The Flood-Dragon King saw that Quinn was also dropping to the ground and playing dead, and was at a loss. He was a god, the dignified Flood-Dragon King, a noble dragon deity—how could he shamelessly play dead like Quinn and Lina the Spirit Fox?
Thud.
The Flood-Dragon King collapsed, limbs twisted, his death pose far more tragic than Quinn's—clearly, this wasn't his first time playing dead.
That enormous face leaned down. The stone statue seemed to have poor eyesight; its gigantic face nearly brushed against their bodies as it swept past. Everyone held their breath, motionless.
"Eee—shoo—"
The stone statue let out a long, droning sound, then slowly straightened and walked off into the darkness. The thudding footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
"That statue seemed to be searching for something."
Quinn leapt to his feet, pondering, "Where did they come from? The Great Ruins? Or some other world? What are they searching for?"
Lina the Spirit Fox and the flood-dragons scrambled up; the Flood-Dragon King dusted himself off. Lina praised, "Flood-Dragon King, you were the most convincing among us! You must have practiced a lot! If you have time, you really must teach me!"
The Flood-Dragon King blushed and stammered, "I haven't! Don't make things up! Playing dead is all about talent..."
Quinn walked ahead, saying, "Let's keep searching. Be careful, everyone—we don't know if there are more statues around! Flood-Dragon King, what do you make of that statue just now?"
The Flood-Dragon King pondered for a moment and said, "That statue most likely isn't from the Great Ruins."
Quinn was slightly startled. "Not from the Great Ruins? Why do you say that?"
"The statues in the Great Ruins have been battered by wind and rain, weathered by frost—they all look ancient. But this statue is pristine, almost as if it only just turned to stone."
The Flood-Dragon King wasn't entirely certain, though. "Still, the Great Ruins has the most statues, and they're the strangest. Maybe this one did come from there, just hidden away in some sealed space, so it doesn't look old."
Quinn mused, "Could it be that many statues were buried beneath the Godsever Mountains, and when the mountains were destroyed, they broke through the earth?"
"It's possible."
The Flood-Dragon King said, "Master, the Dragon-Keeper Lord once said the origin of the Godsever Mountains was always suspicious. This range blocks the Great Ruins, separating it from Everpeace. Inside the Great Ruins is chaos, but outside is peaceful. There must be something wrong with the Godsever Mountains."
They ventured deeper into this uncanny land; the gray fog grew thicker, the darkness heavier, and the air was stifling enough to drive one mad. Every so often, the rumbling of the Quake Cauldron echoed from afar, one tremor after another.
Quinn followed the tremors forward, and before long they encountered a second statue. This divine figure was also searching through the darkness and fog, seemingly looking for something.
"The Flood-Dragon King's words make some sense."
Quinn avoided the stone statue, thinking to himself, "Most of these statues probably come from beneath the Godsever Mountains!"
A whole mountain range blocks out the strangeness of the Great Ruins—which is itself very strange. What did the Godsever Mountains use to keep out the darkness of the Ruins?
This time, the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor used the Quake Cauldron to collapse the Godsever Mountains, causing the darkness of the Great Ruins to invade over a hundred li. From this, it's clear the mountains really did serve to block the darkness.
The range should have appeared after the fall of the Pioneer Realm, when it turned into the Great Ruins. Quinn had heard someone say that a god once created the Godsever Mountains here to separate the Ruins from Everpeace, so that people inside the Ruins couldn't escape. When building the mountains, they reached Sumeru Mountain, but had to detour around it because Great Thunderclap Temple was occupied.
Maybe, when building the range, that god buried many statues inside the mountains.
"Young master, could this statue be the same kind as those that emerged from Everpeace?" Lina the Spirit Fox asked.
Quinn was slightly taken aback. Lina continued, "Maybe there were divine statues near the Godsever Mountains, and since so many High Heaven gods and other powerhouses died here in battle, the statues used them as blood sacrifices and came alive. But if the sacrifices weren't enough, they couldn't fully revive—just barely manage to walk."
"That's possible too."
Quinn wondered aloud, "If that's the case, then what are the statues searching for?"
"Of course, they're searching for the Quake Cauldron that collapsed the Godsever Mountains!"
Lina answered matter-of-factly, "The Quake Cauldron is their weapon. They need to find it and unleash all the seismic force inside to destroy the world. The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor collapsed the Godsever Mountains, but surely didn't release all the cauldron's power."
"You're clever, Lina!" Quinn praised.
The little fox was puffed up with pride.
"But if the statues can walk, why aren't they searching for other Celestial Phenomenon Weapons?"
Quinn shook his head. "Finding other Celestial Phenomenon Weapons should be even easier for the statues. Besides, the earth here keeps shaking, which means the Quake Cauldron is still erupting with power. It shouldn't be hard for them to track it by following the tremors. So, your guess is probably wrong—the Flood-Dragon King's theory makes more sense."
Lina's smugness vanished instantly.
Suddenly, Quinn stopped in his tracks and dropped down to play dead again. Heavy footsteps sounded from ahead—a towering stone statue was coming toward them. Quinn cracked his eyes open just a sliver and saw that this statue's back was bristling with banners, all petrified, but each flag bore a huge, eerie eye.
Wisps of black qi flew over, swiftly merging into the banners on the statue's back. Quinn watched as one flag's eye gradually changed from stone, then transformed into bloody flesh. The pupil and sclera slowly became a real, living eyeball.
The eye rolled once inside the banner, its movement murky and weak—the energy wasn't enough to fully free it from petrification.
"A demon eye! The statue is a demon!"
Quinn felt his scalp tingle and nearly jumped up. If these are demons, then these statues absolutely can't be the ones buried beneath the Godsever Mountains. In the darkness of the Great Ruins, it's the demon race and their monsters that run rampant. They aren't afraid of the strange things lurking in the dark—because they are the strange things!
Quinn had even encountered a demon god in the darkness once. That demon god tried to lure him over, making him mistake the outskirts of Nether City for Carefree Haven. Village Chief had also crossed swords with that demon god before!
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"No, wait, if these statues are demon gods, why would they turn into stone? Every demon god I've met before was lively and bursting with energy!"
A flood of thoughts raced through his mind, and suddenly he realized another possibility: these statues don't belong to the same world as the Great Ruins or Everpeace. They're not demon gods from the Ruins, but from somewhere else entirely. To cross over into this world, they have to petrify their bodies—their full power can't come through!
"What is going on with this place, anyway?"
Quinn's mind was a haze. In the Great Ruins' night, he'd already seen three or five different worlds overlapping, and now, with the collapse of the Godsever Mountains, a new world was invading!
"Is another world about to overlap with the Everpeace Empire? Why is something so impossible happening?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the demon eye on the banner rolled, scanning the surroundings. Suddenly, its gaze landed on their "dead" bodies lying on the ground, and a mocking look appeared in its eye.
Quinn's heart froze.
The banner suddenly dropped from behind the statue and planted itself in front of them. Quinn abandoned the act and leapt to his feet, shouting, "Flood-Dragon King!"
The Flood-Dragon King instantly reverted to his true form. Quinn scooped up Lina the Spirit Fox and vaulted onto the dragon's back. The Dragon-Qilin and other flood-dragons scrambled up, and the Flood-Dragon King charged forward with a roar!
Behind them, the statue turned and swept down with a massive hand, moving at terrifying speed!
The Flood-Dragon King roared, unleashing his vital qi in a tidal wave that transformed into the Yangtze River, racing up the statue's arm, trying to twist and tear it apart.
But the statue simply bent and straightened its arm once, and with that single motion, shattered the Flood-Dragon King's divine art to pieces.
The Flood-Dragon King was horrified and cried out, "Master, that's a true god!"
"No, a true demon!" Quinn corrected him.
The statue's footsteps thundered as it closed the distance in just a few strides, its other massive hand sweeping down. The Flood-Dragon King dodged frantically, while the banner floated in the air and slammed down again with a thud, the demon eye still locked on them.
Once the Flood-Dragon King had fled a certain distance, the petrified banner flew up again and planted itself not far ahead, bouncing along like a leaping flag.
"The statue sees through that eye! If we destroy it, it won't be able to see us!"
Quinn instantly understood. He pulled the Solar Jade Eye from his Glutton Dragon Pouch, set it on the dragon's back, and activated it without hesitation.
Vmmm—
A beam of solar divine light ripped through the darkness and fog, striking the demon eye on the banner. Instantly, a ray of black light shot out from the demon eye, blocking the solar beam.
With his other hand, Quinn grabbed the Lunar Jade Eye, adjusted its aim, and fired—a thin blade of light shot out, freezing the very air it passed through!
Yin and yang—the twin beams tore through the demon eye's black light, smashing the eye to pieces and leaving only a hole in the center of the petrified banner!
"Using the Lunar and Solar Jade Eyes together seems to make them even stronger!"
Quinn suppressed his surprise and looked up. With the demon eye gone, the statue suddenly froze, tilting its head as if listening for something.
"Don't move," Quinn whispered.
The Flood-Dragon King halted immediately. Quinn quietly added, "Slowly. Don't rush..."
The Flood-Dragon King crept forward, terrified of making any sound. Quinn kept his eyes locked on the statue, which seemed to be searching blindly—hammering here, kicking there—but still hadn't noticed them.
Suddenly, the Flood-Dragon King froze and said in a trembling voice, "Master..."
"Just keep moving!" Quinn said without turning his head.
"Master, look ahead!" the Flood-Dragon King rasped.
Lina the Spirit Fox also whispered, "Young master, look ahead..."
"Ahead?"
Quinn hesitated, turned, and was struck dumb, unable to recover for a long moment. Behind them, the statue hammered wildly, shattering heaven and earth as it drew closer.
But Quinn seemed oblivious. After a long while, he murmured, "Imperial Preceptor, what on earth have you done..."