# Chapter 2089: One of the Five Dominant Overlords?
Under the terrifying suction force, the defense jointly constructed by Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden proved extremely fragile, like paper, collapsing in an instant. The two could not stabilize their forms and were involuntarily drawn deep into the passage.
"Is this the calamity destined for me? I have exhausted all my strength, yet I still cannot overcome it." The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden felt a deep sense of powerlessness in her heart.
Her cultivation had only just broken through to the Reaching Heaven Realm, and her mastery of the Way of Origin had greatly improved, yet at this moment, she still could not resist.
"Slap."
Just as the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden sighed, one of her hands was suddenly grabbed, and her body halted in midair.
Looking up, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden saw who had grabbed her hand. Who else could it be but Zhang Ruochen?
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was using his other hand to grip the hilt of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, which was deeply embedded in the stone wall.
At the same time, Shi Shenghua Mo Yin extended her body from Zhang Ruochen's spine, stretching out many tough vines deep into the stone wall.
However, the suction force transmitted through the passage was too powerful. The Abyssal Ancient Sword could not hold firm, slowly shifting its position and carving a long groove in the wall.
Even the vines extended by Mo Yin were continuously snapping, unable to withstand such a terrifying pulling force.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen very much wanted to take the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden into the Space-Time Secret Scripture, but he was dismayed to find that the Space-Time Secret Scripture could not be opened, and even spatial treasures like the Space Crystal Ball were unusable.
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden stared blankly at Zhang Ruochen, finding it hard to understand. At such a critical moment, that fellow would still reach out to save her?
If it were anyone else, at a time like this, their thoughts would surely be focused on self-preservation.
"Still not letting go? Do you want to die together?"
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden glared at him with her beautiful eyes. How could she not see that because he had to use one hand to hold her, Zhang Ruochen could not go all out? She, who usually had a pride higher than the heavens, now found herself thinking the humble thought, "I am a burden."
With a soft sigh, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden released the hand Zhang Ruochen was holding, intending to let the terrifying suction force pull her away. At this moment, her state of mind underwent an elevation, learning to sacrifice herself for the sake of others.
Or perhaps there were some other emotions mixed in.
In short, she did not want to drag Zhang Ruochen down.
However, things did not go as she thought, because Zhang Ruochen did not let go; instead, he held on even tighter.
"Zhang Ruochen." The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden could not help but call out.
"Shut up."
Zhang Ruochen only uttered these two cold words, mobilizing even stronger Saint Qi to inject into the Abyssal Ancient Sword, causing the blade to grow wider and wider.
But still, he could not resist the pulling force. The five fingers gripping the sword split open, dripping drops of Saint blood.
He could have let go of her hand and allowed her to be swept into the depths of the passage, but Zhang Ruochen could not bring himself to do such a thing.
"Annoying fellow, must you be so domineering?" The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden felt both exasperated and inexplicably pleased.
Strangely enough, even though the two were gradually falling deeper into the passage, her heart grew calm. She let Zhang Ruochen hold her jade hand and began to think of countermeasures.
Whether she admitted it aloud or not, deep down she felt she should learn from Zhang Ruochen.
To do what seems impossible, to persevere no matter how difficult, and to give it your all.
It was as if her proud heart had been conquered.
"Master, I... I can't hold on any longer..." Mo Yin said weakly.
"Crack."
With a clear sound of breaking, Mo Yin's strongest vine snapped.
Affected by this, the Abyssal Ancient Sword came loose from the wall. By the time Zhang Ruochen tried to embed it again, it was too late.
The suction force within the passage grew even more terrifying, pulling Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden relentlessly, sending them flying straight into the depths.
Throughout this process, Zhang Ruochen kept a firm grip on the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's jade hand to prevent them from being separated.
If they truly encountered a crisis, the two of them joining forces would undoubtedly have a greater chance of survival.
Before long, the two reached the end of the passage, where the space ahead opened up.
Unfortunately, it was not an exit but an abyss, pitch black below, with earthly evil energy surging wildly.
Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's bodies were both out of control, plummeting rapidly into the dark abyss.
After falling several thousand zhang, the two finally saw the source of the suction force.
It was a colossal creature whose entirety could not be seen, its bloody mouth wide open, devouring madly.
Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's eyes both narrowed. They had not expected the depths of this passage to be inhabited by such a massive divine power monster.
Just as they were about to fall into the monster's mouth, Zhang Ruochen saw a pair of icy eyes, within which gleamed a hint of mockery.
"What's going on? Could this divine power monster possess intelligence?" Zhang Ruochen's heart shook.
The more than a hundred divine power monsters they had encountered earlier, despite their immense strength, only knew how to kill and had no intelligence whatsoever.
If those monsters had possessed intelligence, they probably would never have been able to escape into this passage.
"A monster capable of devouring four types of divine power, and with intelligence, this..."
Zhang Ruochen's state of mind rippled, and he dared not think further.
He even suspected that this divine power monster might be one of the five dominant overlords the short, thin old man had mentioned.
But according to the old man, the five dominant overlords should be entrenched within the main structure of the Dragon God Temple, not appearing outside.
Of course, now was not the time to think about such things. They were about to fall into the divine power monster's mouth.
"Attack."
Zhang Ruochen shouted, immediately unleashing the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror with all his strength.
The spatial suppression here was too strong; spatial techniques could not exert much power.
The surface of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror lit up with over a million Supreme Inscription Runes. Even under the restraint of powerful force, it still released several terrifying Supreme powers.
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden, meanwhile, unleashed an ancient talisman, the last and most powerful one she had.
A terrifying power of origin surged from the talisman, unstoppable, intending to decompose everything into the most fundamental particles.
A hint of disdain appeared in the monster's eyes. As its bloody mouth opened and closed, four types of divine power appeared simultaneously, condensing into a terrifying divine power vortex.
Both the Supreme power and the origin power were instantly devoured by the divine power vortex, having no effect at all.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were both caught by the divine power vortex. Before they could make any struggle, they were swallowed whole by the divine power monster.
After swallowing the two, the divine power monster slowly closed its bloody mouth and shut its eyes, restoring calm to the abyss.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were swept by the divine power vortex into a dim, vast space, spacious enough to hold a small star.
"So this passage wasn't devoid of divine power monsters. Instead, the most terrifying one was entrenched here. The other divine power monsters didn't dare approach purely out of instinctive fear." The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden said with a grave expression.
Stabilizing his form, Zhang Ruochen released the jade hand he had been holding tightly.
Glancing at Zhang Ruochen, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden inexplicably felt a trace of loss in her heart.
Turning his gaze, Zhang Ruochen saw more than a dozen divine power monsters that had been devoured before them, all now writhing in agony.
The reason was that they were wrapped in a strange four-colored divine light.
Zhang Ruochen could tell at a glance that this four-colored light was a fusion of time, space, origin, and darkness powers, extremely terrifying.
In the blink of an eye, the dozen or so divine power monsters fell still. Their most fundamental violent will dissipated, turning into massive blocks of divine power crystals.
Seeing this, Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. The four-colored divine light was truly horrifying.
Scanning the dozen or so divine power crystals, Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden both felt a strong urge to seize them immediately.
But in the end, they dared not act, because the four-colored divine light made them extremely wary. They feared that instead of obtaining the divine power crystals, they would bring trouble upon themselves.
Just as the two were staring at those divine power crystals, strands of four-colored divine light suddenly began to converge on them from all directions.
Seeing this, both their expressions changed, realizing something terrible was about to happen.
"Attack together. We cannot let this divine light touch us." Zhang Ruochen said solemnly.
They had witnessed the power of the four-colored divine light firsthand. It could easily melt divine power monsters. If it were to affect them, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Immediately, Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden acted together, using time power, space power, origin power, and truth power to construct a stable defensive barrier.
The four-colored divine light rapidly converged, attaching itself to the defensive barrier.
"Sss."
The defensive barrier was corroded, emitting a very harsh sound.
In an instant, the defensive barrier was damaged, with strands of four-colored divine light seeping through tiny holes.
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's pupils contracted. "Such terrifying corrosive power, many times more terrible than a simple divine power impact."
Without hesitation, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden quickly activated the Origin Pearl, releasing multiple beams of origin divine light to dissolve the invading strands of four-colored divine light.
Zhang Ruochen, meanwhile, took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture and continuously infused it with Saint Qi, trying to construct a multi-layered space.
To his surprise, the multi-layered space formed by the Space-Time Secret Scripture was extremely small, unable to accommodate him and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden.
Undoubtedly, this was all related to the divine power monster. Both time and space were under severe restriction.
"Boom."
As more and more four-colored divine light converged, the defensive barrier finally collapsed entirely.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were submerged by the four-colored divine light. No matter what techniques they employed, they could not stop it.
In this situation, both encountered great trouble. The four-colored divine light madly invaded their bodies, eroding their flesh, blood, Saint Qi, and even their Saint souls.
"My lifespan..."
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's expression changed drastically.
The time power inflicted the greatest damage on her, causing her life force to drain rapidly. Her jet-black hair began to turn gray.
As a Time Controller, Zhang Ruochen had strong immunity to time power, but the origin divine power caused him great harm.
His Five Elements Chaos Body, normally so formidable, now showed signs of disintegration, his flesh and blood turning into countless tiny particles.
Additionally, both faced a common problem: their skin was turning pitch black, as if poisoned, which was the result of darkness power erosion.
After all, neither of them had cultivated the Path of Darkness.
"Join palms." Zhang Ruochen said.
As if reading his mind, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden immediately understood what he meant and pressed a palm toward him.
Zhang Ruochen also struck out with a palm, joining it with hers, continuously transmitting his time power and space power to her.
Thus, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's crisis was alleviated, the rate of her life force loss greatly slowed.
Steadying her mind, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden quickly transmitted her origin power into Zhang Ruochen's body, helping him resist the erosion of origin power.
Of course, even though the two had strong immunity to time power, space power, and origin power, they could not completely eliminate the effects, so the crisis was far from truly resolved.
"At this rate, we won't be able to hold out much longer. Is there any other method we can use?" The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's brow furrowed deeply.
If they could not resist the erosion of the four-colored divine light, both would die, and die in extreme agony.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was calm, like an ancient well. The more critical the moment, the calmer he became, because panic solved nothing.
Only by diligently thinking of countermeasures could there be hope of survival.
After some contemplation, Zhang Ruochen said, "This four-colored divine light is indeed very powerful, capable of eroding almost anything, unable to be stopped even by Supreme Sacred Artifacts. For now, the only option is to try using the rules cultivated from the Eternal Dao."
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen began to mobilize the time rules, space rules, and truth rules within his body, surging out from the Tongtian River like chains of order, wrapping around the four-colored divine light that had invaded his body.
Hearing this, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's heart stirred, and she too began to mobilize her origin rules and truth rules to resist the four-colored divine light.
Although Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden were still only at the Saint King Realm, the rules cultivated from the Eternal Dao already possessed the characteristic of eternal indestructibility, which the four-colored divine light could not destroy.
Soon, the Eternal Dao rules cultivated by the two converged, intertwining to form a river of rules that flowed through their bodies in an endless cycle.
At the same time, the Space-Time Secret Scripture and the Origin Pearl were placed into the river of rules, releasing streams of strange power, causing a layer of hazy holy light to appear outside both their bodies.
After expending great effort, most of the four-colored divine light was finally expelled from their bodies, held at bay by the hazy holy light.
"Whew."
Zhang Ruochen and the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden both let out a long breath. The situation had finally improved.
"Next, more and more four-colored divine light will converge on us. We won't be able to hold out. We must find a way to enhance our mastery of the Eternal Dao we cultivate." Zhang Ruochen said seriously.
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden nodded. "We still have some divine power crystals. We can use them."
Cultivating the Eternal Dao was extremely difficult. The only shortcut was to refine divine power crystals.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze shifted to the dozen or so divine power crystals being refined by the four-colored divine light. "We need more divine power crystals."
Hearing this, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden immediately understood. The divine power crystals left behind by the dead divine power monsters should be better for cultivation.
Immediately, the two joined hands and quickly rushed toward the dozen or so divine power crystals.
If they delayed any longer, those divine power crystals might all be refined away.
Using the hazy holy light formed by the river of rules, the two swept up the fourteen divine power crystals, simultaneously eliminating the four-colored divine light wrapped around them.
Among them, there were five time divine power crystals, four space divine power crystals, three origin divine power crystals, and the remaining two were darkness divine power crystals.
"Let's begin."
Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and took out the Sundial. What they lacked most now was time.
The two exchanged a glance, seeing the determination in each other's eyes. Then, without further hesitation, they immediately began refining the divine power crystals, striving to enhance their mastery of the Eternal Dao in hopes of escaping the fate of being refined by the four-colored divine light.
(End of Chapter)