Chapter 524: The Sphinx

“Roar—”
In his true godly form, a giant thirty feet tall, the God of Warhammers fought against two stone giant divine puppets alone, yet he held his own without any disadvantage.
Although the corrupted rules of the divine kingdom remaining in the God’s Tomb, influenced by negative thoughts, exerted great pressure on him, the God of Warhammers, wielding two sub-divine artifacts, had enough strength to match these stone giant statues. Moreover, his agility far surpassed that of his bulky opponents.
After taking a few blows from his opponents and assessing their strength, the God of Warhammers wasted no time. He immediately expanded his domain and swiftly swung his hammer at one of the stone giant statues.
“Crack!”
“Boom—”
As the two hammers struck the opponents in succession, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the divine puppet, sending it flying several steps back. Though the cracks began to heal rapidly under the power of divinity and earth elements, the puppet remained stiff during this process, unable to dodge or counterattack.
If not for the other stone giant puppet stepping in to assist, this one would have been forced to take hits until destruction!
Within his domain, filled with power and combat elements, the God of Warhammers could amplify his attack power to more than three times normal. Even those hard stone giant statues, crafted from special magical stones and immortal materials, could not withstand such pure force-based damage!
In fact, against defensive entities like divine puppets—large, bulky, and adept at defense—blunt force attacks were the most effective method. Weapons like swords, aside from whether they could break through the puppets’ formidable defenses, would be useless if they failed to strike their core. Even if they managed to land a hit, the puppets could recover in moments, rendering such attacks essentially pointless!
Seeing this, Donald raised his hand from behind. The projection of the Book of Truth pierced into the God of Warhammers’ domain, instantly enveloping the stone giant statue, which was stiff from trying to repair itself. It was then swiftly pulled over and suppressed within the projection space created by the higher-tier divine artifact.
Though these puppet creatures bore the title of divinity, they were essentially mere objects, lacking a complete soul or intelligence. The faint divinity within them posed no obstacle to the projection of the Book of Truth. Given the vast difference in power levels, they were doomed to be suppressed.

If the one present were a powerful demi-god, it wouldn’t be so easy for them to end up in such a situation! In their full form, demi-gods are immortal beings; even the Book of Truth couldn’t suppress them so easily. Moreover, what Donald currently held was merely a projection. Like projections derived from true gods or powerful demon lords, these energy entities carrying a portion of their soul essence and inherent rule powers—seen as an opportunity by the God of Warhammers—were struck again, causing the other stone giant statue to enter a self-repair mode as well. Donald followed suit, releasing divine light to suppress the second divine puppet. After dealing with the obstacles in their path, he nodded at the God of Warhammers and said, “This one counts as yours. Let’s keep going!” With that, the group climbed up the stone stairs. Although the area was filled with rule-based restrictions that prevented flying, it was still much faster than the weightless environment outside, thanks to their strength and speed. In just a short while, they crossed a mountain peak, getting one step closer to the core of the divine tomb. However, they soon encountered more guardians of the divine tomb. These guardians, or rather, former defenders of the divine kingdom, were still divine puppets made of stone—but this time they took the form of two enormous blue-black stone scorpions, as big as whales, with intricately detailed carapaces, pincers, and tails that looked utterly lifelike, essentially enlarged versions of real scorpions. If not for the fact that everyone present was an extraordinary warrior, it might have taken them until after battle to realize these were just puppet creatures, not real living beings! Once awakened, the monstrous black stone scorpion puppets began to crawl like real scorpions, moving with agility that defied their stone nature. Donald frowned, realizing this challenge was more difficult than the previous stone giant statues. Four figures stepped forward from the group. This time, not only did the God of Warhammers intervene, but also the three powerful demi-god-level warriors—God of the Red River, Uther, and Amps. The God of Warhammers at the forefront already engaged the black stone scorpion puppets. As soon as the fight began, he clashed head-on with the opponent’s powerful pincers. But while his hammers met the scorpion’s pincers, the cunning scorpion swung its agile tail, launching a fierce attack at the God of Warhammers in a blur of motion.

“Be careful!”
The God of the Red River shouted clearly from behind. Though he knew this attack might not hurt his companion with rich combat experience, it would still put him at a disadvantage, so he had no time to activate his domain. Instead, he waved his hand and released a red glow resembling a stream or ribbon to block the tail strike of the Black Stone Scorpion Puppet.
The massive tail whip of the Black Stone Scorpion Puppet was equipped with a three-foot-long, sharp venomous stinger that emitted an eerie iron-gray glow with a greenish tint. Just looking at it made it clear it contained terrifying poison. Even without poison, the size of that stinger would surely cause severe pain if it struck someone.
Although this tail strike was one of the Black Stone Scorpion Puppet’s most powerful attacks, it became sluggish as if cutting through thick mud upon encountering the radiant light condensed from the God of the Red River’s domain. This was precisely the effect of the domain power the God of the Red River excelled at.
Seizing this opportunity, the God of the Red River immediately activated his own domain. Instantly, twisted red waves surrounded the battlefield, covering an area of thousands of feet. Inside, it was like a small world that encompassed everyone—this was the true power of a divine domain.
Though the God of the Red River was a totem god of river-based regions originating from water, he did not focus on water elements themselves but rather the unique effects achievable through various forms of water.
For example, his domain was called the Nine Layers of Red River, with its main abilities being to encircle and slow down enemies’ movements, while also corroding all targets within its domain.
He controlled the domain at will, ensuring his own allies were unaffected and even gaining a significant combat boost. In contrast, the two Black Stone Scorpion Puppets found themselves in a difficult situation!
The originally agile, almost lifelike scorpion-shaped divine puppets now moved as if in slow motion, like a video on slow replay. Every step they took was at least ten times slower than before. Even ordinary mortals could now easily track their attack patterns.
“Haha! Die!”
The God of the Battle Hammers roared excitedly, shattering the armor of the Black Stone Scorpion Puppets with two blows, forcing them into repair mode. Taking advantage of this, Donald stepped in again to subdue them both.
“It seems the original master of this divine tomb must have been a god skilled in earth elements and earth domains. The core defensive forces here are mainly made up of earth element creatures and puppets!”
After subduing the two divine puppets once more, Donald looked at the temple on the mountain peak above, his eyes gleaming as he spoke.

This analysis was quickly proven by what happened next. From a distance, the mountain resembled a structure in the shape of a triple pyramid, resembling the temple sacrificial sites of the ancient Mayans—without pyramid peaks, with a vast platform at the summit comparable to that of a megalithic city, and the palace of the tomb’s master standing right in its center. “That was the entrance to the passage at the foot of the mountain; now we’re at the first layer of the mountain. Based on what we’ve seen before, we’ll likely encounter at least two more such obstacles before reaching the core of the tomb. As for what awaits us there, that’s unknown!” Upon hearing this, Chikofield said, “If His Highness Donald is right, then the next challenge is on the second platform!” With that, everyone present prepared themselves. When they reached the second layer of the mountain, they indeed saw two equally massive red bull stone statues sitting in front of the stairs leading to the next section of the path. This time, the divine puppets were not mere strength-based giant puppets nor agile black stone scorpion puppets, but bull stone puppets that combined speed and strength, possessing tremendous impact force. Although the first guardian of this tomb was even more powerful this time, the outsiders had gained experience in dealing with such threats and had already prepared battle strategies without alerting the two divine puppets. With the combined efforts of Donald and the others, the two bull stone puppets didn’t even get a chance to launch their first attack before falling into the swirling red currents and being easily defeated. Then, Donald and the others promptly ascended to the final barrier, arriving at the vast platform at the top of the third layer. This time, the guardian there was not two divine puppets but a colossal entity hundreds of feet tall and at least six or seven hundred feet long, resembling a mountain. This giant white stone statue not only shocked the others but also left Donald stunned and puzzled! The reason was that the appearance of this giant stone statue was unmistakably one he was very familiar with—the Sphinx! After being shocked for a few seconds, Donald finally realized that although the Sphinx in front of the pyramids in his past life was famous, it might not necessarily be related to this one! After all, this was a true magical world, with gods existing, let alone various strangely shaped creatures. Take the half-people, for example!

Those little creatures with sheep’s-foot-shaped lower bodies are also one of the intelligent races in the main world, possessing high intelligence. There are also anthropoid races such as orcs, werewolves, lizardmen, and amphibious fishmen, so it’s not impossible for a lion-headed creature to exist.