The Stele’s Might

The two of them clambered to their feet, vision blurred, face pale. They were badly injured.

Wutian took out a dozen of Essence elixirs and popped them all into his mouth. The Essence Qi started to circulate and heal his body. He gritted his teeth and went back out; he could not bring himself to leave Little Tian behind.

"Wutian, you…" It struck a chord with Han Tian. After a second of hesitation, he followed Wutian.

Little Tian was still working on the egg, striking with all its might. Before the egg reached the ground, countless fine cracks had formed on the shell. Some essence flew out. It looked translucent and smelled so good. Little Tian would not let it go to waste. As it licked it and sucked everything down into its gut. Its body glowed even more brilliantly.

Boom, boom, boom!

Not far away, the golden word engraving was spinning in the air and glowing brilliantly. The entire place looked as if it was immersed in a golden sea. Divine chains dangled, translucent like divine jades and shrouding the place. Then there was a moment of silence underground.

Roar!

A roar rose as if someone was hitting the heaven drum. Heaven and earth were distorted, mountains shook and broke away with rocks flying around.

A few thousand miles deep inside the earth, magma was surging, something splashing up as high as a few dozen feet high.

It was a sea of fire, inside which lived a massive thing that shimmered in brilliant lights. Beneath the light was a layer of solid hard shell, unharmed, even immersed in the magma.

This thing had ten large, sharp claws that glinted heinously. As the thing moved, the claws scraped off the rocks, which would fall into the magma and become red, molten rock.

Its body was incredibly massive, hideous and vicious, but was bound by countless golden divine chains. These chains were as tough as the divine metal, glowing with divine light. No matter how hard the thing struggled, the divine chains still held it in place securely.

Clunk!

A crisp sound exploded, and the magma surged even more violently, sometimes as high as a few thousand feet. This monster had a tail as thick as a mountain peak. It frantically moved its tail that was held back by the golden divine chains.

The magma was surging, and fire was licking furiously. This giant tail finally broke away from the divine chains and rose straight toward the surface. The earth's crust broke apart like a layer of tofu.

Amid the brilliant glow, rocks were crumpling and soil flying. A giant tail of a scorpion rapidly moved toward the surface.

"Let me help!"

Wutian took a step and lunged up into the air. Closing his fingers and clenching into a fist, he struck down with a powerful burst of energy. The white egg dropped even faster. 

"Me too!"

As Han Tian flew, a current of yellowish air rushed out as he struck down with all this strength.

Wutian was startled. "The Power of Earth?"

"This is not the time to talk, Wutian!" Han Tian forced a smile. There was the golden glow in one fist and yellowish light in the other as he continued to unleash his bombardment.

With the help of the two, Little Tian got an enormous morale boost. They hit the egg furiously and the egg finally fell to the ground with a loud boom. Dust rose in the air, so too the brilliant glow.

"Caw, caw!" Little Tian's face was flushed. The egg was only the size of a dustpan, yet it weighed an incredible 200,000 pounds.

Boom!

Right then, an earth-shattering sound came from behind them. The crack on the Stele of Spiritual Incarceration grew in the blink of an eye. It broke in half and flung up and away before crashing into a mountain peak.

The engraved text dimmed, and the divine chains broke before turning into golden particles and disappeared completely.

A brilliant divine light burst out of the ground and flung the remaining half of the stele flying away. It hit a mountain peak and cut it in the middle, leaving behind a clean-cut surface. Demonic beasts wailed. One vicious beast the size of a hill could not react in time and was turned into a scum of blood.

Vicious birds frantically flew away as the peak that had been cut away crushed to the earth. Feathers flew as blood mist filled the air. Not one of those birds survived.

Boom, boom!

The earth shook as the giant tail emerged and rose into the clouds. The scales on the tail glinted, glowing in brilliant colors. It appeared as if a beautiful rainbow when looking from a distance. But the faces of Wutian and others turned pale as if they had seen a ghost.

"The Primordial Scorpion!" Han Tian's voice was shivering, so too his body. Fear filled his eyes.

"Run!"

The three carried the white egg and fled.

The giant tail swept down from heaven and blocked their way. The tip of the tail was glowing like a brilliant little sun, beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

They smelled a strong floral scent. Instead of finding it pleasant, they felt a chill run up their spines. Because this brilliant glow was not of Essence Qi or flower, but the poison of the scorpion.

"It really is still alive. What are we going to do?" Han Tian went weak at the knees and almost peed in his pants.

The giant tail struck at them at lightning-quick speed. They did not see it coming, and Han Tian was struck in his chest. Blood instantly spurted out as the wound was through-and-through.

He was transfixed, not even knowing when he was attacked. It was not until a few breaths later he started to groan in pain.

The giant tail attacked again. Wutian was alarmed, but this time, he was prepared. He dodged it but barely. A large chunk of flesh was ripped apart from his thigh. Blood flowed and dyed the ground red.

The giant tail's speed was terrifying fast. It struck at Little Tian in the blink of an eye. Little Tian did not dodge. It caught the tail in its mouth but broke a few teeth. It cried like a baby as it was in pain.

It was as if the giant tail had no intention of killing them. It struck at them and only left behind cut wounds. It was trying to inflict pain on them and let them bleed to their deaths.

"Bastard, just kill me!"

The three were defenseless in front of it. All they could do now was to wait for the last moment.

"Caw, caw!" Little Tian was furious. It opened its mouth and gnawed at the egg. If it had to die, it would want to die with a full stomach. But the giant tail blocked it and broke a few of its teeth.

The thing was too long and wrapped around them like a python. They had no way to flee.

Boom!

Horrible energy came as a broken stele flew from afar in their direction. It was glowing in a golden light and looking mighty.

The giant tail struck down but appeared a bit in fear. It was still glowing brilliantly with a heinous, murderous intent. It was going to kill the three at once and take the egg.

Boom!

They were hit and sent flying out and away. It felt as if they had been hit by something as hard as steel. Blood spurted out of their mouths, their internal organs shattered. Fine cracks had formed around the Sea of Qi, and the Essence elixirs were going on a rampage. It was going to burst.

"Bastard. We are about to die!" Han Tian roared, but his voice was weak. The shouting was making the pain even more unbearable as if his body was being ripped apart.

The same happened to Wutian. He had been hit hard as if being struck by lightning. It was not something that they could fight with.

Little Tian was covered in blood. Its condition could not be worse. But it still held the egg and would not let go, no matter what, desperately licking the divine liquid flowing out of the egg. Wutian and Han Tian watched on in disbelief. While they were dying, it was still this gluttonous.

The giant tail tightened its squeeze, determined to kill the three of them. Just then, divine chains pierced through the air.

The Stele of Spiritual Incarceration had returned. The dimming engraved text suddenly burst out in bright light. A loud boom ensued with tremors spreading in the ground. The divine chains wrapped around the tail, trying to subdue it.

Roar!

A fury roar rose on the other side of Mount Scorpius as if it was telling of something.

The Stele of Spiritual Incarceration stood erect in midair like a peerless emperor. Divine light flowed around as it had transcended and was now completely awake. Although it had broken in half, it was still unstoppable.

The divine chains extended like ropes binding heaven. The giant tail, suppressed and pulled into the ground, was still trying to fight back. The earth sank as lava spurted out from underground, melting everything in its path.

"Help! I rather die than being burnt to death. I don't want to suffer this pain!" Han Tian wailed.

"Stay well. Every effect has a cause. You all would be the one to tame the Primordial Scorpion. Go and look for my other half's body, and I will return the favor next time," said a divine voice as three divine chains extended, wrapped them up, and tossed them away from the sinking earth, saving their lives.

The divine chains rolled, shaking the void like a golden bolt of lightning. The place was completely flooded. The half stele plunged with a hazy luster and stood erect on the earth, incarcerating the Primordial Scorpion.

The giant tail was gone, and the vicious energy disappeared. Calm returned to the land. But this place had become a sea of fire with lava surging and flames licking, melting everything in its path. The Stele of Spiritual Incarceration stood erect, quaint and broken.

"Who cares about reaping what and sowing what? I wouldn't want to come here again!" Han Tian lay on the ground, gasping for air. He looked up at the night sky as the moon slowly reemerged, feeling as if he had just had a bad dream.

"A broken stele?"

Wutian squinted. He knew the Stele of Spiritual Incarceration was not something immortal. It could suppress the Primordial Scorpion even with just half of it left standing. It was an exceptional weapon. But he ignored what the stele spirit said. He would flee from this horrible existence as soon as he saw one.

"Damn, I forgot to collect the divine herbs. After much ado about nothing, I almost got myself killed." Han Tian sat up, feeling upset. How he wished he could chop off his hands—how could he forget such an important thing? His eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the giant egg beside Little Tian. His intention was obvious.

But Little Tian was very generous this time. It grinned and nodded its agreement.

"Let us first get out of here, find a safe place, and refine the divine liquid." Wutian looked into the distance, where a few shadows were moving at speed in this direction.

The giant egg was weird because the Mustard Pouch could not hold it. They had no choice but to carry it as they refined the Essence elixirs to heal their injuries while leaving this place.

They did not choose to climb Mount Scorpius. They already encountered such a horrible thing halfway. Who knows how many more vicious creatures were lying ahead?