Under the terrifying suction force, the defence constructed by Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden appeared extremely fragile, like paper, collapsing instantly. The two were unable to stabilize themselves and were involuntarily drawn deep into the passage.
“Is this the calamity destined for me? I’ve given my all, yet I still can’t overcome it,” Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden felt a profound sense of powerlessness.
Her cultivation had just broken through to the Heaven-Connecting Realm, and her mastery of the Source Path had greatly improved, but she was still unable to resist.
“Snap.”
As Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden sighed, one of her hands was suddenly grabbed, and her body froze in mid-air.
Looking up, she saw the person holding her hand was none other than Zhang Ruochen.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen was gripping the hilt of the Chenyuan Ancient Sword with his other hand, the blade deeply embedded in the stone wall.
Meanwhile, the Demon Sound of the Saint Devourer Flower extended from Zhang Ruochen’s spine, stretching out numerous tough vines that burrowed into the stone wall.
However, the suction force within the passage was too powerful. The Chenyuan Ancient Sword couldn’t hold firm and slowly shifted, carving a long gouge in the wall.
The vines extended by Demon Sound were also snapping one by one, unable to withstand such terrifying pulling force.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen wanted to take Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden into the Spacetime Codex, but to his frustration, the codex wouldn’t open. Even spatial treasures like the Exquisite Space Ball were unusable.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden stared blankly at Zhang Ruochen, finding it hard to comprehend. At such a critical moment, why would this man still try to save her?
Anyone else would surely be focused on self-preservation.
“Let go, or do you want us to die together?”
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden glared at him. She could see that because he was holding her with one hand, Zhang Ruochen couldn’t exert his full strength. Despite her lofty pride, she felt a humbling thought—that she was a burden.
With a soft sigh, Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden let go of Zhang Ruochen’s hand, willing to let the terrifying suction take her. In that moment, her mental state transcended, learning to sacrifice herself for others.
Or perhaps, there were other emotions at play.
In any case, she didn’t want to drag Zhang Ruochen down.
But things didn’t go as she expected. Zhang Ruochen didn’t let go; instead, he gripped her hand even tighter.
“Zhang Ruochen,” Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden couldn’t help but call out.
“Shut up.”
Zhang Ruochen coldly uttered two words, channeling even stronger sacred energy into the Chenyuan Ancient Sword. The blade widened instantly.
Yet, it still couldn’t counter the pulling force. His fingers, gripping the sword, split open, dripping with sacred blood.
He could have let go of her hand and let her be swept into the passage’s depths, but Zhang Ruochen couldn’t do it.
“Damn guy, does he have to be so domineering?” Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden felt both annoyed and a hint of inexplicable joy.
For some reason, though they were being pulled deeper into the passage, her heart calmed. Allowing Zhang Ruochen to hold her jade-like hand, she began to think of countermeasures.
Whether she admitted it or not, deep down, she felt she should learn from Zhang Ruochen.
Even when the odds were impossible, he fought with all his might, no matter how tough the situation.
It was as if her proud heart had been conquered.
“Master, I… I can’t hold on…” Demon Sound said weakly.
“Crack.”
With a clear snapping sound, Demon Sound’s strongest vine broke.
Affected by this, the Chenyuan Ancient Sword slipped from the wall, and Zhang Ruochen had no time to reinsert it.
The suction force in the passage grew even more terrifying, pulling Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden relentlessly toward the depths.
Throughout, Zhang Ruochen held tightly to Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden’s hand to avoid being separated.
In a true crisis, their chances of survival were undoubtedly greater together.
Soon, they reached the end of the passage, where the space opened up dramatically.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t an exit but an abyss, pitch-black below, with chaotic earth energy surging wildly.
Unable to control their bodies, Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden plummeted rapidly into the dark abyss.
After falling thousands of zhang, they finally saw the source of the suction.
It was an enormous creature, its full form obscured, with a gaping maw swallowing everything frantically.
Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden’s expressions froze. They hadn’t expected such a colossal divine power monster lurking in the passage’s depths.
As they neared its maw, Zhang Ruochen saw a pair of cold eyes, glinting with a trace of mockery.
“What’s going on? Does this divine power monster have intelligence?” Zhang Ruochen’s heart jolted.
The hundred-plus divine power monsters they’d encountered before were powerful but only knew slaughter, devoid of any intelligence.
If those monsters had been intelligent, they likely wouldn’t have escaped into this passage.
“A monster that can devour four types of divine power and possesses intelligence, this…”
Zhang Ruochen’s composure wavered, i dare not think any further.
He even suspected this divine power monster might be one of the five overlords mentioned by the short, thin elder.
But according to the elder, the five overlords should be within the main structure of the Dragon God Hall, not outside.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on this—they were about to fall into the monster’s maw.
“Attack.”
Zhang Ruochen shouted, unleashing the Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror with full force.
The spatial suppression here was too strong, rendering space techniques nearly ineffective.
The Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror’s surface glowed with over a million supreme inscriptions, releasing several terrifying supreme forces despite the powerful constraints.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden unleashed an ancient talisman, the last and most powerful one she had.
A terrifying source power surged from the talisman, unstoppable, as if it could break everything into its most fundamental particles.
The monster’s eyes flashed with disdain. As its maw opened and closed, four divine powers converged, forming a terrifying divine power vortex.
Both the supreme force and the source power were instantly swallowed by the vortex, having no effect.
Simultaneously, Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were caught by the vortex, unable to struggle, and were swallowed by the monster in one gulp.
After swallowing them, the monster slowly closed its maw and eyes, and the abyss returned to calm.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were swept by the vortex into a dim, vast space, seemingly capable of holding a small star.
“So, this passage wasn’t free of divine power monsters—it harboured the most terrifying one. The other monsters didn’t dare approach due to instinctive fear,” Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden said gravely.
Stabilizing himself, Zhang Ruochen released her hand.
Glancing at him, Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden inexplicably felt a trace of loss.
Looking around, Zhang Ruochen saw the dozen-plus divine power monsters swallowed earlier, now writhing in agony.
The reason was the four-coloured divine light entwining them.
Zhang Ruochen instantly recognized that this four-coloured divine light combined Time, Space, Source, and Dark powers, extremely terrifying.
In moments, the dozen-plus divine power monsters stilled, their violent wills extinguished, turning into large divine power crystals.
Seeing this, Zhang Ruochen’s gaze sharpened. The four-coloured divine light was truly horrifying.
Looking at the dozen crystals, both Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were tempted to seize them immediately.
But they held back, wary of the four-coloured divine light. Acting rashly could bring disaster.
As they stared at the crystals, strands of four-coloured divine light suddenly converged on them from all directions.
Their expressions changed, realizing the gravity of the situation.
“Act together, we can’t let this divine light touch us,” Zhang Ruochen said gravely.
Having witnessed the light’s power, capable of easily melting divine power monsters, the consequences of it affecting them were unimaginable.
Immediately, Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden acted together, using Time, Space, Source, and Truth powers to form a solid defensive shield.
The four-coloured divine light quickly gathered, attaching to the shield.
“Swish.”
The shield eroded, emitting a piercing sound.
In moments, the shield showed damage, with strands of four-coloured divine light seeping through tiny holes.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden’s pupils constricted. “Such terrifying erosive power, far worse than pure divine power surges.”
Without hesitation, she activated the Source Pearl, releasing multiple source divine lights to dissolve the infiltrating four-coloured light.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Spacetime Codex, channeling sacred energy to create a multi-dimensional space.
To his surprise, the multi-dimensional space formed by the codex was tiny, unable to contain them.
Undoubtedly, this was due to the divine power monster, severely restricting both time and space.
“Boom.”
As more four-coloured divine light gathered, the defensive shield collapsed entirely.
Instantly, Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were engulfed by the light, unable to block it no matter what they tried.
In this situation, both faced grave danger as the four-coloured divine light invaded their bodies, eroding flesh, sacred energy, and even their sacred souls.
“My lifespan…”
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden’s expression changed drastically.
The Time power caused her the greatest harm, rapidly draining her vitality. Her dark hair began turning grey.
As a Time controller, Zhang Ruochen had strong resistance to Time power, but the Source power harmed him greatly.
His Five Elements Chaos Body, so robust, showed signs of disintegration, with flesh turning into countless tiny particles.
Additionally, both faced the same issue: their skin was turning dark, as if poisoned, a result of Dark power erosion.
Neither had cultivated the Dark Path.
“Join palms,” Zhang Ruochen said.
As if in sync, Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden understood, pressing a palm toward him.
Zhang Ruochen met her palm, channeling Time and Space powers continuously to her.
Instantly, Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden’s crisis eased, her vitality loss slowing significantly.
Stabilizing her mind, she channeled Source power into Zhang Ruochen, helping him resist the Source power’s erosion.
Though they had strong resistance to Time, Space, and Source powers, they couldn’t fully eliminate the effects, so the crisis was far from resolved.
“We can’t hold out long like this. Any other solutions?” Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden frowned deeply.
If they couldn’t withstand the four-coloured divine light’s erosion, both would die painfully.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was calm, unperturbed. The more critical the moment, the calmer he became, as panic solved nothing.
Only by devising a countermeasure could they survive.
After some thought, he said, “This four-coloured divine light is indeed powerful, capable of eroding almost anything, even supreme sacred artifacts. Our only option is to use the rules cultivated from the Eternal Paths.”
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen mobilized his Time, Space, and Truth rules, rushing out from the Tongtian River like chains of order, wrapping around the invading four-coloured divine light.
Hearing this, Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden’s heart stirred. She began mobilizing her Source and Truth rules to counter the light.
Though only at the Sacred King Realm, their Eternal Path rules carried the trait of eternal indestructibility, immune to the four-coloured divine light’s destruction.
Soon, their Eternal Path rules merged, intertwining to form a river of rules flowing through their bodies, circulating endlessly.
Simultaneously, the Spacetime Codex and Source Pearl were integrated into the rule river, releasing strange powers, creating a hazy sacred light around them.
With great effort, most of the four-coloured divine light was expelled from their bodies, blocked by the hazy sacred light.
“Phew.”
Both Zhang Ruochen and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden breathed a sigh of relief as the situation improved.
“More four-coloured divine light will keep coming. We can’t hold it off forever. We must find a way to deepen our mastery of the Eternal Paths,” Zhang Ruochen said seriously.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden nodded. “We still have some divine power crystals we can use.”
Cultivating Eternal Paths was extremely difficult, and the only shortcut was refining divine power crystals.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the dozen divine power crystals being refined by the four-coloured divine light. “We need more divine power crystals.”
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden understood immediately. The crystals left by the dead divine power monsters should be more effective for cultivation.
Together, they swiftly moved toward the fourteen divine power crystals.
Any later, and those crystals might be fully refined.
Using the hazy sacred light from the rule river, they collected all fourteen crystals, clearing the four-coloured divine light from them.
Among them were five Time divine power crystals, four Space divine power crystals, three Source divine power crystals, and two Dark divine power crystals.
“Let’s begin.”
Zhang Ruochen took out the Sundial. Time was what they lacked most.
They exchanged a glance, seeing determination in each other’s eyes, then began refining the divine power crystals without delay, striving to deepen their Eternal Path mastery to escape the fate of being refined by the four-coloured divine light.
