“Sasha!”
In the dim ancient desolate ruined city, strands of air flow like rivers slowly surged, finally gathering under a divine corpse and entering Moha Yan’s nose.
Moha Yan looked like a human, tall and sturdy, with a black beast nose.
Wu Jiang had an extraordinary bearing and stood out from the crowd. He stood not far away, playing with a black metal box in his hand.
The box had no fixed rules. It kept changing shape.
The air flow between heaven and earth vanished.
Moha Yan raised his head and said, “Zhang Ruochen stayed here before. There are also scents of Xue Tu and Pan Ruo. Xue Tu must have broken through to godhood by now. Another tricky fellow to deal with.”
“Who died?”
Wu Jiang’s eyes were deep as he asked this.
Moha Yan shook his head and said, “I do not know. I never smelled her scent before. I only know she should be a female divine spirit who practises sword dao. She is a living being, not an undead. And she is a true god.”
“Interesting.” Wu Jiang laughed.
“A true god got killed. Pan Ruo and Xue Tu live up to their name as Yuan Hui level representatives. They will likely attain great godhood in the future.” Jiang Qing sighed.
Among the four divine spirits present, only Jiang Qing was a mid-third class false god from the Nether Hall.
Moha Yan and You Ying both came from the Dark Temple.
Moha Yan said, “With Master Qu You here, what is there to fear even if Pan Ruo and Xue Tu team up? What we truly need to watch out for is that ghost-like strange beast. No, more precisely, it is all the unknown dangers in the ancient desolate ruined city.”
Moha Yan never believed the ancient desolate ruined city held only one ghost-like strange beast so simply.
The divine corpses here were countless. Were they really all dead through and through?
Master Qu You was the shadow that held the Dark Light Illusion Heaven Divine Talisman. He was a mental power divine spirit with an extremely high status in the Dark Temple. He was an ancient being even Wu Jiang dared not provoke.
Wu Jiang murmured, “The route Zhang Ruochen took leads all the way west. What do you think, why is that?”
“Could the position of Da Ming Mountain lie to the west?” Jiang Qing guessed.
Wu Jiang shook his head and said, “No. If Zhang Ruochen and the others aimed for the west from the start, why did they appear at Yun Qing Ancient Buddha’s corpse?”
“There is only one explanation. Zhang Ruochen found some clue in Yun Qing Ancient Buddha’s corpse. That is why he headed west after leaving it.”
“If I am not wrong, the divine spirits of the Yan Luo clan are also rushing west.”
The generally formless and chaotic Master Qu You spoke in a hoarse voice. “Let us go! Leave Zhang Ruochen to you. My task is simple. Kill every Yan Luo clan cultivator who enters the Abyss of Darkness.”
…
No one knew how long they flew. At last, the Phoenix Feather exhausted its divine power and burned out. It turned into black dust that sprinkled on the ground.
Xue Tu’s heart ached deeply. This was the life-saving treasure given to him by the God Venerable of Death.
Once used, it was gone!
Chi Yao flew to a high spot and surveyed the surroundings. She said, “We flew at least a million li. That ghost-like strange beast cannot catch up for now.”
“If we were outside, this Phoenix Feather could have flown billions or even tens of billions of li. What a waste. If we meet another being as terrifying as that ghost-like strange beast, we will surely die.” Xue Tu spoke with some dejection.
Zhang Ruochen twitched his nose and asked, “Do you smell any fragrance?”
“Do not mention it. There really is a fragrance.”
Xue Tu’s eyes lit up. He said, “There must be a strange treasure nearby.”
“The fragrance comes from that direction.”
Chi Yao lifted the Fate Deciding Staff and pointed west.
Zhang Ruochen and Xue Tu flashed forward and landed on the highest ground nearby.
There, in the endlessly distant western sky, strange rosy clouds appeared. They were light blue and stretched over ten thousand li.
Within the rosy clouds, two heavenly pillars faintly appeared. They emitted a glassy glow and flickered in and out of sight.
“Is that a door?” Zhang Ruochen asked in confusion.
Xue Tu said, “What door is that big? Could it be a ten thousand li divine gate made just for undead blood race divine spirits?”
“Stay cautious. Let us go and look.”
Zhang Ruochen suppressed his aura and rushed out first.
Xue Tu followed close behind. He said, “Senior brother, there were no such rosy clouds before. Now they cover such a vast area. Half the ancient desolate ruined city might see them. Other divine spirits could come to check.”
“That is why I said to stay cautious.” Zhang Ruochen replied.
“No. I mean we can hide in the shadows and ambush them. We could take down a big one.” Xue Tu spoke with excitement and anticipation. He added, “Anyway, if they fall in the Abyss of Darkness, who will know it was us?”
Zhang Ruochen fell silent. He thought Xue Tu’s ambitions were too wild. In future, he might become completely lawless.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen say nothing, Xue Tu hurried to explain. “Senior brother, hear me out. That is not what I meant. These divine spirits chasing us into the Abyss of Darkness all target you. So even if they are from the hell realm too, I Xue Tu stand against them. Those who must die still die. I have little interest in treasures really. They are just external things.”
“You think I do not want to kill them?”
Zhang Ruochen countered. He said, “But we must always keep our wits about us. The ancient desolate ruined city is too dangerous. Do not stir up extra trouble.”
Behind them, Chi Yao stared at the distant two heavenly pillars for a long time. Her expression was odd. Then she chased after Zhang Ruochen and Xue Tu.
They could see the rosy clouds and heavenly pillars at the horizon from afar. Yet the journey proved farther than they thought. They travelled a full day but felt as if they stepped in place.
The one sure thing was the fragrance grew stronger. It came from the spot with the two heavenly pillars.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart raced with excitement. He guessed this scent was the aroma from the Udumbara flower that Yun Qing Ancient Buddha mentioned. He drew closer to Yin Xue Tian!
Along the way, Xue Tu seemed to want to speak but held back. At last he asked, “Senior brother, I see your mental power has reached godhood. Have you broken the curse?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “Yes! The curse is gone. With one thought, I can attain martial dao godhood. How could the mere Nether Hall or the dead Yin Xue Tian hold me down?”
Xue Tu drew in a sharp breath. He felt even deeper awe for Zhang Ruochen. In his mind, he thought, “Senior brother holds at least six hundred trillion saint dao rules in his body. With his origin envoy status, once he attains martial dao godhood, how terrifying will his power be?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I am in no rush to become a god. I will wait until I cultivate absolute flesh dao transformation, then break through. When I do, I want all gods to tremble. At that time, we will storm the Nether Hall together. Lend me your aid.”
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so bold, Xue Tu’s own swollen pride from reaching godhood shrank back. He forced a stiff smile. “Of course I will aid you. The Nether Hall? Heh heh! We will overturn it.”
All of a sudden.
Zhang Ruochen felt a chill at his back. An unmatched terrifying pressure landed on him. It stole his breath and made his organs shrink.
Chi Yao and Xue Tu sensed the aura too. They released divine qi and rule divine patterns at once.
Before their eyes, about a hundred li away, a figure as beautiful as a painting took shape. Yet they could not see her clearly. She bathed in light rain all over.
They could not make her out, yet she felt utterly beautiful. It was a feeling deep from the heart.
A very odd feeling.
“To attack the Nether Hall? Such nerve you have.”
Her voice was strange, like her form. It drifted without trace, now distant, now near.
Though he had reached godhood with a strong divine soul and mental will, Xue Tu’s legs still shook. He seemed ready to kneel.
Tears welled but would not fall. He knew he faced a supreme expert from the Nether Hall. He wanted to explain, but his tongue knotted. No words came.
Zhang Ruochen’s face turned pale with shock. He knew what they faced.
He knew this pressure and aura well. He had felt it more than once on the river of time.
The voice and figure of the foe lay outside this space-time. They came from the distant past or the future.
This stretch of heaven and earth showed time ripples too.
Who?
Who was she exactly to cross space-time and hear their talk?
What heights had her cultivation reached?
A hundred li away, the beautiful painted figure fixed her gaze on the Arhat White Pearl on Zhang Ruochen’s body. She made an odd sound. “Why do you have the Arhat White Pearl?”
She stretched out an arm.
“Splash!”
In the ancient desolate ruined city, the once solid space cracked in dense lines.
A flawless hand of light probed from the space cracks. It crossed time limits and reached for the Arhat White Pearl on Zhang Ruochen’s chest.
Zhang Ruochen’s body ached as if it would split. The power leaking from the light hand seemed set to crush his heart. And she only aimed to take the Arhat White Pearl!
Spacetime forces surged from all sides and pinned Chi Yao and Xue Tu. They could not move and suffered greatly. They could not aid Zhang Ruochen.
As Zhang Ruochen thought he would tear apart, a palm suddenly slapped his shoulder.
“Bang!”
The light hand, just half a foot from him, burst apart.
In this heaven and earth, the broken space and tangled time settled back to calm.
Zhang Ruochen puzzled over it when a tall figure in purple robes walked past him. Clearly, this one had slapped his shoulder and shattered the light hand from across time.
Zhang Ruochen felt the pressure lift from his body. He bowed at once. “Thank you, senior!”
The purple robe figure seemed deaf to his words. He strode ahead. Each step covered hundreds of li. Mountains and ridges fell behind in one stride. Divine corpse boulders shattered one after another.
In moments, the purple robe figure vanished from sight.
Zhang Ruochen looked to the beautiful woman a hundred li away. But she had gone long before.
“Was that my illusion just now?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Chi Yao’s face grew grave. She said, “No illusion! Did you not notice? That purple robe figure who passed us feels familiar.”
“I could not see him clearly. How familiar?”
Xue Tu’s legs still trembled. He could not stand steady.
Chi Yao said, “The patterns on his robes show the World Tree of the hell realm. The crown on his head takes the shape of a pagoda.”
Xue Tu recalled it then. His face drained of colour. He stammered in shock. “This is not… this is not the painting we saw in the Yan clan’s ancestral hall in the Abyss of Darkness? Yan… Yan Huanyu…”
As he spoke those three words, Xue Tu clamped his mouth shut. Then he let go and cupped his hands. He bowed to all sides. “Old clan leader, I am a friend of the Yan Luo clan. I meant no offence earlier, no offence… You are magnanimous. Do not hold it against a small one…”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “Stop bowing. If I guess right, that figure came from what the old clan leader left ten thousand years ago. He crossed time to save me.”
Xue Tu pointed to the ground. “Impossible. Look. The ground still holds the old clan leader’s footprints.”
