# Chapter 2494: Creating a Chaotic Era
The giant axe shadow capable of splitting heaven and earth, before it could even touch the stone pavilion, became faint and ethereal, as if its energy had been absorbed, dissipating into nothingness.
Fei Zhong had never witnessed anything so bizarre; he was so startled he nearly lost his soul.
As for the precious seal struck by Hei Shi Sha, it somehow transformed into a speck of light and fell into Bai Qinger's hands.
On her palm, a pure white flawless flame emerged, instantly refining the precious seal and suppressing its artifact spirit.
Fei Zhong and Hei Shi Sha were both beings whose might shook the universe, yet their combined attack was effortlessly neutralized by Bai Qinger. Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian, standing outside the stone pavilion, were shaken to their cores, their faces filled with disbelief.
Bai Qinger examined the precious seal in her hand and said, "It's a decent Divine Relic Ancient Artifact, but unfortunately it hasn't reached the level of a Supreme Sacred Artifact. Its previous owner wasn't strong enough either, so its power is limited."
Fei Zhong and Hei Shi Sha's spiritual power had already been drained away.
Without a second thought, they immediately activated secret arts, erupting with unprecedented extreme speed as they fled in two different directions.
Their speed exceeded ten thousand times the speed of sound.
Although Hei Shi Sha did not fear death, Bai Qinger was too powerful. Continuing to attack would be futile, so fleeing was the only option.
"You know my secret, yet you still think you can escape?"
Bai Qinger stood up, walked to the edge of the stone pavilion, and gazed at Hei Shi Sha, who had fled tens of thousands of miles away. She reached out her snow-white, crystal-clear jade hand.
Instantly, a hand shadow tens of thousands of miles long appeared in the cosmic space.
Her five fingers were like five rainbow-colored heavenly pillars, imprisoning Hei Shi Sha, who had transformed into his black dragon true form. The black dragon erupted with earth-shattering divine power, churning space, disrupting the rules of heaven and earth, and shattering cosmic rocks with its power waves.
Bai Qinger closed her five fingers, and the massive hand shadow grabbed the black dragon as if catching a loach.
"Boom!"
The black dragon's divine body exploded. Dragon scales, dragon bones, dragon head, dragon claws... all disintegrated and flew away, scattering across a bloody and foul void. Divine light still flickered on the remains.
Yan Huangtu, Yan Zhexian, and Gong Nanfeng all held their breath, their hearts seeming to stop beating.
Hei Shi Sha, one of the Ten Corpses of the Underworld, had been so easily killed from a distance with a single claw grab?
Even a false god might not be able to do that.
Was she really Bai Qinger?
Was she really still a cultivator below the divine realm?
Fei Zhong, who had been fleeing, discovered in terror that the stone pavilion, which should have been tens of thousands of miles behind him, now appeared ahead of him.
He stopped in his tracks, a bitter expression on his face, and said, "What kind of power is this? Space? Illusion? A maze formation?"
Bai Qinger stood on the steps beside the stone pavilion, her black hair swaying, her beauty like a painting, and said, "Your spiritual power has been completely absorbed by me, so of course you can't sense what happened. I'll tell you anyway—it was just a spiritual power attack. Your mind and thoughts were affected. You thought you were fleeing forward, but in reality, you made a circle and came back."
Fei Zhong, who could become a top-tier expert among Supreme Realm Great Saints, even with his spiritual power drained, still had a powerful sacred soul and five senses. Being toyed with like this by Bai Qinger only showed that her methods were too brilliant, and no matter how he resisted, it was futile.
Fei Zhong gave up the thought of fleeing or self-destructing his sacred source, bowed deeply, and said, "Miss Bai is unmatched in the world. Fei Zhong submits in admiration."
"Earlier, you didn't address me that way," Bai Qinger said.
Fei Zhong's face changed color several times, and he steeled himself, saying, "I am dull-witted and do not understand what you mean."
"Although you were tricked by Zhang Ruochen and the others into personally destroying your own puppet doppelganger, you are still clever—at least you know when to yield. So, don't play dumb in front of me," Bai Qinger said.
Fei Zhong was drenched in sweat, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
"No need to be so afraid. Your strength is decent, and you have some value, so I won't kill you," Bai Qinger said.
Fei Zhong breathed a slight sigh of relief, bowing even lower, and said, "The two words I said earlier to Yan Yu... no, to Zhang Ruochen, were not referring to you, Miss Bai."
Those two words were naturally "b*tch."
Bai Qinger said, "I'll give you two choices. First, cut off your own tongue, kneel down, and call me master."
"Second, die."
Fei Zhong trembled all over, his mind struggling and contemplating. Finally, his eyes turned fierce, and sacred light appeared on his palm as he activated the battle axe in his hand.
Bai Qinger's voice sounded again, "Every person is not born strong; everyone has moments of humiliation. Why must you choose the path of death? Why not endure the humiliation and live on, seeking an opportunity in the future to take revenge and wash away the shame? You must believe in your own inner strength, unyielding and indomitable. Even if you submit to me, your heart has not surrendered. If you die now, you truly have nothing left, and there will be no future."
Every word from Bai Qinger was like demonic sound, forcibly pouring into Fei Zhong's ears.
Gradually, the sacred light on Fei Zhong's palm dissipated. His eyes closed, and although he remained standing, his entire body swayed, falling into a state of drowsiness and dreams.
Bai Qinger nodded with satisfaction. Suddenly, she sensed something and looked with some surprise at Zhang Ruochen, who was lying on the stone table.
She saw Zhang Ruochen's body emitting a starlike brightness. He raised his head, his eyes regaining clarity. In each of his pupils, a sea of stars appeared.
Bai Qinger walked over with a fragrant breeze and said, "I didn't expect that with your mastery of the Way of Truth, you could break through my Seven Soul Terror Dream. It seems that what you gained from crossing the tenth level of the Truth Sea was not just Truth Esoterica."
"You are too suspicious! Who says only the Way of Truth can break through dreams? My heart has been tempered countless times. Mere dreams can trap Yunhuan Tiexue Wang, Cangbaizi, and those people, but they cannot trap me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qinger said, "Is that so? How about we try again?"
Zhang Ruochen avoided Bai Qinger's gaze, refusing to meet her eyes, and said, "Fine! I admit your Seven Soul Terror Dream is very powerful. If you hadn't been distracted by killing Hei Shi Sha and dealing with Fei Zhong, with my current spiritual power level, I might not have been able to break through the dream."
Bai Qinger looked directly at Zhang Ruochen and said, "You are hiding something."
"I am not hiding anything," Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qinger said, "You cannot fool me."
"Fine! I'll tell you anyway. I do have Truth Esoterica, and quite a bit of it. If you want it, you only need to kill me to take it," Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qinger said, "Do you think I won't kill you?"
"I think that even Esoterica cannot move your heart. You are very arrogant, you like to challenge the impossible, you like extreme stimulation. The challenge of subduing an Eon-level genius is more exciting and thrilling to you than easily obtained Truth Esoterica. You have already captured me twice, only one more time and I lose to you. Don't you want to try?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qinger said, "You think you understand me—that itself is a kind of arrogance."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was sharp, constantly guarding his original heart.
Bai Qinger continued, "Words spoken by the strong to the weak, no matter how arrogant or outrageous, are confidence. Words spoken by the weak to the strong, even if correct in themselves, are arrogance."
"Your words just now were not wrong, but you should not have spoken them."
"Now, I have to change my mind. Actually, killing you would also bring many benefits. Why gamble on an uncertain future?"
In an instant, Bai Qinger's killing intent overflowed.
The killing intent turned into blood mist, condensing into blood swords that flew straight toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen shouted, "You won't kill me."
The blood swords stopped in front of him, the closest one's tip already touching Zhang Ruochen's brow.
The three people outside the stone pavilion could not hear the conversation between the two inside, but they could feel the sky-piercing killing intent that Bai Qinger suddenly erupted.
That killing intent pointed directly at people's hearts and souls, chilling all three of them to the bone, making them think Zhang Ruochen was surely dead.
But the blood swords stopped in front of Zhang Ruochen, leaving them utterly confused.
The killing intent and murderous will could not be fake.
What was wrong with Bai Qinger?
"Since you guessed it, that's no fun anymore!"
Bai Qinger waved her sleeve, and all the blood swords dissipated.
Zhang Ruochen regained his composure and smiled, "Not hard to guess! Your goal has always been the Origin Divine Temple, not me, nor Truth Esoterica. Before finding Seven Hand Old Man and obtaining the top-grade Origin Divine Crystal, you absolutely will not kill me."
"Just now, you deliberately pretended to want to kill me, only to break my psychological defenses. Once the psychological defenses are broken, you can calmly use the power of dreams to control me, just like Fei Zhong now."
"Fei Zhong is not someone who fears death; his will is strong. You cannot subdue him with just a few words. So, in the end, you still used the power of dreams."
Bai Qinger's tall and slender figure sat down on the stone stool opposite Zhang Ruochen, looking at the sleeping Fei Zhong, and said, "Supreme Realm Great Saints will not submit to me. I had to try; what if it succeeded? Actually, I am not discouraged that you maintained your psychological defenses; on the contrary, I am very happy. After all, below the divine realm, there are fewer and fewer challenging things for me. If a person lacks a challenging heart, they will inevitably fall into mediocrity."
"Then why don't you directly break through to the divine realm? Challenge the gods?"
Zhang Ruochen picked up the teapot and poured her a full cup of tea.
Bai Qinger said, "Do you know how strong Xue Jue War God and Huang Tian were in the Supreme Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded, then shook his head.
Zhang Ruochen had read many books and seen many legends and battle records of Xue Jue War God and Huang Tian during their Great Saint period, but they were all just things recorded in books. Without seeing them in person, one would never know the mystery within.
Bai Qinger said, "They were born in a chaotic era rarely seen in ten thousand ages, the most brutal, most chaotic, and most talent-filled era in history. It was very difficult for them to stand out in that era, and they reached heights that later generations find hard to surpass."
Looking at the history of all heavens throughout the ages, one would find a strange phenomenon: geniuses always appear concentrated in certain periods. And most of those periods were chaotic eras.
As the saying goes, times create heroes.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You want to surpass the heights Xue Jue War God and Huang Tian once reached, but you find yourself still far from them, so you place your hopes on the Origin Divine Temple."
"You are half right," Bai Qinger said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "And the other half?"
"You can guess. If you guess correctly, I will spare your life today. I suspect you have top-grade Origin Divine Crystals on you; I only need to kill you to obtain them," Bai Qinger said.
Zhang Ruochen hesitated for a moment.
Just that one moment.
A smile appeared on Bai Qinger's face.
Because she knew she had guessed correctly—Zhang Ruochen indeed had top-grade Origin Divine Crystals on him.
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood that he should not have hesitated, but the mistake had already been made, and regret was useless.
Bai Qinger grabbed Zhang Ruochen's wrist. Her five fingers were as slender and soft as jade scallions, but even Zhang Ruochen's demigod flesh could not resist, and he could only watch as she took the space ring from his finger.
Bai Qinger found the only top-grade Origin Divine Crystal from the space ring, held it in her hand, and casually tossed the space ring onto the stone table, seemingly uninterested in the Supreme Sacred Artifact inside.
She said, "Now you have lost your only bargaining chip. If you want to keep your life, guess well. If you guess wrong, you will really die."
Time passed minute by minute.
Bai Qinger was not a normal person at all; everything she did had long departed from the scope of ordinary cognition.
To guess what she was thinking—how could that be easy?
"Alright! My time is precious, I can't waste it on you anymore. It seems you will have to die after all."
Bai Qinger had no killing intent on her, she was very calm, but when she reached out her finger, Zhang Ruochen no longer doubted that she would carry out her decision to kill him.
"Chaotic era," Zhang Ruochen shouted.
Bai Qinger's finger stopped. She looked at him for a long while, a strange light appearing in her eyes, and she smiled, "Continue."
Zhang Ruochen let out a long sigh of relief and said, "You said earlier that Xue Jue War God and Huang Tian were able to grow to such heights because of the chaotic era of the previous eon."
"In that chaotic era, neither Xue Jue War God nor Huang Tian had a stable cultivation environment. They faced threats from peers, threats from gods, threats from thousands of troops and horses, and could die at any time."
"Moreover, there were countless geniuses around them, fighting and killing every day, allowing them to receive endless tempering. Through tempering, they continuously improved themselves."
"But you don't have these."
"You have been biding your time, hiding in the shadows, never revealing your power. Under such circumstances, how could you possibly surpass them?"
"I guess, since there is no chaotic era, you want to create one yourself. A chaotic situation that can lure out countless Saint-level experts, and even provoke gods."
"The appearance of the top-grade Origin Divine Crystal—was it deliberate on your part?"
Bai Qinger smiled and drank the tea Zhang Ruochen had poured, saying, "Otherwise, do you think the Goddess Twelve Pavilions couldn't even recognize a top-grade Origin Divine Crystal, letting it casually circulate to the gambling city? And it happened to be seen by more than a dozen top hell realm major powers? And all this happened at the sensitive time when the Jade Desolate Realm was opening?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then what about Seven Hand Old Man? Is he also your man?"
"That's not the case. That old fellow is even more cunning and treacherous than I imagined, almost making me lose control of the overall situation," Bai Qinger said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "So, you don't know much about Seven Hand Old Man. That gambling game was to test him? Why did you want to kill him?"
"If I wanted to kill him, he would have been dead long ago. My goal was to capture him and make him personally take me to find the Origin Divine Temple," Bai Qinger said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "So, after Seven Hand Old Man escaped, you had to settle for the next best thing and steal the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals that were intended to be distributed to the various hell realm major powers. Unfortunately, you discovered that the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals had been swapped. Therefore, you had to find Seven Hand Old Man or the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals, or else you would lose control of the overall situation."
"I understand now! The Origin Divine Temple is your bait, used to create a small chaotic era, luring out the strong from various major powers to temper yourself."
"Moreover, all this had to be done after the Jade Desolate Realm opened. Otherwise, the appearance of the Origin Divine Temple would surely alarm countless gods."
Bai Qinger said, "You guessed one thing wrong. I never intended to distribute the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals to the various hell realm major powers. Even without the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals, they would automatically chase after the place I wanted them to chase. Look at the situation on Ice King Star now—how chaotic it is."
Zhang Ruochen said, "In the Jifeng Saint Mansion, did you deliberately let us escape?"
Bai Qinger shook her head and said, "I just didn't want to expose myself."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I still have two points of confusion. First, why did the five top-grade Origin Divine Crystals have to be sent to the Destiny Temple? Was it to make the Destiny Temple join your game?"
"No, not just the Destiny Temple, but the entire hell realm, and perhaps some heavenly court forces as well."
Bai Qinger smiled, "Seventeen major powers, chasing from the Destiny Temple to Ice King Star, causing such a big commotion—you don't think the various hell realm major powers and the heavenly court myriad realms can still sit still?"
"Are you crazy? Do you know that once backlash occurs, not only will you die, but the entire Goddess Twelve Pavilions will be reduced to ashes," Zhang Ruochen said.
Bai Qinger was unconcerned and said, "What is your second question?"
Zhang Ruochen calmed the shock in his heart and said, "You caused such a big commotion, yet no one has divined you. How did you do it? What kind of divine being is backing you up, helping you conceal the heavenly secrets?"
"This question cannot be answered," Bai Qinger said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Ice King?"
Bai Qinger looked toward the direction of Ice King Star and said, "You'd better not slander that elder. This place is still very close to Ice King Star. The fact that you could guess the other half of my thoughts shows that your heart is actually as crazy as mine."
"Zhang Ruochen, it's a pity you are a bit younger and cannot be my opponent, otherwise I wouldn't have to take such risks. That fiancée of yours is not bad; she inherited the legacy of some remarkable figures from the Kunlun Realm. Unfortunately, she was too eager to break through to godhood, otherwise I would definitely go to the Kunlun Realm to meet her and kill her. Now it seems I can only kill her for practice after becoming a god. Will you be grateful to me?"
"Heh heh." Zhang Ruochen sneered coldly.
Bai Qinger stood up and said, "Let's go, time to leave."
"Go where?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Aoyun Asteroid Belt... no, the Origin Divine Temple."
Bai Qinger looked at him with a smile and said, "Come with me. I'll show you what killing really is. After hiding my light and biding my time for so many years, I need endless battle and pressure to integrate everything I've learned throughout my life. By the time I kill my way to the Origin Divine Temple, perhaps I will have completely transcended and reached the realm I want to reach."