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Under the vision of Su Wen's Phantom Spirit Pupil, the central stone pillar was wreathed in endless power of faith. Much like the Seven Sacred Pillars of Sea God Island, this pillar thrummed with concentrated devotion.
However, the density of this faith was more than a tier below that of the Sea God. Any single pillar on Sea God Island held far more energy than this one. Yet, as Su Wen categorized the faith of the various deities he had encountered, he noticed a distinct difference.
The Stone God's faith couldn't compare to the Sea God's, but it surpassed the other Second-Class Gods in the Spirit Realm. It was roughly equal in quality to that of the God of War, though the quantity was significantly lower—even less than that of the God of Speed.
"The Stone God should be a Second-Class God," Su Wen analyzed inwardly. "Likely one very close to First-Class, perhaps even possessing First-Class combat power."
From Su Wen's perspective, the primary reason the Stone God remained at this stage was likely a lack of faith energy to fuel an ascension. It made sense; the Stone God's portfolio didn't naturally attract widespread worship. The Sea God possessed the devotion of all sea-dwelling creatures, and the God of War could extract faith from the sheer spirit of battle among soul masters. The Stone God had no such vast reservoir.
"If my judgment is correct, this Stone God must be extraordinary to reach such heights despite the scarcity of faith." Or, Su Wen mused, perhaps the lack of quantity had forced the deity to master techniques for refining faith into a higher quality.
Unlike the Spirit Realm or Sea God Island, the Stone God Realm was inhabited not by humans, but by spirit beasts—specifically, Earth-attribute beasts. Su Wen's Phantom Pupil detected a massive number of Stone Monsters. While he might miss a few 10,000-year variants, the 1,000-year ones were as dense as a forest.
The beasts noticed the four intruders but didn't pay them much mind.
"Follow me!"
Su Wen moved forward, his mental power blanketing the entire realm. Even with his vast reach, he found no human soul masters. This God hadn't even chosen a guardian. No human followers, no guardians—the Stone God was remarkably "laid-back."
As the group approached the central pillar, several powerful Earth-attribute beasts finally bristled with malice, intending to block their path. However, before they could act, the three massive boulders surrounding the pillar shook with a thunderous roar, driving the aggressors back.
Su Wen's pupils constricted. He realized these "boulders" were actually Stone Monsters! They were vastly larger than the 60,000-year monster he had seen outside. According to the known laws of their growth, even a 100,000-year Stone Monster shouldn't be this colossal.
Feeling the sheer pressure radiating from the trio, Su Wen confirmed they possessed 100,000-year level strength. He scanned the other rock formations in the array and hissed. Every single one of the high-rising stones felt like a 100,000-year entity.
This Stone God is wicked! Su Wen thought. No humans, no guardians—just an army of 100,000-year monsters?
Wait. After the initial shock, Su Wen noticed a discrepancy. He simulated the array patterns in his mind and understood. These weren't individual 100,000-year beasts; they were groups of Stone Monsters fused together through a unique formation to achieve that level of power. The concept of "arrays" didn't formally exist on Douluo Continent yet—Su Wen was developing it himself—but the Stone God had clearly pioneered its use here.
Su Wen brought the group to the base of the pillar. Like the Sea God's pillars, it was etched with mysterious, ancient patterns. He released his mental power to communicate with it, stirring the faith energy wreathed around the stone. He couldn't condense faith, but he could agitate it, much like a mortal cannot freeze water with their bare hands but can certainly churn the current.
The agitation triggered a reaction. Far away in the Divine Realm, the Stone God sensed the disturbance and cast his gaze downward.
Four beams of light descended.
The light surrounding Su Wen shifted rapidly from earthy yellow to purple, and it continued to evolve. Ning Rongrong's beam settled into a deep yellow, as did Dugu Yan's. Dugu Bo's light turned purple.
As Su Wen's beam drained the remaining faith from the pillar, it finally solidified into a deep, heavy Black.
The surrounding 10,000-year beasts watched in awe. They understood the meaning of these trials. A deep yellow was rare, and purple was high-spec. But Black? These beasts had never even heard of the Stone God granting a Black Level trial to anyone.
Su Wen opened his eyes, a yellow glint appearing on the Tome imprint on his forehead. He looked at the Stone Pillar—the Stone God Pillar—with a mix of gratitude and confusion.
The Stone God exhausted his remaining faith just to give me this Black Level Trial... what is he after? Even the God of War had been stingy, giving only a Yellow Trial to invest knowledge in him. The Stone God had gone much further.
(End of Chapter)