While Aryan and the others were laughing and chatting together, someone suddenly launched an attack on him. A huge fist came flying toward Aryan. He quickly turned around, raised his hand, and slapped toward the incoming punch. The massive fist shattered instantly.
Aaliya looked into the distance and discovered that a giant stone-bodied humanoid was attacking them. Seeing this, Aryan frowned and said, "A Stone Age race."
Hearing this, Maya, who was standing nearby, asked, "What race is that? I've never seen anything like it before."
Priya also looked at the creature curiously and asked, "Does such a race really exist?"
Aryan nodded. "Yes, it does. The problem is that this race shouldn't exist on this Earth."
Both Maya and Priya looked at him strangely.
"What do you mean it shouldn't exist on Earth?"
Aryan took a deep breath.
"I'll explain later. First, let's deal with this thing."
He pointed at the creature's legs.
"Attack its legs. That's its weakest point. Once its legs are broken, it won't be able to stand."
Everyone attacked together. Since Aryan was the strongest among them, he shattered one of the creature's legs with a single punch. Priya launched her own attack, while Maya struck from the side, breaking the second leg.
The stone giant collapsed.
Aryan then raised his fist and smashed its head apart, reducing the creature into countless fragments.
Afterward, he began searching through the remains.
Maya asked curiously, "What are you looking for?"
"A Blood Stone," Aryan replied.
Maya frowned.
"What's a Blood Stone? I've never heard of it."
"Wait a minute."
Moments later, Aryan pulled a large crimson-red crystal from the creature's chest. It was as red as fresh blood.
Maya stared at it.
"What does it do? And why is it so red? It looks like you're holding a lump of blood."
Aryan explained, "This stone is like a second life. If you exhaust your blood energy and then absorb the power stored inside it, your strength can be completely restored. It contains enormous life energy."
"To charge it, blood must be gathered around it, or it should be placed in a battlefield filled with s*******r. It absorbs blood energy and converts it into pure life force."
Both Maya and Priya were stunned.
"How do you know all this?" Maya asked.
Aryan shrugged.
"I read it in books. You should read more books too."
Both girls rolled their eyes.
Aryan ignored their reactions and looked ahead.
"Let's move deeper inside."
Just as they were about to continue, Maya stepped on a strange stone.
The next moment, she vanished.
Aryan's expression changed.
"Oh no. She's in trouble."
Priya immediately panicked.
"Where did she go?"
Aryan thought for a moment.
"She was teleported to another area. Anyone who steps on that stone gets teleported."
Priya looked at the stone.
"So if I step on it, I'll end up where Maya is?"
"No."
Priya blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"There is only a one-in-a-million chance that two people will be sent to the same location."
As soon as he finished speaking, Aryan rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Priya from behind.
Priya froze before immediately struggling.
"You shameless man! How dare you touch me! I'll kill you!"
While she struggled furiously, Aryan swallowed a pill.
His body rapidly shrank back to its original appearance.
Priya hadn't noticed yet and continued resisting.
Aryan turned her around and suddenly pressed his lips against hers.
Priya's body trembled violently.
She opened her eyes and stared at the young man standing before her.
"Where is he?" she asked in confusion.
"Who?" Aryan asked.
"Arjun. The man who kept bothering me..."
She suddenly stopped and stared at Aryan.
"Wait... that was you?"
Aryan laughed.
"Who else would tease you besides me?"
Priya's face instantly turned red.
She remembered everything she had said before.
Without hesitation, she threw herself into Aryan's arms and buried her face in his chest.
Aryan smiled gently.
"Why are you so emotional? I've been with you the entire time."
Tears appeared in Priya's eyes.
"I was so worried. I thought something had happened to you. I searched everywhere but couldn't find you."
Aryan felt guilty.
He had never considered how worried she must have been.
"I'm sorry. I was badly injured after passing through the tribulation. I could only protect you from a distance. When this palace appeared, I guessed there would be treasures inside and knew you'd come here, so I followed you."
Priya looked at him.
"How did you change your appearance?"
Aryan showed her a pill.
"This is a Transformation Pill. It changes the user's appearance."
Priya stared at it in amazement.
"There are pills like that in this world?"
Aryan laughed.
"You've been through enough stress already."
Priya suddenly hugged him again and whispered into his ear.
"Congratulations on reaching the King Realm."
Aryan smiled.
"It's not that impressive. I still have a long way to go. In the sects, King Realm experts are only outer elders."
Priya giggled.
"If you want to become stronger, you definitely will."
"I think so too."
Then Aryan said, "Let's continue. We still need treasures, and we also need to find Maya."
Priya pouted.
"I'm not forgiving you that easily. You'll have to make it up to me."
Aryan grinned and lifted her into his arms.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"If you're angry, I can't let you walk by yourself. Until you forgive me, I'll carry you."
Priya's heart melted.
She felt incredibly happy.
Together they moved deeper into the palace.
Eventually they entered another chamber.
Inside stood only a single statue.
The moment Aryan saw it, his eyes widened.
"The God of Wind."
Priya looked confused.
"Why is he called the God of Wind?"
"In the Age of Gods, he was known as the fastest being in existence. He moved through the air like a fish swimming through water. Some legends even claim he could tear through space itself."
Priya looked at the statue.
"Then why is his statue here?"
Aryan carefully examined it.
Suddenly his breathing quickened.
"Look at the statue's eye."
Priya focused on the eye and noticed something hidden within it.
"What is that?"
Aryan's eyes shone brightly.
"A drop of divine blood."
His voice trembled slightly.
"If we obtain it, our cultivation will increase tremendously. A single drop of a god's blood can allow someone to advance through major realms."
Priya nodded.
"Then go get it. I'll stand guard."
"It won't take long."
Aryan flew upward and arrived before the statue.
Drawing his sword, he carefully extracted the blood droplet.
Just as he obtained it, he noticed a group entering the chamber.
Without hesitation, he stored the divine blood inside his Sea of Consciousness and hid behind a nearby rock.
He signaled Priya to do the same.
Both of them concealed themselves and observed the newcomers.
Soon they recognized them.
"They're from the Blazing Flame Sect," Aryan whispered.
Priya nodded.
"I've heard that the Blazing Flame Sect ranks third among the major sects."
Aryan thought for a moment.
"Then first and second should be Sunrise Academy and the Moonblood Family."
"That's right," Priya replied.
"In the Northern Region, those two are considered the strongest forces. However, compared to the other three regions, they're not particularly powerful."
She continued explaining.
"In this region, only Great Saint Realm experts exist. In the Southern Region, Ancient Saint and Half-Ascension experts can be found. In the Central Region, even Divine Light Realm cultivators exist."
"The ancient families are even stronger. Many of their elders have already reached the peak of Ascension Realm, while some have entered the Divine Light Realm."
"The leaders and ancestors of those clans are at the very peak of the Divine Light Realm."
"Now all eight ancient families are competing to see who will produce the first Origin Realm cultivator. Whoever reaches that realm first will attempt to unify all eight families, and that could trigger another massive war."
Aryan nodded.
"Thank you for explaining."
Priya rolled her eyes.
"Do you really need to thank me?"
Aryan smiled.
"We've already obtained what we came for. There's no reason to stay."
He grabbed Priya's hand.
"Let's leave the rest to them."
The next moment, the two disappeared.
With Aryan's cultivation level, escaping unnoticed was as easy as taking candy from a child.
The members of the Blazing Flame Sect never realized that the greatest treasure had already been taken before they arrived..