Chapter 552: Everyone Turned to Stone

On this day, whether it was farmers toiling in the fields or vendors and peddlers in the cities, everyone raised their heads and stared blankly at the sky. ①

Above the Western Ox New Continent, one after another, flowers of flesh slowly bloomed across the canopy of heaven.

A hundred li up in the sky, there was extremely hot Solar Essence, stretching dozens of li thick. Any living creature, including cultivators at the Great Ascension Realm, would have their physical body and Primordial Spirit turned to ash upon arriving here.

Yet those flowers of flesh bloomed right in this place, continuously growing, spreading, becoming larger and larger. They seemed completely unafraid of the Solar Essence, unafraid of the Lunar Yin Sword Qi at night, and paid no heed whatsoever to the Celestial True God. ①

Soon, these flowers of flesh connected with each other in the high sky, covering an increasingly vast area, gradually filling the skies of the Western Ox New Continent. ①

Thick Demonic Energy drifted down from the heights. The first to be cursed were the dead corpses.

Those who had just died suddenly sat up stiffly, either transforming into zombies, or turning into ghosts and monsters, or having their heads split open like flower petals, or growing flower branches from their limbs. They took on bizarre shapes and hunted humans for food.

There were also freshly slaughtered livestock and poultry, likewise corrupted by the Demonic Energy and cursed, turning into evil spirits that sought revenge on people.

Plants and trees, under the influence of the Demonic Energy, gradually mutated as well, dancing their branches to seize passing people, driving their roots through eyes, ears, mouths, and noses to suck human blood as nourishment.

Some trees even uprooted themselves and, as if overjoyed, ran wildly across the mountains and plains. 3

In a short span of time, the entire Western Ox New Continent seemed to have gone mad, turning insane, leaving people at a loss for how to respond. 3

Evil spirits were everywhere, Demonic Energy thick and sinister. Even the Godmother in the villages could not resist the invasion of Demonic Energy, often becoming cursed and turning into evil spirits that harmed the villagers.

Talisman masters from the Red Mountain Hall branches ran east and west, slaying and refining evil spirits, but there were simply too many of them. They could not be killed to the last. Moreover, as the Demonic Energy intensified, the evil spirits grew stronger and stronger.

Throughout the land, deities radiated brilliant light. Three Lights Righteous Energy surged continuously from their temples, sheltering the common people and resisting the invasion of evil spirits.

Reports of emergencies flew in from all directions like snowflakes toward the Xinxiang Imperial Capital, keeping Hu Feifei and the other Cabinet ministers busy to the point of distraction.

Sha Qiutong, Du Yiran, and others arrived at the Sky Measuring Cliff on Qianyang Mountain, only to find that Chen Shi was still in secluded cultivation and could not be awakened.

The group could only leave and go look for Chen Yindu. Chen Yindu and Creation Little Five were jointly ritual-refining the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace. Seeing them arrive, he did not stop but continued the refinement.

Sha Qiutong said, "The Celestial Venerable has already walked out of Despair Slope. The curse of heaven and earth cannot be changed. He has demonized heaven and earth, plunging the entire Western Ox New Continent into a state of corruption. Soon it will affect ordinary people. The deities everywhere shelter living beings, but they can only shelter them for a time. Even the gods will be influenced by the Demonic Energy and turn into evil gods. Old Chen, you are the one with the most ideas. What should we do now?"

Chen Yindu continued refining as he spoke, "The Celestial Venerable's purpose in cursing heaven and earth is to demonize the Great Dao of the world, remaking it into the Dao Field of that evil thing. The entire Western Ox New Continent is one enormous Ghost and God Domain. The only plan now is to counter a Ghost and God Domain with another Ghost and God Domain, temporarily slowing the corruption of all living beings. We can buy some time. But it is only a delay. Once the master of the Ghost and God Domain is also corrupted, the people of the Western Ox New Continent will demonize and merge into the flesh in the sky." 5

He paused for a moment, then said, "At that time, every person in the Western Ox New Continent will die."

Du Yiran frowned slightly. "Use a Ghost and God Domain to counter the demonization?"

Chen Yindu said, "I studied Stone Ji Your Ladyship and created a small technique. It is placed over there. Take it, teach it to others to cultivate, and use it to activate the Ghost and God Domain." 10

Du Yiran's gaze swept over and saw two sheets of paper on a nearby table, held down by a paperweight. He immediately stepped forward.

Everyone looked through the pages. What was recorded on them was a nameless cultivation technique. Practicing this method would assimilate one's own Realm of Emptiness into a Ghost and God Domain similar to Stone Ji Your Ladyship's. All living beings within the domain, including cultivators, and even the person who activated the technique, would all be petrified.

This technique was extremely simple to cultivate, very easy to get started with. Even a person of average talent could master it within a day or two.

Sha Qiutong frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Even if we turn to stone, I'm afraid we won't last long."

Chen Yindu did not raise his head and said, "However long we can last, we last." 3

The celestial fox frowned and said, "Old Chen, your technique has a method for petrification but no method for undoing it! If the battle ends, people will still be stone, unable to return to flesh!"

"I am too pressed for time. I did not think of a method to undo the petrification."

Chen Yindu and Creation Little Five continued refining the Recreate Heaven-and-Earth Furnace. The two shared a connected intellect. Chen Yindu cast all emotions that would interfere with his judgment onto Creation Little Five, keeping only pure rationality for himself, and his speech carried no emotion whatsoever.

"All you need to do, all you can do, is preserve your lives. After petrification, you will not need a method to undo it." 2

He glanced at everyone and said, "If we win, I will create a method to undo the petrification and rescue you from your stone state. If we lose the battle, you will never wake up. Therefore, I do not currently need to expend wisdom on creating an un-petrification method."

He gave them their dismissal: "Everyone, let us part ways here."

Sha Qiutong and the others could only leave. The celestial fox complained, "Old Chen is far too cold-hearted."

Du Yiran said, "In a battle against the Celestial Venerable, anyone below the immortal realm is going to their death. Even immortals are going to their death. We cannot be of use, so do not disturb him with trivial matters."

They found Hu Feifei and, through the imperial court, transmitted this technique to the Return to Emptiness and Great Ascension Realm experts throughout the Western Ox New Continent.

Sha Qiutong arrived at Qianyang Mountain, found the great snake Xuan Shan, and presented this technique to him. 3

The great snake Xuan Shan was currently resisting the Demonic Energy of heaven and earth, sheltering the living creatures near Qianyang Mountain, and was already somewhat stretched thin.

His Divine Manifestation, the black-robed Xuan Shan, reviewed the technique and quickly comprehended it thoroughly. He said, "With my cultivation, I can cover the entire Qianyang Mountain area and petrify all life. If I turn to stone, I should be able to endure for a hundred years within the Demonic Energy. But what about after a hundred years?" 2

"Xuan Shan, if we can win, a hundred years won't be needed."

Sha Qiutong said, "If we cannot win, then you and all the living beings of Qianyang Mountain will never wake up." 3

The great snake Xuan Shan's expression darkened. He said, "This time when I sleep, I wonder if fate will allow us to meet again?" 2

Sha Qiutong bowed to him in farewell: "Old neighbor, we will meet again in the future."

The black-robed Xuan Shan also bowed. "I hope there will still be a future." 5

Sha Qiutong left and went to Madam Zhuang's place to bid her farewell.

She walked out of Qianyang Mountain and suddenly sensed a strange aura coming from behind her. Sha Qiutong turned to look and saw a massive black snake coiled around the verdant mountain peak. The great snake's body was gradually turning to stone. With the great snake at the center, flowers, trees, birds, beasts, fish, and insects all began to petrify as well.

The people and cultivators of Qianyang Mountain gradually turned into stone.

The domain of the great snake Xuan Shan covered an increasingly vast area, enveloping a territory of a thousand li in all directions.

For a thousand li in every direction, everything became a stone world. In the end, the great snake Xuan Shan also turned to stone. 2

Sha Qiutong left Qianyang Mountain and returned to the Imperial Capital. In the court, Hu Feifei was quite anxious, arguing with Du Yiran and the others. Sha Qiutong walked forward, and Hu Feifei said, "There simply aren't enough Return to Emptiness and Great Ascension Realm experts to cover all the provinces of the Western Ox New Continent! What about the remaining people?"

Zhuge Jian said, "Then relocate people from other provinces!"

"There's no time at all! Before you can even move them over, they'll already be corrupted!"

"Then we can only save one group of people. That's better than saving no one!"

"Which group do we save? Which group do we abandon? Who gets to decide? By what standard do we judge?" 13

...

Everyone argued into a mess. Sha Qiutong listened for a moment and felt a deep sense of powerlessness rise in her heart: "Perhaps if the Thirteen Great Clans hadn't been eliminated, we would have this many experts." 9

Just as she thought this, a booming voice came through: "At this time of great crisis, Yu Lingzi and the entire Tai Hua Qingyang Palace are at the True King's command!"

Sha Qiutong's heart leaped with joy. She quickly looked over and saw Yu Lingzi leading many experts of the Blue Goat Palace into the Imperial City.

Hu Feifei and the Cabinet ministers walked out of the court to welcome them. Before they could even exchange pleasantries, another voice rang out: "Ji Xuanxuan leads the monks and nuns of Bodhi Monastery to pay respects. We are willing to share the nation's hardship with the True King!"

Everyone looked and saw Saintess Xuan leading many experts of Bodhi Monastery walking over. ②

Another voice came: "With the world in great calamity, the Celestial Master Mansion is willing to follow the True King's command!"

"The old monk Ku Yu of the Great Bao Guo Temple has come to pay respects to the True King and is willing to offer his modest strength!"

A great many Daoists and monks walked over, all experts from the six sacred grounds of the Daoist sect and the Buddhist Sect, each offering their greetings.

Hu Feifei was overjoyed and quickly calculated, then frowned: "Even adding the experts of the Daoist sect and the Buddhist Sect, it's still not enough to cover the entire Western Ox New Continent..."

Suddenly, another voice came through: "What if we add the experts of the Divine Capital?"

Everyone turned to look and saw Daocheng, Danchengzi, and others walking into the court, a total of one to two hundred people.

Danchengzi smiled and said, "With us added, can the Realm of Emptiness cover the Western Ox New Continent?"

Hu Feifei was ecstatic: "That's enough!"

In the fifty provinces of the Western Ox New Continent, the gates of one minor heaven after another opened, and cultivators walked out one by one, taking their positions according to the directions set by the imperial court.

They each sat cross-legged on the ground and carefully studied the technique that Chen Yindu had created.

When Hu Feifei had the Hanlin Academy copy this technique, she added a name to it, calling it the Stone Ji Transformation Art. 3

Comprehending and cultivating this technique was based on each person's own existing cultivation methods, so it was not troublesome. Soon, people began to comprehend its mysteries and activate the Stone Ji Transformation Art.

They raised their Primordial Spirits, activated their Realms of Emptiness, and petrified all living beings within the territories covered by their domains.

The last to be petrified were their own physical bodies and Primordial Spirits. 3

"I hope there is still a future." Sha Qiutong said in a low voice. 3

She sat on the ground, and her body gradually turned to stone.

The place where she sat was Hejin Town, Longmen County, Xianzhou, not far from the Fan family. 5

Fan Pu, the reincarnated body of Xiang Tianyu, was playing in the courtyard, a smile on his face.

He too had already turned to stone.

In the Xinxiang Imperial Capital, Hu Feifei raised the Western King's Jade Seal and observed the Mountains and Rivers Map. She saw mountains and rivers in the map continuously turning to stone. The petrified territories grew larger and larger, and many petrified Realms of Emptiness intersected with each other. The areas that were not yet petrified grew fewer and fewer. 5

Two days later, the final gap was filled.

Hu Feifei breathed a sigh of relief, looked up, and said, "Stone Ji Your Ladyship, you may begin."

Stone Ji Your Ladyship's voice came through: "Magistrate Hu, do not worry. There is no pain..." 2

Her Ghost and God Domain slowly spread outward in all directions, covering an increasingly vast area. Wherever it passed, whether plants and livestock or mortals and cultivators, all were petrified. 2

The Ghost and God Domain covered an ever wider range, gradually reaching the Imperial City, sweeping over Hu Feifei and all the Civil and Military Officials.

Their skin and hair gradually turned to rock, and their blood stopped flowing.

Stone Ji Your Ladyship's Ghost and God Domain expanded outward, and after a moment, merged with the surrounding Ghost and God Domains.

The entire Western Ox New Continent seemed to have become a world of rock. In every city and every place, in the countryside and fields, one could always see stone people, stone oxen, stone horses, and stone grass, stone trees, stone flowers. Stone birds perched in the trees, and stone fish swam in the water. 4

Yet in this vast world, there was not a single moving life form to be seen. 2

Everything was silent, terrifyingly still.

The sun and moon righteous energy formed by the Celestial True God's gaze could not penetrate the thick layers of flesh clouds to reach the mortal world, and the Demonic Energy between heaven and earth grew denser and denser.

At this moment, the figure of the Celestial Venerable appeared in Tiandao City.

"It is time to make this world suffer. For this day, I have waited sixteen thousand years!" 30

His face was full of smiles as he walked through Tiandao City. A moment later, his expression turned ashen, and he flew up from the city, heading toward another city in the distance.

He floated above that city, looking down. As far as his eyes could see, there were petrified people everywhere, not a single living soul.

The Celestial Venerable's expression grew darker and darker. He continued flying, but whether in villages or towns, there was no sign of movement anywhere. Even the most prosperous cities were utterly silent at this moment.

The Western Ox New Continent, once brimming with life, had suddenly become as if dead.

The Celestial Venerable burned with rage. Suddenly he flicked his sleeve, and with crack after crack, countless stone people and stone horses exploded. With a single sweep of his sleeve, half a city's stone figures were shattered to dust! 19

He stamped his foot once more, and the entire city's buildings collapsed. The remaining stone figures were buried beneath the falling ruins!

He vented his fury, unleashing divine abilities in every direction, trashing the place beyond recognition. But no one panicked, no one screamed and fled, no one knelt and begged for mercy, and no one cast hateful glares at him.

What greeted him was only a cold, petrified world.

Having waited for over sixteen thousand years, finally reaching the moment of harvest, he had been full of enthusiasm, but now all enthusiasm was gone. 13

Destroying these stone statues that felt no pain and had no consciousness was a completely different feeling from destroying living people who knew how to resist.

The mass petrification of the Western Ox New Continent had robbed him of the pleasure of reaping.

"You turn yourselves to stone to escape corruption? Impossible." 4

The Celestial Venerable sneered. With a slight thought, strands of flesh descended from the air like rain, beginning to cover the mountains and rivers, swallowing the petrified people into the flesh.

"It's time to go see the Empress of Earth. That deity is always meddling in affairs. It's time to send her on her way." 67