Chapter Forty-Seven: The Stone Giant and the Underground Palace

[Classic of Mountains and Seas: On the Spirits of the Mountains]: The earth, in its profound virtue, nurtures all living beings. The mountains are the bones of the land, carrying the mysteries of creation and harboring wonders untold. Within the mountains, stone forms the foundation. Some stones are nourished by the earth’s veins, some are bathed in the celestial essence of stars, some absorb the vital energy of sun and moon, others draw upon the power of demons, or are touched by marvelous fortune. Such stones may awaken to spiritual life, becoming stone men, mountain monsters, jade spirits, demonic puppets, holy spirits, or even the embryos of immortals.

…

Deep within the cave.

“You damned insects—why do you always disturb my sleep!”

A cavernous, guttural voice thundered, brimful with wrath.

The earth quaked, the rocks split apart. The violent tremors caused weakened sections to collapse outright, rumbling with a deafening roar.

Yang Fan’s face changed.

At the deepest part of the cave, a pair of enormous hands tore the stone asunder, and a gigantic head thrust out from within.

It seemed carved of stone.

There was no mistaking it—this being was terrifying.

Yang Fan hastened to activate his Concealment Art, striving to hide himself as much as possible, but above his head came the sound of fracturing rock.

Crack—

Chunks of stone tumbled down, and his expression shifted. He darted away at once.

A moment later, the place he had just occupied was buried beneath rubble.

Yang Dasen was entombed inside.

Perhaps, for him, this was the best possible grave.

Yang Fan gave it little thought, his face only growing grimmer.

“A cave with no structural support—should an accident occur…”

He meant to ascend, but abruptly his face went pale; the rocks above had collapsed, blocking off the way he had come.

Large boulders continued to tumble down.

Damn it!

Yang Fan couldn’t help but curse.

With his earth sense, he discovered that most of the cave was collapsing, the passage he’d used now completely buried, and the destruction was spreading rapidly toward him.

He considered using his Stone Fracture Art to open a crevice and hide inside, but quickly dismissed the idea; the rock walls were splitting, and hiding within would only risk being buried alive.

What about beneath his feet?

Even less feasible.

The shockwaves from the collapse would almost certainly kill him, and if he were buried, even with all his mystical arts, hope of escape would be slim.

Yang Fan glanced toward the cave’s deepest recesses. Beside the enormous head was a vast fissure, spacious and empty within.

The fact that the giant had emerged from below said it all.

Gritting his teeth, Yang Fan charged forward.

The titanic head saw him, and its vast mouth split in a sinister grin. “Heh heh, you little worm, how considerate of you—knowing your god was hungry, you’ve delivered yourself to me.”

The gaping maw was over a meter high, waiting to swallow Yang Fan whole.

“Intimidate!”

Yang Fan felt an overwhelming surge of oppressive force.

It was the aura the giant naturally released.

Without hesitation, he unleashed his mystical power.

Buzz—

The giant shuddered; his eyes clouded with confusion, then filled with terror, as though beholding a supreme deity, trembling uncontrollably.

“Stone Fracture!”

The Dragon-Scale Blade flashed from its sheath, slicing directly at the giant’s head.

By preliminary judgment, this creature was a Stone Man.

Or rather, a rock giant.

Whether head or body, its structure was not of flesh and blood, but wholly stone.

Unbelievable as it seemed.

Since witnessing the case of Master Shanfo, Yang Fan’s mind had become unshackled; after encountering a stone giant, even a vengeful ghost would not surprise him.

Against a stone giant, the Stone Fracture Art was the ideal weapon.

Slash—

The blade split the head, but only penetrated a third of the way before becoming lodged.

Yang Fan hurriedly pulled the weapon free.

“What… what are you?” the rock giant recovered, suspicion and uncertainty flickering in his eyes, his bluster masking a deep unease.

Boom!

Rocks tumbled down behind them.

Above, the ceiling continued to crack.

Yang Fan’s heart sank.

Ordinarily, either his Intimidate or Stone Fracture arts should have been the perfect counters to a stone giant.

Yet he had failed even to seriously wound it.

How was he supposed to win?

“I am a god—a mountain god! You little pebble, how dare you offend me? Your crime is unforgivable; you shall be cast into eternal damnation!” Yang Fan bluffed.

Yet he knew time was short. He unleashed Intimidate once more, plunging the giant into renewed terror.

This was genuine fear.

Yang Fan leapt for the crevice beside the giant’s head and plunged down into the darkness.

The surrounding stone walls bore many small pits and hollows, likely left by the giant’s climbing.

Glancing around, Yang Fan drove his Dragon-Scale Blade into the rock face, using it to slow his descent.

The drop was a hundred meters at least.

Once he landed, he looked up—and his pupils shrank. At once, he activated his Swift Movement Art and shot forward.

Boom—

The stone giant plummeted down, smashing a deep pit into the ground, dust billowing everywhere. Stones rained from above, filling the space with thunderous noise.

Yang Fan retreated again and again, putting a hundred meters between himself and the giant.

Only then did he truly take stock of this subterranean space.

It was vast—enormous, in fact.

And eerily empty.

The domed ceiling soared a hundred meters overhead.

All around, the space was strewn with jagged stones and countless pillars.

To the north stood the ruins of a palace, tilted and suffused with a presence that made even Yang Fan’s heart race.

His earth sense was disrupted here, and yet, even so, he sensed a multitude of spiritual presences, leaving him both shocked and delighted.

Ahead lay a shattered plaza.

There, another giant—far larger—lay sprawled, at least fifty meters long by rough estimate, lifeless.

Beyond that was a field of broken stones. In the middle, a small river meandered—not wide, but filled with darting fish, lively and free.

“An underground river—good!”

Yang Fan breathed a sigh of relief.

If he followed the water’s path, eventually he’d find a way out.

He looked up at the spot where the stone giant had come down; it was now sealed with debris. Using his earth sense, he confirmed the way was completely buried.

His escape route was gone.

At that moment, the stone giant lumbered toward him, eyes as large as bowls fixed unblinkingly on Yang Fan, his voice booming: “Who are you? How can you unleash an aura that makes my heart tremble?”

The wound on his forehead had already healed.

“I told you—I am the mountain god!” Yang Fan leaped onto a stone pillar, looking down at the giant with imperious pride.

“Bah! You little insect—crush you up and you wouldn’t even fill the gap between my teeth, yet you dare call yourself a mountain god? Where did you get such gall?” the giant roared in fury.

“Intimidate!”

Without hesitation, Yang Fan unleashed his power again.

Invisible force swept over the stone giant, who quaked violently, unable to suppress his terror, nearly falling to his knees in worship.

The look he gave Yang Fan was one of terror and disbelief.

“Do you believe me now?” asked Yang Fan.

“Believe you? You’re just a feeble human, like the ones in the legends!” The giant forced down his fear, bellowing as he seized a nearby pillar and hurled it at Yang Fan.

Yang Fan dodged aside.

Watching the giant, he couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

This stone giant was truly formidable, but it was clear he feared Yang Fan’s powers.

Yang Fan retreated further, arriving at the stream beneath the stone wall. He used his earth sense to probe, but the results were disheartening.

The underground river extended only a dozen meters before narrowing so much that a person could not pass through.

Though, a hundred meters farther, it widened again.

“Nearly a hundred meters…”

Yang Fan’s scalp tingled.

Suddenly, the whistling of wind signaled another attack—the stone giant, in pursuit, was hurling pillars once more.

Yang Fan dodged.

But the stone wall behind him was smashed and fractured.

He pressed on quickly, soon reaching the other side of the underground stream.

This passage, too, filled him with despair.

Barely thirty meters in, it became impossibly narrow.

Even at the limits of his earth sense, it never widened.

“This is real trouble now,” Yang Fan thought, mood plummeting.

Yet the stone giant kept up its relentless assault.

It remained cautious, never closing the distance, but hurled stones from afar. Each one struck with the force of artillery shells; a single hit would reduce him to pulp.

“I have to deal with this brute first. If not, I’ll be crushed to death before I can escape!”

Yang Fan turned to face the stone giant, gritting his teeth as he advanced, mind racing.

The creature scorned humans, yet spoke of legendary humans—contradictory indeed.

It was rather simple-minded.

And wary, even fearful, of Yang Fan.

So—!

“Wretched beast, though I am weakened by calamity, my power but a billionth of what it was a million years ago, I am not someone a lowly creature like you can profane! You seek death? Then I shall grant it—scatter your soul, consign you to eternal oblivion!” Yang Fan thundered.