Chapter 2749: Shaking the Life-Death Boundary Star
Without the blockade of the Dark Array Diagram, the divine might erupting from Wu Jiang and Bore rapidly spread outward, extending for millions of miles. The deities on the Life-Death Boundary Star sensed it one after another.
Three hundred thousand miles away.
Within a divine mountain shaped like a prostrate ox, a ghost clan deity emerged from an ancient coffin buried underground, gazing toward the direction of Qiyuan Ancient City. Puzzled, he muttered, "What's going on? Why is the Divine Maiden of the Destiny Temple clashing with Wu Jiang of the Darkness Temple, and fighting so fiercely?"
A million miles away stood a dilapidated hall, filled with withered branches, fallen leaves, broken stones, and overgrown weeds.
The hall had long been abandoned, housing a stone statue wrapped in cobwebs.
The statue, which had sat there cross-legged for who knows how many millennia, suddenly opened its eyes, divine light blazing within them. It murmured to itself, "So it's just two juniors fighting. How boring."
The statue closed its eyes, and the hall returned to its ruined, ordinary state.
The Life-Death Boundary Star belonged to no faction, independent of the Ten Clans.
For this reason, many deities had taken up seclusion on the planet. Some slept underground, some sat in temples, and others indulged in the pleasures of the mortal world.
Many deities were stirred, but only a few headed toward Qiyuan Sacred City.
...
Wu Jiang's eyes turned ferocious. He knew that killing Zhang Ruochen today was no longer possible.
He wanted to immediately send word to destroy Bore. But then he thought: as the Divine Maiden of Destiny, with Nu Tian Shen Zun as her backing, even if the news spread, no other force would dare touch her—only the Destiny Temple could deal with her.
Once the Destiny Temple captured Bore, they would inevitably drag Zhang Ruochen out as well.
If Zhang Ruochen were taken to the Destiny Temple, his Profound Meaning and Supreme Sacred Artifacts would naturally be seized by the temple. What would be left for Wu Jiang?
Even just one percent of the Origin Profound Meaning could make a Great God's heart race, driving them to seize it by any means.
Without Zhang Ruochen, this "soft target," where else could Wu Jiang obtain so much Profound Meaning?
"Divine Maiden Bore, our enmity is sealed today. The Nether Hall will not let this rest!"
After clashing with Bore, Wu Jiang's form rapidly flew deeper into the Santu River.
"Where do you think you're going? I, the Emperor, will suppress you!"
Xiao Hei descended, commanding the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions Grand Formation. Array inscriptions flew from the three Supreme Sacred Artifacts and twenty-eight Monarch Sacred Artifacts, sealing off the space behind Wu Jiang.
One of the three Supreme Sacred Artifacts, the Titan Ghost Axe, was as massive as a mountain, cleaving downward.
Wu Jiang unleashed the already damaged Dark Array Diagram, transforming it into a dark metallic world that collided with the Titan Ghost Axe, blocking the divine formation's assault.
How could Bore let Wu Jiang escape?
As a Divine Maiden, she held thirty ten-thousandths of the Fate Profound Meaning.
Now, Bore used the Fate Profound Meaning to summon countless Fate Rules from heaven and earth, all pouring into the staff in her hand.
This didn't mean that a deity who grasped thirty ten-thousandths of the Fate Profound Meaning could immediately command thirty ten-thousandths of the Fate Rules in the world.
Using Profound Meaning required comprehension, a strong divine soul, and technique.
For this reason, even with Gu She Jingyuan's talent as an Eon-level representative, after becoming a deity, she still couldn't use the power of Profound Meaning to this day.
Even Wu Jiang, with his peerless brilliance, believed that even if he obtained one percent of the Origin Profound Meaning, he would need centuries to comprehend and use even a fraction of it.
Bore had only recently become a deity, her divine soul not yet strong enough. Her use of Fate Profound Meaning was less than one percent. In other words, she couldn't even mobilize thirty millionths of the Fate Rules.
Yet even this less-than-one-percent application of Profound Meaning put immense pressure on Wu Jiang.
"She only became a deity a few years ago, yet she can already use the power of Profound Meaning. It must be because of the Gate of True Self."
Although Wu Jiang possessed Profound Meaning, he couldn't use it yet. So, unwilling to retrieve the Dark Array Diagram, he walked on the water, fleeing at top speed.
Bore raised her staff above her head.
Instantly, the phantom of the Fate Divine Mountain appeared in the sky, towering and majestic to the extreme.
"Whoosh!"
The staff swung down, and the Fate Divine Mountain pressed forward.
Wu Jiang gritted his teeth. From the black lightning patterns on his brow, a destructive beam of light containing immense dark power shot out, striking the phantom of the Fate Divine Mountain.
But it couldn't stop it.
The phantom of the Fate Divine Mountain landed on Wu Jiang, piercing through the Nether Realm Nation, and drove him deep into the Santu River.
The vast surface of the Santu River sank deeply, and massive amounts of water, along with white bones and corpses, flew into the void of the universe. The divine power fluctuations spread tens of thousands of miles.
The nearest Qiyuan Sacred City's city-protecting grand formation was nearly destroyed.
"Boom!"
The Titan Ghost Axe split the Dark Array Diagram in two.
Xiao Hei, quick-eyed and swift-handed, quickly collected the two fragments and stuffed them into his sleeve.
This was a treasure refined by a Formation Divine Master. Even as a defective product, for a formation master, it was like a sacred scripture, containing much valuable knowledge to study.
Above Qiyuan Sacred City, waves of divine might radiated.
Deities descended one after another, their divine bodies towering, standing on clouds of light. The cultivators in the sacred city all knelt, trembling in fear.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the shore, originally intending to intercept Wu Jiang's transmitted divine thoughts, but he noticed Wu Jiang seemed unwilling to send the message out. He began to ponder.
Gu She Huanhuan looked up at the deities in the sky, squinting with a smile. "What's going on? Why did you and Bore clash with Wu Jiang?"
"Wu Jiang wanted to kill me and take my Profound Meaning and Supreme Sacred Artifact," Zhang Ruochen said.
Gu She Huanhuan said, "That doesn't add up!"
"What doesn't?"
"If it were about seizing Profound Meaning and Supreme Sacred Artifacts, Divine Maiden Bore, as a member of the Nether Clan, should have joined forces with Wu Jiang to kill you and split the spoils. Instead, they fought like mortal enemies, turning heaven and earth upside down."
This was indeed hard to explain.
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment and said, "Because she fell in love with me, hopelessly so."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's serious expression, Gu She Huanhuan widened her eyes in disbelief.
Zhang Ruochen knew what she was thinking and said, "You simply don't understand. When a woman falls in love with a man, she often becomes stubborn and reckless. Neither Profound Meaning nor Supreme Sacred Artifacts can change her love. Even a Divine Artifact, in her eyes, is less important than me."
"I understand!" Gu She Huanhuan said.
"What do you understand?"
"I understand that Divine Maiden Bore truly loves you. Otherwise, why would she shatter her Gate of True Self in the Wuding Divine Sea to help you break through? And I also understand that when a woman falls in love with a man, she indeed loses interest in Profound Meaning and Supreme Sacred Artifacts—just like me."
Gu She Huanhuan smiled radiantly, gazing at Zhang Ruochen's sharply defined profile, which was handsome to the extreme.
With her flirting like that, who could resist?
Zhang Ruochen could.
He had no mood for romance, his attention entirely on the Santu River and the deities in the sky. Suddenly, he let out a long roar: "Wu Jiang tried to kill me and take my Profound Meaning and Supreme Sacred Artifact. This blood feud is irreconcilable! Today, I, Zhang Ruochen, will fight him to the death. Anyone who dares interfere will be an enemy of the entire Blood Absolute Clan."
After throwing out this harsh declaration, Zhang Ruochen crossed space and charged toward the Santu River.
Gu She Huanhuan tried to stop him but was too late. She stamped her foot in frustration and complained, "You fool, with only Saint Realm cultivation, how dare you barge into the battlefield between Bore and Wu Jiang?"
Although Bore and Wu Jiang were Lower-rank Deities, few among the Lower-rank Deities could match them.
Yu Shen stood on the city wall of Qiyuan Sacred City, his eyes narrowing into slits as various guesses formed in his mind.
He knew something about the relationship between Bore and Zhang Ruochen, but he couldn't fathom how close they had to be for Bore to recklessly oppose Wu Jiang, even going against the Nether Hall and the Darkness Temple.
He didn't intervene.
After all, Wu Jiang was in the wrong. Anyone who helped Wu Jiang now would be an enemy of the Blood Absolute Clan.
Under the God Venerables, how many deities dared provoke the Blood Absolute War God?
The section of the Santu River where the Life-Death Boundary Star was located was wide and extremely dangerous. Space and time underwent tremendous changes here, with the forces of light and darkness alternating. The heaven and earth rules differed from anywhere else in the Hell Realm.
For this reason, even deities couldn't cross it, hence the existence of Qiyuan Ferry.
The ferry boats at Qiyuan Ferry were jointly controlled by the Star Palace and Wuchang Ghost City. Only they knew the correct route. Once off course, the Santu River was no longer a river but a deadly danger zone.
Even True Gods could fall.
At that moment, a thousand-zhang-long ghost ship sailed on the Santu River.
The ship was covered in lanterns, wrapped in layers of yin energy.
Wu Jiang burst out of the water and boarded the ghost ship.
His long hair was disheveled, his face pale, and his aura greatly weakened. The power of fate had invaded his body, threatening to dissolve his Divine Source and divine soul.
Xuan Li Master emerged from the cabin, shocked. "Junior Brother, what happened?"
"Don't ask. It's all that bitch Bore... Pfft..."
Wu Jiang spat out a mouthful of divine blood, bracing himself against the ship's wall, his eyes cold and fierce. "Let's go. Get out of here now. Once I recover, I'll make her and Zhang Ruochen pay a painful price."
This ghost ship had been obtained through Yu Shen's power.
Xuan Li Master had been stationed on the ship to support Wu Jiang, Nine-Toothed Wolf God General, and Army Sea God General. If anything went wrong, they could escape at any time.
Bore, using the Way of Fate, calculated Wu Jiang's aura and located the ghost ship.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She swung her staff, striking down.
The Fate Determination Staff grew to hundreds of miles long, pressing down like a pillar holding up the sky, its divine might awe-inspiring. With irresistible force, it shattered the ghost ship's defensive formation.
"Boom!"
The thousand-zhang-long ghost ship was smashed to pieces by her blow.
Wu Jiang and Xuan Li Master transformed into divine shadows, shooting out from the wreckage and landing on the murky, foul-smelling river surface.
"Bitch! Do you really want to wipe me out? Be careful, or I'll drag you into eternal damnation too!" Wu Jiang roared in fury.