Beyond the fifteen kings and the countless cultivators,
Wang Xuan sat cross-legged in the void, the power of space and time flowing silently around him.
He was not within the present world before them.
He had long since stepped outside the current space-time, into the interstices between layer upon layer of different dimensions.
From that higher vantage point, he looked down upon their debate on the Dao.
Viewed from those dimensions, what he saw was no longer fifteen figures.
Instead, they were fifteen rivers of Dao Principles, each a different color.
Those great rivers cascaded from the fifteen kings, flowing and converging, embodying the essence of the laws and the Dao Fruits they had comprehended throughout their lives.
As their arguments rose, the rivers collided, filling the sky with the radiance of Dao resonance.
Wang Xuan watched quietly.
Among everyone present, who possessed the most paths of Stone Man Kings—the most varied, and the most profound?
He dared claim first place.
Even Xiao Chen, who had collected seven Stone Man King imprints, would have to step aside.
In this life, he had begun on Dragon Island and slaughtered his way onward, refining countless Ancestor Gods, stone beings, and Stone Man Kings.
He had absorbed all the memories, paths, and insights contained within their souls.
His understanding of the Dao had long since surpassed everyone across the heavens.
If he wished, he could release his restraint right then and attain the Emperor realm directly.
Not merely become a Half-Step Emperor.
The fifteen kings continued their debate.
Each expounded his own views: some spoke of existence, others of nonexistence; some of origins, others of nature. Their arguments echoed back and forth among the seven great tombs.
Just then, one Stone Man King among the seven slowly spoke.
"The Dao has no form.