Beneath the spatial rift, Zhang Ruochen’s near-skeletal body lay still on the shattered earth, devoid of any sign of life.
Yet, even in death, he clutched the Emperor’s Divine Ruler tightly, refusing to give up until his final moment.
He had fallen, unable to fight on.
His dim eyes brimmed with profound unwillingness and sorrow, having failed to save Chi Kongle in the end.
Zhang Ruochen, a legend of his era, with a dazzling record that shook the myriad realms, had just become a Great Saint, only to fall like a meteor.
Once this news spread, it would likely shock even gods.
At this moment, many Hell Realm powerhouses gathered around Zhang Ruochen’s body, their eyes gleaming with fervor.
It was well known that Zhang Ruochen possessed numerous treasures, Fire God Armor, Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror, Destruction Golden Sun, each priceless.
In his hand was a peerless divine artifact listed in the Tai Bai Divine Artifact Chapter.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen harbored a world within him, its value beyond measure.
Even gods would be tempted by such treasures, unable to resist seizing them.
“Swish.”
The Emperor’s Divine Ruler suddenly radiated brilliant jade light, breaking free from Zhang Ruochen’s grasp on its own.
Before the Hell Realm powerhouses could intervene, it soared away.
Though the ruler currently lacked a spirit, it bore a spirit imprint, making it uncontrollable by ordinary means, let alone forcibly taken.
Seeing this, all the powerhouses felt regret but were helpless.
They understood that only a god could claim an intact divine artifact.
Fortunately, only the ruler had escaped, Zhang Ruochen’s other treasures remained.
“Zhang Ruochen has many treasures, let’s collect them all before deciding how to divide them,” Ming Mo suggested.
The powerhouses nodded, agreeing to avoid conflict over the spoils.
Ming Mo stepped forward to inventory Zhang Ruochen’s treasures.
“Swoosh.”
At that moment, space rippled faintly, and a towering figure appeared beside Zhang Ruochen.
It was none other than Yan Wushen, who had vanished after emerging from the void.
Glancing at the lifeless Zhang Ruochen, Yan Wushen reached out, lifting him.
“What are you doing, Yan Wushen?” Ming Mo demanded.
Yan Wushen turned, fixing Ming Mo with an indifferent gaze, “I’m taking Zhang Ruochen’s corpse. Any objections?”
Without waiting for a response, Yan Wushen stepped out with Zhang Ruochen, vanishing.
“You…”
Ming Mo fumed, wanting to retort but swallowing his words.
Other powerhouses frowned, unprepared for Yan Wushen’s sudden appearance and domineering act.
Had it been anyone else, they’d have erupted, but Yan Wushen left them helpless.
Provoking him meant facing his wrath, regardless of status.
Yet, many wondered why Yan Wushen wanted Zhang Ruochen’s corpse.
“Let’s charge back, teach the Heavenly Realm a harsh lesson,” Ming Mo growled.
Seething, he needed an outlet.
The Heavenly Realm, unaware of Zhang Ruochen’s fall, continued the escalating battle.
Even if the news reached them, the war, long in the making, wouldn’t end easily.
Zhang Ruochen’s charge into the Hell Realm camp had ignited this inevitable conflict.
But its outcome no longer concerned him.
Ten thousand miles from the rift, atop a low peak, Yan Wushen halted.
Opposite him stood two figures, a man and a woman, Blood Demon and Qiu Yichi.
Strangely, Yan Wushen didn’t attack them, instead handing Zhang Ruochen over.
After doing so, his body glowed with eerie bloodlight, transforming into a three-inch-tall statue, carved from an unknown blood-red crystal, covered in intricate divine patterns.
Qiu Yichi waved, collecting the statue, then examined Zhang Ruochen’s condition.
“Master foresaw His Highness’s calamity, crafting a false Yan Wushen to extract him from danger, but in this state, it’s uncertain if he can be saved,” Qiu Yichi said gravely.
The Blood Empress, with extraordinary means, once created a fake Chi Kunlun, deceiving Zhang Ruochen.
Now, her fake Yan Wushen was flawless, undetected by Hell Realm powerhouses, whose discernment couldn’t surpass Zhang Ruochen’s.
The ruse worked because the real Yan Wushen was absent, rendering the fake’s perfection moot otherwise.
Blood Demon’s eyes gleamed, “Physical Great Saint, Five Elements Chaos Immortal Saint Body, time-space martial mark, perfected Saint King Realm, truly a perfect body.”
He’d long coveted Zhang Ruochen’s past-life body, but now found his current one even more alluring.
Though the past-life body was nurtured well by the Blood Empress, it hadn’t been cultivated, its strength merely inherent.
Zhang Ruochen’s current body was flawless, coveted even by gods.
Suppressing his urges, Blood Demon dared not act, knowing the Blood Empress, a god, could kill him effortlessly.
Qiu Yichi produced a blood-red jade coffin, carefully placing Zhang Ruochen inside.
Crafted by the Blood Empress, the coffin held miraculous powers.
It contained amber-like nectar, exuding a refreshing aroma, brewed from precious substances.
A single whiff could rejuvenate.
The coffin and nectar ensured Zhang Ruochen’s condition wouldn’t worsen, possibly improving.
“To the Endless Abyss, quickly.”
Qiu Yichi stored the coffin and departed immediately.
The sooner they reached the Endless Abyss, the greater Zhang Ruochen’s chances of survival.
Though his soul had scattered, divine means might revive him, or the Blood Empress wouldn’t have prepared so meticulously.
At the second tier’s entrance of the Endless Abyss, the Blood Empress awaited.
“Master, I’ve brought His Highness back, but his condition is dire,” Qiu Yichi said, presenting the coffin.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen, nearly skeletal, despite her mental preparation, the Blood Empress’s heart trembled.
She opened the coffin, gently touching his ashen face, probing his body with divine power.
Only his left leg remained intact, a divine leg imbued with vast divine power, not easily damaged.
Before the rift, the attacks Zhang Ruochen endured were so devastating that Moon God’s divine inscriptions were erased entirely.
Without the Fire God Armor, his body, save the leg, might have been obliterated.
“How did Chen’er end up like this?”
The Blood Empress was furious and heartbroken.
Her eyes moistened, tears threatening to fall.
Though a god, she felt a mother’s pain seeing her son in such a state.
She had foreseen his calamity but couldn’t know every detail.
Qiu Yichi explained, “His Highness tried to save Chi Kongle, attempting to breach the rift into the Hell Realm, leading to this.”
“What happened to Kongle?” the Blood Empress pressed.
Qiu Yichi hesitated, “Chi Kongle was taken by a disciple of a Hell Realm god, likely to be a vessel for possession. Knowing this, His Highness risked everything to rescue her.”
A chilling glint flashed in the Blood Empress’s eyes.
Those who took her granddaughter and reduced her son to this deserved death.
But she calmed, prioritizing Zhang Ruochen’s revival.
“Chen’er’s immortal saint body is collapsing, his 144 acupoints half-shattered, unable to sustain his qi sea or the world within,” she frowned.
Zhang Ruochen’s divine light qi sea, vast, housed six saint images, the Tongtian River, and Qiankun Realm. If his body was too damaged, the qi sea would soon collapse.
The saint images and river would dissipate, and Qiankun Realm would manifest externally, ruining his cultivation foundation.
Divine seals, divine fate, six saint images, even his time-space martial mark, all would be lost.
Qiu Yichi asked, “Is there a way to save His Highness?”
“On the surface, Chen’er’s saint soul is gone, but a trace remains in his world, the key to reversing death,” the Blood Empress said.
Qiankun Realm, part of Zhang Ruochen, could hide his soul within it.
Even without intent, its origin retained a fragment of his soul.
But this fragment was too small to revive him, requiring a stronger soul.
“Chen’er, Mother will ensure you survive.”
The Blood Empress whispered, vanishing with the coffin.
She reappeared before a grand dark-red mountain, ablaze with blood flames and terrifying lightning.
Here, she nurtured Zhang Ruochen’s past-life body, where the Blood Phoenix’s massive corpse still coiled atop.
Within the mountain, his past-life body, wrapped in crimson blood, pulsed with growing vitality, as if ready to awaken.
Without her special measures, it might have birthed a new soul.
Gazing at the body, she murmured, “Chen’er, I know you resist merging with this body, but I must do it to preserve your foundation.”
His past-life body, vibrant and potent, could resolve his current issues.
Merging both bodies gave her confidence in his revival.
Time pressing, she waved, sending Zhang Ruochen’s broken body from the coffin toward the crimson blood.
She unleashed divine power to fuse them.
For a god, this was straightforward, like Moon God grafting Yan God’s leg onto Zhang Ruochen.
Both bodies, chaotic in nature, should merge seamlessly.
Yet, when she attempted it, complications arose.
Perhaps instinctively, Zhang Ruochen’s current body fiercely rejected the past-life one.
Forcing it would further collapse his current body.
“Chen’er, if you stop resisting, I promise to save Kongle,” the Blood Empress said urgently, earnestly.
As if hearing her, after a brief struggle, the rejection weakened, then vanished.
Unhindered, she soon fused both bodies, stabilizing Zhang Ruochen’s condition, preserving his foundation.
But this was only the first step, recondensing his saint soul was the hardest.
The soul fragment in Qiankun Realm was too minuscule to even awaken him.
Reviving him with it was unrealistic.
Two methods could save him.
First, using mental power to summon his scattered soul.
Second, a secret technique to connect with the ethereal heavenly soul.
Theoretically, a mental power Great Saint could summon souls but faced severe backlash from heaven and earth rules, with over ninety percent chance of death.
Even gods paid a steep price, with risks of mishaps.
Thus, the Paradise Realm geniuses Zhang Ruochen killed were unlikely to be revived, as their faction wouldn’t sacrifice mental power Great Saints or gods for them.
The second method required ancient qi practitioners’ lost techniques.
Though Elder Xuanyuan was revived by the Divine Wood, it was largely due to its crystal, brimming with immense life force, capable of restoring even a dying god.
The Blood Empress gazed at Zhang Ruochen in the crimson blood, her eyes tender, “Chen’er, no matter the cost, Mother will revive you.”
Parents worldwide would sacrifice anything for their children, even life.
Zhang Ruochen was so for Chi Kongle, and the Blood Empress for him, their love equal.
As a new god, her brief divinity made soul-summoning riskier, yet she resolved to do it, because Zhang Ruochen was her son.
