Chapter 650 - 657: Strange Stone Man

But restoring the two realms seemed even more difficult than slaying the invaders.

Because Song Wanning had no idea where to even begin.

Song Wanning sighed. For now, she could only take things one step at a time.

But her fighting spirit quickly returned.

Because if the two realms could be merged into one, she would be able to see her parents and Li Rao.

After all, if they continued to cultivate at a normal pace, she might ascend to the Immortal Realm before they even ascended to the Spirit Realm.

It would be truly difficult to see each other then.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She found a random place to heal, and the moment she recovered, she contacted the Sect and told Luo Hantian everything she had learned from Li Qingya.

The monsters’ lairs had been discovered; now all that was needed was for cultivators to go and clear them out.

Song Wanning couldn’t possibly handle these things herself, so it was up to Luo Hantian to figure out how to release the information.

And so, within a few days, everyone learned the news: Gong Ye, the Demon Cultivator who had been raising the monsters, had been slain by Song Wanning’s own hand!

The monsters’ locations were now known, so the various powers joined forces and began a coordinated effort to exterminate the remaining ones.

From that moment on, Song Wanning’s fame spread throughout the Five Domains until there was no one who didn’t know her name.

Her lightning-fast advancement speed and her immense combat strength both became topics of conversation after meals and over tea.

Everyone envied and admired her abilities, fantasizing that they too could one day soar to the heavens.

Everything seemed to have returned to peace.

In just half a month, all the monster lairs were wiped out.

Song Wanning’s days became peaceful and quiet.

She didn’t return to the Sect, instead finding a quiet place to cultivate.

First, she worked on comprehending her swordsmanship, and second, she trained her physical fitness in the Hundred Demons Map.

Her days were quite fulfilling.

But the Lower World, at this time, was far from peaceful.

The appearance of the monsters had completely shattered the tranquility of the Lower World.

The Hidden Clans bore the brunt of it. They lost so many disciples to the monsters that they couldn’t spare any effort to target the Song Family.

But the people of the Song Family remained deeply worried, because the monsters had begun to run rampant.

Now, it was no longer just a problem for the Hidden Clans; monsters were being discovered throughout the entire Lower World.

Those monsters had incredibly fast movement techniques, specialized in sneak attacks, and aimed primarily for the heart.

For some low-level cultivators, they were extremely deadly!

By this point, the Song Family had already lost more than ten disciples, all of them meeting the same tragic end.

Song Qingyun took the matter very seriously, leading people to exterminate the monsters on multiple occasions.

But the monsters were extremely cunning, and their lairs were impossible to find.

Left with no other choice, Song Qingyun and several other Divinity Transformation Ancestors had to personally take action, searching everywhere for traces of the monsters.

Li Rao also joined this team.

Although she had a different surname, everyone had long since accepted her as part of the Song Family, so she naturally couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

’If Master were here,’ she sometimes thought, ’she’d definitely be able to find the monsters’ lairs easily, right?’

A trace of longing appeared in Li Rao’s eyes.

’I wonder if Master is safe and well right now?’

’I really miss Master!’

...

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

This year had been very fulfilling for Song Wanning; she spent almost every day in cultivation.

Although her cultivation was still at the Peak of Integration, her combat power was vastly different.

If she were to fight Gong Ye now, she could probably end it much more easily.

She let out a long breath and opened her eyes.

Having hit a bottleneck in her cultivation, she decided to take a walk.

The matter of the monsters was over, and the Spirit Realm had returned to normal once again.

Song Wanning was extremely glad she had discovered them early. Otherwise, if the monsters had truly spread, the Spirit Realm would never have been able to withstand it.

After leaving her cave, she first found She Yi and the Fox Demon and canceled her contract with She Yi.

The entire Snake Clan had been wiped out, leaving She Yi as the sole survivor. If she continued to keep him bound, the Snake Clan would likely never have a chance to rise again.

Before leaving, she gave the two of them many Demon Cores, hoping they would cultivate well and strive to undergo their tribulations and ascend as soon as possible.

Both of them were reluctant to see Song Wanning go, but they knew she couldn’t stay in the Demon Realm forever, so they could only smile and see her off.

So much had happened in this period of time.

But Song Wanning’s strength was deeply engraved in their hearts, becoming the goal they strove for.

Soon, Song Wanning left the Demon Realm.

Returning to the familiar Human Clan Territory, she took a comfortable breath of Spiritual Energy.

Although she could absorb Yin Qi, Demonic Qi, and demon qi, Spiritual Energy was still what made her most comfortable.

That was something that would never change, no matter how long it had been.

She first picked a few cities at random and began to wander as she pleased.

It seemed that ever since she killed Gong Ye, the Heavenly Dao had given her no new target to guide her. The current situation actually made her feel a little unsettled.

Song Wanning shook her head, amused at herself. ’I must have had my fill of peaceful days if I’m starting to feel like I need to find some trouble to be comfortable.’

However, just as this thought arose, she suddenly heard a chaotic clamor of shouting from outside the city.

The cultivators around her instantly stood up, drawing their Magical Treasures and readying their defenses.

It seemed they had been expecting this.

Song Wanning raised an eyebrow, and out of curiosity, she extended her Divine Sense.

Outside the city gate, a tall Stone Man was launching an attack.

The Stone Man was composed of various large and small rocks, with black light glinting from every crevice.

The Stone Man’s head, however, was extremely bizarre, for it was actually a human head.

The head was lucid, its eyes filled with fighting spirit. With every move, it unleashed countless rocks that bombarded the city gate.

The defending guards were furious and launched a counterattack.

But their Spells landed on the Stone Man like they were just tickling it.

A flash of sword light streaked through the air, striking the Stone Man’s head.

But the expected bloody scene did not occur. The sword light seemed to hit some invisible barrier and was directly repelled.

The Stone Man let out a furious roar and launched an even more ferocious attack.

For a moment, rocks flew and Spells danced wildly at the city gate, a terrifying sight to behold.

Song Wanning watched the Stone Man with some confusion and took the initiative to ask the people around her.

Upon seeing Song Wanning’s stunningly beautiful face, almost no one could refuse to answer her question.

Several cultivators scrambled to speak. "Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but that Stone Man has been here before, several months ago."

"See that human head? That’s the former City Lord’s son."

"They say he died over ten years ago. His body was never found, and to think it would turn up on a rock."

"Exactly! The former City Lord suffered a cultivation deviation because of his son’s death and perished not long after. It’s truly a sad story..."

The group of people sighed. After all, for a cultivator who had reached the Mahayana Realm to perish due to such a misfortune was a real pity.

"Is that so?"

A thoughtful glint flashed in Song Wanning’s eyes. She asked curiously, "Then what is this Stone Man doing back here?"

"To reclaim the City Lord position for his father?"

"That’s not it."

The cultivator beside her shook his head, leaning closer to Song Wanning with a mysterious look on his face.