*Boom.*
Evil Spirit struck, the divine python’s massive tail swinging with surging divine power, slamming into the ground.
Despite the sturdy earth of Xianji Mountain’s core, it cracked open, revealing a deeply hidden subterranean space.
Zhang Ruochen had intended to infiltrate using spatial techniques but was thwarted by a strange force, forcing a direct approach.
As the barrier shattered, the vast underground space came into view, the Death Altar and the Shadow of the Death God starkly prominent in the darkness.
When Zhang Ruochen had last infiltrated to scout, the Shadow of the Death God stood at five hundred zhang. Now, it towered over a thousand zhang, its condensed power undeniably greater.
Three white-robed priests still sat on the altar.
But now, their cultivation had deepened, reaching the Near-Path Realm.
Clearly, beyond their prior peak Heaven-Connecting Realm cultivation, the Death Altar’s enigmatic powers had accelerated their breakthrough.
“What’s going on?”
Bi Yunhai arrived, curiosity piqued.
Having rushed from the Southern Region for Ji Fanchen, he was unfamiliar with the Northern Region’s affairs.
“The Death Clan uses this Death Altar to siphon the Northern Region’s revival energy, creating numerous powerhouses and aiming to further link their star domain to the Kunlun Realm. Each day, their strength grows,” Zhang Ruochen explained concisely.
Bi Yunhai’s eyes gleamed, “Clever plan, using war to fuel war. We can’t let them succeed. But if we destroy this altar, won’t they just build another elsewhere?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, “Not so simple. Building such an altar requires specific materials and locations. Xianji Mountain, once home to the Northern Region’s premier sect, Xianji Sect, is the origin of the region’s ancestral veins. Only here is suitable.”
Xianji Mountain was extraordinary, or the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood trunk wouldn’t be here. Finding another awakened divine land in the Northern Region to rival it, while not impossible, would be exceedingly difficult.
Destroying this altar would largely thwart the Death Clan’s ambitions.
“Step back. I’ll destroy the altar,” Bi Yunhai declared confidently.
Having lost face against Qiyang, he sought to redeem himself, unwilling to appear weak before Ji Fanchen.
Zhang Ruochen and the others gladly complied, retreating to observe.
Uncertain of the altar’s peculiarities, letting Bi Yunhai probe was prudent.
Bi Yunhai summoned his King’s War Artifact, fully activating it, harnessing a third of the heavenly rules within a seven-thousand-li radius for a supreme strike.
He might not defeat Qiyang, but he refused to believe a mere Death Altar could withstand him.
The sky-blue gourd glowed, over two hundred thousand king-grade inscriptions surfacing, intertwined with countless heavenly rules, exuding immense pressure.
A torrent of kingly holy power erupted from the gourd’s mouth, forming a dazzling beam of holy light.
*Boom.*
The light didn’t strike the altar directly; a dark shield emerged, blocking it.
Then, the altar unleashed a powerful force, rippling outward like waves.
Evil Spirit swung its massive python body, dispersing the altar’s force. Zhang Ruochen and the others, atop Evil Spirit’s head, were unaffected.
Bi Yunhai, shielded by his King’s War Artifact, was unharmed but unsettled, his gaze fixed on the altar.
“Could the altar’s power surpass Qiyang’s?” he thought, shaken.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression grew grave. Destroying the altar was, as expected, far harder than anticipated.
It made sense—the Death Clan had invested heavily in this altar as a key asset. It wouldn’t be easily demolished.
On the altar, the three white-robed priests stood, their gazes sweeping over Zhang Ruochen’s group before locking onto Bi Yunhai.
As a Near-Path Realm expert with Immortal Great Saint-level prowess, Bi Yunhai posed a greater threat.
“Attacking the Death Altar is a death sentence,” the female priest said coldly.
Bi Yunhai sneered, “Death sentence? I’d like to see who can take my life.”
“Death Severance.”
The three priests acted in unison, activating the thousand-zhang Shadow of the Death God.
The shadow swung its scythe, unleashing a black scythe beam, like a long spatial rift, racing toward Bi Yunhai.
“Hmph, think I’m afraid?”
Bi Yunhai snorted, striking with a palm.
Hundreds of thousands of palm-path rules emerged, drawing vast heavenly rules, forming a boundless azure sea with towering waves crashing toward the Shadow of the Death God.
“Attack.”
Zhang Ruochen spoke, launching the Azure Sky Pagoda.
They couldn’t stand idle; without destroying the altar, they couldn’t retrieve the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood trunk.
Ji Fanchen, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, and Pei Yutian acted without hesitation, unleashing Saint Arts or artifacts.
Evil Spirit, unwilling to stay passive, swung its python tail, erupting with divine power, striking the Shadow of the Death God.
Compared to the others, Evil Spirit was fearless. Its attacks might not be peerless, but its defence was unparalleled.
Currently, Evil Spirit couldn’t fully harness the divine python corpse’s power, its sacred soul too weak to wield excessive divine force.
Its unleashed power fell short of Immortal Great Saint level, or it could dominate the Kunlun Realm.
*Bang.*
The black scythe shadow couldn’t withstand the barrage of attacks, shattering and dissipating.
“Help me activate the Azure Sky Pagoda. Keep attacking,” Zhang Ruochen called.
Ji Fanchen, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, Pei Yutian, and Evil Spirit poured their power into the Azure Sky Pagoda.
The pagoda trembled, expanding like a divine mountain, azure light flaring, waves of Supreme Power radiating.
Perhaps influenced by Evil Spirit’s divine power, the dormant artifact spirit’s consciousness awoke.
*Roar.*
A earth-shaking beast roar echoed from the pagoda, unleashing even greater Supreme Power.
“Hm?”
Seeing the Azure Sky Pagoda, Bi Yunhai’s eyes flickered.
With a Supreme Saint Artifact, he wouldn’t have lost to Qiyang, and destroying the altar would be effortless.
Thoughts racing, Bi Yunhai refocused, forcing a drop of essence blood onto the sky-blue gourd. The gourd’s glow intensified, unleashing its full power.
He couldn’t let Zhang Ruochen’s group steal the spotlight.
*Boom.*
Supreme Power and kingly holy power erupted together, like a cataclysm, unstoppable.
The Shadow of the Death God quaked, faint deathly mental power seeping out.
The Death Altar below trembled, destabilised, nearly upended by the combined forces.
Beneath the altar, the sturdy earth cracked densely. Soil and rock sank, revealing a dark void as dust surged upward. The grand Death Altar seemed severed from the ground, floating in suspension.
This disrupted the altar’s ability to draw the Northern Region’s revival energy.
But just as the tide turned in their favour, Zhang Ruochen’s expression shifted.
He’d detected a peculiar spatial fluctuation from the dark void beneath the altar.
Danger.
“Agh…”
A piercing scream rose from the depths.
A Death God Knight burst from the ground, engulfed in blue flames, their expression twisted in agony.
*Hiss.*
In moments, they collapsed, incinerated to ash by the blue flames.
From the ashes crawled a blue firebug, no larger than a fingernail, strikingly beautiful.
“God-Devouring Bug.”
Recognising it, Zhang Ruochen’s face grew stern. He urgently transmitted to Xiang Chunan and the others to retreat and keep their distance.
The Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood trunk was indeed below the altar.
God-Devouring Bugs lived within the trunk. The recent attack had likely torn a rift in the space housing the trunk, allowing the bug to surface.
The bugs’ terror was undeniable—even gods dreaded them.
This one, small as it was, was among the least threatening.
When Zhang Ruochen and Canglan Martial Saint entered that strange space, they saw swarms of God-Devouring Bugs, some fist-sized, others as large as basins.
Larger bugs were exponentially more dangerous.
As the cultivators reeled from the bug’s appearance, a melodious female voice emerged from a grey mist on the altar, “Legend says God-Devouring Bugs are the tree insects of the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood, born alongside it. One appearing here—could there be a Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood growing in the space beneath the altar?”
A vast underworld river flowed from the altar, revealing a colossal nine-headed玄武 (Xuanwu).
Atop the nine-headed Xuanwu stood a tall, graceful woman, her body encircled by chains of fate rules, as if she held the destinies of all beings.
It was none other than Prajna, one of the three Goddess candidates of the Fate Temple.
“The altar’s depths hide another realm?”
“With a God-Devouring Bug, there must be a Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood below. Has it sprouted anew?”
“It’s possible—how else could the Kunlun Realm revive?”
Even the Death Clan cultivators hadn’t anticipated an independent space beneath the altar. Excited, they readied to storm it, eager to seize its treasures.
Prajna, standing on the underworld river, lifted her crystalline face, scanning Zhang Ruochen and his group, her gaze settling on him.
Zhang Ruochen had already locked eyes with her.
In that fleeting moment of contact, his body trembled, pupils dilating, as if petrified.
On the river, Prajna’s lithe form subtly wavered, unnoticed by others.
For that instant, both stood as statues, breaths stilled. The world seemed to freeze, time halted.
Beyond them, all scenery vanished.
Though separated by distance, space seemed to collapse, bringing them face-to-face, their features clear.
After a long pause, Zhang Ruochen drew a sharp breath, returning to reality. The surroundings reappeared, his senses restored.
Though the woman’s appearance had changed drastically, her eyes alone confirmed her identity to him.
“It’s her. It has to be her. How can it be her?”
His fingers clenched involuntarily, disbelief gripping him.
His heart twisted, a pang of pain surging as countless past memories flashed, settling on the gates of Ziwei Palace.
Those moments remained vivid, never forgotten.
He’d vowed to let go, to forget, but it was self-deception.
As his gaze lingered, his heart quaked, thoughts racing, “No mistake—it’s her. Why is she in the Hell Realm? Why a Death Clan member? Everything’s changed—what happened these past years?”
Never had his heart been so tumultuous, riddled with questions and complex emotions, yet he couldn’t voice a single word.
Someone who should be dead stood before him again.
