Crimson demonic clouds surged forth with Gu Shejing, swirling around Bai Qing’er like roaming dragons.
In an instant, a blood-red demonic handprint the size of a millstone struck towards Bai Qing’er’s back.
Bai Qing’er did not turn around, merely bringing her hands together as if a Buddhist cultivator in meditation.
“Swish!”
The illusory forms of eight hundred golden-bodied Bodhisattvas appeared, radiating ten thousand zhang of golden light, with resonant Buddhist chants. In the next moment, all the Bodhisattvas merged into one, forming a Diamond Buddha.
The Diamond Buddha threw a punch, colliding with the blood-red demonic handprint, unleashing eight hundred ripples of Buddhist light.
The demonic handprint shattered with a boom, revealing Gu Shejing’s true form. Her eyes, filled with boundless demonic charm, showed a trace of surprise.
As she prepared to retreat, Bai Qing’er abruptly turned, lightly pushing out a palm.
Her palm conjured a sky full of clouds, with strands of airflow like silk and gossamer.
Gu Shejing was startled again. Bai Qing’er’s palm was profoundly mysterious, seemingly pushing towards her but instead pulling her in with countless threads, making retreat or escape impossible, her body leaning forward.
Gu Shejing was extraordinarily skilled. At this critical moment, she fully mobilised the divine rule patterns within her, forming the divine technique No-Other-Must-Die Finger.
As her finger struck, a blinding divine light illuminated the entire altar.
“Boom!”
Gu Shejing was sent flying back, blood gushing from her two fingers, trembling uncontrollably.
Not only was her Demon Ancestor Battle Body broken, but even her No-Other-Must-Die Finger was defeated.
“Too Pure Cloud-Pushing Hand!” Zhang Ruochen muttered, his expression complex.
The Too Pure Cloud-Pushing Hand was the first move of the “Eight Origin Techniques” taught to Zhang Ruochen by the Burial Gold White Tiger. Unexpectedly, Bai Qing’er, who had observed it, had grasped its mysteries and elevated it to such an astonishing level.
Bai Qing’er said, “If your Demon Ancestor Battle Body hadn’t been damaged earlier, it wouldn’t have been so easily broken. As for the No-Other-Must-Die Finger, it’s merely passable. To fight me, you’ll need to bring out your true skills.”
Gu Shejing let out a soft hum, the blood on her fingers vanishing, returning them to a glassy, jade-like state.
Elsewhere, above Yuan Qianmo’s head, a fully tangible Death God’s Hand, dozens of zhang long, condensed and descended from the sky, pressing towards Bai Qing’er.
Even from a distance, inside the array camel, Zhang Ruochen and A Le felt an overwhelming weight, as if the “heavens” were pressing down.
Yuan Qianmo’s Death God’s Hand held the terrifying power to shatter planets.
With a sweep of her sleeve, Bai Qing’er absorbed the dozens-of-zhang-long Death God’s Hand into her sleeve.
Then, the Death God’s Hand flew towards Blood Spirit Immortal, who was attacking with a sword.
“Boom!”
Blood Spirit Immortal, merging with her sword, moved as fast as a streak of light, colliding with the Death God’s Hand.
The Death God’s Hand shattered into a cloud of death energy. Blood Spirit Immortal’s sword momentum was halted, her body retreating back to her original position.
Yuan Qianmo’s expression shifted repeatedly. His Death God’s Hand divine technique had been effortlessly absorbed and redirected as her own attack. Compared to their encounter in the Oyin Asteroid Belt, she had grown even stronger!
Could it be that all the pursuits along this journey were deliberate?
Using the top powerhouses of the Hell Realm’s major forces to hone her path?
“I told you, none of you alone is my match.”
With a gaze that disdained all beings, Bai Qing’er unleashed her domain and the Chaos Dawn Holy Intent, pulling Gu Shejing, Yuan Qianmo, and Blood Spirit Immortal into the chaos.
The space within the chaos was infinitely vast, as if they were still on the altar yet also in another dimension.
Master Yeyou stared at the violently churning chaotic cloud mass, his eyes filled with admiration and fervor, saying, “This Fairy of a Hundred Flowers is so powerful, so bold, so domineering, pulling three great powerhouses into her domain. Isn’t she afraid her domain will be shattered?”
“She has cultivated a perfect Second-Grade Holy Intent. Combined with her domain, who but a god could break it?” the Seven-Handed Elder said.
“She isn’t Ji Fanchen. Ji Fanchen could never be this powerful,” Master Kailuo said coldly.
No one paid him any mind.
Zhang Ruochen asked Granny Haitang, “What did Granny mean earlier when she said the gods are already dead?”
Granny Haitang, seemingly unconcerned about Blood Spirit Immortal’s safety, patiently explained to Zhang Ruochen, “How many gods do you think the Kunlun Realm has produced throughout history?”
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“And how many gods have the Heavenly Court’s myriad realms and the Hell Realm’s ten clans produced since ancient times?” Granny Haitang asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head again.
Granny Haitang said, “Did you know that once one becomes a true god, in a certain sense, it means immortality?”
This, Zhang Ruochen knew, nodding in agreement.
A true god’s divine soul is powerful, not only residing within the body but also partially existing in the heavens and earth outside, with divine thoughts roaming the vast universe.
Thus, even if their physical body dies and their internal divine soul is completely refined, a true god is still not entirely dead.
Mortals can connect with the residual divine soul or thoughts of a true god through rituals like sacrifices.
In the past, Chi Linyuan, the leader of the Blood God Sect, had communicated with the divine soul of the long-deceased Blood God through a sacrificial ritual.
Granny Haitang said, “After a true god dies, the faint divine souls remaining in the world all go to another spatial dimension, accessible only through methods like sacrifices to break the spatial barrier and communicate with them, even drawing on their power.”
“That spatial dimension, is it what we call the divine realm?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Granny Haitang said, “Perhaps some ignorant mortals call it the divine realm, but in truth, all realms call it the Heaven of Resentment.”
Zhang Ruochen found the term “Heaven of Resentment” vaguely familiar but didn’t dwell on it, asking, “Are the divine martial marks cultivators receive bestowed by the Heaven of Resentment?”
Granny Haitang shook her head, saying, “No, the gods are already dead. Even if some residual souls remain in the Heaven of Resentment, they are too weak, like a wisp of air or a thread of smoke, incapable of such significant influence on the mortal world. The Heaven of Resentment is infinitely vast; otherwise, the gods of the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm would have long entered it to capture and refine all the divine souls!”
Zhang Ruochen found this reasonable. The divine soul fragments of a true god outside the body were likely less than a ten-thousandth, which he could defeat with his current cultivation.
Granny Haitang said, “The divine martial marks are one of the universe’s ultimate mysteries, unknown even to me.”
After pondering, Zhang Ruochen said, “I understand. Reaching the Supreme Extreme Realm in the four martial realms triggers a resonance with the gods, essentially breaking some rule of heaven and earth, connecting to the residual divine souls in the Heaven of Resentment.”
“The divine marks integrated into my Qi Sea were bestowed by these divine souls, correct?”
Granny Haitang nodded, her gaze softening, “You’re very clever. That’s exactly it.”
“But why do these divine souls do this?” Zhang Ruochen asked curiously.
Granny Haitang’s expression grew sorrowful, and she said bitterly, “Because the ones who bestowed the marks upon you are the gods of the Kunlun Realm who have already fallen throughout history.”
“They are dead, yet they continue to select talented successors, protecting and guiding you until you reach the heights of Blood Spirit Immortal and the others, using your will to surpass them all, erasing their residual consciousness. The moment you break into the divine realm, their divine souls in the Heaven of Resentment will enter your body, strengthening your divine soul. And they will truly die, completely vanishing from the world.”
“If my will cannot surpass them, will I never reach the level of kings and lords?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Granny Haitang shook her head, saying, “That, I don’t know. But… it’s said that to become a king or lord, one must reach the Immeasurable Realm. To reach the Immeasurable Realm, one must go to the Heaven of Resentment, which may be related.”
Zhang Ruochen fell silent for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh, “The gods are dead, yet their heroic spirits endure.”
From the chaotic cloud mass in the distance, deafening battle sounds, like divine thunder, rang out continuously.
The cloud mass expanded and contracted.
Though Bai Qing’er was strong, she seemed to be fighting with great difficulty.
Zhang Ruochen inwardly cursed his low cultivation, longing to join the fray and fight earth-shatteringly, rather than being unable to even see the battle clearly.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen’s gaze fell on the sword island at the centre of the blood lake, his mind stirring. He said to Master Kailuo, “Control the array. Let’s go take a look.”
“Are you mad?” Master Kailuo said, trembling with fear.
Master Yeyou and the Seven-Handed Elder’s faces changed drastically, urgently trying to dissuade him.
“Why are you all so nervous? I just want to look at the lake’s edge,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Master Kailuo, helpless, complied.
Master Yeyou dared not approach the blood lake and wanted to leave the array camel, but seeing the watchful Death God Temple cultivators and Wuma Jiuxing atop the dragon’s head, he gritted his teeth and followed.
The Death God Temple cultivators, seeing Zhang Ruochen and the others approach the blood lake, did not intervene, instead sneering.
“Even Lord Qianmo suffered a great loss, and they dare to approach the blood lake?”
“Zhang Ruochen is recklessly bold, probably courting death!”
…
Wuma Jiuxing glanced over, showing a hint of interest.
The closer they got to the blood lake, the more the group in the array camel felt an invisible pressure and fear, as if a giant beast with an open maw awaited them.
Master Kailuo, Master Yeyou, and the Seven-Handed Elder were sweating profusely, repeatedly urging Zhang Ruochen to stop.
The array camel halted ten zhang from the blood lake, unable to advance further. Any closer, and the blood lake’s strange power would disintegrate the array inscriptions.
Accompanied by Granny Haitang, Zhang Ruochen stepped out of the array camel, arriving at the edge of the blood lake.
Unconvinced that the blood lake’s water could destroy everything, Zhang Ruochen took out a piece of the Heaven-Connecting Divine Wood and tossed it into the lake.
The wood floated on the lake’s surface for only half a breath before turning to dust and vanishing into the water.
Next, Zhang Ruochen tested with a Monarch Holy Artifact, divine stones, divine bones, holy sources… all kinds of treasures. Without exception, anything that touched the blood lake’s water turned to dust.
Only the divine bones lasted slightly longer.
This display of wealth stunned the Death God Temple cultivators, who began scheming, thinking that robbing Zhang Ruochen was more reliable than seizing the divine artifacts on the sword island.
Zhang Ruochen, meanwhile, calculated the odds of using divine bones to build a bridge to the sword island to retrieve the divine artifacts, and the risks involved.
