The night was when discussions ran rampant regarding recent events. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by a loud blast.
A pillar of light shot out from the stone forest and illuminated all of Ancestral City.
Night turned into day due to its brilliance. The reflection of the stones resulted in strange images and shadows – a godfiend raising its fangs, the cycles of the firmaments, a great abyss…
The experts of Ancestral naturally took note of this and gave it their full attention.
The source of the pillar had visual phenomena as well. There seemed to be a great portal down at the bottom, always rotating through history.
Some visual phenomena included a peerless Grand Emperor with a surging aura. The gods and subjects bowed in response. Chariots of the greatest legion swept through uncontested, rending the earth and the celestials…
Spectators got chills while staring at the visions. A few couldn’t help prostrating before them.
“Immortal Assailant Emperor!” They shouted at the immense imperial aura.
“That has to be the emperor’s treasury, it’s comi-!” An older cultivator blurted out before realizing that he should have kept quiet.
It was too late since others heard him clearly.
“The rumor was right then, it’s really in the stone forest.” Many clamored.
“Let’s go already!” Some lost their patience and rushed towards the stone forest.
“Close camp, march for the stone forest!” The armies of various sects and countries mobilized as well.
Floods of cultivators poured there so the city became desolate. Some powers traveled more than ten million miles for this mythical treasury.
Seeing these visual phenomena excited them; they would never miss this opportunity.
The neutral spectators came to watch the show as well. They weren’t confident in getting any leftovers versus the big players.
It didn’t take long before the normally-desolate stone forest was filled with people. One could hear shouting and weapon-clanking among the strange stones.
It wasn’t far that far away from Ancestral City, renowned for its strangeness.
No one knew how large it was since it resembled a maze. No one has ever been able to fully explore it. People walked around only to find themselves back at the entrance. Most importantly, it had plenty of medicines and materials. Unfortunately, grabbing these items was far from easy due to the illusions found here.
While standing from the outside, people would see mountains and peaks intertwining like teeth. Strange stones scattered about, adding to the complication.
The only entrance was an arched gate. One particular belief that this entrance was a crucial requirement. Entering the stone forest from another location would result in being forced out in no time at all.
Staring at the stones through the entrance for a long period would make someone dizzy. It was as if the peaks and stones were moving, replaced by entirely new ones.
Some believed that this rotation was continuous. The stones found here seemed to be alive. This made it difficult to leave behind markings and traces.
The most magical part was that no matter how lost one got, they would always return to the entrance in due time.
“Shit, this is my eighth attempt. I got here last night but still got kicked out.” An old man cursed while looking up at the gate. He was with several peers.
They were powerful but the maze got the best of them.
“Brother Lin, you still did better than us. We tried several times a few years ago but didn’t get far.” His friend smiled wryly.
“The problem is that we saw a valley during the first four attempts. It has a million-year-old knotweed that has reached the dao. Its violet energy is insane.” The old man vexingly said: “We used our heavenly gazes at markings but kept on chasing the moving valley. Alas, whenever we got close enough, we immediately got sent out.”
“That’s nothing. Our Senior Uncle saw a jade rabbit three thousand years ago. He tried dozens of times and when he actually touched it, he got sent out too.” A different expert said.
“Earlier, i saw a golden pagoda up a peak. Our group climbed up there and didn’t see any pagoda. What a waste of time.” An elder shook his head.
The group started pondering after hearing the individual experiences.
“Why do they disappear right away?” An expert speculated: “They have to be illusions, right? The stones and the treasures aren’t real.”
“No, they’re real.” A big shot elder shook his head: “An amazing cultivator had confirmed this in the past. It’s a matter of being in the wrong spatial coordinates.”
“Who?” The previous speaker remained skeptical.
“Space Dragon Emperor.” The elder answered with a solemn tone.
The group became startled and felt respect for this character.
“The great emperor allowed our future generations to have a second path.” Nothing but reverence and awe permeated the crowd.
The emperor lived during the age of the dao lords, one of the few who dared to take the title, “emperor”. After all, dao lords reigned during this period.
Moreover, everyone accepted this title. The emperor wasn’t a dao lord yet not inferior to any, eventually creating a realm to oppose the dao lords – Myriad Dao Heavenly Physique. Others came to know of these cultivators as Heavenly Sovereigns.
In the past, a cultivator at the Grand Dao Sacred Physique realm would be stuck there if they couldn’t become a dao lord. Their dao path would end there.
Finally, the heaven-defying genius opened a new realm, one that could challenge the dao lords. This genius became the first Heavenly Sovereign with the title of Space Dragon Emperor.
“I’ve read the stories behind this before.” An expert from the last generation said: “The emperor came here during his youth, all alone, searching for an immortal medicine. Not only did he find one, he also made it deeper and reached the legendary Fire Domain.”
“Fire Domain? The deepest part of the stone forest?” Many became startled.
“I don’t know about that.” The expert shook his head: “But it’s widely believed that Fire Domain might be the final destination here.”
***
By this point, virtually everyone knew about Immortal Assailant’s treasury and came to the forest.
Most knew that they had no chance of obtaining the treasury. However, they could still test their luck here.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before they walked out. Their techniques and abilities didn’t matter. They quickly got lost and found their way back to the entrance again.