# Chapter 2688: Zhang Ruochen's Will
Zhen Yuan, with three Dao methods entering the divine realm, shocked cultivators from all realms.
A cultivator from the Heavenly Court side was extremely excited and said, "Legend! We have all witnessed a legend today! Zhen Yuan is the legend!"
"Incredible! Three Dao methods entering the divine realm—Zhen Yuan probably already possesses the strength to compete with Eon-level geniuses."
"His talent in the Way of Five Elements, looking through the long river of history, there should be few cultivators who can compare with Zhen Yuan, right? We truly have witnessed a legend; only in legends are there such outstanding talents."
"Since ancient times, many brilliant great eras have appeared, but even when the Saint Realm still existed, no era had ever produced so many heroic geniuses."
"What is a legend? What we are seeing now is a legend that will be passed down for millions of years."
"What is a legend? This Ten Realms War is a legend that will definitely be recorded in the history of both the Heavenly Court and Hell. The names of every participant will still be remembered ten thousand years, a million years from now."
…
In this Ten Realms War, the Heavenly Court and Hell had produced one astonishing cultivator after another, making others look up to them, revere them, and worship them.
This was the most glorious era, where they commanded the wind and rain, each displaying their divine prowess.
"Everyone says that Donghua Divine Lord is the number one strong one under Heavenly Court Yin Yuanchen, but I think otherwise—Zhen Yuan should be the one."
Zhuo Yunong held a scroll, examining intelligence information about Zhen Yuan, and sighed, "It's a pity that Zhen Yuan is born with a metal-deficient body; otherwise, he would surely have cultivated the Five Elements Sacred Intent to perfection."
"What are you sighing about?"
Bore frowned slightly and snorted lightly, "If Zhen Yuan had achieved Five Elements perfection, he would definitely become a great enemy of Hell. Now, no matter how stunning he appears in the world, he is ultimately inherently flawed. The Destiny Temple has its flaws; if he wants to contend with flaws, I'm afraid it won't be so easy."
"Regardless, this person is an extraordinary figure with unimaginable future achievements. We must find a way to eliminate him. Divine Maiden… what is the Divine Maiden looking at?"
Zhuo Yunong followed Bore's gaze and saw Xia Yu, Chi Kongle, and the mysterious man on the sub-god-level warship, which was departing, cutting through the water toward Ji Wen Island.
"The outcome is decided; let's go." Bore said this.
A Great Saint offered a treasure-blue sacred jade ancient ship hundreds of feet long, placing it in the waters at the edge of the island. Bore boarded first.
The cultivators of the Destiny Temple followed closely behind her onto the ship.
The ship raised its sails and departed from Guixu.
This battle was quickly decided.
Blood Butcher had lost!
But even in defeat, he was honored.
Because he had displayed the combat power of an Eon-level representative figure and had forced Zhen Yuan to reveal his true strength. Losing to a legendary figure who had entered the divine realm through three Dao methods was not a disgraceful thing.
On the contrary, because of this battle, his name, Blood Butcher, might be recorded in history alongside Zhen Yuan.
…
Arriving at Ji Wen Island, Zhang Ruochen sensed divine thoughts trying to approach him and probe him.
But he shattered them all with a wave of his palm.
Unless ordinary gods sent out doppelgangers or were false gods, they could make Zhang Ruochen cautious. A mere few divine thoughts coming to probe—Zhang Ruochen really didn't take them seriously.
Another god with spiritual power exceeding the seventieth rank used spiritual power to envelop Zhang Ruochen, wanting to investigate his true identity.
"A dignified god, wanting to investigate a Saint realm cultivator, just appear and meet me directly—why be so sneaky? If you appear, I will surely bow respectfully and pay homage."
Zhang Ruochen held his hands in a virtual embrace, condensing a strange vortex between his palms, absorbing all the powerful spiritual power that approached into the vortex.
"Boom!"
He pushed out with both palms, exploding in front of him, causing a large area of the ground to sink.
From the void, a god let out a deep, angry snort, shaking Zhang Ruochen's blood to a boil.
"Whoosh!"
A pillar of blood light descended from the sky, condensing into Xue Hou's form on the ground.
Xue Hou's entire body radiated divine light, and the space was filled with dense rule divine patterns, like blood-colored lightning shuttling through.
Her eyes were cold as she peered in all directions.
The gods who had been probing Zhang Ruochen all retreated.
Xue Hou led Zhang Ruochen, Xia Yu, and Chi Kongle to a valley on Ji Wen Island.
An ordinary valley, because Xue Hou had been stationed here for a year or two, had already transformed into a divine valley. The soil in the valley had become sacred soil, growing blood-red precious herbs one after another.
Xia Yu and Chi Kongle stood in the distance, watching Xue Hou and Zhang Ruochen walk side by side, talking to each other. Suddenly, Xue Hou stopped, raised her hand, and gently touched Zhang Ruochen's face, tears in her eyes.
Xia Yu rarely saw Xue Hou so gentle and tender.
After all, every cultivator in Hell knew that Xue Hou was quite domineering and ruthless. A thousand years ago, because of Zhang Ruochen's fall, she had stirred up a bloody storm in Hell.
Even toward her disciple, she was often very strict.
Regarding the whereabouts of the past thousand years, Zhang Ruochen didn't say much, only telling Xue Hou that he had cultivated at the place where Xumi Saint Monk had passed into nirvana, cultivating the First-rank Sacred Intent to perfection.
"Earlier, when I saw your method of dealing with the god's spiritual power, I sensed that your Sacred Intent was extraordinary. Very good! Being able to merge the Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent into one, reaching the First-rank level, my son is not inferior to Yan Wushen."
"If your maternal grandfather knew, he would be very happy."
"The greatest regret of his life was not being able to attempt the First-rank back then. In the past thousand years, whenever he mentions Yan Wushen and Wu Qingzong, his tone carries envy and emotion."
Xue Hou's eyes were filled with joy, happy for Zhang Ruochen's achievements today.
That Yan Wushen had cultivated the "Six Paths Reincarnation Sacred Intent" was no secret in the world of true gods. All gods believed this was the only confirmed First-rank Sacred Intent in history.
Zhang Ruochen's Wuji Sacred Intent naturally included not only Yin-Yang and Five Elements but also Time and Space.
But the Time of the Wuji Sacred Intent was the Time of the universe.
The Space was the Space of the universe.
Even though Xue Hou was a god, she couldn't see through this point.
Zhang Ruochen pondered in his heart, considering whether to reveal the secret of the Wuji Sacred Intent.
Xue Hou summoned the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron, took out an Emperor-grade Sacred Pill from it, and handed it to Zhang Ruochen, saying, "You've grown up now, a top-tier strong one in the mortal world, with your own cultivation path. You don't have to tell your mother everything like a child."
"This Emperor-grade Sacred Pill was left with me by you back then. It should be helpful for you to charge into the Supreme Realm and condense the Supreme Dharma Body."
The Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron was found by Zhang Ruochen inside the third dark star of the Heaven Hunting Battlefield. Because the cauldron's artifact spirit had been sleeping, there were great variables and dangers, so he had entrusted it to Xue Hou for safekeeping at the time.
Zhang Ruochen accepted the Emperor-grade Sacred Pill. This pill was indeed useful now.
"Mother, the main reason I came back this time is to save Father." Zhang Ruochen said.
Hearing this, Xue Hou showed a deep and sorrowful expression, then composed herself and said sternly, "You'd better not meddle in your father's affairs. And never mention the word 'save' again."
Zhang Ruochen said calmly, "If it weren't to save Father, I probably wouldn't have returned to Hell at all. Mother, you should understand that I absolutely cannot stand by and watch Father be imprisoned in the Destiny Temple."
"Then do you know why the Destiny Temple only imprisons your father instead of executing him directly?" Xue Hou said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "A dead god—how could it be as valuable as a living god?"
"Since you know that, you still want to go die?" Xue Hou said.
A bitter expression appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, and he said, "Mother, death is not scary. If Father is imprisoned in the Destiny Temple and I turn a blind eye, doing nothing because I fear death, I would surely live a life worse than death for the rest of my days."
Zhang Ruochen's words struck a pain in Xue Hou's heart.
Xue Hou had deep feelings for the Ming Emperor. Knowing that he was imprisoned in the Destiny Temple, suffering torment, how could her heart feel any better?
She had thought of many strategies to rescue the Ming Emperor, but she had rejected them all one by one.
The Ming Emperor's crimes were too heavy. Wanting the Destiny Temple to release him was undoubtedly a fool's dream. Wanting to forcibly rescue the Ming Emperor from the Destiny Temple was even harder than reaching the heavens.
Even a God Venerable couldn't do it.
"What do you plan to do?" Xue Hou said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I don't have a good plan for now, but to rescue someone from the Destiny Temple, at least two things are needed. First, I must gain the trust of the Destiny Temple. Second, I must have the qualifications to negotiate with the Destiny Temple."
Xue Hou sighed, "Both of these are too difficult for you. For the second point, when your cultivation becomes deep enough in the future—for example, becoming the War God or Great Clan Leader of the Undying Blood Clan, or a God King or God Venerable—the Destiny Temple will naturally value you and regard you as an opponent or an ally."
"But the first point isn't something that just strong cultivation can solve. On the contrary, the stronger your cultivation, the more the Destiny Temple will be wary of you."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then find an ally who can deeply earn the trust of the Destiny Temple. As for the second point, it doesn't necessarily require such powerful cultivation; in fact, we can start arranging now."
"Now? You mean the Ten Realms War?" Xue Hou said.
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky, his body exuding a soaring ambition like a swan riding the wind, and said, "The Ten Realms War is an opportunity. Since we've encountered it, we naturally must seize it. To negotiate with the Destiny Temple, I need to accumulate my trump cards bit by bit."
"Since you have such determination, I will send a message to your maternal grandfather, asking him to come and help you. I believe he will be very willing." Xue Hou said.
Xia Yu saw that Xue Hou and Zhang Ruochen had stopped arguing and came over, saying, "Master, Senior Brother, someone outside the valley seeks an audience."
In front of Xue Hou, she naturally had to address Zhang Ruochen as Senior Brother.
Xue Hou and Zhang Ruochen had strong spiritual power and knew who had come.
"She came looking for you. Handle it yourself."
The space trembled slightly, and Xue Hou's body disappeared.