Xingtian Cliff had vanished. Clearly both the Star-Sea Fisher and the Old Woodcutter had gone north on the expedition.
Yet the God-Eating Insects had been brought to Xinghuan Heaven by Xu Wen Zhi.
The insects had evolved to the fifth generation, and somehow, perhaps having acquired the terrifying reproductive ability of the Red Crow Tree, their numbers had exploded. Released from the coffin, they flew in the sky like a red cloud of insects.
After consulting Xu Wen Zhi on many secrets and carefully studying the mountain of intelligence reports in the Twelve Temples of the Goddess, Zhang Ruochen finally set off with Yu Ling God for the Starry Sky Battlefield.
Zhang Ruochen altered his appearance and aura to that of an ordinary person, keeping his presence at Great Saint level.
Yu Ling God wore a purple star-moon veil that concealed her face and aura, disguising herself as a False God, yet her demeanour remained alluring.
“The Giant Spirit Civilisation possesses a divine medicine called Purple Zhi Orchid. When it survived its Yuanhui Tribulation, purple qi spread for a hundred thousand li, and its fragrance filled the entire civilisation world. It could not be hidden.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Yu Ling God replied, “The Giant Spirit Civilisation was destroyed by Xu Tian. On that day, the entire civilisation world was cleaved into more than a dozen fragments by a single sword. In the moment of that strike, more than half the living beings of the realm exploded into blood mist.”
When the starry sky defence arrays of the Starry Sky Defence Line and the Giant Spirit Civilisation’s boundary-protecting arrays were sabotaged by Four-Yang Tianjun, how could an ancient civilisation withstand an assault from a Tian-level powerhouse?
Yet one had to admit that the old man Xu was monstrously strong.
After all, the Giant Spirit Civilisation must have been guarded by numerous gods, possibly even Immeasurables, yet they still could not block his single sword.
Zhang Ruochen sighed. “In the eyes of Tian-level powerhouses, all beings are as ants. Ordinary gods, in their view, are probably little better than ants.”
Yu Ling God deeply agreed. Against a powerhouse like Xu Tian, perhaps only a heaven-defying genius like Zhang Ruochen, or gods with significant ties to him, could negotiate terms.
She said, “The self-sacrifice of Tianchu Tianzhu bought time for the gods of the Giant Spirit Civilisation world to escape. They took some world fragments with them, and many of the Giant Spirit Civilisation’s beings survived, retreating behind the second Starry Sky Defence Line. If the Purple Zhi Orchid is among those fragments, we will have no chance of obtaining it.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “You need not worry about that. I have already reviewed the intelligence from the Twelve Temples of the Goddess. Five world fragments of the Giant Spirit Civilisation could not be taken away and remain on the Starry Sky Battlefield. One of them holds the Giant Spirit Divine Temple, and large numbers of divine realm powerhouses from both sides have rushed there.”
An ancient civilisation ranked in the top ten must possess unparalleled strength and profound foundations.
As the foremost divine temple of that civilisation, it would tempt even Tian-level powerhouses. The treasures it held were unimaginable in number. If not for the Immeasurable Northern Expedition, how could ordinary gods ever hope to touch them?
Yu Ling God asked, “Is the Purple Zhi Orchid in the Giant Spirit Divine Temple?”
“No, it is on another world fragment.” Zhang Ruochen replied.
Entering the star domain of the Starry Sky Battlefield, one saw shattered planets everywhere, burning fragments of giant stone, broken corpses, and snapped weapons. A scene of utter devastation.
Teams of Sacred Realm cultivators flew through the void, cleaning the battlefield.
Majestic yin ships escorted large groups of towering Giant Spirit clansmen toward Xiuluo Star Pillar Realm.
War always brought only destruction, leaving a landscape scarred beyond recognition.
In this star domain, Zhang Ruochen sensed many divine realm powerhouses. He and Yu Ling God concealed their auras and slowly flew toward one of the Giant Spirit Civilisation’s world fragments.
Along the way, they encountered numerous spatial rifts filled with lingering divine power from Tian-level powerhouses, which would not fully dissipate for ten thousand years.
Though called fragments, they stretched over seventy million li, hundreds of times larger than ordinary stars. Even a hundred trillion cultivators living there would not feel crowded.
The gods of Heaven and Hell seemed to have reached a tacit agreement not to wage divine war inside the world fragments.
After all, such conflict would destroy all resources, treasures, and living beings within. Neither side wished to fight until both were battered and end up with nothing but barren desert.
Those who entered the fragments were Sacred Realm cultivators.
Outside, divine power fluctuated intensely as gods from both sides clashed fiercely.
Their cultivation was not especially high. None were Grand Void Realm.
“The Grand Void Realm gods must all have gone to contest the Giant Spirit Divine Temple.” Yu Ling God said.
“That suits us perfectly. It saves a great deal of trouble.”
Half an hour later, Zhang Ruochen and Yu Ling God evaded the perception of the various gods and descended into an ocean region on the world fragment.
Fluctuations from the divine battle beyond the realm stirred tidal waves in the sea.
Waves rose hundreds of zhang high, and fierce winds howled.
“This is the ocean region. According to Xu Wen Zhi, the Purple Zhi Orchid should grow on an island called Yunya Island. The island holds vast quantities of divine soil that has nurtured countless sacred medicines.”
Zhang Ruochen released the Yin-Yang Taiji Seal, spreading it outward to sense carefully. His expression changed slightly.
“What is it?” Yu Ling God asked.
Whoosh!
Zhang Ruochen performed Great Spatial Shift, appearing with Yu Ling God at the seabed.
There, a tall platform rose like a blade-carved cliff, perfectly flat.
Yu Ling God’s heart sank. She sighed. “Yunya Island has been taken. We are still too late after all.”
Zhang Ruochen landed on the platform, which stretched for a thousand li and bore faint residual divine power. After sensing with the Heart of Truth, he said, “They left only recently. There is Buddhist divine power remaining.”
Yu Ling God said, “Yunya Island must have been a highly secret location in the Giant Spirit Civilisation. The one who took it is most likely a god of the Giant Spirit Civilisation. It should be Pu Tuo. He is one of the six Grand Void great gods of the Giant Spirit Civilisation and a disciple of Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha of the Western Heaven Buddhist Realm. Shall we pursue?”
Yu Ling God knew Zhang Ruochen had ties to the Buddhist sect and, given his character, likely felt sympathy for the Giant Spirit Civilisation.
If the divine medicine were needed for Xue Jue War God or the Blood Empress to survive a Yuanhui Tribulation, Zhang Ruochen might pursue without hesitation. But for her, Yu Ling God, he might not.
Zhang Ruochen, still sensing and calculating, suddenly opened his eyes. “Such powerful ghostly qi. It is the aura of Xue Li from Fengdu Ghost City.”
……
Xue Li and Mo Fei were the two Grand Void great gods of Fengdu Ghost City.
Above their heads floated a blood-script ghost banner that completely concealed their auras as they quietly pursued a monk in plain robes.
They followed him all the way out of this star domain.
Mo Fei’s divine body resembled a house-sized skull floating in dense ghost clouds. He laughed. “We are far enough now. The great gods of Heaven should not sense us. We can act.”
“Though we have the Blood Inscription Banner, we must still finish this quickly.”
Xue Li was cautious. He exhaled a breath of ghostly qi.
The ghostly qi surged like a black yin river, pouring into the Blood Inscription Banner.
Whoosh!
The banner blazed with blood light, expanding to thousands of li and becoming a blood-red sky that enveloped the monk in plain robes.
Sensing danger, the monk looked up. His gaze hardened. Buddhist qi circulated within him, and he struck with a palm, seeking to shatter space and escape into the Void World.
Boom!
Space held firm as a rock, dense blood scripts appearing and repelling the monk several steps.
“It is useless. The Blood Inscription hides the heavens; the ghost banner is a cage. Pu Tuo, where else can you flee?” The skull flew forward, its two eyes blood-red, countless yin souls swirling around it.
Xue Li emerged from the other direction, a ghost city floating above his head and yin qi forming a sea beneath his feet. He said, “Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo, you are a Grand Void great god of the Giant Spirit Civilisation. Instead of guarding the Giant Spirit Divine Temple, why go to that world fragment? Is there some treasure on it so precious that a Grand Void great god must retrieve it personally?”
“Amitabha!”
The monk in plain robes pressed his palms together. Buddhist light radiated from him. His body instantly swelled to tens of thousands of metres, like a golden divine mountain. He let out a lion’s roar.
In an instant he transformed into a lion-bodied human form. Sound waves shook the heavens, Buddhist patterns accompanying them, surging in waves toward Great God Mo Fei.
Relatively speaking, Great God Mo Fei, at early Grand Void Realm, was far weaker than Xue Li and easier to break through.
Great God Mo Fei laughed without cease, his and viciously released his divine realm world and a golden-script black shield to withstand the lion’s roar, slowly retreating.
From behind, Xue Li struck with the ghost city in the form of Fengdu Ghost City, smashing toward Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo.
Ghostly qi poured down from the sky, continuously eroding the Buddhist light.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo was only at early Grand Void Realm. How could he fight two opponents? After several exchanges, the ghost city pierced his defences, and Buddhist blood flowed from his mouth.
Escape was impossible; the Blood Inscription Banner had sealed this expanse of heaven and earth.
Driven to desperation, Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo roared to the heavens and performed the “Self-Sacrifice Great Method”. His Buddhist blood burned, and his combat power instantly soared. One punch sent Great God Mo Fei flying, annihilating all the souls around the skull.
“Self-sacrifice is useless. An absolute gap in cultivation cannot be bridged by burning Buddhist blood.”
Xue Li attacked aggressively, controlling the ghost city and clashing directly with Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo.
The gap between mid and early Grand Void Realm was absolute, often representing tens of thousands of years, or even a full Yuanhui, of accumulated power. After all, not everyone was Xue Jue or Huang Tian, capable of defeating peak Grand Void while only at early stage.
Anyone who reached Grand Void Realm was no weakling.
Without a divine artefact or the status of a primary god of a path, no other Grand Void great god could overcome that mid-to-early gap.
Great God Mo Fei did not strike again. Instead he summoned a white-bone altar built around the skeleton of an eighty-sixth-order spiritual power god.
From his divine realm world, he released large numbers of living beings.
He stood ready to use sacrificial power to suppress any attempt by Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo to detonate his divine source.
Zhang Ruochen and Yu Ling God pursued into this star domain, but suddenly all auras vanished.
“They must have entered the Void World. Now there is truly no hope.” Yu Ling God smiled bitterly.
The Void erased all traces.
“Not necessarily.”
Around Zhang Ruochen appeared the Form of the Truth Realm, vast as the cosmos, filled with countless stars. He peered into one void after another.
Suddenly sensing something, he looked toward a region a million li away. Though empty and dark, with no fluctuations, it could not deceive the Heart of Truth.
Approaching cautiously, Zhang Ruochen drew a circle with both hands, forming a Mirror of Truth.
Whoosh!
The power of truth penetrated the concealment of the Blood Inscription Banner, revealing the scene within.
