In the wake of the aftershock, the vacuum of the universe shattered like an invisible mirror.
Bang...
Deep within Undying Mountain, the Stone Emperor's Dao Body, evolved from the thought within the stone womb, let out a muffled groan. That massive stone hand had been blasted apart.
Even several tiny cracks had appeared across the shell of his Dao Body!
Meanwhile, Tan Lin's quasi-chaos giant hand outside the Restricted Area had merely dimmed slightly, yet its momentum remained undiminished. After repelling him, it continued to descend upon those pitch-black mountain peaks!
"You?!"
Seeing this, the Stone Emperor's Dao-thought incarnation was both shocked and enraged.
His true body was still in self-seal, so it was perfectly normal that he was no match for the other party.
He also understood the other party's current state. He would eventually vanish. Even if his true body broke the seal and emerged, even if he ultimately smashed him apart, it would only waste his vitality for no gain.
Far too great a loss!
Yet if he simply watched him cut away the mountains and did nothing, would anyone dare come and trample on them in the future?
How could such an awkward situation not leave him stifled?
"Fellow Daoist Stone Emperor, they are merely a few barren mountains on the outskirts. Removing them will not affect the core sleeping grounds of the Restricted Area. Why become angry? I am borrowing them for now, and one day, there may be a generous repayment."
At that moment, Tan Lin's calm voice rang out.
Yet even as he spoke, his hand showed no mercy.
Whoosh...
Threads of yin and yang energy in his palm transformed into chains of laws, materializing into tangible substance and erupting with immense power as they wrapped around those black Divine Mountains and pulled with all their strength!
Crack!
Rumble...
In an instant, the entire Undying Mountain Restricted Area shook violently!
The next moment.
Those black mountain ranges, connected to the roots of Undying Mountain, had fallen here as one whole during an upheaval in the Primordial Era from some unknown place, standing tall for countless ages.
Were uprooted by Tan Lin's supreme power!
Crash...
The instant those mountains broke away from Undying Mountain's roots, dense patterns appeared out of thin air across every mountain body in the core of the Restricted Area, flickering in and out of sight.
The profound Dao rhythm, black as ink and filling the entire Restricted Area, suddenly weakened for a brief moment.
From Tan Lin's attack, to the clash with the Stone Emperor's manifested Dao-thought on duty, to this very moment, everything had occurred within a single breath.
The mountain roots trembled violently.
One Supreme Being after another sleeping within, though still under self-seal, had a considerable portion of their consciousnesses awakened from deep slumber.
Over the past decade or so, they had awakened too frequently, causing the vitality of some Supreme Beings already in poor condition to wither even further.
Most crucially, the one disturbing them was almost always the same person!
This caused several Supreme Beings who had grudges against him to fly into a rage.
"Human Emperor! Let us settle the old grudge over the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree first!"
That Supreme Being released half his body from its seal and threw a punch. Imperial Dao Laws surged like an upturned heavenly river, seeking to smash Tan Lin and the several severed mountains into pieces.
High in the sky, Tan Lin split his focus in two. While collecting the three black mountains, he simultaneously manifested the Yin-Yang Millstone.
Boom...
The millstone turned and crushed downward toward the Restricted Area. As the two forces collided, the Myriad Heavens and Ten Thousand Domains trembled.
At that moment, the Stone Emperor's Dao Body, which had just shown signs of standing down, charged into the heavens and joined forces with that Supreme Being to attack Tan Lin from both sides.
However, after succeeding, Tan Lin did not linger at all.
The quasi-chaos giant hand wrapped around several towering black mountains, instantly retracted, tore open the void, and vanished directly.
The enraged strike of that Supreme Being only shattered yin and yang energy filling the sky, along with the remaining Imperial Dao Laws. The Stone Emperor's Dao Body also lunged at empty air.
Within the Restricted Area, a lingering echo of Tan Lin's words drifted away on the wind:
"Do you dare completely break your seal and fight me in the Outer Domain? If not, then keep lying there!"
The Reactions of All Parties
Whoosh...
Deep within Undying Mountain, streams of Supreme Being divine sense frantically swept across the void, yet they could no longer catch even the slightest trace of Tan Lin's aura.
It was as if he had never appeared at all, vanishing with startling abruptness.
The Stone Emperor's Dao Body slowly descended from the heavens, then stood in the missing corner at the outskirts of the Restricted Area, his aura fluctuating unsteadily.
In the end, all his pent-up frustration condensed into a cold snort before gradually subsiding.
Like the Supreme Being who had already half-broken his seal, it was not that he did not wish to keep Tan Lin behind.
But the other party's state was simply too unusual. His brief return had kept his combat strength at its peak. If they truly fought to the death, this Dao-thought incarnation of his would certainly not be enough. If his true body then emerged, it would only waste vitality and Origin.
The cost was too great. Fighting an existence about to completely vanish over a few outer mountain peaks was not worth it.
It was thankless labor, so they could only let the matter rest.
"Fellow Daoist Stone Emperor, can you trace where those mountains went?"
At that moment, a ripple of divine sense came from the half-unsealed Supreme Being.
"The Human Emperor definitely carries some great secret. His methods of concealment and stealth are far too unfathomable. Even by following the aura of those three mountain peaks, there is simply no way to trace or locate him..."
The Stone Emperor's Dao Body shook his head.
"What use does a person about to vanish have for cutting away those mountains? He has sacrificed every imprint he possessed in this world, as well as every trace of his Dao..."
One Supreme Being asked in confusion.
"Could it be that he can return once more?"
"He is already like this. It is impossible."
"..."
"Time will reveal everything. If ten thousand years are not enough, then wait several hundred thousand more. When the Immortal Ascension Road opens next time, the truth will always rise to the surface..."
"Indeed. We are waiting anyway. When the Immortal Ascension Road opens, we can also wait for the day when some of the Human Emperor's secrets are verified..."
"..."
"Hehe, Jia Kong's condition was already poor. This time, he half-broke his seal and exchanged a blow with the Human Emperor. I fear he will not last until that day."
"Not necessarily. It depends on when he can no longer endure and emerges to harvest all living beings. But now that the news of the Undying Heavenly Emperor's survival has been confirmed, if he emerges alone, even if he devours the essence of all living beings, he still risks falling..."
Within Undying Mountain's sleeping grounds, more than a dozen streams of divine sense fluctuated frequently.
The Supreme Being known as Jia Kong could more or less guess what those fellow Daoists deep within the Restricted Area were discussing, even without deliberately listening in.
It was indeed true that his condition was poor. As though he had thought of certain matters in the near future, the sealed energy where he rested surged violently before slowly calming after a long while. He reinforced his half-loosened seal and sealed himself once more.
Yet this self-seal was clearly incomplete. Perhaps he had already decided upon the day he would truly emerge in the future?
"I truly did not expect that what the Human Emperor revealed at the moment of his fall during that hunt in the Primordial Era was actually true. Back then, not a single person openly believed him."
"Oh? That Human Emperor had already seen through the fact that the Undying Heavenly Emperor had not died back in the Primordial Era?"
"Hahahaha, fellow Daoist attained the Dao in the Ancient Era, so naturally you do not know all the hidden secrets of certain past events..."
"..."
"Then how did this Human Emperor learn the whereabouts of the Undying Heavenly Emperor's Nirvana?"
"..."
Their discussion bore no result.
Whoosh!
At last, the Stone Emperor's Dao Body within Undying Mountain slowly dissipated, returning to that thread of thought within the stone womb and resuming low-power duty.
The earth-shaking commotion subsided.
Yet deep within Undying Mountain, that stifled frustration and fury with nowhere to vent faintly seeped beyond the Restricted Area, causing every living being across Big Dipper to feel an inexplicable palpitation.
Before one wave settled, another rose.
This day was destined to leave the beings of the Myriad Heavens and Ten Thousand Domains on edge, their emotions rising and falling like a roller coaster from Earth in later generations.
The Human Emperor's forcible removal of Divine Mountains from the outskirts of Undying Mountain, and even his bold provocation of the Supreme Beings deep within the Restricted Area to fight him in the Outer Domain, only for the Supreme Beings to retreat.
Was like dropping an enormous boulder into an already turbulent lake, instantly setting off monstrous waves. From this day onward, the words "Human Emperor" would remain on the lips of certain cultivators for a long time to come.
"Someone attacked a Life Forbidden Zone, and Undying Mountain is simply letting it go?!"
"That useless Jia Kong! If I were him, I would definitely break the seal and emerge, then kill that Human Emperor beneath my palm. So what if my vitality and Origin were depleted afterward? Over these years, haven't the living beings of the Myriad Heavens and Ten Thousand Domains grown back in another crop?"
"..."
"That is a Life Forbidden Zone! The Stone Emperor actually failed to keep him?"
"How tyrannical. Is this the Human Emperor...? He ignored the Restricted-Area Supremes and cut away mountain peaks whenever he pleased..."
"I heard those mountains..."
Whoosh...
Almost the instant the news from Undying Mountain spread.
Countless incomparably powerful and terrifying streams of divine sense stretched out from Life Forbidden Zones, ancient star fields beyond Big Dipper, and hidden secret realms.
Thoughts intertwined in the depths of the cosmos and within Big Dipper's void, conveying unconcealed shock and suspicion.
As for those of lesser standing, shock and horror occupied most of their emotions.
Since ancient times, who had dared treat a Life Forbidden Zone this way?
Even Great Emperors had mostly focused on suppressing dark turmoil. Such behavior as coming to the door and "forcibly taking" things was simply unheard of!
At the Human Emperor Hall in the Central Plains, a profound longing and aspiration flashed through Suiren Lianlei's starry eyes.
Around her stood countless Human Emperor Hall cultivators preparing to follow the Ziwei Human King Lineage cultivators into the Outer Domain.
After Tan Lin departed, Gong Xuan, the Human Emperor Hall Master who had seemed to vanish from the world, quietly returned.
Ignoring the curses and gazes within the hall that were no longer concealed, he came before an altar. He burned a stick of incense at the place where the Human Emperor had once sat in meditation, praying devoutly.
After returning and seeing that the Human Emperor Hall had not lost a single person, he understood some things more clearly.
If His Majesty the Human Emperor truly wished to deal with him, where could he possibly flee?
Where could he hide?
Perhaps only such a towering figure was worthy of having his uncle, Profound Ancestor Pang Ya, follow him unto death?
Within an ancient cave shrouded in Chaos Qi in the deepest reaches of the Ancient Mine of Primordial Beginning.
Beside an enormous block of Immortal Source lay several ancient objects covered in mottled bronze rust and shaped in peculiar forms.
Suddenly, a vast voice that seemed to have settled through countless eras rang out, carrying a hint of amusement:
"After the Primordial Era ended, following Dao Yan, the Stone Emperor, who attained the Dao as a Saint Spirit, took control of Undying Mountain. This Restricted Area has remained active ever since. Today, its face has been trampled into the dirt again and again..."
"What do you think of this Human Emperor?"
At that moment, another voice slowly asked.
"Hehe, the great secret on this Human Emperor's body has now made even me unable to resist investigating it. I hope he truly can return once more. If so, there may be an alternative Immortal Ascension Road to walk."
"Didn't Eternal Silence, Fallen Immortal, and the other three participate in that hunt back then? Did they not grasp any secret clues?"
"Them? They only joined at the very end and took a share of the Human Emperor's Origin and essence blood... Over these countless ages, the ones truly plotting around the great secret on the Human Emperor's body have been Xiaoyao and Undying..."
Before you continue