“Another god has fallen. Why has the Linglong Assembly turned into such a storm of blood?”
“Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor! An elder god of profound cultivation. Beneath the great gods, who could kill him?”
“Who on earth did this? The audacity is staggering. Even if they care nothing for the Armoured Heavens, do they truly dare show no respect to Empress Bai in Xinghuan Heaven itself?”
“If Empress Bai does not deal with this matter, the Paradise Faction will never let it rest. The Linglong Assembly cannot proceed!”
…
The shock was overwhelming!
Every god in Xinghuan Heaven, even well-informed cultivators still in the Saint realm, felt crushing pressure, fearing some cataclysmic event was imminent.
In just two days, three true gods had perished.
One had come from the Tian Sha Organisation, one was a rising star of the Blade God Realm, and one belonged to the Paradise Faction. They seemed unconnected, yet anyone with insight knew all three were aligned with the Paradise Faction.
When something of this magnitude occurred, even if no divine-revered being of the Paradise Faction descended, great gods certainly would.
Yu Chenjing gazed at the starry sky beyond and said, “I had thought that during the Linglong Assembly all sides would exercise restraint, and the Twelve Towers of the Goddess would surely prevent divine war from erupting. It seems I was far too naive!”
“It is not that you were naive,” said Yu Taizhen. “It is the behaviour of the Twelve Towers this time that no one can understand.”
Leaning beneath the shade of a tree, his long hair loose, Yu Taizhen had abandoned his former air of indifference and now spoke with utmost gravity.
Yu Chenjing nodded. “Not a single breeze stirs in Xinghuan Heaven without Empress Bai and the Twelve Towers knowing of it. Yet Motong died under mysterious circumstances, Empress Bai stood by and did nothing when Wuma Jiuxing fell, and now Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor is dead too. Why has she still not intervened? Is she truly unafraid of retribution from the Tian Sha Organisation, the Blade Venerable, and the Armoured Lord?”
“This has thoroughly offended the Paradise Faction!” Yu Taizhen declared.
Yu Chenjing asked, “Could she believe that with the Star Sea Fisherman backing her, she no longer needs to fear the Blade Venerable or the Armoured Lord?”
“Who killed Wuma Jiuxing?” Yu Taizhen asked suddenly.
“An old man,” Yu Chenjing replied.
“No one knows who that old man is. And he is someone on the verge of death,” Yu Taizhen added.
Yu Chenjing’s pearl-like eyes turned. “Does Tenth Uncle mean that the old man is merely a figure pushed into the open, while the true culprit behind the fall of all three gods is the Twelve Towers and the power behind them? But why would the Twelve Towers do this? What do they gain?”
Yu Taizhen shook his head. “What I mean is: who exactly is this old man? How does a spiritual-strength god of such power suddenly appear out of nowhere?”
“Tenth Uncle is a Messenger of Truth. Can even you not see through his origins?”
“That is precisely why I am suspicious,” Yu Taizhen said with a smile. “Over the past millennium or two, whenever the Paradise Faction suffers misfortune, it always concerns one particular person. And that person happens to have vanished in this very region of space.”
Yu Chenjing was brilliant beyond measure. Understanding dawned instantly. Shock filled her immortal countenance. “Tenth Uncle means him? Impossible.”
She recalled every encounter with the old cowherd, yet could find no way to link him to Zhang Ruochen. Besides, if the old man were Zhang Ruochen in disguise, how could she have failed to see through it?
Yu Taizhen continued, “We shall see whether Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor also died by that old man’s hand. In any case, I do not believe the Twelve Towers would dare make an enemy of the Paradise Faction. As for Hell Realm, they would have no need for such concealment if they wished to oppose Paradise. When all is considered, Zhang Ruochen is actually the prime suspect.”
Yu Chenjing urged, “Then what are we waiting for? Let us investigate at once.”
“How?”
“You can pay a visit to Shang Hong. We do not know how Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor died, but surely Shang Hong does?”
“A visit?”
At the mention of Shang Hong’s name, powerful battle intent radiated from Yu Taizhen. “When I meet him, it will not be now. The next time we meet, one of us will live and one will die.”
Both were Messengers of Truth, both peerless geniuses of this kalpa. When they met, they would naturally settle life and death and decide ownership of the profound meaning of Truth.
Messengers of Truth contended for nothing less than the seat of Truth Lord God.
…
Lan Jun said, “It really was a trap. Shall we head to the temple in the Yuhong Mountains now?”
“You would jump in even knowing it is a trap?” Shang Hong asked.
“But Yan Shen, Jialin Nan, and Kailan Feili are still inside.”
“They will be fine. If they fall too, the Twelve Towers of the Goddess will be utterly annihilated.”
Shang Hong pondered, then felt something was amiss yet could not say what. “If that temple truly is a trap set by Bai Qing’er, we have no need to go personally. We can lure gods from Hell Realm into it instead.”
“Let Hell Realm deal with Bai Qing’er?”
Lan Jun shook his head. “But if Bai Qing’er’s goal is the Heavenly Venerable’s Divine Source, and we send Hell Realm gods there, what if they seize it?”
“The chance of the Heavenly Venerable’s Divine Source being in that temple is vanishingly small. Even if it were, no one has found it in all these years. Sending Hell Realm gods will yield nothing. Leave this matter to you. I will go see Empress Bai.”
Shang Hong’s figure vanished.
Greed flashed in Lan Jun’s eyes. He murmured to himself, “The Heavenly Venerable’s Divine Source… Even the slimmest possibility is worth risking everything for.”
With that, Lan Jun stepped out of the Heavenly Goddess Tower.
Shang Hong’s figure reappeared in the same spot.
Lan Jun had believed Shang Hong gone, but in truth Shang Hong had never left. Between two high gods, the gap in strength was simply too vast!
Shang Hong smiled faintly. He had long predicted that Lan Jun would be unable to resist the lure of the Heavenly Venerable’s Divine Source.
Lan Jun was a high god, yet he had no confidence of surviving the kalpa tribulation.
Lan Jun going personally to the temple in the Yuhong Mountains was actually a good thing. With his formidable cultivation, he could at least protect Yan Shen, Jialin Nan, and Kailan Feili.
As for the Heavenly Venerable’s Divine Source…
Shang Hong simply did not believe they could find it. He possessed far more information about that temple than he had revealed to Lan Jun.
…
Across the reddish-yellow earth, dust rose dozens of zhang high.
Yan Shen, Jialin Nan, and Kailan Feili, each shielded by their divine realm worlds, fled desperately toward the outside.
The ground was covered in dense spatial inscriptions. Despite their power, breaking free in a short time was impossible.
One of Jialin Nan’s wings had been severed by spatial force and lost somewhere; blood poured from the wound. He cursed, “Damn it! What is that old bastard’s background? How can he control every array here?”
“First get out of this region. The whole place is one giant trap,” Yan Shen said through gritted teeth, his face twisted with cold fury.
Boom!
Boom!
…
Divine inscriptions across the earth were triggered by the arrays.
Divine fire surged from underground, lightning rained from the sky, spatial vortices formed… Every step was lethal. The three gods of the Paradise Faction were reduced to wretched flight, escaping for their lives.
Yan Shen’s skin had turned to charred coal; his entire body was blackened.
Kailan Feili had lost all elven dignity and grace. He coughed blood incessantly; half his divine body had been torn apart by space, soaked red with blood.
The situation had far exceeded Bai Qing’er’s calculations.
Lord Turtle King’s eyes nearly popped out in shock. For once he spoke fluently. “Impossible! Each of the Nine Yin Evasion Arrays is unfathomably profound. Even this king cannot fully comprehend them. He only just arrived. How can he already control them all?”
“We cannot let him keep killing like this,” Bai Qing’er said. “Otherwise great gods of the Paradise Faction will descend upon Xinghuan Heaven. Moreover, the death qi rising from underground grows ever denser. We cannot wait any longer.”
She waved a hand. “Go rescue them. Lead them temporarily to the Four Stars Oasis.”
“Understood!”
Lord Turtle King swung his staff. A beam of divine qi shot forth, stabilising the chaotic space and forming a safe path straight toward the three gods.
Bai Qing’er’s gaze turned toward the temple gate. She walked forward.
Zhang Ruochen stood beneath the gate, hands raised emptily. Beneath his feet, a ten-zhang array disc shone brilliantly.
Above his head hovered nine colossal circular array diagrams, linked one to another, displaying nine different scenes: starry seas, divine palaces, white moon, green mountains, long rivers…
They represented nine divine arrays: Xingmen Fukun, Shen Gen Tianfu, Zhen Fan Feigong, Sheng Kan Qihe…
Any single one of these nine could suppress a god like Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor. United, their might was unimaginable. Even the combined forces of Yan Shen, Jialin Nan, and Kailan Feili could only flee in defeat.
These were the legendary Nine Yin Evasion Arrays!
Zhang Ruochen had merely studied them in the Spacetime Secret Canon without deep research. He had never imagined he could master them so effortlessly.
Of course, he was still gradually exploring their mysteries and had grasped only the surface. Otherwise, would Yan Shen, Jialin Nan, and Kailan Feili have had any chance to escape?
“At last you show yourself!”
Zhang Ruochen looked into the distance and spotted Lord Turtle King weaving through the Nine Yin Evasion Arrays.
Moments later, not far away, he saw Bai Qing’er’s graceful figure.
Bai Qing’er transmitted to him, “Let them go. Kill them, and Xinghuan Heaven will face calamity.”
“What is Xinghuan Heaven’s calamity to me? Was it not you, Lady Bai, who lured them here precisely so I would kill them?” Zhang Ruochen replied.
“Are you angry?”
Zhang Ruochen did not answer.
Origin divine light blossomed from Bai Qing’er’s body. She seemed an exiled immortal, holy and untouchable by mortal dust, walking step by step through the Nine Yin Evasion Arrays toward him.
“You should understand why I did this,” she said.
“I do understand. That is precisely why I have not turned the arrays against you.”
Zhang Ruochen continued, “You believe my greatest problem lies within my heart. You wished to use the four gods to awaken my will to survive, hoping that will would reignite the fire of life. Yet my problem has nothing to do with the will to survive. It is simply that…”
At that instant, Zhang Ruochen could hold on no longer. His heart ceased beating. Darkness swallowed his vision. He collapsed backward. The last ember of life within him went out.
Death descended. No power could stop it.
Before it, so-called will was fragile and utterly worthless.
