In the endless darkness, a rapid figure streaks past and lands on the shattered continental plate.
The entire continent is filled with divine qi and various destructive forces.
Clearly, a god-level battle has just taken place here, with the residual power lingering for a long time, turning this place into a forbidden zone. Ordinary saint realm cultivators who enter would be easily killed by the lingering divine energy.
Yan Wushen is naturally not an ordinary saint realm cultivator.
He follows a mountain range, walking on this newly fractured continental plate, observing carefully. Suddenly, he senses something, his figure flashes, and he appears at the edge of a deep pit.
At the bottom of the deep pit, divine qi is dense, and every strand of qi flow rushing upwards can pierce through a great saint’s saint body.
In the centre of the divine qi light cluster, half a divine source floats.
“It is Lan Gu’s divine source. How could it be shattered?”
Yan Wushen reaches out to grab it, but as his fingers just touch the divine source.
The divine source scatters like sand, turning into powder and falling to the ground.
Even though Yan Wushen is well-informed and has a steady mind, he is still slightly stunned.
“The divine source is shattered, turning to dust upon touch. What kind of power is this? Did a true god make a move?” He mutters to himself.
The divine source is one of the hardest substances in the world. Even for a true god, shattering a divine source is not an easy task and requires special methods to succeed.
So what if it is a true god?
Yan Wushen feels no fear in his heart and continues to pursue.
Not long after, he finally finds Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen sits cross-legged between two flood dragon strange beasts each hundreds of miles long, with dark lustre flickering on his body. Around him, there are as many as hundreds of thousands of strange beast corpses, with blood flowing into rivers, being gnawed by the god-devouring insects.
The two flood dragon strange beasts are already dead, their bones pierced through.
Dark source liquid flows out from the bones, turning into streams that converge towards the position where Zhang Ruochen sits, forming an ink-black pool.
Yan Wushen stands quietly at the edge of the ink pool, not disturbing Zhang Ruochen who is cultivating.
“Whoosh!”
From the top of Zhang Ruochen’s head, a yin-yang taiji mark rushes out, and a vortex immediately appears around his body, continuously absorbing the dark source liquid into his body.
In just the time it takes to burn one incense stick, all the dark source liquid in the bones of the two flood dragon strange beasts is absorbed and refined by Zhang Ruochen.
The saint path rules in his body have increased by nearly one trillion.
Moreover, the dark source liquid is not completely absorbed, with more still flowing in the qi sea, requiring time to refine.
Zhang Ruochen opens his eyes, his figure soars up, landing in front of Yan Wushen, and smiles: “Brother Wushen, why did you catch up?”
Yan Wushen looks at the two flood dragon strange beast corpses lying horizontally before him like mountain ridges, and says: “You went alone to lure four pseudo-gods. I was worried, so I had Xue Tu and Yan Ting lead the older generation supreme realm great saints of the Yan Luo Clan to hide, then came to assist you. Now it seems my worry was unnecessary. The Nether Hall’s Bei Yu, Lan Gu, and Ai Long Xing all died by your hand?”
Zhang Ruochen does not hide it from him, saying: “Indeed.”
“What about Kong Zhi?” Yan Wushen asks.
Zhang Ruochen takes out Kong Zhi’s divine source and hands it to Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen takes the divine source, holds it in his hand to observe, and sighs: “This divine source originally belonged to the Nether Clan’s Hong Yu Great God, a powerhouse who lived for hundreds of thousands of years. Kong Zhi had the chance to become a middle three ranks pseudo-god in the future, yet he fell by your hand.”
He returns the divine source to Zhang Ruochen.
He does not ask how Zhang Ruochen did it, because asking such a question would undoubtedly be making things difficult for him. Zhang Ruochen has powerful trump cards and methods, and does he not have them too?
Yan Wushen says: “Refining dark source liquid can indeed rapidly increase saint path rules. However, the increases are all in dark attribute rules. Refining too much may not necessarily be a good thing. Forget it, you surely know these things well, I should not say more.”
The so-called dark attribute rules are not just dark rules.
Because all the various great and minor paths in the world originate from the nine eternal ancient paths.
The saint paths originating from the dark path are naturally not few.
These saint paths are all of dark attribute.
Yan Wushen continues: “There is one point, perhaps you do not know. In the Abyss of Darkness, flood dragon strange beasts are indeed very dangerous, and saint realm cultivators encountering them face nine deaths in ten. But there are strange beasts even more terrifying than flood dragon strange beasts.”
“I truly do not know this!” Zhang Ruochen says.
Yan Wushen says: “Human, ghost, dragon, phoenix.”
“What do you mean?”
Yan Wushen says: “Human-shaped strange beasts are the most terrifying. Once they appear, with our cultivation, we cannot even escape. Dragon and phoenix form strange beasts are the weakest, yet still more than ten times stronger than flood dragon strange beasts. Unless you and I break through to the divine realm, we can only contend with them to some extent.”
“What about ghost types?” Zhang Ruochen asks somewhat curiously.
Yan Wushen says: “Elusive and unpredictable, far stronger than dragon and phoenix form strange beasts. Once, a ghost type strange beast escaped the dark abyss and was encountered by the clan leader. The clan leader personally made a move, yet still let it escape.”
“Where did it escape to?”
Yan Wushen shakes his head.
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen leave this place and fly towards the depths of the Abyss of Darkness.
The two of them land on a vast dark space continent, and under Yan Wushen’s lead, they go to rendezvous with Xue Tu and the others. But halfway there, Yan Wushen’s expression changes.
Zhang Ruochen also senses it, perceiving divine qi fluctuations in the air.
“Swoosh!”
Yan Wushen’s speed surges, turning into a beam of dark light, arriving in an instant at the place where Xue Tu and the others are hidden.
Here, the mountains have collapsed, filled with various chaotic forces.
The hidden formation on the ground has been destroyed.
On a patch of ground, Zhang Ruochen discovers bloodstains, squats down, dips his finger in the blood, and says: “This is Yan Hai’s great saint blood.”
Yan Wushen’s gaze is sharp, his hands forming seals, six reincarnation marks appear on his back, his double pupils turn into two starry seas, and he says: “There is the aura of Dark Temple gods, and not just one.”
“How could the Dark Temple gods appear here?” Zhang Ruochen says.
Yan Wushen says: “The Dark Temple is originally the great power closest to the Abyss of Darkness, or rather, the Abyss of Darkness is within the Dark Temple’s sphere of influence.”
“The Dark Temple has existed since ancient times, their understanding of the Abyss of Darkness surpasses even that of our Yan Clan.”
“For the Dark Temple, the Abyss of Darkness is both a forbidden land and a holy land.”
A strange colour appears in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, and he says: “Your Yan Clan migrating to the Abyss of Darkness, does that not encroach on the Dark Temple’s interests? How could they tolerate you?”
“Whether they tolerate it or not, they must.”
Yan Wushen says: “Ten thousand years ago, the old clan leader of the Yan Luo Clan entered the Abyss of Darkness and never returned. At that time, although the old clan leader was advanced in age, he was still in his prime, and no one doubted he could pass the next yuanhui tribulation.”
“When the old clan leader was around, his status and position were on par with the current Fengdu Great Emperor, a supreme existence in the Infernal Realm. As long as the Dark Temple cannot prove the old clan leader is dead, they dare not strike heavily at the Yan Clan. Small skirmishes are naturally unavoidable.”
The Fengdu Great Emperor, with his own power, speaks for the entire middle three clans.
A figure of this level, placed three hundred thousand years ago, would be a lord of the heavens. Who would dare to offend?
Zhang Ruochen says: “Since the Dark Temple understands the Abyss of Darkness very well, they should know that the path we are taking now is not suitable for gods. Why would the Dark Temple gods still appear here?”
“It can only mean that the purpose of their trip is more important than their lives.” Yan Wushen says.
Zhang Ruochen smiles and says: “Does that not mean they are also coming for me?”
Zhang Ruochen presses his palm to the ground, sensing with the power of the Heart of Truth. Immediately, various images appear in his mind.
Xue Tu and Yan Ting in the hidden formation, along with the Yan Luo Clan’s older generation supreme realm great saints.
Three black-robed cultivators appear outside the hidden formation.
…
Two black-robed cultivators are killed, their bodies exploding, their divine sources dug out.
The remaining one black-robed cultivator and the Yan Luo Clan’s older generation supreme realm great saint both flee.
Zhang Ruochen wants to see clearly who killed those two black-robed cultivators, but he gains nothing.
“What did you detect?” Yan Wushen asks.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression is grave, he looks around, unfolds the golden wings on his back, flies about eight hundred miles, and stops on a patch of ruined ground.
The dark aura here is exceptionally dense!
At the bottom of a collapsed great mountain, Zhang Ruochen digs out a broken god corpse. The god corpse is severely rotten, filled with corrosive power, emitting a strong foul odour.
Yan Wushen’s tone is heavy as he says: “The Dark Temple’s Jiu Gui Divine General is of the corpse clan. Who killed him?”
“Xue Tu and the others do not have the ability to kill a pseudo-god. This can only mean there is a third-party force present, and with extremely high cultivation, possibly not just pseudo-gods so simple.” Zhang Ruochen says.
Yan Wushen says: “In this recent period, someone has leaked your whereabouts, and many powerhouses from various major forces have gathered in the Abyss of Darkness. So, coming from any side is possible.”
“Do you know who leaked the information?” Zhang Ruochen asks.
Yan Wushen says: “There is only one possibility: Wuchang Ghost City’s Jin Ju Great God. Because the Yan Clan’s trip to the Life and Death Realm Star to pick you up borrowed the yin ship from him.”
“I thought he and the clan leader were close friends, worthy of trust. Yet he still leaked the information to the Nether Hall’s Wen Tong Great God. When the clan leader went to find him again, he had already left and disappeared without a trace!”
“Could he have come to the Abyss of Darkness?” Zhang Ruochen asks.
Yan Wushen says: “It should be impossible. Even if his cultivation is powerful, entering the Abyss of Darkness carries a considerable risk of falling.”
Zhang Ruochen shakes his head and says: “I do not think so. First, this Jin Ju Great God, disregarding offending the Yan Luo Clan clan leader, still leaked the information to Wen Tong Great God. Clearly, he is eyeing the treasures or mysteries on me. If so, from the beginning, his target was me.”
“Second, Jin Ju Great God is after all a major figure in Wuchang Ghost City. Elsewhere, he might fear the Yan Luo Clan clan leader somewhat. But in Wuchang Ghost City, with ghost clan gods everywhere and the city lord backing him, the Yan Luo Clan clan leader cannot do much to him, right? Why would he flee?”
“Perhaps he did not flee at all, but merely shifted from overt to covert, wanting to strike at me again in the Abyss of Darkness. This point, I fear even the Yan Luo Clan clan leader would find it hard to anticipate.”
Yan Wushen says: “The way you put it, it is not impossible. The Abyss of Darkness is dangerous, yet it is also an excellent hiding place. Any external divination powers cannot divine inside here. For the sake of mysteries, a great god taking the risk makes sense.”
Zhang Ruochen stares at the god corpse on the ground and says: “But the one who made the move should not be him. If it were a great god’s true body acting, would Xue Tu and the others have a chance to escape?”
“What if it is an avatar?” Yan Wushen says.
