Watching the four Great Elders pleading for mercy, Xu Zimei smiled and said, "What, no more fighting?"
"Our strength is insignificant, undoubtedly overestimating our capabilities, we admit our inferiority and concede," the elder in the blue robe shook his head and sighed.
"Bring out the item," Xu Zimei waved his hand, speaking impatiently.
"The item is right here; we’re also unable to move it," said the elder in the red robe.
He waved his hands, and the blinding formation that covered the mountain peak was dispelled.
There were no changes elsewhere on the mountain peak, but in the very center, a massive boulder stood tall.
The boulder was roughly a dozen meters tall, its surface layer thick and hard, half black and half white.
One could feel a powerful force contained within it, a force so rare in this world that even Xu Zimei was somewhat moved.
Regrettably, the stone’s surface layer encased this power, preventing it from being exposed and likewise from being absorbed by others.
However, on one side of the stone layer, there was a small crack.
The power within the boulder was seeping out bit by bit through the crack, and Xu Zimei could clearly sense that the permeating force was that mysterious mist.
The source of the power he had been absorbing.
"What is this?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Reporting to the Divine King, this is the Heaven and Earth Divine Stone," the elder in the blue robe quickly replied.
"Heaven and Earth Divine Stone? Tell me about it," Xu Zimei said.
The elders hesitated for a moment, exchanging glances before the elder in the yellow robe spoke, "We are willing to tell the whole story of its origin, may we ask if Your Excellency would consider sparing our clan?"
"If it’s useful, I will consider it," Xu Zimei nodded.
The elders looked at each other again, and the elder in the blue robe stepped forward and asked, "What would Your Excellency like to know?"
"Its origin," Xu Zimei replied.
"Your Excellency must be aware of the Immortal Path Bridge. Legend has it that beings like Your Excellency, the Divine Kings, have already reached the pinnacle of this world.
To advance further, one must cross the Immortal Path Bridge to the vaster cosmos beyond," the elder in the blue robe said slowly.
"I am aware of this," Xu Zimei nodded.
"Many thousands of years ago, a fracture appeared between our Eternal Ancient Continent and the world of the Immortal Path Bridge, Your Excellency must be aware of this event," the blue-robed elder organized his words.
He continued, "This allowed not only the people from our Eternal Ancient Continent to visit that world, but also the beings from that world could come through the fracture to our continent."
"Heaven Beyond Heavens?" Xu Zimei muttered to himself, then asked, "Have you seen the people from that world?"
In his mind, whether it was the Eternal Ancient Continent or Yuan Central Continent, they were both considered minor worlds.
Only the supreme Heaven Beyond Heavens was the true greater world.
The domain that only Great Emperors would pursue.
"We were too weak, and not even sanctified back then, how could we be qualified to meet the beings from that world," the elder in the blue robe shook his head.
He said, "However, to my knowledge, the beings from that world are too powerful, so much so that even Divine Kings are nothing but ants to them."
"And then?" Xu Zimei asked with a frown.
"The beings from that world sought to dominate the Eternal Ancient Continent, and after centuries of warfare, we watched as the continent’s powers retreated,
It was at that time, the Eternal Ancient Divine King, risking his life, sealed the fracture.
Without the support from the other side of the fracture, we finally caught our breath and defeated the invaders."
The elder in the blue robe said, "And what the Eternal Ancient Divine King used to mend the sky and seal the rift was this Heaven and Earth Divine Stone."
"But how did this object end up in your hands?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Surely you wouldn’t dare to steal something from the Eternal Ancient Divine King."
"Of course, that’s impossible. The Heaven and Earth Divine Stone is formed from the brewing energy of heaven and earth, containing the might of the cosmos.
After the Eternal Ancient Divine King sealed the rift, half of the Heaven and Earth Divine Stone was left over.
At that time, the Eternal Ancient Divine King was gravely injured and could hardly take care of himself, only managing to flee to heal his wounds.
And the remaining part of the Divine Stone just happened to fall into the small world of our lizard race across the boundless space.
This could also be considered fate," the elder in the blue robe said with a smile.
"But what does this have to do with the Extraordinary Meridian Manual and the Black Dragon King?" Xu Zimei asked.
"The Extraordinary Meridian Manual?" The elder in the blue robe paused for a moment, then realized and said, "You mean the cultivation technique that can absorb the divine power of heaven and earth."
"Right," Xu Zimei nodded.
"When the Heaven and Earth Divine Stone fell on top of the snowy mountain, we were not the Clan Elders yet. The previous generation of Clan Elders tried every possible way to absorb the power within it.
You know, our lizard race’s lifelong dream is to become dragons.
Based on the findings of the Clan Elders, as long as one could open the divine stone and absorb its power, our lizard race could turn each and everyone into dragons and potentially transform our whole race," said the elder in the blue robe.
"But the hardness of this Divine Stone exceeded our imagination; no matter what method we used, nothing worked against its solid strength.
By then, the Clan Elders had reached sainthood and possessed vast lifespans, and living another ten thousand years was nothing to them.
Unfortunately, they ultimately chose to sacrifice themselves, to break the stone’s surface defense for the future of our race," he continued.
At this point, all four elders seemed somewhat downcast.
After a short silence, the elder in the blue robe spoke again: "When the Clan Elders died, we four naturally became the new Clan Elders, leading the four tribes.
Even as the Clan Elders sacrificed themselves in death, we still underestimated the defense of the Divine Stone.
The outer layer of the stone was not broken but merely cracked a small opening."
"So the fog in the Misty Forest is emanating from there?" asked Xu Zimei.
"Yes. Although only a trickle of energy came out, it was enough to make us ecstatic. However, when we tried to absorb this force, we found it was not so easily absorbed.
Instead, the energy built up and nearly blocked our Vein Gates," said the elder in the blue robe.
"Later, after our experiments, we discovered that the human body is profound.
While the Vein Gates rejected this power, some parts of the body could absorb this divine force quite well.
So, after a long time spent researching, we developed what you call the Extraordinary Meridian Manual."
"The story you told seems to differ from what I know. The Black Dragon rules this world; you must be aware of that," Xu Zimei inquired.
"The previous generation of Clan Elders found a severely injured Black Dragon while they were out.
They brought it back to the clan and after healing its injuries, they discovered that the Black Dragon was pregnant.
Not long after the little Black Dragon was born, its mother passed away.
At that time, we were researching how to absorb the power from within the Heaven and Earth Divine Stone, and the Black Dragon’s mother willingly used her body as an experimental subject to aid us."
The elder in the blue robe said with a touch of regret.