CHAPTER 242: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MYSTERIOUS ENTITY AND THE STONE TABLET

Seeing the sudden shift in Lu Chen's expression, Lu Qing asked, "Original, what's on your mind?"

Primordial lightning qi gathered along Lu Qing's sword as he faced the skeletal giant. He unleashed a dragon-shaped beam of sword qi at the giant.

The lightning formed a thick, sinuous dragon that surged through the air, gaining momentum before plunging straight into the giant's chest cavity. Once inside, the dragon exploded, and the resulting shockwave swept across the skeletal giant's body, forcing it back more than ten steps. The blast also gave Lu Chen a brief moment to recover.

Seeing the giant pushed back, he let out a sigh of relief. "A creature beneath us must have condensed the skeletal giant. Its actual strength is only at the Sunken Core Realm, and it can't exceed that."

He quickly repaired his vine shield, then wove a series of vine traps beneath the ground, laying everything needed to destroy the skeletal giant in a single strike.

Once Lu Chen had prepared everything, he looked toward the distant giant. He no longer regarded the giant as a threat, and his demeanor grew bold and defiant.

The second and third avatars beside him withdrew their swords and turned to watch him. Sensing the Divine Tree's vines spreading underground, the second avatar asked, "Why did you say that the skeletal giant's strength can only be at the Sunken Core Realm?"

Lu Chen raised his Hunyuan Greatsword and explained calmly, "Because the creature in the chasm can only release a limited amount of energy to the outside world."

Roar!

The skeletal giant touched the charred bones on its chest and glared at him. It then slammed the ground with its massive fists. Shockwaves radiated outward. Lu Chen quickly raised his vine shield to block the incoming force.

Still uncertain, the second avatar frowned. He straightened his rumpled robe and asked, "Original, are you saying the creature created this skeletal giant, but because its power is limited, it can only unleash strength up to the Sunken Core Realm?"

"That's basically right," Lu Chen replied, sharing what he had learned from the Cloud Register of Seven Seals. "Here's what I discovered. Study it and help me come up with a plan. We'll test it together and see if my theory holds."

The skeletal giant, seeing that its shockwave attacks were easily blocked by the shield, roared again. Black mist swirled from its chest and enveloped both fists as it charged, attempting to crush the defense through sheer force.

While fending off the assault, Lu Chen explained, "The stone tablet contains some secrets about the Green Sovereign. But judging from what we've seen, it's clearly more than that."

"Original, could it have suppressive power?" Lu Qing asked, glancing at the transmitted information. "Grandpa Feng said stone tablet–type artifacts often are naturally attuned to suppression laws."

Lu Chen tightened his grip on the vine shield, then tossed the Hunyuan Greatsword to Lu Qing. He pressed forward against the skeletal giant. Despite the nearly tenfold height difference, he used his agility and leverage to push it back almost ten zhang.

Seeing the giant forced to retreat, the other avatars followed suit, striking while it was weakened. Raising their swords in unison, they unleashed a massive wave of sword qi.

Lu Chen watched their attack land and smiled faintly. "You're not wrong. The tablet does have suppression laws. Before we found it, these skeletal giants had never appeared."

He recalled the chaos within his Heavenly Pool, where the tablet had helped suppress the violent spirit qi. The two tablets in the mountain of skeletons must have served a similar purpose.

It became clear to him that those two tablets had long kept the creature beneath sealed. That's why, on their first visit, the creature hadn't released the skeletal giant. Over time, it likely understood the tablet's function. Once the suppression lifted, it tried to overcome the restraining power and return to the world above.

As Lu Chen pondered the connection, the skeletal giant slammed another punch into his vine shield. He coughed lightly, stepping into a bow stance, bracing his shoulder against the impact.

The giant noticed his momentary struggle and launched a flurry of heavy blows, each strike thundering against the shield, trying to shatter it.

Bang!

A deafening impact rang out. The repeated strikes had left a deep mark on the shield, and it seemed that it was only one more hit away from being blown apart.

Lu Chen's expression hardened. "Oh, you're getting cocky now..."

He steadied his grip and squeezed his left fist. A fresh layer of vines spread rapidly across the shield's surface, reinforcing its defense.

This time, the vines that appeared were a combination of those from both the Innate and Acquired Green Sovereign Divine Trees. Their defensive strength and toughness had multiplied several times compared to before.

The newly restored vine shield was nearly five times larger. It completely enclosed Lu Chen and the others. Rising to nearly a third of the skeletal giant's height, it truly lived up to the name—heaven-piercing shield.

Jun Laoye stood behind them, eyes widening as he took a sharp breath. He had never imagined that Lu Chen possessed such formidable defensive power. He doubted he could break through it even with the Heavenly Lightning Giant.

The skeletal giant glared at the expanding shield, pounding its chest in fury. Rage and madness coursed through it as it struck the vine shield again, yet the impact barely shook it.

Lu Chen smirked, his gaze cold. "The power of Void is a supreme law. It might break through the tablet's suppression and seal us away."

"But the tablet itself carries inherent law-suppressing power. Even if the Void law tries to bypass it, it will face severe limitations. The closer it gets to the tablet, the more it is suppressed."

Raising the vine shield, Lu Chen rammed it into the bone giant. "That might be why they've never been able to seize the tablet fragments directly."

Lu Qing nodded thoughtfully. "So they're using us as vessels to transport the fragments?"

"Exactly. The creature down below created the skeletal giant, then manipulated it to herd us step by step toward the ravine. Once we fall in, they can take the fragments directly."

Lu Qing tightened his grip on the Hunyuan Greatsword, channeling lightning through the blade. A fierce arc of lightning slashed into the skeletal giant, cutting off a chunk of bone. He chuckled softly, glancing at Lu Chen, awaiting further insight.

Bracing his left arm against the vine shield to absorb the giant's blows, Lu Chen gripped the Hunyuan Greatsword with his right hand. "That's right. This is the only explanation that makes sense."

A blazing, two-zhang-long sword of fire surged from the blade as he continued striking the skeletal giant.

With the giant's passive pull and Lu Chen's deliberate advance, the battlefield rapidly shifted toward the ravine's edge. Glancing toward the chasm, he noted they were now less than a thousand meters from where Wind Dragon had been sealed. Every movement had been carefully orchestrated to draw closer—now, his long-planned move could finally begin.

"So that's it... that's why they sealed Red Fox and the others, but not us."

The second avatar flashed beneath the skeletal giant, catching the Hunyuan Greatsword Lu Qing had thrown. He unleashed the Star Serpent Cloud Concealment and swung with full force, carving a deep cut into the giant's thigh and cleaving off a massive piece of bone.

Returning behind the vine shield, the second avatar tossed aside the severed bone and grinned at Lu Chen. "It's like a caged tiger. All it can do is bare its fangs and roar. Stay out of reach, and it can't actually hurt us. So... are we going all out to take this pile of bones down?"

"Exactly," Lu Chen nodded and outlined his perfect plan. "We'll destroy this skeletal giant, break the cage in the shortest time possible, and free Red Fox and Wind Dragon. As long as we don't let them take the tablet fragments, those creatures below won't be able to harm us."

A gap opened in the vine shield, and Lu Chen peered through it. He glanced at the giant with a mocking smile. "Am I right, you bag of bones? Did I hit the mark? If you could speak, you'd probably be cursing right now. It's such a pity that you can't."

The skeletal giant's rage intensified. It seemed as though it understood its weakness had been revealed. It hammered its fists against the shield repeatedly, but Lu Chen no longer showed the slightest concern for it.

His third avatar emerged from the shadow. With the Hunyuan Greatsword in hand, he swung it across the giant's back, leaving a deep gash.

"Angry already?" Lu Chen's lips curled into a taunting smile through the gap in the shield. "Even if my guess is speculation, it's the only explanation that ties everything together."