Huang Tian’s divine realm world was split into two extremes. One side was desolate and pitch-black, shrouded in deathly stillness, with streams of void power flowing like rivers. The other side was filled with verdant mountains and clear waters, spiritual birds soaring, like a realm of immortals.
Zhang Ruochen had never seen such an extreme divine realm world.
It not only represented the extreme conflict in the divine path Huang Tian cultivated, but also the state of his heart.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion came from above.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. He saw fists the size of stars colliding with a golden hand. Through the atmospheric barrier of the divine realm world, only the shadows of the fists and hand were visible, along with the tearing of space.
Xinghuan Heaven and the Mo Yan Star were billions of miles apart. Every strike between Huang Tian and the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor crossed the veins of space, clashing across vast star domains.
Then something strange happened. A mirrored scene appeared in the sky of the divine realm world.
An ancient Buddha of towering stature sat by a lakeside chanting sutras, seated upon a lotus of brilliant golden light. Though it was merely an image, Zhang Ruochen truly heard the Sanskrit chants. The entire world was filled with peace and serenity.
From the death-shrouded side of the divine realm world emerged a tall, powerful figure. “The Ancient Buddha Yuanxu possessed profound mastery of Buddhist Dharma. He once listened to the Sixth Ancestor expound on Zen and had great hope of becoming a God-Reverend of Buddhism.”
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen could see the man’s face clearly. Brows like azure peaks, eyes like twin swords, radiating an aura of evil that chilled the soul, as though he were a peerless demonic sovereign walking through the dark night.
Though it was his first time seeing Huang Tian’s true appearance, Zhang Ruochen instantly recognised him.
Involuntarily, Zhang Ruochen’s gaze turned towards the outside of the divine realm world, as if trying to determine whether the Huang Tian before him was the true body, or whether the “Blood Absolute War God” battling the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor across the void was the real one.
The demonic figure said, “There is no need to look. This is a divine realm world. The mirrored scenes in the sky are manifestations of my current thoughts. Even I am merely a projection of intent.”
Zhang Ruochen found it hard to treat the Huang Tian standing opposite him as a mere thought. He was so real, his presence so overwhelmingly powerful.
At that moment, in the mirrored sky:
A piece of lustrous white stone flew up from the lake and landed in the ancient Buddha’s hand.
Zhang Ruochen’s attention was drawn to it. “He is your master, the Ancient Buddha Yuanxu?”
The demonic figure continued, “I listened to Master’s teachings for eighty thousand years. In the end, from a mere stubborn stone, I became a small stone person. The stone person was ignorant and mischievous. In the Western Buddha Realm I often caused trouble, knocking over lamps or burning down Buddhist pavilions.”
“Master said my mind had not yet awakened. I needed to cultivate a flesh body and comprehend the true meaning of life before I could understand the seven emotions and six desires and achieve Great Vehicle Buddhahood.”
As he spoke, corresponding scenes appeared in the sky.
Outside, collisions continued to resound. Divine power surged, yet it could not penetrate the divine realm world.
A smile appeared in the demonic figure’s eyes. “Master took me to the Stone Realm to cultivate and comprehend alongside the Stone Clan cultivators. My aptitude was unparalleled; no one could compare. I quickly cultivated a flesh body, reached the Great Saint realm, and returned to the Holy Realm to cultivate.”
“In the Holy Realm, I accidentally trespassed into a forbidden area of the Holy Clan and nearly perished. Yet there I met the woman I could never forget. Her name was Yu Baiwei. She had already stepped into the Divine Realm. She descended like an exiled immortal from the mortal world, then etched herself deeply into my heart-sea.”
In the mirrored sky, Empress Bai’s figure appeared, descending from the heavens, wielding a divine sword and slaying the azure-scaled ferocious beasts surrounding Huang Tian.
At that time she looked only seventeen or eighteen, black hair dancing, ethereal and transcendent, truly as beautiful as an immortal spirit.
Zhang Ruochen understood clearly that the demonic Huang Tian before him and the scenes unfolding in the sky were manifestations of Huang Tian’s turbulent emotions after encountering the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor.
He knew this battle was very likely one where both would perish.
Thus he recalled his past in his heart.
All those memories appeared continuously in the divine realm world like moving pictures.
After a long silence, the demonic figure smiled with utmost happiness. “I fell in love with her! When I crossed the Sea of Truth, she stood on the shore watching me.”
“When I went to the Merit Battlefield, she made me her divine envoy so that in moments of life-and-death crisis I could borrow her divine power.”
“In the Wuding Divine Sea, when Blood Absolute defeated all Heaven’s great saints, it was she who invited me to act. That was the most exhilarating battle of my life, not only because I met Blood Absolute as an opponent, but more because I knew I absolutely could not disappoint her.”
“Later, on the Merit Battlefield, I finally stepped into the Divine Realm.”
“I was overjoyed. At last I could propose to the Holy Clan with proper standing and marry her in grand splendour. Oh, by then the Holy Clan had already been renamed the Ni Gods Clan, and the Holy Realm had become Heaven.”
“On my way back to Heaven, I encountered an old man. He claimed to be the foremost expert of the Stone Clan in the present age, titled the Stone Ancestor.”
“How could I not know of the Stone Ancestor? The patriarch of the Stone Clan, one of Hell’s upper three clans.”
“He was the Stone Clan cultivator I hated most. In his philosophy there was only slaughter and destruction. He wanted all living beings in the world to perish. How insane! What a desolate world that would be, without the smoke and fire of the mortal realm, without joyous laughter, only cold, lifeless stones.”
“He wanted me to take him as master. Naturally I scorned the idea.”
In the sky appeared a scene of Huang Tian swinging an axe towards the Stone Ancestor.
Zhang Ruochen continued listening. Suddenly he realised that the demonic figure opposite him had tears streaming down his face.
Only after a long while did the demonic figure speak again. “But he actually guessed that I was returning to Heaven to propose to the Ni Gods Clan. He told me the Ni Gods Clan had been abandoned by Heaven and was about to be exterminated.”
“How could I believe him?”
“Yet he was the Stone Ancestor! A being of his stature should not casually fabricate lies to deceive a new god like me. Moreover, he did not forcibly take me away or kill me; he let me leave.”
“True or false, I had to rush back to Heaven, to the Ni Gods Clan, and tell Baiwei this news.”
“Along the way I met Master. Overjoyed, I immediately told him about encountering the Stone Ancestor.”
In the sky appeared the scene of Huang Tian speaking with the Ancient Buddha Yuanxu.
The demonic figure said, “Master told me it was the Stone Ancestor’s scheme to sow discord and that I must not believe it.”
“I thought the same. How could Heaven abandon the Ni Gods Clan? If not for the Great Elder stepping forward, there would be no Heaven at all. Moreover, Heaven had originally been the Ni Gods Clan’s territory, their ancestral ground.”
“At that time the divine war in the Kunlun Realm raged like fire. Heaven and Hell suffered grievous losses; divinities fell every day.”
“Master told me we could turn the scheme against its maker. I could pretend to be disheartened and defect to the Stone Ancestor. Then in the Kunlun Realm we could set a trap, use the Stone Ancestor to lure Hell’s divinities there, and annihilate them. Thus the entire battlefield could be overturned in one stroke. I would render boundless merit and save billions of lives.”
“But the Stone Ancestor was far too shrewd. How could he be so easily deceived?”
“Master took me to the Kunlun Realm to discuss the grand plan with its divinities.”
“The Kunlun Realm of that time was already in ruins. Lord Wentian had stained the Yellow Springs Star River with blood, the Lord of Remnant God Island was imprisoned in the Temple of Destiny, Biluo Zi had died in the Endless Abyss, the Dragon Lord’s fate was unknown… They had no other choice but this final desperate gamble.”
“In the end the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree decided that its spiritual root had to be destroyed for Hell to take the bait.”
“Thus I went to the Stone Ancestor and told him I was utterly disgusted by Heaven’s abandonment of the Ni Gods Clan and had lost all hope. I revealed the plan to sever the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree. Hell had also suffered heavy losses at that time. Upon hearing the plan, they were naturally overjoyed.”
“The Stone Ancestor severed one of his own arms and forged it into a stone axe, which he gave to me. He said that with this axe I could unleash a full-power strike from him, guaranteeing absolute success.”
Suddenly the demonic figure fell silent.
Zhang Ruochen already had a very clear understanding of what had happened in the Kunlun Realm ten thousand years ago, so he knew what came next. Thus he did not ask and simply waited quietly.
Boom!
Another tremendous explosion rang out in the sky. Huang Tian and the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor had exchanged countless blows across the void.
The demonic figure seemed to awaken with a start. He lifted his head, tears covering his face, and let out a heart-rending howl. “The Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree was severed, yet Hell’s divinities never fell for the trap. The Stone Ancestor had merely used me.”
“Instead, the forces of the Kunlun Realm, Heaven, and Hell all became extremely strange.”
“Hell’s divinities did not take the bait. Heaven’s divinities did not come to ambush. In the end, only the Saint Monk of Sumeru sat alone in the starry void guarding Kunlun. I stood in the Kunlun Realm and personally watched him achieve the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pilgrimage and break through to Buddhahood. I also personally watched him fall.”
“Before he perished, he sent me out of the Kunlun Realm. From then on, the Kunlun Realm was sealed.”
“I was devastated, filled with countless questions. I had to return to Heaven. I had to ask Master what exactly had happened. Why? Why did it turn out like this?”
“Why did Hell’s divinities not fall for the trap?”
“Why did Heaven’s reinforcements never arrive? If Heaven’s reinforcements had come, how could a single Buddha have fallen?”
“Before I reached Heaven, I encountered the Stone Ancestor again. He told me someone had betrayed Heaven and secretly passed the message to him, which was why he did not fall for the trap. Now Hell and Heaven had signed a ceasefire agreement, with only one hidden condition: the extermination of the Ni Gods Clan.”
“He told me not to worry about Yu Baiwei, because few divinities in Heaven knew she was of the Ni Gods Clan. Moreover, Yu Baiwei was about to marry the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor, son of Ancestor Shang, which would be enough to preserve her life.”
“Hearing this was like being struck by five thunderbolts. I asked every divinity I knew. Everything was true. The Ni Gods Clan had suffered a devastating assault. Yu Baiwei and the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor were indeed about to marry. Perhaps the Ni Gods Clan had already accepted their fate and could only preserve a thread of bloodline this way.”
Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel the agony of that moment. The entire divine realm world was saturated with his emotions: rage, unwillingness, self-reproach, doubt…
This memory had probably been sealed in his heart for a very long time, only now unsealed and laid bare before Zhang Ruochen, raw and bleeding.
The demonic figure gave a self-mocking laugh. “The Stone Ancestor said I could never go back! Now the entire Heaven believed I was a traitor who had defected to Hell. The fall of the Saint Monk of Sumeru and the deaths of all Kunlun’s divinities were because of me. The reason Yu Baiwei agreed to marry the Heaven-Seizing Divine Emperor was that she was too disappointed in me. Her heart had died!”
