Chapter 31: The Ever-Persistent Stone Array

After leaving the spatial transmission array, Qu Yi quickly found himself in a world filled with stones. As far as the eye could see, there were only towering rocks everywhere; even when he expanded his spiritual senses, all he detected was stone, creating a completely silent scene. Qu Yi gave up trying to sense the entire area and instead asked curiously, “Instrument God, you said there’s a lower-grade water-type immortal artifact in the Ice Palace. Why didn’t I notice it?”
It turned out that after leaving the Ice Palace, Qu Yi regretted not taking that lower-grade immortal artifact with him. Upon hearing this, the Instrument God sent back a message through his spiritual senses: “That four-armed ice ape is the lower-grade immortal artifact. Inside it lies an Ice Illusion Pearl, which was refined by Emperor Hao into the control core of the four-armed ice ape. If you want to obtain that Ice Illusion Pearl, you’ll have to eliminate that four-armed ice ape—though it’s not worth it.”
Qu Yi nodded in understanding.
“Instrument God, this place must be another region of the Eight Wastelands. Why are there only stones everywhere? There are stones of every color—no pattern at all can be found,” Qu Yi expressed his observations.
After a while, the Instrument God replied, “This area is likely the Southeast Wasteland. Though this world of stones seems chaotic, it’s actually under the influence of a mysterious grand array. In each region, there’s a place that cannot be stepped on, otherwise, the rocks on the ground will attack, and rocks will keep falling from the sky. This is the Ever-Persistent Stone Array.”
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, “Instrument God, in the Eastern Wasteland, we encountered an ice world, which was the application of water-type energy. Now we’re in a world of stones—could it be the application of earth-type energy?”
The Instrument God laughed and replied, “You’re right. This Stone Array is indeed the use of earth-type energy, and it relies entirely on the primal energy of earth for attacks.”
Qu Yi looked shocked. Attacks using primal earth energy were equivalent to the strength of a Great Perfection-stage being—each stone possessed the attacking power of such a being. How could the people from the nine major sects get through?
“Emperor Hao is truly powerful. He was able to create such a vast world, using all primal energy—how extravagant! Moreover, Emperor Hao restricts those entering the immortal palaces from using primal energy for attacks, yet the arrays he created himself are all spells powered by primal energy. This really puts us in a difficult situation,” Qu Yi mused.

The Artifact God replied angrily, “If a Celestial Emperor doesn’t even have such skills, it’s laughable. As for causing trouble, it won’t stump me. You can pass through easily, but those strongmen from the Nine Sects will suffer a lot.”
Qu Yi smiled awkwardly, looking very pleased. Having the master of array formations, the Artifact God, within his soul indeed gave him a huge advantage.
“Artifact God, where is the exit from the Southeast Wasteland?” Qu Yi asked with a smile.
It was clear that after entering the space teleportation array in the underground ice palace first, Qu Yi wanted the Artifact God to take him to the array hub of this stone world as well, so they could leave the Southeast Wasteland.
The Artifact God remained silent for a moment before saying with a smile, “You’ll have to wait until the giant stones start flying and attacking those strongmen from the Nine Sects. At that time, a giant stone will hover in the air, and on that stone, there will be a space teleportation array.”
Qu Yi understood. For now, he could only wait for the people from the Nine Sects to teleport over and accidentally step on those stones that activated the ‘Endless Giant Stone Array,’ so he could find the stone with the space teleportation array.
Soon, guided by the Artifact God, Qu Yi teleported several times and arrived at a stone mountain shaped like a petal, where he waited quietly.
※※※
The Taiyuan Sect arrived in the Southeast Wasteland. Sensing that the entire area was covered with giant stones and finding nothing unusual, they dared not take another step forward.
Peacefulness made it more terrifying.
After discussing it, the four members of the Taiyuan Sect began to meditate in place, waiting for strongmen from other sects to arrive.
After a while, strongmen from the Jin Yang Sect and Bai Shou Peak also teleported over and discovered the four members of the Taiyuan Sect sitting there. The strongmen from these two sects sensed their surroundings and were also intimidated by the silent atmosphere, so they didn’t dare move either. They simply sat down around them, just like the Taiyuan Sect members.
Next, strongmen from the Qingyun Sect, Lanyang Palace, Yingtian Sect, Cangyang Valley, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island arrived one after another.
The strongmen from the Nine Sects gathered again, sensing their surroundings and growing worried.
At that moment, Taiyuan Sect’s leader, Tai Ming, stood up and said, “Everyone, have you noticed anything strange? Ever since Qu Yi entered the ice cave, we haven’t seen him again. Is he alive or dead?”

As Tai Ming spoke, everyone understood his meaning—Qu Yi had a Liuhe Knife with him, which was the “key” to unlocking the second area of the Haotian Immortal Mansion. If Qu Yi were killed by the Four-Armed Ice Ape in the Ice Palace, the Liuhe Knife would naturally be taken by it, and the nine major sects would never be able to enter the second floor of the Haotian Immortal Mansion.

Perhaps it was a divine call—immediately, the voice of Emperor Haotian rang out: “Everyone, welcome to the second region of the Eight Wastelands, the Southeast Wasteland. In this world of giant stones, there is only one stone with a space teleportation array. Go and look for it. Once you find that stone, you can leave.”

Whoa!

With these words, the warriors from the nine sects realized that Qu Yi had safely left the Ice Palace and was even the first to arrive in this world of giant stones, which naturally shocked them deeply.

As soon as Emperor Haotian stopped speaking, the warriors from the nine major sects immediately sent out their spiritual senses to search the surrounding area for the stone mentioned by Emperor Haotian.

Unfortunately, no one found the stone with the space teleportation array.

“Gentlemen, our Yingtian Sect will take the lead,” said Ying Hua, the leader of the Yingtian Sect, with a smile.

Soon, five members of the Yingtian Sect soared into the air to search for the stone with the space teleportation array. Then, the warriors from the other sects also couldn’t hold back any longer and flew into the air to start searching for that special stone.

Just as the last warrior left the ground, the atmosphere of the entire world of giant stones changed once again. The ground, which was originally covered with stones of various colors, turned entirely white, with some golden stones scattered among them.

From above, it looked like white sand dotted with gold.

Seeing such a drastic change in the environment, the warriors from the nine sects grew anxious, realizing that the array in the Southeast Wasteland had activated again, and they needed to be extremely careful from now on.

Suddenly, one warrior from the Yingtian Sect flew down and stood on a golden stone.

Earlier, this warrior had noticed that the golden light emitted by this stone had suddenly brightened, which made him suspect something wrong, so he came down to investigate immediately.

As soon as his feet touched the stone, the earth energy in the surrounding area surged and expanded, and the white stones on the ground rushed at them fiercely. Each stone carried the power equivalent to a strike from a Great Perfection-stage being. At the same time, a rain of stones also fell from the sky, covering everything without exception.

All around and in the air, giant rocks were crashing down. This powerful warrior from the Yingtian Sect didn’t even react in time and was instantly crushed to pulp.
“Move aside!” The other four powerful warriors from the Yingtian Sect cried out in pain, but dared not descend.
The warriors from other sects also sensed the situation of this Yingtian Sect warrior and seemed to realize something—namely, not to step on the golden rocks.
After a while, a powerful warrior from the Qingyun Sect also flew down. This time, he stood on a white rock next to a golden rock.
Earlier, this warrior noticed that the golden light emitted by the golden rock formed a circle, which seemed strange, so he flew down to investigate.
But as soon as this Qingyun Sect warrior landed on the white rock, the surrounding space changed drastically. White rocks on the ground and in the air crashed down violently.
Fortunately, this Qingyun Sect warrior was prepared. After activating the formation, despite the barrage of rocks, he managed to spit out some vital blood, unleashing his full potential to transform his true energy into a sturdy protective armor. Then, even as he was hit by a rock, his body was still sent flying into the air.
“Bitang, are you okay?” The other four members of the Qingyun Sect immediately gathered around this warrior, calling out worriedly.
This warrior named Bitang waved his hand, using his true energy to suppress his injuries, though he couldn’t fully utilize his strength for now.
The warriors from other sects also sensed Bitang’s actions and were shocked and speechless. Just now, the Yingtian Sect warrior stepped on a golden rock and was attacked by the rock formation; now, Bitang from the Qingyun Sect stepped on a white rock and was attacked again. With only rocks of two colors in the entire world, what kind of rocks should the warriors from the nine sects step on?
At this moment, the warriors from the nine sects truly wished for Emperor Hao’s voice to appear again and give them some guidance.
※※※
Qu Yi was sitting on a white rock far away from the search area of the nine sects, and he hadn’t activated the surrounding formation at all.
At that moment, Qu Yi heard the transmission from the God of Instruments: “Qu Yi, do you want these warriors from the nine sects to die all in the Ever-Pulsing Rock Formation right now, or do you want them to continue exploring the other six regions below?”
Qu Yi thought for a moment and smiled, saying, “Let the nine sects go to the Six Wastelands below. The Six Wastelands ahead must also be very difficult. It’s better to have these nine sects help me fend off the dangers.”

Upon hearing this, the God of Tools laughed, “Your thoughts are truly vile—trying to make the nine great sects die for you.”
Qu Yi smiled without saying a word.
Soon, the God of Tools told Qu Yi how to escape this endless stone array.
After hearing this, Qu Yi couldn’t help but smile, then took off and flew to the sky above the search area of the nine sects.
“Ah, Qu Yi!” The warriors from the nine sects all spotted him.
Qu Yi waved at them and called out with a smile, “Everyone, I’ve been in this stone world for a month now, and I’ve found a way to break through this stone array.”
“Ah, you’ve found a way! Hurry and tell us!” The warriors from the nine sects exclaimed excitedly.