Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 601A – Seize the Stone Column

Chapter 601A – Seize the Stone Column

There were billions of stars in the boundless cosmos. Out of those that released light on their own, there were ten suns and ten moons. They had shined eternally since ancient times!

The sun was solar, the moon was lunar. They shined through the vast cosmos, providing the source of life for all beings in existence.

On a planet near a moon, the massive shadow of the moon occupied nearly half the sky. Even the incomparably hot sun wasn’t able to cover up its dazzling light.

This was a moon-worshipping planet. Nearly all the cultivators on this planet borrowed the moon’s lunar power to cultivate.

In a great city on the surface, there was a secret chamber that shined with cool moonlight. Twinkling stars flittered up above like fireflies, condensing into the phantom of a moon.

An extremely beautiful woman was here. She wore a dress as white as the moon, one that served to accentuate her elegant aura. The phantom of a moon shined above her head. As she breathed, the moon waned and waxed, as if fully a part of her body.

Suddenly, this woman’s eyes fiercely opened. The moon phantom above her head shattered into countless fragments and blood overflowed from her lips. Her cultivation had been interrupted, causing her to suffer a backlash.

“Impossible!” Her voice was a little hoarse. It wasn’t excruciating to hear. Rather, there was a faint charm to it. Her eyes trembled.

She lifted a hand and wiped the blood from the corners of her lips. She stood up. The shadows all around the chamber surged towards her like a living creature, embracing her.

When the darkness vanished, what appeared was a feminine-looking man with a cruel ice-cold gaze. He took a step forward and vanished from sight. In the next moment, he appeared outside the planet.

Taking a deep breath, he raised a hand. Light surged in his palm, condensing into a translucent sphere. There were 107 shadows within this sphere and each one was especially clear. At this time, one of these shadows violently trembled as it began to gradually dissipate.

Seeing this, the man’s eyes darkened and his face clouded over. “No matter who you are, if you touch my thing…you are courting death!”

He lifted his hand and thrust a finger into the sphere. There was a loud hum as ripples began to appear on the surface of the sphere, rapidly spreading outwards…

…

Lan Ruo’s heart shrank and a pain stabbed between her eyebrows. She looked up into the skies, stunned and frightened by what she saw next.

Massive chains appeared from the darkness. They were like shackles that trapped in the devils of hell. They were thick and dense, blocking out the entire skies. It was like a giant net falling from the heavens, completely inescapable.

The calm in the Grand Marshal’s eyes vanished for the first time. He didn’t know what these chains were but the aura emanating from them caused his soul to scream in despair, as if he would be lost in a fathomless abyss, never to be reincarnated.

At this time, a loud rumbling came from beneath everyone’s feet. Great cracks split open the ground like massive grinning mouths, rapidly spreading out in all directions.

The Grand Marshal’s complexion changed. He flicked his sleeves and swept everyone up. Then, he shot into the skies. He stared stubbornly at the cracked ground beneath him. His shrunken pupils were more than enough to prove just how shaken he was right now.

Rumble rumble –

Giant pieces of earth were tossed into the skies. An incomparably terrifying arm reached out from the depths of the earth. When placed against the ground, this arm seemed as long as a vast mountain range. Soon, what followed was a head that seemed as large as a sun and a body that could fill up the seas themselves. When this giant being stood up tall, its shoulders stood as high as the heavens.

This was a giant that existed only in legends. Even though it was missing an arm, the severed point was still covered with frost, causing the temperature in the air began to rapidly drop. The spectral aura all around froze over, turning into dark green and white snow that fluttered all around.

The giant lowered its head and looked at the people from the Immortal Sect. Without pausing, it turned back and moved its two legs into the distance.

Its steps weren’t quick but each one could cross a terrifying distance. Beneath its feet, mountains and rivers appeared as if they were chasing the trajectory of the sun and moon.

Rumble –

Rumble –

The sound gradually dimmed. The giant’s figures disappeared from everyone’s line of sight.

Lan Ruo’s pride and confidence had suffered a disastrous attack at this moment. She never expected that such a terrifying life form could exist in the Source of Disaster.

Its head reached into the heavens and its feet stomped across the earth. Its terrifying body possessed a strength that could destroy all. Because she cultivated the Sublime Lost Emotion Code, Lan Ruo had extremely sharp senses.

She could determine that if this giant wanted to deal with them, even the formidable Grand Marshal wouldn’t be able to contend with it. Escape would be their only choice…and it was likely they wouldn’t even be able to escape alive!

Lan Ruo’s face was pale white. She shivered as she breathed and tried her best to maintain a calm demeanor. She was her master’s disciple and she couldn’t lose face here.

“Grand…Grand Marshal…what…just what…is that…” An Immortal Sect powerhouse stammered out. Even his half-step Calamity Immortal cultivation provided him with no measure of comfort. His eyes were flooded with fear.

Shangguan Mingjing let out a deep breath. After a long time he said, “A long time ago, it was said that giants arrived in this world. Their eyes were like the sun and moon and they could lift their hands and pluck stars from the skies…I thought this was only a fable. I never expected that I would see one here today. This place is truly worthy of being the Source of Disaster that turned the past Star Sea Continent into the land of exile. Perhaps there is a secret hiding here that surpasses anyone’s imagination…”

The Immortal Sect was one of the most formidable and aloof influences in the world so they naturally had the qualifications to know more. But even they didn’t know everything about the Source of Calamity.

But if just one of these mythical giants left this land it would be enough to cause a massive change in the world, completely changing the landscape.

Luckily, this giant had already died and what supported it should only be its remnant will.

Shangguan Mingjing’s expression turned solemn and respectful. He couldn’t imagine how horrifyingly strong this giant would be if it were still alive. If so, then who had cut off its arm in ancient times? And after so many years, the chill from its severed arm had yet to dissipate.

His thoughts raced and he couldn’t help but give birth to a deep sense of awe. Shangguan Mingjing thought back to some words that the Nether Domain Master had said to him in the past: This world is far too large. Perhaps what we know is nothing but a simple surface…

In the past, he thought that the Nether Domain Master had been speaking modestly because of his status. Now, the Grand Marshall understood that it was perhaps because of the Nether Domain Master’s boundary that he understood more and thus felt more awe towards the wider world.

“We’re following!” After a long period of silence, Shangguan Mingjing turned to Lan Ruo and spoke up.

The chains that appeared in the skies, the giant that awakened from the ground – it was impossible for these things to happen without reason. There had to be some earth-shaking event occurring, one that might be related to the divine stone!

He didn’t want to miss out on it.

Of course, the Grand Marshal had made this decision because the giant hadn’t revealed any hostility towards them. Another reason was because he had a hidden card in his hand. Even if there was great danger he would still be able to withdraw.

Lan Ruo pursed her lips. “We shall follow as the Grand Marshal says!” She also wanted to know why this giant had woken up and where it was going.

The Immortal Sect cultivators complained inwardly. But, if the two most honored people in their group had made the same choice, they could only follow behind no matter how unwilling they were.

The giant crossed mountains and rivers as it moved forward. Each step it took left behind an astonishing footprint. The group followed behind via these footprints.

Soon, the complexions of the Immortal Sect cultivators changed. They saw a massive number of specter fragments scattered all around. There were even thousands of 100,000 foot tall specter beasts with their heads gone, as if they had been directly torn off. Their giant bodies lay prone on the ground; they had thoroughly perished.

What was the status of this giant and why was it recklessly slaughtering specters? And why did these specters that possessed the attribute of ‘reviving after death’ die so easily in the face of this giant?

The group moved forward. The further they went, the more ruins of specters there were and the more horrifying the strength of the specters became. One of these specters was a human cultivator in ancient robes with an intact body. He had been smashed into a mountain and his chest had been completely caved in.

Even if it had already died, the Grand Marshal could still feel a stabbing feeling that had yet to fade from its body. This was a formidable specter that could threaten his life.

But from the footprint on the ground, he could judge that the existence of this specter hadn’t caused the giant to stop for even the briefest of moments.

At some unknown time, a strange fog appeared in the world. It grew increasingly thick and its pale white color caused one’s heart to beat restlessly.