Chapter 2064: The Heaven-Connecting Stone

It is extremely difficult to deduce a cultivation method of one's own, requiring great willpower and determination.

Knowing it was not something that could be accomplished overnight, Zhang Xuan was not anxious.

Soon, a few days passed, and the Heaven-Connecting Bridge would open today. Early in the morning, Zhang Xuan led the group and flew straight toward the Heaven-Connecting Stone.

The Heaven-Connecting Stone was located in the Star-Chasing Sea, not far from Star-Chasing Island. After two hours of riding a flying immortal beast, they saw a bare stone island appear in sight.

This island stood on the sea like a solitary peak, or perhaps a giant pillar propping up the heavens, so tall that its end was nowhere in sight.

“Legend has it that, countless years ago, the sky collapsed, plunging the land into chaos. A super-strong expert cut off the four legs of a giant sea turtle from the seabed and used them as pillars to prop up the sky. As time passed and the seas changed, the legs turned into stone pillars, which are now this Heaven-Connecting Stone!”

Looking at the towering island before them, Han Jianqiu said.

“These are just legends. This solitary island is tens of thousands of meters high. How could there be such a giant sea turtle in the world?”

Elder Kuixiao shook his head. “Besides, if the sky were truly about to collapse, how could four legs hold it up?”

“That’s true…”

Everyone laughed.

Every world has myths and legends, representing human hope, and this Abandoned Continent was no exception.

Zhang Xuan looked at the Heaven-Connecting Stone before him.

Although he knew it was impossible that it was the four legs of a sea turtle as the others said, a giant stone connecting the sky and the sea, standing unshaken for countless years, was indeed very strange.

His Eye of Insight squirmed as he examined it carefully, and soon he sensed something amiss.

The Heaven-Connecting Stone before him appeared to be ordinary stone, but in reality, its surface was densely covered with special array patterns.

It was these patterns that allowed the stone pillar to withstand the attacks of wind, rain, and sea creatures without being harmed.

“Such profound array patterns…”

After watching for a while, Zhang Xuan found that even with his eyesight, he could not understand them at all.

“The Divine Hall… is up there?”

A thought arose in his mind, and he couldn't help asking.

“Mm!”

Han Jianqiu nodded.

As he spoke, he flew upward along the stone.

The others followed closely.

Flying upward along the Heaven-Connecting Stone, as the altitude increased, Zhang Xuan felt the pressure on him growing heavier, as if a giant hand above was forcibly pressing him down, unwilling to let him touch higher secrets.

“Everyone, give it your all. Being able to ascend the Heaven-Connecting Stone is itself a test!”

Seeing the faces of the Immortal Sovereigns following behind change, Han Jianqiu said.

For demigods, this pressure was nothing, but for Immortal Sovereigns, even those at the peak found it difficult to fly all the way to the top of the Heaven-Connecting Stone.

This was itself a test!

Among the countless experts of the six great sects, not many could pass it.

“It’s a bit like the world in the Confucian Temple,”

Zhang Xuan smiled.

For him, the pressure above was great, but not to the point of making him powerless.

He had encountered a similar situation in the Confucian Temple, where the sky exerted a special pressure preventing flight.

This Heaven-Connecting Stone, though only tens of thousands of meters high and not too tall, was covered with special patterns that naturally formed a restraining array. Unless one's cultivation was sufficient, forcing upward would easily cause immortal energy to become chaotic and unbearable.

Pfft!

As he was pondering, a sound of spitting blood came from behind. Turning around, he saw an elder from the Seven Star Pavilion unable to bear the pressure and falling from the air.

“We’re not even halfway there… Elder Kuixiao, your sect’s elders have regressed in strength over the years!”

Elder Qinyuan chuckled.

They were still about halfway from the top of the Heaven-Connecting Stone, and an Immortal Sovereign expert couldn't hold on. This elder of theirs was too weak!

Elder Kuixiao did not reply but frowned and looked down.

After falling for a while, the elder steadied himself, panting heavily in the air, not daring to come up.

With their level of cultivation, they could fly on their own, so they wouldn't die from falling. But he hadn't expected not even making it halfway.

According to past practice, the elders who could follow were all outstanding members of their sects, able to fly to at least seventy percent of the height before succumbing!

Pfft!

Just as he was puzzled, another elder not far away spat out a mouthful of blood and fell from the air.

An elder from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect.

“You…”

Elder Qinyuan's face turned ashen.

He had just mocked someone, and now someone from his own side fell. The slap came quickly.

“It’s because the pressure is greater than usual…”

Han Jianqiu said solemnly.

Startled, Kuixiao and Qinyuan both sensed it, and their eyebrows jumped simultaneously. “Indeed…”

They were demigods, not very sensitive to the pressure targeting Immortal Sovereigns, so they hadn't paid much attention. But upon checking, they immediately noticed that the oppressive force along the Heaven-Connecting Stone had nearly doubled compared to a hundred years ago!

Normally, this pressure would only be felt when flying to about seventy percent of the total height.

“This pressure hasn’t changed for thousands of years. Why has it suddenly increased?”

Elder Qinyuan couldn't believe it.

To ascend the Heaven-Connecting Stone, one had to endure the sky's oppression. This had been an unchanging rule for thousands of years. Normally, this pressure wouldn't change. Why had it increased so much all of a sudden?

“I suspect it’s related to the early opening of the Heaven-Connecting Bridge…”

Han Jianqiu said.

The Heaven-Connecting Bridge opened once every hundred years, a long-established fact. Thus, each sect prepared in advance. According to the usual schedule, there was still a long time before the opening, but now it suddenly opened without any warning… Could the increased pressure also be related?

“Regardless, with the pressure increased, everyone must concentrate. Only by ascending the Heaven-Connecting Stone can one qualify to enter the Heaven-Connecting Bridge and become a demigod. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait another hundred years!”

Immortal Sovereigns only had a lifespan of three hundred years. A hundred years was a third of that, and many could not afford to wait.

“Yes!”

The others also realized the severity. Their earlier relaxation vanished, and they all flew upward with solemn expressions.

As the altitude increased, more people couldn't bear it, falling from the air one after another.

By the time they reached about seventy percent of the total height, only about a dozen remained, fewer than twenty.

The three who had come with Zhang Xuan to challenge the Heaven-Connecting Bridge, after the special training of the past few days, had greatly increased their combat power, which allowed them to persist. In the past, they probably couldn't even reach the top of the platform.

If they couldn't even ascend the Heaven-Connecting Stone, there was naturally no hope for the Heaven-Connecting Bridge!

“Can you still hold on?”

Seeing the three drenched in sweat, their clothes soaked, Zhang Xuan frowned and asked.

“We can!”

Elder Hongwu gritted his teeth.

The group continued forward.

At eighty percent of the total height, only Kuixiao, Han Jianqiu, and a few other demigods, along with the three who had undergone special training, remained.

At this point, Qinyuan and the others felt nothing, but Elder Hongwu and his companions were already struggling.

Their bodies trembled incessantly, their hands and feet weak, as if they might fall from the air at any moment.

“Could it be that we can’t even ascend the Heaven-Connecting Stone?”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

There were still several thousand meters to go. If they couldn't hold on, how could they enter the Heaven-Connecting Bridge?

Had all his training over the past few days been for nothing?

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go up first and see what has changed to cause such great pressure…”

Pausing, Zhang Xuan instructed.

Resisting this pressure was related to strength and state of mind. There was no better way in the short term. It seemed he had to find a way to resolve the source of the pressure.

Flying rapidly along the stone wall, the pressure became thicker.

Raising his eyebrows, Zhang Xuan let the divine sword intent flow within him, and in an instant, his entire body turned into a sharp longsword.

Swish!

The thick pressure was torn apart, and with a light shake, he landed on top of the Heaven-Connecting Stone.

It was a platform about a hundred meters in diameter, bare of anything. Above was a pitch-black sky, and the so-called Divine Hall was nowhere to be seen.

Standing on the platform, he tried to control his body and fly upward, but found that there seemed to be a natural barrier isolating the entire world. No matter how fast he circulated his immortal energy, he couldn't leave far.

In other words, even with his current cultivation, he couldn't fly up to search for the so-called Divine Hall.

Walking around the stone platform, he found that it too was carved with the same special runes as the stone pillar.

“Could it be that this pressure is generated by these runes?”

Although he didn't understand the meaning of the runes, they must have special abilities to keep the stone pillar standing for thousands of years. Perhaps the pressure preventing people from coming here was also generated by them.

“Out!”

With a flick of his wrist, the Tongshang Sword appeared in his palm. Concentrating his mind, he stabbed toward the runes.

Sword qi roared out, like a dragon coiling on the stone platform, and in an instant, it drilled into the runes.

Hum!

The entire platform shone with dazzling light, as if something had been activated.

“Indeed…”

Feeling that the surrounding pressure had indeed changed after the light flashed, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. With a flick of his wrist, nine peak Immortal Sovereign-level longswords appeared again, forming a special sword array around his body.

“Break!”

Raising his eyebrows, he infused divine sword intent into them and let out a low shout.

Ten longswords landed around the stone platform.

Although he didn't understand the meaning of these runes, he knew a great deal about arrays. Scanning with his Eye of Insight, he could clearly discern the loopholes and flaws within them.

These were precisely where the swords struck.

Rumble!

A wave of light rippled out, and the immense pressure dissipating in the air vanished simultaneously.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The wind howled, and Han Jianqiu and the others took the opportunity to fly up, landing neatly on the platform.

Hum!

As soon as they stopped, the runes around twisted, and the pressure returned.

From disappearance to recovery, it took only about two breaths. If the others hadn't reacted in time, they wouldn't have made it up either.

“It can recover on its own?”

Zhang Xuan was astonished.

He had thought he had completely destroyed the special power formed by the runes, but it recovered so quickly. Truly, it was no simple thing left by the Divine Hall.