On the stone slab, blurry Dao Patterns surfaced one by one, reflected in Meng Qi's eyes and kindled by the Dao One Glazed Lamp. They split apart and recombined, endlessly unfolding all manner of possibilities.
When the complexity deep in his eyes finally settled, Meng Qi's right palm came down completely. Gloom and chaos spread, shrouding both stone slabs. At first, flickering lights and shifting runes could still be seen in the darkness, but after a few moments, everything vanished without a sound, as if it had merged into chaos. Even the stone slabs themselves left not the slightest trace, revealing the grand staircase below.
Just then, a gray, stone-colored light cleaved out without warning. It was heavy and keen, like a giant axe striking against the heavens. It split the gloom and cleaved through chaos, as if heaven and earth had been born anew in that very instant!
Clang!
Amid the clash of metal, the gray streak halted and its gleaming faded, revealing an ancient, mottled stone axe. Meng Qi's enormous, pale-gold right hand held it down, blocking it before him.
Drops of blood, seemingly alive, slid from where the axe met his palm. Countless rules manifested within them, forming a world before crumbling one after another.
The one wielding the stone axe was a headless giant. His nipples had become eyes, and his navel had turned into a mouth. His will was so powerful that it became reality, condensing into the mottled, fearsome stone axe. He was none other than the ancient powerhouse Xing Tian.
"I haven't suffered an external wound like this in a very long time. Pity that the ages have passed and time has worn you down—you're no more than two-tenths as strong as you were at your peak. Otherwise, this would have been far