"Young man, what exactly is the story behind these eight stone sculptures?" The Vermilion Bird Divine Creature's tone was rapid, its excitement barely contained.
At this point, Jiang Chen saw no reason to hold anything back. He recounted the origins of the eight stone sculptures in full detail. When the Vermilion Bird Divine Creature finished listening, it murmured with a sigh, "The will of heaven—this may truly be the will of heaven. Young man, these eight stone sculptures must be the divine souls of the Giant Stone Clan. Otherwise, no such coincidence could exist in this world."
Hearing the Vermilion Bird Divine Creature's words, Jiang Chen felt a surge of joy. "Senior Vermilion Bird, whether that's the case or not, we have to give it a try."
"Yes, we absolutely must try!" This news was equally critical for the Vermilion Bird Divine Creature. It understood all too well that this matter concerned its own fate—whether it could ever leave this place, whether it could seek an opportunity for rebirth through fire.
If these eight beings of the Giant Stone Clan could be resurrected, then they would be more than capable of taking over its duty to guard this place.
That way, it would no longer be bound to remain here.
"Let's go, let's go—right now! I'll back you up!" The Vermilion Bird Divine Creature was electric with excitement. It told Jiang Chen to fly onto its back directly, then carried him as it charged toward the palace once more.
Jiang Chen sent a voice transmission: "Great Emperor Shaoyang, you and Zitan wait here a moment. Do not act on your own."
Great Emperor Shaoyang and the ancestor of the Purple Smoke Sect were already trembling with fear, terrified that a single misstep would cost them their lives. Though they didn't want to spend another minute in this place, if asked to leave on their own, they simply couldn't swallow the indignity of it.
After all, leaving now would be no different from deserting—far too humiliating.
More crucially, they had already come to see Jiang Chen as their sole lifeline. Watching him chatting and laughing with the Vermilion Bird Divine Creature only deepened their reverence and blind trust in him.
With Jiang Chen having given his orders, they naturally wouldn't dream of slipping away on their own.
The ancestor of the Purple Smoke Sect was feeling especially conflicted. Back in the Phoenix Cry Lower Region, he had been one of the most exalted figures around. But the events of the past few days had left him with a surreal, dreamlike sensation.
When he thought about it, the other powerhouses of the Phoenix Cry Lower Region had all fallen into the hands of the Heavenly Demon Lord, becoming nothing more than his puppets.
And he—he was virtually the only top-tier cultivator from the entire region to have escaped that fate.
Not only that, but he had even managed to forge a connection with Young Master Jiang Chen of the Glazed City. And from the way Young Master Jiang Chen carried himself, it was clear he had no intention of casually abandoning him.
The ancestor of the Purple Smoke Sect couldn't help but count himself lucky—his earlier decision to follow Jiang Chen had been nothing short of brilliant.
Had he not chosen to stay behind with Jiang Chen back then, he would by now either be a lackey of the Heavenly Demon Lord or long since dead.
"Fellow Daoist Zitan, is it?" Great Emperor Shaoyang suddenly spoke up.
The ancestor of the Purple Smoke Sect was overwhelmed with flattery and hastily replied, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. This humble one is Zitan. I pay my respects to Great Emperor Shaoyang."
"Hehe, we're all in the same boat now, so let's drop the empty pleasantries. Fellow Daoist Zitan, the fact that you were able to follow Young Master Jiang Chen with such unwavering resolve—your judgment and boldness truly command this emperor's admiration."
This was entirely sincere. Great Emperor Shaoyang genuinely did admire the Purple Smoke Sect's ancestor. In that kind of situation, when everyone else had fled to seek shelter, this old ancestor had trusted Jiang Chen and refused to simply drift along with the crowd. That was absolutely not something an ordinary person could do.
After all, at the time, it had been a matter of life and death.
The Purple Smoke Sect's ancestor hurriedly deflected with modesty, "It wasn't really boldness of any kind. I simply felt in my heart that Young Master Jiang Chen was someone worth trusting."
……
The Vermilion Bird divine beast carried Jiang Chen as it tore through the void, descending like a streak of red lightning back to the entrance of the Sacred First Sect's palace.
Standing beneath the eight towering statues, Jiang Chen could feel their massive, imposing presence even more keenly. They stood at a height equal to seven or eight ordinary people stacked on top of each other—and possibly even taller.
"Are all beings of the Stone Giants race this enormous?" Jiang Chen paced back and forth beneath the eight colossal statues, observing them with careful attention.
Based on what he knew of the Stone Giants, they were indeed a race of giants—but their bodies weren't supposed to be exaggerated to *this* extent.
Moreover, the physiques of the Stone Giants race could expand and contract at will.
Densely carved across the backs of the eight colossal stone statues were the secrets of the Holy One Sect. These secrets pertained precisely to the separation and recombination of the divine soul and physique.
However, the secrets etched behind these eight stone sculptures were clearly jumbled out of order. Jiang Chen and the Vermilion Bird spent a great deal of time sorting through them and reorganizing the secrets into their proper sequence, detail by detail.
Jiang Chen studied them repeatedly, confirming that the reassembled secrets contained no errors, before he finally felt at ease.
He then retrieved the eight small statues he had obtained. These eight were considerably smaller.
"Senior, the forebears of the Holy One Sect originally sealed the divine souls of these Stone Giants beings within these eight small stone sculptures. To summon their divine souls, the outer seals on these eight small sculptures must first be broken."
One shouldn't underestimate those eight small stone sculptures—Jiang Chen had once employed them as formidable defensive treasures. The Eight Desolations Rock Formation had used these very sculptures as shields.
These eight small sculptures were extraordinarily resilient; even the most powerful attacks could leave nothing more than a faint scratch upon their surface.
Therefore, for Jiang Chen, without the secret method, breaking through the outer shell of these eight small sculptures to draw out the divine souls of the Stone Giants beings would have been an immensely difficult task.
Fortunately, with the secrets of the Holy One Sect in hand, the task became far more manageable.
As the old saying goes, only the one who tied the bell can untie it. Once the method of binding was in hand, undoing it was no longer difficult.