Shi Hao fought until exhaustion, drenched in blood with wounds upon wounds. These past days had been filled with endless battles, yet suddenly, he broke through.
“This is…” His heart was seized by shock. Glyphs flickered, shimmering with radiant light; the place was dazzling, but it wasn’t a teleportation array.
Why had this wall been severed? Shi Hao opened his mouth in disbelief—before him stood the wall, as colossal as a mountain range, yet it had been sliced cleanly in two. Why had this happened?
After such painstaking effort, he found such a result.
Primarily, the wall was exceedingly long, almost like an endless mountain ridge blocking his path. Shi Hao hadn’t traversed its entirety, hence had been unaware that a section had already been cut off.
The fracture was filled with intricate patterns through which mysterious power flowed, emitting tiny sparks of brilliance.
“My path has broken again!” Shi Hao clenched his fists, filled with resentment. Why had this happened?
How could such a mysterious ancient path be severed? By what force? Shi Hao had once attempted to shatter the wall, but couldn’t so much as budge it.
He scrutinized the break closely, sensing as though a mighty blade had cleanly sliced the structure—its cross-section was unnaturally smooth!
“Hmm, what is this…?”
He raised his gaze. Within the floating glyphs, something hovered midair.
Given the colossal scale of the wall, its broken face was vast and towering. Hundreds of zhang above, a bone shard glittered faintly.
Shi Hao soared skyward, swiftly ascending. Upon sensing it, he found it emitted no fluctuations. That it remained suspended was solely due to glyphic forces radiating from the broken wall.
“What is this?” Taking it in hand, he studied it closely.
Smooth and white, the bone shard was about half the size of a palm, resembling a jade token. Upon its surface was an indistinct symbol.
Clearly, this artifact bore a long lineage, having weathered countless eons, and the mark had grown dim, nearly worn away.
Shi Hao traced the patterns with utmost attention, sketching it in the air. Finally, to his shock, he recognized it—could this be a fragment from that place?
“It’s connected to the Sovereign Hall!” he exclaimed in astonishment.
He recalled that both the Willow God and Little Tower had mentioned the Sovereign Hall, a secret ancient lineage where only a single heir ever emerged, and their hallmark was precisely this mark!
“Why should such a shard remain here?” He traced it with his hand, but the bone was hollow within—no glyphs at all—bearing only the mark upon its front. Nothing else.
His mind churned with thoughts as he soared higher, hoping to find more clues.
“These symbols are unique. They resemble a super transmission array!” Suddenly, the Spirit Stone spoke, staring at the broken wall. Glowing glyphs and threads of power spilled from the structure, imprinting across the void.
Shi Hao peered ahead and saw the other half of the broken wall. He flew over to inspect it. Some stone gates bore cracks, evidently struck by great force.
“No wonder I emerged so quickly. Truly, I hadn’t yet completed the trials.”
After all, he hadn’t faced off against invincible races like the True Dragon, the Immortal Fenghuang, or the Kun Peng. They were all meant to be on the other side. Since the stone gates were damaged, fulfilling this wish seemed impossible.
“This place once resonated with violent energy waves, tearing through void and accompanied by chaotic mists, immense divine power cleaving through the god and demon wall.” After careful observation, the Spirit Stone concluded.
Shi Hao’s heart stirred and his thoughts raced.
“We should investigate further,” the Spirit Stone urged. It dashed into the broken wall on the other side, studying it carefully, then declared, “There was once a massive transmission array here, causing an incredibly destructive wave.”
According to its analysis, the tremors equaled a chaotic rending slash that severed the wall itself.
“In other words, I can’t ascend to the Upper World from here anymore?” Shi Hao gazed upward with a long sigh.
“Correct. Someone has activated the teleport array, causing the sacred god and demon wall to break.” the Spirit Stone replied.
Silent, Shi Hao could hardly believe it. According to ancient bone records, the god and demon wall was said to be indomitable and eternal. Why had it shattered? Someone had activated the teleport array and caused the breach.
Shi Hao and the Spirit Stone split up, searching for further clues and hoping for answers.
“This canyon is immense…” Shi Hao muttered, surprised. Behind the divine and demonic wall stood a grand canyon, dark and yawning, descending deep into the earth.
Not long after, he discovered colossal claw marks, imprints left by a monstrous being that had once crawled from the depths.
“It’s a giant turtle!” The Spirit Stone confirmed after examining the tracks.
Shi Hao’s eyes widened, his voice trembling, “Could it really be… it?”
Legend held that the Sovereign Hall was perched atop a giant turtle’s back—could it have carried the ancient hall here?
The Spirit Stone stared first at the canyon, then at the severed wall, and finally at the bone shard Shi Hao held.
“Did it make use of this teleportation array?” Shi Hao gazed toward the heavens.
“It… secretly ascended to the Upper Realm from here?” The Spirit Stone was equally dumbfounded.
If so, everything made sense. Whether the giant turtle or the Sovereign Hall, to leave when the Heavenly Road was severed would have demanded immense energy.
It likely was this tremendous energy that invoked chaotic forces, causing the supposedly eternal wall to break.
“This…” Shi Hao felt regret gnaw at him. He had missed his opportunity. Finding the ancient hall would only grow more difficult—was there even a chance anymore?
After searching, they reluctantly conceded their suspicion was likely correct.
Now what? This path was severed; even the domains of the True Dragon and the Immortal Fenghuang were lost. The damage to the region prevented any further challenges. Gazing skyward, Shi Hao exhaled deeply—ascending to the Upper Realm seemed so distant, so impossible!
By this logic, he could scarcely hope to leave—it seemed he was fated to remain trapped in the Lower Realm.
“Wait a moment!” Suddenly the Spirit Stone had an idea. It flew close to the broken wall, investigating, and its expression changed.
“This wall is truly incredible! It can actually heal itself!”
Shi Hao approached, sensing the array glyphs. Indeed, some unfathomable force coursed through them.
Moreover, examining the traces on the terrain, he noted that the two sections of the wall had once been set further apart, gradually drawing together. The damaged stone gates themselves flickered with glyphs, suggesting divine energy was at work. Shi Hao retrieved his heavenly eye to observe closely, and indeed, the wall was slowly repairing itself.
“How long before it fully recovers?” Shi Hao inquired.
The Spirit Stone, an arrays expert, deduced after careful simulation: at the very least, several years would pass before the gap bridged. The full restoration of the wall’s internal structure, however, might take much longer.
In other words, Shi Hao might have to wait upwards of ten or even twenty years.
“Such a long time!”
A span of several years was no small wait and left a helpless feeling in his heart.
Finally, Shi Hao took the bone shard and departed. His path was broken.
“The Virtual Spirit World!”
He entered the Virtual Spirit Realm, searching for Master Bird and Elder Fine Jade, hoping for useful information, having exhausted all options.
Unexpectedly, the two old men were unusually cooperative, asking for nothing in return and instead offering serious advice after deep thought.
“In the Lower Realm, certain ancient races once flourished, yet now have faded or vanished. Their ruins might still hold ancient teleportation arrays.”
Shi Hao had already visited all the races that remained powerful, but their arrays had long been used up.
Perhaps only the ruins of the fallen great clans might still possess a few such remnants.
Through careful research, the old men deduced that very few such clans remained. They highlighted three in particular.
“Ah?!” Shi Hao started. The first clan mentioned sounded familiar—it was the Yun Clan, dwelling in the fabled Cloud Heaven Palace.
He recalled a childhood memory. A pair of twin sisters once debated which animal’s milk tasted best. They had been two delicate beauties, and they claimed to hail from the Cloud Heaven Palace, a hidden lineage.
“Them…” Reflecting on that sweet moment, Shi Hao felt warmth and sadness. The Swallow Heaven Que and the Qiong Qi had slaughtered a radius of nearly fifty thousand li—surely those girls had perished.
Previously, the two old men’s suggestions had pointed toward clans hard to locate. Now, however, Shi Hao knew one of their hideouts, and his heart swelled with emotion.
He departed, heading directly for the ancient site of Stone Village, using it as his starting point to search anew.
“Huh?”
Within this region, he spotted a sizable city. Once destroyed, the land had recently revived—by whom?
“It’s them!”
Shi Hao was both surprised and unimpressed. The city lord was none other than Zi Shan Hou, with a golden wolf as its guardian spirit beast.
Once, several powerful tribes had threatened Stone Village, but the Willow God had slain many of their warriors. Among the survivors had been only Zi Shan Hou along with the golden wolf, who had fled in disgrace.
“Against the Swallow Heaven Que and Qiong Qi, they survived—and have now joined forces to rebuild a city.”
Murmuring to himself, Shi Hao recalled that in those days, he had still been a child, helpless before Zi Shan Hou and the golden wolf.
He paused for a moment, but did not seek conflict. Their paths had diverged, and it was unlikely they would meet again.
Shi Hao resumed his journey, exploring the region. Eventually, he climbed a mountain and discovered the Yun Clan’s ruins. The vast peak even bore snow at its summit.
The structures remained intact, showing no signs of destruction—there was simply no soul in sight.
He and the Spirit Stone split up again, eventually uncovering a sealed ancient palace deep underground, where they found a massive teleportation array—they had actually found it!
Had they not been meticulous, and had the Spirit Stone not been a master of arrays, the hidden palace would have remained undetected.
They also discovered inscribed words left by the Yun Clan, explaining that having learned of the Swallow Heaven Que and Qiong Qi’s rampage, they had been forced to retreat into their ancient formation and escape.
Though the Yun Clan had declined from their former glory—even if they remained stronger than Stone Village had been—they were unaware where their ancestors’ array led. They had simply gambled on flight.
“It must have been to the Upper Realm,” the Spirit Stone deduced after examining the array.
“Are those twin sisters still alive?” Shi Hao wondered. If he used this array, perhaps there was a chance he might see them again.
“Buzz!” The mighty array activated, glyphs flashing, instantly opening a path.
“This place isn’t too far from today’s Stone Village,” Shi Hao mused, reluctant to leave, longing to return for a final visit. Yet he restrained himself, heart aching as he gazed silently from afar, then resolutely turned away.
“Farewell, Lower Realm!” These were his last words before he stepped into the portal, vanishing from the Lower World forever.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage