Chapter 2398: Prehistoric Divine Seeds
The hundred-day Heaven Hunting Battle finally came to an end.
All participating cultivators from the ten clans were teleported back to Fate Divine Mountain by the Myriad Realms Divine Eye. Each clan had suffered casualties, making the battle exceptionally brutal.
The surviving Heaven Slaves were also teleported back, totaling three thousand four hundred and fifty-six. The vast majority were Half-Saints or Saints, mere fish that had slipped through the net, their points pitifully few.
Among them, only four Great Saint Heaven Slaves had killed cultivators from the Undying Blood Clan, preserving their lives and gaining freedom.
The remaining three thousand-plus Heaven Slaves were executed on the spot, their flesh, blood, and Sacred Souls devoured by cultivators from various clans—a fate even worse than dying on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
The point data on the diamond-shaped mirror fragments had all vanished. No one knew the outcome of the battle between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen at the final moment. All participating cultivators waited anxiously.
"Tiger roars and dragon cries rang out, and the images reflected by the Myriad Realms Divine Eye shattered. What exactly happened?"
"How could there be tiger roars and dragon cries on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield?"
"Could it be that gods interfered in the Heaven Hunting Battle? At the time, I sensed an incredibly powerful divine might. If the Myriad Realms Divine Eye hadn't teleported me away in time, I might have been shattered by those roars," said a Ghost Clan Great Saint who had just entered the Immortal Realm, still shaken.
He had been stationed on the Ghost Clan's home star at the time.
A Great Saint from the Green Deer Divine Temple quietly asked Lanying, "Senior Brother Lanying, the Heaven Hunting Battle is over. Why haven't Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen returned yet?"
Lanying curled his lips upward. "Some accidents did happen on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield. I'm afraid those two won't be coming back."
This statement was heard by many cultivators.
They immediately crowded around to ask for details, but Lanying, arms crossed over his chest, remained cold and sneering, ignoring them. Apart from cultivators of the Green Deer Divine Temple, in this era, he only respected a few individuals like Zhang Ruochen, Que, and Yan Wushen. Other cultivators, in his view, were not even qualified to speak with him.
The Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints gathered together. Hearing Lanying's words, their faces turned grim, their anxiety greater than that of any other clan.
Only Mo Yin remained calm and composed, utterly refusing to believe that Zhang Ruochen had met with an accident. After all, if Zhang Ruochen had fallen on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, she would have died along with him.
Of course, this secret was unknown to most cultivators.
In fact, the vast majority had no idea she was a parasitic plant nurtured by Zhang Ruochen.
Lian Xi, Zhou, and Shen Tu Yun Kong, who had followed Zhang Ruochen to the Heaven Hunting Banquet, were still at the Fate Stream. When they heard the various rumors about Zhang Ruochen, it felt like the sky was falling.
In the Hell Realm, without Zhang Ruochen's protection, they might immediately become blood food.
At that moment, a Rakshasa cultivator walked past them, carrying a Heaven Slave's thigh and gnawing on it.
They were all tense, realizing for the first time how crucial Zhang Ruochen was to them and how fragile their own lives were.
"Zhang Ruochen, you absolutely cannot die. If you die, what will happen to us?" Zhou said with a bitter face.
Lian Xi habitually looked up at the sky.
The sky was empty.
But over the hundred days of the Heaven Hunting Battle, she had seen from the projected images in the sky how Zhang Ruochen had created miracle after miracle, step by step ascending to the peak of the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
That man seemed to possess endless combat power within him, never falling.
"He shouldn't fall on the last day," Lian Xi thought to herself.
...
...
As if he had slept for a thousand years, Zhang Ruochen's burning, aching body was soothed by a cool, refreshing force. The pain vanished, replaced by an incredibly pleasant sensation of comfort.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and found himself lying on a white sandy beach.
The sun in the sky was bright, but its light wasn't harsh. It shone on him, warm and cozy, as if he were bathing in a divine spring. His limbs and bones relaxed completely.
In the distance, the sea was a clear, deep blue, rippling gently. Seabirds dove to catch fish. The scenery was beautiful and full of life, completely different from the dark, deathly environment of the Hell Realm.
Beside him, a giant tree over a hundred meters tall grew emerald leaves, its dense branches drooping down like a green umbrella. From the leaves, sparkling specks of light drifted down like white rain.
Sitting up, a trace of confusion appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face. He muttered to himself, "Where am I?"
"This is the Divine Realm World of the Fulu Divine Venerable!" a voice said.
Zhang Ruochen turned his head and saw a white tiger lying beside him, about five meters long. Its head was massive, its rear end plump—quite the hourglass figure.
Strangely, it had no fur at all. Its skin was as white as jade, and on its head sat a golden, shining character: "Zang."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. He immediately stood up and asked cautiously, "Senior, is that you?"
"It's me, of course it's me."
The Zangjin Baihu rolled over and stood up, shaking the sand off its body.
When Zhang Ruochen first saw the Zangjin Baihu on the Ghost Clan's home star, it had radiated a terrifying aura, its body enormous—one head alone could fill Zhang Ruochen's field of vision.
Now, it was only slightly larger than an ordinary tiger, its aura completely concealed.
Its only peculiarity was its complete lack of fur.
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed as a thought struck him. "This is the Divine Realm World of the Fulu Divine Venerable?"
He immediately began to observe his surroundings carefully.
Where did this look like a Divine Realm World?
It was no different from a real world.
He released his spiritual power to probe but couldn't sense the world's boundaries at all.
The more he probed, the more shocked he became.
This Divine Realm World contained not only mountains, rivers, and oceans but also various living beings. Some powerful creatures had even reached the Immortal Realm Great Saint level.
As for whether there were even stronger beings deeper in the world, he couldn't tell.
He also didn't know whether these creatures had been captured by the Fulu Divine Venerable or had naturally emerged. If it was the latter, then Zhang Ruochen had to admit that the Fulu Divine Venerable's cultivation was unfathomable, beyond measure.
One person, one great world.
He was the creator of this world.
"Not good. Gods can know everything in their Divine Realm World. Could the Fulu Divine Venerable have already learned some of my memories or directly read my thoughts?" Zhang Ruochen's heart grew uneasy.
Facing a terrifyingly powerful being he couldn't fathom, Zhang Ruochen found it hard to stay calm.
The Zangjin Baihu's voice echoed in Zhang Ruochen's mind: "Don't worry. You've fused with my Ultimate Zangjin Qi. With my protection, no god can read your memories or thoughts. Even a Divine Venerable can't."
Zhang Ruochen stared at it, his mood worsening.
Great. With this tiger around, he'd never keep any secrets.
The Zangjin Baihu said, "Don't worry, I won't read your thoughts all the time."
It said it wouldn't, but it was doing it right now.
The Zangjin Baihu said, "If you don't ask me questions, I have to read. Besides, this is the Fulu Divine Venerable's Divine Realm World. You seem unwilling to expose some secrets. You can't speak openly, so I have to read your thoughts to communicate with you."
Zhang Ruochen was completely speechless. He wanted to make his mind go blank.
The Zangjin Baihu said, "Don't be so tense. You've passed my test. Now you're my guide. Our fates are linked. You don't need to be wary of me."
"But you're a god of the Hell Realm," Zhang Ruochen thought.
The Zangjin Baihu said, "No, I don't belong to the Hell Realm. I come from the Divine Ancient Nest."
Although Zhang Ruochen had suspected this, hearing the Zangjin Baihu admit it still shocked him.
The Divine Ancient Nest was one of the most mysterious places in the universe, known as a relic of prehistoric civilization.
Zhang Ruochen relaxed a little and finally spoke aloud, "You said I'm your guide. What does that mean?"
"Since you're awake, come with me to see the Fulu Divine Venerable. He'll tell you what a guide is. Get on my back, and I'll take you to him."
Zhang Ruochen hesitated. "This... isn't appropriate, is it? Senior, you lead the way, and I'll fly behind you. I'll keep up."
Are you kidding? This was a divine beast from the Divine Ancient Nest, an equal to the gods of the Hell Realm.
Even gods wouldn't dare use it as a mount.
How could he, a mere Great Saint, dare?
"At your cultivation level, you'd fly for ten years and still not reach there. Stop dawdling. Get on," the Zangjin Baihu said.
Seeing that it seemed serious, Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, stopped hesitating, and leaped onto its back.
It was too surreal. A Great Saint riding a divine beast.
"Whoosh."
The Zangjin Baihu emitted a gentle white light, turning into a streak of light that flew toward a certain direction in the Divine Realm World, crashing into the void. At the point of impact, patterns of rules appeared.
They flickered and then vanished.
"My injuries seem to have healed," Zhang Ruochen said.
The Zangjin Baihu guessed what Zhang Ruochen was thinking and said, "Don't worry so much. Half of your injuries were healed by me. The Fulu Divine Venerable didn't probe you. He doesn't know you have the Heart of Truth."
Zhang Ruochen felt like fainting. He wanted to jump off the Zangjin Baihu's back.
Really, he had no secrets left.
After a long time, Zhang Ruochen calmed down and thought to himself, "Calm down, I must stay calm. It's because I fused with the Ultimate Zangjin Qi that it can read my thoughts anytime. Other gods definitely can't."
"You're right. It's exactly like that. Our relationship, in a sense, is closer and more equal than a human couple's. You should trust me completely," the Zangjin Baihu said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly and thought, "If our relationship is really that close and equal, why can you read my thoughts but I can't read yours?"
"Because your cultivation isn't as high as mine, and your spiritual power isn't as strong. If one day you surpass me, you can naturally turn this around," the Zangjin Baihu said.
There was no way to argue.
Zhang Ruochen stopped thinking about these messy things and asked, "You said half of my injuries were healed by you. What about the other half?"
"The other half, of course, was you. Your self-healing ability is incredibly strong. I suspect that even if you were torn to pieces, your body could reassemble itself. It would just take a very long time," the Zangjin Baihu said.
Zhang Ruochen didn't ask further. Instead, he began to think about how to empty his mind and stop thinking about anything.
Being constantly read by a tiger was no different from running naked through the streets.
"If reading your memories makes you uncomfortable or resistant, I'll stop from now on."
Just as it said this, before Zhang Ruochen could respond with a "good," the Zangjin Baihu added, "But I read your thoughts to understand you better. Only then can we get along better in the future."
"Let's go. First, see the Fulu Divine Venerable."
Though he said this, Zhang Ruochen was thinking about how to reject the identity of "guide."
This Zangjin Baihu seemed easy to get along with. It had healed his injuries and even served as his mount—a total naive sweetheart. But Zhang Ruochen had too many secrets he didn't want outsiders to know. He absolutely couldn't keep it by his side.
The best option was to have Xue Hou extract the Ultimate Zangjin Qi from his body, severing all ties with the Zangjin Baihu.
...
The Zangjin Baihu carried Zhang Ruochen to a sea area in the Divine Realm World.
Yan Wushen stood atop a cyan dragon's head, already waiting on the sea surface. When he saw Zhang Ruochen arrive, a look of surprise first appeared on his face, followed by a knowing smile.
The Zangjin Baihu landed on the sea, its four feet treading water as if on solid ground.
Zhang Ruochen carefully examined the cyan dragon beneath Yan Wushen, a look of realization dawning on his face. He finally understood where the ten dragon souls inside him had come from.
He cupped his hands and bowed. "Thank you, Senior."
"I saw that you had fused with the Ultimate Zangjin Qi and were likely the tiger's chosen guide, so I decided to give you a hand. In truth, with your physique and willpower, you might have overcome that tribulation on your own," the cyan dragon said.
"Rustle."
Clouds and mist churned in the sky.
Layers of white clouds pressed down toward the sea, coalescing into a majestic, gaseous face. The aura it emitted made Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen, both Great Saints, feel a heavy pressure, as if they had to kneel and worship.
But they were extraordinary individuals. They held their ground and didn't kneel.
"We pay respects to the Divine Venerable," Yan Wushen said, bowing first.
Zhang Ruochen cupped his hands. "We pay respects to the Divine Venerable."
The Fulu Divine Venerable's gaseous face emitted a thunderous voice: "Good. Both of you are excellent. You are qualified to represent the Hell Realm and become the guides of the two prehistoric divine seeds from the Divine Ancient Nest."
Zhang Ruochen immediately spoke up. "Divine Venerable, is it possible not to be a guide?"
Yan Wushen was surprised and turned to look at him.
He knew Zhang Ruochen was proud, but to look down on the identity of "guide of a prehistoric divine seed"? Did he not take the prehistoric divine seed seriously at all?
Did he know that many gods wanted to become the Zangjin Baihu's guide but had no chance?
Before the Fulu Divine Venerable could ask, the Zangjin Baihu spoke first. "Fulu Divine Venerable, I have a secret matter to report, concerning the cultivator on my back."
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen's expression stiffened.
Not this, right? This white tiger had no principles at all. Just because he didn't want to be its guide, it was turning on him now?
Zhang Ruochen only knew that the Zangjin Baihu could read his thoughts. Whether it could read his memories was unknown.
If it could read his memories, the trouble would be enormous, implicating many people.
It most likely could read his memories, since its spiritual power was far stronger than his. While he was unconscious, his mental defenses were extremely low. It had probably done everything to him.
What a beast.
He thought it was a naive sweetheart, but it turned out to be a scheming bitch.