Xue Tu’s divine power surged. His blood qi thickened. He looked like a heavenly god descended. The Yan Luo clan cultivators, whose nerves stretched taut, all breathed a sigh of relief.
“The Great Slaughter War God Emperor reached godhood. Excellent. He is a friend of our Dark Abyss Yan clan.”
“A Yuan Hui level representative attaining godhood makes him a powerhouse even among gods. Luo should not match the Great Slaughter War God Emperor.”
“The disciple favoured by the God Venerable of Death proves no ordinary petty figure. This friend, our Dark Abyss Yan clan must keep!”
…
The group of Yan Luo clan elders all grew spirited. They saw Xue Tu as one of their own.
They did not know Xue Tu kept mentioning “friend of the Dark Abyss Yan clan” because the old Yan clan leader had left a psychological shadow on him earlier.
“This fellow… turns out a trustworthy ally…” Yan Ting murmured.
At this moment, her saint qi exhausted. Her wounds worsened. She could no longer support it. The last fierce beast of the Seven Fierce Formation Diagram returned to the scroll.
Yan Wushen secretly relaxed. He withdrew the Wish Fulfilment Seal.
Any rational person could not break through in the Abyss of Darkness. Just now, he said that because he heard Xue Tu’s message. He lured Luo to charge up.
That was why Luo caught Xue Tu off guard. He fell into the Great Slaughter Divine Fire, left to barely parry.
Luo had not even reached half-god peak in great saint realm. He merely entered the “Mortal Dust Volume” of the Red Dust Supreme List. Across the myriad realms, that was no small feat.
Yet compared to a Yuan Hui level representative, it paled.
Besides, Luo attained godhood not long ago. Against Xue Tu, he naturally fell utterly behind.
“Where is your treasure? Bring it out! Xu had the supreme saint artifact Seven Star Ghost Lotus in great saint realm. Yuan had the supreme saint artifact Soul Devouring Bell. You are a true god. You must have a supreme saint artifact. Hurry and bring it out. Let us see who stands higher.”
Xue Tu punched again and again. Fist strength like a blood sea. It drove Luo back in defeat.
Luo felt fury in his heart. He thought Xue Tu shamed him.
Were supreme saint artifacts so easy to obtain?
Xu got his because he represented the ghost clan in the Heaven Hunt War. The matter held great weight. No room for mishap.
Yuan got hers because her talent ranked highest. The Ghost Lord placed great hopes on her. Thus, she gained a supreme saint artifact.
Luo, among the Ghost Lord’s nine sons, ranked middling at best. The Ghost Lord never favoured him. To get a supreme saint artifact? Dream on! Besides, he reached godhood recently. Where the time to forge one himself?
“You lack even a decent war weapon?” Xue Tu’s tone grew tense.
The tension held worry and anger.
Too bullying!
Too bullying!
If he had a supreme saint artifact, why risk death to enter the Abyss of Darkness and hunt Zhang Ruochen? He aimed to seize one from Zhang Ruochen.
That proved far easier than forging his own.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
…
Luo unleashed seven king grade saint artifacts in a row. Yet none blocked the Great Slaughter Divine Fire. Instead, Xue Tu’s unknown grade fist gauntlets shattered five in succession.
Artifact spirits all perished.
Ordinary king grade saint artifacts faced a true god’s assault like paper.
Luo’s ghost qi burned away bit by bit in the Great Slaughter Divine Fire. Even his ghost body felt intense scorching pain. The Great Slaughter Divine Fire proved too strong. Only a supreme saint artifact could block it.
Luo never craved a supreme saint artifact as he did now. With one, he could fend off the Great Slaughter Divine Fire. He could even counter Xue Tu.
“Bang!”
Xue Tu used a divine power. In the Great Slaughter Divine Fire sea, a fire phoenix formed. It shattered another of Luo’s body-protecting king grade saint artifacts.
“That all? No more war weapons?” Xue Tu’s face showed full contempt and disappointment.
Luo had only one war weapon left. A seven-yuan king grade saint artifact. Nurtured by many gods of the Earth Fiend Ghost City. Its material proved special. So Xue Tu did not destroy it.
Yet he did not know Xue Tu ached inside from shattering six king grade saint artifacts in a row.
“Seems he truly lacks a supreme saint artifact.”
Xue Tu regretted in his heart. If he knew, he would not have raged so earlier. Forcing Luo to reveal a supreme saint artifact by destroying his weapons. Now, king grade ones ruined too. No supreme one gained.
“I feel such disappointment in you. Only your divine source can mend the regret in my heart.”
Xue Tu opened his mouth and spat. Eight light orbs flew out in a row.
Each light orb was a king grade saint artifact. All of high grade. At least five-yuan king grade.
The two’s war weapons differed vastly in quality and quantity. Luo lost all heart to fight Xue Tu. He used an escape secret art. He turned and fled as a divine light far away.
His flight speed outpaced even king grade saint artifacts.
This was a true god’s life-saving speed. Each use cost a heavy price.
Xue Tu sighed long. Some disappointment. He knew alone, he could not kill Luo. So he withdrew all king grade saint artifacts and Great Slaughter Divine Fire into his body.
Now Xue Tu feared not to show treasures. In his view, he and his senior brother shared a bond of life and death. Firmer than gold. They trusted each other fully. Nothing to hide.
“So he kept them in his belly.” Zhang Ruochen nodded.
To upgrade the Sinking Abyss Ancient Sword to supreme saint artifact, he needed to refine vast amounts of high-grade king grade saint artifacts. Zhang Ruochen collected many already. With those in Xue Tu’s belly, it should suffice!
Yet upgrading to supreme saint artifact proved no easy task. Refining war weapons alone would not transform it. He needed to recast the Sinking Abyss Ancient Sword too.
All at once.
“Roar!”
From the direction Luo fled came a deafening and savage dragon roar.
Then Luo’s divine sound rang. “No…”
The voice held utter terror and despair.
All cultivators, including Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao hidden in the shadows, felt their hearts tighten. They looked toward the sound.
There, as far as eyes reached, boundless darkness appeared.
In the darkness, dragon-like creature’s scales and claws faintly showed. Its aura blazed vast. Like mountains and ridges. It rushed fast toward the Heavenly Gate.
“Hurry and flee. It is a dragon-form strange beast.” Yan Wushen said.
The dragon-form strange beast’s power shocked even Xue Tu, this strong true god. For he saw with his own eyes. It swallowed Luo in one bite. No escape.
What level of power gap was this?
Now no other way. Only flee into the Heavenly Gate. Perhaps a slim chance of survival.
But greater change occurred. Above their heads, darkness appeared too. It covered the rosy clouds.
Not dark clouds.
Dark power!
There, dark rules filled it. Full of deathly silence and terror.
A pair of wings a thousand li long, wider than the Heavenly Gate, burst from the darkness above. Bursting out with it, a savage phoenix head. Black feathers. Sharp teeth. A blood-dripping beak that could swallow ten great mountains in one gulp.
Before it, all seemed utterly tiny.
Supreme realm great saints like ants. They could only tremble. Unable to take a step to flee.
“A phoenix-form strange beast. Run for your lives!”
Xue Tu released divine qi. It enveloped the Yan Luo clan cultivators. He rushed toward the Heavenly Gate.
“Clang clang!”
The phoenix cry came from above.
Sound waves sped odd fast. Like gales. Like light patterns. They struck Xue Tu.
“Puff!”
Xue Tu spat a mouthful of divine blood. His divine soul felt like it tore apart. His legs went soft. His knees bent. He fell prone to the ground.
The sound waves held strange power attacks.
Even a true god could not hold. The Yan Luo clan cultivators all cried out in agony. Blood flowed from seven orifices. They fell to the ground. Many supreme realm great saints lost consciousness at once. Their bodies broke and tattered.
Yan Wushen just took out the God King Talisman. Not yet urged it. He fell too.
The God King Talisman and Seven Fierce Formation Diagram were their two trump cards into the Abyss of Darkness. One for defence. One for attack.
“Sizzle sizzle!”
Divine fire overflowed from Xue Tu’s body. Divine power surged. He slowly stood.
He looked up. The phoenix strange beast’s huge black head loomed savage and terrifying. Stench assailed the nose. His heart nearly wept without tears. If he knew Luo a penniless wretch, he should not have acted rashly. Like his senior brother, hide up. Perhaps a slim chance.
Suddenly, the phoenix strange beast sensed Chi Yao’s aura. It spat a breath of black flame from its mouth. Toward the heavenly pillar.
“Swish!”
Chi Yao hidden on the pillar showed her form. Divine qi surged into her Hundred Dragon Bright Emperor Armour.
A hundred golden dragon shadows rushed out. They wrapped and guarded her. Blocking the black flame’s burn.
Chi Yao now in Pan Ruo’s guise. Many methods she could not use. Thus, no heart to clash the phoenix strange beast head-on. She burst from the black flame. Landed before the Yan Luo clan cultivators.
Golden dragons rolled up their prone bodies.
“Splash!”
Five-coloured brilliance shot out. Boundless supreme power flew forth. Straight at the phoenix strange beast’s neck.
In the five-coloured brilliance, the Five-Coloured Stone Sword.
The phoenix strange beast shook its wings. Feathers like demon iron. Dark rule divine patterns flowed on them. It struck the Five-Coloured Stone Sword askew. A piercing metallic clash rang.
Wings shook. A dark storm burst. Full of destructive power. It flung Xue Tu and Chi Yao dozens of li away. They fell to the ground. Forming two great pits.
“Take the Yan Luo clan cultivators into the Heavenly Gate first. I will cover the rear.”
Xue Tu, thrown into a daze, heard this familiar voice in his ear. He crawled up. Looked ahead.
There, Zhang Ruochen’s figure stood back to the Heavenly Gate. Unknown when he took position before them. Above Zhang Ruochen, boundless darkness and the vast phoenix strange beast.
Zhang Ruochen raised his right hand overhead. At once, heaven and earth shook violently.
Xue Tu used divine eyes. He saw dense origin rules surge from all directions of the ancient desolate ruined city. All gathered into Zhang Ruochen’s body.
“Splash!”
On him, brilliant origin divine light burst.
The origin divine light turned into an origin ocean. It spread out. Clashed with the phoenix strange beast and boundless darkness.
“Boom!”
Darkness lit up.
The phoenix strange beast’s divine body, vast as countless mountains, recoiled fast under the impact. Its mouth roared in fury.
This was the true power of an origin envoy!
In the Abyss of Darkness, origin mysteries proved hard to wield. But the ancient desolate ruined city proved an exception. Here gods fell. Vast origin rules lingered.
Zhang Ruochen lacked a divine soul. Yet after mental power reached godhood, mental power could replace the divine soul to wield mysteries.
Other mysteries proved hard to use. He could mobilise few heaven and earth rules. It needed vast time to comprehend and cultivate realm.
But Zhang Ruochen held one percent origin mystery. As origin envoy. The most noble existence under the universe’s lord gods. After mental power godhood, versus before, his origin envoy combat power rose over tenfold?
Origin rules even needed no deliberate call. They gathered to the origin envoy on their own.
Of course, in the time rushing to the Heavenly Gate, Zhang Ruochen opened the sun dial to cultivate each time. Equal to decades spent. Only then did he preliminarily grasp the origin envoy’s power. Grasp the way to wield heaven and earth’s origin rules.
Once an origin envoy attains godhood, the difference proves vast.
A mental power god spirit is also a god.
