Li Qiye had already stepped out of the village and into the fog before Shi Wawa could finish.
“Buzz.” His entire body instantly suffered the petrification process.
He turned into a statue, looking quite animated and expressive. He maintained the same walking pose with one leg up and both hands swinging. The process was just too fast and powerful.
Cultivation, merit laws, and treasures didn’t seem to matter in the canyon. The only way was to hide in a village. Entering the fog itself was even more perilous.
In history, numerous experts have tried to study this mysterious power to no avail. No one could obtain nor understand it.
“Noo!” Shi Wawa shouted after seeing Li Qiye being petrified.
He rushed over but stopped at the entrance after calming down. He knew that it would be futile and that he would suffer the same fate.
Emotions nearly got the best of him earlier. Fortunately enough, he stopped just in time.
“He’s done.” Wawa shook his head. The only thing he could do now was to wait and pick up Li Qiye’s corpse tomorrow. Only little pieces of powder would be left.
“Buzz.” His expectation was betrayed by what could be described as a miracle. A light emanated from Li Qiye.
It wasn’t particularly bright but still easily broke through the outer layer of stone. It served as a starting spark. More rays started coming out afterward.
It didn’t take long before the entire layer of stone was gone. The pieces fell to the ground and disappeared from sight.
“What…” Shi Wawa’s black eyes were as wide as can be after seeing this unbelievable scene. This was his first time experiencing this. It went against all conventional wisdom in the canyon.
Li Qiye actually survived after being petrified in the fog. Wawa started rubbing his eyes but this was indeed the truth.
“Is he a god…?” He murmured. Since he was a child, he believed that only a god could be impervious to the petrification process. Of course, he simply didn’t know the subtleties behind it all.
In reality, even a top master here would find this astonishing. How could a Silver Carapace cultivator survive the famous petrification?
Little did they know that Li Qiye had experienced it before. He knew about its profundities better than anyone else along with its source. That’s how he could easily deal with it.
“So damn cool.” Wawa praised while witnessing an unraveling legend.
“Clank! Clank! Clank!” Li Qiye channeled his merit law and the underlying dao. The laws came together and formed a peerless chapter - one that was unique in history. It felt so natural inside Li Qiye’s body as if they were one.
People would sense something extraordinary. It felt as if the fog wasn’t the thing surrounding him but rather the opposite. He was the one engulfing the entire canyon, the plateau, and all of northern West King…
He clearly stood in the same spot but in the next second, he seemed to be all-encompassing. The galaxy and the three thousand worlds were within him.
This infinite expansion made the canyon small in comparison. Eventually, even Eight Desolaces became tiny before Li Qiye. Thus, the fog and the petrification force naturally didn’t matter. They were the same as a speck of dust.
Shi Wawa could feel this magical transformation and dropped to the ground, butt first. He looked up and couldn’t see Li Qiye any longer, thinking that the guy was bigger than the sky.
Li Qiye walked deeper into the fog while the youth was stunned, completely unaffected by the petrification process. This was akin to a single drop of water unable to stop a conflagration.
The youth eventually regained his wits. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. He was still too young with not enough experiences, especially one that had exceeded his ability to comprehend.
As Li Qiye walked in the fog, all types of visual phenomena popped up - a true dragon roaring, an immortal phoenix screeching, the cries of immortals across the trek of time…
Then there was a world of bones, another with an ocean of blood, one completely destroyed. The cycles of the ages could be seen. These phenomena were stunning enough to bewilder any spectator, just not Li Qiye.
His dao heart was unaffected. His eyes narrowed as his forehead lit up.
“Activate!” Li Qiye roared and destroyed all illusions in order to see the truth! He exuded a radiance with the intensity of a thousand suns erupting.
“Pop! Pop! Pop!” All the phenomena broke down like bubbles and disappeared from sight.
“Buzz.” Only a painting remained in front of him.