Chapter 550 - The Little Stone’s Aspirations
The sealing of deities ended. The world under the heavens erupted with noise.
Shi Hao never expected that things would end up like this. It was completely different from what he had anticipated.
There weren’t any astonishing desperate battles, nor did the sky and earth collapse. It was just a single undying existence that swept through this world to capture cultivators that ignited their divine flames, remaining unstoppable to the end.
All eight regions were discussing among themselves. For the rest of this world, the disturbance this time was too great. Someone actually captured all of the deities! His methods were heaven defying. This was truly an inconceivable thing!
“He left just like that? It was bit too ordinary.” Shi Hao stood in the imperial palace while gazing into the moon up in the sky and muttering to himself. He seemed extremely lonesome.
Peng Nine was leading Qingfeng around, helping him understand everything that went on in the imperial palace. When he saw this scene from the distance and heard him talking to himself, he felt a bit speechless. The outside was in an uproar, and the word was not peaceful at all, yet his majesty was feeling lonesome.
“Was different from what I had expected.” Shi Hao sighed lightly.
The moonlight was chilly. He stood on the altar while gazing into the sky. He felt quite frustrated. He said his farewells to the Willow Deity, and he sent off the little pagoda. Would they be able to return alive to meet him again?
From what the undying existence said, the Willow Deity and little pagoda both entered the Primordial Gate. Did any of the blood that flowed out belong to them?
Were they now parted by death? Since the ancient times, every single supreme being that entered those gates never reappeared. When he recalled this, he couldn’t help but sigh.
Willow Deity had given him too much, making him feel extremely reluctant. How could he not be worried? He felt a wave of disappointment and frustration. Was there ever going to be a reunion again? When he thought of everything that had happened in the past, he felt extremely gloomy.
Dark clouds floated past, covering the bright and cold moon. The world immediately became much darker.
“Higher realms, I will go there!” Shi Hao clenched his fists.
“I will explore the mysterious area. Willow Deity, little pagoda, wait for me. I will definitely survive and fight my way up there!” He firmed up his conviction. His eyes were flickering with radiance.
Boundless races existed in the higher realms. Heavenly talents rose in large numbers, and every single race had peerless geniuses. There were even exceptional talents and otherworldly fairies. It was unknown just how many supreme youths and divine individuals there were in the great earth.
They each occupied an area, dominating their region and creating their own legends.
Shi Hao longed to see the higher realms for himself. He wanted to step on his own path!
Shui Yue and Lan Yu had spoken about it quite a bit. That was his real stage, one that was filled with hot-blooded battles between exceptional geniuses of his generation. It was a place where supreme beings competed and immortals stood against each other!
Shi Hao gradually calmed down, no longer appearing bewildered. His eyes became resolute. When he finished his stay in the lower realm, he was definitely ascend into the heavens and proceed into the greater world of the higher realms. He was going to jump out from this hole.
“Little big bro, is something the matter?” Qingfeng walked over. He had already familiarized himself with many things under Peng Nine’s instruction and had gotten used to life in the outside world.
Apart from him, Dazhuang who followed the War King and Pihou who was enjoying the mortal world were quite satisfied as well. They adapted to everything quite quickly.
One of them entered the military side, another travelled around everywhere, and the last one studied the precious techniques of the outside world; they all had their own benefits.
“I’m fine. Qingfeng, are you willing to rule Stone Country?” Shi Hao directly asked.
“Ah, little big bro, what are you talking about?” Qingfeng was shocked as he looked at Shi Hao with confusion. Could it be that his little big brother was going to go far away and leave the wasteland region?
Shi Hao didn’t hide anything and said, “In the eyes of those of the higher realms, the eight regions are just a cage. I want to break free and search for a path of the great dao.”
In reality, there were many others that thought of the lower realm as a cage as well. It was just too small and couldn’t sharpen ‘true dragons’. Exceptional talents and immortals could only emerge and compete in the higher realms.
“Little big bro, are you really going to leave? If you do, won’t we never be able to see you again?” Qingfeng’s eyes that were full of shock widened.
Shi Hao sighed. He patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, how could that be? Of course we will see each other again.”
He muttered to himself. He didn’t want to disrupt Qingfeng’s way of life. After all, he was still too young. Placing Stone Country on his shoulders would be too great of a burden. He still need to think more about this.
Shi Hao couldn’t just walk away from all of his problems. There were still other things that had to be arranged. Stone Country, his parents, Stone Village, and even future aspirations could be dealt with now.
Early in the morning, the eastern golden multicolored light blossomed in all directions. It was a brilliant morning.
Inside of the eight regions, all deities had died, and the world was completely shaken. This storm was much greater than what they had anticipated. Even though Shi Hao felt rather calm, the outside world was discussing this fervently.
After their initial shock, many people exalted, because normal inheritances weren’t affected and instead received great benefits. Was this a prelude to an age of glory?
“Haha… From today forth, there are no deities in this world. No one can make trouble for us anymore!”
“I already have a premonition that the age for hundreds of schools of thought to contend has arrived!”
The only ones that remained silent were the undying great sects. They had lost their advantage, and their losses this time were severe. Their gates had been trampled on by the undying existence, and all of their experts that lit their divine flames were captured. A wave of great darkness filled their sects.
With all experts of that level withered away, this event could only be considered an absolute calamity!
A few great sects prepared to seal up their mountains and go into isolation, because the present circumstances were extremely unfavorable.
The after effects of this disaster were tremendous, and they emerged in many different places.
There were originally a few king level figures inside Stone Country that originally didn’t accept Shi Hao and refused him as their new emperor. However, after the great disaster ended, everyone felt great fear inside.
Rumor has it that the undying existence had been called out by Shi Hao himself, and before that, he even overturned Immortal Mountain. These events inspired great awe throughout the empire!
Some king level figures inside of Stone Country remained unconvinced, but that was because they had been influenced by the great sects. Now that the undying inheritances had all shrunk back and were going to seal up their mountains, it naturally left them feeling great fear.
In just two days, Stone Country’s nobility that were discontent with Shi Hao’s rule all offered their humble apologies. They entered the imperial capital one after another to ask for forgiveness.
Shi Hao sat inside the main hall while overlooking everyone. He didn’t show any mercy, and towards those that caused serious problems, he directly executed them without holding back. Those that were still reasonable could be forgiven.
Iron-bloodedness and appeasement coexisted. Stone Country was immediately shaken from head to toe.
When the nobles that hadn’t made their moves yet heard of this, they became even more cautious. Some quickly went to beg for forgiveness, while some directly fled, not daring to accept punishment.
Towards the latter, Shi Hao acted mercilessly. The War King and the others were sent out immediately to pursue them, and he himself also took action to slaughter the traitors. With his current power, how could king level figures even resist?
All of Stone Country was stirred up. All those that tried to stir up trouble kept quiet out of fear, deciding to behave themselves.
The effectiveness was apparent. Shi Hao’s forceful methods left all sides shaken. Stone Country was finally without cracks and unified. It became a great country not only in name, but in reality as well.
Great changes happened to the other countries as well. With the retreat of the Heaven Mending Sect, Immortal Mountain, Western Sect, several countries revived and began to stand upright again.
The ruins of the broken walls and rubble were incomparably bleak and desolate.
Shi Hao stood in the ruins of the Heaven Mending Pavilion. He immediately became lost in his thoughts. This place had once left him with deep impressions. He felt a sense of belonging here.
Years ago, he brought Qingfeng out from the great wastelands. The first time he entered this school, there were cheerful chatter and cries of joy, but there was also sorrow and tragedy.
Back then, he had cultivated together with many children around his age. As a youth that had walked out from the great wastelands, he was immersed in new and exciting experiences.
Old ancestor Mu Yan taught him the lightning technique, and Elder Liu helped him perfect the golden Peng technique. However, in the end, a large scale attack arrived from the enemy, and all of those wonderful things were completely shattered.
So many senior brothers and sisters died in battle, all for the sake of letting their younger junior brothers and sisters escape. There were also the elders, who, for the sake of holding the enemy off, stayed behind and self-destructed to help everyone leave. It was an extremely sad and tragic event.
“Unforgivable. How can I forget such a thing?!” Shi Hao said softly. This was something that he had never taken care of.
When the Heaven Mending Sect was wiped out, he had vowed together with some other youth that escaped that they would reestablish the Heaven Mending Pavilion and revive their sect. Today, he finally had the power to do so.
Before leaving for the higher realms, he was going to complete these unsettled aspirations.
He still remembered the faces of those invaders, those sinister expressions, arrogant laughter, as well as the blood trickling from their blades. He could still picture the heads of his seniors and juniors rushing into the sky.
Roar… Shi Hao raised his head, his roar resounding through these ruins.
With a raise of his hand, he hacked off a stone mountain and carved it into a stele. Placing it upright in the ruins, he carved down the three words ‘Heaven Mending Pavilion’.
“Before leaving, I will complete a few things. I am going to reestablish the Heaven Mending Pavilion!” Shi Hao’s roar resounded through the skies.
Right at that moment, the broken black sword he carried on him released a light vibration that was clear and melodious like the cry of a dragon. It erupted with dark light and emitted a fluctuation that was several times more terrifying than anything it had released in the past.
It seemed to possess its own spirit, breaking free from Shi Hao’s control and moving about in the void. It was as if a true dragon was rising into the heavens. Only after a long time had passed did it return to his hands.
“You actually had a spirit. You aren’t going to blame me for taking so long to do this, are you?” Shi Hao lowered his head and looked at this broken sword. His power now was great enough to complete the tasks he wanted to do.
That day, the stele on the ruins of Heaven Mending Pavilion shone magnificently, shocking all directions!
Shi Hao weaved through the heavens and quickly moved about to search for people. He appeared near a large pond. There was an enormous tribe there.
It was the Xiao tribe, a place with many inhabitants. It was actually a place with many different races that united together. It had long become a great power comparable to a small country.
Ahead, there was a central tribe. The number of people here reached a million. If this number was combined with the populations of the other areas, then it would reach an unimaginable number.
A youth was currently cultivating next to a lake. Silver light flickered about and symbols covered this place densely. Even the lake water was resonating in response as symbols engraved themselves densely in the air.
In his surroundings rested fresh and clean grass and trees. They were also resonating in response, an embodiment of this silver-robed youth’s connection with the great dao.
Right at this moment, a young lady ran over while gasping for breath. She called out loudly, saying, “Xiao Tian, you have a guest. The clan elders are all acting cautiously and respectfully around him, and they wish for you to hurry over.”
“Who is it?” The silver-robed youth stopped and asked with a frown. He was currently cultivating and wasn’t willing to stop.
“I do not know, but the individual sitting there continuously praises how promising and brilliant[1] you are, how you will definitely not be someone with no talent in the future.” The young lady was quite charming and naive. She wiped away her sweat and spoke while blinking her large eyes.
“Promising and brilliant?!” The silver-robed youth repeated these words, and then he clenched his teeth, because this truly affected his mood. These words did not bring him any good memories.
Inside the main hall of the clan, the great elders were all present. The clan’s elders were all personally accompanying a youth with an unordinary bearing. They would laugh from time to time as they chatted.
The silver-robed youth hurried over and recognized that pretty youth whose reputation had already inspired great awe. His heart was trembling violently. After so many years had passed, this reunion caused a wave of heat to surge up within him again.
It was because they were friends that had bonds formed after fighting for the Heaven Mending Sect. Now that they met again after that great disaster, how could he not be moved? They both shared a similar type of deep emotion towards that incident!
However, the youth on the other side revealed a grin. His words immediately made his face turn green and veins appear on his forehead.
“Xiao Tian, it’s been so long! You are becoming more and more promising and brilliant. In the future, you will definitely soar into the heavens!”
“Shut up!” Xiao Tian clenched his teeth. Back then, this youth used a hammer to beat him until the bump on his head became ‘outstanding’, leaving him confused and disoriented. Even though that period of time was worth recalling and hard to forget, this particular segment definitely left him in tears. He would be driven mad even when he recalled it now.
“What are you here for?” Xiao Tian asked in a rather unhappy manner.
“Follow me in overlooking the great wastelands and pushing back all enemies. We will reconstruct the Heaven Mending Pavilion!” That youth had his arms behind him while saying this loudly. His voice resounded through this world.
Just these words alone caused another wave of heat to surge in Xiao Tian’s chest!
1. Also means outstanding horn, referring to the past when Shi Hao kept hitting him in the head and making the bump bigger and bigger