On the Three Paths River, corpses floated densely, the river water turbid and murky.
Perhaps influenced by the thousand stars aligning, death rules surged actively across the river surface, dark qi billowing fiercely.
Yin winds howled, like the roars of gods and demons.
Xue Jue War God unfurled pairs of blood wings on his back, radiating golden light.
With a flap, he flew out from the divine vessel, hovering above the water, facing the boundless ghost clouds directly. His battle robes fluttered as he said, “If you do not retreat, you are forcing this seat to act.”
The Ghost Lord stood within primordial ghost qi, laughing fearlessly. “Why be so stingy? We ask for little, just a small amount. If fighting truly breaks out, gods from my three central tribes will arrive endlessly. Delaying the auspicious hour would be unfortunate!”
On this Three Paths River, the Ghost Lord held absolute geographical advantage. Today, with the heavenly timing of the thousand stars aligning, he naturally feared no Xue Jue War God.
At the peak of Taixu, one possessed such confidence.
“Xue Jue, why are you taking the lead? Is this your wedding, or Zhang Ruochen’s?” A mass of corpse qi surged from the river bottom. Xu Liao’s massive corpse body floated within it.
The divine might of a Taixu great god shook the clouds, his voice echoing through the starry sky.
“We wish to see the Young Lord Ruochen. Let the Young Lord come out and distribute divine stones.”
Many ghost cultivators, corpse cultivators, and bone cultivators joined the clamour.
On the Blood-Coloured Divine Centipede Vessel, Zhang Ruochen gave a cold smile. Then his figure moved, crossing void, appearing on the water surface not far from Xue Jue War God.
He wore jade robes edged in gold, hair bound with a purple crown, carrying an air of unparalleled heroism.
“I am no Young Lord. Do not address me wrongly. On this joyous day, fighting would disgrace everyone. If it is wedding money you seek, I shall give some.”
Zhang Ruochen flicked his sleeve. Over ten thousand divine stones flew towards the ghost clouds like a rain of stars.
After frantic scrambling, all the divine stones were taken.
A divine voice rang out. “Too few. So few divine stones are not enough to share.”
“Too few!”
“Too few!”
…
All the dead spirit cultivators shouted in unison.
Ten thousand divine stones were naturally not few; many gods could not produce them.
Zhang Ruochen’s smile faded, his gaze darkening. “I see you are not here for wedding money. You are deliberately causing trouble.”
The Ghost Lord said, “Young Lord Ruochen, do not become angry from embarrassment. We have come sincerely to congratulate you. Blocking the wedding procession is only to add liveliness. But debts must be repaid; it is heaven’s principle. Young Lord owes the Earth Fiend Bell to Di Sha Ghost City. Is it not time to return it?”
“Debts must be repaid; it is heaven’s principle.”
The ghost cultivators of Di Sha Ghost City shouted together.
Even war drums began to sound.
Was this truly blocking a wedding?
Was this truly congratulating?
Zhang Ruochen said, “I do not recall owing you the Earth Fiend Bell. The Earth Fiend Bell is with Senior Xu Tian. If you have the ability, go demand it from him.”
Whoosh!
Space trembled, a dragon roar deafening.
The Blood Dragon War Halberd appeared in Xue Jue War God’s hand. Blood qi condensed into images of a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, charging against the opposing ghost clouds.
The Ghost Lord’s gaze locked on Xue Jue War God, then fell on the aged figure at the prow of the Falling Cloud Divine Vessel. He bowed slightly and said, “Fine. The debt owed to Di Sha Ghost City shall not be pursued today!”
The Ghost Lord retreated, but Xu Liao soared upward.
His corpse body rose like a towering divine mountain, a boundless divine realm world faintly visible above his head. He declared loudly, “Young Lord Ruochen, you owe this seat profundities. If you do not return them, today this seat can only perish together with you. Xue Jue, can you block me?”
Xu Liao’s eyes flashed like lightning. He was not merely talking. If he could not recover his profundities, he would never glimpse the Immeasurable Realm in this life.
Rather than live henceforth in mockery and resentment, better to stake everything.
He believed Xue Jue War God and Zhang Ruochen would surely compromise and not truly drive a Taixu great god to detonate his divine source. No one could bear those consequences.
The Ghost Lord withdrew to watch the drama. His only concern now was whether the old patriarch would intervene.
Yet if the old patriarch acted, that would truly become a grand spectacle.
At that time, the Corpse Clan would naturally send an ancient antique existence to contend with the old patriarch.
Xue Jue War God’s brows furrowed. He thought inwardly, what trouble. He did not know whether Xu Liao had been incited or instructed by someone, yet he displayed such resolute will.
Detonating his divine source on the Three Paths River would be one thing. Detonating it during the wedding, at the Destiny Temple, would cause catastrophe.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen very much wished to seize this chance, turn and leave, blaming the failed wedding procession on the Ghost Lord, Xu Liao, and the others.
He could forgo face.
But this involved Xue Jue War God’s face, the old patriarch’s face, Xu Tian’s face. Zhang Ruochen could never do so.
A mocking smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen’s face. “Great God Xu Liao, there was originally no enmity between us. You shouted to kill me, so I seized your profundities as minor punishment and major warning. I did not expect that on my wedding day, you would still dare to act arrogantly. Do you truly believe I dare not kill you?”
His final words rang out, shattering stone and sky.
All trace of smile vanished from Zhang Ruochen’s face.
Xu Liao deliberately provoked him. “Young whelp Ruochen, you are too arrogant! If you can withstand three strikes from this seat with your own ability, this seat will turn and leave today, never stepping out of the Corpse Temple again in this life.”
“Good! If you can withstand three moves from me, I shall return the profundities.”
As Zhang Ruochen spoke, he had already shifted through space, appearing before Xu Liao. The Yin-Yang Eighteen Bureaus instantly unfolded, evolving into eighteen spatial divine array discs.
Array inscriptions like dense divine chains caused chaotic space to expand or contract.
After seven thousand years of secluded cultivation, Zhang Ruochen’s mental power had risen from early seventy-eighth order to peak seventy-eighth order.
Such cultivation speed in the mental power domain astounded the world.
One must know that the six great humans, as disciples of Qing Tian, had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years yet only reached peak seventy-ninth order.
With greatly increased mental power, control over the Yin-Yang Eighteen Bureaus naturally became more exquisite. The instant the arrays unfolded, Xu Liao was pressed downward toward the water.
As if eighteen great worlds weighed upon him, space squeezed from all directions. Xu Liao let out a long howl. Divine flames erupted from his body, radiating heat that scorched heaven and earth, tearing space into countless void cracks.
Whoosh!
Six divine swords manifested around Zhang Ruochen. Countless sword shadows appeared in the void, forming a sword array.
The might of divine artefacts spread through the star domain where the Life-Death Boundary Star lay. All sword dao rules were stirred.
The Six-Unity Sword Astonishing God Array descended, slashing Xu Liao.
Divine qi surged madly within Xu Liao. The sub-divine supreme sacred artefact fist gauntlets in his hands burst with star-like brilliance, striking the sword array falling from above.
Pfft!
The six swords passed. Xu Liao’s corpse body was severed into over a dozen segments.
Corpse blood fell like rain, sprinkling onto the wedding fleet, onto the vast black ghost clouds.
All heaven and earth fell silent.
Even the Ghost Lord and Xue Jue War God stood stunned. The shock in their hearts defied words.
Other gods and saint realm cultivators were naturally even more bewildered, unable to believe the scene before them.
One move!
With merely one move, Zhang Ruochen had cleaved a Taixu great god into pieces.
In the past nineteen years, to salvage face, the Ghost Lord and others had spared no effort in secretly proclaiming that Zhang Ruochen had only escaped them by borrowing Sword Ancestor’s power and Old Corpse Ghost’s might. In the end, he was merely a new-generation great god; his own combat strength was not truly formidable.
Today’s sword—how could it not terrify them senseless?
Zhang Ruochen stood on the water, jade robes spotless, six swords orbiting him, brimming with heroic spirit. In his hand he held a bloodstained sub-divine supreme sacred artefact fist gauntlet. “Today is joyous; I shall not kill foes. Consider these gauntlets your wedding gift!”
Xu Liao’s divine body reformed. His face was deathly pale and desolate, as if his soul had fled.
Without a word, he tore through space and departed.
Clearly, the blow he suffered today might never heal in his lifetime.
Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze to the opposing ghost clouds. “Since you have come sincerely to congratulate, why not leave a few gifts as well?”
The cultivators trembled, all revealing awe.
The ghost clouds receded like a tide. No one wished to follow Xu Liao’s fate.
The Ghost Lord withdrew outside a divine hall, gazing at Zhang Ruochen for a long while before fixing his eyes on Xue Jue War God. “The Grand Clan Chancellor’s grandson truly deserves to be the foremost talent of the present age. I believe it will not be long before he breaks into the Immeasurable Realm! Divine King Qing Lu spoke rightly; he can indeed alter the pattern of the God Realm.”
“We depart!”
After the divine hall flew away, it soon vanished into the cloudy mists.
On the one hundred and ten wedding vessels, thunderous laughter erupted.
Led by Xue Tu, all cultivators shouted Zhang Ruochen’s name in unison.
“Zhang Ruochen cleaves Taixu with one sword.” This event, propelled by the Ghost Lord and other gods, spread rapidly.
Killing one is not as effective as elevating one to death.
Aboard the Falling Cloud Divine Vessel, Xue Jue War God’s expression was complex. “Your current strength already surpasses Hai Shang You Ruo.”
“It merely borrowed the power of arrays and divine swords.”
Zhang Ruochen added, “Moreover, Xu Liao’s divine body had previously been shattered by Old Corpse Ghost; his strength was far from peak. Against another early Taixu great god, victory would never be this easy.”
Xue Jue War God nodded. “Victory without pride, defeat without resentment—this mindset is good. You have fought many Taixu great gods and should understand their strength clearly.”
“Precisely because I understand, I absolutely dare not underestimate them.” Zhang Ruochen said.
The gap between Taixu and Taibai is a major realm difference. Though Hai Shang You Ruo is nearly invincible in Taibai, against an early Taixu great god, she would still lose nine of ten battles.
Only existences with profound foundations like Xue Jue War God and Huang Tian could contend with early Taixu at Taibai peak.
Without the augmentation of divine swords and Yin-Yang Eighteen Bureaus, Zhang Ruochen’s combat strength might not exceed Hai Shang You Ruo by much. He still needed vast time to accumulate and settle; he was far from the point of viewing all under heaven with disdain.
Regardless, relying solely on his own strength, Zhang Ruochen could now rival Taixu great gods.
Along the way, no cultivators blocked the procession again.
Though distant observers watched, all carried wary expressions, not daring to approach too closely.
