palm, Shi Yan gazed at the mysterious stellar river above, his heart brimming with shock.
He remained unaware that he stood on the hand of such a gargantuan entity, perceiving his location merely as a slight rise on a hill, uncertain of which path to take next.
"Thump-thump!"
The Yin Beads housed within his chest—in the Tianque, Shenque, and Yindu—suddenly agitated. A mysterious pull emanated from the statue’s heart.
Shi Yan’s body jolted abruptly.
The miraculous locus where the heart gathered the essence of the heavens seemed to be issuing a summons to the Yin Beads within him, which throbbed, urging him to hasten toward the statue's core.
Standing on the statue’s palm, Shi Yan’s expression grew solemn. After a moment of hesitation, he plunged forward resolutely toward the statue’s heart.
Simultaneously, numerous small figures, like black specks scattered across the statue’s expanse, observed closely. They too realized that the convergence of starlight at the statue's heart was the most profound location here.
Consequently, after brief contemplation, these figures also began to converge toward the statue’s chest.
Among these people were warriors from the Dark Nether, Mu Hui, Mu Yudie, Di Yalan, and Bei Mingsui. Any warrior whose cultivation realm was below the Status Realm began to move toward the statue’s heart.
At the base of the statue’s two heels, Bei Mingshang, Chi Xiao, Zhua Qi, Mingzhu, Yinkui, and Jiushan were currently pinned down by a terrifying, overwhelming gravitational force.
All martial artists who had entered the Celestial Gate and achieved the Status Realm or higher were suppressed beneath the statue’s heels, utterly unable to move even a fraction.
At this moment, Bei Mingshang, Chi Xiao, and their group exerted the full strength of their Celestial Realm cultivation, repeatedly charging against the terrifying power that bound them.
Yet, no matter how fiercely they strained, they could not break free from that crushing suppression; they could not shift so much as a hair’s breadth from beneath the statue’s heels!
"Thump-thump!"
The Yin Beads inside Shi Yan pulsed relentlessly. With a grim face, he held his breath and focused his spirit, rapidly charging toward the statue’s heart.
Beside Shi Yan, the statue’s hairs swayed like ancient, towering trees, obscuring his view. He felt as if he were lost in a dense jungle, completely unaware that he was traversing the surface of a massive stone deity.
After an indeterminate time, Shi Yan traversed the hill-like palm of the stone figure and surged onto the statue’s right forearm.
His swift movement abruptly halted. Shi Yan froze, his gaze sharp with vigilance fixed straight ahead.
From a vast, deep pit ahead, figures made of stone, spitting plumes of fire, suddenly erupted!
These stone figures stood three meters tall, wreathed in flame, and carried a faint aura suggestive of the Nine-Headed Celestial Serpent.
If an observer could view the scene from above, they would realize that the massive pit was, in fact, merely the Yangchi Acupoint on the statue’s right arm.
The twelve fire-spitting stone figures seemed profoundly averse to the scent of living beings. As soon as Shi Yan approached, they burst forth, lunging directly at him.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Yan’s expression remained unchanged. He covertly activated his Petrification Martial Soul, causing his skin to instantly turn a dark, earthy brown.
Once the Petrification Martial Soul was manifest, Shi Yan channeled his vital essence throughout his body and summoned the Umbra Shield.
With the Umbra Shield solidified, Shi Yan shot forward like a cannonball.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Plunging into the midst of the fire elementals, Shi Yan extended his ten fingers like drills, stabbing at the stone bodies.
The Finger Spear Technique, capable of piercing the physique of a Innate Realm warrior, struck the stone figures only to produce the sharp sound of metal colliding.
The searing flame energy invaded Shi Yan’s ten fingers the moment they made contact, inflicting a searing pain.
Useless!
His expression flickered, Shi Yan realized instantly that the Finger Spear Technique was utterly ineffective against these non-flesh constructs.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Six stone figures exerted their combined strength. Fists the size of millstones, blazing with fire, hammered down upon Shi Yan.
The Umbra Shield protecting Shi Yan could not withstand the barrage; it shattered abruptly.
Blasted by the fiery blows, he was sent reeling backward, his entire body stinging with pain, his clothes igniting. He was in a sorry state.
Fortunately, Shi Yan’s Petrification Martial Soul was sufficiently resilient; despite the agony, his body sustained no actual injury from that volley of strikes.
With a grimace, Shi Yan assessed that each of these six stone figures was more troublesome than a warrior in the Human Status Realm.
The Finger Spear Technique was a dead end; a different approach was necessary!
With a thought, wisps of white mist drifted from Shi Yan's left hand. The Negative Force was activated, merging with his vital essence as they flowed outward, forming a vast "Magnetic Rupture Field."
Controlling it with his mind, the "Domain Field" rapidly moved and suddenly enveloped the center of a group of charging stone figures.
The peculiar adhesive force within the "Domain Field" surged outward, binding all the stone figures, forcing them to struggle violently within its confines.
It worked!
A surge of relief filled him. Shi Yan intensified the crushing power of the Domain Field, focusing all his concentration on twisting and contorting it.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Under the terrifying shearing force of the Domain Field, one stone figure was pulverized. Its fiery limbs and torso separated, flung clear out of the Field.
Shi Yan finally allowed himself a brief breath, but his face instantly shifted again.
The shattered stone figure, once ejected from the Field, seemed to possess an active will. Its disparate pieces actively began to draw back together; in a mere three seconds, the figure reformed, blazing, and lunged back toward Shi Yan.
They are indestructible!
A cold realization struck him. Shi Yan’s expression darkened further, and he reactivated the Domain Field, shifting its position.
The figures that were about to rush him were once again dragged into the Field, entangled by its frenzied power.
This time, Shi Yan did not persist in trying to annihilate the fire elementals. Once he confirmed all the figures were caught, he hesitated for not a second, rapidly bypassing the Domain Field and continuing his frantic sprint ahead.
Half an hour later, in a deep pit at the Zhigou Acupoint on the statue’s right arm, eerie wisps began to drift out.
These were Yin Fiends, specters formed from the unyielding souls of deceased martial artists absorbing the Yin energy of the world. Yin Fiends were inanimate constructs, capable of utilizing some of their former martial skills, driven by an instinct to consume more souls to augment themselves.
One by one, the Yin Fiends floated out of the pit, baring spectral claws and fangs, surging toward Shi Yan.
Shi Yan spared them a glance, his expression turning frigid.
From the Yin Beads, streams of pure Yin Force diffused outward, activating three Yin Vortices. As the vortices spun, a ravenous suction abruptly erupted!
The approaching Yin Fiends suddenly displayed expressions of terror, attempting to flee back into the pit with desperate speed.
"Think you can escape!"
Shi Yan let out a cold laugh. The spin rate of the Yin Vortices accelerated once more!
The Yin Fiends, caught in the vortex’s inescapable pull, struggled violently with their ethereal forms, yet they were inexorably drawn inch by inch toward Shi Yan.
The closer they came, the stronger the influence of the Yin Vortices became.
Suddenly, one Yin Fiend could no longer resist. It dissolved into a thick current of Yin Qi, which suddenly injected itself into Shi Yan’s chest.
Within the Yin Vortices, the Fiend was rapidly decomposed by the vortex power, transforming into tendrils of pure Yin Force that accumulated at the core of the vortex.
The remaining Yin Fiends struggled in terror, but none could evade the suction of the Yin Vortices centered on Shi Yan. One after another, they were dragged in, quickly becoming points of Yin light at the core.
Soon, all the Yin Fiends were absorbed. Shi Yan did not pause, continuing his advance.
At the same time, similar trials were unfolding across every corner of the statue.
Bei Mingsui, Mu Yudie, Di Yalan, Mu Hui, and the Dark Nether warriors all encountered different perils. On their arduous paths toward the statue’s heart, each was preoccupied with their own struggles, being tormented by the fire elementals, Yin Fiends, Poison Demons, and Mud Dragons that erupted from the statue’s pit-like acupoints.
Shi Yan pressed onward with relentless momentum.
Along the way, he encountered more fire elementals and Yin Fiends, dispatching them all using the same methods, eventually reaching the elbow joint of the statue’s right arm.
Shi Yan stopped again.
Ahead, five Dark Nether warriors, boasting cultivation levels of the first and second heavens of the Human Status Realm, seemed deliberately positioned together. All five were charred and miserable, smelling faintly of burnt flesh, and were also hurrying toward the statue’s heart.
The five Dark Nether warriors also spotted the rapidly approaching Shi Yan.
They turned back, glancing at him once. A silent, chilling understanding passed between them; their eyes turned icy and grim as they slowly advanced toward Shi Yan.
"Dark Nether?"
Shi Yan’s gaze flashed like lightning. He spotted the distinctive mark of the Dark Nether on the shoulder of one of the figures, and his expression instantly hardened.
"Kill!"
That warrior shouted, and the other four immediately scattered, fanning out in a semi-circle to surround Shi Yan.
"You court death!"
Shi Yan’s face darkened, a flicker of bloodthirsty excitement glinting in his eyes as he roared, his body lunging forward like a drawn blade.
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