“Desolate, results in desolation, or the state of lifeless.

“When I invented this saber art, I had refined the memories of thirty Martial Monarchs using the Co-existing Stone, to experience the difficulties and challenges that they had faced in their lives.

“If you want to comprehend the saber art, you will have to turn into a rock and be placed in the world, observing the aging of the Heavens and Earth and the cycle of the Sun and Moon.

“However, if your talent isn’t strong enough and your Martial Heart isn’t firm enough, it’s possible that you will believe yourself to be a stone forever, completely losing your ident.i.ty...”

An old, imperious voice echoed in Qin Nan’s mind.

“Keke, I’m the Sky-Desolating Spirit, it’s time to turn you into a stone!”

The hoa.r.s.e, piercing voice appeared once again. Following this, Qin Nan could only feel a mysterious force surging into his mind, as if it were extracting his Divine Sense.

A while later, Qin Nan was turned into a piece of stone.

“Interesting, I never thought the Sky-Desolating Saber Art did not consist of a single character. Turning into a stone is the only way to learn it.” Qin Nan mumbled to himself as he began to feel himself and the Heavens and Earth. His thoughts gradually became calm his life force slowly vanished.

After a prolonged period, a fiery eagle a the cultivation of the fourth-layer Martial Sacred Realm saw the human-figured stone flying in the air. It shrieked and grabbed the stone with its claw, before flying toward a mountain range and throwing it into a cave.

“The nest of a beast? Now what?”

Qin Nan was left speechless as he observed the surroundings through the stone. However, since he could not move now, he could only settle his thoughts and continue to comprehend.

Two days later, Qin Nan surprisingly discovered that even though he was currently in the cave, he could sense everything that was taking place across the mountain range. The fights between the beasts, the exploration of the cultivators, the conspiracies taking place, allowing him to comprehend new findings.

However, on the third day, a grand battle erupted in the mountain range. Five Martial Sacred Realm beasts fought with one another to claim possession of a Dragon Vein, which attracted the attention of some Martial Sacreds of the human race. In the end, the humans waited patiently and struck at the right time to eliminate the beasts.

Following this, under the protection of the Martial Sacreds, their disciples began to scour the mountain range for loot. A boy whose status was slightly lower in his clan discovered the strange-looking stone and carried it back.

“The key to handling life is the ability to adapt, any place could be considered picturesque. Regardless of one’s cultivation, every word and action will have some truths to them, but what’s lacking is a pair of eyes to recognize them...” Qin Nan did not remain silent, but murmured as if he had learned something.

The boy brought Qin Nan back to his clan, which turned out to be the biggest clan of the city nearby. However, the boy’s status in the clan was nothing significant. One day, the boy was beaten up, but he did not cry as he lay on the bed, nor did he have the energy to move. His eyes were filled with dissatisfaction.

Qin Nan pondered as he witnessed this. He then came up with a thought, causing the human-figured stone to emit a faint saber intent.

The boy was thunderstruck, who rose from the bed and observed the stone closely. After a while, he began to comprehend the saber intent, which caused his cultivation to skyrocket.

However, things began to go awry after that. After the boy’s cultivation improved significantly, he became ruthless and disrespectful, making enemies with many people. In the end, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated, and the a.s.sa.s.sin took away the human-figured stone, a.s.suming it to be some kind of treasure.

As such, the human-figured stone continued to drift in the world.

Within a short period of time, Qin Nan had encountered many geniuses, witnessed the infighting in many big clans. He even ended up in a rural village, witnessing the naive hearts and relentless love of humans.

However, what Qin Nan did not see was that while he was busy with his process, the geniuses of various factions in the Middle Continent began to work even harder, exploring deeper into the forbidden areas and training themselves diligently, just to shock the world with a single cry.

As time gradually pa.s.sed, the atmosphere of the Middle Continent became more intense.

The time until the Monarch Horoscope Contest was getting shorter.

On the twenty-eighth day since the last change of the Monarch Ranking, a brilliant monarch glow penetrated the clouds from the Touring Dojo in the desert.

At that instant, rare phenomena began to take place, alerting the cultivators of every faction.

Soon, shocking news was spread to all the factions like a ferocious beast.

“The Touring Dojo is emitting a monarch glow! The Monarch Horoscope Contest is about to take place!”

“Hehe, only two days left. The showdown is finally here!”

“Is the day finally here? I hope the geniuses won’t disappoint me!”

“Spread the word, tell every disciple who is going to take part in the Monarch Horoscope Contest to return to the sect at once!”

“……”

Countless messages and orders were transmitted through the badges to all places.

The factions began to summon their disciples back.

After all, they would need some time to distribute the pills, artifacts, talismans, etc. to the partic.i.p.ating disciples before the actual day, to prepare them for the upcoming battles.

...Meanwhile, in the Dragon Emperor Clan...

“Where are the people? Did they manage to contact Qin Nan?” The Dragon Emperor spoke with a frown.

“We haven’t heard from him yet...” The Nine-Tailed Monarch Beast wore a worried look as she spoke, “We have confirmed that he’s still alive, but we were unable to determine his whereabouts.”

“Sigh.” The Dragon Emperor let out a sigh as he pinched his forehead.

“Don’t worry, Qin Nan will return in time.” The Demonic Qilin said calmly, “Aren’t there still two days left until the actual day?”

“Mm, I just hope that there won’t be any accident.”

The Dragon Emperor nodded.

As the entire Middle Continent became lively, time gradually pa.s.sed. Two days later, in some city in the Southern Continent...

“Hey, don’t miss out on such a strange-looking stone. I bet you’ve never seen anything like this before. Yo mister, hear me out, I can guarantee that there’s something hidden inside the stone...”

A vendor pulled a young man aside and blurted out.

“Alright, leave me alone. I’ll buy it.”

The young man ran out of patience and agreed to the deal.

“A wise decision, it’s only ten Primary Stones.” The vendor wore a blossoming smile.

The young man harrumphed as he chucked ten Primary Stones onto the stall and walked away with the strange looking human-shaped stone. As he was heading back to his clan, he could not help but feel anxious. What the h.e.l.l was he thinking, spending ten Primary Stones for a piece of stone?

Did that annoying vendor trick him into buying it?

The young man felt that to be the case the more he thought about it. He immediately felt furious and was about to return to the vendor to teach him a lesson.

However, at that instant, a soft crack could be heard coming from the stone.

The young man was given a great scare. He suspiciously checked his surroundings, before setting his eyes on the human-shaped stone.

Was the stone making the noise?

Could it be...

That the stone was actually a treasure?

Crack.

The sound of something cracking could be heard once again.