# Chapter 2638: Hell Realm Declares War
The Heavenly Dragon Realm was an ancient, indestructible great world, ranked second in strength within the Southern Universe, second only to the ruling great world, the "Demon God Realm."
This sub-divine-level ancient vessel was called the Red Fire Dragon Ship, forged by a Dragon Clan artifact-refining grandmaster. When driven to its strongest state, the combat power it could unleash was even capable of blocking the attacks of a false god.
On the ancient vessel, waves of Great Saint-level power fluctuations could be felt, demonstrating the formidable strength of the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
A voice came from the ancient hall in the forward cabin: "Since Mr. Shu is a peerless Great Saint of the Kunlun Realm, you must surely know of the Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor who have recently risen to fame in the Heavenly Court, correct?"
Footsteps sounded.
A group of cultivators walked out from the ancient hall.
There were men and women, each with extraordinary cultivation and remarkable bearing—some with powerful blood energy, others with beautiful appearances—all of them Great Saint-level experts.
The cultivator who had just asked the question was named Shu Yong, a pillar-like figure of the secular world of the Book Realm.
He appeared to be in his twenties, extremely young, refined and scholarly, with a fair face and no beard.
Zhang Ruochen was naturally not intimidated by the scene before him. He said calmly, "The Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor are both top-tier experts of the Kunlun Realm. Naturally, I am aware of them."
"Are they sleepers from the Medieval Period?" Shu Yong asked, his eyes fixed tightly on Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen knew this was the other party testing him, because the Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor had come from the Dragon God Palace ruins on True Dragon Island. Other cultivators might not know their origins, but those who had been to the Dragon God Palace ruins could guess a bit.
At this moment, one of the nine immortal maidens from the *Nine Immortal Beauties Painting*, Linglong Xianzi, was standing not far from Shu Yong. She had long golden hair, a pair of small dragon horns on her head, wore a purple robe, and her tall, curvaceous figure stood amidst the vast sacred mist.
Zhang Ruochen said, "This is a great secret of the Kunlun Realm and cannot be spoken of to outsiders."
"Brother Shu's righteous and vast energy is extremely thick and pure. Would you care to spar a bit?"
Without waiting for Zhang Ruochen's agreement, Shu Yong had already struck out with a palm, his palm heart surging with righteous and vast energy.
The righteous and vast energy transformed into a long river, producing a thunderous sound of crashing waves. In an instant, it had reached Zhang Ruochen.
In Zhang Ruochen's eyes, the river formed by the righteous and vast energy stretched for a thousand miles, like a white divine dragon, winding and coiling, as if it could swallow mountains and rivers.
This long river was real!
Because Zhang Ruochen had already been pulled by Shu Yong into a Dao Domain.
Within the span of a foot, a Dao Domain world spanning thousands of miles was manifested. Such cultivation was not something an ordinary Great Saint could achieve.
Zhang Ruochen stood still, using the Wuji Sacred Intent to transform righteous and vast energy, condensing a blazing sun above his head.
"Boom."
The long river surged forward, colliding with the blazing sun.
In an instant, the righteous and vast energy dissipated, the long river shattered, and Shu Yong staggered back three steps, his face turning somewhat pale. Several places on his Confucian robe had been burned through by flames.
The cultivators present were all shocked.
None of them had expected that a little-known Confucian cultivator could be so powerful, able to injure the number one expert of the Book Realm, Shu Yong, just by standing still.
Zhang Ruochen snorted coldly, sweeping his gaze over the crowd, and said, "Is this the way the Heavenly Dragon Realm treats its guests? Farewell!"
"Brother Shu, wait."
Shu Yong quickly caught up, raising his wide cloud sleeves and bowing deeply to Zhang Ruochen, saying, "Please forgive me, Brother Shu. The reason I attacked just now was to test whether Brother Shu was a cultivator of the Confucian Realm. If I have offended you, I am willing to punish myself with a palm strike."
Before he finished speaking, Shu Yong had already pressed a palm toward his own chest.
Zhang Ruochen could see that Shu Yong's palm strike was not fake at all—it was solid and genuine, truly meant as an apology.
He couldn't help but feel a bit regretful. Why were there so many Confucian cultivators who didn't know how to be flexible? If you wanted to apologize, wouldn't it be better to just offer a chest of divine stones?
Zhang Ruochen exhaled a breath of righteous and vast energy from his mouth, but it was no longer scorching hot; instead, it was soft and continuous, dissolving the palm force that Shu Yong was about to strike against his chest. Zhang Ruochen's body, as if weightless, floated backward more than ten steps.
"Forget it. If you really punish yourself with a palm and seriously injure yourself, word might spread, and people might think I was being aggressive and narrow-minded. If you want to apologize, how about punishing yourself with a jar of wine?" Zhang Ruochen said.
A woman's voice, extremely pleasant to the ear, spoke with a smile: "That's a good idea. This Heavenly Maiden just happens to have some fine Jade Bee Hum, and I've been trying to persuade him, but he hasn't touched a drop. With Mr. Shu's words, it seems he'll have to drink a jar now."
Zhang Ruochen looked over and saw a figure dressed in men's clothing walking out from the ancient hall of the cabin.
Although she wore men's attire, she still had feminine makeup and red lips. Her eyebrows were as slender as willow leaves, and her eyes were as rippling as misty waves. She was both handsome and pure, both a peerless beauty and possessing a heroic spirit unique to men.
It was the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden who loved to drink, Yu Chenjing.
A thousand years had passed, and Yu Chenjing's cultivation was far superior to before. Although she was a woman, she possessed a leadership charisma that even men could not match. Her eyes were smiling, but her gaze was profound as she carefully examined Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen had long known that Yu Chenjing was here, and he also knew that Shu Yong had acted on her telepathic message—"Perhaps he is disguised as a Confucian Realm cultivator"—which was why he had tested him.
Zhang Ruochen said, "May I ask, Brother Shu, am I a cultivator of the Confucian Realm?"
"Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, it becomes the sun and stars. Brother Shu can use righteous and vast energy to condense a blazing sun, with mastery surpassing even mine. Naturally, this is not something a Confucian Realm cultivator could achieve," Shu Yong said.
Ao Xukong stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Since Mr. Shu is not a Confucian Realm cultivator, he must be a great Confucian scholar of the Kunlun Realm. We are all on the same side. Please, come inside!"
The crowd filed in and took their seats one after another.
Zhang Ruochen's two displays just now had been extremely brilliant, earning the respect of those present. As a result, he sat in a relatively forward position, facing Linglong Xianzi from across the room.
Jade Bee Hum was a divine brew, as white as jade, emitting a sweet honey-like fragrance, but its alcohol content was extremely potent. Once drunk, it felt as if thousands of bees were buzzing in one's ears, lasting for a long time.
Zhang Ruochen sipped the fine wine while secretly observing.
He noticed that in this small ancient cabin hall, more than fifty Great Saints had gathered, each with considerable cultivation. Half of them were Dragon Clan members from the Heavenly Dragon Realm, while the rest were top secular figures from various great worlds in the Southern Universe.
Yu Chenjing was the only cultivator from the Ancient Civilization Faction.
Shu Yong, sitting next to Zhang Ruochen, was quite straightforward. Having never touched alcohol before, he had already drunk half a jar. Despite his profound cultivation, his face was now flushed red, showing signs of drunkenness.
He asked, "Brother Shu, how many more hidden experts like you does the Kunlun Realm have?"
"If you know they are hidden, why ask?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Shu Yong quickly shut his mouth and punished himself with another cup.
Zhang Ruochen was quite curious about why Yu Chenjing was here. He asked, "Those gathered here are cultivators from great worlds friendly with the Heavenly Dragon Realm, right? As far as I know, the Thousand Star Civilization belongs to the Ancient Civilization Faction and should not be part of the Heavenly Dragon Realm Faction."
Every powerful realm had many great worlds that depended on it for survival, naturally forming factions.
Shu Yong was surprised, saying, "Brother Shu, do you not know that the Ancient Civilization Faction is now in great trouble, and each is seeking allies to survive a life-and-death crisis?"
A strange light flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. Suddenly, he remembered the celestial phenomenon he had seen on Moon God Mountain, and said, "Does it have to do with the Shura Star Pillar Realm?"
Shu Yong nodded, saying, "At most, in a year or two, the Shura Star Pillar Realm will crash into the starry sky where the Ancient Civilization Faction is located. At that time, the ancient civilizations will either have to abandon their cultivation grounds or fight to the death against the Hell Realm."
Although Zhang Ruochen had already guessed this outcome, he still found it somewhat hard to accept.
Because once the Shura Star Pillar Realm crashed into the starry sky of the Ancient Civilization Faction, a war sweeping across the entire universe would be inevitable.
How could the ancient civilizations possibly abandon their cultivation grounds?
Where would they go after abandoning them?
The cultivation resources of the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms were saturated, and the sacred veins and divine veins in the universe were also very limited. The various realms had long been fighting over cultivation resources.
If the Ancient Civilization Faction moved to the territories of other great worlds, it would only trigger internal strife within the Heavenly Court.
There was no choice but to fight.
Once the ancient civilizations went to war with the Hell Realm, the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms would not stand idly by, because of the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold.
At that time, whether the ancient civilizations that had existed for countless eons could survive would depend on whether their allies in the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms were strong enough and whether they would fully support them, rather than acting like they did in the Kunlun Realm Merit Battlefield.
To be precise, this was no longer a merit battle but a war of survival.
Understanding all this, the purpose of Yu Chenjing's presence here was self-evident.
Shu Yong said, "There are three stretches of starry sky where the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms and the Hell Realm come into contact."
"The first is the Kunlun Realm. However, one hundred thousand years ago, Xumi Saint Monk severed the spatial veins between the Hell Realm and the Kunlun Realm. Furthermore, Ten Calamities Wen Tianjun led the gods to destroy the energy source of the Yellow Spring Star River's advance. Later, the Array Tai Shang of the Kunlun Realm arranged a grand starry sky formation, blocking the Yellow Spring Star River's devouring."
"The second is the Wuding Divine Sea, which is also the largest battlefield between the Heavenly Court and Hell. However, the Heavenly Court has spent hundreds of thousands of years fortifying the shores of the Wuding Divine Sea, building countless fortresses and divine cities. It is not easy for the Hell Realm to break through."
"The third is the starry sky where the Ancient Civilization Faction is located."
"For a long time, the Hell Realm has not been particularly aggressive in attacking from the direction of the Ancient Civilization Faction. Instead, it has tried to divide and alienate them from the Heavenly Court, but it has never succeeded."
"No one expected that the Hell Realm had actually been preparing in the Shura Star Pillar Realm for many years, using the Shura Divine Temple as an energy center, borrowing the power of the stars, and combining the divine power of countless gods to directly propel this massive world forward, using the most brutal method to crush the Ancient Civilization Faction and directly declare war on the Heavenly Court."
That was right—it was a declaration of war.
From the moment the Shura Star Pillar Realm began moving toward the Ancient Civilization Faction, the Hell Realm had already declared war.
Moving together with the Shura Star Pillar Realm was the Yellow Spring Star River, stretching for countless trillions of miles. The entire Hell Realm had begun to devour the starry sky occupied by the Heavenly Court.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze shifted to Yu Chenjing, but in his mind, a pure and ethereal figure involuntarily surfaced. The ancient civilization closest to the Shura Star Pillar Realm was the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. He wondered how she was doing now.
Yu Chenjing noticed Zhang Ruochen's gaze and looked back at him, smiling as she said, "Mr. Shu's cultivation is outstanding. I am sure that at the Red Dust Conference, you will make a name for yourself and be listed on the *Red Dust Peerless List*."
"During the Medieval Period, Xumi Saint Monk had a close friendship with the Heavenly Lord of the Thousand Star Civilization, making our two realms old friends. Chenjing boldly invites Mr. Shu to assist the Thousand Star Civilization in resisting the Hell Realm's army. What does Mr. Shu think?"
...
There will be another chapter tonight.
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