“How is this possible?”
Chi Yao’s eyes were filled with disbelief.
Ling Feiyu also saw the star soul divine seat dimming in the starry sky. Moved, she said, “It is that ancient great figure of the Feng clan, one of the foremost swordsmanship powerhouses in the current universe. Could another hellish divine tide have erupted at the Starry Sky Defence Line? It should not be. Such major news should not have failed to reach Kunlun Realm by now.”
In Ling Feiyu’s understanding, apart from the most intense battlefields of the gods at the Starry Sky Defence Line, great gods almost never fell.
An existence like Feng Yunba was even less likely to fall. If his life was truly threatened, it would surely draw out figures who had sealed kingship or emperorship to rescue him.
Chi Yao suddenly thought of something. Her face instantly turned deathly pale. Her figure vanished from the edge of Tianchi.
She arrived near the island where the peach tree was located, wishing to seek an audience with Taishang, only to find the island gone, shrouded in mist.
…
Tianchu Civilization, Divine King Mansion.
“Fourth Brother Feng must have gone to the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain. Damn it. Hell Realm truly schemes well. They clearly deliberately spread rumours about some nonsense Sword Realm to lure swordsmanship cultivators of the world to their deaths.”
Luo Jinshu had deep friendship with Feng Yunba. His heart ached extremely. His eyes reddened as he said in grief and anger, “Fourth Brother Feng is the war god of our Daoist sect. In the future, he was bound to enter boundless realm, possibly even seal as heavenly emperor. Who exactly killed him? Who?”
Yù Divine King naturally also guessed that Feng Yunba had very likely gone to the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain. Otherwise, he could not have fallen so silently.
“Is the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain truly so perilous?” he murmured to himself, his expression grave.
After all, that place was the last hope of Tianchu Civilization, and Luo Ji had gone there with Zhang Ruochen!
Yù Divine King felt both joy and worry.
His worry was naturally for Luo Ji’s safety. After all, even an existence like Feng Yunba had fallen. It was simply unimaginable how fierce the struggles inside were.
Which divine beings from Hell Realm had gone there?
His joy was because even Feng Yunba and the Hell Realm powerhouse who killed him had ventured in. If there was no profit to be gained, how could existences of that level cluster into such a dangerous place as the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain?
Sword Realm very likely truly existed.
If he were not unable to free himself, Yù Divine King would wish to hurry there this very moment.
He glanced at Luo Jinshu, who was in grief, a trace of displeasure in his eyes. He said gravely, “The one who could put Feng Yunba to death, even if not boundless, would not be much weaker. Even if you knew who it was, what could you do? You grieve his death, but in the future, who will grieve the extinction of Tianchu Civilization? You are simply not even comparable to that little… not even to Ji girl. No wonder the old heavenly lord looks down on you and entrusted the heavy responsibility of guarding Tianchu Civilization to Ji girl.”
Luo Jinshu looked somewhat blankly at Yù Divine King. From childhood, he had listened to this father’s teachings. One must first establish virtue to establish oneself. What wrong was there in grieving a friend? Why was he scolded?
Yù Divine King felt irritated. He worried that changes might occur in the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain. After all, that boy Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation was vastly inferior to Feng Yunba’s. If he were also killed, if Sword Realm were seized by others first, would the last hope of Tianchu Civilization not be severed?
For now, Yù Divine King could not care less whether Zhang Ruochen lived or died, but the future of Tianchu Civilization was tied to Zhang Ruochen. It was truly a case of mutual loss or mutual glory.
After repeated consideration, Yù Divine King finally felt Zhang Ruochen was still too weak, incapable of contending with those tiger-and-wolf types in the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain. Thus, ignoring Luo Jinshu, he hurried to see the old heavenly lord.
…
The fall of Feng Yunba caused the storm to intensify. Many secret messages circulated as a result, making the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain even more attention-grabbing.
The Feng clan, Undying Blood clan, Xing Huan Tian, Qinglu Divine Hall… The importance various forces attached to the rumoured Sword Realm rose another level.
This was not simply a matter concerning swordsmanship alone!
It might even affect the pattern of the world.
The divine spirits aboard the Xufeng Divine Vessel were all immersed in sorrow. No one yet considered the monstrous waves Feng Yunba’s fall had caused in the outside world.
Zhang Ruochen was not very good at comforting people. Fortunately, he said little. Alone, he came to the courtyard where Sunny Sky Sword King had once lived and found the Yellow Spring Flowers.
Three thumb-sized yellow little flowers emitted no divine light outward, showed no astonishing phenomena.
Yet these very three little flowers had caused the fall of over ten divine spirits from the Feng clan and Light Divine Hall. Even Feng Yunba had died tragically. Without the Yellow Spring Flowers, could Wuyue and the divine spirits of Darkness Divine Hall have threatened the Feng clan? Would Feng Yunba have died?
“Burn them directly with divine flame.” A gentle voice sounded behind Zhang Ruochen.
“Chi!!”
Shang Hong flicked a ball of flame from his hand, incinerating the Yellow Spring Flowers completely.
Zhang Ruochen did not stop him. He had considered collecting the Yellow Spring Flowers, but just now he tried. The colourless and odourless aura emitted by the tiny three yellow flowers could easily penetrate even his spiritual force barrier.
One could imagine that even if stored in the inner space of a supreme sacred artefact, the aura would leak out.
It was quite normal. The Xufeng Divine Vessel had so many arrays, yet they could not block this aura, causing it to spread throughout the vessel. Probably only an array of the level of the Xufeng Divine Vessel’s protective array could resist it.
Zhang Ruochen turned to look at Shang Hong and said, “The Yellow Spring Flower poison in the Heavenly Grandson seems to have dispersed quite a bit.”
Shang Hong stood tall and straight. He smiled teasingly and said, “Daozhang, please do not call me Heavenly Grandson. In the current world, the myriad heavens stand in great numbers. The number of Heavenly Grandsons reaches thousands upon thousands. When others call those two words, it is purely giving face to the Shang clan. When Daozhang calls it, it sounds like scolding.”
Saying this, Shang Hong bowed deeply to Zhang Ruochen and said, “The enmity between the two realms from one hundred thousand years ago, Shang Hong does not know much about. In recent years, matters between Paradise Realm and Kunlun Realm, I have heard some. Alas, the disputes of those juniors below are truly hard to restrain. Please, Daozhang, do not take offence.”
Zhang Ruochen sneered inwardly. He did not wish to exchange pleasantries with Shang Hong and said, “Did Xuanyuan Qing send you?”
“No! Shang Hong truly feels gratitude toward Daozhang and harbours guilt, so I came to apologise in person. Of course, Shang Hong would not naively think this could resolve the hatred in Daozhang’s heart toward Paradise Realm. But now, with great enemies at hand, I ask Daozhang to temporarily set aside the barriers in his heart. We must unite against the external threat!”
Shang Hong’s gaze was sincere, his expression earnest.
In Xing Huan Tian, Zhang Ruochen had seen Shang Hong’s arrogant posture, holding the Heavenly Grandson identity steadily, viewing the heroes of the world as nothing.
Today, he actually lowered his posture so much. There must be some other intent.
Seeing Qingpingzi silent, Shang Hong said, “The blood of a five-coloured mud person can neutralise Yellow Spring Flower poison. Brother Yan and Miss Xi have already used their own blood to help us dispel most of the toxin.”
The discovery that five-coloured mud person blood could neutralise Yellow Spring Flower poison came because Feng Xi was unaffected by the toxin.
It was only a pity that although Feng Xi was a five-coloured mud person, she had not awakened the bloodline of Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable and did not have three heads and six arms. Otherwise, there would be no need to wait for Feng Yan to undergo divine tribulation.
Shang Hong smiled and said, “Daozhang has always been unaffected by Yellow Spring Flower poison. Could it be that you have already drunk Miss Xi’s blood? But that cannot be right. We only discovered the detoxification secret earlier.”
Zhang Ruochen understood. It seemed Shang Hong had grown suspicious and come to probe him.
Zhang Ruochen gave a cold snort, assuming an inflexible manner. “This poor Daoist has his own secrets. Why must I explain to you?”
Ignoring him, Zhang Ruochen walked straight away.
Jialin Nan watched Zhang Ruochen disappear from sight and transmitted, “The Heavenly Grandson spoke kindly to him, yet this old fellow is so ungrateful.”
“Do you think he cannot hear your transmission?” Shang Hong said.
Jialin Nan’s face changed. He regretted it in his heart.
Qingpingzi was extremely powerful, a great god. Offending him in the Dark Grand Triangle Star Domain could cost one’s life.
Shang Hong released a corner of his divine realm world, enveloping the two, before saying, “You need not worry. He will not do anything to you. But we must first clarify one matter!”
“What matter?” Jialin Nan asked.
Shang Hong’s gaze was profound, carrying a trace of killing intent. He said, “Whether Qingpingzi is Zhang Ruochen.”
“What?”
Jialin Nan exclaimed, “Impossible! Zhang Ruochen’s martial cultivation has been crippled. How could he be Qingpingzi?”
Shang Hong smiled. “I have already inquired about the time Qingpingzi appeared. It was precisely when Zhang Ruochen disappeared. Afterwards, Zhang Ruochen vanished without trace. This is the greatest point of suspicion!”
“Second, the spiritual force intensity of Zhang Ruochen and Qingpingzi are both seventy-sixth order. This is too much of a coincidence!”
Jialin Nan said, “Could it really just be coincidence? The one who crippled Zhang Ruochen was Qingtian. It is impossible for anyone to help him restore martial cultivation, and to such a powerful extent.”
Shang Hong sighed. “Actually, I do not believe Qingpingzi is Zhang Ruochen either. But what if? Have you thought about it? If Qingpingzi is Zhang Ruochen, and his martial cultivation is already so terrifying… I simply dare not deeply consider what enormous secrets are hidden behind this. So we must clarify this matter. Go, call Lianxi over.”
Jialin Nan showed a trace of disdain. “Lianxi? She is merely a Saint Realm cultivator, formerly a servant by Zhang Ruochen’s side. If Qingpingzi truly is Zhang Ruochen, now already a great god, how could he care about a Saint Realm servant? Using her to probe Qingpingzi is less effective than directly telling the daughter of the heavenly venerables.”
Shang Hong’s gaze sharpened. “You must not make this known, or there will be no place for us on the Xufeng Divine Vessel.”
Jialin Nan’s heart skipped a beat. Indeed, Qingpingzi was currently at the height of his momentum. The entire Feng clan saw him as their saviour, and he shared the bond of fighting side by side and facing life and death with the daughter of the heavenly venerables.
Without evidence, telling the daughter of the heavenly venerables that Qingpingzi might be Zhang Ruochen, what would she think?
She would surely believe they wished to deal with the divine spirit of Kunlun Realm and lacked vision for the greater situation.
Even though Shang Hong had released his divine realm world, he had not concealed it from Zhang Ruochen’s perception. Zhang Ruochen heard his transmitted conversation with Jialin Nan.
“They actually suspect me. Fine. Since you wish to court death, I shall give you a push.” A chill flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, then returned to normal as he walked toward Xuanyuan Qing standing ahead.
