The figures of Wu Yue and Frost City Demon appeared in another stretch of void.
“Wind and Cloud Overlord, you cannot do anything to me. Continuing this battle holds no meaning.” Wu Yue’s voice was calm and distant. She continued, “How about we make a deal?”
Wind and Cloud Overlord’s body burned with scorching divine flames, his hair a blazing red. He said, “It seems you do not understand me at all. Making a deal with the Dark Shrine? You must be dreaming.”
“Do not rush to refuse.”
Wu Yue opened her right hand. Her five fingers were graceful, like a white lotus in full bloom.
A man in his thirties sat cross-legged in her palm, no bigger than a bean. At times his brows furrowed tightly, at times he gritted his teeth, and at times his face showed deep pain.
On the Xu Wind Divine Ship, Wind Suspended’s expression changed. He said, “It is the Clear Sky Sword King.”
“Wu Yue is truly terrifying. Even with the Clear Sky Sword King’s cultivation, she captured him alive. Moreover, he seems trapped in an illusion and cannot break free.”
“Everyone, stay calm. The two true gods of the Dark Shrine are still in our hands. Wu Yue would not dare harm the Clear Sky Sword King.”
…
Wind Rock’s face became extremely grave. He said, “The Clear Sky Sword King is one of the top sword cultivators in Sword King Realm. Many years ago he already reached the Great God level. Zhao Gongming, one of the nine great war gods of the Heavenly Palace, comes from Sword King Realm and once guided the Clear Sky Sword King. There is a master-disciple bond between them. This puts Father in a difficult position!”
Wind Xi’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. She said, “Father has never compromised with the Hell World in his life. Yet he shares a deep friendship with the Clear Sky Sword King. He cannot simply watch him die before his eyes. If that happened, he would carry guilt for the rest of his life.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Let us see what conditions the Dark Shrine proposes. As long as they are not too excessive, saving the life of a Great God is more important than anything else.”
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze fixed on Wind and Cloud Overlord’s face. For the first time, a trace of hesitation appeared on that resolute, iron-blooded countenance.
In the distant void, Wu Yue said, “One Great God in exchange for two Mending Heaven Realm true gods of my Dark Shrine. Do you not think this deal is very favourable? If you agree, I will release the Clear Sky Sword King right now.”
Everyone on the Xu Wind Divine Ship breathed a sigh of relief.
If the terms were like this, they were clearly gaining the advantage. They could accept.
Wind Xi’s worry grew deeper. She said, “She is forcing Father to compromise, intending to shatter his state of mind.”
“Exactly. A person who never compromises with the Hell World carries an unbreakable aura. He grows stronger against stronger foes, advances bravely, and never retreats. But once he retreats, his psychological defences collapse, and that aura weakens.” Zhang Ruochen said.
In battles between the strongest cultivators, psychological warfare is often crucial.
It is like two ordinary men fighting. One can swing his weapon wildly without caring for his life, and even if the other is stronger, he will be intimidated. But if the fearless one suddenly retreats because of something he values, his opponent will no longer fear him and will counterattack fiercely, quickly defeating him.
Clearly, Wu Yue did not want to provoke Wind and Cloud Overlord while he was at the peak of his momentum.
What appeared to be a very favourable deal could destroy the momentum Wind and Cloud Overlord had built over hundreds of thousands of years.
Advancing is pure yang, retreating is yin.
True pure yang means only advancing, never retreating.
Wind and Cloud Overlord’s eyes blazed. He shouted loudly, “Bring out those two true gods of the Dark Shrine!”
“Very good. In this deal, you have profited. In the end, I cannot abandon the two true gods of the Dark Shrine.” Wu Yue said.
The two Dark Shrine true gods, brought out by Wind Suspended, showed gratitude in their eyes when they heard this.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly. She truly deserved her reputation for gathering so many experts to form the Spirit God Hall. She achieved her goal and won their loyalty. In the future, these two true gods would surely die for her.
The exchange went smoothly. Soon the Clear Sky Sword King was brought back to the Xu Wind Divine Ship. His cultivation remained intact, and he had not been crippled.
In the distant void, the two Dark Shrine true gods knelt on one knee before Wu Yue, speaking something in low voices.
“Boom!”
The Pure Yang Divine Sword slashed toward them, carrying a rain of flaming sword light that turned the dark void a fiery red.
“We are leaving!”
With a sweep of Wu Yue’s sleeve, the gods of the Dark Shrine vanished into the void.
“If I wish to leave, even Immeasurable Realm gods cannot stop me. That sword of yours only wastes divine energy. Wind and Cloud Overlord, the journey through the Dark Delta Star Domain is still long. I may appear before you at any moment. You had better guard the Xu Wind Divine Ship well.”
Wu Yue’s voice gradually faded away.
And it came from every direction at once, eerie beyond measure.
Zhang Ruochen said, “What a terrifying figure. Leaving behind those words as she departs is enough to keep all of us tense and sleepless for the days ahead.”
“Darkness is her domain. Combined with her unfathomable mental power, she is like a ghost, appearing without trace and vanishing without shadow. In this place, even Immeasurable Realm gods probably cannot deal with her.” Wind Xi said.
Wind Rock said gravely, “That also depends on what kind of Immeasurable Realm we are talking about.”
Wind Xi looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, “Daoist friend, you must not leave the Xu Wind Divine Ship. The gods of the Dark Shrine may very well be lurking nearby.”
Zhang Ruochen agreed without hesitation.
Wind Rock glanced at Wind Xi’s eyes, then at Qing Pingzi the Daoist. His face sank further.
Wind and Cloud Overlord and Xuan Yuan Qing both entered the protective divine array of the Xu Wind Divine Ship.
Zhang Ruochen and Wind Xi returned to the ancient hall on the third level of the divine ship. They saw groups of gods and great saints from the Bright Shrine emerging from Xuan Yuan Qing’s divine realm world.
Zhang Ruochen spotted Shang Hong. He had already broken through to the Taiyi Realm and become a Great God.
But he was gravely injured, with more than ten horrifying sword marks across his body. It seemed he had been chopped into pieces by dark divine swords earlier.
The sword marks contained powerful dark sword qi and sword intent that continued to ravage his divine body.
He swallowed healing pills and sat in a corner of the hall, refining the dark power and sword dao force within him.
Besides Shang Hong, Zhang Ruochen also saw the true god Jia Lin Nan from the Order Palace of the Bright Shrine. Among the great saints, he noticed a familiar graceful figure clad in bright armour.
Whether gods or great saints, all were sword dao experts.
From the conversation between the Bright Shrine and the Wind Clan gods, Zhang Ruochen learned that the Bright Shrine also had a divine ship, but Frost City Demon had sneaked inside and destroyed it from within.
Many cultivators on that ship died tragically. It was Xuan Yuan Qing who promptly took them into her divine realm world, saving their lives.
The faces of the Wind Clan gods grew extremely ugly. If the Bright Shrine’s divine ship could be destroyed from the inside, if Wu Yue sneaked in, they too might face the fate of ship destroyed and people dead.
One god showed joy and said, “He is awake! The Sword King has awakened!”
With Wind and Cloud Overlord’s help, the Clear Sky Sword King emerged from the illusion. He opened his eyes, and their brightness gradually returned.
Learning that he had been captured by Wu Yue, the Clear Sky Sword King was filled with shame.
When he learned that because of him, Wind and Cloud Overlord had compromised with Wu Yue and released the two Dark Shrine true gods, the Clear Sky Sword King roared in fury. He declared that if he did not kill those two true gods in this life, he would have no face to return to Sword King Realm.
Sword King Realm ranks among the top one hundred strongest worlds in Heaven. Among sword dao worlds, it is second only to Sword God Realm.
Of course, this is partly because Zhao Gongming has long been stationed in the Heavenly Palace and almost never returns to Sword King Realm. He has not represented Sword King Realm in merit battles, so its merit value naturally falls short of Sword God Realm.
Today, Sword King Realm relies entirely on the Clear Sky Sword King to hold its position.
Naturally, the name “Zhao Gongming” plays a huge role in allowing Sword King Realm to rank in the top hundred and dominate the merit battlefield.
Zhang Ruochen had killed Li Xiao the Great God and obtained his dark profound meaning, which he stored in the Taiji Circle. At this moment, the dark profound meaning inside him showed a subtle fluctuation.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze immediately locked onto the Clear Sky Sword King.
But the fluctuation in the dark profound meaning vanished in an instant. When Zhang Ruochen tried to sense it again, he found nothing.
“Impossible. The Clear Sky Sword King is an old Great God and half a disciple of Zhao Gongming. He cannot be connected to the Dark Shrine. Moreover, if he truly carried any dark aura, Wind and Cloud Overlord would have sensed it when he helped him break free from the illusion earlier.”
“Could it be because the dark profound meaning I just obtained still carries Li Xiao the Great God’s aura, making it somewhat beyond my control?”
Zhang Ruochen quietly suppressed his doubts, but he grew wary of the Clear Sky Sword King.
Better safe than sorry.
Wu Yue trading one veteran Great God for two Mending Heaven Realm true gods was already unreasonable. With her supreme mental power, even with Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation, it was hard to fathom her intentions.
What a pity. If only he had invited the Drunkard here.
To deal with such unpredictable and eerie mental power experts, one needs someone with even stronger mental power.
After this incident, the plan to set up a star domain spatial teleportation array had to be shelved. The Wind Clan gods began discussing whether to press forward or leave the Dark Delta Star Domain.
“This god believes we should leave the Dark Delta Star Domain first. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. We cannot keep the protective divine array fully activated forever. The consumption of divine stones is too great. Once the divine stones run out, we will be even more vulnerable.” One god spoke in this way.
Wind Suspended said, “If the Wind Clan is scared away just by one sentence from Wu Yue, will we not become a laughingstock among cultivators of the world in the future?”
“At least for now, we have suffered no losses. But if the Dark Shrine joins forces with other powers from the Hell World to attack, the Xu Wind Divine Ship may not hold.”
“We came here to find the Sword Realm. We were already mentally prepared to face any danger.”
…
While the debate continued without end, the old man with a peach-shaped head, whom Wind and Cloud Overlord called “Mister Mo”, stood up and said, “Everyone has overlooked the most important issue. If the gods of the Dark Shrine keep hiding near us, we will be unable to leave spatial markers or set up a star domain spatial teleportation array. Continuing deeper will be extremely dangerous. We may never get out again!”
Hearing these words, the atmosphere in the ancient hall grew even heavier.
Even Wind Suspended, who had advocated pressing forward, fell silent. After all, the decision they made now concerned the lives of thousands upon thousands of cultivators on the divine ship.
