Chapter 664: The Statue

Luo Feng, clad in silver battle armor, his eyes gleaming like lightning, raised his gaze to the colossal beast god statue before him. As he observed this grand statue, the Golden-Horned Giant within his inner world was carefully studying the miniature beast god statue, comparing the two.

“Hmm?”

Luo Feng circled the colossal beast god statue like a phantom, moving so swiftly that each step carried him thousands of kilometers.

“Your Highness?” Dylan asked, puzzled.

“Inspector Dylan, what is Prince Luo Feng doing?” Si Fanqi asked in confusion. “Could he be trying to examine every detail of this colossal beast god statue? But countless of our clansmen have done that through generations, and nothing unusual has ever been found.”

“I don’t know either,” Dylan replied, shaking his head.

As the two conversed, Luo Feng suddenly soared skyward, ascending to an altitude of thousands of kilometers above the beast god statue. From above, he gazed down at the statue’s back, observing its spine, neck, and head.

After a short while, Luo Feng had carefully examined every inch of the colossal beast god statue.

“Hmph.”

Luo Feng finally shifted his gaze from the statue, looking down into the valley below the Beast God Canyon. From his vantage point, he saw the vast valley floor, stretching tens of thousands of kilometers wide and hundreds of thousands long. Except for a few scattered palace structures, the ground was filled with Golden-Horned cultivators sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Billions of ascetics, nearly all seated in stillness, exuding an invisible pressure that rivaled the statue itself.

“Billions of cultivators, generation after generation, all studying this colossal beast god statue, hoping to become great beings like Hiero,” Luo Feng muttered, shaking his head. Then, as if a meteor streaking downward, he rapidly descended. Just before hitting the valley floor, his speed abruptly slowed, and his silver metallic battle boots gently touched the ground.

“Your Highness,” Dylan and Si Fanqi hurriedly approached.

“I need to think,” Luo Feng said, then sat cross-legged on the rocky ground, the armor on his body causing the earth and stone beneath him to crack.

Dylan and Si Fanqi stood silently beside Luo Feng, guarding him.

…

“It’s actually like this—the colossal beast god statue and the miniature beast god statue I obtained in the Blood-Luo World are so vastly different,” Luo Feng recalled the comparison, astonished. “The similarities: first, the body proportions are identical, definitely modeled after the same being. Second, the number of scales is the same—exactly 90,729 scales.”

“The differences: first, the scale designs are different. Second, this colossal beast god statue lacks that ‘divine aura,’ that artistic essence.”

Luo Feng furrowed his brow in thought.

The two statues were vastly different in size—one stretching over ten thousand kilometers, the other merely thirty centimeters high and about one meter long. Yet despite the difference in scale, their body proportions were identical, and no matter the posture, the number of scales was exactly the same.

Even on the colossal statue’s belly and on the hooves that were curled and pressed beneath its body—areas invisible to the naked eye—Luo Feng had scanned with a sliver of his mental power from his Earthling self. He discovered that even in those compressed areas, where one might expect no scales, the scales were still present.

It was as if this were a living ancient beast lying there, turned into a statue.

“How strange.”

“The number of scales is identical—90,729. But the scale designs differ. The scales on the miniature beast god statue seem more orderly, more refined, exuding a sense of rhythm and artistic essence. In contrast, the colossal statue’s scales appear random and chaotic. Yet this colossal statue exudes an immense, terrifying pressure.”

“What’s going on here?”

Luo Feng pondered deeply.

Since Hiero had left the colossal beast god statue among the Golden-Horned Clan, countless powerful beings had come to study and contemplate it over the long ages. Even among humans, some mighty existences—such as a few Cosmic Lords and Cosmic Monarchs—had come to meditate upon it, yet none had ever unraveled the mystery of this colossal beast god statue.

Perhaps some had figured it out but kept it secret.

At any rate, no one had publicly claimed to understand this colossal beast god statue.

With so many peerless beings having failed to comprehend it, for Luo Feng—a mere fledgling World Lord, albeit one with some rare fortune—to hope to understand it was nothing short of a dreamer’s fantasy.

…

Luo Feng sat in silent contemplation, unmoving for over three months.

Dylan, Si Fanqi, Kashna, and the five human World Lords obediently stood guard nearby. Elder Kebu had already parted ways with Luo Feng upon arriving at the Beast God Canyon, going to meet an old friend.

Dylan and the five World Lords weren’t bored—they were seeing the colossal beast god statue for the first time and were themselves trying to decipher its secrets.

They, too, dreamed…

Perhaps they could unravel the mystery of this colossal beast god statue, and thus ascend to greatness.

Si Fanqi and his disciple Kashna, however, were quite bored, having already tried and failed long ago.

“Hmph.”

Luo Feng exhaled deeply.

“Your Highness?” Dylan and Si Fanqi immediately turned their attention to him.

“Nothing,” Luo Feng smiled and shook his head, then closed his eyes once more, most of his consciousness entering his inner world.

…

Inside his inner world, vast and boundless.

A Yimo Starship was parked on a grassy plain. Now that he had an inner world, the Yimo Starship no longer needed to be stored in Babata’s spatial ring.

“Babata, project a holographic image of the colossal beast god statue using the photos I previously recorded,” the black-robed Luo Feng commanded beside the Yimo Starship.

“Understood.”

The Yimo Starship emitted a hazy beam of light, which coalesced into a colossal beast god statue in slumber, stretching over ten thousand kilometers in length. It was an exact replica of the outer statue. Even as a projection, it exuded a faint, invisible pressure.

Though not as powerful or pronounced as the real one.

“I’m certain,” murmured Luo Feng, his black robes swirling as the demon-slaying clone fixed his gaze upon the towering holographic monument, eyes alight with revelation. “The secret must be hidden within the scales!”

“The colossal and the miniature beast god statues both have exactly 90,729 scales—an eerie number. One statue is over ten thousand kilometers long, the other merely about a meter. And yet, the number of scales is the same. If the number of scales were off, perhaps the pressure wouldn’t exist at all.” Luo Feng’s mind raced, then he ordered, “Babata, alter this holographic statue—split one large scale into two smaller ones.”

“Proceeding.”

In the sky, one of the scales on the projected colossal statue subtly shifted, splitting into two smaller scales.

Boom!

The pressure vanished. The once-intimidating projection now appeared as an ordinary, lifeless statue without the slightest aura.

“Exactly as I thought!” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.

“Restore the original form, then alter the texture of one scale,” he ordered again.

The projection reverted, and the faint pressure returned.

But as soon as the texture was altered, the pressure vanished again.

…

Luo Feng became even more convinced—the key lay in the 90,729 scales on the statue.

With a flick of his sleeve, the dark-cloaked Luo Feng conjured forth a miniature Beast God effigy. The tiny statue stood poised upon four cloven hooves, its solitary horn thrusting defiantly skyward, radiating an undercurrent of primal dominance and an otherworldly divine presence—as though Luo Feng beheld not mere sculpture, but the living essence of some primordial behemoth.

“Babata, project this miniature beast god statue as well, scaling it up to ten thousand kilometers in length,” the black-robed Luo Feng commanded.

“Understood.”

In an instant, two towering divine beast statue projections loomed in the heavens—one reclining in eternal slumber, the other standing proud with its head held high, radiating overwhelming majesty and bloodthirsty aura.

“Both exude pressure,” the black-robed Luo Feng muttered, stroking his chin.

“The sleeping one has greater pressure, while the standing one has less. No… wait. The standing one possesses ‘spirit’—a distinct artistic essence. Its divine presence is gathered, its pressure contained. But the colossal beast god statue lacks that spirit, that unique essence. Looking at the sleeping beast god statue, one doesn’t feel the presence of a living beast god. Without spirit, its pressure is scattered, making it seem so overwhelming.”

To anyone with sense,

it was clear—the standing beast god statue was more vivid, as if it were a living beast god incarnate.

One felt like a living being.

The other, like a lifeless object.

The difference was immense.

“The scale textures are different too,” the black-robed Luo Feng mused. “Let’s test it.”

Rumbling sounds echoed from the distance as a black blur shot through the sky, landing heavily on the vast grasslands, flattening the grass beneath its weight. It was a massive beast, as large as a mountain—The Golden-Horned Giant.

“The Golden-Horned Giant is best suited to study the beast god statue,” the black-robed Luo Feng muttered. “Let it attempt to carve one.”

Yes, carving.

By carving it by hand, he could feel the difference in scale texture—an idea Luo Feng had devised.

“First, carve the sleeping beast god statue,” the black-robed Luo Feng willed. Instantly, a surge of world-force gathered across the grasslands, forming a mountain over ten thousand kilometers long—purely for carving. At the same time, the world-force conjured up a full ten thousand carving tools of various sizes, some over a hundred kilometers long, others smaller than ants.

…

The Golden-Horned Giant stood on the grasslands, its scaled wings fluttering slightly, circling the ten-thousand-kilometer-long mountain. With its mental power, it controlled the ten thousand carving tools, beginning the rapid carving of the mountain.

Once one’s power control reached the World Lord level, even carving down to the millimeter, micrometer, or nanometer level, there would be no error.

“Success.”

In a short while, a massive stone sleeping beast god statue was completed, lifelike and vivid.

“This is really difficult—each change in texture is so complex. But strange… why is there no pressure at all?” The Golden-Horned Giant hovered in the air, its eyes filled with confusion. “Never mind. I’ll try carving the miniature beast god statue next.”

…

Another ten-thousand-kilometer-long mountain appeared on the grasslands. The Golden-Horned Giant once again controlled the ten thousand carving tools of varying sizes, beginning the carving process.

The general shape of the beast god statue was easy to carve—the scales and textures were the most complex.

“Waaah!”

After carving only twelve scales, the Golden-Horned Giant let out a pained roar. Its massive head shook violently as it gritted its teeth and continued carving. The more it carved, the more intense the pain became, as if an invisible force, a suffocating pressure, was directly crushing its entire body. Even its soul seemed bound and oppressed.

“Roar!” The Golden-Horned Giant roared in agony.

Golden blood oozed from its nostrils, eyes, scaled wings, hooves, and tail.

With a mournful cry, the beast plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily onto the grasslands with a thunderous boom.