When everyone in Stone Village awoke from Meng Chuan's blessing, another round of lively celebration naturally followed.
Shi Hao had benefited from Meng Chuan too, but he had woken early.
Two years had passed. Shi Hao was sixteen now, a bold and handsome youth.
As the Human Emperor, he held life and death in his hands and looked down upon the Eight Wastelands. It had given him a bearing all his own.
Of course, Shi Hao had no such majesty in Stone Village.
A sixteen-year-old Venerable—and one who had reached the middle-to-late stages of the Venerable realm at that.
His talent was dazzling enough.
After all, he had not advanced by relying on outside aids like pills. He had done it through painstaking cultivation, forging a peerless foundation even as he broke through one barrier after another.
Of course, that required vast resources to sustain.
The people of Stone Village had also made great strides over those two years.
With Shi Hao's strength included, Stone Village's overall power was formidable even in the Desolate Domain.
It could rival the great sects that had once ruled the Desolate Domain.
The Stone Kingdom's Divine Dynasty in the Mortal Realm was flourishing too, growing stronger by the day.
Its reach already covered most of the Desolate Domain. Some factions beyond the domain even acknowledged the Stone Kingdom and the Human Emperor from afar.
They recognized the Human Emperor's position and rule.
Naturally, that brought a share of fortune with it.
"Who would've thought we'd get two peaceful years?"
Meng Chuan spoke leisurely as he gathered with Willow God and the others.
"One year should have been enough for them to open a passage between the Two Realms. I didn't expect them to delay another year."
Meng Chuan grew thoughtful. "Looks like they're preparing