Chapter 1618: The Four Dominant Worlds
Seeing Zhang Ruochen appear, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Mu Lingxi and Qingxiao were the first to greet him.
Qingxiao’s expression was solemn as he asked, “How did the reconnaissance go?”
“Those heretical cultivators must have set up a heaven net and earth trap in the Yin-Yang Hall, right?” Mu Lingxi said.
They had been trapped in the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field the whole time and knew nothing of the outside world. They only assumed that Zhang Ruochen had returned so quickly because he had not yet attacked the Yin-Yang Hall.
Zhang Ruochen looked at each of them in turn and said, “Everyone, pack up quickly and come with me to Tiantou Mountain.”
Qingxiao and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden had nothing to pack, so they stayed where they were.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden saw the expression on Zhang Ruochen’s face—tinged with gloom yet also quite composed—and asked, “Have you already thought of a foolproof plan to deal with the Yin-Yang Hall?”
“The Yin-Yang Hall has been destroyed,” Zhang Ruochen said expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Qingxiao and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden were both stunned.
The cultivators from the Guanghan Realm who were about to pack their belongings were even more startled and stopped in their tracks.
“What? The Yin-Yang Hall has been destroyed?”
“The Yin-Yang Hall was jointly built by the three powerful realms—the Yin-Yang Realm, the Black Demon Realm, and the Ten Thousand Evil Realm. How formidable their strength must be! Who could possibly destroy them?”
This news was too shocking to believe.
Su Jing saw that Zhang Ruochen’s expression was serious and didn’t seem to be joking, and his heart filled with immense joy. He asked, “Which force destroyed the Yin-Yang Hall? Could it be that the Yin-Yang Hall offended one of the top ten great worlds on the *Ten Thousand Worlds Merit Ranking* and thus brought about this disaster?”
No one believed that Zhang Ruochen was the one who had led the destruction of the Yin-Yang Hall.
After all, in their view, the Yin-Yang Hall’s power was too vast. Even for Zhang Ruochen to retrieve the dozen or so heads hanging on the Yin-Yang Hall’s gate would have been an extremely dangerous task.
Mu Lingxi showed a thoughtful expression and asked uncertainly, “Are we going to the Moon God Dao Field?”
Suddenly, everyone present caught on.
Right. If Zhang Ruochen was telling them to pack their bags, where else could they be going except to the Moon God Dao Field, which had a better cultivation environment?
If that was the case…
The cultivators of the Guanghan Realm all turned their gazes toward Zhang Ruochen. Their eyes grew hotter and hotter, as if they were about to go mad.
Zhang Ruochen revealed a smile and said, “That’s right. The Moon God Dao Field has returned to the hands of the Guanghan Realm. Everyone, come with me. They’re very short-handed over there right now.”
“Boom!”
Even though the cultivators present were all highly accomplished, hearing Zhang Ruochen’s affirmative answer still sent a shockwave through their minds, and the blood in their bodies boiled violently.
Su Qingling wanted to ask something, but Zhang Ruochen spoke first: “Everyone, go pack your things. We must leave immediately. Once we get there, you’ll naturally learn the full story of how the Yin-Yang Hall was destroyed.”
“Indeed, we must hurry. We absolutely cannot let another great world take advantage of the chaos and seize the Moon God Dao Field again.”
Su Jing was both extremely excited and somewhat anxious. He quickly added, “I must immediately send a message back to the Shatuo Heaven Domain to tell all the cultivators of the Guanghan Realm this good news. I also need to ask my father to send a set of top-tier formation tools to properly protect the Moon God Dao Field.”
While everyone was packing, Zhang Ruochen went to the space teleportation array in the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field and began repairing the damaged formation.
Zhang Ruochen could currently only set up basic space teleportation arrays, which could teleport at most three hundred thousand miles at a time. The distance between the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field and Tiantou Mountain exceeded three hundred thousand miles.
Therefore, between the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field and the Tiantou Mountain Dao Field, Zhang Ruochen also built a relay teleportation array.
The three arrays formed a teleportation line. From then on, the cultivators of the Guanghan Realm could freely travel between the two Dao Fields without fear of being intercepted along the way.
After arriving at the Moon God Dao Field, the Guanghan Realm cultivators first went to bow before the Moon God’s statue. Then they gathered together to listen to Xiao Hei recount the entire process of attacking the Yin-Yang Hall.
Xiao Hei spoke with great flourish, his expression animated: “Just at that moment, Zhang Ruochen roared at the Moon God’s statue, activating the Equality of All Living Beings. ‘This Divine Envoy will today destroy this group of petty scoundrels who have occupied the Moon God Dao Field!’”
“Before Zhang Ruochen’s words had even faded, this Emperor had already charged out at the forefront, engaging in fierce combat with Qingliaoya, the number one expert below Saint King of the Yin-Yang Realm. Sand and stones flew, thunder and lightning flashed. But how valiant was this Emperor? After exchanging one hundred and eighty-two moves, I struck Qingliaoya to the ground with one claw. Just as I was about to unleash the Heaven Earth Boundless Chaos Grand Art to annihilate him in one blow…”
“However, that scoundrel Qingliaoya, seeing that he was no match for this Emperor, immediately summoned over a hundred heretical experts to form a God-Slaying Killing Formation, trying to join forces against this Emperor. The situation reached its most critical moment. At that time, this Emperor knew very well that I could no longer hide my strength and decided to go all out, sweeping away these rabble…”
…
…
Below the Moon God’s statue, at the location that had once been the gate of the Yin-Yang Hall, Zhang Ruochen and Qingxiao stood side by side.
A trace of bitterness appeared on Zhang Ruochen’s face. “It’s all because of me. Otherwise, Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, and Fifth Senior Sister wouldn’t have died. When Master returns in the future, I won’t even know how to explain it to him.”
Qingxiao had spent years on the battlefield and was accustomed to life and death. His expression was quite stern as he shook his head. “This is a very cruel era. Our enemies are not just targeting you; they will certainly target all living beings in the Kunlun Realm and the Guanghan Realm as well. It’s because your threat is too great that they strike at you first.”
Having experienced countless ups and downs, great sorrows, and deep hatreds, Zhang Ruochen was no ordinary person. He quickly put away his grief and asked, “Senior Brother, how much do you know about our enemies?”
Qingxiao could speak freely with Zhang Ruochen. He said, “Actually, this is a continuation of the struggle from one hundred thousand years ago. I don’t know much about it either. I’ve only heard that it’s related to the competition among the four dominant worlds of the Heavenly Court.”
“The four dominant worlds of the Heavenly Court Realm?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Qingxiao nodded. “The Pangu Realm dominates the Eastern Universe.”
“The Demon God Realm dominates the Southern Universe.”
“The Paradise Realm dominates the Western Universe.”
“The Ten Thousand Ruins Realm dominates the Northern Universe.”
“The four dominant worlds are immensely powerful, with long histories and deep foundations. They possess the most ancient lineages, with gods standing side by side. They are the four supreme powers of the Heavenly Court Realm, governing the myriad worlds. Almost all the power holders of the Heavenly Palace and the various divine temples are selected from the four dominant worlds.”
“The four dominant worlds were chosen one hundred thousand years ago.”
“At that time, the Western Universe had three great worlds with the strength to become dominant worlds: the Paradise Realm, the Kunlun Realm, and the Western Buddha Realm.”
“However, no one knows what happened. The Kunlun Realm suffered a great calamity. Its gods fell, and even the world itself was sealed, falling into silence. Although the Western Buddha Realm was powerful, it had no intention of competing for the position of dominant world. So in the end, the Paradise Realm naturally became the dominant world of the Western Universe, governing the entire Western Universe.”
A sharp light flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. “Senior Brother, do you suspect that the mastermind behind the scenes that caused the Kunlun Realm’s decline is the now-thriving Paradise Realm?”
“I don’t know.”
Qingxiao shook his head again. “But there’s no doubt that after the Kunlun Realm suffered its calamity, the greatest beneficiary was the Paradise Realm. Having governed the various great worlds, ruins realms, and planets of the Western Universe for one hundred thousand years, the Paradise Realm has obtained countless resources. Its strength is now several times greater than it was one hundred thousand years ago.”
After listening to Qingxiao’s words, Zhang Ruochen fell silent.
If the dark force that the Moon God had spoken of was truly the Paradise Realm, the dominant world of the Western Universe, then for any cultivator of the Guanghan Realm, it would be a hopeless situation. The road ahead was shrouded in darkness, with no light in sight.
A giant hand that covered the sky and the earth hovered above the heads of the billions of living beings in the entire Guanghan Realm. With just a gentle press, it could crush them all like ants.
Of course, even if the dark force was truly the Paradise Realm, they couldn’t do whatever they wanted. After all, the Heavenly Court Realm had three other dominant worlds that would certainly check and balance the Paradise Realm.
Moreover, the four dominant worlds had jointly established the Heavenly Laws, which even the four dominant worlds themselves could not violate.
Zhang Ruochen sent Xiao Hei out to investigate one thing at the Tiantou Saint Market: “Which great world is Shang Zihong’s home world?”
Given Shang Zihong’s identity and status, finding out his origins was not difficult.
An hour later, Xiao Hei returned to the Moon God Dao Field and told Zhang Ruochen some information about Shang Zihong, which made Zhang Ruochen’s face grow even darker.
Shang Zihong was indeed the youngest son of a god from the Paradise Realm, and that god held an extraordinary position throughout the entire Heavenly Court Realm.
Thus, Qingxiao’s guess was probably more than half correct.
The dark force must be related to the Paradise Realm.
Thinking it over carefully, the more Zhang Ruochen thought, the more alarmed he became. He realized that the Truth Heaven Domain was far more dangerous than he had imagined. To be precise, the entire Heavenly Court Realm was extremely dangerous.
But what could he do?
The Paradise Realm’s power stretched across the universe. Even if he chose not to fight and tried to escape, where could he go?
Staying in the Heavenly Court Realm, at least there were the Heavenly Laws to restrain them.
Zhang Ruochen made up his mind: he would not leave the Moon God Dao Field until he broke through to the Saint King Realm.
Shang Zihong had suffered such a great defeat and would surely retaliate wildly. Given his identity and the power he wielded, the next killing blow would only be more ferocious.
Strength.
Only with great strength could he face all of this.
Qingxiao and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden both left the Moon God Dao Field to join forces with the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm. They seemed to be planning something as well, likely preparing to attack some Dao Field.
Three days passed quickly.
Ling Feiyu came to ask Zhang Ruochen, “Soon, cultivators from various great worlds should be coming to the Moon God Dao Field to redeem their people. Have you thought about how to deal with them?”
“Leave that to Su Jing and the others. I plan to go into seclusion for a while,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ling Feiyu added, “But what about those imprisoned heretical cultivators? Are we really going to let them go?”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression shifted between gloom and murderous intent, growing stronger. “Kill them. Kill them now. Afterward, hang their heads outside the Moon God Dao Field.”
Zhang Ruochen decided to act personally, because the sacred souls within those heretical cultivators’ bodies were of great use to him.