Chapter 3377: Chapter 3377: Stone Forest
The bronze ground in the Grand Plain Stage was quite vast.
Pearce had taken Zen and Libby all the way to the temple of the Oneness Sky Palace after they stepped out of the star ring. But in fact, they just went through a corner of the Grand Plain Stage.
After returning to the bronze ground again, they marched forward for a short distance and saw a vast sea carved on the ground ahead. The sea was dotted with various small islands. Looking closer, they could also see some huge Other Shore creatures swimming within.
“This is the Sea of Sky Intent. As you can see, it's very large,” Pearce looked around and spoke.
Pearce just briefly introduced the environment to Zen, because he was worried about Winchell and the others.
'The Sea of Sky Intent is indeed such a large area. Would it be divided into pieces like the temple of the Oneness Sky Palace?'
Zen thought in his head. He felt confused and at the same, curious. All of a sudden, a white light flashed beside him.
Murlocs with frog feet came out of the bronze ground one by one. These Murlocs curiously sized Zen and his companions up. Each of the Murlocs stretched out their hands and gently tapped the ground with a Light Stone, releasing a white vortex. Then they jumped into the vortexes and directly headed into the sea in another region.
'It is indeed divided, ' Zen thought to himself. The corner of Zen's mouth curled up slightly as he realized this.
These Murlocs had swum to the end of the sea. Hence, if they wanted to continue forward, they had to get out and jump into the other side with the help of the Light Stones.
On their way north, Zen and the others encountered many Other Shore creatures.
No fight was feasible in this area of the bronze ground, so these creatures behaved kindly. Some of them even greeted Zen and his companions as they passed by, as if they had met old acquaintances.
The politeness and hospitality surprised Zen.
After all, Stage thirty-two should be the highest stage below the Eternal Realm. The competition in this stage should be very intense. However, surprisingly, most of the creatures seemed to get along well with each other.
Just as Zen thought about how the atmosphere was harmonious, two Other Shore creatures from different races appeared near where he was. One appeared to be a hybrid of human and bear. His body was huge and bulky. The other creature had a bull head but human body. In an instant, these two burly and strong Other Shore creatures started to break out into curses with each other.
They couldn't do anything on the bronze ground but provoke each other using only words. As they weren't able to fight, they asked each other to enter their own space in the scroll painting.
However, these Other Shore races had been operating in their own territory for a long time. Surely, they had set up a lot of internal arrays. Without enough strength, they would just basically court death if they were to get into the other's temple rashly.
“Quarreling like this won't solve the problem, right? Is there any way to solve the conflict in this stage?”
Zen couldn't help but ask after they passed those two quarreling creatures.
“Yes,” answered Auden in a somewhat disdainful tone. “In fact, there is a public area where they can fight, or even kill each other. But both of them are timid. They would just give up after quarreling for a couple of days. You will get used to it after staying here for a long time.” Auden's lips curled a bit as he finished his response. 𝐫аƝo͍βÈś
After they continued to head north for five hundred miles, they noticed that stone-like relief sculptures appeared on the ground. Most of these stones were slender, as if they were thick trees growing into the sky.
“We have arrived at the stone forest!” Pearce stopped and looked around. He took a careful step forward and tried to absorb his surroundings.
Whether it was Light Stone, Heavy Stone, or Sealing Stone, they were all found from the stone forest.
The stone forest could be seen as a giant mine that was accessible to all races. Many creatures of different races travelled far and searched in this forest all year round.
As the Light Stone was very common in the stone forest, it was the least valuable. While the Heavy Stone was much rarer and more valuable.
However, there weren't many other creatures that were strong enough to enter the Eternal Scroll Painting these years. The Other Shore creatures that were born in Stage Thirty-two hadn't reached the Holy Soul Realm or achieved the Myriad Tribulations Bodies. If they wanted to enter the first volume of the Eternal Scroll Painting, they still needed to go downwards to Stage Twenty-nine and Stage Thirty-one.
Although the Heavy Stones were rare, they were not in great demand. Moreover, they were not difficult to obtain.
The most difficult stone to obtain was the Sealing Stone. Just as its name suggested, the Sealing Stone was able to completely seal off a region for a period of time. During the process of sealing, no living beings could enter or leave this region.
Considering this, the one who used it could protect themselves while stopping the others from leaving.
However, the Sealing Stone was too rare. Though Eastern Emperor Taiyi had operated here for so long, and had sent many Holy Souls to search in the stone forest, he was only able to put his hands on two Sealing Stones.
In fact, as the Oneness Sky Palace fought against the Bearing race and the Divine Farmer race, they should know that the Element Spirit race would not let them go too easily.
They should have been careful when looking for Heavy Stones in such a delicate state.
If they had used the Sealing Stone, they wouldn't have been blocked inside by those vicious beasts.
As Pearce tried to figure out which area Winchell was trapped in, Auden suddenly patted him on the shoulder and said, “Pearce, watch for the left!” His tone was urgent and his body turned towards the direction.
Everyone faced towards the left and saw a person from not so far away. It was a Holy Soul. On the surface of his soul, there were traces of cyan flames wandering. It made him appear as though he was glowing. The Holy Soul looked similar to the Sun Crow race as they both had the bloodline theurgy with fire attributes.
Behind him followed a large group of evil-looking Other Shore creatures. They marched on fiercely, each step made the ground tremble a bit. The atmosphere was suddenly tense and ill intention could almost be smelled in the air.
“Pearce, long time no see,” the Holy Soul said with a sneer. His voice trailed off, apparently with a hint of ridicule. The Holy Soul looked at Pearce from head to toe without moving his head, using only his eyes.
“Fire Emissary,” Pearce stared at the Holy Soul and said coldly, “are you coming to the stone forest in such a grand way to dig out Light Stones?”
“It's none of your business, right?” Fire Emissary answered as he chuckled. “But I'm afraid that those guys who look for Heavy Stones will never be able to get out again.” His tone was cold and strict, but somehow playful as if he were trying to piss Pearce off.
Then he wagged his finger at the ground in front of him.
From inside the stone forest on the ground, it could be distinguished that there were eleven people retreating to a corner. These eleven people were the group of Winchell who helped Zen search for the Heavy Stones. The group of people seemed as though they were firmly guarding a corner, and in front of them, there appeared many huge Ghost Cicadas floating in the air.
Pearce, Auden, and the others looked over. When they saw that Winchell was still holding on, their worries were slightly relieved. At least they were still alive. However, this was not the time to rejoice.
The next moment, the white flash in the distance swept over again.
When the white flash swept across the bronze ground, the relief sculptures on the ground were again refreshed.
In the stone forest, the group of Winchell retreated again. But there were only six people left.
Five people had already died in such a short period of time!
Pearce's and Auden's faces were stricken with fear and horror. What was happening was beyond their imagination.
During the battle between the Oneness Sky Palace and the Sun Crow race, many masters at the Holy Soul Realm of the palace had been killed. The leaders of five mountains had died. Because of that instance, now, the death of any Holy Soul would be an unacceptable loss to the Oneness Sky Palace.
“The Crane Split race! The Ice lynx race! The Cyan Spirit race! Just kill all those Holy Souls!”
Fire Emissary gave an order maliciously. He then stretched out his hand and flicked his fingers lightly. Three Light Stones in his hand shot out three white lights that quickly turned into three vortexes. The Other Shore creatures behind him rushed towards the white vortexes and entered the stone forest.