The Statue

Luo Feng, clad in silver combat armor, his eyes sharp as lightning, gazed up at the colossal Beast God statue before him. As he observed this giant statue, the Jinjiao Behemoth within his inner world meticulously studied the small Beast God statue, comparing the two.

“Hmm?”

Luo Feng circled the giant Beast God statue, moving like a phantom, covering thousands of kilometers in a single stride.

“Your Highness?” Dilun asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“Dilun, what is His Highness Luo Feng doing?” Sifanqi also wondered. “Is he trying to examine every detail of the giant Beast God statue? Countless members of our clan have done this throughout history, and none have ever discovered anything special.”

“I don’t know either,” Dilun replied, shaking his head.

As they spoke, Luo Feng suddenly shot upwards, flying thousands of kilometers above the Beast God statue. From this height, he looked down, scrutinizing the statue’s back, neck, head, and other parts.

A moment later.

Luo Feng had thoroughly examined the entire giant Beast God statue.

“Phew.”

Luo Feng’s gaze finally shifted from the giant Beast God statue, sweeping down to the bottom of the Beast God Canyon. Looking across the vast valley floor, tens of thousands of kilometers wide and millions of kilometers long, he saw that apart from a few palace structures, the ground was dotted with Golden Horn Clan cultivators meditating cross-legged.

Hundreds of millions of cultivators, almost all seated in silent meditation, created an invisible aura that was no less imposing than that of the giant Beast God statue.

“Hundreds of millions of cultivators, and powerful beings throughout history, have pondered this giant Beast God statue, hoping to become a great existence like Xiluoduo.” Luo Feng shook his head, then plummeted downwards like a meteor. Just before reaching the valley floor, his speed abruptly decreased, and his silver metal combat boots gently touched the ground.

“Your Highness,” Dilun and Sifanqi immediately came forward.

“I need to think,” Luo Feng said, then sat cross-legged on the rocky ground, his armor causing the earth to crack.

Dilun and Sifanqi stood by Luo Feng’s side, silently protecting him.

...

“So this is it. The difference between this giant Beast God statue and the small Beast God statue I obtained in the Xueluo Continent is truly immense.” Luo Feng recalled the results of his comparison, a hint of shock in his voice. “Similarities: First, the body proportions are identical; they are definitely the same subject. Second, the number of scales is the same, both having 90,729 scales.”

“Differences: First, the scale patterns are different. Second, this giant Beast God statue lacks that ‘divine charm,’ that artistic conception.”

Luo Feng frowned in thought.

The two statues differed greatly in size; one was tens of thousands of kilometers long, while the small Beast God statue was only about 30 centimeters tall and 1 meter long. Yet, despite their size disparity, their body proportions were identical, and regardless of their posture, the number of scales on their bodies was exactly the same.

Even on the giant Beast God statue, which lay curled up in slumber, the scales on its belly and its curled, pressed hooves—though invisible to the naked eye—were still present, as Luo Feng discovered by sweeping a trace of his Earth human body’s telekinetic power over them. It wasn't as if the scales disappeared where the body parts connected; they were still there.

It was as if a living, ancient beast had fallen asleep there and turned into a statue.

“How strange.”

“The number of scales is the same, both 90,729. However, the scale patterns are different. It feels to me like… the scales on the small Beast God statue are more regular and possess a divine charm, while the scales on this giant Beast God statue lack any discernible pattern. Yet, this giant statue can still exude such terrifying pressure.”

“What exactly is going on?”

Luo Feng pondered deeply.

...

Since Xiluoduo left this Beast God statue among the Golden Horn Clan, countless powerful beings have come to study and observe it over the long ages. Even among humans, some mighty existences, such as Cosmic Venerables and Cosmic Overlords, have come to contemplate it, yet no one has ever truly understood this giant Beast God statue.

Perhaps some have understood it but kept it a secret.

But at least, there has been no public record of anyone comprehending this giant Beast God statue.

So many peerless beings failed to understand it; for Luo Feng, a mere Domain Lord who had just entered the level, with only a few fortuitous encounters, to hope to understand it… was undoubtedly a fool’s dream.

...

Luo Feng sat there in contemplation for over three months.

Dilun, Sifanqi, Kashina, and the five human Domain Lords dutifully guarded him. Elder Kebu had already bid farewell to Luo Feng upon arriving at the Beast God Canyon, going to meet his friends there.

Dilun and the five Domain Lords weren’t bored; it was their first time seeing the giant Beast God statue, and they, too, diligently pondered it.

They also dreamed…

Perhaps they could comprehend this giant Beast God statue, and thus ascend to greatness in a single step.

Sifanqi and his disciple Kashina, however, were quite bored, as they had already tried and failed.

“Phew.”

Luo Feng let out a long breath.

“Your Highness?” Dilun and Sifanqi immediately looked over.

“Nothing,” Luo Feng said with a smile, shaking his head, then closed his eyes again, most of his consciousness entering his inner world.

...

Within his inner world, vast and boundless.

A Yunmo Star ship was parked on a grassland. Now that he had an inner world, the Yunmo Star ship no longer needed to be stored in Babata’s spatial ring.

“Babata, project the giant Beast God statue from the photos I recorded earlier,” Black-Clad Luo Feng commanded, standing beside the Yunmo Star ship.

“Understood.”

The Yunmo Star ship immediately emitted a hazy light, which formed an incredibly colossal projection of a sleeping Beast God statue, tens of thousands of kilometers long, identical in appearance to the giant Beast God statue outside. Even as a projected statue, an invisible pressure subtly emanated from it.

It was just not as strong and obvious as the actual giant Beast God statue.

“I’m certain,” Black-Clad Demon Killer Luo Feng stared at the massive statue projection, his eyes gleaming. “The problem must be with the scales!”

“The giant Beast God statue and the small Beast God statue both have an uncanny 90,729 scales. A carving tens of thousands of kilometers long and one merely a meter long have the same number of scales. I estimate that if the scale count were incorrect, this pressure wouldn’t exist.” After this thought, Luo Feng immediately ordered, “Babata, modify this statue projection. Divide one of the large scales into two smaller ones.”

“Yes.”

Babata responded.

On the giant statue projection in the sky, one of the scales subtly shifted, dividing into two smaller ones.

Boom!

The pressure dissipated. The projection, which had been unsettling, instantly became an ordinary statue projection with no pressure whatsoever.

“Indeed!” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.

“Restore it to its original appearance, and simultaneously change the texture of one scale,” Luo Feng commanded again.

After restoration, a faint pressure reappeared.

As soon as the texture was slightly altered, the pressure vanished, becoming ordinary.

...

Luo Feng became increasingly convinced that the key lay in the 90,729 scales on the statue.

Black-Clad Demon Killer Luo Feng waved his hand, and a small Beast God statue appeared. This small Beast God statue stood on all fours, its single horn proudly piercing the sky. A domineering pressure subtly emanated from it, along with a unique divine charm… as if Luo Feng was seeing the living ancient beast with his own eyes.

“Babata, project and enlarge this small Beast God statue to tens of thousands of kilometers,” Black-Clad Luo Feng ordered.

“Yes.”

Immediately, two incredibly colossal Beast God statue projections appeared in the sky: one in a state of slumber, the other standing on all fours, head held high, exuding domineering killing intent.

“Both have pressure.”

Black-Clad Luo Feng frowned, stroking his chin, muttering, “The sleeping Beast God statue’s pressure is stronger, while the standing Beast God statue’s pressure is weaker. No… that’s not right. It should be said that the standing Beast God statue has ‘spirit,’ an independent divine charm, its spirit gathered and pressure contained. The giant Beast God statue, however, completely lacks that spirit and unique artistic conception. Seeing the sleeping Beast God statue doesn’t give the feeling of a living Beast God. Without spirit, the pressure scatters, which makes it seem stronger.”

Anyone who wasn’t foolish

could clearly feel… that the standing Beast God statue was clearly more vivid, exactly like a living Beast God.

One felt like a living creature.

One felt like an inanimate object.

The difference was immense.

“The scale patterns are also different,” Black-Clad Luo Feng thought to himself. “Let’s try it.”

Boom! A black phantom flew from a distance, then landed on the vast grassland, its impact causing some of the ground to sink. It was an incredibly massive beast, like a mountain—the Jinjiao Behemoth.

“The Jinjiao Behemoth is best suited to study the Beast God statue,” Black-Clad Luo Feng muttered. “Let the Jinjiao Behemoth try to carve the Beast God statue.”

Yes, carve!

To personally imitate and carve it once, to experience the difference in the scale patterns—this was the method Luo Feng had conceived.

“First, carve the sleeping Beast God statue.” With a thought from Black-Clad Luo Feng, a massive amount of world power gathered on the grassland, creating a mountain range over tens of thousands of kilometers long out of thin air. This mountain was purely for carving. Simultaneously, world power also generated tens of thousands of carving knives of different specifications, the largest hundreds of kilometers long, the smallest smaller than an ant.

...

The Jinjiao Behemoth stood on the vast grassland, its scaled wings gently flapping. It flew around the mountain range, which was over tens of thousands of kilometers long, simultaneously controlling the tens of thousands of carving knives with its telekinetic power, and began rapidly carving the mountain.

With Domain Lord level control over power, using telekinetic power, even precision down to a millimeter, a micrometer, or even a nanometer, would be flawless!

“Success.”

A moment later, a colossal rock statue of the sleeping Beast God was carved, lifelike.

“That was truly difficult. Every pattern change was so complex. But it’s strange, why is there no pressure at all?” The Jinjiao Behemoth, in mid-air, had a hint of confusion in its eyes. “Never mind, I’ll try to imitate and carve the small Beast God statue next.”

...

Another mountain, tens of thousands of kilometers long, appeared on the grassland. The Jinjiao Behemoth once again controlled the tens of thousands of carving knives of different specifications and began carving.

The general shape of the Beast God statue was easy to carve; the scale patterns were the most complex.

“Woo!”

After carving just twelve scales, the Jinjiao Behemoth let out a painful roar. Its massive head swayed, and it endured the pain to continue trying to carve the patterns. The more it carved, the stronger the Jinjiao Behemoth’s pain became, as if an invisible restraint and pressure directly oppressed its entire body, and even its soul.

“Roar~~” The Jinjiao Behemoth roared in agony.

Large amounts of golden blood seeped from its nostrils, eyes, scaled wings, hooves, and dragon tail.

Then, with a mournful cry, it plummeted directly from mid-air, crashing onto the grassland with a thud.