Two days later.
With Yano and Nilly's return, that overseas Stone Descendant had also come to the Slime City Palace, and the ancient name "Children of Gore" once again tread upon this land.
Chen Yu crouched on the throne, looking down at the ragged stone man standing below the steps.
This Stone Descendant was even more destitute than he had anticipated. His dark gray stone body was covered in cracks and scars from blades and swords.
Chen Yu studied this overseas visitor for a moment, and sure enough, he spotted the coral that Little Flower had mentioned on him.
Could it be that these Stone Descendants liked diving, spending so much time in the sea that coral and seashells grew on their bodies?
But this Stone Descendant paid him no attention and didn't care about his murmured speculations. He simply crouched down, kept counting his fingers with his head lowered, his lips moving as he muttered faint whispers, like a demon at prayer.
Yano and Nilly stood on either side of him, their expressions tinged with helplessness.
Nilly spread her hands. "This guy is practically impossible to communicate with. We asked him questions for two straight days on the road, but he'd only repeat the same few lines over and over. The rest of the time, he'd either space out or mumble numbers that no one can understand."
"But judging by his state, he's probably forgotten even his own surname."
"We only managed to pry out some of the family's origin history."
With that, he recounted to Chen Yu the history he had painstakingly pieced together from the madman's fragmented words.
A full year after ending the adventure in Gore, Chen Yu finally learned the complete family history of the Stone Descendants.
Although the Stone Descendants called themselves the Children of Gore, to be precise, their family's original birthplace wasn't on Zeyarila's mainland but in the distant Southern Islands.
It was said that their earliest ancestor was merely the heir of some small island kingdom. After offending the Medusa race, he was afflicted by a bloodline curse.
In a single night, all the royal family members' flesh-and-blood bodies were cursed into stone and sealed within a sleeping palace.
Later, by chance, an alchemist used some kind of evil alchemy to grant them the ability to move again.
But the Stone Descendant ancestor thus became the alchemist's slave.
During a disaster, they escaped the alchemist's control, crossed the ocean, and fled to the mainland, seeking a new life.
However, their luck was poor. They were captured by giant slave traders along the way, sold and resold until they reached Gore, where they became slaves of the Stone Giants once more.
The name "Children of Gore" came precisely from that dark period when they were the Stone Giants' servants.
But this name held great significance for the Stone Descendants. It was during this era of enslavement by the Stone Giants that the petrification-resistant bloodline within their bodies truly began to manifest. The descendants who possessed the Stone Bloodline were first given the title "Stone Descendant."
They formally became a clan with an independent bloodline inheritance.
Later, the giants' rule was overthrown. To completely break the family's petrification curse, the Stone Descendants' earliest recorded ancestor — "Stone-Heart" Hailam — led the family's warriors back to the Southern Islands to seek revenge against Medusa.
At first, relying on their stone-immunity bloodline, they truly pushed the Medusa race back, step by step.
But they quickly discovered that this bloodline wasn't stable. Not every descendant could fully inherit the Stone Bloodline.
Children born with thin bloodlines had skin that never finished hardening. By the time they reached adulthood, they would completely turn into lifeless stone statues.
So, to give these descendants a chance at survival, Stone-Heart made a difficult decision.
He drove those without perfect bloodlines back to the mainland, making them board ships to the land of the Stone Descendants once more, carrying the family name. He hoped that this land of giants, which had once given the Stone Descendants their bloodline origin, could bring another miracle.
As for what happened next, Chen Yu was very clear.
The Stone Descendants returned to the Dark Realm, only to find their homeland already occupied by vampires. Several dark battles nearly crushed this already exhausted race.
Their conflict with the vampires dragged on for ages, until he and Yano broke into the Dark Realm and finally put an end to this dark war.
But well, Gore hadn't brought the Stone Descendants a second miracle. Instead, it was he who brought something unexpected.
With his help, the Stone Descendants receiving Imperial medical treatment could almost all reactivate their bloodline through acupuncture, restoring their perfect stone-immunity Stone Bloodline.
In a sense, that ancestor Hailam had guessed correctly.
Returning to Gore, the miracle really did come — just not from Gore's ground, but brought over from the swamp by him.
After hearing Yano's account, Chen Yu's small eyes fell back on the overseas Stone Descendant, who was still counting his fingers.
"So they were crushed by Medusa in the islands, had nowhere to turn, and came back to beg for help?"
Nilly put her hands on her hips, chin slightly raised, her tone full of strong opposition to this conclusion.
"Your Majesty is underestimating us Stone Descendants. Medusa is nothing special."
"Our ancestor is still alive. With petrification immunity, Medusa is no match for them at all."
Chen Yu was somewhat surprised, his small eyes widening slightly. "That 'Stone-Heart' Hailam is still alive?"
"Of course." Nilly lifted her chin, her tone proud and full of pride. "The original Stone Descendants were a long-lived race. As long as they actively sink their bodies into a petrified state, the passage of time practically stops for them."
"Those old farts like Solomon couldn't resist aging because their bloodlines weren't good enough. But ever since those kids from the academy stuck them with needles and restored their Stone Bloodline, they can come out from underground and bask in the sun now."
"As for Hailam, that legendary hero — he was already an Extraordinary professional when he left Gore back then. Theoretically, living another few hundred years is no problem at all."
Chen Yu nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly fixed his gaze on Nilly.
He tilted his head, looking her up and down for a moment, his tone curious. "Speaking of which, you're already someone from decades ago. How come you haven't grown an inch?"
This remark seemed to hit Nilly's sore spot. She instantly bristled. "Your Majesty, don't go prying into a woman's age, alright? I'm just a slow grower. Who says I won't get taller?"
Saying this, she quickly regained her confidence, raising her chin again, her voice smug. "This auntie is the one with the most special bloodline in the entire Belmont family."
"I'm a true long-lived race. Other Stone Descendants only have the Stone Bloodline, but I also have a genuine long-lived race bloodline."
Chen Yu was slightly amazed.
Good heavens. A long-lived race bloodline stacked on top of the Stone Bloodline.
Even if this woman didn't turn into stone, her natural lifespan would be several times that of an ordinary human.
Once she entered the petrified state, her life status would freeze, and the passage of time would have almost no effect on her.
During those years, the Dark Realm had been hit by one battle after another with no end in sight. As the only active elder left in the Belmont family, Nilly had been working almost non-stop, a true model worker.
It could be said that during the darkest days of the Belmont family, she was the one who held the family together.
But on the contrary, the longer she stayed in her stone form, the faster she would develop and the quicker she would age.
What kind of logic was that? The more active you are, the younger you stay?
So, looking at it that way, the fact that she had grown to her current height was already considered decent development.
But her long-lived race bloodline didn't seem to be like elven bloodline. After all, any half-elf would be afflicted by the Withering Curse, yet she wasn't.
This bloodline might originate from another, even more mysterious race.
As for what it was, even Nilly herself couldn't say.
Perhaps only by personally traveling to the Southern Islands and meeting "Stone-Heart" Hailam himself, who was still leading the Stoneheart Family in the islands, could they get the truth from his mouth.
Chen Yu looked at the Stone Descendant still counting his fingers. "So you still haven't figured out why he's actually here to beg for help, right?"
Nilly sighed and spread her hands again. "No dice. This guy is completely insane. All he remembers is some family history. If you ask about anything else, he either spaces out or mumbles those numbers no one can understand."
"But..." she rubbed her hands together, "he did mention that great hero Hailam several times. He said that ancestor Hailam has become a Legendary, the last pillar of the Stoneheart Family."
"A Legendary Stone Descendant — now that's a rare sight. Hehe, if we could get the Legendary trial of the Stone Descendants from that ancestor..."
Chen Yu immediately understood her intention.
The Empire's number of Extraordinary professionals was indeed growing rapidly, but Legendaries were still scarce.
If they could figure out the Stone Descendants' Legendary trial and give them some time and resources, the Empire might very well be able to nurture its own Stone Descendant Legendary.
But the overseas situation was still unclear. Any enemy that could make a Legendary Stone Descendant swallow his pride and send an envoy across the ocean to beg for help was something worth gathering more intel on before setting out.
He planned to let Nilly spend a few more days trying to extract as much specific information as possible from this mad envoy before making any further decisions.
Nilly wasn't in a hurry either. Seeing that her Majesty had already noticed the value of the Legendary trial, she clapped her hands in satisfaction, turned around, and was about to drag away the overseas Stone Descendant who was still counting his fingers.
But then she caught sight of Yano still standing there, not moving.
"Boss, um..." Yano scratched his head sheepishly. "I've been running into a bit of a bottleneck in my sword practice lately. Could you take a look for me?"
A bottleneck in sword technique?
Chen Yu's small eyes blinked.
What did he know about sword technique? The flying swords that Xu Xuan Heaven cultivators used were all controlled by divine sense. The Primordial Beginning Sword Guidance was pure Dao art and had little to do with sword technique itself.
But since Yano was asking, he must have encountered some problem he couldn't solve on his own.
He hopped down from the throne, bounced toward the open space behind the palace, and even gave a little wave of his gel hand.
"Let's go. Find some open space in the back, and let me see what problem you're dealing with."
"Got it, Boss." Yano sighed in relief and followed.
Nilly decided not to leave either. She dragged the overseas stone man along to join the fun.
The training ground was an open-air area that the Slime Artisans had deliberately reserved when the palace was expanded. It had originally been a grassy field, but now all the green was covered in white snow.
Yano walked to the center of the training ground, drew his knight's sword, and turned to face Chen Yu.
"Lately, while practicing the Sword Scripture, I've been faintly sensing a higher realm, but I can't seem to break through. It's like this."
He took a deep breath, held his sword horizontally in front of him, and began to focus on the blade in his hand.
The change happened almost simultaneously.
His breathing didn't change, but his aura was already completely different. It was as if both he and the sword in his hand had sunk into a calm, deep body of water, cut off from the outside world.
Slash, thrust, parry, sweep, upward cut... He began to swing his sword, his movements no different from his practice in the town's backyard. His focus was slowly peeling him away from his surroundings.
Nilly crouched by a stone pillar, her chin resting on her hands, muttering under her breath. "Looks pretty impressive, I guess."
As for what exactly was impressive, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She just felt that when the big guy swung his sword, there was an indescribable quality to it, like the elegance of the Grand Sage casting a spell.
She turned her head and glanced at the overseas Stone Descendant beside her. This guy had somehow stopped counting his fingers. He shrank his head, staring motionlessly in Yano's direction, as if he had found something more worthy of his attention than counting fingers.
Hey?
Chen Yu, watching from the side, saw the real trick.
Wasn't this Dao resonance?
This guy Yano had stumbled upon Dao resonance?
In Xu Xuan Heaven, Dao resonance was usually a trace of heaven's opportunity that Foundation Establishment cultivators could comprehend only after mastering their mental cultivation method to perfection.
Of course, there were also occasional mortals of extraordinary talent who, even without spiritual roots or any cultivation at all, could awaken Dao resonance through pure, refined skill.
The Cloud Crane Ancestor of the Three Origins Sect had been just an ordinary mortal woman with no understanding of cultivation before she attained enlightenment.
Armed with nothing but a sword, she traversed mountains and rivers, and one day, she broke through the gates of the Dao, becoming a Primordial Sword Master.
Yano was an Extraordinary professional who also possessed the Heart of the Sword Knight, which in itself elevated his ceiling for exploring his skills.
In Xu Xuan Heaven terms, he was a genius in the way of the sword, and comprehending Dao resonance was not surprising at all.
Moreover, his Dao was born from mortal martial arts, most likely a path no one had ever walked before.
A heaven's opportunity derived from the physical skill of the body like this was actually easier to grasp than the traditional Dao lineage of Xu Xuan Heaven cultivators.
So no wonder.
To go further was to touch the true Great Dao of heaven and earth. Of course, he couldn't cross that threshold.
A genius merely glimpsed the doorstep of the Great Dao. Every one of those who became a Dao Master was a true dragon of talent that emerged from among thousands of geniuses.
It seemed like only one step away, yet countless people spent their entire lives unable to see the scenery beyond.
Insufficient talent wasn't something hard work could compensate for.
If you can't cross, you can't cross. Unless you experience great rises and falls, disasters and setbacks, and a flash of insight in the midst of desperation, there is almost no possibility of entering the Dao.
In other words, unless some unexpected event occurred, Yano would never comprehend the Great Dao in this lifetime.
But Chen Yu still couldn't help sighing inwardly at this guy's incredible luck.
If Yano had come a few days earlier, before he had comprehended the Embryonic Yuan Slime Dao, he wouldn't have been able to solve it at all.
But now, he really did have a way to give him a push.