Chapter 436 — Encounter in Another World

When the Flood Dragon King Deity saw that Shen Mu had also dropped to the ground feigning death, he was at a loss. He was a deity — the august Flood Dragon King Deity, a noble flood dragon god — how could he, like Shen Mu and Xue Hu'er and the rest, shamelessly feign death to escape calamity? Thud.

The Flood Dragon King Deity collapsed, limbs twisted, his death pose far more wretched than Shen Mu's — clearly not his first time.

That massive face lowered; the stone statue seemed to have poor eyesight, its enormous face nearly grazing their bodies as it swept past, and everyone held their breath, motionless. "Iii-shh—" The stone statue let out a long sound from its mouth, then slowly straightened and walked into the darkness, the thudding of its footsteps gradually fading.

"This stone statue seems to be searching for something. " Shen Mu leaped to his feet and mused, "Where did they come from? The Wasteland?

Or another world?

What are they searching for? " Xue Hu'er and the flood dragons all scrambled up, and the Flood Dragon King Deity dusted himself off.

Xue Hu'er praised, "Flood Dragon King Deity, among us all you played dead the most convincingly — you must have practiced many times!

When you have time, you must teach me! " The Flood Dragon King Deity flushed red and stammered, "I did not!

Don't talk nonsense! Feigning death relies on talent. . .

" Shen Mu walked forward and said, "Let us continue searching. Everyone be careful — who knows if there are other stone statues here!

Flood Dragon King Deity, what do you make of that stone statue just now? " The Flood Dragon King Deity pondered a moment and said, "That stone statue most likely does not come from the Wasteland. " Shen Mu was slightly startled.

"Not from the Wasteland?

Why do you say so?

" "The stone statues of the Wasteland are weathered by wind and rain, hardened by frost — they are all very old. But this stone statue is remarkably fresh, as if it had just turned to stone. " The Flood Dragon King Deity was not certain either.

"Still, the Wasteland has the most stone statues, and the strangest ones. Perhaps the statue did come from the Wasteland — likely it hid in some sealed space, and so does not appear old. " Shen Mu pondered and mused, "Could it be that many stone statues were buried beneath the Divine Severance Mountains, and when the mountains were destroyed, these statues burst forth from the earth?

" "That is possible. " The Flood Dragon King Deity said, "My lord, the Dragon Keeper Lord once said that the origins of the Divine Severance Mountains were most peculiar.

This mountain range blocks the Wasteland, dividing the Wasteland from Jingping.

Within the Wasteland all is chaos, yet outside the Wasteland all is safe and sound. There must be something wrong inside the Divine Severance Mountains. " They ventured deeper into this strange land. The gray mist grew thicker, the darkness deeper, and the air was filled with a maddening oppression.

From time to time the rumbling of the Quake Cauldron drifted from afar, boom after boom. Shen Mu followed the vibrations forward, and before long they encountered a second stone statue. This deity statue was also searching through the darkness and mist, as if likewise seeking something.

"There is some truth to the Flood Dragon King Deity's words. " Shen Mu avoided the statue and thought, "These stone statues most likely come from beneath the Divine Severance Mountains! " A mountain range that cuts off the strangeness of the Wasteland is itself profoundly strange.

By what means do the Divine Severance Mountains hold back the darkness of the Wasteland?

This time the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had used the Quake Cauldron to shatter the Divine Severance Mountains, allowing the darkness of the Wasteland to invade over a hundred li. From this alone, the mountains had indeed served to block the darkness.

This mountain range must have appeared after the Kaihuang Kingdom fell and became the Wasteland. Shen Mu had once heard it said that a god had created the Divine Severance Mountains here to separate the Wasteland from Jingping, lest the people of the Wasteland escape.

When the mountains were being raised, upon reaching Mount Sumeru, because there were people above at the Great Thunder Roar Temple, the range was made to skirt around Mount Sumeru. Perhaps the god who raised the mountains buried many stone statues within them. "Young Master, could this stone statue be one of those that burrowed out in Jingping?

" Xue Hu'er asked. Shen Mu was slightly startled. Xue Hu'er said, "Perhaps there were already deity statues near the Divine Severance Mountains. Because many gods of heaven and other powerful beings died in battle here, and the statues used them as blood sacrifices, they came to life. But the sacrifices were not enough, so they cannot fully revive — they can only barely walk.

" "That is also possible.

" Shen Mu said doubtfully, "If that is so, then what are the stone statues searching for? " "Surely it is the Quake Cauldron that shattered the Divine Severance Mountains!

" Xue Hu'er said as a matter of course. "The Quake Cauldron is their weapon. They need to find it and fully release the earthquake within to destroy the world. When the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping shattered the Divine Severance Mountains, he certainly did not unleash the Quake Cauldron's full power. " "Ling'er is so clever!

" Shen Mu praised.

The little fox was smug.

"But if the stone statues can walk, why do they not search for other celestial phenomenon weapons?

" Shen Mu shook his head. "Searching for other celestial phenomenon weapons would be easier for the statues. Moreover, this place is still trembling — clearly the Quake Cauldron is still unleashing its power. The statues should have no difficulty finding the Quake Cauldron by the vibrations.

So your guess is probably wrong; the Flood Dragon King Deity's conjecture is more reasonable.

" Xue Hu'er's smugness vanished into thin air.

Suddenly Shen Mu stopped and once more dropped to the ground feigning death.

From ahead came footsteps of immense weight — a tall stone statue was walking toward them. Shen Mu stealthily cracked open one eye and saw that the statue's back was bristling with flags, the flags themselves petrified. Yet each flag bore a massive eye — most eerie. Wisps of black qi flew in, swiftly sinking into the flags on the statue's back. On one of the flags, an eye gradually evolved from stone, then turned to flesh and blood, the pupil and the white slowly becoming a true eye.

The eye rolled about in the flag, dull and sluggish — clearly lacking energy, unable to fully liberate itself from petrification.

"A demon eye! The stone statue is of the demon race! " Shen Mu's scalp went numb and he nearly leaped up. If it was of the demon race, then these stone statues could not possibly be the statues from beneath the Divine Severance Mountains. In the darkness of the Wasteland, it was the monsters of the demon race that ran rampant.

They did not fear the strangeness of the Wasteland's darkness, because they were the strangeness itself! Shen Mu had once encountered a demon god in the darkness. That demon god had lured him forward, making him mistake the outskirts of Fengdu for the Carefree Land, and the village chief had even crossed blades with that demon god!

"No, no — if these statues are demon race demon gods, why have they turned to stone? The demon gods I have seen before were all lively and vigorous, dragons fierce and tigers mighty!

" Various thoughts leaped up in his mind, and suddenly a possibility struck him: the world these stone statues belonged to did not overlap with either the Wasteland or Jingping.