Divine consciousness entered their bodies, accompanied by the energy of a fourth-tier Heavenly Emperor.
Both Fu Yu and Bi Tian felt the energy invading their bodies.
In an instant, both their bodies froze in place.
They dared not move.
Any sudden movement, if Chen Fan detonated the energy, would surely kill them both.
After all, they were just two Half-Emperors.
Around them, Old Demon Chu and Emperor Kuang were responsible for protecting them.
Chen Fan closed his eyes without worry, carefully observing the state of their bodies.
The energy was still there, but it was somewhat mixed.
It seemed that their lives had not been easy after the destruction of their realm, and they could only absorb impure chaotic energy to cultivate.
However, there were traces of purification within their bodies, and it had happened not long ago.
"Dao Rhyme Secret Realm?"
Although it was a guess, Chen Fan was eighty percent sure.
The Dao Rhyme Secret Realm had purified their bodies.
"Splash, splash."
The energy flowed through their bodies like water.
It was very light.
One of them mastered the path of lightning, and the other mastered the blade path primarily based on Geng Gold.
"Both are offensive."
Their respective daos, at the same Half-Emperor level, should be considered quite good.
However...
The energy flowing through their bodies carried an additional petrifying power.
If one did not observe carefully, it would be mistaken for something they had cultivated themselves.
But upon closer inspection, it would be discovered that this petrifying dao did not belong to them at all.
"A restriction?"
This additional petrifying power might be what controlled them.
But was that all?
Chen Fan did not believe it.
As the only trading realm in the Four Directions Domain, Chen Fan could not believe they were truly so kind.
There must be something else.
He didn't know what it was, but Chen Fan just felt something was wrong.
"Buzz."
The power of life and death began to strengthen.
This made Bi Tian and Fu Yu feel as if a colossal grinding wheel of life and death had appeared within their bodies.
That feeling filled them with terror.
However, they could not utter words of pleading, and could only continue to endure.
"Turn."
The grinding wheel of life and death spun within their bodies.
Whether it was lightning or blade energy, under the grinding wheel of life and death, it was directly ground to pieces.
"Mmm."
Both of them let out a muffled groan.
Chen Fan opened his eyes, "Hold on, as long as you two live, this City Lord will grant you a great fortune."
"..."
The two remained silent.
Within their despairing pupils, a flicker of hope lay hidden.
No one wanted to die.
Chen Fan ignored them and continued to grind the energy within their bodies.
Finally...
"Found it."
Chen Fan's eyes suddenly lit up.
Among the crushed energy, a worm-like thread appeared, constantly moving within the energy.
"It's not petrification."
The dao was different.
Yet, there was a sense of devouring.
"That's right."
A thought suddenly struck him, recalling the energy that had drilled into his body when he first entered the Stone Realm.
At the time, he had mistaken it for the petrifying dao of the Stone Realm, as daos were everywhere.
But now, it seemed that was not the case.
This was a different kind of devouring dao, with many differences from Old Demon Chu's.
"Come out."
Regarding devouring, Old Demon Chu should know more.
Chen Fan pulled out the worm-like threads from their bodies.
Opening his eyes, and disregarding the relieved expressions of Bi Tian and Fu Yu, he directly handed the two energies to Old Demon Chu, "A devouring dao, see if you recognize it."
"Oh."
Old Demon Chu subconsciously took it.
As soon as it entered his hands, he let out a soft exclamation, "This is..."
"Recognize it?"
"No."
Old Demon Chu shook his head, but a peculiar glint appeared in his eyes.
He said excitedly, "This devouring dao is much more advanced than my own devouring path. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I can confirm one thing: this devouring path likely devours others' energy stealthily."
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Demon Chu paused, "City Lord, could it be that we..."
Chen Fan nodded, a hint of solemnity on his face.
"If I'm not mistaken, we all have this thing inside us right now."
"Damn it."
Emperor Kuang, standing beside him, immediately bristled, "These are leeches! They're treating us as food."
"That's right."
Chen Fan agreed with this assessment, "This Stone Realm, while appearing to be for the good of the entire Four Directions Domain by establishing a trading realm.
Now it seems that's not the case at all. The Stone Realm treats everyone in the Four Directions Domain as vessels for providing daos."
Beside them, Bi Tian and Fu Yu could only tremble.
Chen Fan and the other two were talking openly, not concealing anything from them.
They dared not say anything more and could only stand by quietly.
"Let's set this aside for now."
Chen Fan decided to move past this topic for the moment, "We need to leave the Stone Realm as soon as possible. The longer we stay, the harder it is to guarantee what might happen."
"Mm."
This suggestion was met with everyone's agreement.
"In that case..."
After a moment of thought, Chen Fan added, "In three hours, we'll go and see what other good items we can find to strengthen ourselves in the Second City. If there's nothing, we'll find another world to strengthen the Life and Death Realm."
"Yes."
"As for the two of you..."
Chen Fan looked at the two trembling figures, "Follow us for now. Once we leave the Stone Realm, you can then merge with your worlds."
"Thank you, senior."
"Call me City Lord."
"Yes, thank you, City Lord."
...
The group expanded from three to five people.
With Bi Tian and Fu Yu present, Xiao Fu was no longer needed as a guide.
The two had lived in the Stone Realm for hundreds of years and were quite familiar with it.
As they browsed through various trading venues, they encountered many Emperors, both from the Stone Realm and from outside.
The more they walked, the more people they saw.
Finally, the group stopped in front of a pagoda.
A seven-story pagoda, radiating a dense light of dao.
"City Lord."
Bi Tian bowed, "This place is called the Myriad Treasures Pagoda. Many rogue cultivators consign items they obtain in the chaos here for sale."
"Let's go in and take a look."
Treasures in the chaos were abundant, but the chaos itself was too vast.
Treasures were rare.
Those who were lucky might encounter treasures that occasionally appeared in the chaos.
As the group entered, someone came forward to greet them.
"Welcome to the Myriad Treasures Pagoda. What would you like to choose?" a servant inquired.
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow.
The servant before him was actually a first-tier Emperor.
"An Emperor as a servant."
Emperor Kuang spoke his mind directly, "What a grand gesture."
"Senior, you jest."
The servant could sense Emperor Kuang's power, which was at least greater than his own.
He smiled, "Junior has comprehended a special dao that can discern hostility and goodwill, so the boss assigned me here."
"That's good."
This method was indeed impressive.
Being able to sense hostility, and if it were stronger, it would likely be the dao of calamity.
Calamity and danger could be sensed in advance.
"We'll just look around."
After saying that, the group walked in on their own.
The servant did not mind and smiled as he stepped aside.
He had come out to sense if there was any hostility.
However...
Looking at the young man's retreating back, the servant's expression became much more solemn.
"I can't sense it."