Chapter 324: The Giant

Chapter 324: The Giant

A month had passed.

The black rocky land stretched endlessly, surrounded by desolation and silence.

They had no idea how far they had traveled, but they had yet to find any palaces. The only discoveries were two more stalks of the Three-Leaved Life Grass, which they refined into Life Pills.

After absorbing the Life Pills, Ning Xiaochuan successfully reached the realm of "one drop of blood transforms into six tigers."

Over the past month, Ning Xiaochuan hadn’t encountered any other Martial Artists or mystic beasts—only over a dozen attacks from stone beasts.

However, the stone beasts failed to harm him. Instead, he captured them and refined them into the Double-headed Stone Beast using the Heart Nurturing True Cauldron.

After devouring eighteen stone beasts in succession, the Double-headed Stone Beast grew to a towering height of 40 meters, resembling a small mountain of jagged rocks. Its every step caused the ground to tremble violently.

It had fully advanced to the level of a sixth-rank mystic beast.

"Minor Marquis, where exactly are we? This doesn’t seem like the world of the Yulan Empire. Could we have entered a world within the Emperor's Ruins?" Nie Lanzhi sat on a rock, her bright eyes blinking behind long lashes.

After spending a month together, she had grown increasingly awed by Ning Xiaochuan’s strength. It seemed no danger could overcome him.

She had once believed Senior Brother Ye was the strongest among the younger generation, a figure akin to a young deity. But now, she felt the Minor Marquis might rival him—both were peerless young kings, capable of anything, inspiring admiration and fascination.

Ning Xiaochuan sat cross-legged, cultivating the Eighth Level of 'Heaven and Earth Profound Qi' in preparation to break through to the Ninth Level of the Transcendent Realm. Yet, despite an entire month of cultivation, aside from his physique growing stronger, his realm showed no signs of advancement.

He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the sky, where dark clouds loomed like a black shroud enveloping the entire world.

"We must be on a planet," Ning Xiaochuan said.

Nie Lanzhi asked curiously, "What’s a planet?"

"A star."

Ning Xiaochuan stood up. "When you stand on the land of the Yulan Empire and look up at the night sky, you see countless twinkling stars. In truth, each of those is a planet."

Nie Lanzhi’s large, round eyes sparkled with wonder. "But the stars are so tiny, while this world we’re in now is unimaginably vast, with no end in sight."

Ning Xiaochuan shook his head. "The stars appear small because they’re incredibly far away—at least a million kilometer, or even hundreds of millions of kilometers. In reality, they’re enormous, some even larger than the entire territory of the Yulan Empire. Remember that black sphere we saw in the sky by the Sacred Lake in Dragon Valley? I suspect we’re now standing on that very sphere—a planet."

Nie Lanzhi was utterly stunned, her voice trembling. "Then… we’ve traveled into the cosmos? Millions of kilometers away from the Yulan Empire? Can we even return?"

To journey from the ground into outer space was like crossing the divide between heaven and earth—a terrifying prospect. The distance was simply too vast, spanning at least a million kilometer.

For an ordinary person, even a lifetime of walking wouldn’t be enough to traverse such a distance.

"Since we were able to come here through the Formation, we can definitely return the same way," Ning Xiaochuan said calmly.

According to ancient legends, the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace hovered above the Yulan Empire, and many believed it to be mere rumor.

That was because they had no idea the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace wasn't suspended just a few thousand meters above the ground, but rather situated on a planet. This planet floated above the Yulan Empire, millions of kilometers away from the surface. Even someone of the Master of the Martial Palace's caliber couldn't traverse millions of kilometers to reach this planet. Thus, it was understandable why people couldn't find the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace.

In truth, Ning Xiaochuan's guess wasn't wrong—this was indeed a black planet, suspended right above the Yulan Empire.

Viewed from space, this planet was very close to the Yulan Empire, merely separated by millions of kilometers, while other planets were at least hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

This black planet had been forcibly summoned from the cosmos by the Heavenly Emperor through a great Divine Ability and anchored above the Yulan Empire as his personal palace. Standing on the black planet and looking down at the land below was like gazing at a massive map, with mountains and rivers appearing as mere lines.

Ning Xiaochuan longed to break through the clouds and see what lay beyond, to confirm his suspicions.

However, this planet was protected by powerful restrictions. With his current cultivation, he couldn't fly higher than 500 meters, making it impossible to pierce through the clouds.

The dark clouds above acted like a thick protective barrier, shielding the planet. They prevented creatures inside from flying out and outsiders from breaking in.

"Minor Marquis, how can we find the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace? And how do we return?" Nie Lanzhi asked, her heart uneasy upon learning they were likely millions of kilometers above the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan shook his head. If the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace were so easy to find, it would have been discovered long ago.

"Kid, only I can find the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace. How about we cooperate?" The Heavenly Emperor's Blade's voice rang out from the Mystic Beast Manual.

The Small Red Dragon immediately snatched the Mystic Beast Manual, gnawing on it while letting out angry growls.

"Damn it, can you make it stop biting? This idiot dragon will get itself chopped in half sooner or later," the Heavenly Emperor's Blade snarled furiously.

The Small Red Dragon grew even more agitated, not only biting the manual but also ramming it with its head, as if trying to force its way inside to devour the blade.

Ning Xiaochuan's mind stirred, and he quickly stopped Small Red Dragon, negotiating with the Heavenly Emperor's Blade. "Cooperation isn't impossible. But if we find the Divine Blood left by the Heavenly Emperor, who gets it—you or me?"

"Of course, you do," the Heavenly Emperor's Blade replied.

Ning Xiaochuan sneered inwardly. "You'd really give it up?"

"It's just a drop of Divine Blood—why wouldn't I? The Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace is filled with treasures. Divine Blood might not even be the most valuable thing there. Enough talk. Let's set off now. If someone else beats us to it, we won't even get to drink the leftovers."

Ning Xiaochuan didn't believe a word the Heavenly Emperor's Blade said, but he kept it to himself. For now, he’d let it lead them to the palace's location.

Ning Xiaochuan unfurled his Wings of Rage and flew in the direction indicated by the Heavenly Emperor's Blade. Nie Lanzhi rode on the back of the Small Red Dragon, closely following behind him. The Small Red Dragon's body had grown to over 10 meters long, as thick as a bowl, with a pair of red wings spread wide and auspicious clouds covering its four claws.

After flying for eight days, a massive black mountain appeared on the ground. Its sheer size was unimaginable, looming like the edge of the world, blocking all paths. Within the mountain stood the Black Stone Ancient City, constructed from massive black stones weighing 5,000 kg each. Its towering walls and tightly shut gates left no visible entrance.

"How could there be a city here? Could this be a place where the Heavenly Emperor once resided? Huh—there's a bright white light at the center of the city!" Nie Lanzhi was astonished, tightly gripping the Small Red Dragon's neck.

Ning Xiaochuan also spotted the white light—it was a Three-Leaved Life Grass, its medicinal aura so dense it enveloped the entire city. Above it hovered a white glow, forming the illusory silhouette of a young noblewoman, seemingly in deep meditation.

"Could it be... a thousand-year-old Spiritual Medicine?" Ning Xiaochuan's heart raced with excitement. Obtaining a fully matured Spiritual Medicine would undoubtedly elevate his physique to an unprecedented level.

Retracting his Dual Wings, Ning Xiaochuan landed but refrained from rashly entering the black ancient city. Instead, he extended a finger and pointed forward. A black light barrier rippled from his fingertip, suddenly yanking his body forward.

A surge of intense danger gripped him, and his expression changed. "Retreat!" he shouted.

Startled, the Small Red Dragon swiftly turned around and fled with Nie Lanzhi on its back.

"Boom—!"

The Black Stone Ancient City erupted with dazzling light, rising from the ground. Its mighty walls fused together, towers and ancient streets interlocking, rapidly transforming into a stone beast over 100 meters tall.

No— It was a giant assembled from stone.

The black ancient city had become a Stone Beast Giant, wielding a stone axe, its aura menacing. Pitch-black light gleamed in its eyes, striking fear into the heart. The Three-Leaved Life Grass grew on a protruding boulder on its chest, glowing brilliantly and exuding an overwhelming medicinal fragrance.

Without hesitation, Ning Xiaochuan summoned the Demonic Sword, stepping onto it and transforming into a streak of crimson light as he soared away.

"Crash—!"

The Stone Beast Giant swung its axe, cleaving the ground where Ning Xiaochuan had stood moments before. A massive fissure split the earth, cracks spreading outward for 50 km.

The sheer power of the Stone Beast Giant was unimaginable—a single strike had devastated the land for dozens of kilometers. Had Ning Xiaochuan not decisively summoned the Demonic Sword to escape, that single blow would have ended him.

Glancing back, Ning Xiaochuan heard a deafening roar shake the heavens, the very world trembling. Cold sweat drenched his back—the line between life and death had been terrifyingly thin.

After escaping, Small Red Dragon threw the Mystic Beast Manual on the ground and began trampling it, stomping with its feet and biting with its teeth.

It had also realized it had been tricked by the Heavenly Emperor's Blade, which deliberately led them into an extremely dangerous place, intending to have them all killed by the Stone Beast Giant.

"We can't trust its words anymore. The Heavenly Emperor's Blade has lived hundreds of times longer than the sum of our ages—it's cunning and utterly ruthless. Once I break through to the Earthly Venerable Realm, I'll take my time dealing with it." Once Ning Xiaochuan reached the Earthly Venerable Realm, he would be able to cultivate a Martial Soul, and then he could use the power of the Martial Soul to suppress the Heavenly Emperor's Blade.