Chapter 603 - After Death
The tomb on the hill wasn’t that large. The children weeped and cried out. Pure white wildflowers were being scattered here. As they rose with the wind, it formed an extremely glaring sight, as if tears were fluttering about.
The villagers had all arrived. They stood in front of this grave, separated by death, never to meet again. When they thought back to the little guy who tottered about whenever he walked, that cheerful and optimistic youth, their eyes became blurry.
Weepings sounds rang through the air. These people felt as if their hearts were tearing and their lungs were splitting. Many birds in the nearby forest were startled.
“Child, how can you leave just like that…” Chief Shi Yunfeng’s tears poured outwards. He was the one that raised Shi Hao, but today, he had to see his child die before he did.
Everyone was crying, feeling sadness towards Shi Hao’s death. He didn’t have a father or mother growing up, just like an orphan. Even though the villagers had taken care of him, he was always still somewhat alone.
Back then, he especially liked to drink beast milk. Thinking back, this might have been because he lacked a sense of security, missing his parents’ warmth and affection.
Later on, he walked out into the great wastelands alone. As for what he experienced and how many dangerous situations he had gone through as he rose to power, the villagers didn’t know. However, they were sure that being alone in the outside world was definitely not easy.
Finally, he became the human emperor, becoming someone with one of the highest authorities in this world. The villagers simply couldn't believe it.
“Child, you’ve gone so far, continuously fighting the entire time. It must have been extremely difficult. A day would have inevitably come when you overlooked the world, yet you reached the end of your life so soon.”
The villagers cried in grief, sighing about how this youth’s fate had been full of trouble and misfortune. Shi Hao rose to greatness all on his own, but in the end, he was going to die like this. He truly was dying an untimely death.
When Stone Country’s higher level figures received the news, several old kings trembled, feeling great grief inside. The imperial palace was shaken from top to bottom. The atmosphere was incredibly sad. Shouts of sorrow continuously sounded.
“What? Stone Emperor has left this world?”
When news was transmitted to the outside world, every region was shaken.
Even though they had long anticipated this result, when it was truly proved, it still stirred up tremendous waves. The entire world was shocked.
The little Stone still fell in the end. No miracles happened. His life had grown dim, eventually being cut off. He had reached the end of the road.
“What a pity! Truly lamentable!”
Shi Hao’s death was truly unfortunate. He was so young, yet he already reached the pinnacle of the wasteland region. If he was given time, no one knew just how high he would have soared.
“The heavens are jealous of heroic geniuses… This loss is not only Stone Country’s loss, but also the entire lower realm’s loss. Otherwise, he would have definitely left a great imprint in this world.”
“What a pity! A legend faded just like that. He was originally heading straight for the ninth heaven.”
News traveled everywhere, sweeping through all regions like a hurricane. Soon, the entire world learned of this, stirring up a huge earthquake.
The death of the little Stone would inevitably stir up a huge uproar. Every region was discussing this. The effects of this were tremendous.
Stone Country arranged an empty coffin, allowing everyone to come and attend the memorial service. Great sects from all different places moved out to express their good wishes. It was unknown just how many people came.
“Stone Emperor, a true hero… He was still so young, yet he fought against deities…” A few sect masters sighed.
“We won’t be able to see you enter the higher realms and contend against those exceptional talents. Your radiance has dimmed forever in the lower realm, it truly is regretful.” The higher realms’ noble ladies and geniuses came to offer their condolences as well.
“Fire Emperor has arrived!” A loud voice called out.
“Wood Emperor has arrived!” Another person reported.
This left everyone shocked. The emperor of a country normally wouldn’t easily set foot in the country of another. However, these types of figures appeared in today’s funeral, and more than just one.
Later on, everyone discovered that the masters of major powers in the eight regions arrived as well.
“Green Flood Dragon supreme expert has arrived!”
“Ocean Race’s Silver Emperor has graced us with your presence!”
“Green Vine supreme expert has arrived!”
Everyone felt fearful, shivering inwardly. Even though several great calamities had happened, there were still so many experts who managed to escape. Over ten supreme experts actually appeared today from every great region.
“Little friend was so stunning, yet he left us so early. It really makes one sigh helplessly. What a pity! I wanted to see just how far he could reach.” Another supreme expert arrived in Stone Capital.
Xiao Tian, Nine-Headed Lion, Xiao Youyu and the others were astonished. They recognized who it was. This was Western Tomb Meteor Montain’s elder, a former ‘deity’ who called himself Southern Meteor. Today, he had fallen out of the deity realm.
Too many people came today, all of them powerful individuals. It made others sigh in admiration.
There were even more creatures that came, but no one caused trouble. Let alone the fact that this was a funeral service, Stone Country’s great supreme experts were standing there, so no one dared to act rashly.
Everyone trembled inwardly in admiration. Unknowingly when, Stone Country had already become powerful enough to overlook a region. In the present age, for an inheritance to have a single supreme expert was already formidable!
In fact, most people felt respect for the little Stone, so they wouldn’t cause trouble anyway. Only specific powers needed this type of intimidation.
When Stone Country’s mourning ended and everything gradually calmed down, many days had already passed. However, there were still many people discussing this, feeling regret towards Shi Hao’s early death.
In the higher realms, there was a divine garden that was rich with spiritual essence and lush with plant life. Black demonic sunflowers radiated dark light. It wasn’t just one or two, but rather an entire expanse.
“The creatures that crossed realms all died?”
Not far away in a tall mountain, this voice sounded from a grand palace, shaking this entire divine garden. Vague multicolored mists continuously surged.
Similarly in the higher realms, there was another place where deathly energy was surging. Black mists pervaded the air. A deep and remote voice sounded within underworld earth. Only a single word was spoken.
“Trash!”
Then, powerful ripples moved through this place as if an enormous monster was turning its body. Underworld Earth paid a tremendous price, losing a void beast’s precious skeleton, yet all of their hopes and efforts came to nothing.
Inside a peaceful country, immortal mists wafted about. Immortal Palaces could be seen everywhere. The expression of a powerful individual seated within the central divine palace went cold. “How many years has it been since my Heavenly Country suffered a defeat?”
Natural Luck Academy occupied an extremely large area. The people here were all heroic individuals. Many young experts were studying here.
“Important news, shocking news. Underworld Earth, Demonic Sunflower Garden, Heavenly Country and a few other powers worked together to scheme against the lower realm, yet in the end, the creatures that went down all died.”
“Rumor has it that it was all done by a single youth. He killed all of their men.”
“Did these powers degenerate over the years? What kind of humiliation is this? However, what kind of youth is that? He is actually so powerful, killing a group of creatures that ignited their divine flames. Not simple at all.”
Life Academy. A few goddess-like girls were originally smiling and laughing, but then their expressions became serious. They also began to talk about this matter.
“It truly is astonishing. That youth was only fifteen or sixteen years old, yet he is so powerful already, killing six or seven fake deities alone. He is just too formidable.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t go to the lower realm anymore. Otherwise, wouldn’t bringing him over into our life academy be a great choice?”
“If we really did do that, those great powers would start hating us. They might even secretly take action.”
“What is there to be scared of? The higher realms isn’t some place where those fellows have the final say. There are many so many powerful individuals here. They definitely won’t act rashly.”
Nine Firmaments Divine Academy, a place situated up in the heavens. It was incomparably large. Many young individuals were discussing this here as well.
“The newest news have arrived. That youth died in battle! It is a bit of a pity… Even though he borrowed external force, having these methods is also quite astonishing.”
“Even though there are many exceptional talents who have risen to power in the higher realms and heavenly geniuses emerged in large numbers, if he came up, he might not be simple either and he might have displayed brilliance. His death was a bit too premature.”
“Communicating with the lower realm is becoming harder and harder. I feel like the two realms are going to be completely separated.”
The battle of the lower realm affected too much. Even the academies and ancient sects of the higher realms learned of this. There were a few people who began to discuss this on a smaller scale.
Communication between the two realms was becoming increasingly difficult. Going down was practically impossible. If one wanted to come up from the lower realm, there were still ancient roads and secret methods, but the difficulty had still been increased several times!
Lower realm, a few people were discussing among themselves.
“We should return. We were unable to find those great natural opportunities in the end…”
“We really should leave. Otherwise, the heavenly path will be completely broken and we will never have the chance to return.”
These higher realms’ noble women and geniuses were chatting. They were going to go on their way.
The effects of defying heaven’s will was too far reaching. It made the natural laws of the heavenly dao more strict. The connection between the two realms was going to be severed. Even if one was going from the lower realm to the higher realm, it was also becoming difficult.
Meanwhile, this was allowed in the past, as long as one took the few heavenly paths.
As for coming down from the higher realms, it had alway been restricted since the ancient times. Now, it was even more so, becoming completely cut off.
“I’ve received some secret information. Shi Hao’s bone was given away. It didn’t disappear together with him.” A noble lady said softly.
“What?” The others were astonished.
Even though this information had been kept as a secret as much as possible, after a period of time had passed, it still leaked out, circulating within a small group. It left quite a few people stunned.
“Immortal Mountain’s Qin Hao… he successfully transplanted the supreme being bone?” Bi Gu was shocked.
“Correct, and extremely successfully at that without any complications. His vitality is abundant right now, and his body is terrifyingly powerful!” Hong Huang replied with absolute certainty.
“Too shocking. This should already be three month old information, right? Only now did it leak out.” Shui Yue said softly.
“A single person with two unrivaled precious bones, is he trying to defy the heavens?!” Xuan Ming cried out in alarm, finding this a bit hard to believe.
“He could unexpectedly have two pieces of true bone, just how powerful would he become?! He would most likely be unrivaled among his peers even in the higher realms, right? He should be able to rank in the top ten now!” Even the normally composed Lan Yu sighed and said.
Everyone nodded. There were indeed a few heaven defying characters in the higher realms who possessed unbelievably great natural opportunities, for example, the one from Immortal Palace. For geniuses around the same age, he was simply an insurmountable mountain!
In addition, it was rumored that there were still a few mysterious geniuses who weren’t inferior to Immortal Palace’s individual at all. For those of similar ages, they were inconceivably powerful and terrifying.
The main thing was that the higher realms were too large. Who knew how many people were being overlooked?!
“I originally thought highly of Shi Hao, but now it looks like this younger brother of his is more powerful! Having two supreme being bones, his prospects are limitless!”
Everyone discussed this among themselves.
“Let’s pay him a visit. Perhaps we can return to the higher realms together. I presume that he won’t wish to remain here either with the heavenly paths about to be cut off.”
“Let’s go!”
News of Qin Hao successfully inheriting the bone circulated on a small scale, startling everyone. Many people were shocked and fearful. Just how powerful of a figure would he become? He was truly going to defy the heavens in the future.
The noble ladies and geniuses of the higher realms paid Immortal Mountain a visit. Both sides exchanged joyous chatter. They indirectly verified this information, creating quite a commotion.
“Our imperial palace has become cold and cheerless. Those people had come to rope in Stone Emperor before too.” The Ming King said softly. Ever since Shi Hao died, those noble ladies and geniuses only came once. They never appeared here again.
“This is but normal. His Majesty has already fallen, so Qin Hao will definitely rise to greatness. With two supreme being bones, he can overlook an area even in the higher realms. He is worth roping in.” Peng Nine sighed and said.
Stone Village. The villagers naturally had lives to live. Only, when they thought of Shi Hao, they would always feel especially sad.
More than three months had already passed. The parts around Shi Hao’s tomb had already grown tall. Several days ago, the villagers had burned many papers there, because a hundred days had just passed.
“This hill seems to have a bit more spiritual essence. Could it be because little Hao is buried here?” Shi Linhu was a bit surprised.
“I truly wish for this child to continue living…” Shi Feijiao sighed, feeling deeply emotional.
During this period of time, villagers would come here from time to time. In the end, they all shook their heads before descending the hill.