# Chapter 2579: The Gods Are Immortal, The Gods Are Dead
Crimson-red demonic clouds surged out together with Guye Jing, winding like a swimming dragon as they circled Bai Qinger.
In an instant, a blood-colored demon handprint the size of a millstone struck toward Bai Qinger's back.
Without turning around, Bai Qinger simply pressed her palms together, like a Buddhist cultivator in meditation.
"Whoosh!"
Eight hundred golden-bodied Bodhisattva projections materialized, radiating ten thousand zhang of golden light, with majestic Buddhist sounds resounding. In the next moment, all the golden-bodied Bodhisattvas merged into one, transforming into a single Vajra Buddha.
The Vajra Buddha threw a punch, colliding with the blood-colored demon handprint, erupting with eight hundred ripples of Buddhist light.
The demon handprint shattered with a booming crash, and Guye Jing's true form appeared, a hint of astonishment in her eyes that contained infinite demonic profundity.
She was about to retreat, but Bai Qinger suddenly turned around and pushed out a palm lightly.
In her palm appeared a sky full of rosy clouds, strands of airflow like silk and floss.
Guye Jing was startled again. Bai Qinger's palm strike had reached an astonishingly profound level. Though it seemed to be pushing toward her, it instead pulled and dragged her with countless threads, making it impossible for her to retreat or escape, causing her body to lean forward.
Guye Jing was indeed extraordinarily skilled. At this critical moment of life and death, she fully mobilized the divine pattern runes within her body, forming the divine ability "No Other Certain Death Finger."
As the finger force shot out, dazzling divine light illuminated the entire altar.
"Boom!"
Guye Jing flew backward, blood gushing from two fingers as they trembled incessantly.
Not only was her Demon Ancestor Battle Body broken, but even the No Other Certain Death Finger was shattered.
"Taiqing Cloud-Pushing Palm," Zhang Ruochen muttered with a complex expression.
The Taiqing Cloud-Pushing Palm was the first form of the "Eight Origins Techniques" that Zangjin Baihu had taught Zhang Ruochen. He hadn't expected that Bai Qinger, who had been secretly learning on the side, had comprehended its mysteries and elevated it to such an astonishing level.
Bai Qinger said, "If your Demon Ancestor Battle Body hadn't been damaged earlier, it wouldn't have been so easy to break. As for the No Other Certain Death Finger, it's merely so-so. If you want to fight me, you'll have to show your true skills."
Guye Jing snorted lightly, the bloodstains on her fingers dissipating as they transformed into a colored glaze-like state.
On the other side, above Yuan Qianmo's head, a fully materialized Death God's Hand condensed, dozens of zhang long, descending from the sky to press down on Bai Qinger.
Even standing far away within the formation camel, Zhang Ruochen and A Le felt their bodies sink, as if the "sky" itself was pressing down.
Yuan Qianmo's Death God's Hand possessed the terrifying power to shatter planets.
Bai Qinger flicked her sleeve, and the dozens-of-zhang-long Death God's Hand was directly taken away, absorbed into her sleeve.
Then, the Death God's Hand flew toward the sword-striking Xue Lingxian.
"Bang!"
Xue Lingxian, with his human and sword unified, moved as fast as flowing light, colliding with the Death God's Hand.
The Death God's Hand exploded, turning into a mass of death energy. Xue Lingxian's sword momentum was blocked, his body retreating back to his original position.
Yuan Qianmo's expression changed repeatedly. The Death God's Hand divine ability had been easily taken away by the opponent and even converted into her own power to strike back. Compared to the time in the Aoyun Asteroid Belt, she had become even stronger!
Could it be that this entire pursuit had been intentional on her part?
Using the power of top experts from various major forces in the Hell Realm to temper her own path?
"As I said, none of you alone is a match for me."
Bai Qinger's eyes held a divine light that looked down upon all living beings as she released her Dao Domain and the Chaotic Beginning Sacred Intent, pulling Guye Jing, Yuan Qianmo, and Xue Lingxian all into the chaos.
The space within the chaos was infinitely vast. They seemed both to still be on the altar and to have entered another space.
Night Travel Master stared at the violently turbulent chaotic cloud mass, his eyes filled with admiration and fervor. "This Flower Fairy is actually this powerful? So arrogant, so domineering, directly pulling three top experts into her own Dao Domain. Isn't she afraid of her Dao Domain being shattered?"
"What she has cultivated is a perfected second-rank Sacred Intent. With the second-rank Sacred Intent combined with her Dao Domain, unless a god appears, who could shatter it?" Seven Hands Old Man said.
"She's not Ji Fanxin. Ji Fanxin could never be this powerful," Kailuo Dishi said coldly.
No one paid him any attention.
Zhang Ruochen turned to Haitang Popo and asked, "Grandmother, what did you mean earlier when you said the gods are already dead?"
Haitang Popo seemed completely unconcerned about Xue Lingxian's safety as she patiently explained to Zhang Ruochen, "Tell me, how many gods have been born in Kunlun Realm from ancient times to the present?"
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"And how many gods have been born across the entire Heavenly Court Myriad Realms and the Ten Clans of Hell from ancient times to the present?" Haitang Popo asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head again.
Haitang Popo said, "Do you know that once one becomes a true god, in a certain sense, it represents immortality and indestructibility?"
Zhang Ruochen knew this and nodded.
A true god's divine soul is powerful. Not only do they have a divine soul within their body, but part of their divine soul also resides outside in the world, with divine thoughts wandering through the vast universe.
For this reason, even if their physical body dies and the divine soul within is completely refined away, a true god is still not considered completely dead.
Because mortals can communicate with the divine soul or divine thoughts that a true god has left behind in the world through methods like sacrificial offerings.
Back then, the Blood God Sect's leader Chi Linyuan had communicated with the already-dead Blood God's divine soul through sacrificial offerings.
Haitang Popo said, "After a true god dies, the thin remnants of their divine soul left in the world all go to another spatial dimension. Only by using methods similar to sacrificial offerings can one break through the spatial barrier to communicate with them, or even obtain their power."
"That spatial dimension is what we call the God Realm?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Haitang Popo said, "Perhaps some ignorant mortals call it the God Realm, but in reality, all realms call it Lihentian."
Zhang Ruochen found "Lihentian" somewhat familiar but didn't dwell on it. He asked, "The Divine Martial Marks that cultivators receive—are they bestowed by Lihentian?"
Haitang Popo shook her head. "No. The gods are already dead. Even if residual souls remain in Lihentian, they have all become insignificant—like a mass of qi, a wisp of smoke. How could they have such a great influence on the mortal world? It's just that Lihentian is infinitely vast; otherwise, the gods of the Heavenly Court and Hell would have long entered it to capture and refine all those divine souls."
Zhang Ruochen thought it made sense. The divine soul that a true god leaves outside their body is probably less than ten-thousandth of their total. With his current cultivation, he could defeat such remnants.
Haitang Popo said, "As for the Divine Martial Mark, it is one of the ultimate secrets of the universe that even I do not know."
After careful thought, Zhang Ruochen said, "I understand. After reaching the supreme extreme realm in the four martial stages, the resonance of the gods that is triggered is actually breaking some rule between heaven and earth, thereby communicating with the residual divine souls of gods in Lihentian."
"The divine marks that merge into my Qi Sea—these are bestowed by those residual divine souls, right?"
Haitang Popo nodded, her gaze gentle. "You are very clever. That is indeed the case."
"But why do these residual divine souls do this?" Zhang Ruochen asked curiously.
Haitang Popo's eyes became sorrowful as she said bitterly, "Because the ones who bestow marks upon you are all gods from Kunlun Realm's history who have already fallen."
"They have died, yet they still choose talents among later generations, protect you, guide you, until one day you reach a height like Xue Lingxian's, using your own spirit to overpower them all and erase their residual consciousness. At the moment you break into the divine realm, their residual divine souls in Lihentian will all fly into your body, strengthening your divine soul. And they will die completely, vanishing entirely from the world."
"If my spirit cannot overpower them? Will I never be able to become a king or venerable in the future?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Haitang Popo shook her head. "That, I do not know. However... it is said that to become a king or venerable, one's cultivation must reach the Infinite Realm. And to reach the Infinite Realm, one must go to Lihentian. Perhaps it is related to this."
Zhang Ruochen remained silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh. "The gods are dead, but their heroic souls are immortal."
From the distant chaotic cloud mass, earth-shaking battle sounds continuously emerged like divine thunder.
The cloud mass alternately expanded and contracted.
Although Bai Qinger was powerful, she seemed to be fighting with great difficulty.
Zhang Ruochen inwardly hated his own low cultivation. Otherwise, he would have charged in to fight fiercely, rather than being unable to even see the battle clearly.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's gaze fell upon the Sword Island at the center of the blood lake. His mind stirred slightly as he said to Kailuo Dishi, "Control the formation. Let's go take a look."
"Are you crazy?" Kailuo Dishi said, trembling with fear.
Night Travel Master and Seven Hands Old Man's expressions changed drastically as they quickly tried to dissuade him.
"Why are you all so nervous? I just want to go to the lakeshore and take a look," Zhang Ruochen said.
Kailuo Dishi had no choice but to comply.
Night Travel Master didn't dare approach the blood lake and wanted to leave the formation camel, but after seeing the Death God Temple cultivators watching menacingly and Wuma Jiuxing standing atop Yinglong's head, he steeled himself and followed.
The Death God Temple cultivators saw Zhang Ruochen and his group heading toward the blood lake but didn't stop them. Instead, they all revealed cold smiles.
"Even Lord Qianmo suffered a great loss, yet they still dare to approach the blood lake?"
"Zhang Ruochen is extremely bold. He's probably asking for death."
...
Wuma Jiuxing cast his gaze over, revealing a look of considerable interest.
The closer they got to the blood lake, the more the people in the formation camel felt an invisible pressure and fear, as if a giant beast with its mouth wide open was lurking ahead, waiting to devour them.
Kailuo Dishi, Night Travel Master, and Seven Hands Old Man had sweat pouring down their faces as they repeatedly tried to dissuade Zhang Ruochen.
The formation camel stopped ten zhang away from the blood lake, unable to advance further. Continuing forward, the blood lake's strange power would decompose the formation inscription patterns one by one.
Accompanied by Haitang Popo, Zhang Ruochen walked out of the formation camel and arrived at the edge of the blood lake.
Zhang Ruochen didn't believe the blood lake water could truly destroy everything, so he took out a section of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree's wood and threw it toward the blood lake.
The wooden pillar floated on the blood lake's surface for only half a breath before turning into dust and disappearing into the water.
Next, Zhang Ruochen took out a Monarch Sacred Artifact, divine stone, divine bone, sacred source... various treasures, all to test. Without exception, once they touched the blood lake water, they all turned to dust.
Only the divine bone lasted a bit longer.
This wave of wealth-flaunting operations made the Death God Temple cultivators' eyes go wide as they secretly began plotting, thinking that robbing Zhang Ruochen was more reliable than seizing the divine artifact on Sword Island.
Zhang Ruochen, meanwhile, was calculating how certain he would be to build a bridge using divine bones to reach Sword Island and obtain the divine artifact—and how great the risk would be.