Chapter 1949: It's Her, How Could It Be Her
"Boom."
The evil spirit struck out, its divine python swinging its massive tail, unleashing vast divine power as it slammed heavily into the ground.
Even though the earth in the central area of Celestial Mechanism Mountain was solid, it still cracked open, revealing a deeply hidden underground space.
Zhang Ruochen had initially wanted to use spatial techniques to sneak in, but was obstructed by a strange force, leaving him no choice but to resort to force.
The barrier shattered, exposing the entire vast underground space. The Death Altar and the Shadow of Death stood out starkly in the darkness.
Last time Zhang Ruochen had infiltrated to investigate, the Shadow of Death was only five hundred zhang tall, but now its height had exceeded a thousand zhang, and the power it had condensed was undoubtedly far greater than before.
The three white-robed priests were still seated cross-legged on the altar.
The difference was that their cultivation had deepened, reaching the Threshold Dao Realm.
Clearly, aside from the fact that their cultivation had long reached the peak of the Heaven-Connecting Realm, the Death Altar also possessed mysterious and unfathomable abilities, allowing their cultivation to break through so quickly.
"What's going on here?"
Bi Yunhai arrived and asked curiously.
He had rushed from the Southern Domain to the Northern Domain for Ji Fanxin and was not very familiar with the situation in the Northern Domain.
"The Death Clan is using this Death Altar to absorb the Northern Domain's revival power, creating a large number of strong warriors and attempting to further open the spatial passage between their star domain and the Kunlun Realm. Every day that passes, the Death Clan's strength increases," Zhang Ruochen explained briefly.
Hearing this, a flicker of strange light passed through Bi Yunhai's eyes. "The Death Clan really knows how to scheme. They want to sustain the war through war. How can we let them have their way? But after destroying this Death Altar, won't the Death Clan just build another one elsewhere?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "It's not that easy. Building this kind of Death Altar requires special materials and a specific location. Celestial Mechanism Mountain was once the sect grounds of the Celestial Mechanism Sect, the largest force in the Northern Domain, and the birthplace of the Northern Domain's ancestral veins. Only here is suitable for building a Death Altar."
Celestial Mechanism Mountain was extraordinary; otherwise, the trunk of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree wouldn't be here. Finding another awakened divine land in the Northern Domain comparable to Celestial Mechanism Mountain would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
So, destroying this Death Altar would essentially cut off the Death Clan's hopes.
"Step back. I'll destroy this Death Altar," Bi Yunhai said confidently.
His earlier fight with Qi Yang had cost him face, so he naturally wanted to seize this opportunity to regain some dignity, determined not to let Ji Fanxin look down on him.
Since Bi Yunhai was willing to take action, Zhang Ruochen and the others were happy to oblige and cooperatively stepped aside.
Mainly, they didn't know what peculiarities this Death Altar held, so letting Bi Yunhai test it first was a good idea.
Bi Yunhai summoned his Monarch War Artifact, fully activating it, mobilizing thirty percent of the world's rules within a seventy-million-li radius to prepare his strongest strike.
He might not be able to defeat Qi Yang, but he refused to believe he couldn't destroy a mere Death Altar.
The surface of the sky-blue gourd glowed with over two hundred thousand king-level inscriptions, interwoven with countless world rules, radiating an overwhelming pressure.
A torrent of monarch-level sacred power surged from the gourd's mouth, condensing into an immensely brilliant sacred light.
"Boom."
The sacred light didn't directly strike the Death Altar. Instead, a dark light shield emerged, blocking it.
Immediately after, the Death Altar released a powerful force, spreading outward like ripples on water.
The evil spirit swung its massive divine python body, dissipating the force released by the Death Altar into nothingness. Zhang Ruochen and the other five stood atop the evil spirit's head, unaffected.
Bi Yunhai blocked the force with his Monarch War Artifact in front of him, also unharmed, but his mind was far from calm as he stared fixedly at the Death Altar.
"Could it be that this Death Altar's power is stronger than Qi Yang's?" Bi Yunhai thought in shock.
Zhang Ruochen's expression also turned grim. Destroying the Death Altar was indeed far more difficult than he had anticipated.
It made sense, though. The Death Clan had expended great effort to build this Death Altar as a major trump card; it wouldn't be so easily destroyed.
On the Death Altar, the three white-robed priests all stood up, their gazes sweeping over Zhang Ruochen and the others before locking onto Bi Yunhai.
Bi Yunhai was a Threshold Dao Realm powerhouse, capable of matching an Immortal Great Saint, so his threat was naturally far greater than Zhang Ruochen's group.
"Attacking the Death Altar is a capital offense," the white-robed female priest said coldly.
Bi Yunhai sneered. "Capital offense? I'd like to see who can take my life."
"Death Severance."
The three white-robed priests acted together, activating the thousand-zhang-tall Shadow of Death.
The Shadow of Death swung its scythe, slashing out a black blade of light, like a long spatial rift, rapidly extending toward Bi Yunhai.
"Hmph, do you think I'm afraid of you?"
Bi Yunhai snorted and struck out with his palm.
Tens of thousands of palm path rules emerged, drawing in a vast number of world rules, condensing into a boundless azure sea that raised towering waves, crashing toward the Shadow of Death.
"Attack."
Zhang Ruochen gave the order and waved his hand, sending the Azure Sky Burial Tower flying.
At a time like this, they couldn't stand idly by. Without destroying the Death Altar, they couldn't retrieve the trunk of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
Ji Fanxin, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, and Pei Yutian didn't hesitate, all striking out with sacred arts or sacred artifacts.
The evil spirit naturally couldn't just watch, swinging its divine python tail, unleashing powerful divine force, and slamming heavily into the Shadow of Death.
Compared to the others, the evil spirit was the most unrestrained. Its attacks might not be the strongest, but its defense was incredibly formidable.
In truth, at this stage, the evil spirit couldn't fully control the power of the divine python corpse because its sacred soul was still too weak to handle too much divine power.
Currently, the power the evil spirit could unleash hadn't yet reached the Immortal Great Saint level; otherwise, it could easily dominate the Kunlun Realm.
"Bang."
The black scythe shadow couldn't withstand so many powerful attacks and shattered, dissipating into nothingness.
"Everyone, help me activate the Azure Sky Burial Tower and continue attacking," Zhang Ruochen called out.
Immediately, Ji Fanxin, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, Pei Yutian, and the evil spirit all acted, pouring their power continuously into the Azure Sky Burial Tower.
The Azure Sky Burial Tower trembled, instantly growing as large as a divine mountain. Azure light emerged, and streams of supreme power were released.
Perhaps influenced by the divine power infused by the evil spirit, the slumbering artifact spirit's consciousness awakened.
"Roar."
A heaven-shaking beastly roar echoed from within the Azure Sky Burial Tower, unleashing even greater supreme power.
"Oh?"
Seeing the Azure Sky Burial Tower, a strange light flickered in Bi Yunhai's eyes.
If he also had a Supreme Sacred Artifact, he surely wouldn't have lost to Qi Yang, and destroying this Death Altar would be effortless.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind, but Bi Yunhai restrained his gaze, squeezing a drop of essence blood from his fingertip and letting it fall onto the sky-blue gourd, where it sank in. Instantly, the gourd's surface radiance surged, unleashing its full power.
No matter what, he couldn't let Zhang Ruochen and the others steal the spotlight at a time like this.
"Boom."
Supreme power and monarch-level sacred power erupted simultaneously, like heaven and earth splitting apart, unstoppable.
The Shadow of Death trembled, with faint deathly psychic power leaking out.
Below, the Death Altar also shook, becoming highly unstable, nearly sent flying by the supreme and monarch-level powers.
Beneath the altar, the solid ground was covered in dense cracks. Soil and rock sank downward, revealing a pitch-black void, with countless dust particles surging up from the depths. The magnificent Death Altar seemed to separate from the earth, hovering in midair.
Affected by this, the Death Altar momentarily couldn't absorb the Northern Domain's revival power.
But just as things seemed to be going well, Zhang Ruochen's expression shifted slightly.
He had just detected a peculiar spatial fluctuation emanating from the pitch-black void beneath the altar.
Danger.
"Ah..."
A blood-curdling scream came from underground.
Then, a Death Knight flashed out from the depths, his body engulfed in blue flames, his expression twisted in agony.
"Sizzle."
In the blink of an eye, he collapsed to the ground, burned to ashes by the blue flames.
From the ashes, a tiny blue firebug crawled out, no bigger than a fingernail, strikingly beautiful.
"Devourer God Insect."
Zhang Ruochen recognized the blue firebug, and his expression worsened. He immediately sent a telepathic message to Xiang Chunan and the others, telling them to retreat and keep their distance from the Devourer God Insect.
The trunk of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was indeed beneath the altar.
Because the Devourer God Insects were parasitic inside the tree trunk. Clearly, the earlier attack had torn a gap in the space containing the trunk, allowing the Devourer God Insect to emerge.
The Devourer God Insect's terror was undeniable; even gods found it a headache to deal with.
The one that appeared now was the smallest.
Back when Zhang Ruochen and Canglan Martial Saint entered that strange space together, they had seen clusters of Devourer God Insects, some the size of fists, others as large as washbasins.
The larger the Devourer God Insect, the more terrifying it was.
Just as all the cultivators were startled by the Devourer God Insect, a pleasant female voice emerged from a mass of gray mist on the altar: "Legend has it that the Devourer God Insect is the tree insect of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, born alongside it. If one appears here, could there be a Sky-Connecting Divine Tree growing in the space beneath the altar?"
As the voice rang out, a vast Styx River flowed from the Death Altar. Within the river, a colossal creature emerged, bearing nine heads—a nine-headed Xuanwu.
On the back of the nine-headed Xuanwu stood a tall, graceful woman. Around her, chains formed from fate rules coiled, as if the fate of all beings in the world was under her control.
It was none other than Bore, one of the three Divine Maiden candidates of the Destiny Temple.
"There's another world beneath the altar?"
"Since the Devourer God Insect appeared, there must be a Sky-Connecting Divine Tree underground. Could it be that the tree has sprouted new shoots?"
"Entirely possible. Otherwise, why would the Kunlun Realm be reviving?"
...
Even the Death Clan cultivators hadn't expected an independent space beneath the Death Altar. They all grew excited, eager to charge in and seize the treasures within.
Standing on the Styx River, Bore raised her crystalline, immortal-like face, sweeping her gaze over Zhang Ruochen and the others before finally settling on him.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes had long been fixed on her.
The moment their eyes met, Zhang Ruochen's body trembled slightly, his pupils dilated, and he seemed to turn to stone.
On the Styx River, Bore's slender figure also gave an almost imperceptible shake.
In that instant, both stood still as statues, their breath halted. It was as if the entire world had frozen, time ceasing to flow.
Apart from the two of them, all surrounding sights vanished.
Though they were separated by a vast distance, it was as if space had suddenly disappeared, bringing them close enough to see each other clearly.
After a long while, Zhang Ruochen took a sharp breath and returned to reality. The surrounding scenes reappeared, and his hearing and perception restored.
Although the woman before him had completely changed in appearance, the moment he saw her eyes, he recognized her.
"It's her, it must be her. How could it be her?"
Zhang Ruochen's fingers clenched involuntarily, unable to believe what he was seeing.
For a moment, his heart tightened with a pang of pain, countless past images flooding his mind, finally freezing at the gate of the Violet Micro Palace.
The scenes of the past were so vivid, never forgotten.
He had told himself to forget and let go, but it was only self-deception.
Gazing for a long time, Zhang Ruochen's heart trembled violently. "Yes, it's her. Why did she go to the Hell Realm? Why did she become a Death Clan? Everything has changed. What happened in these past few years?"
Never had Zhang Ruochen's heart been so chaotic. Too many doubts, too many tangled emotions left him with a mix of feelings, yet he couldn't utter a single word to anyone.
A person who should have died now stood before him again.
...
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