Perfect World

Chapter 582: Chapter 582: Joy and Sorrow
 

The Seven Gods descended, among whom the most powerful was an old servant from the “Immortal Hall”, whose fighting strength alone equated to that of four others who had ignited divine flames.

The “Immortal Hall” was extremely ancient and terrifying, associated with the Supreme Hall, but unfortunately, only a tenth of the three gods’ sea of consciousness remained; Shi Hao was unable to fully unravel its secrets.

The second strongest of the Seven Gods came from the Western Sect, possessed the Vajra Unbreakable Body, cultivated the Sixteen-foot Golden Body to a high realm, and mastered several Great Divine Powers.

The remaining gods were similar in strength, roughly equal to each other.

Shi Hao pondered, the situation was severe; the remaining four gods were even more dreadful and difficult to deal with. What should he do to break the situation?

“Even if I become a Venerable One and evolve the Undying Golden Body Battle Clothes again, facing a single god, it is still hard to predict who will live and who will die,” he muttered to himself, frowning deeply.

After igniting the divine flame, one essentially transcended the human category; the power of this mortal world was insufficient to combat it, a breakthrough surpassing all previous major realms.

Clearly, the Xiling Realm could only set one trap. The same method would be hard to work again; the remaining four gods would not repeat the same mistake.

“What should I do, is there really no solution?” Shi Hao whispered softly. How to dismantle this deadlock weighed heavily on his heart, a sense of foreboding looming, was he going to encounter an accident?

He left the Xiling Beast Mountain and flew towards the capital of the Stone Country.

In fact, Shi Hao had just received even more valuable information, the result of joint deductions by hierarchs of the higher realms, predicting where certain fortunes in the Lower Realm might be.

Although he could not pinpoint the exact locations, he had delineated a rough area!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝονǤᴑ.с0

This was definitely a great opportunity; such news was of immeasurable value, but unfortunately useless to Shi Hao, whose primary goal now was to survive and resolve the crisis.

It was just too difficult; there were currently no solutions.

As he neared the capital of the Stone Country, Shi Hao stopped and descended in a small town. He wanted to find out what the current state of the capital was.

After some inquiries, nobody knew what had happened to the capital of the Stone Country. There was no disturbance or war; it was as if nothing had ever happened. The more it was so, the more Shi Hao frowned.

“Huh?” Suddenly, he saw a young girl, very familiar, although dressed simply, she had a kind of ethereal charm.

In the town, the girl sensed his presence, turned around, saw him, and immediately showed a look of shock, covering her mouth with her hand, saying, “It’s you!”

Shi Hao remembered, her name was Yu Zimo; they had met at the Hundred Shattered Mountains, one of the Yu Clan’s Twin Prides, possessing a rare talent—Spirit Communication—able to foresee parts of the future.

The Yu Clan was destroyed, Shi Hao hadn’t pursued to the death, sparing women, children, and the weak, letting them go. This girl hadn’t been in the clan that day and naturally had also survived.

Yu Zimo lowered her head, after a moment, suddenly raised her head and walked towards him, saying, “If you’re going to kill me, then kill me.”

“You go,” Shi Hao spoke, his brow furrowed, his mind not on this but rather pondering how to contest the four gods.

Suddenly, Yu Zimo staggered backward, a crack forming at her brow, a thread of blood seeping out, looking at Shi Hao, her face filled with shock and bewilderment.

Obviously, she was experiencing backlash. Looking at Shi Hao, she said, “I looked into the future, a primal chaos. Then looking back, behind you, there is nothingness.”

Meeting again, she still predicted this, no different from her feeling at the Hundred Shattered Mountains.

Hearing this, Shi Hao looked up at her and said, “What does this mean?” This wasn’t the first time he had heard it.

“I don’t know,” Yu Zimo wiped the blood from her brow and said, “You… seem not to belong to this entire ancient history. Perhaps, you… are about to disappear from this world.”

If it was the latter, Shi Hao understood that these days, he might perish at any time. Regarding the former, it baffled him. He waved his hand and directly departed, no longer bothering to think further.

Shi Hao silently returned to the Stone Capital, finding the palace cold and deserted. The guards looked dispirited, but there was no divine presence lurking around.

“Peng Jiu!” Later on, Shi Hao met Peng Jiu in a royal manor outside the city, where he had been recuperating. Fortunately, his life was not in danger.

“Your Majesty… you’re still alive!” Peng Jiu was shocked. Not just him, everyone in the imperial palace thought Shi Hao was doomed to wither away and die young.

Who would have thought that he was still alive and had safely returned? This made Peng Jiu widen his eyes in excitement, not knowing what to say.

Soon after, the War King, the Peacock King of Light, and others rushed over when they heard the news. They trembled with indescribable joy. Seeing Shi Hao again was truly a miracle!

Luring away the three gods and contending with them, yet still surviving—could it be that the three mighty beings had perished? Thinking of that possibility made their hearts nearly leap out of their throats.

“Your Majesty, did you kill them?”

“They are all dead,” replied Shi Hao.

The others were stunned, and then a brilliant light filled their eyes, invigorating them to the point of trembling.

“Where is Light Wind?” Shi Hao asked, as he had not seen him.

The mention of this darkened everyone’s mood.

Shi Hao had risked his life to draw away the three gods. Anxious and fearing for his safety, Light Wind ascended the ritual platform seeking to summon help from experts.

Clearly, Light Wind went to Stone Village and brought back Hairy Ball and Little Red.

At that very time, two incidents occurred: first, a god came to see Yang Li, the pangolin, and the God of Netherworld, which resulted in a direct confrontation with Hairy Ball and Little Red, leading them all into battle in the great desolate area.

What happened then was still unknown!

Moreover, another god appeared above the ruins of the Heaven Mending Pavilion, destroying everything that was being rebuilt and patrolling the area, searching for something. It seemed he wanted to open the gate to the Heaven Mending Pavilion.

Hearing this, Shi Hao was profoundly shocked; Hairy Ball and Little Red had indeed come forward. However, they had just ignited their divine flames, and there was a gap compared to the power of the Seven Gods. Such a confrontation might result in their deaths.

But he could not blame Light Wind, who, in his frail state, had panicked, fearing Shi Hao might die, and had summoned all his strength to rescue him regardless of everything else.

“Which deity appeared in the imperial palace?” Shi Hao tried to keep his breathing steady, his words calm.

“A practitioner from the Western Sect, possessing a Sixteen-foot Golden Body, with unusually fierce divine flames pulsating outside his body,” Peng Jiu replied.

“What?!” Shi Hao felt his body turn ice-cold, his heart sinking immediately; he had learned from the three gods that this flame-igniting powerhouse from the Western Sect was ranked second in combat strength.

Half an hour later, Shi Hao reached the depths of the mountains and saw collapsed peaks and land that had turned into magma and then cooled, a scene of utter desolation.

He painstakingly searched, finding blood-stained red feathers everywhere—the feathers belonged to Little Red!

Then, he saw a broken iron stick and golden fur, which belonged to Hairy Ball!

Shi Hao’s eyes nearly split open, his blood surging, furiously overwhelmed. All of this indicated that the two had perished. He even found a charred fragment of Vermilion Bird’s wing and a piece of Hairy Ball’s bone with golden fur and blood on it. This further suggested that the two mighty beings had likely died.

“Ah…” Shi Hao howled like a wounded beast, unable to accept this outcome.

“I don’t want you to die!” His eyes reddened. Since childhood, he had picked up Hairy Ball and they had grown up together, sharing a deep bond. Although Little Red was sharp-tongued, it was unfailingly friendly to Stone Village and helped protect it.

How could they die, and such a tragedy occur? He found it unbearable to accept!

“You should know, after the battle in the Western Border last time, those two powerful beings returned to Stone Village without taking the True God Divine Instrument. What can they use to fight now? Especially since the expert from the Western Sect is acclaimed to be the second strongest among the Seven Gods, more formidable than Yang Li, the pangolin, and the God of Netherworld combined!”

Shi Hao searched frantically, and upon seeing the hairy ball’s bones and blood-stained fur again, as well as the other half of Little Red’s wing, he wanted to go mad and howled toward the sky.

Shi Hao cried, his heartbreak unprecedented since he had left Stone Village. He had always advanced triumphantly, pushing back opponents effortlessly, never encountering such a disaster.

In the eyes of the world, he was a genius, an invincible young supreme being. In the Realm of Virtual Gods, he was an infuriating brat who sang triumphantly as he found no equal.

No one had ever seen such a vulnerable side of him; now, Shi Hao cried loudly, lying on the ground, holding the hairy ball’s remains and fur, embracing Little Red’s wing, overcome with grief.

“I don’t want you to die; I want you all to come back to life!” His grief and sorrow overflowed as tears continually fell, and he screamed loudly.

At this moment, he seemed more like a fifteen-year-old boy than the astounding prodigy—Little Stone—that people saw him as; he felt helpless and immensely sorrowful.

Shi Hao searched throughout the mountains, only to leave disheartened in the end.

He went straight back to the royal palace cautiously opened a passageway, erased all traces, and then rushed in, heading for Stone Village.

Originally, he would never have returned, fearing that it might invite calamity, but now, heartbroken, he couldn’t breathe without seeing the reality; his mind was on fire.

As soon as he returned, he heard crying. Many children were wiping their tears, and several adult men also bore looks of grief; the whole Stone Village was incredibly oppressive.

Shi Hao broke into the sacrificial altar and saw Qing Liu kneeling on the ground, crying bitterly—there was a coffin which foreboded ill.

“Hairy ball, Little Red!” Shi Hao cried out, spitting a mouthful of blood, tears in his eyes, and said, “You died so horribly!”

At that moment, the village fell silent; everyone turned to look at him, stunned momentarily. Qing Liu even jumped up, staring intently at his face.

“Who the hell… is cursing me to die?” Just then, the weak voice of the hairy ball came.

Following that, Little Red’s chirping also sounded.

Shi Hao was stunned, disbelieving his ears, and then he saw the hairy ball and Little Red. He instantly shifted from great grief to great joy, shouting out loud.

At the same time, the people of Stone Village also shouted and rushed over.

“Infant, we thought you had died, killed by those three vile gods.”

“Uncle Hao, you’re still alive; that’s wonderful!”

…

Everyone rushed over, lifting him up, carefully touching him and laughing broadly, tears in their eyes.

Shi Hao instantly understood—the coffin was prepared for him; they thought he had died, not that they were burying the hairy ball and Little Red.

“It feels so good that everyone is still alive.” Shi Hao wiped the tears from his face, showing an embarrassed expression, for the first time losing composure in front of everyone.

He saw the hairy ball and Little Red, both severely injured. The hairy ball’s lower half was completely gone, and one of Little Red’s wings was torn off; the injuries were severe.

The two had survived. All these injuries were no problem for beings that had ignited divine flames; their recovery power was extremely strong; eventually, they could even regrow limbs, etc.

“I thought you had died,” said Shi Hao.

“We nearly did, that golden body was too strong; we couldn’t hurt it at all,” said the hairy ball while grimacing in pain; his whole body was wounded, his core even shattered.

Little Red was also in a similar state, not a single part of her body was undamaged, especially the Primitive Symbol Bone that was shattered, which was extremely severe. They would find it hard to recover within a year or two.

“It’s okay, I have Golden Liquid from the Solar Divine Tree here, one drop each for you both, you all should definitely recover within half a year!” Shi Hao said, taking out the Jade Vase and letting them each take a drop.

He had only obtained three drops in total, one of which he insistently gave to his parents, leaving the remaining two drops for these two powerful beings.

“What about that strong individual from the Western Sect?” Shi Hao asked.

“He’s dead, we struggled but managed to kill him,” Little Red responded.

“He died?” Shi Hao couldn’t believe it – it didn’t make sense. What could Hairy Ball and Little Red use to contend with that second strongest being when there was such a vast gap between them?

“They used the Ancestral Artifacts of Stone Village,” Hairy Ball responded.

Stone Village had two Ancestral Artifacts: one was a bone, the other was Beast Skin. This time, Hairy Ball and Little Red took these two ancient artifacts, breaking the seals. They proved even more powerful than the True God Divine Instrument of the Stone Kingdom’s Royal Palace.

Shi Hao was stunned and said, “Even so, it must have been difficult to kill that person, right?”

“That’s right, we had just ignited our divine flames, while that strong individual from the Western Sect had ignited his for over a hundred years, enormously powerful, far surpassing those of the same tier,” Little Red nodded.

Most crucially, they had brought another ancient artifact from Stone Village—the Cauldron.

This Medicine Cauldron was very mysterious, usually showing no peculiarities unless the finest Spiritual Medicine and true blood of Primeval fierce beasts were used for refining pills. Only then would anomalies appear.

Hairy Ball and Little Red, following Light Wind’s advice, brought the cauldron and at the critical moment, the cauldron revealed its marvelous properties, with astonishing defensive power. Hiding within it, they could avoid over ninety percent of the damage.

Moreover, what was most critical was, when they were on the verge of death, the cauldron spewed a stream of pill fire, turning that strong individual from the Western Sect to ashes.

“This…” Shi Hao was dumbfounded; the cauldron was indeed mysterious. He had always felt it was extraordinary, but never expected it could not only refine precious medicine but also possess such formidable offensive power.

Shi Hao had truly not expected that the second strongest of the Seven Gods would be dealt with like this.

“Where is the cauldron, I will use it to suppress another god!” Shi Hao asked.

Right now, news had not leaked out yet, whether it be his killing of the three gods or Hairy Ball and Little Red slaying the strong creature from the Western Sect that had ignited divine flames, none had been spread.

He wanted to hold the cauldron to go to the Heaven Mending Pavilion to suppress another lone god, removing a source of trouble.

“It disappeared,” Hairy Ball sighed.

Together with Little Red, they activated it, the cauldron being very mysterious, emitted a stream of pill fire easily killing the expert from the Western Sect, and then disappeared in the flames.

From great sorrow to great joy, one incident after another, a series of surprises had made Shi Hao somewhat numb. Hearing about the disappearance of the Black Cauldron, he was suddenly taken aback, not too shocked but just very regretful.

“I faintly saw that the cauldron cracked, black metallic skin peeled off, becoming white as jade, turning into a Bone Cauldron before it disappeared,” Little Red said.

She was proficient in divine skills related to fire, and naturally, she was extremely sensitive when the Black Cauldron emitted the pill fire, vaguely witnessing this scene, as the white Bone Cauldron disappeared in the flames.

(The vote difference is pretty close, only a few votes behind. Let’s climb past it.)

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