Chapter 2420: The Golden Seed Sprouts!
What did the gods matter?
What did destiny matter?
Was it the fate of those puny and meager beings to be regarded as ants and stomped on?
Were the powerful allowed to regard themselves as gods and kill as they pleased?
No!
He would not permit it!
If this was the world’s destiny, he would destroy it and tear off the fetters that bound all living beings!
He would never concede!
Never give up!
Even at the moment of death, he would not yield, let alone give up!
No, this isn’t the ending!
This isn’t how things should end!
It’s not over yet! Heaven, you will never win!!
Rumble!
Wang Chong’s heart was filled with unwillingness, hatred, and anger. All of this ultimately clumped together and transformed into a furious bellow.
Wang Chong’s heart was pierced, his body shattered, his Stellar Energy scattered. He was already dead!
But as this immense grudge took form, his terrifying emotional pulses surpassed death, dragging Wang Chong’s soul back from the brink of death.
Boom!
Suddenly, the sky above the Turkic steppe darkened, becoming as black as night, and a giant bolt of lightning exploded in the heavens.
Even Heaven seemed to sense something, and he grimaced.
In the darkness of another world, a voice rang out.
“User’s intense emotional pulses detected!”
Wang Chong felt a familiar strength, and in the darkness, Wang Chong saw the Stone of Destiny once more.
Buzz!
Before Wang Chong had time to react, an invisible energy descended, and Wang Chong felt his consciousness being pulled into another dimension—the internal dimension of the Stone of Destiny.
After what seemed like one second and like countless epochs, Wang Chong saw a blurry figure appear in a warm light.
“You’re finally here!”
Wang Chong didn’t know who it was at first, but a moment later, he recognized this man.
“Your Majesty!”
Wang Chong trembled in shock, disbelief in his eyes. The one who had appeared before him was none other than the deceased Sage Emperor.
But he recalled that the Sage Emperor’s mind had already fallen into disarray and had been placed in the Stone of Destiny’s Foundation Dimension to recover. How…
The Stone of Destiny…
Wang Chong suddenly understood.
The Sage Emperor took two steps forward and said, “You’ve already sensed it, right?”
The outlines of his body grew clearer. It was still the same dignified and gentle gaze, but Wang Chong knew that this was only a sliver of the Sage Emperor’s soul.
No, this was not completely true. Wang Chong could sense that the Sage Emperor’s mental fragment was still sleeping within the Foundation Dimension, which meant that… this ‘Sage Emperor’ was something the Sage Emperor had left behind beforehand.
Wang Chong could also sense that there was more than one soul of this nature within this dimension—eight in all. Moreover, Wang Chong could sense an energy similar to his on their bodies.
“This is… the Stones of Destiny!”
As several thoughts flashed through his mind, Wang Chong instantly understood what was going on.
Buzz!
Several more figures swiftly appeared in the void. Their bodies were abnormally blurry, and it was impossible to make out their faces, but Wang Chong knew that these people were all holders of Stones of Destiny.
Buzz!
Upon thinking about this, Wang Chong realized that all of the figures behind the Sage Emperor had projections of the Stone of Destiny on the center of their foreheads.
“What is going on here?” Wang Chong sternly said.
“This is destiny for all of us!” the Sage Emperor said, a sliver of deep expectation in his eyes.
“Everything has arrived at the crucial moment. You should have already felt the deep helplessness we felt back then, the anger and unwillingness. Just like you, we did everything in our power, sacrificed everything to battle Heaven. Alas, we failed. Many of us had our Stones of Destiny seized by Heaven. However, Wang Chong, you are different!”
The Sage Emperor looked at Wang Chong with a sense of pride and gratification.
“Wang Chong, you are the last holder of the Stone of Destiny, and its most unique holder. Most importantly, you have something that none of us possess.”
“What?” Wang Chong unconsciously asked.
“You have a stronger will than ours, one that surpasses death. You have a deeper understanding of this world than us, a greater comprehension, and a stronger desire to protect it,” the Sage Emperor solemnly said.
Wang Chong was left flabbergasted by these words.
“I know that there are still some things that you do not understand, but the fact you could enter this place and see the wills we left behind says enough. If you were not able to enter this place, all of our expectations would have come to nothing, and this world would fall under Heaven’s control, becoming his toy and entering an endless cycle.”
Wang Chong was silent, countless thoughts running through his mind. He somewhat understood that all of this was linked to his anger and unwillingness.
In his last life, his intense desire had triggered the power of the Stone of Destiny and caused him to be reborn. And now, it appeared that the same power had unlocked the Stone of Destiny and allowed him into the hidden dimension to ‘see’ the Sage Emperor.
“Let me tell him!” Another voice rang out.
One of the eight figures behind the Sage Emperor walked out.
“Xuanyuan?”
Wang Chong found it hard to conceal the shock in his eyes.
“Long ago, all of us realized the existence of Heaven and his ambition, including his greed for the Stones of Destiny. Alas, without strength, fighting by our lonesome, we were no match for Heaven. Thus, when the time came, we decided to leave behind a few back-up plans.”
Xuanyuan stepped forward and said, “Child, do you remember what I told you in the Celestial Palace? Amongst all of us, you are the most special.
“Some of us used the power of the Stone of Destiny long ago and saw a prophecy. The Stones of Destiny did not come from nothing. Each holder of the Stone of Destiny has a mission, and when they fail, another one is born.
“If one of them succeeds, everything will come to an end there. Otherwise, after the ninth, one last holder of the Stone of Destiny will emerge. The Stone of Destiny he possesses will be the most unique and the strongest, and he will be the last hope of the world. But if he also fails, everything will turn to dust, and all will come to an end,” Xuanyuan sternly said.
The Sage Emperor and the other figures nodded. It was clear that all of them knew about the prophecy.
Wang Chong frowned and asked, “Everything will turn to dust, and all will come to an end? What does this mean?”
He could tell that the ‘danger’ Xuanyuan spoke of did not refer to the otherworldly invaders.
“I have no way of answering you. All I can say is that there is an immense danger lurking in the world, and not even Heaven knows about it. More information is beyond our scope. You might be different from us, and perhaps you might be able to find out what this danger is,” Xuanyuan solemnly said.
“What should I do next? How can I defeat Heaven?” Wang Chong pensively said.
“There’s no other way except to actually reach the Divine Martial realm. This is the only way you will be able to fight with him,” the Sage Emperor gravely said.
“Correct. Only the Divine Martial realm can contend against the Divine Martial realm,” Xuanyuan earnestly said, nodding.
“Heaven has seized many Stones of Destiny, but he does not know of our back-up plans. He has yet to completely absorb the Stones of Destiny, so he has not been able to discover their secrets. But you are different. You possess the most foundational energy of the Stone of Destiny. You can summon all of them, fuse all ten together, and create the Stone of Destiny in its strongest and most complete form.”
“All of us will help you in breaking into the Divine Martial realm.” Suddenly, a third voice spoke. Another blurry figure quickly cleared up and solidified. This was a man wearing a royal crown and a black dragon robe, his eyes like blazing suns and his every move exuding the aura of a sovereign.
It was none other than the Qin First Emperor!
“Gather together all our power and defeat Heaven!” the Qin First Emperor sternly said.
The other figures, including Xuanyuan and the Sage Emperor, firmly nodded.
All of them had died to Heaven. Only Wang Chong was left.
He was not just the hope of the world, but their hope as well.
Buzz!
In a flash of light, the Sage Emperor, Xuanyuan, the Qin First Emperor, Emperor Wu of Han… all of the figures in this dimension surrounded Wang Chong, placing their hands on his body. Powerful energy began to surge into him.
“Wang Chong, everything has been arranged. The fate of the world will depend on you!”
Wang Chong heard the Sage Emperor’s voice brimming with hope and anticipation.
A moment later, all of them disappeared, and a vast energy containing a concentrated vitality entered Wang Chong’s body.
Once all of them had disappeared, Wang Chong soon saw a familiar light. As if a curtain was being raised, Wang Chong saw a large golden seed appear in the Stone of Destiny’s dimension.
The golden seed!
Wang Chong immediately recognized it as the seed that the Origin Immortal Lord had given him, the ‘World Seed’.
Though Wang Chong had obtained this seed a long time ago, and the Origin Immortal Lord had said that this seed was extremely important, Wang Chong had never been able to understand its use.
But at this moment, at the final moment of his life, Wang Chong once more saw the World Seed. However, it seemed different. The seed seemed to have changed a lot, as if it was about to…
About to sprout!
No, it wasn’t just that. Wang Chong could sense that this seed was seemingly drawing in energy from its surroundings, and it was this energy that was causing the change in the seed.
To his stupefaction, Wang Chong realized that this power… was coming from him!
Besides this, within the golden seed, Wang Chong felt a weak yet extremely familiar energy, the aura of the Stone of Destiny. At that moment, Wang Chong seemed to understand something.
“Every sip and bite is preordained by destiny. Fortuitous beginnings and messy ends all have their reasons.” A voice rang out, and Wang Chong saw a familiar figure appear next to the golden seed.
“Senior!” Wang Chong bowed.
The one who had appeared was the Origin Immortal Lord, but Wang Chong knew that this was not the real Origin Immortal Lord.
The Origin Immortal Lord had left for him the golden seed, and this figure was just a mental brand he had placed on it.
The Origin Immortal Lord simply nodded and said, “Wang Chong, do you understand?”
Wang Chong nodded.
“I was not wrong about you. All of us could only do all we could with our meager strength. You will have to walk the last part of the road alone. Whether or not the cycle of destiny the world has been trapped in for countless years can be broken, and all life under heaven can be saved, will all depend on you!”
The Origin Immortal Lord gave Wang Chong a profound glance before vanishing out of existence.
All was silent, and Wang Chong was left alone with the golden seed.
Senior, thank you, Wang Chong mentally said, deeply sighing. He then opened up his body, allowing the golden seed to absorb his energy.
Long ago, the Origin Immortal Lord had said that the golden seed was lacking one last thing in order to sprout. The Origin Immortal Lord had not said what it was, perhaps because he was unsure what it was himself, but now, Wang Chong understood what the World Seed had lacked.
This was a stubborn and unyielding heart closely linked to the world, a heart that sought to love and protect the world to its strongest extent.
Bang!
A few moments later, as if it had drawn enough energy from Wang Chong, the golden seed erupted with an unprecedentedly bright light.
This surging and majestic light swept over Wang Chong, pouring a powerful vitality into his body and soul.
……
“Kill!”
“For His Highness!”
Back on the Turkic steppe, with Wang Chong’s death, all the human soldiers had fallen into a frenzied bloodlust.
Although the otherworldly invaders were much stronger than the human soldiers, the sacrifice made by their commander had made all the human soldiers unleash a strength like never before. All of them seemed to go mad as they lunged at the otherworldly invaders.
More and more bodies were piling upon the ground, like the mountains of the underworld.
“Bastard, this old man will kill you!”
Cheng Yaojin saw Wang Chong’s broken body in the crater, and his body exploded with anger as he raised his axe and charged at Heaven.
Xu Shiji, Hou Junji, and the other old generals also charged, their eyes almost bursting from their sockets.
But before they could even get close, they seemingly ran into an invisible wall and were blasted back by a destructive energy that left them bloodied and battered.
Heaven was not even paying attention to the battlefield, but focusing entirely on Wang Chong’s body.