Bring out the Rebel God Stele?
Xuanyuan Qing truly had good intentions. She wanted to use the Darkness Temple’s hand to force Zhang Ruochen back to the Heavenly Court.
…
As the Frost City Demon and the big-headed cloth doll focused their attention, the pressure on Zhang Ruochen increased dramatically. Either one of these two possessed the strength to overwhelm all the Heavenly Court gods present.
A single one could lock in an undefeatable position for the Darkness Temple.
Yet that could only guarantee they would not lose.
Logically, after the protective divine array of the Xufeng Divine Vessel had fallen, with the big-headed cloth doll’s power, it could easily have killed Zhang Ruochen, along with Xuanyuan Qing and Shang Hong, both poisoned by the Yellow Spring Flower…
Every god present, even if they broke out in different directions, would still face interception and slaughter by the Frost City Demon.
In the end, it would inevitably be a bleak twilight of the gods.
But why had the big-headed cloth doll not done so? Why instead devote all its energy to pursuing Mr Mo?
There were two reasons.
First, if the Heavenly Court side were truly driven into utter hopelessness, once Mr Mo detonated his divine heart and unleashed a massive burst of spiritual power, the gods of the Darkness Temple would likely only be able to perish together with the Heavenly Court cultivators.
Do not think Mr Mo incapable of such an act. Had they not seen Feng Yunba already perform the Pure Yang Self-Immolation Technique?
Only the big-headed cloth doll could suppress Mr Mo, whose spiritual power had reached the seventy-ninth step peak. Moreover, it had to concentrate its spiritual power entirely upon him. Thus it pursued Mr Mo relentlessly, giving him no chance to detonate his divine heart.
The second reason, of course, was that the Darkness Temple’s strength was simply too overwhelming. Overwhelming to the point where the big-headed cloth doll did not need to act at all, nor even the Frost City Demon. They still held absolute superiority.
They needed only to boil the frog in warm water, drawing out the battle until the Yellow Spring Flower poison in the Heavenly Court gods took effect. Then killing them would be all too easy.
One could say that after Feng Yunba’s departure, Mr Mo was the only one the big-headed cloth doll truly feared. A newly advanced Taiyi great god like Qingping Zi was far from entering its notice.
Why had the Frost City Demon never joined the assault?
The thinking was the same. He did not wish to push the Heavenly Court gods too hard. They needed to be left a sliver of hope.
With a sliver of hope, naturally they would not fight to the death.
Otherwise, not to mention great gods like Xuanyuan Qing and Shang Hong, even a peak upper god like Feng Xuan, if he detonated his divine origin, would give the Darkness Temple gods plenty to suffer.
Any cultivator in their position would employ such tactics.
Yet unexpectedly, Zhang Ruochen emerged as a variable. In a mere instant, he first crippled Zhao Wuyan, then suppressed the Clear Sky Sword King. Before the big-headed cloth doll and Frost City Demon could fully react, the situation underwent a heaven-overturning change.
The Darkness Temple’s absolute superiority remained.
But exterminating every god present was no longer a simple matter.
Zhang Ruochen felt the spiritual pressure from the big-headed cloth doll. Though his own spiritual power had reached the seventy-sixth step peak, he still felt a splitting headache.
Even more terrifying, threads of spiritual power extended from the distant void.
Zhang Ruochen had witnessed the might of these spiritual threads. A single one had rendered Feng Xuan powerless to resist, severing his neck.
The cultivators aboard the vessel were far inferior to Zhang Ruochen. Even hiding in divine inscription secret realms, they fell in swathes. All suffered shattered divine souls, turning into cold corpses.
Fortunately, Mr Mo returned at once, propping up a spiritual power domain to protect the survivors.
The big-headed cloth doll’s spiritual power must have exceeded the eightieth step, enough to rival a Taixu great god.
The Frost City Demon’s combat strength was insufficient before Feng Yunba, but among great gods he was absolutely first-rate.
Both were formidable.
Zhang Ruochen dared utter ruthless words because he had something to rely on.
For Yu Ling God and Amur, son of the Wolf Ancestor, had already arrived in the nearby void, ready to reveal themselves at any moment.
How could Yu Ling God miss in person such an important matter as ambushing and killing great gods of the Darkness Temple?
When pursued by Feng Yunba, Zhang Ruochen had considered crushing the wolf-head talisman seal to reveal his position to them.
But at that time he held the God King Talisman, giving him confidence.
Moreover, Feng Yunba was too powerful, and the offensive divine arrays of the Xufeng Divine Vessel were unimaginably strong. Even if Yu Ling God and Amur arrived together, they could not have saved him.
Naturally, Yu Ling God and Amur dared not appear.
They might not fear Feng Yunba, but they feared exposing the plot to ambush Darkness Temple great gods. At least for now, there was no evidence proving the Yasha clan had deliberately lured Darkness Temple gods to their deaths. Clearly, the Darkness Temple divinities had chased on their own, falling into the Yasha clan’s trap meant for Zhang Ruochen.
Of course, to explain it thus, the Yasha clan first had to kill Yu Shi.
With such considerations, only when the moment of life-and-death had arrived did Zhang Ruochen crush the wolf-head talisman seal.
For now Yu Ling God and Amur had reason to act.
To rescue the Realm Venerable of the Yasha clan’s ancestral realm.
Facing the incoming spiritual threads from the big-headed cloth doll, Zhang Ruochen stood motionless, not even bothering to urge the Qingping Sword. For he had received Amur’s transmitted message, learning a crucial piece of information.
Xuanyuan Qing was even calmer than he. A smile appeared in her rippling apricot eyes. Clearly she too had received a message.
Just as the spiritual threads were about to land on Zhang Ruochen, Xuanyuan Qing, and Feng Yan, suddenly the Light Divine Sword suspended above Xuanyuan Qing’s head erupted with deafening sword resonance. Radiance illuminated the universe. Sword qi shot forth like ten thousand arrows.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
All the spiritual threads were severed.
“Devouring Earth, Frost City Demon, what great audacity to touch my sister!” A domineering voice, like divine thunder from the ninth heaven, resounded from beyond.
Boom!
A golden war chariot crushed the void. Golden light illuminated half the cosmos. In an instant, it crossed hundreds of thousands of miles and descended.
The golden light released by the chariot was so dense it seemed to liquefy, forming an endless golden sea.
The divine might erupting from within was even more soul-shaking.
The survivors aboard the Xufeng Divine Vessel were wild with joy.
“It is Prince Lian. Prince Lian has arrived!”
“At last we have endured the darkness to welcome the light.”
“With Prince Lian here, the gods of the Darkness Temple are doomed to fall.”
…
Xuanyuan Lian, this son of a Heavenly Venerable, enjoyed far greater renown in the Heavenly Court than Xuanyuan Qing, the daughter.
For most Heavenly Court cultivators, they had only heard that the Venerable had such a daughter cultivating in the Temple of Light, but few had ever seen her.
Seeing the golden chariot, though the Frost City Demon’s presence remained majestic and unmoving as a mountain, his eyes grew gravely serious.
The big-headed cloth doll leapt through the void. With three consecutive flickers, it crossed space and appeared opposite the golden chariot. It laughed, “Excellent! The Venerable’s daughter and son are both here today. If we capture you and take you to the Darkness Temple, I wonder if Haotian will kneel and beg our Lord Yi Tianhuang to release you? Haha!”
“You dare insult a Heavenly Venerable. Today this prince shall reduce you to ashes, body and soul.”
Xuanyuan Lian was clearly enraged. Countless divine inscriptions flew from the golden chariot, surging majestically towards the big-headed cloth doll. For a moment, the entire heaven and earth shook.
Seeing that it had successfully provoked Xuanyuan Lian, the big-headed cloth doll immediately dropped its smile, tore open space, and fled into the void world.
Xuanyuan Lian could be provoked, but not fought head-on.
Eerie laughter echoed from the void world, continuing to taunt, “To kill me? You, Xuanyuan Lian, are still incapable.”
“Then let us try over there.”
The golden chariot pursued into the void world, with the air of vowing not to rest until Devouring Earth was slain.
Zhang Ruochen frowned inwardly. Xuanyuan Lian did not seem the type to be so easily provoked. How could he fail to see that the big-headed cloth doll was deliberately luring him away?
The Frost City Demon naturally knew that Devouring Earth’s extreme provocation was meant to draw Xuanyuan Lian away, buying him time and awaiting the outcome of the life-and-death battle between Lord Wuyue and Feng Yunba.
After all, the Pure Yang Self-Immolation Technique could only be sustained for a quarter of an hour.
In the end, matters in this world were decided by the strongest. No matter who held the advantage now or who killed whom, the final outcome still depended on the result between Wuyue and Feng Yunba.
If Feng Yunba could kill Wuyue in half that time, leaving the remaining half to deal with them, even if they fled with the wind, they might not escape.
But if Wuyue outlasted Feng Yunba…
However, the situation now was somewhat different.
Even if Feng Yunba died, there was still Xuanyuan Lian.
“Xuanyuan Qing, as long as I capture you, no matter how strong Xuanyuan Lian is, he will have to hold back for fear of harming the captive.”
The Frost City Demon’s body suddenly burst apart, turning into a expanse of black mist. Like octopus tentacles, it spread, covering the space above Zhang Ruochen and Xuanyuan Qing.
A dark great hand reached from the mist, pressing straight towards Xuanyuan Qing.
Mr Mo aboard the vessel knew well the Frost City Demon’s prowess. In her peak state, Xuanyuan Qing might contend with him. Now, however, the outlook was likely grim.
In utmost urgency, Mr Mo could only divert spiritual power, unleashing the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Cloud Divine Technique.
Wind and thunder power struck the thick black mist, attacking the dark great hand.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the Frost City Demon’s true body charged from the black mist, appearing above the Xufeng Divine Vessel. He swung the Darkness Divine Sword, cleaving open Mr Mo’s spiritual power domain.
With the domain broken, sword qi slashed the vessel, leaving a sword scar dozens of zhang deep and over a hundred li long.
Naturally, such a scar could not gravely damage the Xufeng Divine Vessel.
“Not good. We have been tricked!” Mr Mo’s face flushed red. He gathered spiritual power once more.
Whoosh!
The Frost City Demon descending upon the vessel was utterly decisive. He slashed a second sword, coordinating from outside with the human-skin lantern inside to shatter the Twenty Heavens Chart.
Clearly, the Frost City Demon knew full well that capturing Xuanyuan Qing alone in a short time, with Qingping Zi and Mr Mo aiding her, was impossible.
Thus he feigned east to strike west, first rescuing the human-skin lantern.
“Leave the old man Mo to you!”
With those words, the Frost City Demon’s gaze turned icy. His figure moved. In an instant he crossed endless void, appearing before Xuanyuan Qing. Before swinging his sword at her, he first pointed a finger towards Feng Yan beneath the tribulation cloud.
Zhang Ruochen saw the Frost City Demon’s intent: to use this finger to pin him down, preventing him from joining forces with Xuanyuan Qing.
Knowing full well it was the Frost City Demon’s divide-and-conquer ploy, Zhang Ruochen could only thrust his sword, intercepting the finger-sword aimed at Feng Yan.
