“Boom!”
From within a dark cloud thousands of li in diameter, an energy that shook the starry sky emanated, rapidly dispersing in all directions, accompanied by the roars of tigers and dragons.
In the distant reaches, the Yama Clan saint realm cultivators standing on the Empty Lotus Star, each one felt their minds quake, and they knelt on one knee to the ground.
The two clashing within the dark cloud were truly too powerful, their power fluctuations not inferior to those of gods.
After a long while, two streaks of light as bright as meteors flew out from the dark cloud, descending to the Empty Lotus Star, condensing into the figures of Yan Wushen and Zhang Ruochen.
“Greetings to Young Venerable Wushen!”
“Greetings to Sword God Ruochen!”
…
Deafening voices rang out across the planet.
Having battled for nearly three hours, both Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen’s bodies were pristine and unsoiled, without any obvious injuries.
Evidently, the two had stopped at the point of contact.
Both Wen Chu and Xue Tu breathed a sigh of relief, truly fearing that Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen would once again fight until the heavens and earth were overturned, determined to fight to the death.
Xue Tu laughed, “It seems my senior brother won!”
“Not necessarily?” Yan Ting said.
Xue Tu slanted a glance at her, shook his head in contempt, and said, “What do you know? Prajna Goddess is Yan Wushen’s fiancée, yet she and my senior brother are mutually in love, what a hatred that is? If Yan Wushen could defeat my senior brother, would it be this harmonious now?”
Yan Ting glared angrily at Xue Tu, unwilling to accept the result he stated.
Yet, she had to admit that what Xue Tu said held some truth.
“What are you looking at? Dissatisfied, come spar a few moves, I’ll even let you have a hand.”
Xue Tu rolled his eyelids, utterly disregarding Yan Ting, then quickly strode towards Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen, saying, “Senior brother, Brother Wushen, recently the various forces arriving near the starry sky of the Dark Abyss are increasing, all wanting to seize the opportunities, we must set off as soon as possible, otherwise they will get ahead of us!”
Yan Wushen smiled, “Brother Xue Tu is so impatient, it seems your cultivation of the Dark Dao has advanced again?”
“With senior brother’s sun dial to aid, plus the strange beast dark source liquid provided by the Yan Clan, cultivation naturally progresses by leaps and bounds.” Xue Tu was extremely confident.
Upon arriving at the Dark Abyss, Zhang Ruochen and the others did not immediately enter it, but collectively comprehended and cultivated the Dark Dao.
Because the Dark Abyss was known as the source of darkness, extremely bizarre, only by cultivating the Dark Dao could one better survive inside. Just like someone who does not know how to swim must learn before entering deep waters.
To enter the Dark Abyss, naturally full preparations were needed.
“In that case, we can set off!”
Yan Wushen transmitted messages one after another.
Not long after, figures with powerful auras flew in from the starry sky, gathering at the Empty Lotus Star.
There were fully thirty-seven of them, all Paramount Realm great saints, most very aged, over ten thousand years old.
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, the Yama Clan was indeed worthy of being a supreme clan, even just this branch at the Dark Abyss had formidable strength, unexpectedly able to summon so many Paramount Realm great saints.
The Blood Absolute Clan was far from comparable!
In the Heavenly Court and myriad realms, great worlds with such foundations were also exceedingly rare.
“Greetings to Young Venerable.”
All the Paramount Realm great saints uniformly saluted Yan Wushen.
Xue Tu coughed dryly twice, saying, “Brother Wushen, what’s the situation, are they going too?”
“Indeed.” Yan Wushen said.
Yan Ting stepped forward, saying, “Not only them, I will go as well.”
Xue Tu felt a wave of disgust in his heart, snorted lightly, said nothing more, retreated to Zhang Ruochen’s side, and transmitted sound, “For opportunities, the three of us going is enough, why bring these wastes? The Yama Clan clearly wants to rely on numbers to seize more opportunities, we cannot suffer this loss. Senior brother, negotiate with Yan Wushen, have him bring fewer people.”
Zhang Ruochen transmitted back, “Paramount Realm great saints are each proficient in divine abilities, cannot be considered wastes.”
“The key is the opportunities, how can two of us compete against dozens of them?” Xue Tu was worried, and continued, “What if they rely on strength in numbers and strike against us in the Dark Abyss, the consequences would be unimaginable.”
“Do not forget, he just had his fiancée stolen, he must be harbouring hatred in his heart now, who knows when it will erupt?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have spoken very clearly with Yan Wushen, I believe with his breadth of mind, he will not take this matter to heart.”
“Words of men are fearsome, those cultivators outside have fabricated this matter wildly, fanning the flames, pouring dirty water on you and Prajna Goddess, even absurd tales like the goddess once having an abortion have spread, Yan Wushen hearing so much, how could he have no hatred at all?”
Xue Tu naturally could not admit his slip of the tongue after drinking, could only push all this onto those cultivators intent on sowing discord between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen.
Zhang Ruochen understood Yan Wushen well enough, and had truthfully informed him of Prajna’s identity, so he was certain Yan Wushen would not take this to heart.
Even if in the future Yan Wushen struck at him, or the two faced life and death, it would absolutely not be because of this.
At least Zhang Ruochen believed that for this entry into the Dark Abyss, their alliance was without ulterior motives.
Previously, they were both enemy and friend.
This journey, they could only be comrades fighting side by side.
Whether enemy or friend in the future, that would be for the future.
“Was not the goddess’s abortion rumour spread out?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xue Tu’s heart jolted, his five viscera nearly rupturing, but his face showed no ripple, not even blinking, saying, “Senior brother heard from whom? Damn those people, not only wanting to sow discord between senior brother and Yan Wushen, but also between senior brother and me.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled, said no more.
…
The Dark Abyss was naturally not a place one could easily enter, the higher the cultivation, the more dangerous the entry, even heaven-level figures rarely returned alive.
Conversely, cultivators with somewhat lower cultivation entering had a higher chance of returning alive.
The Yama Clan had occupied the Dark Abyss for a hundred thousand years, naturally conducting in-depth research. They discovered that the greatest danger at the periphery of the Dark Abyss was the strange beasts.
Cultivators below the saint realm, carrying protective treasures, entering the Dark Abyss, the strange beasts often found it hard to detect them.
But cultivators below the saint realm had too low cultivation, fundamentally no need to encounter strange beasts, the extremely harsh environment of the Dark Abyss alone could kill them.
Thus, cultivators below the saint realm entering the Dark Abyss instead had the highest mortality rate, nearly ten deaths out of ten.
After numerous explorations, the gods of the Yama Clan summarised an answer.
Strange beasts discovering intruders was related to the “power of heaven and earth” adhered to the cultivators. These “powers of heaven and earth” were incompatible with the Dark Abyss, like torches in the darkness.
Seeing the torches, strange beasts naturally attacked ceaselessly.
The stronger the “power of heaven and earth”, the brighter the torch, the stronger the strange beasts attracted.
Zhang Ruochen had once asked Wen Chu, what was the “power of heaven and earth”?
Wen Chu said, “When cultivators undergo tribulations, it is the power of heaven and earth killing. Upon successful tribulation, the power of heaven and earth essentially tempers the cultivator, with power of heaven and earth fusing into the cultivator’s body.”
“Saints, undergo saint tribulation.”
“Great saints, undergo great saint tribulation.”
“Gods, undergo divine tribulation.”
“Gods with lifespan of one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years, undergo primordial era tribulation.”
“The stronger the tribulation, the stronger the power of heaven and earth fused into the cultivator’s body, the easier to be discovered by strange beasts. In ancient times, heaven-level figures did not stealthily enter the Dark Abyss, they fought their way in.”
“Top great saints who have not undergone divine tribulation have the highest probability of surviving the Dark Abyss periphery, next are gods who have not undergone primordial era tribulation.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “After passing the Dark Abyss periphery, what dangers are there?”
This question, even Wen Chu could not explain.
The Yama Clan had probed for a hundred thousand years, paying a huge price, yet knew little of the depths of the Dark Abyss.
The thirty-seven elder Paramount Realm great saints, plus Yan Ting, Yan Wushen, Zhang Ruochen, Xue Tu, a total of forty-one people, finally arrived at the entrance to the Dark Abyss.
The Dark Abyss was a massive spatial cavity, with Zhang Ruochen’s eyesight, he could not see the edges.
Even ten thousand stars might not cover the entrance to the Dark Abyss.
The scene before his eyes was like a black cloth torn with a black hole. Standing at the edge of the hole, one could not see the size of the cloth, nor the size of the hole.
Zhang Ruochen, coming here for the first time, once again felt the vastness of the universe, his own insignificance.
No wonder since ancient times it could swallow one heaven-level figure after another.
“So cold! How long until Prajna Goddess and the others arrive?” Xue Tu asked.
From the abyss, not only dark qi was spewing, but also cold qi surging out.
The cold qi so intense it could freeze half-saints to death.
Yan Wushen said, “This is our path, gods must take another route to be slightly safer.”
“What, are we not setting off together?”
Xue Tu felt something amiss, his heart beginning to falter.
Yan Wushen said, “If we travel with gods, it would be even more dangerous.”
“How dangerous?” Xue Tu asked in a low voice.
Yan Wushen said, “Not ten deaths out of ten, but nine deaths out of ten for sure.”
Xue Tu widened his eyes, saying, “How not to travel with gods?”
Yan Wushen smiled, “With me, Brother Ruochen, and Brother Xue Tu guarding, the survival probability will definitely greatly increase, five out of ten survivals can be achieved.”
“With our cultivation, only half a chance of survival?”
Xue Tu licked his lips, eyes flickering evasively, staring at Zhang Ruochen, saying, “Senior brother, how about…”
“Wealth and honour are sought in danger, we have come this far, how can we retreat because of danger? Xue Tu, lead the way ahead!”
Zhang Ruochen’s palm pressed to Xue Tu’s back, giving a gentle push, Xue Tu with no mental preparation whatsoever, flew down into the spatial cavity ahead, immediately uncontrollably letting out a loud cry.
The cry sounded somewhat tragic.
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Ting successively flew down, followed by the thirty-seven elder Paramount Realm great saints.
Yan Wushen flew at the rear.
In the recent half month, the cultivators hiding near the starry sky of the Dark Abyss had increased, among them many targeting Zhang Ruochen.
Kong Zhi had always been gazing towards the Dark Abyss, the golden light in his eyes receding, he quickly came to Wujiang’s side, reporting, “Yan Wushen and Zhang Ruochen have already entered the Dark Abyss.”
Wujiang asked, “What about Prajna, Guyue Jing, and the gods of the Dark Abyss Yan Clan?”
“Their figures were not seen.” Kong Zhi said.
“What about the Burial Gold White Tiger and the Swastika Azure Dragon?”
“They probably have not entered the Dark Abyss either.”
Wujiang, originating from the Dark Divine Hall, naturally had deep understanding of the Dark Abyss, smiled, and said, “Kong Zhi, take the three pseudo-gods and pursue. Whether Zhang Ruochen or the Yama Clan great saints, kill without mercy. Be careful, carry the dark source pearls on you.”
Wujiang took out four dark source pearls, handing them to Kong Zhi.
