"That figure..."
Ye Ling's heart stirred slightly as he saw the faint figure appearing within the statue. He immediately broke free from the chains binding him and leaped towards the statue, wanting to get a clear look at the figure manifesting within.
Upon approaching, Ye Ling discovered that seated on the statue's chest was a withered man.
His hair was white, his breath faint, unlike a living person.
More like an empty shell.
However, judging by his appearance, this withered man bore some resemblance to the thousand-meter-tall statue that had emerged from the earth.
"Could this emaciated fellow be the Three Yuan Star Monarch from the Tongtian tribe's myths and legends..."
The more Ye Ling looked, the more he felt that the thousand-meter-tall statue was sculpted in the image of the man before him, a hint of disbelief flashing in his eyes.
It wasn't the Tongtian tribe's craftsmanship that shocked him. While the statue was magnificent, it wasn't difficult for the Tongtian tribe to construct such a monument.
What surprised him was why a figure from the Tongtian tribe's myths would appear in space near Earth.
Furthermore, according to the Tongtian tribe's mythology, the Three Yuan Star Monarch was at least an Emperor Realm expert, whose physical body was essentially indestructible.
If this body truly belonged to the legendary Three Yuan Star Monarch, Ye Ling was curious about what experiences could have led such a powerful Emperor Realm expert to this state.
Were there truly beings in the Milky Way that could threaten him?
"This body is well-preserved, and the remaining residual soul within has been properly protected. It should have been intentionally stored here by someone... Is it the Tongtian tribe? But why wouldn't the Tongtian tribe place the Three Yuan Saint Monarch within their own civilization?"
"The Tongtian Tower of the Tongtian tribe... the ritual of sacrificing saints... Could the person who stored the Three Yuan Star Monarch here be intending to resurrect him?"
Ye Ling stared at the husk before him, his thoughts gradually becoming active.
Resurrection, though easily spoken, required an exceptionally great price.
Even to resurrect an ordinary person, one had to pay a price ten to a hundred times the value of a human life before that person's soul reincarnated, and even then, it might fail!
Life, aging, sickness, and death were natural occurrences. Resurrection was inherently against the natural order, and attempting such a feat would undoubtedly be met with the full resistance of the heavens.
If resurrecting an ordinary person was this difficult, let alone resurrecting an Emperor!
If the Tongtian tribe's experiments during Earth's primordial era were ultimately aimed at resurrecting the Three Yuan Star Monarch, they might not have succeeded even if they had gambled Earth and their own civilization.
"However, with a sacrificial altar that had offered saints hidden within this concealed space, it's not impossible for the person who arranged this to truly want to resurrect the Three Yuan Star Monarch."
"But does present-day Earth truly have enough saints for him to sacrifice?"
Ye Ling murmured to himself, examining the husk before him and contemplating the meaning behind the existence of this body and the statue.
"Moreover, judging by the state of the altar, the sacrificial ritual just took place. If this body truly received the power obtained from sacrificing saints, why is it so fragile?"
Just as Ye Ling was staring at the Three Yuan Star Monarch's husk before him, pondering its purpose, a surge of immense energy erupted from the altar below.
The power that the altar had absorbed from Ye Ling was fully unleashed, coursing towards the statue and entering its interior.
However, the power did not flow into the Three Yuan Star Monarch's husk as Ye Ling had expected. Instead, it rushed directly to the statue's crown, merging with a crimson crystal core beneath it.
"My power... was given to this statue?"
Ye Ling was somewhat stunned as he saw his power being absorbed by the statue, unable to react for a moment.
In the end, all the power gained from sacrificing saints went to a statue. What was the point of placing the Three Yuan Star Monarch here?
Rumble...
As Ye Ling stood in stunned silence, the statue's eyes began to glow with red light.
Having received Ye Ling's power, the entire statue seemed to come alive, slowly beginning to stand.
Its thousand-meter-tall body made every movement cause the earth to shake.
The altar and the surrounding stone forest were crushed by the statue's steps. To avoid being trampled, Jiu Ling ascended into the air, flying near Ye Ling and warning him, "Your Majesty, be careful, this statue is the true Three Yuan Star Monarch!"
"The statue is the Three Yuan Star Monarch?"
Hearing Jiu Ling's words, Ye Ling became even more bewildered.
Jiu Ling, having recovered all her memories, explained, "Xuan Xiao stored the residual soul of the Three Yuan Star Monarch within the statue, attempting to use this statue as the Three Yuan Star Monarch's body for his resurrection!"
"The Tongtian Towers in the Tongtian tribe's ruins were all built to imbue this statue with life!"
"Once this statue gains true life, the Three Yuan Star Monarch will possess the statue and reign supreme!"
Jiu Ling had guarded the Tongtian Tower for nearly a million years and knew many things. Now, after experiencing a severe shock, her soul had inherited the memories from her bloodline.
The memories Jiu Ling had lost due to her soul being severed were now all restored!
Upon hearing Jiu Ling's words, Ye Ling couldn't help but examine the moving statue before him, his brow furrowed.
He wasn't surprised that the statue had gained life. What he didn't understand was why Xuan Xiao wanted the Three Yuan Star Monarch to possess a statue.
The Three Yuan Star Monarch's actual body was right here, so why would he seek out a substitute instead of using his true body?
Filled with doubt, Ye Ling probed the statue with his divine soul and discovered that the material used to craft the statue was the same special metal used to build the Tongtian Towers.
And the crimson crystal core beneath the statue's crown stored a vast amount of spiritual energy, within which surged an extremely powerful might.
Aside from the portion of power Ye Ling had just been drained of, the crimson crystal core contained the power of four other saints!
In other words, it took the sacrifice of equivalent to five saints for this altar to animate the statue!
"Roar—!"
Suddenly, the Three Yuan Star Monarch statue opened its mouth and roared, spitting out a beam of light that pierced through the space!
The deafening sound echoed through the heavens and earth, and the space began to collapse.
As the space shattered, Ye Ling discovered that this hidden space was merging with the ancient ruins. Ye Ling could even see the heavenly soldiers and generals fighting the Mother of Calamity!
This hidden space had connected to the ancient ruins!
And the ancient ruins were connected to Shanghai!
Ye Ling watched as the hidden space gradually merged with the ancient ruins, then looked at the statue that was beginning to walk towards the ancient ruins, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Could it be... that this statue intends to travel to the human world through the ancient ruins?"