Chilling demonic qi froze the narrow passage solid.
The Blackheart Demon Lord strode forward, robes billowing, long black hair loose. Divine rule patterns surged around him, stretching space; the passage that had been less than two metres wide instantly became more than twenty li across.
His gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen and the others, radiating domineering ruthlessness. He was clearly furious.
True Lord Luan Ying, flapping his wings, nearly burst into tears the moment he saw the Blackheart Demon Lord.
Had he known the Demon Lord was nearby, he would have held out a little longer.
Now he had just pledged himself to Empress Chi Yao, and an even stronger foe appeared. How would the Blackheart Demon Lord view him?
He might kill him too.
The Blackheart Demon Lord’s eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen. “That earlier strike was not your power.”
Zhang Ruochen sensed the Demon Lord’s aura locking onto him, as though ten thousand chains bound his body, yet he remained calm. “Correct. That was the power of Sword Ancestor.”
“Sword Ancestor? Impossible!” The Blackheart Demon Lord refused to believe it.
If it had truly been Sword Ancestor’s power, not only would he have been pierced through, even the strongest ancient gods among Great Gods could not have withstood it.
Zhang Ruochen smiled lazily, unwilling to explain. “I truly cannot understand why you still dared to pursue us. After taking a strike from Sword Ancestor, your divine soul must be gravely wounded, no? Has your body healed?”
“He is courting death by coming after us.”
Chi Yao swung the Dripping Blood Sword. One slash severed every strand of the Blackheart Demon Lord’s locking aura.
Instantly Zhang Ruochen, Bai Qing’er, and True Lord Luan Ying felt relief, as if leaping free from a swamp.
“As expected of Her Majesty—able to cut even a Great God’s aura with one strike. Her strength is probably no longer inferior to peak Upper God, perhaps even comparable to perfected Upper God. Truly worthy of becoming one of the future Heavens!”
“With Her Majesty’s cultivation, even if we cannot win today, escaping with us should not be difficult.”
So thought True Lord Luan Ying. Catching sight of Zhang Ruochen out of the corner of his eye, disdain flashed across his face. He resolved to ruin the relationship between the Empress and Zhang Ruochen. Her brilliant future must not be squandered on this pretty-boy who lived off women.
The Blackheart Demon Lord said, “Zhang Ruochen, do you have a second strike?”
“So you believed I only had one strike left—that is why you dared pursue us.” Zhang Ruochen smiled.
“Is that not the case?” The Blackheart Demon Lord brimmed with confidence. “If you truly had a second strike, why did you not follow up when this seat was wounded? After a hundred thousand years of cultivation, what scene has this seat not witnessed? Do you think empty bluffs can scare me away?”
Though the Blackheart Demon Lord guessed wrongly, he was not entirely mistaken.
Zhang Ruochen’s seven soul swords could only unleash devastating power under extreme emotion. If he attacked with a soul sword now, it would pose no threat to the Demon Lord at all.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen fall silent, the corners of the Blackheart Demon Lord’s mouth curled upward. He struck decisively, slamming a palm against the ground.
Demonic qi condensed into chains as thick as bowls, like enraged steel dragons, surging along the floor towards the three.
Chi Yao’s figure flickered, swapping positions like a phantom, and appeared at the front. Holding the Space-Time Chaos Lotus, she released vast quantities of chaotic qi from the lotus that collided with the demonic qi, forming a temporary stalemate.
“The Thirty-Three Heavens truly lives up to its reputation. The Great Venerable deserves to be called Kunlun’s number one throughout the ages.”
A demonic seal shot from the Blackheart Demon Lord’s palm, descending upon Chi Yao like a black firmament.
The space-time power of the Space-Time Chaos Lotus was fully activated, forming space-time tides that clashed with the demonic seal.
Chi Yao let out a muffled grunt and retreated one step, but she also shattered the seal. Simultaneously, the Dripping Blood Sword turned into a crimson streak, manifesting countless sword lights that attacked the Blackheart Demon Lord proactively.
“You taught her both the Rules of Time and the Rules of Space?” Bai Qing’er asked.
Zhang Ruochen changed the subject. “The Blackheart Demon Lord is indeed heavily injured—his strength is far below before. If we were outside and could use profundities, he might not be Chi Yao’s match right now.”
Before Bai Qing’er, Zhang Ruochen did not call Chi Yao “Yao Yao” but used her full name.
Likewise, Chi Yao addressed him directly as Zhang Ruochen rather than “Chen-ge,” avoiding any deliberate display of intimacy.
The dynamic between two people and three people together was subtle indeed.
Profundities were not unusable here; only the presence of Divine Venerable substance severely limited the heavenly rules that could be mobilised.
“Since his divine soul is gravely wounded, I could try Seven Souls Terror Dream again,” Bai Qing’er said.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head at her, not wanting her to take the risk. “Leave it to me. Perfect chance to test the sword.”
“Blackheart Demon Lord!”
Zhang Ruochen fused spiritual power with sound waves, forming a shock that deliberately assaulted the Demon Lord’s divine soul.
At the same time, a sly glint appeared in Bai Qing’er’s beautiful eyes. Her jade finger brushed across the bronze bells. Wave after wave of bell chimes rang out, likewise striking the Blackheart Demon Lord’s divine soul.
The Blackheart Demon Lord’s head throbbed with agony; he nearly fell backwards.
How could Zhang Ruochen miss such a perfect opening? He thrust out his right hand. Flames and sword patterns emerged simultaneously on his arm.
Swish! Swish!
The Six United into One Sword Shocking God Array activated. Countless sword lights flew from his palm, smashing through the demonic qi with overwhelming force.
The Blackheart Demon Lord paled in shock. He hurriedly unfolded his divine-realm world and summoned the four heavenly demon stone steles.
Bang! Bang!
Even a Great God’s divine-realm world could not withstand it; it was shattered by the sword lights.
Finally, the sword lights collided with the four heavenly demon stone steles, producing deafening explosions that forced the Blackheart Demon Lord into constant retreat.
“Heavenly Demon Blood-Burning Art!”
Cornered, the Blackheart Demon Lord resorted to a forbidden technique. Ten three-cun-long gashes appeared on his body. Vast quantities of blood gushed out and ignited, forming ten rivers of fire that flowed around him.
Watching from the side, Chi Yao saw the passage walls cracking under the clash of divine forces and felt an ominous premonition.
She was about to warn Zhang Ruochen…
BOOM!
The passage exploded. Dust and debris filled the air; fragments rained down.
Zhang Ruochen was flung backwards. Buddha light flared around him, then Bai Qing’er’s divine-realm world caught him and steadied him.
On the other side, the Blackheart Demon Lord burst from the rubble, six huge bloody holes in his body, drenched in blood, countless bones broken.
The wounds would not heal.
Sword qi from the divine swords had invaded his flesh, continuously ravaging it.
True Lord Luan Ying shot out from the ruined underground, his eagle eyes nearly falling from their sockets in disbelief that Zhang Ruochen could be this powerful—he had actually grievously wounded a Great God.
Was Zhang Ruochen’s martial cultivation not crippled by Qing Tian?
How could he be even stronger than the Empress?
This was insane!
Zhang Ruochen’s calm gaze met the Blackheart Demon Lord’s icy eyes. Their auras locked and pulled at each other.
But this standoff did not last long. Both were startled by a long, resonant breathing sound. They looked up towards its source and saw a scene they would never forget.
The stone walls had shattered, the passage collapsed, revealing a starry sky above their heads.
A completely unfamiliar starry sky!
Utterly different from the heavens above Xinghuan Heaven. Here… a thousand stars aligned in a straight line!
Countless stars formed an endless line across the void.
A pillar of flame light, unknown millions of li tall, stood in the starry sky, radiating majestic heat far surpassing any star. An old man shrouded in dense corpse qi was bound by thousands upon thousands of serpentine chains covered in scales.
Every scale bore a divine pattern.
The old man’s body was more than ten thousand li tall. A single strand of white hair hung down like a river of corpse qi containing entire worlds.
One strand of hair nurtured one world.
Standing before him, Zhang Ruochen felt as insignificant as dust, his heart unable to calm.
Even the Blackheart Demon Lord, who had seen countless storms, inhaled sharply, face slightly pale. He hurriedly reined in his demonic qi, terrified of waking the old man. “Zhang Ruochen, truce. We leave this place first.”
True Lord Luan Ying trembled violently, muttering soundlessly, “It’s over… we’re back again!”
No one wondered who the old man was, why he was chained here, why an underground starry sky existed, or whether he was dead or alive.
They only wanted to flee immediately.
Bai Qing’er studied the old man for a long time, especially the pattern on his face, then glanced at the black divine palace floating above in the starry sky. Her eyes gleamed with eagerness.
Zhang Ruochen noticed something wrong and grabbed her soft, boneless wrist. “What are you planning?”
“Do you know who he is?” Bai Qing’er asked.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “Whoever he is, we cannot provoke him. I know you fear nothing, but we only have one life. Not every gamble ends in luck.”
“He is Yu Hun, the third disciple of Xinghuan Tianzun. Look at the pattern on his face—it is the character ‘Hun’ (soul),” Bai Qing’er said.
The moment Bai Qing’er uttered “Yu Hun,” the old man bound to the flame pillar twitched his ears ever so slightly. Yet his body was so colossal that Zhang Ruochen and the others failed to notice.
Zhang Ruochen found it hard to believe. “Impossible! Xinghuan Tianzun died countless aeons ago. No matter how strong Yu Hun was, he could not still be alive. Look—he is shrouded in corpse qi yet still breathing, and the aura he emits is identical to the old corpse-ghost.”
“Moreover, this is beneath the dojo of Xinghuan Tianzun’s second disciple, Yu Chen. Why would Yu Hun be chained here?”
Bai Qing’er explained, “Precisely because Yu Hun is chained here that everything makes sense. Clearly, after the four disciples dismembered the Tianzun, Yu Hun was unsatisfied with only receiving the Tianzun’s heavenly body, so he led his gods to attack Yu Chen.”
“That battle destroyed the Yu Chen Divine Temple and caused the fall of gods from both sides, burying them underground.”
“Yu Hun must have lost and was imprisoned here. But Yu Chen was probably gravely wounded too and unable to kill him, likely passing away in that black divine palace long ago. Do you know what Yu Chen obtained? The Tianzun divine source!”
“The Tianzun divine source is very likely inside that black divine palace.”
Zhang Ruochen had heard the tale of the four disciples dividing the corpse. Bai Qing’er was indeed extraordinarily clever; from observing the surroundings alone, she had pieced together most of what happened back then.
Even if not completely accurate, she was probably not far off.
But she lacked reverence and had too much audacity. Yulong Xian had fallen here, Goddess Cai Yi had been killed and erased by the old corpse-ghost, even the Blackheart Demon Lord fled at first sight—yet she still wanted to seek the Tianzun divine source.
He did not know whether such a disposition was right or wrong.
Unable to hold back, Zhang Ruochen lightly tapped her forehead as if scolding a little girl. “Nonsense! Even if the Tianzun divine source really is in that black divine palace, it is not a place our current cultivation can raid. In future, you are forbidden from taking such reckless risks! Come with me!”
Bai Qing’er touched her smooth forehead. No one had ever disciplined her like this—she was a god who had lived thousands of years.
Yet the feeling was strangely wonderful. Though she glared coldly at Zhang Ruochen, she felt no anger, only a warm ripple in her heart, as if that tap had struck the surface of a lake within her.
Because Zhang Ruochen was worried for her safety.
Seeing his serious, anxious expression, then recalling their first direct confrontation when she had completely dominated him, how proud and aloof she had been…
Thinking of that, Bai Qing’er could no longer maintain her icy demeanour. She let out an involuntary laugh.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the old corpse-ghost on the flame pillar, lowered his voice sternly. “This place is so dangerous—how can you still laugh? Move, now!”
