Chapter 2406: The Peerless Sword Strike
The three World Trees of the No-Return Forest belonged to the most core region of the Hell Realm's starry sky. Yama Heaven Beyond Heaven, the Fate Divine Domain, and Fengdu Ghost City were all located atop these World Trees.
Although there were deities in the Fate Divine Domain, no divine wars had erupted there for many years.
A single divine roar from Divine Venerable Fulu, filled with boundless fury, tore apart the long-standing peace of the Fate Divine Domain, causing countless cultivators of the Hell Realm to tremble in fear. Even Great Saints could not help but feel their hearts quake.
In the sky, divine clouds gathered, and lightning streaked across.
No one knew how many powerful experts of profound cultivation were gazing toward the direction of Fate Divine Mountain, utterly horrified.
"What exactly happened, to provoke the wrath of a Divine Venerable?"
"Could it be that a deity from the Heavenly Court has infiltrated the Fate Divine Domain?"
"Would a Heavenly Court deity dare to intrude into the Fate Divine Domain? Even if Bian Zhuang, the First War God of the Heavenly Palace, came, he would die without a doubt."
Compared to the Divine Venerable's furious divine roar, the decisive battle between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen seemed as insignificant as two children scuffling.
Although the Destiny Temple had twelve Divine Venerables, only one or two were usually stationed there. The others were either guarding the Merit Battlefield, in seclusion for cultivation, traveling the star seas, or exploring cosmic secret realms.
During the Hunting Heaven Grand Banquet, only Divine Venerable Fulu was stationed at Fate Divine Mountain.
As soon as Divine Venerable Fulu moved his true body, he instantly triggered the heaven and earth rules for billions of miles, causing all the deities from various clans still remaining in the Fate Divine Domain to sense it, their hearts filled with extreme terror.
"A single furious divine roar from the Divine Venerable failed to suppress the enemy, requiring him to dispatch his true body?"
"Could it really be a Heavenly Palace War God-level powerhouse who has broken into the divine domain?"
"Whoever the intruder is, since the Divine Venerable's true body has moved, they will surely die without a burial place. Even Bian Zhuang would be useless; the heaven and earth rules of the Fate Divine Domain are not something he can easily mobilize."
The deities intended to follow Divine Venerable Fulu's lead and jointly suppress the invading enemy.
Just then, a river spanning billions of miles appeared in the sky of the Fate Divine Domain, cascading downward like the eternal Ganges of the Nine Heavens. The night was illuminated as bright as day by the light radiating from the river's waters.
"It's a river formed by Time Imprints," a deity said, trembling.
"How many Time Imprints must have been mobilized to form such a river? Once it falls upon the Fate Divine Domain, how many cultivators of the Hell Realm will die from it?"
"Time has become chaotic; the heaven and earth rules are being reshaped by time."
Within the Fate Divine Domain, vast swaths of Hell Realm cultivators saw their lifespans drain away rapidly. Youths became middle-aged, then turned white-haired and elderly.
As billions of cultivators were on the verge of dying of old age, turning into dry bones.
Divine Venerable Fulu sighed, halted his pursuit, raised his right hand above his head, and communicated with the Destiny Temple, softly uttering, "Reverse."
"Splash!"
The Destiny Temple emitted a soft white light, its radiance illuminating the entire divine domain.
Viewed from the starry sky, that leaf atop the World Tree was enveloped in white brilliance, shining brighter than a star.
Those Hell Realm cultivators whose lifespans had been severely drained saw their hair turn from white to black, wrinkles vanish from their faces, and they returned to their youthful forms.
The chaotic time was calmed by the Destiny Temple.
Within the Void World, Qiangu Nüdi held a divine sword, gazing toward the direction of the Fate Divine Domain, letting out a soft sigh.
The river of time just now was the result of her full-powered sword strike.
Unexpectedly, it had caused no substantial damage to the Fate Divine Domain, not a single cultivator had fallen. Without a doubt, her current cultivation was still far from being able to shake the Fate Divine Domain.
Of course, her goal had been achieved—she had successfully held back Divine Venerable Fulu for the span of a single breath.
Not daring to linger, Qiangu Nüdi took a step back, crossing endless void, and vanished from sight.
Divine Venerable Fulu and Emperor Luoyan charged into the Void World almost simultaneously, arriving at the spot where Qiangu Nüdi had just stood.
Emperor Luoyan was tall and imposing, like a divine canopy covering the sky, impervious even to the corrosive power of the void. "There are remnants of Time Esoterica. It's that little girl from the Wujian Pavilion. I didn't expect that in just a hundred thousand years, she has grown to the point where she can escape from under the noses of the two of us."
Divine Venerable Fulu said, "She has mastered a large amount of Time Esoterica and hides within the Void World, so naturally, she comes and goes without a trace."
If Qiangu Nüdi dared to appear in the Fate Divine Domain, even with her mastery of Time Esoterica, it would be very difficult for her to escape. The Fate Divine Domain gathered more than half of the Fate Esoterica in the world, which Qiangu Nüdi could not contend with. Once exposed, she would surely die.
Emperor Luoyan said, "The one who killed Fengli must also be a deity from the Wujian Pavilion. He must be found and executed."
The deity who killed Fengli had already retreated and hidden himself silently.
Emperor Luoyan and Divine Venerable Fulu both believed he was still hiding within the Fate Divine Domain, a member of the Ten Clans' deities. Thus, they split up to act.
Divine Venerable Fulu returned to the temple, summoning all the deities still lingering in the Fate Divine Domain, intending to gather them together and investigate them one by one.
Emperor Luoyan, meanwhile, rushed to the place where Fengli had fallen, searching for any remaining clues and traces. When he arrived, he found that a woman in palace attire had already arrived ahead of him to investigate.
Recognizing her, Emperor Luoyan said in surprise, "The fourteenth daughter of the Blood Absolute family?"
Xue Hou stood on the empty street, her gaze clear and serene like still water, her expression contemplative. She only snapped out of it when Luoyan approached. Without a trace of the respect or humility a junior should show to a senior, she said calmly, "So it's my in-law."
Emperor Luoyan gritted his teeth, his heart burning with anger.
As a great emperor of his generation, with seniority even higher than Xue Jue War God, he now had to treat Xue Jue's youngest daughter as an equal. It was infuriating.
But Emperor Luoyan was no ordinary man; he could suppress even the greatest rage. He said calmly, "Any clues? Who killed the new Divine Maiden?"
Xue Hou shook her head. "The one who acted was very cunning, fleeing at the first opportunity. Moreover, I suspect... he is a deity from the Destiny Temple."
"What?"
Emperor Luoyan showed a look of shock, his expression turning grave. "Why do you say that? Do you have evidence?"
Xue Hou said, "No evidence, but this person managed to escape quickly and vanish without a trace. This shows he is highly attuned to the heaven and earth rules of the Fate Divine Domain. Aside from the deities of the Destiny Temple, how many in the Hell Realm could achieve this?"
Emperor Luoyan nodded. "This is a big problem. Don't spread this matter for now; let it be known only to you and me."
Xue Hou naturally understood how severe the impact would be if this matter got out, dealing a heavy blow to the reputation of the Destiny Temple. Without absolute evidence, no one dared to publicize it.
...
The decisive battle between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen had deities stationed nearby, so it was not affected by the chaotic time.
Their fight had already lasted nearly an hour, clashing tens of thousands of times. Various high-rank sacred arts were unleashed, and various war tools clashed fiercely.
Although Zhang Ruochen carried many Supreme Sacred Artifacts, he did not hold an absolute advantage. With his cultivation at the Hundred Shackles Realm, he could only activate two or three Supreme Sacred Artifacts at a time.
Moreover, activating two or three at once weakened the power of each. Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen's Spiritual Power was strong; for another Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint, it would have been less effective than activating a single Supreme Sacred Artifact for greater combat power.
Yan Wushen used the "Death Heavenly Scripture" to protect his body, held the Tongtian Ruyi in his right hand, and wore a Supreme Sacred Artifact-level fist glove on his left hand. He was like a hellish god of slaughter, shattering mountains and rivers, cracking the earth, and shaking space wherever he passed. Even the formation barrier condensed by nearly a thousand enforcers could not withstand the power of the Supreme Sacred Artifacts, shattering under their force.
All enforcers below the Great Saint level were injured.
In the end, Wen Chu and Qingsheng Great Saint stepped in, using the methods of Supreme Realm Great Saints to confine the battlefield between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen within a certain range.
"Both of them are treasures; any war tool they take out is a Supreme Sacred Artifact. Even deities would be envious."
"Is this the fortune of Eon-level geniuses? Under the call of fate, Supreme Sacred Artifacts automatically gather around them, becoming their weapons."
"If I had a Supreme Sacred Artifact to protect my body and another to attack, I could also fight across realms. At the Hundred Shackles Realm, I could challenge the Thousand Questions Realm."
...
Yan Wushen had made great progress inside the Third Dark Star, having severed seventy shackles, with nearly ten billion Sacred Dao Rules within his body.
"Zhang Ruochen, I cultivated inside the Third Dark Star for a hundred and fifty years. I didn't expect that after coming out, I would still only be able to fight you to a draw," Yan Wushen said in a long voice.
A hundred and fifty years of cultivation inside the Dark Star, but outside, only a little over an hour had passed.
"A hundred and fifty years? How is that possible?" Zhang Ruochen was secretly shocked, showing an expression of disbelief.
He knew that time inside the Third Dark Star was very strange, with an astonishing time ratio, but it was not a cultivation paradise—rather, it was a place of death.
Because staying inside for a year consumed a thousand years of lifespan.
Cultivating for a hundred and fifty years would mean Yan Wushen had consumed a hundred and fifty thousand years of lifespan. Even if he were a deity, he would have died inside. After all, a deity's lifespan was only one Eon, twelve thousand nine hundred and sixty years.
Yan Wushen's lifespan had already been cut by more than half by Zhang Ruochen. How could he have cultivated inside the Third Dark Star for a hundred and fifty years and come out with increased lifespan instead?
Yan Wushen said this deliberately to disrupt Zhang Ruochen's state of mind, leading him into thought.
Seizing the opportunity, Yan Wushen, who had been at a disadvantage, launched a fierce counterattack.
"Boom, rumble."
The Tongtian Ruyi transformed into a hundred-zhang-long cloud, shattering Zhang Ruochen's Space True Domain and clashing with the Seven Star Ghost Lotus above his head.
The powerful shockwave of Supreme power pierced through the ghostly qi condensed by the Seven Star Ghost Lotus, landing on Zhang Ruochen.
However, the multi-layered space formed by the "Space-Time Secret Scripture" dissolved the remaining Supreme power fluctuations, leaving Zhang Ruochen unharmed.
Zhang Ruochen cleared his mind of distractions, no longer pondering what had happened to Yan Wushen inside the Third Dark Star. As long as he killed him, none of it would matter anymore.
"Yan Wushen, this kind of fighting is meaningless. Even if we fight for ten days and ten nights, we can't kill each other. If we can't kill the other, we never truly win. Since we've decided to settle this in one battle, life or death, why not fight in the Void World?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Wushen said, "Indeed, it's too hard for us to kill each other. To determine a victor, we'd probably have to fight for a month, even several months, until one of us exhausts their power and dies. Fighting in the Void World is a good suggestion. I just so happen to want to use this opportunity to experience the void more thoroughly."
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen were not absolutely invincible in this era. After all, there was Que, the Void Controller.
It was precisely because they both regarded Que as a threatening opponent that they wanted to understand the Way of Void more.
The cultivators watching nearby were all stunned by the conversation between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen.
Fight in the Void World?
The power of the void would erode everything that entered it. Whether from the Heavenly Court or the Hell Realm, living beings or the dead, all avoided it. Falling into the Void World was equivalent to falling into a death trap.
"Do they think they are deities? At the Hundred Shackles Realm, they dare to duel in the Void World."
"Crazy, crazy. Even deities dare not stay long in the Void World."
"A Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint, even doing nothing and defending with all their might, cannot last an hour in the Void World before becoming part of the void. If Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen dare to enter the Void World to fight, they will determine life or death within half an hour, or even both die together."
For a Great Saint to fight in the Void World was like two mortals fighting underwater—life and death would be decided quickly.
If their cultivations were equal, they would likely perish together.
Wen Chu and Qingsheng Great Saint were both startled. These two little fellows were truly audacious. Even with their Supreme Realm cultivation, they still held reverence for the Void World. Yet these two at the Hundred Shackles Realm regarded the Void World as a battlefield.
Luo Shengtian swallowed a mouthful of saliva, finally understanding what his father meant when he took the Quasi-Emperor Grade Sacred Intent Pill from him: "Your courage is insufficient; you are destined not to condense a Second-Rank Sacred Intent. Taking the Quasi-Emperor Grade Sacred Intent Pill would be a waste. Leave it for your sister."
Compared to the audacious personalities of Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen, he seemed to lack something.
Of course, this did not mean Luo Shengtian was timid or afraid of trouble. It was just that his temperament was too cautious and conservative, resulting in a slight lack of boldness. A timid person could never reach his level.
When faced with truly major issues, Luo Shengtian would still not hesitate.
Xue Tu stood among the crowd, overjoyed, shouting loudly, "Enter the Void World and settle life and death! Senior Brother, I support you. Fight, even if you die without regret."
A nearby Great Saint looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Aren't you afraid that the one who dies will be your senior brother, Zhang Ruochen? Or that Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen will both perish together?"
"Really? That probability is high, isn't it? How wonderful!"
Xue Tu was even more delighted, shouting again, "You must fight in the Void World, you must settle life and death. Let us witness the peerless clash of two Eon-level geniuses. The living become kings, the dead become bandits. Senior Brother, fight."