Chapter 13: Sculptures

The Star Lord's mansion stretched for tens of thousands of miles.

Within the mansion, buildings lined up one after another, their aura overwhelming.

"What's that?" As soon as he entered, Ji Ning stared in astonishment at the distance.

Stepping into the Star Lord's mansion, one could see numerous sculptures—gray-white stone sculptures, all human figures. There were burly men with wild hair, cold and beautiful women, an old man laughing maniacally, a youth exuding murderous intent... Each sculpture seemed alive, yet clearly they were just lifeless rock carvings.

"What are those?" Ji Ning asked in confusion.

"All are World-level cultivators," Fu Zhe Island Lord said, looking at the sculptures with complex emotions in his eyes. He spoke softly, "World-level cultivators who have died."

"Dead?" Ji Ning suddenly understood. "Are they the dead World-level cultivators of Wuyan Star, later carved here in their likeness?"

"No..."

Fu Zhe Island Lord gently shook his head. "These are their corpses!"

"Corpses?" Ji Ning was stunned. He turned to stare at each sculpture. These dozens of rock sculptures... had no trace of life force, divine power, or magical power. Even ordinary divine demon corpses would emit divine power, and even Chaos Immortals of the qi-refining path, if their immortal bodies remained after death, would have an extraordinary aura.

But these rock sculptures at first glance had no special aura.

"They are all World Gods of Wuyan Star who died in the endless past, up to the present," Fu Zhe Island Lord said. "All of them fought desperately against enemies using the divine ability 'Wuyan Destruction Chapter' and perished."

"Wuyan Destruction Chapter?" Ji Ning was puzzled.

"The lineage of Wuyan Star has a long history, even longer than the strongest force in the entire Da Mo territory, 'Da Mo Institute.' Although there are many powers in Da Mo territory, in terms of the length of origin, our Wuyan Star lineage ranks among the top three. In fact, in Da Mo territory, many have longer histories than Da Mo Institute, but most have long been destroyed. A long history is useless; strength is the foundation. Da Mo Institute was founded by 'Da Mo Dao Lord,' so naturally it dominates the entire Da Mo territory." Fu Zhe Island Lord continued, "The strongest divine ability of our Wuyan Star lineage is this 'Wuyan Destruction Chapter.' Only divine demon cultivators can practice it, and it can only be mastered after becoming a World God. This divine ability is never passed on to outsiders."

Although Ji Ning had purchased star maps that contained some general introductions, there was little information about secret techniques.

"When using this divine ability, the divine body gradually undergoes 'Wuyanization.' If the divine ability is fully mastered, the entire divine body becomes Wuyanized... When Wuyanized, one's strength becomes terrifying." Fu Zhe Island Lord said. "But there are pros and cons. Once the divine body is fully Wuyanized and divine power is exhausted, one turns into a Wuyan stone statue, truly dead."

"Ah." Ji Ning was stunned.

"Only in desperate situations do World Gods of our Wuyan Star lineage fight to the death. If they stop the divine ability before divine power is exhausted, they can survive. These all fought until death." Fu Zhe Island Lord said softly.

Ji Ning looked at the Wuyan stone statues.

They were World Gods from the endless past...

What desperate situations had forced them to fight with all their might? Looking at the expressions of those World Gods before death—some laughing, some frenzied, some calm—Ji Ning was deeply shaken. He understood that the path of cultivators was full of danger. Even World Gods had died in great numbers, like Northrest World God, like these before him.

"Let's go." Fu Zhe Island Lord said.

"Yes." Ji Ning respectfully bowed, then continued forward with Fu Zhe Island Lord.

...

Ji Ning first went to collect his armor. As the sixth general, the armor he received was of the 'Chaos Top-grade' level.

"These are the simplified jade slips of the various techniques of our Wuyan Star lineage." In a dark hall, countless jade slips floated, thousands upon thousands, emitting light. "Those with the dimmest light are ordinary techniques, those with brighter light are top-tier techniques, and those with the most dazzling light are secret arts not passed on to outsiders."

In the dark hall, Ji Ning looked up at the floating jade slips. The most dazzling ones numbered only twelve, each with an extraordinary aura.

"The secret arts not passed on to outsiders can only be learned by generals of the Wuyan Army and personally accepted disciples of our Wuyan Star's World-level cultivators." Fu Zhe Island Lord said.

"Oh?"

Ji Ning immediately began to extend his mind power, swiftly probing into the twelve jade slips to examine them.

What he saw astonished him.

This Mistrock Star truly has profound foundations! Among the twelve jade talismans, three are sword techniques, and each sword technique is extraordinary.

For instance, the strongest among them, the Phantom Star Sword Canon, has nine forms; mastering the fifth form reaches the Sword World realm.

"Though impressive, compared to my Nameless Sword Art, they still fall short. The Nameless Sword Art is far more profound and extensive." Ji Ning, being a master of the sword, could naturally discern this. The creator of the Nameless Sword Art must have reached an extremely high level, building from a lofty vantage point. The first form, 'Heartsword Form,' allows the practitioner to absolutely control each strike, and the further one goes, the deeper it becomes...

As for other sword techniques, while their power might be great, their artistic conception is narrower, thus naturally ranking lower.

"I will focus on comprehending the Nameless Sword Art." Ji Ning immediately set aside these three sword techniques.

The incomplete scroll of the Dust World Post, the Demon Heart Indestructible divine ability, the Purple Smoke Diagram, the Mistrock Annihilation Chapter...

The divine abilities and secret arts left Ji Ning in awe.

Impressive.

Too impressive.

After all, Northrest World God was a member of the Skylight Palace. He could not pass on the ultimate techniques of the Skylight Palace to Ji Ning; what he passed on were techniques he had obtained while wandering through countless perilous places. Among them, the Nameless Sword Art and the Golden Statue divine ability were two extremely powerful ones, while the others were relatively inferior. The techniques of the Mistrock Star lineage were only second to the Nameless Sword Art.

For example, the incomplete scroll of the Dust World Post was a talisman technique of earth-shaking power. Although it was only a fragment, the rough records in the 'simplified version' and a publicly displayed diagram gave Ji Ning the impression that it was on the same level as the Nameless Sword Art. Unfortunately, it was incomplete; according to the records, it didn't even have an entry point—it was merely a fragmentary diagram of a talisman technique.

His own Nameless Sword Art, though also incomplete, at least had the complete first through seventh forms. Even Northrest World God had only cultivated up to the fifth form. The Nameless Sword Art would be enough for Ji Ning to practice for a long time.

"The Mistrock Annihilation Chapter... Hmm, what a formidable divine ability." Ji Ning marveled as he read.

The Mistrock Annihilation Chapter is divided into three levels.

The first level of Mistrock: the divine body undergoes slight mistrockification, such as hair beginning to mistrockify. It is very subtle, but divine power burst can greatly increase.

The second level of Mistrock: the divine body undergoes large-scale mistrockification, even the bones become mistrockified.

In the third stage of Mistrock, the divine body becomes completely mistrockified, transforming into a mistrock body. The mistrock body formed by a World God can rival the toughness of a 'Dao Divine Weapon'. Such a body can withstand extremely terrifying bursts of divine power, unlike Ji Ning's Star Picking Hand, which only bursts from the hand. The Mistrock Annihilation Art allows every part of the body to burst with divine power, all converging together, with inconceivable might.

Even the first stage alone can match the sixth rotation of the Star Picking Hand.

"Choose carefully," the nearby Fuzhe Island Lord said. "As a general, you can select ten ordinary techniques, or just one top-tier technique, or a portion of a supreme technique."

Supreme techniques cannot be fully imparted all at once.

Ji Ning carefully examined for a long time before making his decision.

"I choose this Mistrock Annihilation Art," Ji Ning said.

"Ah," Fuzhe Island Lord was somewhat surprised. He had just mentioned the 'Mistrock Statue' to Ji Ning earlier, and couldn't help asking, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Ji Ning nodded.

This divine ability had tremendous power.

Mastering the second stage would allow one to rival the seventh rotation of the Star Picking Hand, which had not yet been created.

Ji Ning chose this divine ability not only to cultivate it but also to study it carefully, drawing inspiration to create the seventh rotation of the Star Picking Hand. After all, he also aimed to create the eighth and ninth rotations...

...

After a moment, Ji Ning received a jade slip containing the first part of the Mistrock Annihilation Art, which included the first and second stages, cultivatable by Ancestral Gods. The third stage could only be cultivated by World Gods.

"Brother Fuzhe, bearing the Star Lord's orders, I will now set off for the Suifeng Chaos World," Ji Ning said, bidding farewell to Fuzhe Island Lord outside the Star Lord's mansion.

"The Suifeng Chaos World is where the battle against Black Lotus God Emperor's forces takes place. Be careful, Brother Beiming," Fuzhe Island Lord advised.

Ji Ning nodded, then tore through the void and departed for the Suifeng Chaos World.