Chapter 1684: Divine Mountain, Sealed Divine Hall
The environment here was far too similar to the depths of the forbidden zone above the white bone slope, including the ancient yin qi in the air.
Zhang Ruochen became cautious, releasing his spiritual power and space domain, enveloping an area ten zhang in radius to prevent the yin qi from invading his body and to guard against other things.
A creature with three sharp horns on its head pointed toward a distant, ancient, towering mountain and said with a trembling voice, "Look, look quickly... is that the legendary Divine Mountain? Is the peak the Sealed Divine Hall?"
The majestic divine mountain stood within the hazy mist, like a giant beast crouching in ambush.
At the summit, a dilapidated hall exuded an ancient, weathered aura. A vast, soul-shaking power pulsed from within the hall, causing even the arrogant prodigies present to become awed and silent.
Wu Shen Tianzi’s eyes flashed with sharp light, and he exclaimed in admiration, "Is the interior of this folded space the legendary Sealed Divine Hall? Unbelievable!"
Da Zun said, "The Sealed Divine Hall is an ancient ruin that even gods dare not enter lightly. Heavenly secrets remain there. It’s best we don’t approach."
Tian Chu Xianzi revealed a piece of hidden information, saying, "At the founding of the Heavenly Court Realm, gods attempted to explore the Sealed Divine Hall and fell within the Divine Mountain. It is said that the great secret hidden in the Divine Mountain could cause the gods to fall and heaven and earth to fall silent. Later, the Truth Divine Temple sealed this place, and no cultivator has been able to break in since."
"Roar!"
From the direction of the Divine Mountain, a earth-shaking roar echoed.
It did not sound like the howl of a barbaric beast, nor the cry of a human cultivator. It was eerie, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
As the roar sounded, dozens of cultivators with lower cultivation bases felt their legs go weak, collapsed to the ground, and trembled uncontrollably.
"The power of fear..."
Zhang Ruochen’s expression grew even more grim.
The roar contained the power of fear left over from ancient times, identical to the fear power in the forbidden zone, but even more terrifying.
That roar just now... could it be the source of fear? Was there an ancient forbidden being that had not died?
"Wonderful, wonderful. Zhang Ruochen, this poor Daoist can be certain that this place is definitely the same as that palace complex deep in the forbidden zone. It’s just that this area is too vast, and we are now in another corner."
Zhen Miao Xiao Daoren said in a low voice, "Don’t think about the divine spring anymore. Get out of here quickly."
Zhang Ruochen nodded and took a step back, causing a "clinking" sound. Only then did he realize that the nine chains of Qian Xing Tian Nu were still wrapped around him.
Qian Xing Tian Nu sensed Zhang Ruochen’s movement and asked, "Where do you think you’re going?"
Her jade fingers released sacred qi, infusing it into the nine chains.
"Whoosh!"
Nine different powers emerged on the nine chains.
Instantly, Zhang Ruochen’s sacred qi and spiritual power were sealed. The spiritual power and space domain he had released were also suppressed and retracted into his body.
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat speechless and quickly said, "This place is extremely dangerous. We must leave immediately. If we continue forward, we might not be able to escape even if we want to."
Qian Xing Tian Nu walked toward Zhang Ruochen step by step, seemingly enjoying the feeling of controlling him. Her red lips curled slightly, and she smiled, "Do you know something?"
Before Zhang Ruochen could speak, Tian Chu Xianzi’s clear, beautiful voice rang out from not far away: "The aura of the divine spring has appeared again. It’s in that direction."
Everyone’s gaze immediately turned to the direction Tian Chu Xianzi was pointing.
On a hill not far from the Divine Mountain, purple-blue mist was surging out. Depending on the wind, the direction the mist drifted changed.
The wind was blowing toward them, carrying the purple-blue mist over.
After inhaling the purple-blue mist, some cultivators were astonished to find that their sacred dao rules had increased by one or two.
Considering that the purple-blue mist had drifted from such a great distance and was already quite thin, yet it could still increase a cultivator’s sacred dao rules, it was undoubtedly the mist emanating from the divine spring.
"The divine spring is not within the Divine Mountain. I still have a good chance of obtaining it. It’s worth the risk," Wu Shen Tianzi said.
The distant hill only looked like a hill compared to the Divine Mountain. In reality, it was quite massive and would be considered the king of mountains elsewhere.
Tian Chu Xianzi, while observing the distance, said, "Even if we don’t go for it, the cultivators of the Heavenly Realm Faction will. I can already see the spiritual will of some figures scattered in the air. They have entered this area, and some are rushing toward the divine spring. However, they seem to have encountered great trouble, and..."
Suddenly, Tian Chu Xianzi closed her lips and stopped.
Being able to see the scattered spiritual will of cultivators was an extremely special ability.
This ability had been with Tian Chu Xianzi since birth, fused with her soul.
Tian Chu Xianzi seemed to sense something and said, "Everyone, be careful."
"Pfft."
A white bone spear materialized out of thin air, piercing through the body of a two-step Saint King and lifting him up.
The spear was imbued with ancient yin qi, which invaded the two-step Saint King’s flesh and blood body. In a short time, it drained all the life force from within him.
A moment ago, he was a powerful two-step Saint King with strong vitality.
The next moment, he was lifeless and devoid of energy.
Then, an ancient ferocious creature with a rotting body also materialized, holding the white bone spear, and thrust it at another cultivator.
"Pfft!"
"Ah..."
...
In just one breath, hundreds or even thousands of ancient ferocious creatures appeared before them.
Over a dozen Saint King-level experts, before they could react, were killed by spears, blades, and swords. Their life force was severed, and they fell heavily into pools of blood.
It was terrifying! How resilient were Saint Kings? Even a severed head would not kill them, but being struck by these ferocious creatures’ bone weapons caused instant death.
What frightened the crowd even more was that these ancient ferocious creatures seemed to appear out of nowhere. Even those with powerful spiritual power could not detect any aura beforehand.
They approached silently and reaped lives silently.
Tian Chu Xianzi immediately struck out with eight jade swords, inserting them into eight different positions to form a sword formation, enveloping all the cultivators of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization.
But...
It was useless.
An ancient ferocious creature appeared within the sword formation out of thin air, holding a bloodstained ancient blade, and slashed diagonally at her.
Tian Chu Xianzi stood still, forming a sword seal with her two snow-white, jade-like fingers. Instantly, "swish, swish" sounds rang out as sword qi shredded the ancient ferocious creature into pieces.
Tian Chu Xianzi remained calm and composed, saying, "Xiao Jing, use your Origin Divine Eye to see what they really are."
"How strange. Formations seem to be completely useless against them," Wu Shen Tianzi said, also in great trouble. The seductive woman had died in his arms, her delicate body severed in two, sacred blood flowing endlessly.
Here, the lives of Saint Kings were as fragile as paper.
Many cultivators were terrified and wanted to flee immediately.
But they were horrified to discover that the exit on the path within the space barrier was blocked by a group of ancient ferocious creatures. They couldn’t leave even if they wanted to.
"Heavens, what kind of deadly, life-ending place is this? Even if a Great Saint came, they would likely die here in regret."
"Get out of here quickly. Stop thinking about seizing the divine spring. This is a forbidden land."
Qian Xing Tian Nu used her Origin Divine Eye and saw some clues. Her beautiful face turned pale with fright, and she said, "They... they seem to be walking out of the void space..."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the blocked exit and sighed deeply, "Here, reality and nothingness coexist. Those ancient ferocious creatures can freely shuttle between void space and the real world. What we are encountering now are only Saint-level and Saint King-level ancient ferocious creatures. If we encounter a Great Saint-level ferocious creature, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Just then, a vast aura of a Great Saint burst forth, causing everyone present to feel their scalps tingle and their minds shaken, giving rise to a desperate feeling of impending doom.
Some of the more powerful cultivators forcibly suppressed the fear in their hearts and looked up.
Above their heads, a gray, hazy cloud floated, covering the sky for dozens of li.
Within the cloud was half a body.
It was the upper half of a human. Its face was obscured by disheveled, long hair, making it impossible to see clearly. It had only one arm. The other arm, along with its lower body, seemed to have been severed by some sharp blade and was missing.
The aura of a Great Saint emanated from this half-body.
"Where is my other half? Give it back to me, give it back to me..."
The half-ancient Great Saint ferocious creature’s mouth emitted a deafening sound. Its aura was not like that of a dead thing but more like a human Great Saint in their prime descending.
The cultivators below were all shaken, their heads splitting with pain, yet they were too terrified to make a sound.
Zhang Ruochen held his head, feeling as if his scalp was about to split.
Not far away, Qian Xing Tian Nu was in no better condition. She couldn’t even hold her chains steady and dropped them to the ground.
Taking this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen broke free from the nine chains’ restraint, took out the Seven-Level Floating Life Talisman and the "Space-Time Secret Scripture," and held them in his hands, ready to activate them to save his life at any moment.
Gradually, some of the more powerful cultivators from the ancient civilization factions recovered and gathered together.
Da Zun’s eyes were sharp, and he said, "It has long been dead, leaving only half a body. Even if it was a Great Saint when alive, it can probably only exert one-tenth of its power now. Qing Long, Luo Ji, you two assist this Heavenly Son. We will activate the power of the Supreme Sacred Artifact and suppress it."
Wu Shen Tianzi and Tian Chu Xianzi appeared beside Da Zun, the three of them forming a triangle. All their power converged at the center of the triangle.
There, a three-foot-long broken red copper spear floated.
Dense, ancient inscriptions emerged on the broken spear, releasing crimson flames.
The flame light reached its peak, dispersing the yin qi for dozens of li, and a sharp beam of light shot out from the spear tip, piercing through the gray cloud in the sky.
Zhen Miao Xiao Daoren’s head poked out from Zhang Ruochen’s clothes, and he exclaimed in admiration, "These people are quite formidable, daring to challenge an ancient Great Saint ferocious creature."
Zhang Ruochen said, "They possess a broken Supreme Sacred Artifact. If they can activate its supreme power, they might be able to suppress that half-body ferocious creature. The ferocious creature is already dead and cannot compare to a true Great Saint."
Zhen Miao Xiao Daoren shook his head, however, and said, "You underestimate the power of a Great Saint too much. Even a half-body Great Saint ferocious creature can kill a peak Saint King with just a flick of its finger. If they had a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, they might have a chance."
"Attack!" Da Zun roared.
The broken red copper spear rose from the center of the three of them, releasing a world-destroying supreme power, and shot straight toward the half-body Great Saint ferocious creature suspended in the cloud.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
Crimson flames blazed fiercely on the broken spear, like a blazing sun rising rapidly from the ground.
In the vision of every cultivator, there was nothing but flames.
...
(The WeChat public account for "The Ancient God Emperor" has been launched. Recently, there will be a call for name suggestions for Zhang Ruochen’s son or daughter. We hope everyone can offer good suggestions. WeChat public account: feitianyu5.)