The Yinglong pulling the chariot is a pure-blooded divine beast, now fully adult.
The divine majesty it radiates is something ordinary false gods cannot compare with. Like a blazing sun bursting out from a nebula, it releases surging waves of divine energy.
Lord Quartzite stabilised his figure, stood proudly holding his sword, gritted his stone teeth, a boundless flame of battle intent burning in his pair of stone eyes, and coldly shouted, “Wu Ma Jiuxing!”
“Since you know it is me, you should immediately present the Heavenly Venerable Treasure Gauze with both hands.”
Wu Ma Jiuxing flew out from the silver-cloud chariot, extraordinary in bearing, his posture straight and tall like a divine pine, his fiery-red long hair and sharply chiselled, handsome face displaying a masculine charm that could captivate thousands of women.
Having become a god more than a thousand years ago, Wu Ma Jiuxing had already stepped into the realm of middle-rank god.
The imposing pressure he erupted with caused space to tremble, and chains of rule-god patterns automatically condensed into countless blade lights, forming above his head a dazzling sea of blades.
To the cultivators on the distant Yunfan Star, what they saw was not a sea of blades.
It was a mass of light even brighter than the sun.
In terms of talent, within the same realm, Wu Ma Jiuxing could fight the divine sons of the Temple of Destiny to a draw.
In terms of wisdom, even Bai Qing’er, cunning as a demon, had nearly fallen into his hands.
In terms of endurance, he cultivated for several thousand years in the Hell Realm under the identity of Young Hall Master of the Universe One Qi Hall without ever exposing himself.
In terms of willpower, while still at the Great Saint realm, he dared to declare, “What I slay is precisely destiny.” Words that ordinary gods would not even dare utter.
Before Lord Quartzite and Spirit God Qingxuan, he might only count as a junior among gods, yet who would dare underestimate him?
The blade Yingtian is drawn only to slay the enemy; it will not return to its sheath otherwise.
Wu Ma Jiuxing did not draw Yingtian, yet from the sea of blades suspended above his head, a dense rain of blades already flew out, striking towards Lord Quartzite.
Lord Quartzite felt extremely frustrated. While swinging his sword to block the blade rain, he roared, “The Heavenly Venerable Treasure Gauze is not in my hands. This lord did not kill Meng Sheng.”
Yet who would believe him?
Spirit God Qingxuan stood to one side, neither attacking to join Wu Ma Jiuxing in suppressing Lord Quartzite, nor attacking to join Lord Quartzite against Wu Ma Jiuxing, this great enemy of Heaven.
Letting them fight until both were gravely injured, then reaping the profit as the fisherman, would that not be better?
Wu Ma Jiuxing was indeed powerful, but Lord Quartzite was no weakling either. After all, he was a god who had ascended tens of thousands of years ago; his foundation was far deeper than that of a new god who had only ascended a thousand years ago.
Zhang Ruochen had no interest in their fight. Stepping through the void, he walked straight away.
In the starry sky, a mass of invisible energy dispersed, revealing a refined and elegant figure.
He was Ai Lianjun, disciple of the ancient Yaksha god Jade Spirit God, who had only stepped into the divine realm in the past thousand years. Yet he was the supreme genius of the Yaksha clan, rising to prominence in the Hell Realm and becoming the most dazzling figure of this era in Hundred Clans King City.
Ai Lianjun blocked Zhang Ruochen’s path ahead, holding a cyan fan, smiling warmly. “Before the Heavenly Venerable Treasure Gauze is found, it would be best for the senior not to leave.”
“And if I insist on leaving?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ai Lianjun shook his head. “This junior is only thinking of senior’s wellbeing! If senior truly insists on leaving, I fear everyone will join forces and show disrespect to senior first. Why make things difficult?”
“If I wish to leave, even if all of you join forces, what can you do to me?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Whoosh!
The white-haired, aged figure vanished from Ai Lianjun’s sight.
Ai Lianjun’s expression changed slightly. Turning around, he saw that Zhang Ruochen had already appeared a hundred thousand li behind him, slowly stepping with divine strides, disappearing into the deep void.
“Senior, please return!”
Ai Lianjun extended his left hand. Instantly, divine Qi surged madly.
A divine giant hand spanning several hundred thousand li stretched across the universe, fingers opening and closing, attempting to seize Zhang Ruochen in its palm.
Zhang Ruochen continued walking forward without looking back, merely waving his sleeve lightly.
Instantly, the divine giant hand dissipated into smoke. All the rule-god patterns reversed, surging back into Ai Lianjun’s body hundreds of thousands of li away, blasting him backwards.
“No one is leaving!”
Wu Ma Jiuxing’s sharp voice seemed to come from the depths of the universe, resounding like divine thunder.
A condensed blade light gathered in the starry sky, crescent-shaped.
As the blade light flew, space was sliced open, forming a long, narrow shattered belt.
Zhang Ruochen continued walking forward, his steps aged and slow, never once striking out.
Yet one star after another was pulled by his powerful spiritual force, flying backwards to collide with the crescent blade light. Some of these stars were a hundred li in diameter, some a thousand li. They were sliced into rubble by the blade light and scattered behind Zhang Ruochen.
Not a single piece of rubble could touch him.
In the end, the blade light was scattered by the rain of stars and dissipated into nothingness.
Spirit God Qingxuan pressed two fingers together, bit them until they bled, then pointed the bloodstained fingers in the direction Zhang Ruochen had left. Powerful spiritual force erupted, condensing a blood-red cage a million li away.
The cage, eight thousand li in diameter, resembled a blood-red planet that enveloped Zhang Ruochen.
This was a divine technique of the Temple of Darkness, the Blood-Refined Divine Prison, which only gods with extremely powerful spiritual force could master.
Bang!
The sound of a wooden clapper rang out!
Inside the eight-thousand-li Blood-Refined Divine Prison, sound waves transformed into a nine-coloured great dao divine flower. It expanded from a hundred li to a thousand li, then to ten thousand li, a hundred thousand li…
The Blood-Refined Divine Prison had long since been shattered.
Lord Quartzite, Wu Ma Jiuxing, Ai Lianjun, and Spirit God Qingxuan, who had chased after him, were struck by the sound-wave great dao divine flower. Instantly, their eardrums burst, their divine souls trembled, their blood boiled, and their internal organs seemed about to rupture.
By the time everything settled, where in this star region could Zhang Ruochen’s figure still be seen?
Ai Lianjun sighed. “This person’s spiritual force is so strong, his use of spiritual force so terrifying. Such sound waves have already merged with the Heavenly Dao. He did not use profound meaning, yet it felt no different from having used it.”
“Profound meaning can only mobilise the power of a single dao. Yet the feeling he gave me was that he could mobilise all the powers in the universe. Could it be that he has mastered the profound meaning of every dao? Yet for spiritual-force gods, employing profound meaning is not so easy,” Spirit God Qingxuan said gravely.
Wu Ma Jiuxing’s gaze was deep and silent.
Lord Quartzite said, “It is not as mysterious as you think. When spiritual force is sufficiently powerful, it can naturally derive all kinds of wonders. Nothing remarkable. How many years has he cultivated? How many years have we cultivated?”
Lu Yi and Ye Manman were already shocked beyond words, feeling they had greatly underestimated the terror of that old senior.
“Could the great secret of Yunfan Star that Old Man Thief Heaven spoke of be him?” Lu Yi said.
Liu Qingcheng said, “A divine-realm powerhouse of this level would not appear in the world without reason. Let us go. First return to Xinghuan Heaven. Perhaps only the City Lord knows who he is.”
…
The universe where Heaven is located and the boundary with the Yellow Spring Galaxy of the Hell Realm is extremely vast.
The border region between Heaven and Hell Realm stretches from north to south, encompassing not only the Undetermined Divine Sea and Hundred Clans King City and the Dark Grand Triangle Star Region, but further south lies the Sea Stone Star Dock, known as the place where the universe originated.
Sea Stone Star Dock separates the southern universe of Heaven from the Yellow Spring Galaxy.
Between the Dark Grand Triangle Star Region and Sea Stone Star Dock lies a place that must be mentioned: Xinghuan Heaven.
Xinghuan Heaven is an ancient great world that belongs neither to the Hell Realm nor to Heaven. It has been able to remain neutral for many reasons.
First, the various powers of Heaven and Hell are intricately intertwined in Xinghuan Heaven.
Second, in the primordial era, a Heavenly Venerable was born in Xinghuan Heaven. This is the homeland of a Heavenly Venerable, concealing many secrets. Ordinary gods dare not act wantonly in this world.
Third, it is the only route that cultivators of Heaven and Hell must pass through on their way to Sea Stone Star Dock. Neither side wishes to destroy this world through war and thereby cut off the path to Sea Stone Star Dock.
Yet now that war has broken out between Heaven and Hell, flames of battle spreading everywhere, who can remain uninvolved?
Zhang Ruochen had now arrived at Xinghuan Heaven. Raising his head, he gazed at the eastern starry sky. There, nebulae gathered densely, presenting a purple-blue hue, like a sea.
“As expected, I did not travel far. I am still in this star region.” Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly and shook his head, simultaneously marvelling at the vastness of the universe and the breadth of the star regions.
The scene in the starry sky was almost identical to what he had seen decades ago in the saint relic on that nameless planet. The only difference was that back then he had only seen a corner of it.
Had he seen more at that time, Zhang Ruochen would certainly have guessed that the place was Sea Stone Star Dock.
Entering Xinghuan Heaven, Zhang Ruochen arrived at an ancient holy city.
A true holy city, covered in great saint patterns, divine patterns, and dao locks. The weakest beings who entered the city were half-saints. Even the servants and slaves possessed considerable martial cultivation.
Upon entering the city, Zhang Ruochen felt like a wanderer returning home. Familiar with the way, he arrived outside a grand yet tranquil manor.
The cultivators guarding the manor gate were all at the Saint King realm.
They originally intended to bar Zhang Ruochen, but when he released a strand of spiritual force, they were pressed down into bowing, the disrespect in their eyes instantly replaced by terror.
They immediately invited Zhang Ruochen in with utmost respect.
“Senior, this is a private divine garden that only receives gods. May I ask if you have an appointment? Or shall we summon the manor lord…”
Zhang Ruochen continued walking forward, then suddenly stopped before a wooden door bearing the plaque “Jade Affinity Pavilion” and said, “The person I seek is inside.”
The two Saint King guards paled dramatically and hurriedly said, “Senior, are you perhaps friends with the person inside?”
“Not friends. We have never met,” Zhang Ruochen said.
The faces of the two Saint King guards turned ashen. One of them said, “This place will not do. The person inside is someone we absolutely cannot afford to offend.”
From inside the wooden door came a deep, resonant, and resolute voice: “Let him in.”
Zhang Ruochen stepped inside.
He had followed the residual stone qi in Meng Sheng’s body, then, relying on an extremely mysterious perception, tracked all the way from the starry sky to Xinghuan Heaven, and then to this manor.
He had some guesses about who was inside, yet he felt no fear and resolutely pursued.
The two Saint King guards, legs trembling with fright, immediately rushed to report to the manor lord.
