The area around the bottom of the [ God and Demon Altar ] was quite wide. Sun Fei measured it on foot; at an average speed, it would take at least half an hour to walk around it. In the due north direction, Sun Fei discovered an anomaly that he hadn't noticed during his previous rough search—
A gigantic, skeletal corpse lay on the ground here.
The corpse appears to be a remnant of some Giant race, standing over four or five meters tall with a large skeleton, but it is clearly human remains. Apart from being unusually large, it is no different from the skeleton of an ordinary human.
It is worth noting that this person must have been a terrifyingly powerful individual in the past.
Although it had been dead for countless years, and its flesh and blood had completely decayed into ash and disappeared without a trace, its bones remained extremely hard. Sun Fei tested them, and even the thinnest finger bone was several times harder than the [ Demon Remains ] he had found in the underground grotto Chambord City.
Sun Fei had a strange feeling; for some reason, the moment he first saw the skeleton, he couldn't help but think of a certain person.
Kromkamp, the King of Eindhoven.
"Perhaps this skeleton belongs to the ancestor of the Emperor of Eindhoven. Only a descendant of such an abnormally tall Giant race could be nearly three meters tall like Kromkamp, far exceeding the height of ordinary strongmen," Sun Fei said with no malice.
What truly shocked Sun Fei was the way the Giant had died.
A broken pillar pierced his back, nailing him to the ground below the altar like a worm. The pillar pierced his heart and then plunged deep into the ground. The Giant must have suffered terribly before his death. Sun Fei observed deep, gruesome claw marks on the ground. The corpse's body was slightly arched, and one hand reached towards its back, seemingly trying to pull out the pillar that pinned it down. Unfortunately, it failed and was nailed to death there.
Looking at the massive skeleton, Sun Fei seemed to be able to vaguely imagine that breathtaking scene from back then—a broken pillar flying in from the sky, like a streak of light, containing a terrifying power that even gods could not resist, nailing a peerless expert to his death here.
Broken pillar?
A flash of insight struck Sun Fei, and he vaguely grasped something.
His gaze lingered on the broken pillar that had impaled the Giant, then he slowly walked closer and indeed found that on the rough cross-section of the pillar, about six meters above the ground, there was also an oval-shaped indentation, almost identical to the half-broken pillar on the nine-story [ God and Demon Altar ], even the break was perfectly matched.
"Yes, this broken pillar is the other half of the broken pillar at the top of the God and Demon Altar, but it was broken off by someone and thrown down from a thousand meters high, whistling as it came down, nailing this Giant to this spot... That must be it."
Thinking of this, Sun Fei looked at the oval indentation on the truncated pillar and suddenly felt that he should take this truncated pillar to the top of the nine-layered God and Demon Altar; perhaps something strange would happen.
Upon realizing this, Sun Fei did not hesitate at all and immediately began to act.
He looked around, then placed his feet on the Giant's skeleton, wrapped his arms around the broken pillar, and roared. The power of a level 40 Barbarian on Nightmare Difficulty erupted wildly, and the muscles in his arms bulged like hills, instantly expanding to more than twice their original size. A clearly visible power fluctuation spread outwards from Sun Fei in all directions.
Rumble!
Amidst the roar, the broken pillar swayed slightly, seemingly about to be pulled out of the ground by Sun Fei, but he failed at the last moment, always falling just short. Sun Fei unleashed his full power, but was still unable to pull it out completely.
That's truly terrifying.
Sun Fei, possessing the strength of a level 40 Barbarian in Nightmare Difficulty, whose physical strength alone would make him virtually invincible within the Moon Class, couldn't even pull out this broken pillar. In comparison, it's truly unimaginable what kind of unparalleled master could have hurled this broken pillar from the thousand-meter-high [ God and Demon Altar ] and accurately pinned the Giant to death?
Exhaling a breath of stale air, Sun Fei Summon all the magical equipment he had on him, including [ Bul-Kathos' Soul Cage ], which could increase his strength, and equipped it. His strength increased by another 20 points, and then he tried again.
Rumble!!
This time, the broken pillar shook even more violently, but it still couldn't be pulled out of the ground. It seemed that there was an extremely powerful suction force below, firmly holding the broken half of the pillar to the earth.
Sun Fei tried other methods, such as digging up the ground and digging out the broken pillar directly. Unfortunately, the ground, which was polished by some unknown silver Rock, was extremely hard. No matter how hard Sun Fei tried, he could not make even a crack the size of a fingernail on the ground.
Sun Fei was truly horrified.
The ground was so hard, exceeding the limits of the hardest Rock in the world, it was probably no ordinary stone. Even in its dying moments, this Giant skeleton could struggle and carve claw marks into the ground, demonstrating an unbelievable level of power. It was likely far superior to even a legendary Great Sun-Rank Venerable. Furthermore, the mysterious powerhouse who hurled a broken pillar from the top of the nine-tiered God and Demon Altar, killing this Giant as easily as slaying an ant, must have possessed an even more astonishing level of strength.
"The secret to Cleansing the Worldstone must lie within this broken pillar, but my current strength is just a little bit lacking to pull it out. It seems I'll have to enter the world of Diablo and level up again."
Five hours later, a Teleport shimmering with a soft blue light appeared in front of the [ God and Demon Altar ], Sun Fei walked out of it looking slightly tired.
Over the past five hours, Sun Fei completed all the quests in the second act's large map, [ Arcane Sanctuary Arcane Sanctuary ], cleared out all the monsters, defeated the final boss [ Summon Master ], and then used the Teleport at the deepest part of the sanctuary to reach [ Canyon of the Magi ]. He completed about half of the sixth quest, [ Tal Rasha's Tomb ], and searched three false tombs. After a relentless and bloody battle, he finally leveled up two more times, reaching level 42 on Nightmare Difficulty. He added all 10 attribute points he gained to his [Strength] attribute.
Before returning, Sun Fei found an NPC in [ Lut Gholein ] city and received several years' worth of equipment to increase his strength. After making thorough preparations, he activated the Teleport and arrived at the [ God and Demon Altar ].
"This time, we must pull out the broken pillar."
Sun Fei equipped himself with several magical items to increase his strength, including rings, gloves, a helmet, and boots. Then, he returned to the broken pillar that held the Giant's corpse in place. He took a deep breath, let out a loud shout, and unleashed his full power. A deafening roar echoed, as if the earth was being torn apart. The entire mountain interior and the God and Demon Altar began to tremble slightly.
Inch by inch.
Under Sun Fei's immense strength, the broken pillar, deeply embedded in the ground, was finally slowly pulled out bit by bit.
Ten minutes later, after seven or eight consecutive attempts, Sun Fei finally managed to pull the broken pillar out completely.
To Sun Fei's surprise, the length of the broken pillar embedded in the ground far exceeded his expectations, reaching over twenty meters. Perhaps due to years of being buried underground by thunderstorms, its color was more vibrant and clear than the exposed half—a silvery-white metallic luster that made it easier to imagine that it was not actually a pillar, but rather a broken piece of a weapon resembling a stick or Long Spear.
The broken pillar is about 26 meters long, which can be considered a huge structure.
Sun Fei was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. This was the first time he had been so tired since mastering [ Barbarian Mode ]. He was showing signs of exhaustion. After taking a [ Stamina Potion ] and resting for half an hour, he finally recovered. Then, carrying the half-giant pillar, he unleashed his Silver Sword Wings, flapped his wings, and slowly flew towards the top of the God and Demon Altar.
The giant pillar was incredibly heavy. Sun Fei landed on the God and Demon Altar midway through his journey, needing to rest several times. His arms, strained from the exertion, had skin that tore and muscles that were ripped apart, leaving them bleeding profusely. The flesh of his ten fingers was worn away, exposing the white bone beneath. The intense pain caused Sun Fei to be drenched in sweat, which mixed with blood and stained the entire pillar. In the end, the drops of blood pooled together, almost turning the twenty-six-meter-long broken pillar blood red.
Sun Fei had never felt so exhausted. The intense pain felt like someone was cutting away the muscles in his arms with Xiaodao, piece by piece. Before long, his arms went numb and gradually lost all feeling. He mechanically clung to the severed limbs and flew upwards with unparalleled willpower.
To be honest, Sun Fei had also been seriously injured in the carnage of the Diablo World and had experienced excruciating pain that was unimaginable to ordinary people, but never before had he felt so unbearable. Several times he almost threw away the broken pillar that was pressing down on him like a mountain, but as long as he thought of his two confidantes who were still in a deep sleep waiting for him to save them, he gritted his teeth and persevered.
Blood mixed with sweat dripped onto every step of the [ God and Demon Altar ].
After a tremendous amount of effort, Sun Fei, almost covered in blood, finally managed to lift the broken pillar to the top of the God and Demon Altar.
Second update.
Please vote! Thank you to the following authors for their support: Broken Heart Little Snail, You Know You Understand, Tears of the Wind, Victorkai, Flower Master Dragon Young Master, and Lonely Maple Shadow.