Volume 1, Chapter 117 – The Stone Statue Came to Life

“Th-This is…”

A disciple of Yaochi Immortal Palace cried out, her voice trembling with disbelief.

Everyone froze.

Here, at the heart of a secret realm ravaged by heavenly tribulation and eroded by sixty thousand years…

How could such a “fresh” body still remain?!

No, perhaps it could not even be called a body.

There was not the slightest trace of deathly energy around the middle-aged man, nor any sign of corpse transformation.

He seemed more like an astonishingly lifelike… statue.

Gu Luoli stared intently at the figure seated on the raised platform.

Through her double pupils, she could detect no trace of life or fluctuation of the soul within his body.

Instead, she saw only dense deathly energy and a mass of energy she could not comprehend.

“Could this be Venerable Tianqiong’s body, along with the imprint of the Dao laws he left behind?”

“Or is it a wisp of his will that survived his failed Tribulation Transcendence all those years ago?”

Shock surged through Gu Luoli like a raging storm.

She had once come across scattered references to such things in the ancient records of Yaochi Immortal Palace.

Even after a mighty expert of the Immortal Ascension realm died, their body could remain incorruptible for tens of thousands of years.

She had always assumed those accounts were exaggerated. Never had she imagined she would witness such a sight with her own eyes.

“Everyone, fall back! Do not approach the platform!”

Gu Luoli immediately gave the order, her voice grave.

She had no idea what the lingering presence inside that “body” was, or whether it might suddenly attack.

Approaching recklessly could cost them their lives.

The disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace trusted her completely. They immediately retreated in unison and watched the platform warily.

Just then…

“Rustle…”

“This way! That looks like the main hall!”

“Quick! Don’t let anyone beat us to it!”

The clamor of footsteps and shouting came from several of the passageways through which they had arrived.

A moment later, battered figures with chaotic auras rushed into the hall, each fighting to be first!

They were the cultivators from the various factions who had entered the palace after them!

Compared with the calm, orderly group from Yaochi Immortal Palace, they were in far worse shape.

Many were badly wounded, their clothes torn and their faces still pale with lingering terror.

They had clearly paid a heavy price to make it through those dangerous passageways.

Lu Chen of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect, the elegant male cultivator from Lingxu Sacred Land, the burly disciple of Tianyuan Sacred Land, the graceful woman from Wondrous Sound Pavilion…

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Most of the core disciples leading the major factions were still present, but the groups behind them had plainly dwindled.

Some teams from second-rate sects and minor factions had suffered even heavier losses. A few had only a handful of survivors left.

“This is the main hall!”

“What’s that?!”

“There’s someone on the platform?!”

The moment they charged into the hall, they spotted the group from Yaochi Immortal Palace.

Beyond them, seated atop the raised platform, was that refined figure.

After a brief moment of astonishment, every gaze locked firmly onto him!

Though the figure emitted no aura whatsoever, the mere fact that it had been preserved in such perfect condition…

Was proof enough that it was extraordinary!

“Could that be Venerable Tianqiong’s corpse?!”

“Heavens! It hasn’t decayed in sixty thousand years! Just what realm had he reached?!”

“An opportunity! A tremendous opportunity! He must have left an inheritance on his body!”

Cries of shock and greedy gasps instantly filled the hall!

As barely suppressed excitement and greed spread through the hall, setting the gathered cultivators’ hearts racing…

Gu Luoli’s voice cut clearly through the brief silence.

“Everyone, do not act rashly!”

Her voice was not loud, but it carried with remarkable clarity.

The disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace, who had begun to grow restless despite themselves, instantly snapped back to attention. Without hesitation, they retreated another dozen or so steps in unison.

Most of the cultivators from the other factions, however, merely glanced at her dismissively.

A few hesitated, but far more scoffed.

“The people from Yaochi Immortal Palace are playing tricks again!”

“They’re probably trying to scare us off so they can claim the opportunity for themselves!”

“They’re just a few stone statues and a body. What is there to be afraid of?”

“Exactly!”

A few cultivators whose factions had suffered devastating losses were already seething with pent-up rage. They paid no heed whatsoever to Gu Luoli’s warning.

They exchanged glances, vicious light flashing in their eyes.

“The opportunity is right in front of us! First come, first served! Charge!”

Someone let out a hoarse roar, as if setting a match to a powder keg!

“Boom!”

The fragile balance shattered in an instant!

Dozens of cultivators closest to the platform, long since unable to restrain themselves…

Surged toward the figure atop it like sharks scenting blood, each desperate to get there first!

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All they could see was the “corpse” that might contain a supreme inheritance. Any thought of danger had long since been cast aside!

“Get out of my way! It’s mine!”

“Bullshit! It belongs to whoever gets it first!”

“Anyone who blocks me dies!”

Curses, furious shouts, and the explosive clashes of spiritual power instantly resounded throughout the hall!

Flashing blades, flying swords, and the radiance of spells engulfed the area before the platform in the blink of an eye!

Blood sprayed through the air!

An independent cultivator at the Golden Core stage had only just reached the edge of the platform…

When a sinister-eyed disciple of the Xuanming Sect ambushed him from behind and drove a hand straight through his back!

He tumbled down with a scream, blood spraying across the cold floor.

On the other side, two disciples from second-rate sects turned their weapons on each other as they fought for a position closer to the platform!

A sword pierced one man’s chest as a blade slashed across the other’s throat. They died almost simultaneously, hot blood gushing out and swiftly feeding the pool on the floor.

Greed, rage, fear, madness…

Every emotion swelled and festered amid the slaughter!

Spiritual energy ran rampant throughout the hall, and killing intent soared!

The place had become a vast meat grinder, devouring one living person after another!

Meanwhile, the stone statues standing in various poses along both sides of the hall…

Hidden in the shadows and unnoticed by anyone, a faint, dark sheen silently spread across their cold stone surfaces.

On the floor, warm blood flowed freely, soaking into the stone tiles.

As though drawn by some invisible force, it no longer spread at random.

Instead, it formed hair-thin crimson streams that wound their way toward the bases of the nearest statues!

The instant the blood touched the base of a statue, it seeped in like water into a sponge and was swiftly absorbed without a trace!

Not a single drop went to waste!

Golden light flashed wildly within Gu Luoli’s double pupils!

She saw it!

She saw with perfect clarity where the blood was flowing!

She saw the life essence and spiritual power within it being voraciously devoured and absorbed by the statues!

What chilled her even more was…

As the blood continued pouring into them, some kind of “core” within each of the dozens of statues, previously as dormant as dead matter, was gradually being “lit”!

“Everyone! Stay alert! Gather around me and form the formation!”

Gu Luoli abruptly raised her voice, her tone more stern and urgent than ever!

The Dragon Abyss Sword was already drawn in her hand, clear sword light flowing along its blade.

The twenty disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace did not understand what was happening.

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But when they saw the grave expression on Senior Sister Gu’s face, they did not hesitate for even a moment. With Gu Luoli at the center, they instantly formed a tight defensive formation!

Yet by then, the battle in the center of the hall had already reached a fever pitch!

To get closer to the platform, to lay hands on that “body”…

Hundreds of cultivators had already been driven mad by bloodlust!

Bodies fell one after another, blood spraying as if it cost nothing!

The pools of blood on the floor grew larger and merged, only to be drawn away by the invisible force and funneled endlessly into the bases of the statues lining both sides of the hall!

The statues absorbed the blood faster and faster!

The dark sheen on their surfaces, barely perceptible at first, had now become clearly visible!

Most notably around their “eyes”…

Within sockets that had once been nothing more than rough carvings, pinpricks of scarlet light flickered to life like candles guttering in the wind!

At first, only one statue lit up. Then came a second, a third…

A skin-crawling creak, like countless grains of sand grinding against one another…

Began to sound faintly from within statue after statue!

“Something’s wrong! Those statues… are they moving?!”

At last, a cultivator on the fringes of the melee who had not completely lost his reason noticed something amiss!

A female disciple from Wondrous Sound Pavilion went deathly pale and pointed at a humanoid stone statue nearby, screaming at the top of her lungs!

The statue’s head, which had originally hung low, was slowly rising!

On its stony face, two points of scarlet light “stared” at her like the eyes of a living creature!

Cold, dead, and utterly devoid of emotion!

“What?!”

Several nearby cultivators turned at the sound and nearly died of fright!

They saw that it was not the only one!

Ten stone statues along both sides of the hall were undergoing the same transformation!

Heads rose, arms shifted, and bodies trembled…

Their scarlet “gazes” all fell in unison upon the bloodiest area in the center of the hall.

“ROAR!”

A low bellow, neither human nor beast, seemingly rising from the deepest reaches of hell…

Erupted from the “mouth” of a bestial stone statue!

Then, as if triggering a chain reaction…

“ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!”

Several savage bellows followed in quick succession, merging into a terrifying wave of sound that reverberated wildly throughout the hall!

Wherever the wave passed, space shuddered and spiritual energy scattered!

Every cultivator still fighting, regardless of their cultivation, reeled as the sudden, terrifying roars sent their qi and blood churning.

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“The stone… the stone statues have come alive?!”

“Run! Hurry, run!”

After a brief, deathly silence came even more terrified screams and chaos!

The cultivators closest to the statues no longer cared about opportunities or inheritances. They spun around and tried to flee!

However…

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Heavy footsteps suddenly thundered through the hall, each like an enormous hammer striking the earth.

The ten “awakened” statues moved!

They strode forward on heavy stone legs. Their movements were stiff and slow at first, but rapidly became fluid!

Even more horrifyingly, they did not attack every living creature indiscriminately.

Instead… they had specific targets!

Every cultivator stained with blood became a priority target!

A stone statue shaped like an enormous ape and standing three zhang tall swung a millstone-sized fist.

With a vicious howl of displaced air, it smashed down at several cultivators still locked in combat!

“No!”

Their screams of despair ended abruptly!

The floor shook violently, and shards of stone shot in every direction!

With a single punch, the statue crushed the cultivators and the ground beneath them into a deep crater filled with mangled flesh!

On the other side, a humanoid statue wielded a colossal stone sword.

Its blade swept sideways, releasing sword qi so sharp it seemed solid and severing several cultivators at the waist as they tried to flee past it!

Blood and entrails splattered across the floor, only to be absorbed at once and channeled toward the other statues!

“Form up! Quickly, form a defensive formation!”

Lu Chen’s face was deathly pale as he roared himself hoarse, trying to rally the disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect.

Yet amid the statues’ frenzied attacks and the crowd’s mad stampede, his voice was instantly drowned out!

The elegant male cultivator from Lingxu Sacred Land and the burly disciple of Tianyuan Sacred Land…

Both were now stricken with horror, desperately directing their fellow disciples to resist while retreating.

But the statues possessed astonishing strength and extraordinarily formidable defenses.

Ordinary spells left only shallow white marks on their bodies.

These stone statues seemed incapable of feeling pain and unafraid of death. They did nothing but faithfully carry out some command to slaughter!

Worse still, as they continued killing cultivators and absorbing more blood…

The scarlet light in their eyes blazed ever brighter. Their movements grew faster, and their strength continued to increase!

The hall had become a hellish killing ground!