The divine battle that erupted in the Seven Peaks Linked Mountains sent shockwaves the moment Zhang Ruochen swung his sword at Mani God. News spread instantly, alarming the gods of all one hundred and thirty-seven small clans in the Hundred Clans Royal City.
Any small clan able to join the Hundred Clans Royal City must have at least one god within its ranks.
The strength of each such clan was no different from an entire realm under the Heavenly Court.
The Hundred Clans Royal City was essentially a small Heavenly Court.
It possessed the power to negotiate terms and compete for benefits with the ten great clans of the Hell Realm and the Fate Divine Temple. Though it could not compare to the ten great divine cities of the Hell Realm, it stood as one of the supreme poles beneath them.
Yet at this moment, every god in the city was shocked. They emerged from their holy lands, blessed caves, and divine halls, all turning their gazes toward the place in the Seven Peaks Linked Mountains where the dark power surged most violently.
Blood Radiance Divine Lord and a white-haired elder dressed in blood-red robes had just entered the city.
Strange and extraordinary rule divine patterns flowed around them. Although countless holy realm cultivators passed by in the mortal world, driving carriages or carrying swords, none could see them or even touch their bodies.
The world of gods and the mortal world existed in the same place.
Yet they were not in the same world.
The white-haired elder held an iron staff. His blood robe was embroidered with sun and moon divine patterns. His voice was dry and hoarse as he said, “Everyone in the world thought he was crippled. They believed the battle in Xinghuan Heaven was light bestowed by Heavenly Granny, a pity shown to the descendant of the Great Venerable. But only a few decades have passed, and relying on arrays alone, he can already challenge a great god. How many people in history have achieved this? Even the Island Master of the Fallen God Island could not do it in his youth. Is Zhang Ruochen truly going to walk the path of Array Formation Taishang?”
“Would it not be excellent for the Undying Blood Race to produce an Array Formation Taishang?” Blood Radiance Divine Lord replied.
The white-haired elder laughed. “I truly envy your Blood Heaven Clan. It seems in a few more eras, you will become the number one clan of the Undying Blood Race. No one will be able to contest Blood Absolute for the position of clan leader anymore!”
…
Eight hundred li of Night Rain Sea, a graveyard of a hundred trillion corpses.
The Yaksha Clan holy land, Night Rain Sea, was perpetually dim and filled with boundless death qi. Occupying eight hundred li of precious land in the Hundred Clans Royal City, it formed an alternative ocean of piled bones. Blood flowed, and corpse water remained turbid.
“One more arrogant than the last. A great god-level existence actually dares to act within the city. Do they truly think the Hundred Clans Royal City fears them?” A deep, furious voice seemed to come from the end of time and space. The entire Night Rain Sea churned.
A woman with a face as beautiful as jade, dressed in blue and white divine robes, sat quietly like an orchid in a divine hall within the Night Rain Sea.
She cultivated inside a spatial vortex, utterly calm. She said, “The divine battle erupted in the Demon Wolf Clan territory. Amul has not yet shown himself. Why should we be so hasty? Moreover, after those great gods from the Darkness Divine Temple arrived in the Hundred Clans Royal City, they bypassed our three great clans entirely and freely mobilised cultivators from various small clans to help them probe the Dark Delta Star Domain. Someone giving them a lesson is actually a good thing. I simply did not expect that the one who stepped forward would be a junior who has only been a god for a hundred years.”
Although the one hundred and thirty-seven clans had united to form the Hundred Clans Royal City, some small clans had openly or secretly pledged allegiance to the top forces of the Hell Realm. This greatly weakened the ruling power of the three great clans.
In truth, this was also a deliberate division strategy by the ten great clans of the Hell Realm, the Fate Divine Temple, and the Darkness Divine Temple. They did not wish for the Hundred Clans Royal City to become too unified.
The voice from the end of time and space was filled with disdain. “Hmph! What hundred years since becoming a god? From what I know, that junior possesses the sundial that belonged to Sumeru back then. He spent ten thousand years in Xinghuan Heaven. Moreover, he refined the third elder of Array Annihilation Palace into a spiritual power divine pill. That was how he achieved such rapid progress in spiritual power. But such forced advancement is merely overdrawing his potential.”
“Whether it is overdrawing potential or he truly possesses the talent to become an Array Formation Taishang, the future will provide the answer. For now, we will simply watch from the sidelines and see whether this junior can truly check the Darkness Divine Temple.”
The woman sitting in the divine hall drew circles in the void with both hands. No one knew what dao technique she was cultivating. Her entire being shifted from solid to illusory until she completely vanished from the spatial vortex.
Yet she was undeniably still sitting there, absorbing and exhaling the divine qi from the earth veins.
The voice from the end of time and space said, “With only his own strength, he is far from enough. Xinghuan Heaven and Starry Sky Cliff have just fought a battle against the Heavenly Court. They probably do not dare openly oppose the Darkness Divine Temple yet. The Blood Absolute Family currently means nothing in front of the Darkness Divine Temple.”
“If the opportunity arises, we will lend him a helping hand. Push him into the open to confront the Darkness Divine Temple. That way, the Yaksha Clan can remain uninvolved and avoid offending anyone.” The woman’s voice was extremely pleasant, distant and vast, capable of drawing one into an illusory dream.
…
Great God Li Xiao stood above the sea of dark qi clouds. He sneered repeatedly. “Your Yin Escape Nine Arrays are indeed powerful, but they can only protect yourself. This seat can advance to attack or retreat to escape. If we fought in the starry sky, I would only need to shatter space and pull you into the void world. There, without heavenly holy qi or divine qi to draw upon, your arrays would collapse on their own and cease functioning. At that point, killing you would require only one finger!”
“Zhang Ruochen, do you think this seat will make the same mistake as Second Rank Blood Ancestor? As long as I do not fall into your Yin Escape Nine Arrays, with your current spiritual power, you pose no threat to this seat whatsoever.”
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Yin Escape Nine Arrays. He stood tall and straight. He said, “In truth, your cultivation still falls far short compared to Second Rank Blood Ancestor.”
“You are courting death!”
Thunder rumbled continuously from the dark divine clouds above Great God Li Xiao’s head, revealing just how furious he was at that moment.
Dong!
Dong!
…
A deep, solemn bell tolled through the Hundred Clans Royal City. Sound waves spread across thousands of li of the city domain.
“The death knell has sounded. Another clan emperor has fallen!”
“The bell came from the holy land of the Hemp Robe Clan.”
“What audacity. Who exactly is it? They still dare to commit murder.”
The gods on the fourth peak all released their divine sense and probed toward the holy land of the Hemp Robe Clan.
Some gods gathered divine qi into their eyes. Two beams of light a thousand li long shot from their pupils, illuminating the land where the Hemp Robe Clan holy land stood as they searched carefully.
In recent days, the death knell had rung eighteen times.
Both the world of gods and the mortal cultivators were in an uproar. Everyone was furious.
A clan emperor was the secular ruler of each clan, often possessing the potential to become a god.
This was already the eighteenth clan emperor to fall!
The culprit had thoroughly enraged all the gods in the Hundred Clans Royal City. Yet despite so many gods probing with their divine sense, not even a trace of the culprit’s aura could be found.
“It must be the Thousand Bones Female Emperor. Only she possesses such masterful stealth techniques.”
“Let us go to the Hemp Robe Clan!”
Yunjun waved his arm. A path of flame divine road surged from his palm. Spatial veins converged, allowing it to pierce through the arrays and divine patterns above the Hundred Clans Royal City and lead straight to the holy land of the Hemp Robe Clan.
Mani God, Ailian Jun, and other god-realm powerhouses all stepped onto the flame divine road.
“It really happened again. I want to see exactly who this divine being is, capable of coming and going without a trace in the Hundred Clans Royal City, harvesting clan emperors like vegetables.”
Zhang Ruochen enveloped Jade Dragon Fairy and Han Xue with his spiritual power. He flew onto the flame divine road. In an instant, they crossed countless obstacles and arrived at the holy land of the Hemp Robe Clan, Thousand Camel Ridge.
As a massive starry city filled with gods, every district and street in the Hundred Clans Royal City was blocked by arrays and divine patterns with powerful defences. Only a native god like Yunjun could open such a divine road.
Thousand Camel Ridge rose ten thousand zhang high. Divine mist shrouded it, obscuring its full view.
Mani God still harboured resentment. He deliberately said, “Realm Venerable Ruochen possesses powerful spiritual power and superior perception. Perhaps you could help us find the culprit?”
Many gods in the Hundred Clans Royal City had already decided the culprit was the Thousand Bones Female Emperor. They did not believe Zhang Ruochen would search earnestly, nor did they think he could find her.
One god with a horse head said, “The clan leader of the Hemp Robe Clan is a Taiyi Realm great god. He personally guards Thousand Camel Ridge, yet the Thousand Bones Female Empress still managed to sneak in and kill the clan emperor. Against someone like her, not to mention a seventy-sixth-step spiritual power god, even an eightieth-step spiritual power god would probably fail to detect her.”
“Let us go! First, let us check the corpse of the Hemp Robe Clan emperor. Is it another death by time sword technique?”
They harboured deep prejudice against Zhang Ruochen. None showed him a good face. They left him behind and flew into Thousand Camel Ridge.
Han Xue was not afraid of them being true gods. She wanted to defend the Female Emperor, but Zhang Ruochen stopped her.
“Master, why do these people slander the Female Emperor? If she truly came to the Hundred Clans Royal City, I guarantee they would be too scared to even speak,” Han Xue said.
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes. He quietly released an invisible Taiji circle and searched inch by inch. He said, “Someone deliberately shifted their attention toward the Female Emperor. Ailian Jun, why did you not enter Thousand Camel Ridge?”
Ailian Jun was the most outstanding prodigy born to the Yaksha Clan in this era. His master, Jade Spirit God, was an ancient god of the Yaksha Clan who had survived three era tribulations.
During Zhang Ruochen’s previous visit to the Hundred Clans Royal City, he had seen him several times and left a deep impression.
Ailian Jun stood tall and heroic, with a jade-like face and abundant divine aura. His sideburns were three chi long. He said, “The Hemp Robe Clan is one of the great clans in the Hundred Clans Royal City. Its clan leader is an ancient great god. Even if the culprit’s stealth techniques are profound enough to evade a great god’s perception and enter Thousand Camel Ridge, the death of the clan emperor could not possibly escape a great god’s senses.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Correct! The moment the clan emperor was killed, the great god must have sensed it.”
Ailian Jun replied, “The culprit cannot have gone far. It is very likely she is still hiding in Thousand Camel Ridge. The divine arrays of Thousand Camel Ridge have already activated. A powerful cultivator might be able to break out from inside, but they absolutely cannot do so without any sound or trace.”
“So you believe that, from now on, the first one to emerge from inside will definitely be the culprit?”
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and looked toward the mountain path of Thousand Camel Ridge, which was covered in red leaves. A bright divine light descended from the clouds and landed on the ground.
It was precisely the horse-headed god who had entered Thousand Camel Ridge earlier together with Yunjun and Mani God.
The horse-headed god came from the Ghost Horse Clan and was a middle god. He said, “Why have you not opened the divine array yet?”
Two great saints of the Hemp Robe Clan did not dare offend a true god. They hurriedly opened a three-zhang-long rift of light in the divine array.
The horse-headed god stepped out of the divine array and approached Zhang Ruochen and Ailian Jun. His expression was grave. He said, “Indeed, it was another death by time sword technique. The Thousand Bones Female Emperor is truly formidable. No wonder she escaped from Fortune and Prosperity Divine Venerable back in the Fate Divine Domain. This god must return immediately to guard the Ghost Horse Clan. I will take my leave first!”
“Wait, True God Suo Ma. This god will accompany you to the Ghost Horse Clan. We can watch each other’s backs.”
Although Ailian Jun said this, he blocked the horse-headed god’s path. At the same time, he took out a talisman and mobilised divine qi to activate it.
