The Hundred Clans King City was indistinguishable from a divine city. Its domain was immense, its spatial structure rock-solid. Great Saint palaces stood everywhere, and divine temples met the eye at every turn.
Shen Que Street was a vast central axis, more than two thousand miles long, paved with thick layers of jade stone.
When heavy saint carriages rolled across it, traces of inscription light would appear on the stones.
Three Great Saints of the Yaksha Clan had their wings severed and wore foot shackles. Like barbaric beasts, they pulled a grand carriage over a dozen zhang high along Shen Que Street.
The woman inside wore a black butterfly-patterned veil. She was a supreme genius of the Dark Temple’s new generation, a quasi-cosmic-cycle representative known as the Dark Goddess.
Crack!
The saint servant driving the carriage flicked his whip from time to time, lashing the three Yaksha Great Saints until their skin split open and blood flowed.
Cultivators throughout the city gathered to watch.
In the past, no one would have dared imagine saint-realm cultivators daring to enslave Yaksha Great Saints in such a manner within the Hundred Clans King City.
Yu Ling God stood inside a saint tree at the street’s edge, watching the scene. Her gaze was utterly chilling.
The interior of this saint tree was a place of romance akin to the Divine Maiden Tower, crowded with cultivators of every kind, filled with overlapping clamour.
“Senior, endure it for now. Do not act rashly,” the Yaksha Clan Chief said.
Yu Ling God replied, “The Dark Temple is trampling the Yaksha Clan’s prestige, using this to dismantle the fear that smaller clans hold for us. Zhang Ruochen is right. The Yaksha Clan must strike, and we must strike hard.”
The Yaksha Clan Chief said, “Though Zhang Ruochen is young, his boldness is extraordinary, his mind exceptional. With a single diversion, he lured many of the city’s great god powerhouses to the ten realms. At first, this old man feared he might act recklessly, but that worry was needless.”
Yu Ling God stared fixedly at the three Yaksha Great Saints pulling the carriage. “Zhang Ruochen currently lacks the capital to clash directly with his enemies. All he needs to do is make them pay a grievous price. In future, any force wishing to oppose him will have to think thrice.”
“I have only met Miss Han a few times, yet you already understand me so well,” Zhang Ruochen’s voice sounded from behind Yu Ling God.
Yu Ling God turned gracefully and looked at the plump cloth bags he carried.
The bags were round and bulging, as though filled with watermelons, except they reeked heavily of blood.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen repeatedly address Yu Ling God as “Miss Han”, the Yaksha Clan Chief felt odd thoughts arise. Who would believe there was no teasing intent?
Yet, after learning from Lord Ai Lian of the Sword Realm’s emergence, the Yaksha Clan Chief was eager to encourage the matter.
For the Yaksha Clan, this was an opportunity that came once in millions of years.
Yu Ling God had clearly learned of the Sword Realm too. Her attitude towards Zhang Ruochen shifted further. Not only was she unannoyed by “Miss Han”, but she deliberately adopted a girlish manner and said playfully, “Though we have met only a few times, I understand Young Master Ruochen’s methods perfectly. A man as decisive in killing as you is rare in the world. How could Yu Ling not be moved?”
Zhang Ruochen found her behaviour hard to withstand. It was not that it seemed forced, but rather too alluring, indistinguishable from a little demoness who could overturn empires.
Then he remembered she had cultivated for four hundred thousand years and was a great god of the Tai Xu realm.
The mere thought was thrilling.
Zhang Ruochen grew solemn. “Before coming here, I met a friend and was delayed. Now we can begin.”
Seeing his flustered look, Yu Ling God smiled inwardly. The so-called romantic Sword God was, after all, still quite green.
Forty thousand years ago, she would not have minded throwing herself into his arms, using her body to entice for the Yaksha Clan’s benefit. But now, with her status, how could she possibly do so?
That would only invite contempt.
Yu Ling God ceased teasing him. Without asking which friend he had met, she said, “Wu Bian’s temple still hovers above the Seven Peaks Linked Mountains.”
“You and the Clan Chief managed to infiltrate the Hundred Clans King City. Did you truly believe it was your own great skill that evaded Wu Bian’s perception?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
The Hundred Clans King City was vast. Thousands upon thousands of cultivators entered and left every moment.
In such conditions, carrying the Yaksha Clan’s secret treasure, Yu Ling God naturally felt confident she could evade Immeasurable-realm gods and enter quietly.
Zhang Ruochen continued, “Wu Bian became master of the Dark Temple because his cultivation is unfathomably profound. He is a true great power who manipulates the winds and clouds of the universe. Without a supreme powerhouse restraining him, I would not dare enter the city at all.”
Yu Ling God concealed her inner dissatisfaction. “Has the Dragon Lord acted?”
Zhang Ruochen replied, “Immeasurable-realm battles are beyond us. However, you must realise that today we are far from fighting alone. Forces that do not wish the Dark Temple to seize the Hundred Clans King City will aid us. Moreover, if I am right, the Heavenly Court will surely act on the starry battlefield.”
“In other words, the one truly fighting alone may well be Wu Bian.”
The ones least desiring the Dark Temple and the hell realm’s war faction to take the Hundred Clans King City were undoubtedly the Heavenly Court.
The Yaksha Clan Chief admired Zhang Ruochen even more. His killing spree through the Three Lives Realm, Qing Ling Great World, and Fire Cloud Realm had also served to coordinate with the Heavenly Court.
It was a message to the Heavenly Court: Zhang Ruochen was about to slaughter freely, and they needed to help.
Leaving the saint tree, Zhang Ruochen, Yu Ling God, and the Yaksha Clan Chief headed towards the Guan Yun Array Tower.
…
Pu Chuanqi had always been proud and arrogant.
With peak Tai Xu realm cultivation, he had every reason to be.
Yet his crushing defeat against the Xue Jue War God had severely shaken his confidence. Even more hateful was the loss of his divine artefact, the Purple Sea Asura Lamp.
Without it, his combat strength was far reduced. How could he avenge himself against the Xue Jue War God?
News from the Dark Temple gave him hope.
Bai Qing’er possessed the divine artefact Di Mo Que and mastered vast source profundities. If he seized them, why worry about defeating the Xue Jue War God?
As for her master, the Star Sea Angler, Pu Chuanqi might once have feared him. But the current trend was clear: the hell realm intended to make an issue of it, sweeping away obstructive neutral forces in one stroke, consolidating all power to launch total war and overrun the Heavenly Court.
First the Hundred Clans King City, then inevitably Xing Huan Heaven and Star Heaven Cliff.
How much longer could the Star Sea Angler live?
Bai Qing’er, returning to Xing Huan Heaven, would pass through wormholes and spatial teleportation arrays. Thus she was spotted by Dark Temple gods near one wormhole.
When Pu Chuanqi arrived, Bai Qing’er had already fallen into the array trap the Dark Temple gods had set around the wormhole. Yet her cultivation was formidable. Relying on the Di Mo Que, she tore cracks across the array.
“This woman has inherited not only Empress Bai’s peerless beauty but also Huang Tian’s extraordinary talent. Her cultivation has reached such heights,” Pu Chuanqi thought darkly.
A shrill que cry rang through the starry sky.
Boom!
The Di Mo Que unfurled massive stone wings. Demonic might surged, shattering the array and hurling the three peripheral gods away, each gravely wounded.
Bai Qing’er stood atop the Di Mo Que. Source divine light illuminated her slender, graceful form, rendering it ever more sacred. She pointed a finger, forming a light pillar that exploded a mental power god into soul mist with a bang.
She did not prolong the fight, urging the Di Mo Que into the starry void.
At that moment, a black mass of gu insects poured from space.
Each insect was cow-sized, enormous, wreathed in flame. They formed a thousand-mile insect sea that enveloped the Di Mo Que and blocked her path.
Pu Chuanqi remained hidden in the dark. He did not wish many to know it was he who struck.
As a top-tier powerhouse below Immeasurable, he still needed some face.
…
The Guan Yun Array Tower stood at the exact centre of the Hundred Clans King City. Cast from Yu Jin divine iron, it had thirty-six levels and rose three thousand six hundred zhang, like a golden cloud peak planted in the city.
Around it stood thirty-six smaller array towers, together forming the array hub of the Hundred Clans King City.
When Yu Ling God claimed she was not the foremost below Immeasurable among the hundred clans, it was no false modesty. The true first was the tower master of Guan Yun Array Tower, a figure of profoundly unfathomable mental power.
This tower master was mysterious, always cultivating within the tower, never involving himself in hundred clans affairs. Even Yu Ling God had never seen his true form. He acted only when the city faced powerful enemies.
Ten thousand years ago, relying on the city’s arrays, he had repelled multiple gods who had sealed kings and claimed dominion.
Yet no matter how strong he was, he remained below Immeasurable. Since the Dark Temple sought to rule the Hundred Clans King City, they would surely first seize control of the Guan Yun Array Tower.
The tower master had either been subdued by Wu Bian or had submitted to the Dark Temple.
There was no third possibility.
Boom!
Six divine swords, blazing like six radiant constant stars, unleashed terrifying might and struck the Guan Yun Array Tower.
With Zhang Ruochen’s present cultivation, fully urging divine artefacts, though not erupting their full power, he could still split heaven and earth and shake space-time.
The thirty-six levels of the Guan Yun Array Tower instantly blazed with intense divine light.
Billions of array inscriptions flew from the thirty-six peripheral smaller towers, condensing into a nine-coloured light curtain that blocked the six divine swords outside.
The shockwave from the collision lit up every divine pattern and array inscription across the surrounding hundred-mile domain.
Such commotion alarmed every major force in the city.
Yu Shi emerged from the Guan Yun Array Tower in black robes, staff in hand. Her voice was bright and melodious. “Zhang Ruochen, you truly do not know how death is written. You dared come to the Hundred Clans King City.”
Zhang Ruochen appeared, walking along the long street. His hair flowed freely, carrying an air of unrestrained elegance. “Such a vital place as the Guan Yun Array Tower, and old Wu Bian leaves you to guard it? Where is your master? I wish to see her.”
Yu Shi’s mental power had reached the seventy-eighth order. Her combat strength rivalled a great god of the Tai Bai realm. She was no weakling.
