Silence permeated between the dark red sky and earth, and not a trace of life could be sensed. It was as if the land were dead, and the deathly silence seemed as if it had begun eons ago and continued to this day.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind rushing across the deathly silent world, and there were two streams of light in the distant sky. At last, they flew across the sky in the blink of an eye.
With the emergence of those two streams of light, the dead silence between the heavens and the earth was finally broken, and fluctuations emerged in the depressing atmosphere.
These two streams of light, naturally, were Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli, who had intruded into the place. The two had decided to form a temporary alliance.
After all, in this strange land, both of them were on guard and fearful. If they could work together, they were more likely to succeed.
However, there was not much conversation as they rushed in. Mu Chen did not take the initiative to chat, but instead remained behind Zhantai Liuli, allowing her to lead the way. Apparently, even though the two had chosen to cooperate, he was still cautious and did not trust Zhantai Liuli wholeheartedly.
The two of them hurried along in silence for about ten minutes or so. As Zhantai Liuli gradually slowed down, her beautiful face became more and more solemn.
Feeling her slow down, Mu Chen's eyes looked far into the distance, and then his expression was slightly shocked. In the distance, the originally dark red world was gradually darkening even more. The dark area looked as if it were a bottomless prison.
In the black hole-like space, a stone pedestal could be seen. On that stone pedestal, there seemed to be a vague figure. A strong sense of oppressive aura emanated from that figure and gradually filled the whole space.
Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli stopped at the same time, not going in, but instead gazing into the dark area and at the vague figure on the stone pedestal.
"I have been waiting for thousands of years, and finally, the next generation has come…."
A hoarse and ancient voice came from the dark area. The darkness there was fluctuating slightly, and the blurry figure above the stone pedestal also raised his head slowly.
It was a sallow and weathered face, the traces of time apparent on his features. His eyes were hollow but they seemed to shine when he saw Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli.
"I am the Sky Array Emperor. Both of you could break through the Spiritual Four Battle Array I have left behind, so you must have potential for controlling fighting intent. My willpower is dissipating soon, but my inheritance will be left to those who are destined for it…" the blurry figure said in a hoarse voice. His strength seemed to be fading, and then he waved weakly and said, "Come forward, the both of you..."
When they heard this, Mu Chen's and Zhantai Liuli's gazes flickered, but surprisingly, neither of them moved. They just stared at the Sky Array Emperor.
Seeing how the two remained unmoving and did not show any overwhelming joy in receiving the inheritance, his stiff face seemed to pause, but he did not say anything more. He leaned slowly against the stone pedestal, and his body grew weaker and weaker, as if his thoughts were about to fade away.
However, Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli stayed rooted to their spots.
The figure was silent, and the world became silent again, a strange stiff atmosphere enveloped the area…
The dead silence dragged on for ten minutes… Twenty minutes…
Zhantai Liuli narrowed her eyes and frowned. She looked at Mu Chen, but the latter gently shook his head imperceptibly, so she could only endure the anxiety in her heart.
As time began to pass again, the figure on the stone pedestal, which had his eyes closed feebly, opened his hollow eyes violently. The evil light in his eyes instantaneously burst out, and an unsettling malice twisted his features as he glared at the two viciously. His sharp voice was full of fury, "You two little brats are patient indeed!"
Hearing his voice, Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli heaved a sigh of relief. The former smiled and said, "You were really boring, even playing this kind of trick."
"Pchh."
Upon hearing this, Zhantai Liuli couldn't help but to giggle softly. Her beautiful eyes glanced across at Mu Chen. The evil spirit who was capable enough to invade the Sky Array Emperor's body was akin to a mere child who was throwing tantrums, in Mu Chen's estimation.
The "Sky Array Emperor" glared at Mu Chen maliciously. His stiff, skull-like face twitched as he said chillingly, "Even ants are superior to a Fourth Grade Sovereign brat like you. How dare you act so presumptuously in front of me!"
Mu Chen remained calm and said, "If you had the ability to do so, you'd have gotten rid of me already, so why would you still waste time spouting nonsense with me?"
The "Sky Array Emperor" glared eerily at Mu Chen and then he sneered. "There's a cautious fellow here, but if you want to delay it, feel free to waste time. I've survived for thousands of years, why would I still care about time? If you want to obtain that guy's inheritance, I'm afraid you are delusional. You'll have to get rid of me first."
Mu Chen paid no attention to him, but looked at Zhantai Liuli and asked, "Where are the battle arrays left by the Sky Array Emperor that you mentioned?"
The "Sky Array Emperor" was apparently taken over by evil spirits, and although Mu Chen was not sure how much power he had left behind, he would never easily enter the dark area.
Thus, the only way to get rid of this fellow was to rely on the battle array left behind by the Sky Array Emperor.
Zhantai Liuli surveyed the environment but a moment later, she knitted her brows in a frown because she could not find even half a trace of a battle array.
"Was the battle array destroyed by him?" Zhantai Liuli frowned, but quickly dismissed the idea. If the battle array had been destroyed, the evil spirit would not have used such deception at all but would have directly obliterated them.
Zhantai Liuli's gaze flickered. A moment later, she suddenly looked at the dark area. With a wave of her hand, immediately spiritual energy conjured a gust of wind that swept across, only to see that beneath the dark area, a black gas was blown away…
With the black gas dispersing, the scene below was also clearly revealed to Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli. Immediately, the two's gazes were focused.
Beneath the dark area, there was an army of about 10,000 troops. However, the army seemed to have been transformed into statues. Their motionless bodies were covered with black patches but they emanated a murderous aura. Even after thousands of years, it still existed.
"What a strong army!" Zhantai Liuli praised gently.
"They are not stone statues." He noticed that although the army had a stone-like appearance, their expressions were not devoid of emotion.
"This army was probably the most powerful guard army under the Sky Array Emperor's command. After he was invaded by evil spirits, this guard army petrified themselves and transformed into stone statues, forming a battle array, trying to kill the evil spirits in the body."
Zhantai Liuli sighed. "We are lucky that this guard army was not in the previous battle of the Spiritual Four Battle Array, otherwise, even if the battle array had been weakened over the years, it would not be something we could break through."
Mu Chen nodded and looked carefully at the "Stone Army." His gaze suddenly flickered as he saw that there seemed to be tens of thousands of gray light rays shining from the crowns of the Stone Army. The gray light rays passed through the dark area and seemed to converge under the stone pedestal where the "Sky Array Emperor" was.
It seemed that it was because of the gray light that the "Sky Array Emperor" could not leave the dark area.
In that dark area, the "Sky Array Emperor" saw that Zhantai Liuli had discovered the hidden Stone Army. His stiff face twisted, and his evil-spirited eyes began to turn vicious.
"Just you two brats can also activate the battle array that guy left behind?!" The "Sky Array Emperor" sneered, his voice full of sarcasm. With Mu Chen and Zhantai Liuli's strength, if he were in his heyday, he would have obliterated them with one breath, thus he belittled them completely.
"Miss Zhantai, I'm afraid I'll have to depend on you from now on." Mu Chen looked at Zhantai Liuli and smiled.
Zhantai Liuli nodded gently, clenching her fists. A flash of light emerged, and a rough stone seal appeared in her hand. The stone seal was only palm sized, but its surface had strange patterns. Mu Chen was familiar with these patterns, as they were battle symbols…
Mu Chen also found that when Zhantai Liuli took out this stone seal, the dark area beneath the Stone Army seemed to have emitted a sound of vibration.
"Lord Mu, this stone seal can activate this Stone Army, but to activate this stone seal would require a considerable amount of spiritual energy, which I may not be able to do alone, so I hope Lord Mu can help in this, too." Zhantai Liuli smiled.
Mu Chen took a deep look at Zhantai Liuli. The woman was also cautious as she was apparently worried that she would not be able to compete with him after she had expended her spiritual energy, which was why she planned for them to do this together.
However, Mu Chen did not object to this, as the most important thing was to get rid of the "Sky Array Emperor," thus he nodded and held out his hand.
The stone seal was suspended between their palms, and in the next instant, immense power poured out of their palms, quickly merging and fusing with the ancient stone seal.
Buzz.
And as the two streams of spiritual energy poured in, the stone seal buzzed and vibrated, and the dim battle symbols gradually became brighter.
Moreover, when the stone seal became bright, the Stone Army beneath the dark area, whose eyes had been closed for thousands of years, awakened little by little!
Atop the stone pedestal, the "Sky Array Emperor's" expression twisted violently!