Jialin Nan was gravely wounded. Half his body had turned blood-red. In towering rage he roared, “Had I not suffered heavy losses in the spatial divine formation during the day and failed to recover, how could I possibly fall to the likes of you? Yan God, lend me your strength. Help me reclaim my war sword.”
Xue Tu swiftly stored the Supreme Sacred Artefact war sword inside the gourd bestowed upon him by Death God Venerable, then gave a cold snort. “Not convinced, are you? Come, one on one.”
As he spoke, Xue Tu summoned his divine throne planet.
The divine throne planet was blood-red, a hundred thousand li in diameter. It hovered above Gu Ya’s divine realm world, radiating an immensely thick and heavy pressure.
Other gods usually condensed several divine throne planets, sometimes more than a dozen or even twenty-odd, each comparable to a star with a diameter exceeding a million li.
Xue Tu had only one, and its size was less than a thousandth of most other divine throne planets.
Yet this single planet exerted tremendous pressure on Jialin Nan. Looking up, it seemed like an entire blood-red world was pressing down from the sky.
One must understand that divine throne planets are formed from heavenly rules, personal rules, and material from the outside world.
Xue Tu had achieved godhood in the Desolate Ancient Ruined City, where the heavenly rules were almost entirely divine rule inscriptions left behind after gods fell. The substances within the city could well be called divine matter.
For Xue Tu to condense a divine throne planet a hundred thousand li across was already extraordinary.
The weight of this planet far exceeded that of a dozen or twenty stars combined. It was completely unafraid of being shattered and could be wielded as a war weapon.
Jialin Nan seethed inwardly. His injuries were now worse than they had been during the day, and he had lost his Supreme Sacred Artefact war sword. Facing this junior Xue Tu in single combat, he no longer had absolute confidence of victory.
Losing would be utterly humiliating.
Xue Tu, however, was fearless. Nine pairs of blood wings unfurled behind him, growing larger in the wind. Battle intent boiled as he declared, “Come fight! Although this prince has been a god for only a few decades, I do not fear old-generation gods like you who have cultivated for tens of thousands of years. Today, this prince shall trample your divine body, Jialin Nan, and make my name resound across the world.”
“You court death.”
From Jialin Nan’s back, white feathers shot forth one after another.
Each feather was like a divine blade, moving as fast as light.
“Petty tricks, yet you dare show off before me. Great Slaughter Divine Flame!”
Xue Tu’s chest and abdomen turned crimson, as though a sun burned within him. He exhaled divine flame that transformed into a scorching sea of fire, reducing every incoming white feather to ash.
A cold smile appeared on Jialin Nan’s face.
Swish!
An arrow of light trailing a tail more than ten li long pierced through the feathers and the sea of flame, flying straight toward Xue Tu’s chest.
Bang!
A door-sized shield appeared in front of Xue Tu and collided with the three-zhang-long crystalline divine arrow.
Both shield and Xue Tu were forced back dozens of li.
The shield was deeply dented by the impact. The five divine characters “Great Slaughter War God Prince” upon it melted in the intense heat and were almost illegible.
When Xue Tu had forged the token, he had already intended it to double as a shield, serving two purposes.
“Good thing this prince came prepared. Sneak attacks are useless. Kelan Feili, are you still not going to show yourself?”
Xue Tu’s aura climbed to its peak. His tiger-like eyes glared toward Kelan Feili a thousand li away, exuding the domineering air of a war god.
Both Jialin Nan and Kelan Feili were stunned. The younger generation truly inspired awe.
So young, yet Xue Tu’s combat experience was already this terrifying. He had effortlessly neutralised a surprise arrow from an Elf Race god.
Not only they, but even Gu Ya, who was locked in combat with Yan God, was utterly shocked and found it hard to believe.
What they did not know was that Zhang Ruochen had long ago informed Xue Tu of Kelan Feili’s presence, so he had been on guard the entire time. That was how he blocked the sneak attack. Otherwise, Kelan Feili’s arrow would certainly have blasted through him.
But since he had blocked it, he now had to act as though everything was within his control in order to intimidate his enemies.
Xue Tu swept his gaze across them, exhaling a dragon of qi as he roared, “Mere ants daring to bare fangs before this prince. Come at me together. Today this prince shall trample the Bright God Hall beneath his feet and punch the Elf God Hall into submission.”
Zhang Ruochen had already promised to assist from the shadows.
If that was the case, what was there to fear?
Jialin Nan and Kelan Feili were genuinely enraged. This was simply too arrogant!
A new god of only a few decades dared to be this insolent? Did he think he was Yan Wushen of the Six Paths of Reincarnation?
“Light of Order.”
Dazzling radiance burst from Jialin Nan’s body, driving away the cold and darkness of Gu Ya’s divine realm world. Around him, one light sword after another condensed.
Dense and numerous, there must have been hundreds of thousands.
“Flying Rainbow Divine Arrow!”
Kelan Feili drew her crystalline, beautiful divine bow. A ring of seven-coloured rainbow light appeared behind her. The divine rule inscriptions within her body and the divine qi of heaven and earth all converged upon a single seven-coloured divine arrow nocked on the bowstring.
“All divine techniques in the world shall be shattered by this prince’s single star.”
Xue Tu let out a long howl and commanded the divine throne planet suspended in the sky to crush down upon Jialin Nan and Kelan Feili.
Even Gu Ya shook his head at Xue Tu’s earlier boast, thinking his junior brother far too arrogant. A mere early-stage Middle God had completely stolen the limelight from this Upper God.
The Flying Rainbow Divine Arrow was renowned across the world for its speed. By the time your divine throne planet descended, your body would already have been pierced.
“Very well. Let him suffer a little first, then this seat will step in to save him. That way he will remember the favour I have done him as his senior brother,” Gu Ya thought to himself.
However…
BOOM!
The blood-red planet slammed downward, shattering every single one of the hundreds of thousands of light swords Jialin Nan had released.
Kelan Feili never managed to loose her arrow.
Gu Ya’s divine realm world rocked violently from the impact of Xue Tu’s divine throne planet. Mountains collapsed, the sky darkened. That single strike nearly inflicted internal injuries on Gu Ya himself!
When a divine realm world is damaged, the god suffers as well.
Jialin Nan and Kelan Feili were struck squarely by the divine throne planet. They had no chance to escape. It was unknown whether they still lived.
Yan God, who had been firmly suppressed by Gu Ya, stared with bulging eyes in disbelief. Who could have imagined that Xue Tu was this powerful? With one blow he had crushed two veteran Middle Gods of Paradise Realm.
After all, this was inside Gu Ya’s divine realm world. Gu Ya sensed faint fluctuations of power. The moment Xue Tu struck with his divine throne planet, Jialin Nan had been assaulted by curse energy.
As for why Kelan Feili never released her Flying Rainbow Divine Arrow, Gu Ya had no idea what had happened.
One thing, however, was certain: a god of the Underworld Race must have secretly lent assistance nearby.
At the edge of the oasis ten thousand li away, beneath a sacred tree.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Ten-Thousand-Curse Heavenly Bead and said, “The outcome is decided. With only Yan God left, escaping Gu Ya’s divine realm world is now impossible.”
In rushing to save Jialin Nan, Yan God had rashly entered Gu Ya’s divine realm world and was doomed to be trapped.
“The technique you just used came from the Thirteen Cloud Dream Chapters, didn’t it? Aren’t you worried Kelan Feili will recognise it and connect it to you?” Zhang Ruochen asked with concern.
Kelan Feili had failed to loose her arrow, naturally because Bai Qing’er had interfered with dream techniques.
Bai Qing’er’s long eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes. “I merely forcibly disrupted his spiritual will and consciousness. I did not actually draw him into a dream.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “What do you plan to do about the crisis at Yuchen Divine Temple?”
Bai Qing’er pondered for a long while, hesitating several times before answering, “Tell the City Lord. Let her handle it.”
“Since you are so reluctant to see her, shall I deal with it instead?” Zhang Ruochen offered.
Bai Qing’er looked at him in surprise. “You can suppress those divine corpses and the ancient corpse ghost beneath the ground?”
“With reinforced arrays, I can only suppress them temporarily,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
Bai Qing’er asked, “What exactly are you planning?”
“It is difficult to explain. Inform the Master of the Dark Flower Booth and ask her to come tomorrow,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qing’er gazed at Zhang Ruochen with an odd expression.
Knowing she had probably misunderstood, Zhang Ruochen hurriedly added, “I have an extremely important task that requires her help. Is she trustworthy?”
“Everyone else has already taken you as their master. Why ask me?”
Bai Qing’er was about to leave with Lord Turtle when she suddenly recalled something and turned back. “Is the Heavenly Venerable Treasure Gauze really in your possession?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head.
“Then you had better find it. Stop focusing only on dealing with Shang Hong. I, Bai Qing’er, am still worth your effort. If you do not come to the Linglong Conference, I really will marry someone else. You may choose not to come!”
Her voice was beautiful and pleasing to the ear.
Yet her lovely figure had already vanished into the night.
“Did she have to be that direct? She didn’t even leave me a second option!”
Zhang Ruochen sighed. In matters of love, he had never met anyone so aggressively straightforward.
Shouldn’t feelings be like flowers in a mirror, the moon on water, mist in the mountains: sometimes there, sometimes not, hazy and indistinct, inviting yet retreating?
When everything is laid out so plainly, where is the romance?
This wasn’t some clash of steel spear against iron club.
Yet Zhang Ruochen also understood that expecting romantic sentiment from a stone-hearted woman like Bai Qing’er was asking too much of her. Whether it was the bond formed in the Origin God Hall or the pressure of the Linglong Conference, everything had simply happened at the right moment.
All the same, Zhang Ruochen’s mind drifted back to the moment Bai Qing’er had lifted his aged body and said, “I will send you home with the falling leaves and bury you in Kunlun.”
A warm current flowed through his heart.
Zhang Ruochen’s thoughts drifted toward the Heavenly Venerable Lake on Mi Mountain. He murmured to himself, “Huang Tian, Huang Tian, just what kind of person are you?”
