Little Black and Wen Zhu, who had recongealed their divine bodies, both revealed expressions of joy; it was truly a case of deliverance from desperate straits.
The human-head-shaped thunderbolt mountain was none other than the Xing Tian Cauldron.
It was also the head of Great God Xing Tian from the Kunlun Realm.
“Crackle!”
Across the sea surface, bolts of lightning a hundred times brighter than ordinary thunder transformed into coiling dragons and serpents, rapidly spreading over and slamming towards Great God Wen Tong.
Great God Wen Tong’s eyes were narrow and long, filled entirely with coldness.
Death qi coalesced before him into a great wall, blocking the lightning.
“Chi Xing Tian! After refining you for a hundred thousand years, your spiritual will has surprisingly not been ground away. Excellent! Most excellent; let us see what sort of waves you can stir up today!” Great God Wen Tong said in a deep voice.
“Boom.”
The great wall formed of death qi shattered; the lightning coalesced into a heaven-overturning, earth-rolling furious dragon that thrust out its claws in attack.
From Great God Wen Tong’s twin eyes flew two streams of divine light, shattering the furious dragon.
But the one hundred and eight stone swords were enveloped by the lightning; light blazed upon their blades, demonic qi surged to the heavens, and they formed a sword array that slashed down towards Great God Wen Tong.
It was Xing Tian’s head personally controlling the stone swords, unleashing offensive power.
Having been refined for a hundred thousand years, the fury in his heart burned unquenched.
The human-head-shaped thunderbolt mountain opened its mouth and roared out a hoarse voice: “Fight to the death.”
“Splash!”
“Splash!”
…
The might of the stone swords far surpassed that of before.
The swords were not particularly sharp, yet each was heavier than a star.
Even an existence like Great God Wen Tong was forced into constant retreat by the stone swords’ cleavings; the divine realm worlds he raised shattered one after another.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the swarms of God-Devouring Insects and rapidly fled into the distance.
Xue Tu and Yan Ting closely followed behind.
A clash of this level was enough to annihilate the starry skies; with their saint-realm cultivations, getting too close posed a mortal peril.
“How formidable Xing Tian is; with only a head remaining, refined for a hundred thousand years, and yet his combat power remains so terrifying.” Wen Zhu’s expression shifted; he dared not linger here and transformed into a stream of divine light, pursuing after Zhang Ruochen and the other two.
Gu She Huan Huan gazed at the human-head thunderbolt mountain hovering in the sky; in her mind surfaced the figure of the realm-guarding demonic general from the Luo Ancestor Cloud Mountain Realm. She thought to herself: “If only the realm-guarding demonic general’s body and head could be rejoined, to what extent would his combat power reach?”
Prajna’s face remained grave throughout; she discerned some clues and said, “Wen Tong is indeed one of the foremost figures in the Nether Palace, his cultivation profound and immeasurable. Let us go; we must leave this place immediately.”
She and Little Black executed the Divine Spirit Step.
With one step, they arrived twelve wan nine thousand six hundred li away.
But after taking only a single step, they were intercepted by an avatar of Great God Wen Tong.
Little Black turned his head, peering through the void towards the battlefield twelve wan nine thousand six hundred li distant, then looked towards the Great God Wen Tong avatar ahead. He said, “Well played; while clashing with Xing Tian, he can still deploy an avatar.”
The avatar gave a cold and stern smile: “If it were Xing Tian from a hundred thousand years ago, this seat might still harbour some trepidation. But a mere head, refined for a hundred thousand years, how could it be this seat’s opponent?”
The avatar’s two hands struck out simultaneously, unleashing two divine abilities: White Moon Light Division and Crimson Sun Heavenly Furnace.
Sun and moon emerged together, one cold and one blazing.
In an instant, Little Black and Prajna were suppressed beneath the sun and moon; even exerting their utmost efforts, they could not budge, their divine power and rule divine patterns within their bodies locked by a bizarre force.
Wen Zhu and Gu She Huan Huan also fell under attack from Great God Wen Tong’s avatar and failed to escape the River of Three Crossings.
…
Great God Wen Tong used his divine realm world to suppress the one hundred and eight stone swords.
His true body soared into flight, unleashing eighteen God-Locking Chains.
The God-Locking Chains extended to hundreds of li in length, thick as flood dragons, landing upon the eighteen locking clasps on Xing Tian’s head.
Great God Wen Tong grasped the eighteen God-Locking Chains in one hand and gave a cold laugh: “Xing Tian, this seat knows you seek to overturn the heavens and upend the earth, but alas, you are long since a caged beast, doomed eternally to servitude.”
“Roar!”
Xing Tian’s head let out a long howl; from his neck surged vast quantities of lightning and divine qi, coalescing into a gaseous body.
Soon, a divine demonic phantom ten thousand zhang tall congealed, its two hands seizing the eighteen God-Locking Chains in an attempt to break free of the suppression. But Great God Wen Tong’s cultivation was what sort of potency; his body stood unmoving in the void, a ferocious smile appearing in his eyes.
“Take a good look at your current state; you have been dead for a hundred thousand years. Be a good little war tool for this seat!”
Great God Wen Tong released death nether qi and mental power, activating the curse patterns inscribed upon Xing Tian’s head.
The curse patterns were black, personally carved by the Lord of the Nether Palace, specifically to suppress Xing Tian’s divine soul will.
As the curse patterns emerged, Xing Tian seemed to endure unimaginable agony; from his mouth issued wails and screams of torment, audible even ten thousand li away.
Those who heard included the laughter of Great God Wen Tong.
Little Black’s two hands supported a crimson blazing sun, as if suppressed by a divine furnace; he gnashed his teeth and cursed loudly: “Damn it! Were it not for that old bald donkey Xu Mi sealing this emperor away for a hundred thousand years, how would he have any chance to be so arrogant?”
Wings of flame unfurled from Little Black’s back; the feathers could respire, devouring the divine flames within the crimson blazing sun above.
On the other side, Prajna was pressed beneath a wheel of yin-cold white moon.
Her eyes were solemn and focused; she sought to mobilise the supreme array patterns to break the current predicament.
“Awooo!”
A tiger’s roar sounded from the southeast.
Prajna cast her gaze over and saw that the waters had turned golden.
On the horizon, Zhang Ruochen rode a white tiger charging rapidly towards them, the Sinking Abyss Ancient Sword gripped in his hand.
The Buried Gold White Tiger had lent its divine power to Zhang Ruochen.
“Splash.”
From a hundred li away, Zhang Ruochen swung his sword, shattering the white frigid moon pressing down upon Prajna’s head and reducing it to streams of rule divine patterns that scattered in disarray.
The Buried Gold White Tiger trod upon the water’s surface as if on level ground, drawing nearer from afar.
Zhang Ruochen, riding upon its back, extended one arm and grasped Prajna’s wrist. Her slender and graceful figure soared into the air, landing behind Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen and Prajna departing into the distance, Little Black roared loudly: “What about this emperor!”
A moment later, the Buried Gold White Tiger returned once more.
Upon its back, besides Zhang Ruochen and Prajna, there were now also Gu She Huan Huan and Wen Zhu.
Zhang Ruochen thrust one sword to pierce and shatter the crimson blazing sun suppressing Little Black’s head, aiding his escape; subsequently, riding the Buried Gold White Tiger, they transformed into a stream of golden light and charged towards the depths of the waters.
Wen Zhu was filled with worry and anxiety; he murmured: “We cannot escape; Wen Tong will not give us the chance to flee.”
“Even if we cannot escape, we must strive for it.” Zhang Ruochen’s power and the Buried Gold White Tiger’s divine power had fully merged; golden light emanated from his skin, his divine might and aura surpassing even that of Wen Zhu, Prajna, and the others by a fraction.
“Later, you all flee; I shall stay to block Wen Tong.” A cold glint appeared in Wen Zhu’s eyes.
The gazes of the crowd involuntarily turned towards him, knowing he intended to self-detonate his divine source and stake his life in the fight.
Perhaps he could not slay a figure of Great God Wen Tong’s level, but this was already their sole recourse.
The moods of all grew heavy.
Ahead.
A stretch of water waves rolled up, forming a water wall connecting to the skies that blocked the Buried Gold White Tiger’s path.
Great God Wen Tong hovered before the water wall, eighteen God-Locking Chains in his hand. At the other end of the God-Locking Chains, blood streamed from all seven orifices of Xing Tian’s head; at times it wailed in agony, at times it roared in fury, its state utterly pitiable.
The Buried Gold White Tiger’s pair of tiger eyes fixed upon Great God Wen Tong; from its nostrils sprayed pillars of golden qi.
Great God Wen Tong said: “Buried Gold White Tiger, the Nether Palace intends to ally with the Divine Ancient Nest; should you submit to this seat, in the future, this seat shall become the Lord of the Nether Palace, and you the king of the Divine Ancient Nest.”
The divine might upon Great God Wen Tong was like a hundred thousand mountains pressing down upon them.
“If I do not submit, do you intend to slay me then?” The Buried Gold White Tiger’s voice was deep and resonant.
Great God Wen Tong laughed: “Slay you and seize your divine source; I can still parse out no small number of prehistoric secrets. Thus, you had best think it through before answering; the opportunity comes but once.”
“No need to think; I shall not submit to anyone. If you wish to fight, then I shall let you witness the power of prehistory.”
The “Burial” character between the Buried Gold White Tiger’s brows glowed tenfold brighter; a layer of golden light surged from its body, pushing Zhang Ruochen, Prajna, Little Black, Wen Zhu, and Gu She Huan Huan all flying away.
Dense and innumerable Buried Gold rule divine patterns spread from beneath its feet, instantly covering a hundred thousand li.
That vast and surging power even caused Great God Wen Tong to stir slightly.
But just as the extreme path Buried Gold qi spread forth, the rules of heaven and earth madly counterattacked, coalescing into streams of destructive forces. Above the Buried Gold White Tiger appeared a stretch of deathly yin clouds, with heavenly might descending.
Great God Wen Tong looked up at the deathly yin clouds and laughed loudly: “With your cultivation, you cannot slay this seat. But you yourself shall soon be slain by heavenly might. This era tolerates not a prehistoric being like you.”
The Buried Gold White Tiger’s voice transmitted into Zhang Ruochen’s ears: “Hurry and go; with heavenly might descending, I am certain to die. I can only hold out as long as possible; go! Leave immediately!”
Faced with Great God Wen Tong, even true gods were utterly helpless.
Prajna released her divine qi, wrapping around Zhang Ruochen in an attempt to forcibly take him away.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart ached unbearably; his eyes glared at Great God Wen Tong, committing his appearance deeply to memory. Little Black was even more coldly furious, his hatred surpassing even Zhang Ruochen’s.
From the northwest direction suddenly came a beam of bright light.
And accompanying it were streams of clear, beautiful, and pleasing songs, as if someone were playing the qin, others blowing the flute… the sounds of singing and dancing, strings and pipes, diluted the boundless killing intent upon the waters.
The gazes of the crowd all turned towards it.
There.
A pristine white paper boat slowly sailed over.
The form of the paper boat resembled a thousand paper cranes, translucent as jade, snow-white and flawless.
Upon the paper boat stood a palace hall, lit with lamps.
At the bow of the paper boat stood a seven-coloured divine bone, three thousand zhang tall, emanating glazed Buddha light. The glazed Buddha light dispersed the yin qi upon the River of Three Crossings, turning the heavens and earth into seven colours.
The paper boat seemed to be sailing specifically towards this place, yet also like an ordinary ferry vessel that had mistakenly intruded here.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed; upon the paper boat, he spotted a familiar figure. It was that red-clothed maiden of marriageable age he had seen at the Divine Maiden Tower, who had called herself Xiao Xiao and, on behalf of her master, once invited Zhang Ruochen, only to be refused by him.
“White Paper Thousand Crane Boat, Glazed Seven-Coloured Lamp.” Wen Zhu murmured this line, joy appearing in his eyes, only to swiftly turn to worry.
The White Paper Thousand Crane Boat was the flower boat of White Queen, the leader of the Twelve Divine Maiden Brothels.
White Queen was absolutely a figure more terrifying than even Great God Wen Tong; her arrival was not necessarily a good thing and might well be for the mysteries and supreme sacred artefacts upon Zhang Ruochen’s body.
It was truly a case of fierce gods before and malevolent spirits behind.
