"S-Senior, what should I do?"
Fan Dazhi forced down his terror and asked urgently in a lowered voice.
"That stone stele... is the core of the Greater Celestial Circuit Mountain-Suppressing Magic Array here..."
The old man's voice trembled with irrepressible excitement and urgency. "Topple it... all you need to do is topple it, and the array's central nexus will collapse... then I can break free of this final shackle... hurry, be quick! Delay will only invite trouble!"
Topple the stone stele!
Fan Dazhi hesitated no longer. He turned and lunged toward the wordless stele standing silently nearby.
He expelled a breath with a shout, wrapped both arms around its cold, rough surface, and drove through his waist and legs. "Hah!"
Despite his shout, the stele did not budge. Instead, the recoil sent his blood and vital energy churning. The stele seemed fused to the earth beneath his feet and the entire Rear Mountain.
Refusing to accept it, Fan Dazhi backed up several steps and silently circulated the Knowledge and Practice Heart Method. True qi from his dan foundation flowed into his legs, and with a low roar, he hurled his whole body against it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dull impacts of flesh against stone echoed again and again through the silent mountain wilderness.
Fan Dazhi saw stars, his shoulder blade throbbing, but the stele did not so much as sway.
"Useless! A fool with such paltry cultivation, capable of nothing but brute force... and you dare venture into a dragon's pool and a tiger's den?"
Impatience and anger crept into the old man's voice. "Use a tool! Dig out the base!"
His face burning with shame and frustration, Fan Dazhi grabbed the shovel and began frantically digging through the scorched soil around the stele. The earth was not particularly hard,