The golden sea pressed down; Xue Tu and Yan Ting, struck by the divine power, could only desperately resist, utterly devoid of any counterattacking strength.
Even in this perilous juncture, Zhang Ruochen still found the leisure to glance towards the distant ghost ship. The divine power fluctuations there far surpassed those here; facing an existence at the great god level, Prajna, Wen Zhu, and the others could not hold out for long.
This great god had come for him, Zhang Ruochen; naturally, he had to resolve this crisis personally.
He could not implicate others.
“A swift battle and decisive victory.”
Zhang Ruochen invoked the mysteries of the source; the source rules of heaven and earth gathered ceaselessly towards him, erupting from his body in brilliant source light that collided with the descending golden sea.
“Boom!”
The boundless golden sea was torn open by Zhang Ruochen with a massive chasm.
“You two go first; leave this place to me.”
Zhang Ruochen shouted loudly to Xue Tu and Yan Ting.
A look of astonishment appeared in Yan Ting’s eyes as she gazed at Zhang Ruochen, suspended over the water’s surface, confronting the golden Buddha sea. The current Zhang Ruochen seemed like a completely different person from the one on the ghost ship earlier.
“Let’s go; my senior brother is indeed dashing, but do not become infatuated.”
Xue Tu released the giant stone altar, breaking through the divine qi locks of the five false gods and carrying Yan Ting away, fleeing rapidly into the distance.
Today, the Nether Palace intended to eradicate them utterly, leaving no future troubles; naturally, they would not allow them to escape.
Among them, a false god with a single horn sprouting from his head, wielding a crimson thunder hammer, pursued after them.
“Splash!”
The thunder hammer swung out, filling the sky with red lightning.
Yet Xue Tu was no easy prey; his speed in fleeing was extraordinarily swift, and the giant stone altar’s defensive power was such that even divine lightning struggled to pierce it. But a false god was still a false god, drawing ever closer with the pursuit.
“Break for this god!”
The single-horned false god flew above the giant stone altar; his divine body was larger than the altar itself, like a divine cloud blotting out the sky.
Xue Tu and Yan Ting looked up; the two of them were swallowed by the shadow of the divine body.
Xue Tu looked up, his heart pounding wildly. He said, “We’re done for!”
“Pfft!”
A resplendent sword light slashed down from beyond the heavens, cleaving the false god above into two halves.
The two halves of the divine corpse transformed into two stretches of ten-thousand-metre blood clouds, plummeting from the sky; divine blood sprinkled down like raindrops, dyeing a vast expanse of the waters red.
The one who had unleashed this sword strike was none other than Zhang Ruochen, currently locked in combat with Kong Zhi.
A single sword spanning a thousand li, slaying a false god.
Xue Tu knew that a false god’s vitality was extraordinarily robust; it was utterly impossible for him to have been slain already. Thus, he waved his hand and deployed a net-shaped king-grade sacred artefact, ensnaring one half of the divine corpse in the net and dragging it back to suppress it beneath the giant stone altar.
“Return this god’s divine body to me.”
From behind, the half divine corpse possessing the divine source recovered its wits, recongealing its divine soul, and pursued towards the giant stone altar ahead.
“You are but half a false god; what does the great slaughter war god emperor, I, have to fear?”
Xue Tu tossed the net-shaped king-grade sacred artefact in his hand to Yan Ting; the war god mark emerged from between his brows, and above his head, raging divine fire coalesced into a sea of flames exceeding a million degrees in temperature, smashing towards the pursuing half divine corpse.
Yan Ting stood upon the giant stone altar, mobilising her entire body’s strength to barely suppress the half divine corpse in the net; her heart was filled with boundless shock. A great god’s assault, saint-realm cultivators felling gods; tonight’s experiences were enough to engrave upon her memory for a lifetime.
Prajna, Zhang Ruochen, Xue Tu, these cultivators, regardless of the strength of their cultivation, all bore an aura upon their bodies.
Fearless of divine spirits, fearless of heavenly might.
Even if their enemies far surpassed them, they dared to charge forth and do battle.
As more and more source rules were summoned, Zhang Ruochen’s combat power grew ever stronger, truly transforming into the Source Envoy; the waters beneath him turned into a white sea of light, clashing against the golden sea conjured by Kong Zhi without falling behind.
As for the other three false gods, they had already been suppressed beneath three supreme sacred artefacts by Zhang Ruochen, unable to move a muscle.
“White Tiger, lend me a hand; I must end this battle swiftly.”
Zhang Ruochen communicated with the Buried Gold White Tiger.
But the Buried Gold White Tiger gave no response, as if it were not by his side at all.
The Buried Gold White Tiger had once said that unless it was a moment of life and death, it would absolutely not act.
Zhang Ruochen had not expected it to be so unyielding; with tonight’s peril so dire, why could it not make an exception?
“Amitabha!”
Kong Zhi trod upon a lotus, traversing space in a single step to arrive before Zhang Ruochen; his right hand thrust out, a bright Buddhist character in his palm heart containing ancient and mysterious power.
The space around Zhang Ruochen’s body became like piled earth and stone, collapsing under his palm strike and sending his body plummeting into the void.
“I, the supreme master of space and time, how could I be cast down into space by you?”
Zhang Ruochen spread his arms wide; the shattered space rapidly recongealed.
But from above, Kong Zhi attacked once more, pointing out with a finger and chanting, “Immeasurable Void Illumination Finger!”
This finger beam was like a sharp sword, thrusting straight forth.
“Thud!”
Zhang Ruochen traced a circle with both hands, invoking the Supreme Holy Intent to draw forth the Taiji Seal, meeting it from below upwards.
Kong Zhi’s fingertip struck the centre of the Taiji Seal, immediately feeling space cave in; time flowed rapidly around his body, and he could no longer maintain a calm expression on his face.
Zhang Ruochen’s this technique seemed even more profound than a divine ability.
He sought to break free, yet was held fast.
Zhang Ruochen wrapped Kong Zhi into the Taiji Seal, like stuffing him into a space-time satchel, and hurled him into the void space. In an instant, he was cast ten thousand li away.
The three false gods suppressed beneath the supreme sacred artefacts each revealed drastic changes in expression.
Who would have thought Zhang Ruochen possessed such capabilities?
Even Kong Zhi was no match for him.
Zhang Ruochen glanced once more towards the direction of the ghost ship, knowing time was of the essence; thus, from the copper coffin, he released the God-Devouring Insects, transforming into three swarms that charged towards the three false gods.
Subsequently, he used the Source Divine Eye to probe the spatial veins.
The spatial veins over the River of Three Crossings were exceedingly complex; executing the Divine Spirit Step was an extraordinarily difficult matter.
Yet only by using the Divine Spirit Step could he swiftly escape the range of Great God Wen Tong’s divine sense probing.
With Great God Wen Tong’s cultivation, even if the four true gods joined forces, it would not suffice for him to slay with a single hand. Should the Buried Gold White Tiger act, it would be hard to escape death, managing at most to perish together with Great God Wen Tong.
The only path to survival that Zhang Ruochen could conceive was to flee as quickly as possible beyond the range of Great God Wen Tong’s divine sense probing, then use the “Six Ancestors Chan Enlightenment Diagram” to return and frighten Great God Wen Tong into retreat.
The Six Ancestors could terrify the Ghost Lord into kowtowing obeisance, not daring to act recklessly.
No matter how strong Great God Wen Tong was, he could not possibly surpass the Ghost Lord; so long as the Six Ancestors manifested, it was guaranteed to resolve the crisis.
The God-Devouring Insects crawled over the bodies of the three false gods; strange sounds emanated from their mouths as they released mental power interference to prevent the false gods from self-detonating their divine sources. This was a capability unique to the third-generation God-Devouring Insects.
It was just that the God-Devouring Insects had not fully evolved to the third generation; the mental power they released could only affect inferior false gods.
Were saint-realm cultivators present, they would instantly descend into mental derangement, becoming raving madmen.
The three false gods let out hoarse screams of agony, their voices reaching Great God Wen Tong’s ears.
Great God Wen Tong roared in fury, flying up from the human-head-shaped thunderbolt mountain and waving his hand to strike forth from afar, forming a divine light hand seal ten thousand zhang in size that landed upon the God King Talisman.
“Crack crack!”
In an instant, the God King Talisman was covered in countless cracks, becoming tattered and torn.
At the same time, from within his body, an avatar flew out, charging towards the direction where Zhang Ruochen was located.
Gu She Huan Huan burst forth from the ghost ship, intercepting Great God Wen Tong’s avatar.
“The Luo Ancestor Cloud Mountain Realm has drawn too close to Zhang Ruochen; do you all truly believe he has a chance to break the curse and become a divine venerable-level figure in the future?”
Great God Wen Tong’s avatar was indistinguishable from his true body; divine might surged forth, his aura vast and surging.
“The great god has already decided to slay us all; why bother with so much superfluous talk?”
Crimson death spirit demonic qi surged from beneath Gu She Huan Huan’s feet; in an instant, it spread a thousand li, countless rule divine patterns flowing across her snow-white skin.
A contemptuous look appeared in the eyes of Great God Wen Tong’s avatar; he thrust out with a fist straight ahead.
“Boom!”
The death spirit demonic qi was scattered by the fist beam; the fist grew to the size of a star, smashing into Gu She Huan Huan’s delicate frame. Immediately, the rule divine patterns shattered one after another, her snow-white skin becoming like fractured porcelain, covered in dense blood lines.
The Luo Ancestor Cloud Mountain Realm specialised in cultivating the demonic body, with a robust physical form, yet with Gu She Huan Huan’s true god cultivation, she was nearly shattered to pieces by a single fist from Great God Wen Tong’s avatar.
“A mere true god who has not even cultivated a divine realm world dares to challenge this seat?”
On the other front, Great God Wen Tong’s true body acted, flicking out with a finger.
“Thud!”
Streams of divine beam surged from his fingertip, forming ripples that impacted upon Prajna’s body. Immediately, Prajna, who was in the midst of collecting the stone swords, had her divine body burst apart, transforming into a cloud of blood mist.
Great God Wen Tong flew down to hover above the God King Talisman and stamped down with a foot.
“Boom!”
The divine foot seemed like a world unfolding, death power spreading across hundreds of millions of li, shaking the distant Zhang Ruochen, Xue Tu, and Yan Ting into being hurled away, each suffering injuries of varying severity.
The God King Talisman finally shattered, disintegrating into motes of light that sprinkled across the water’s surface.
The ghost ship below was rent apart by the divine beam impact, fragmenting into pieces that sank towards the riverbed.
Wen Zhu and Little Black’s defences were instantly pierced; their skin and flesh exploded, transforming into two clouds of blood mist. Within the blood mists, only their skeletons remained relatively intact.
Their vital forces had not been extinguished.
In mid-air, Prajna’s divine body recongealed from the blood mist; her pretty face was exceedingly pale, her aura weakened to the extreme, yet her eyes remained sharp and fierce.
Great God Wen Tong fully reclaimed all one hundred and eight stone swords, casting his gaze towards her; his aura reached the heavens as he asked, “You have refined Xing Tian’s divine stellar soul?”
Prajna bit down on a row of crystalline shell teeth and gave a cold smile.
“Even if you say nothing, it matters not; I need only extract your divine soul and study it carefully to find the answer.”
Great God Wen Tong extended his palm, grasping towards Prajna from afar.
Strands of Prajna’s divine soul flew from her body towards his palm heart.
Suddenly, a change occurred.
The one hundred and eight stone swords that had been circling Great God Wen Tong in flight abruptly trembled in their blades, emitting ear-piercing sword cries; their tips pointed towards him at the centre.
Great God Wen Tong’s expression changed; he hastily ceased drawing in Prajna’s divine soul, raising a divine light qi shield to fend off the incoming assault of the one hundred and eight stone swords, shaking all of them flying away.
“Roar!”
In the distance, the human-head-shaped thunderbolt mountain let out a heaven-shaking furious roar.
The water’s surface surged with hundred-zhang giant waves.
“Great God Xing Tian has finally awakened!” Prajna descended from mid-air, standing upon a fragment of the ghost ship, gazing towards the direction of the thunderbolt mountain.
