Chapter 2 – Ancient Monolith

Black and thunderous clouds roiled about, blocking off all sunlight. A darkness that resembled a curtain of death fell down. With a flash, a dense and frightening aura began to fill the air.

Within the turbulent, black, and death-like clouds, a tall and majestic ancient castle was faintly discernible in the horizon. Bloody waves soared from within the ancient castle one after another, emitting a violent and gorgeous red flair from within the black clouds. The Heavens and the Earth were deathly quiet, creating a frightening atmosphere. Not a sound could be heard, not a movement could be seen.

It was obvious that the ancient castle had suffered through the torment of time, and it appeared as if it had ripped through space and time before coming into existence today. The ancient castle resembled a whirlpool of death as it enveloped the surrounding area in an inexhaustible aura of death. The rolling black clouds began to slowly gather around the ancient castle, gradually being sucked up by it.

The black clouds gradually faded away, however, that only caused the sky to appear even more eerie and terrifying. Endless amounts of skeletal remains were scattered around the ancient castle. The boundless white bones were spread out, forming a deathly sea of bones. The awe-inspiring ancient castle was standing tall and upright above the snow-white sea of bones. Words could not begin to describe how frightening and deathly silent it was.

From within the ancient castle, a few human shaped skeletons with grey-colored wings flew out, and the inexhaustible breath of death enveloped the area in a grandiose manner. They were currently overlooking an isolated island below them that was situated within the ocean abyss.

This was an isolated island resting in the heart of the boundless ocean.

The island was flourishing with green foliage, and the cry of wild beasts could be heard. Ninety percent of the region was covered by a primitive forest. The ancient trees reached a height so great that it blocked the sky and prevented sunlight from shining through. Many vicious beasts hid within the forest, ready to prowl on unsuspecting prey. It was truly the scene of an uncivilized era.

Around this time, however, a sliver of an incomparably cold and dense breath of death came, covering the entire area from afar. The originally noisy island that was filled with the cry of beasts gradually became more quiet.

A great and ancient beast hidden within the deepest part of the island was occasionally releasing low and angry roars. Apart from that, the Heavens and the Earth were completely soundless.

Xiao Chen, who had lost his consciousness on the sandy beach of the island, also seemed to be able to feel the bone-chilling coldness. His body involuntarily started to tremble a few times.

After a long time, the eerie breath of death finally began to slowly diminish. The vast ocean of white bones that was sustaining the weight of the ancient castle in the distance gradually faded away from the peak of that boundless ocean.

Only at this time did the Heavens and Earth finally restored its former liveliness. Countless draconic beast roars rang out from the deepest part of the island. The island’s vitality was slowly being restored.

With the intense sun high up in the sky, Xiao Chen finally regained his consciousness, after who knew how much time had passed. The sound of sea waves entered his ears, and he slowly opened his two eyes before noticing that bluish green ocean waves were moving up and down before him. Currently, he was lying on top of a scalding golden and sandy shore.

The blazing sunshine made Xiao Chen feel slightly dizzy. He was suffering from a severe sunburn and his mouth felt dry. His lips were chapped, and as he attempted to sit up with some difficulty, Xiao Chen tried to size up this unfamiliar environment.

The scorching heatwaves carried over waves of fishy and salty smells from the sea. A group of seabirds were currently soaring above the ocean, and occasionally, a huge fish would leap up from the water surface and stir up layers upon layers of big waves.

Within the depths of the island, all kinds of ear-splitting roars from primal beasts could be heard. Xiao Chen felt as if he had returned to an uncivilized era!

A large amount of ripe, light brown coconuts fell from fresh and dark green coconut groves situated at the side of the seacoast. They were piled up under the green leaves and were especially enticing.

Apparently, some salivary fluids were already dripping from Xiao Chen’s dry lips. He expended a great deal of effort before finally standing up and walking forward unsteadily.

Xiao Chen managed to find a temporary shelter to relieve himself from the burning pain of being roasted alive by the sun.

A gentle sea breeze glided past, causing the bluish green leaves to brush against each other gently. Xiao Chen finally began to feel a bit refreshed.

The ripened coconut fruits fell to the ground from time to time, producing banging noises.

Xiao Chen felt as if a blazing flame was rising from within his throat, and it felt as if there was fire and smoke coming out from his mouth. He was extremely thirsty. Bearing the pain all over his body, Xiao Chen walked forward unsteadily and gathered a pile of coconut fruits. Then, with a plop sound, he sat down on the ground.

He used brute force to split open a coconut and gulped down big mouthfuls of the sweet coconut juice. This feeling was indeed extremely splendid. For Xiao Chen, who was parched to the point of almost burning up, the coconut juice could be compared to top quality wine.

He had unexpectedly entered the World of Immortals!

Xiao Chen was deep in thought, where did that Lan Nuo go? In addition, were those people who had their names passed down for all eternity really living in this world? His mind was brimming with questions. Of course, he didn’t know that the Imperial Angel Zhao Lin Er had also entered this world.

Resolutely, Xiao Chen silently knelt on the ground and bade farewell to his parents who were currently across space and time, henceforth severing all ties with the mortal world!

He was naturally a decisive person, so he compelled himself to organize his disordered mind. He then started to consider how he should go about surviving in this unfamiliar world.

Quietly sitting on top of the sandy beach with his back leaning against the bulky coconut tree trunk, Xiao Chen’s body began to flicker with a sparkling luster as if his body was being enveloped by a layer of hazy light. The essence of the Heaven and Earth came together unceasingly, and the spiritual energy within the coconut grove was gradually spread out, as if there were dim multicolored rays enshrouding the forest.

The roars of beasts constantly rang out. This place wasn’t really a ‘Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss’. Now, his highest priority was to restore his body to its former condition as soon as possible. Xiao Chen began to immerse himself in the secrets of the law, guiding the wood essence to start treating his injuries.

The origins of his training technique came from a mysterious stone inscription.

He grew up near the river bank of the Yellow River since childhood. At the age of seven, he encountered a rarely seen drought. The water mass of the Yellow River in front of the village was nearly dried up, and a huge stone monolith revealed itself. After removing the mud, four big letters could be seen carved on the front of the stone monolith; Eternal Restrain: Yellow River!

There was an ancient legend that had always been passed down from both sides of the Yellow River. During the time when Yu the Great ⌈1⌋ tamed the floods, the highest of the heavens dropped a mysterious stone monolith into the Yellow River to subdue the water eternally, ensuring that there would no longer be any more flooding.

Therefore, the villagers immediately linked this stone monolith at the base of Yellow River to that legend. They washed the mud off the stone monolith and started to burn incense before praying for an entire day.

After cleaning it up, a few carving marks appeared on the back of the stone monolith. The carvings produced a mysterious and complex diagram. The carvings were impossible for the villagers to understand, so they took it as some sort of celestial writing.

“The Legend of Celestial Writings.” It filled the little Xiao Chen with endless delusions. Everyday, he went to stare at the stone monolith and became lost in his thoughts. Two months later, the water levels of the Yellow River started to rise again due to a rainstorm, and the stone monolith was once again eternally submerged.

But at that time, the mysterious and complex diagram was already carved deeply in little Xiao Chen’s mind. After learning martial arts, he finally began to understand the complex stone inscription, causing him to follow the path of asceticism ⌈2⌋!

That was an ancient and mysterious Qi-Training Diagram bestowed by the heavens!

Xiao Chen didn’t know whether the mysterious stone inscription could compare to those other legendary secret technique. Ever since he was ten years old, he trained persistently and relentlessly. Afterwards, although he spent ten years constantly learning many different fighting styles, the method he used to train his spiritual power never changed.

1. Yu the Great (c. 21st century BC) mythical leader who tamed the floods

2. Severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence