Zhang Ruochen continued, “Such an excellent opportunity to deliver a heavy blow to the Dark Temple, yet you choose to yield? They say the longer one lives, the more one fears death and loses all sharpness of spirit. Now I believe it.”
Yuling God’s eyes were already wide open like round pearls.
This was far too presumptuous. He showed not the slightest reverence towards a Taixu great god.
If Zhang Ruochen had not already entered the great god level, even with Amur present, she would have struck to teach him a lesson.
Amur, standing to one side, revealed a shift in his expression. He was carefully weighing and considering the matter, clearly somewhat tempted.
Zhang Ruochen refused to back down. He met Yuling God’s gaze directly, and the divine majesty of a great god erupted from him. “Everything I am doing is for the Yasha Clan. What do I have to fear? At worst, I return to Xing Huan Tian, resume my role as city lord of the First Divine Maiden City, and live surrounded by beautiful companions in a gentle paradise. Would the Dark Temple dare to destroy Xing Huan Tian?”
Yuling God quickly regained control of her emotions and fixed her stare on Zhang Ruochen. “For the Yasha Clan? Do you think this god cannot see through your motives? You want this god to fight the Dark Temple until both sides are crippled, then profit like a fisherman while we are weakened, and finish us all off. After all, this god knows you are Qing Pingzi. That secret is deadly to you.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled. “So Miss Han is worried about that. Haha, Miss Han flatters me too much. With my current cultivation, even a Taixu great god with only one breath remaining is far beyond my ability to challenge. Besides, if you cannot trust me, surely you trust Uncle Wolf? The Yasha Clan and the Demon Wolf Clan are bound together in prosperity and ruin. He would never move against you.”
“Moreover, you hold leverage over me. That should allow you to lower your guard.”
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Ruochen released the Ancestral Realm Lord. “To save the Realm Lord, I risked enormous danger. Does this not count as sincerity?”
The Ancestral Realm Lord had been confined in the Divine Prison and knew nothing of what had occurred or who had truly saved him. He assumed it was Zhang Ruochen’s doing, so he bowed and expressed repeated thanks.
The chill in Yuling God’s eyes eased slightly, yet she remained icy. “This god’s surname is Han, not Yu.”
“My apologies, Miss Han.” Zhang Ruochen laughed.
The corner of the Ancestral Realm Lord’s mouth twitched. No cultivator had ever dared address Yuling God in this way.
Was this an offence?
Flirtation?
On Yuling God’s face, which had been frozen like an iceberg for ten thousand years, a spirited smile appeared. It was as though she had returned to her youth, when she toyed with the world’s heroes in the palm of her hand. She looked towards the white-feathered peacock sacred chariot. “Why not invite the senior inside the chariot to act?”
Seeing the mischievous intent in Yuling God’s smile, Zhang Ruochen was uncertain whether she already knew the truth. He smiled along with her. “The senior in the chariot is in a special state. He may not be roused. Why not return to the Yasha Clan’s ancestral realm and invite the clan’s two old ancestors?”
Amur shook his head. “Ruochen, do you think we had not already considered this course? Once the Yasha Clan’s two old ancestors awaken, how could it be concealed from the Temple of Destiny and the Dark Temple? If they enter the Dark Triangle Star Domain, the situation would spiral even further out of control.”
“Do you think everyone is like you, with a flawless spiritual power titan to veil the secrets of heaven for them?” Yuling God’s smile vanished, and her face became cold and distant once more, as if Zhang Ruochen owed her an immense debt of divine stones.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Nothing in this world is guaranteed. Even with only a ten percent chance of success, we must still fight for it. I refuse to believe Miss Han lacks that fighting spirit.”
The older a woman grows, the more she wishes others to address her as youthful. Zhang Ruochen understood this truth well.
Of course, not everyone possessed the qualification to do so.
If Xue Tu had called out “Miss Han”, he would long since have been slapped into the distance.
Zhang Ruochen had attained great god cultivation and had heavenly-level powerhouses supporting him. This support was not like Xue Tu’s, which amounted only to a nominal master.
The battle at Xing Huan Tian had been enough to make all cultivators under heaven understand the weight Zhang Ruochen carried in Tianmu’s eyes.
Cultivators everywhere naturally understood even better the immense favour owed to Zhang Ruochen by Xing Huan Tian’s flawless spiritual power titan.
Yuling God was clearly swayed to some degree. Her eyes flickered between coldness and hesitation.
The matter was of utmost gravity. To continue fighting the Dark Temple would make them true mortal enemies. Failure would bring annihilation to the entire Yasha Clan.
If it concerned only her own life or death, she would have decided long ago.
She knew full well that Zhang Ruochen could speak such stirring words precisely because he bore no such burden. His pressure was far lighter than hers.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have heard that Miss Han has spent much of this eon in slumber. It must be because you know you cannot survive the next eon tribulation, so you employed a secret method to evade the perception of heaven and earth’s rules, hoping to delay its arrival.”
Yuling God stared at him.
“It seems I was correct.”
Zhang Ruochen continued, “A Taixu great god who lacks confidence even in surviving a fourth eon tribulation must have suffered grave injuries in the past, with severe loss of lifespan. How about this: I offer a divine medicine to help you cross the eon tribulation, in exchange for our wholehearted cooperation this time.”
Yuling God glanced sideways. “You possess divine medicine?”
Divine medicines are rare in the world, attainable only through extraordinary fortune.
When the Moon God had crossed her fourth eon tribulation without fail, it had been thanks to the Black Heart Demon Lord’s divine medicine, the Tribulation-Crossing Divine Lotus.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Xing Huan Tian was once the domain of a heavenly venerable. Without certainty, would I dare make such a promise to you?”
Yuling God finally reached a decision. “If you dare deceive this god, beware: this god will march on Xing Huan Tian. Then you will be the one in the wrong, and I believe the Nine Heavens predecessor will uphold justice.”
Originally she had intended to threaten exposure of Zhang Ruochen’s martial cultivation, but in the end she did not voice it.
The leverage she held would only be truly valuable outside the Dark Triangle Star Domain, where its worth could be maximised.
“Could she have already resolved to slaughter every god of the Dark Temple? Was she merely acting with me earlier to seize the initiative and extract greater benefits?” Zhang Ruochen eyed Yuling God with suspicion, feeling that this time he had been played by her.
No matter. In any case, he also held leverage over the Yasha Clan.
Neither side could betray the other.
Zhang Ruochen turned to Amur. “What does Uncle Wolf say?”
Amur glanced at Yuling God and transmitted his voice. “The Dragon Lord instructed me to assist you with all my strength.”
…
The three great forces, the Bright God Temple, the Feng Clan, and the Dark Temple, had previously entered the Dark Triangle Star Domain aboard divine vessels, leaving spatial markers at regular intervals.
Only by following these spatial markers could they find the route back.
Using his senses, Zhang Ruochen located a mountain-sized rock placed by the Bright God Temple in the void. The rock bore cipher text and numerals.
A saint-realm cultivator from the Bright God Temple sat cross-legged upon it, surrounded by a concealment array.
He was responsible for guarding ten spatial markers within a radius of ten thousand paces.
It was precisely because spatial markers had to be left that any force wishing to explore the Dark Triangle Star Domain required vast manpower and resources.
Though the arrays concealing these markers offered limited protection against gods, in the boundless darkness, sufficient distance was enough to evade divine sense.
Moreover, placing the markers required precise calculation. They were never arranged in a simple straight line.
Zhang Ruochen killed the Bright God Temple saint and waited atop the rock.
If Shang Hong wished to leave the Dark Triangle Star Domain, he would have to return along the original path.
After Xiao Hei was released, he immediately pressed Zhang Ruochen about what had happened aboard the Xufeng Divine Vessel, but Zhang Ruochen revealed nothing. Xiao Hei then approached Xue Tu and began whispering with him.
Soon they were quarrelling.
“This emperor knows nothing. This emperor knows absolutely nothing. This emperor was already planning to leave the Dark Triangle Star Domain anyway!” Xue Tu had repeated variations of this more than a dozen times.
Zhang Ruochen still harboured unresolved doubts.
Earlier, after the God of War had erupted, Xuanyuan Lian had arrived within a quarter of an hour. That was simply too inconceivable. Had he been following behind the Xufeng Divine Vessel the entire time?
Why would he do so?
And how had he managed to follow?
No matter how Zhang Ruochen pondered it, he could not find an answer. Suddenly he noticed Yuling God gazing at the white-feathered peacock sacred chariot. When she saw him looking, she gave a strange, meaningful smile and turned away.
It seemed Yuling God had grown suspicious.
Indeed, for an ancient god of her calibre, it would be stranger if she had not.
Zhang Ruochen still felt some concern. After all, his ties to the Yasha Clan were far too tenuous. They were not allies who could truly trust one another. If the deterrent of the white-feathered peacock sacred chariot were lost, there was no guarantee Yuling God would not sell him out.
Unknowingly, half a day passed.
Zhang Ruochen rose to his feet and smiled. “It seems I underestimated Shang Hong. He has no intention of leaving the Dark Triangle Star Domain and has pressed onward instead. He has some courage.”
“Perhaps he knows senior brother is lying in wait and is hiding somewhere?” Xue Tu suggested.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “I left the Xufeng Divine Vessel first. The powerhouses of the Dark Temple would surely pursue me. That would have been his perfect chance to escape the Dark Triangle Star Domain. Yet half a day has passed and he has not appeared. The only possibility is that he continued forward. At a moment of life and death, he has finally grown clever.”
Xiao Hei cried out in surprise. “Eh! Where have all these lanterns come from?”
In the darkness, countless human-shaped lanterns drifted towards them, heads downward, feet upward, glowing like luminous jellyfish. Their numbers were beyond counting, approaching from above, below, east, south, west, and north.
Zhang Ruochen showed no trace of surprise. He looked towards Yuling God. “I told you there would be no need to seek them out. They would come to us of their own accord.”
“Wuyue, I have long awaited your appearance.”
“Swoosh!”
Six divine swords flew from Zhang Ruochen’s body and hovered above his head like six blazing stars. In an instant they illuminated the entire expanse, setting countless lanterns ablaze and filling the void with shrill, agonised screams.
