Frost City Demon and Human Skin Lantern had clearly realised that their side had lost the overall advantage. They had not retreated immediately only because they were pinning all their hopes on Wuyue.
Yet they knew full well that even if Wuyue won that life-and-death duel, he would surely be gravely weakened and might not be able to overcome the enigmatic and unpredictable Xuanyuan Lian.
For this reason, they fought while retreating, gradually widening the distance between themselves and the Xufeng Divine Ship, Zhang Ruochen, and Xuanyuan Qing. As long as they avoided being surrounded, they could advance to attack or retreat to escape.
Once the greater momentum was lost, morale vanished with it.
Zhang Ruochen had no intention of getting involved in a clash at the Taibai level. He said, “Xuanyuan Qing, you act with the greater good in mind, yet you are not rigid or pedantic. Otherwise, you would not have concealed my identity for me, nor would you have given me the Sword of Light to let me return to the Heavenly Court side.”
Xuanyuan Qing sounded helpless. She replied, “How could I not wish to be as fierce and unyielding as the Fourth Master of the Feng Clan? But the Heavenly Court is riddled with internal conflicts, and many grudges are as sharp as needles. If I did not understand the way of conciliation, how could I resolve those contradictions? I would only ignite them, causing rivers of blood to flow.”
“In that case, how about we make a deal?” Zhang Ruochen suggested.
Xuanyuan Qing had long expected that when Zhang Ruochen praised her for acting “with the greater good in mind” and “not being pedantic”, he must have had an ulterior motive. How could Zhang Ruochen ever flatter her, the daughter of a Tianzun, like other cultivators did?
She said, “You still want to save those gods from the Hell Realm?”
Zhang Ruochen replied, “Don’t you want to save Sword King Qingkong?”
Xuanyuan Qing took a step forward, coming shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Ruochen. Her immortal silks fluttered, and she carried the graceful air of a blue lotus in water. She said, “Sword King Qingkong is, after all, a great god. He was overwhelmed by Wuyue’s powerful spiritual force, his mental will shattered, and only then was he controlled by the power of darkness. The fault is not truly his. If his mind were clear, he would never have committed such errors.”
Zhang Ruochen gazed at the distant Xufeng Divine Ship, stained red with blood. He said, “If the cultivators of the Feng Clan and the Temple of Light heard those words, they would probably harbour resentment towards you.”
“So what? It is simply the truth.”
Xuanyuan Qing continued, “Sword King Qingkong has indeed committed a grave wrong, but surely we cannot deny him even a chance to redeem himself?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “You can say that because you can rely on the authority of the Tianzun. Even if they are dissatisfied, they will not show it in front of you. But the great wrong committed by Sword King Qingkong has cost how many lives? If the Fourth Master of the Feng Clan falls, it would be strange if the Feng Clan could forgive him. If you protect his life, you would only be making powerful enemies for yourself.”
Xuanyuan Qing laughed, her laughter as melodious as a hundred songbirds. She said, “I thought you would have some profound insight, but it turns out you are worried about this. To be honest, over these years, my brother and I have resolved countless grudges and conflicts for the sake of unity within the Heavenly Court. But have we truly resolved them? No, we have not. In fact, many of those grudges have been drawn onto ourselves. How could I not know this?”
“You are right. I do rely on the authority of the Tianzun. But as long as that authority remains for a single day, they can do nothing to Xuanyuan Qing.”
“If one day that authority is gone, even if my body is ground to dust, so what?”
“But that is not what I seek. What I seek is the day when Xuanyuan Qing becomes strong enough that I no longer need to borrow the authority of the Tianzun to suppress them. Then I will truly be able to act freely and bring about a new heaven and earth.”
Zhang Ruochen finally turned to look at her. He saw a profile of breathtaking beauty, and in those rippling, starry eyes there was a courage that many men lacked. She truly possessed ideals and dreams.
How many dreamers there were in the world.
First there had been the Saint Monk of Xumi with his great vow, “Until hell is empty, I will not become a Buddha.” Then there was Zhang Ruochen with his wild dream, “The sea accepts all rivers, encompassing everything.” Now Xuanyuan Qing too was a determined seeker who declared, “Even if my body is ground to dust, I fear not. I will make the sun and moon shine anew.”
All were impractical fantasies.
Yet the path she must walk, the suffering she must endure, the blood she must shed, the pain she must taste, were still far from enough. Her future would surely be even harder than Zhang Ruochen’s.
Zhang Ruochen said, “In truth, not every conflict needs to be shouldered by you alone. Sword King Qingkong is half a disciple of Zhao Gongming. Even if he deserves death, he should be handed over to Zhao Gongming for judgement. If you put it that way, would it not be the best of both worlds?”
A glint flashed in Xuanyuan Qing’s eyes. She said, “You shattered Zhao Wuyan’s divine source with one sword, yet deliberately preserved Sword King Qingkong’s complete divine source. It seems you had a plan all along. Speak, then. What kind of deal do you propose?”
“The three gods imprisoned in the divine jail of the ship. I want all of them,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xuanyuan Qing replied, “Impossible. Only one for one.”
“Sword King Qingkong is a great god, and at the peak of Taiyi Realm,” Zhang Ruochen pointed out.
Xuanyuan Qing relented. She said, “Very well. You may take the Son of the Ice Emperor and the Ancestral Realm Lord of the Yaksha Clan. But Blood Butcher’s sins are heinous. He is moreover the disciple of the God of Death. With the Feng Clan and the Temple of Light suffering such heavy losses, the enmity runs as deep as a sea of blood. We must at least leave them one orthodox Hell Realm god to vent their hatred upon through torment and execution.”
“Torment and execution…” Zhang Ruochen murmured.
Xuanyuan Qing said, “The cultivators of the Feng Clan will surely make him prefer death to life. Flaying and bone-scraping, soul-extraction and marrow-refining would be the lightest of it.”
As for Xiao Hei, Xuanyuan Qing naturally knew some of its background and would never truly harm it.
As for the Yaksha Clan’s Ancestral Realm Lord…
Xuanyuan Qing had already obtained the star chart, so its remaining value was small. It was better to sell a favour to Zhang Ruochen and the Yaksha Clan by releasing it, turning it into a powerful ally against the Temple of Darkness.
As for Blood Butcher, he truly seemed fated to face torment and execution to appease the spirits of the dead.
If Zhang Ruochen were a cold-blooded and heartless man, he might very well have agreed. Yet Zhang Ruochen had witnessed several things Blood Butcher had done in recent years.
Especially on Xinghuan Heaven, when Blood Butcher rescued Chi Kunlun from the hands of a Bone Clan god and did not covet the ancient sword Chen Yuan. At that time, the cultivators of the world believed Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation had been crippled by Qingtian, and his life or death was unknown.
To act in such a way under those circumstances was the main reason Zhang Ruochen had later given him a slot to cultivate in seclusion within the Sundial.
Whoosh!
Five-coloured divine light bloomed in the void, divine power ripples spreading in all directions.
Feng Yan successfully condensed his divine source. Stars of his divine seat appeared one by one above his head. He let out a long, roaring cry, and the sound of blood flowing within his body was like great rivers rushing.
At this moment he had a body of mud and stone, three heads and six arms, incomparably majestic in divine might. He was circulating the secret method that Feng Yunba had previously passed to him.
Far away, the Chunyang Divine Sword, suppressed within Frost City Demon’s divine realm world, trembled violently, releasing scorching hot Chunyang divine power. Even divine talismans could not suppress it.
“The sword spirit of the Chunyang Divine Sword is truly still alive… this aura…” Frost City Demon’s expression changed dramatically.
The aura bursting from the Chunyang Divine Sword was ancient and heavy. Just a wisp of the divine qi surging from within the sword body tore apart his divine realm world.
Could it be the Tianzun divine qi left within the sword by Chunyang Tianzun?
All the gods present sensed a terrifying aura that made their divine souls tremble, as though Chunyang Tianzun himself were about to awaken.
Feng Yan formed a strange connection with the Chunyang Divine Sword. Even the divine light flickering on his body matched it. His hair surged upward like a cascade of flame. He pinched the void with his hand and roared, “Chunyang returns!”
Boom!
The Chunyang Divine Sword unleashed a heaven-shaking sword cry, breaking free of the divine talismans suppressing it.
Frost City Demon’s divine realm world was shattered by that overwhelming force. His divine body was wounded by the lingering sword qi, dozens of gashes appearing. Shock filled his eyes as he watched the Chunyang Divine Sword fly towards Feng Yan.
Flee!
That single thought filled his mind.
He shattered space and fled into the void world, immediately employing an escape secret art, caring nothing for direction, only wishing to get as far away as possible.
Divine artefacts vary in rank.
The spirits of divine artefacts also vary in strength.
Some legendary supreme divine artefacts, wielded solely by their artefact spirits, can fight Immensurable Realm gods. In the long river of history, there have even appeared artefact Zhutians.
An artefact itself is a Zhutian, impossible for anyone to wield.
Legend has it that the sword spirit of the Chunyang Divine Sword has survived from the era of Chunyang Tianzun, remaining in a near-death slumber. No one knows how powerful it would become upon fully awakening.
“Frost City Demon, where do you think you are fleeing?”
To undergo his tribulation, Feng Yan had been suppressing the grief and hatred in his heart. Now, with the divine sword in hand, those pent-up emotions erupted like volcanic magma.
The Chunyang Divine Sword slashed out. The blaze was so intense that Zhang Ruochen and Xuanyuan Qing were forced far back.
“His life is mine.”
Qianheng Yishi’s cold voice rang out from somewhere in the darkness. He hurled a pitch-black star whose density surpassed that of ordinary stars by ten thousand times.
The Chunyang Divine Sword cleaved the dark star in two, turning it into two blazing fireballs that flew away. The sword qi slashed into the void world, striking Frost City Demon who had already fled extremely far.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed slightly. He saw Frost City Demon’s divine body split into blood mist by the sword qi, and the blood mist ignited.
But the distance was too great, and the chaos of the void obscured everything. He only caught that single glimpse before it was hidden.
It was unknown whether Frost City Demon had died in the void world.
Qianheng Yishi had already pursued. For now, Zhang Ruochen did not wish to provoke this terrifying assassin, so he restrained his desire for the Sword of Darkness.
The sword spirit of the Chunyang Divine Sword seemed not fully awakened and required Feng Yan to wield it.
After striking that one sword, Feng Yan’s divine body could barely withstand it, crimson cracks appearing.
Yet he did not stop there. He struck a second sword, slashing towards Human Skin Lantern who had already fled millions of miles away.
Space seemed nonexistent before the Chunyang Divine Sword.
In an instant, sword qi like a fire dragon crossed the void, cleaving Human Skin Lantern apart. Vast amounts of divine qi leaked out, and his anguished screams were piercing.
Large pieces of human skin scattered, burning as they flew.
These scattered skins fled in all directions.
To kill a god, close range is far easier.
To kill a great god, even more so.
The distance of millions of miles had dissipated too much of the Chunyang Divine Sword’s power. It failed to utterly destroy Human Skin Lantern in one strike, burning him to ashes.
Yet it was already astonishing. It was, after all, only a sword, and not fully awakened.
