Chapter 2683: Wuding Divine Sea
After parting ways with Jie Zunzhe, Zhang Ruochen went straight to the Wuding Divine Sea.
The Zangjin Baihu, hidden among the stars, quietly returned to Zhang Ruochen's side.
For a god to cross the Heavenly River and infiltrate the Heavenly Court was clearly impossible. For this reason, Zangjin Baihu had not entered the Heavenly Court with Zhang Ruochen.
...
The Wuding Divine Sea floated in the universe, spanning between the two starry skies of the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms and the Hell Realm Yellow Spring.
It was not without boundaries; its borders were formed by countless stars piled together. On these stars, sacred cities and fortresses had been built, gathering Saint Realm warriors from all realms.
Sacred ships could be seen flying out from the stars at any time.
It was impossible to calculate how many cultivators the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms had amassed along the coastline of the Wuding Divine Sea, how many formations had been arranged, or how many geniuses and experts were training here.
In the last hundred thousand years, the Wuding Divine Sea had been relatively calm.
However, this so-called calm referred only to a comparison with a hundred thousand years ago.
In reality, the conflict between the Heavenly Court and Hell in the Wuding Divine Sea had never ceased. This conflict even surpassed the Merit Battlefield.
Zhang Ruochen changed his appearance and entered one of the planets on the shore of the Wuding Divine Sea, arriving at a majestic sacred city.
Although this sacred city was built for war, it also had a trading market.
However, the market only sold specialties from the Wuding Divine Sea, healing pills, or sacred artifacts.
Zhang Ruochen purchased a star chart and then quietly followed a group of Saint Realm warriors on patrol into the Wuding Divine Sea.
After venturing deep into the sea, he separated from this sacred army and left the group alone.
Flying for three days, he crossed roughly several hundred million li, but ahead still lay an endless expanse of sea.
Zhang Ruochen landed on a lush, green island before opening the star chart and examining it carefully.
This star chart was valuable; Zhang Ruochen had paid a high price to acquire it.
The star chart itself was a treasure inscribed with space runes. When fully unfolded, it stretched a hundred zhang in length. Yet even so, it did not capture the full scope of the Heavenly Court and Hell, only a corner of it.
At the center of the star chart was a blue region—the Wuding Divine Sea.
Zhang Ruochen roughly estimated that the widest part of the Wuding Divine Sea spanned three hundred billion li. The narrowest part exceeded one hundred billion li.
The chart marked a total of three hundred and twenty-one great worlds, hundreds of thousands of stars, including the location of the Kunlun Realm, some ancient civilizations, the Dark Great Triangle region, the Hundred Clans Royal City, and various cosmic secret realms.
In addition, the locations of space wormholes were marked with black dots and crosses.
Space Teleportation Arrays were marked with black circles and crosses.
Dangerous forbidden zones were marked with red patches. The danger levels were divided into nine grades. Reaching the seventh grade meant it posed a life-threatening risk even to false gods.
Reaching the ninth grade meant it threatened the life of a true god.
In the Wuding Divine Sea, such dangerous forbidden zones were everywhere, some reaching the seventh grade or higher.
The star chart also had a type of line pattern marking, recording the "cosmic meridians."
So-called "cosmic meridians" were similar to the spirit veins and sacred veins in a great world.
Generally, sects were built on spirit veins and sacred veins to ensure sufficient spiritual energy for development.
Cosmic meridians were even more important than spirit veins and sacred veins, representing the veins of heaven and earth's rules. A great world or planet could only give birth to life and various precious cultivation resources if it was located on cosmic meridians.
The more and thicker the cosmic meridians, the more prosperous the great world would be.
This was why the top gods of the Kunlun Realm had not taken the Kunlun Realm and fled back then. The location of the Kunlun Realm had extremely active cosmic meridians, which could nurture divine veins and countless sacred veins within the great world.
If the Kunlun Realm lost these cosmic meridians, even if it could survive for a few tens of thousands of years, it would ultimately decline.
The Heavenly Court and Hell were locked in a life-and-death struggle, and the Kunlun Realm could not retreat at that time; it had to hold its ground. If everyone retreated, fearing death and fleeing at the first sign of battle, the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms would surely collapse, eventually becoming prey for others.
"The Wuding Divine Sea is too vast. How long would it take to reach the Hell Realm's coastline? Relying solely on flight is clearly not an option."
Zhang Ruochen found some Space Teleportation Arrays and space wormholes on the star chart but dismissed them one by one.
His identity was rather awkward. He had countless enemies in the Heavenly Court, but in the Hell Realm, he also had countless enemies.
Most importantly, the one guarding the Wuding Divine Sea for the Hell Realm was Haike's master, Xuangu Jiumu Dragon God, a top-tier giant of the Death Clan.
Haike had died at Zhang Ruochen's hands in the Origin Divine Temple.
Although this matter was secret, there was no guarantee that word had not leaked out.
With Xuangu Jiumu Dragon God's status, he might not act personally, but any of Haike's senior or junior brothers would pose a tremendous life threat to Zhang Ruochen.
After much deliberation, Zhang Ruochen decided to temporarily find a secluded place to go into seclusion and cultivate.
After some time, when the Ten Realms Battle arrived, the Undying Blood Clan would surely send gods to the Wuding Divine Sea. At that time, he could reveal himself.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen arrived at a relatively remote sea area, entered an uninhabited island, set up a concealment formation, activated the Sundial, took out the Divine Dragon Enlightenment Chamber, and began cultivating.
...
After the Medieval ceasefire, the Hell Realm and the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms continued their conflict on the Wuding Divine Sea.
But it was not war.
It was merely a struggle for control over the islands on the sea.
A single Wuding Divine Sea was larger than hundreds of great worlds combined, and its cultivation resources were more than a thousand times richer than some great worlds.
After a hundred thousand years of conflict, half of the islands in the Wuding Divine Sea were completely controlled by the Hell Realm.
Another third of the islands were still in contention.
Jiwen Island was the seventh largest island in the Wuding Divine Sea, stretching thirty-seven thousand li from north to south and fourteen thousand li from east to west. Placed on a planet, it would be a massive continent.
Jiwen Island was nearly one hundred and eighty billion li from the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms' coastline and several hundred billion li from the Hell Realm's coastline, making it deep in the sea's heartland.
Because this island was close to the Wuding Divine Sea's largest forbidden zone, "Gui Xu," after being occupied by the Hell Realm, all ten clans had stationed armies on the island.
In his youth, Xue Jue War God had made a battle oath in the sea area near Gui Xu, challenging the Heavenly Court's elites.
Barring any surprises, the Ten Realms Battle would also erupt in the sea area near Gui Xu.
As the Ten Realms Battle approached, more and more cultivators from the Hell Realm came to Jiwen Island, suddenly making it bustling and lively.
"Swoosh!"
A cyan-colored beast king, spreading its wings for hundreds of li, flew like a cyan cloud over the boundless sea, arriving outside Jiwen Island.
On the back of the cyan beast king stood a stunningly beautiful figure.
She wore a cyan-feathered celestial robe, a green blood jade flute hanging at her waist, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, her aura ethereal, like a divine maiden from the nine heavens.
"Open the formation," she said coldly.
"Greetings, Lord Yu Huang!"
The cultivators guarding Jiwen Island recognized the arriving woman and did not dare to obstruct. They quickly activated the formation, opening a gap in the Zhou Tian Guardian Formation.
After the cyan beast king flew into the island, the cultivators below the formation tower were still shaken.
"What a terrifying aura. Her cultivation must have reached the demigod level."
"Demigod? Hmph! You underestimate Yu Huang too much. She is now the deputy commander of the Blood Emperor Divine Demon Camp, one of the top five under the divine realm in the Undying Blood Clan, and has entered the 'Red Dust Peerless List's' Peerless Volume. Her cultivation is unfathomable."
"I wonder why Lord Yu Huang suddenly rushed to Jiwen Island."
...
Over the past thousand years, Xia Yu's cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, making her one of the absolute overlords in the mortal world of the Undying Blood Clan. Coupled with her title as the number one beauty of the Blood Heaven Tribe, seeing her in person naturally stirred the cultivators on Jiwen Island, sparking heated discussions.
Entering Jiwen Island, the cyan beast king's body quickly shrank, landing on the ground, becoming only a little over two meters long.
Xia Yu saw Xue Hou standing by the seaside and immediately walked over.
"You should be leading the Great Saint warriors of the Blood Emperor Divine Demon Camp in the Shura Star Pillar Realm. Why have you come to Jiwen Island?" Xue Hou asked.
Xia Yu's expression was slightly urgent. She clasped her hands in salute, her red lips parting as she said, "Master, I received news that Zhang Ruochen is not dead."
"Where did this news come from?" Xue Hou asked.
Xia Yu said, "News from the Heavenly Court! It is said that Zhang Ruochen transformed into a Confucian cultivator named Shu Qianchi, caused a great uproar at the Red Dust Assembly in the Heavenly Court, and killed many experts from the Paradise Realm. Even the Three Great Angel Emperors fell at his hands. I didn't believe it at first, but seeing you here on Jiwen Island, I suspect this news might be true. Master, are you here to receive him?"
Xue Hou was silent for a moment before saying, "Chen'er is indeed still alive. He once entrusted Sikong Gong Nanfeng of the Destiny Temple to send a letter back to the Blood Absolute Family. However, I did not know that he dared to go to the Heavenly Court and cause such a stir at the Red Dust Assembly. It is truly worrying."
A hint of joy appeared in Xia Yu's bright, almond-shaped eyes. She said, "According to the intelligence I received, he has already escaped. I think he will most likely return to the Hell Realm through the Wuding Divine Sea."
Xue Hou asked, "Where did you get this information?"
Xia Yu understood why Xue Hou asked this and quickly replied, "This matter has already spread in the Heavenly Court. I believe the major forces of the ten clans will receive the news one after another. However, this matter is too unbelievable. I suspect very few will believe it."
"Oh, by the way, on my way here, I encountered the Destiny Goddess."
"She is one of the participants in the Ten Realms Battle. It is normal for her to come to Jiwen Island," Xue Hou said.
Xia Yu's gaze turned cold and sharp. "Traveling with her was Xue Tu."
Xue Tu was originally Xue Hou's disciple and Xia Yu's senior brother.
However, a thousand years ago, Xue Tu had followed Zhang Ruochen into the Origin Divine Temple, obtained a tremendous opportunity, and was taken as a disciple by the Death God Venerable, becoming a prominent figure in the Destiny Temple.
After a thousand years of cultivation, Xue Tu was now a different person, one of the ten Eon-level representative figures of the Hell Realm.
In recent years, Xia Yu had encountered Xue Tu a few times. He had become extremely arrogant and dismissive. Moreover, after becoming a disciple of the Death God Venerable, Xue Tu had not returned to the Blood Absolute Family or visited Xue Hou, his former master.
In Xia Yu's view, this was undoubtedly ingratitude, and she naturally felt displeased.
Xue Hou said calmly, "Being able to become a disciple of the Death God Venerable is his fortune. For now, the most important thing for us is to find Chen'er as soon as possible. Some forces in the Hell Realm harbor deep hostility toward him and will surely intercept and kill him in the Wuding Divine Sea."
...
During the double monthly ticket period, please vote for monthly tickets.
To ask for monthly tickets, I should normally maintain two updates, but since a new plot is beginning and requires careful planning, I was unable to write last night's chapter.