Chapter 147: A Stone Stele or A Long Spear?

Serene Void Plaza and the surrounding buildings were slowly being restored, leaving only a small pit around the stone stele.

Song Ping looked on for a while but couldn't make sense of anything. He turned around and led the lightly injured disciples of the Serene Void Academy away to repair the shattered structures.

Jun Laoye stood with his long spear held crosswise in his hands as he leaned against the stele, while Nantian Yijian, Sun Xiaohu, and Song Xiao'er sat on the ground, gnawing on mutton legs and bragging loudly. Lu Chen, meanwhile, stood before the Serene Void Stele, stroking his chin, deep in thought.

"Boss, what should we do now?" Nantian Yijian asked softly, glancing at the gradually restored plaza. "There's nothing here that seems to give a clue about what the stele is. Should we head to the Scripture Hall?"

"The Scripture Hall? Yes, we should take a look." Lu Chen raised his head and gently placed his hand on the stele. "But I still have questions about this stone stele."

"The Serene Void Stele is far from ordinary." His gaze lowered, sweeping along the long body of the stone stele. "The entire plaza was blasted apart, yet this stele remained intact. That's not normal."

Hovering above the stele, Wind Dragon spoke, "The structure feels strange. It widens gradually, then narrows sharply at a certain point. It seems to stretch endlessly downward. I can't sense the bottom with my divine sense, and there's a force pushing back against my probing."

"

Hm?

Let me try." Lu Chen gripped the chief disciple's identity token in his right hand and examined the stele with his divine sense. "It's true. The deeper it goes, the wider it becomes. But thanks to the chief disciple identity token, the force doesn't resist me. In fact, it guides me downward. The problem is that my divine sense is too weak to reach further."

Just then, Jun Laoye's long spear slipped to the ground.

The sunlight glinted off the tip of the Earth-Shattering Spear, reflecting sharply across Lu Chen's face. His brows furrowed. "A spear? The Serene Void Stele... the Serene Void Spear?"

Picking up the Earth-Shattering Spear, Lu Chen turned to the others. "Look at this stele. Do you see any similarity to Little Jun's spear?"

"What similarity could there be?" Jun Laoye walked over, frowning. "One is a spear, the other a stone stele. They're completely different. There's no comparison."

"No, there has to be a connection." Lu Chen planted the Earth-Shattering Spear beside the stele, studying them side by side. "But what exactly is it?"

He tried everything—his primordial spirit qi, the Green Sovereign Divine Tree, Nantian Yijian's Wish Power, and Wind Dragon's elemental spirit qi. He even went so far as to fuse the blood essence of his Green Sovereign and Phoenix Ancestor bloodlines, yet the Serene Void Stele remained utterly unresponsive.

Lu Chen let out a frustrated shout. "What should I do?! I clearly felt a faint movement earlier, which shows that this stele is extraordinary. Why can't I grasp what it is?"

Seeing his agitation, Nantian Wan'er approached him, her voice gentle. "Relax, Lu-gege. We have plenty of time to spend within the Serene Void Academy. We'll figure it out eventually. Grandpa always said, 'When you can't solve something, try looking at it from another angle. You might discover something new entirely.'"

Lu Chen's eyes lit up at her words. He spun around, grabbing her shoulders. "

Hm?

Wan'er, what did you just say? Say it again."

Nantian Wan'er felt puzzled by his response, "What's wrong, Lu-gege?"

Nevertheless, she quickly recalled what she just said, "I just said grandpa always told me that when I can't solve a problem, I should try looking at it from a different angle. That way, I might see it in a whole new light."

"Looking at it from a different angle..."

Lu Chen slowly released her shoulders, his gaze turning back to the Earth-Shattering Spear. He repeatedly turned it over in his hands, his expression deep and serious.

Nantian Wan'er watched nervously, unsure if she had said something wrong.

"Little Lu, do you know what this stele really is?" Wind Dragon leapt from the stele onto Lu Chen's shoulder. "Could it actually be connected to the spear?"

"I have a clue, but I'm not sure if it's right," Lu Chen muttered as he drove the spear tip deep into the ground, leaving only the base exposed.

"I remember Senior Martial Brother Song saying this place was rumored to be a grand tomb." Excitement lit his eyes as his hand pressed against the spear's base. "All Three Peaks and Six Academies were formed from that person's weapons, weren't they?"

"Yes. Second Uncle has mentioned it more than once," Jun Laoye's eyes glimmered with sudden realization. "The elders of Heavenly Mandate Hall have always wondered who is truly buried here."

Lu Chen's laughter rang out across the plaza. "

Hahaha!

I've finally figured it out. The answer was simple. Just look at it from another angle."

His laughter quickly drew the attention of the Serene Void Academy's disciples nearby.

"Boss, what do you mean?" Nantian Yijian scratched his head, still holding a half-eaten mutton leg. "And why did you stick the Earth-Shattering Spear into the ground? Is it supposed to mean something?"

"I think I've figured it out as well." Jun Laoye's expression turned solemn. "If that's true, then Senior Martial Brother Song's story is real. This is indeed a grand tomb, and someone extraordinary lies beneath."

"Could it be... that this Serene Void Stele is actually a spear?" Nantian Wan'er, quick to catch on, pieced it together from their words.

Nantian Yijian, Sun Xiaohu, and Song Xiao'er all stared blankly. "What are you talking about? How could a stele turn into a spear?"

Wind Dragon snapped, "You fools, haven't you realized? This stele is a spear! A colossal spear!"

"

Uh...

I get it, I get it." Nantian Yijian poked his head forward with a sheepish grin. "It's just that I didn't know much about this before. Now I see what you mean."

"

Hmp

h, you little brat. Once we're back at the Scripture Hall, you'd better study properly," Wind Dragon said in a scolding tone, flicking his tail to lightly tap Nantian Yijian on the head. He then turned back toward the stele. "Hundreds of thousands of years have passed, and much of the continent has changed. But if someone really was buried here... and if that person was a giant, then it could only belong to that one race."

"What do you mean? There really were giants in this world?"

Lu Chen's agitation eased as he traced the stele's surface with his fingers. "Indeed. Looking at it as a spear, everything suddenly makes sense. But our understanding of this continent is far too shallow to unravel the secrets of this stele-spear."

Wind Dragon agreed, "That's true. Our knowledge is far too limited."

"In any case, we can't solve all the mysteries of this stele right now. Let's head to the Scripture Hall first." Shrinking in size, Wind Dragon circled above Lu Chen's head. "We might find records there. On the way, I can also tell you about the ancient giants."

"Alright. To the Scripture Hall it is. We'll also learn more about how this continent has changed." Lu Chen nodded, pulling the Earth-Shattering Spear free and tossing it to Jun Laoye. "Once Uncle Jun returns, we can ask him about the secrets of this stele."

"The Scripture Hall?" Nantian Yijian perked up at Lu Chen's words, waved at Sun Xiaohu and Song Xiao'er, and rushed toward the teleportation chamber.

"I should be able to conceal the truth about my fake near-fatal injury for three to five more days," Lu Chen said confidently, glancing at Yun Ping and the others outside the gate. "By then, Uncle Jun will have returned. We won't need to hide anymore. We'll strike back and take back what's ours."

He gave Yun Ping another look before leading Jun Laoye and the others into the teleportation chamber. Little did he know that from that moment on, Jun Wudi would never again return to Serene Void Academy, and that a group of masked figures bearing command tokens were already watching his every move.

Unwittingly, Lu Chen had unlocked the secret of the Serene Void Stele, setting in motion a hidden threat that could spell the downfall of both the Serene Void Academy and the Heavenly Mandate Hall.

***

Inside the teleportation chamber, the Spirit Gathering Formation roared to life. The Serene Void Formation connected seamlessly with it, and thirty-six teleportation formations lined each side, glowing with a ghostly blue light.

Seventy-two teleportation formations in total, with some leading to the inner sect, some to the outer sects, and others to the trial grounds. Certain special destinations required both high clearance and strong spirit qi to activate.

Pulling out the chief disciple identity token, Lu Chen released his spirit qi and stepped into the first teleportation formation on the left. This one led to the Scripture Hall, a place accessible only to the sect's chief.

***

Above Heaven Ocean Peak, a handsome, young-looking man stood beside a massive ferret. They were Blindman Lu and Little Pup.

Fresh from their return from the Northern Region, their gazes were fixed on the mysterious figures below.

"The World Unbound Sect? Is that part of our plan?" Blindman Lu muttered, studying the identity token in his hand. The front bore the word "World", while the back bore "Unbound

.

"

"I've looked into them before," Little Pup said, crouching low against the ground. "They're one of the most enigmatic organizations on the continent, and their origins are closely tied to us. When we ventured to the Outside seeking opportunities, the Green Emperor left behind many contingencies.

"This organization appears to be one of them. It was once under the control of the Third Ancestral Avatar, but after all these years, that avatar has vanished. No one knows if the remaining members are still pursuing the same agenda."

Blindman Lu flicked the token back. "An organization under the Third Ancestral Avatar? That explains their methods. They'll do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. That's simply their nature."

Turning toward Heaven Ocean Peak, Blindman Lu added, "As long as they don't threaten Little Lu's life, it doesn't matter whether they're still chasing that old agenda. Let's go in and see if he's awake. If he is, we can play a game of chess with him."

"Yes, master. I'll meet them later and give them a small warning," Little Pup replied, shrinking down before leaping onto Blindman Lu's shoulder.