# Chapter 2767: Puzzling and Confusing
In the endless darkness, a swift figure flew past and landed on a broken continental plate.
The entire continent was filled with divine qi and various destructive forces.
Clearly, a divine-level battle had just taken place here, with residual power lingering for a long time, turning this place into a forbidden zone. Ordinary Saint realm cultivators who intruded would be easily killed by the lingering divine power.
Yan Wushen was naturally no ordinary Saint realm cultivator.
He walked along a mountain range on this newly shattered continental plate, observing carefully. Suddenly, sensing something, his figure flickered and appeared at the edge of a deep pit.
At the bottom of the pit, divine qi was dense, and every wisp of rising airflow could pierce through a Great Saint's sacred body.
At the center of the divine qi light cluster, half a piece of Divine Source floated.
"It's Lan Gu's Divine Source. How could it be shattered?"
Yan Wushen reached out to grab it, but the moment his fingers touched the Divine Source—
The Divine Source scattered like sand, turning into powder and falling to the ground.
Even though Yan Wushen was knowledgeable and composed, he was still slightly stunned.
"The Divine Source was shattered, turning to dust at a touch. What kind of power is this? Was it a True God who struck?" he muttered to himself.
Divine Source was one of the hardest substances in the world. Even for a True God, shattering Divine Source was no easy task; special techniques were required to succeed.
But what of a True God?
Yan Wushen felt no fear in his heart and continued pursuing.
Before long, he found Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was sitting cross-legged between two serpentine strange beasts, each hundreds of miles long, with dark light flickering around him. Surrounding him were hundreds of thousands of strange beast corpses, blood flowing like rivers, being devoured by Devouring Spirit Insects.
The two serpentine strange beasts were already dead, their bones pierced through.
Dark Source Liquid flowed from the bones, forming streams that converged toward where Zhang Ruochen sat, creating an ink pool.
Yan Wushen stood silently by the ink pool, not disturbing Zhang Ruochen, who was in the midst of cultivation.
"Hua!"
A Taiji Yin-Yang Imprint surged from the top of Zhang Ruochen's head, and a vortex appeared around him, continuously absorbing the Dark Source Liquid into his body.
In just the time it takes to burn an incense stick, all the Dark Source Liquid in the bones of the two serpentine strange beasts was absorbed and refined by Zhang Ruochen.
The Sacred Dao Rules in his body increased by nearly one trillion.
Moreover, the Dark Source Liquid was not fully absorbed; more still flowed in his Qi Sea, requiring time to refine.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes, soared into the air, and landed before Yan Wushen, smiling. "Brother Wushen, why did you follow me?"
Yan Wushen looked at the two serpentine strange beast corpses lying like mountain ranges before him. "You went alone to lure four False Gods. I wasn't at ease, so I had Xue Tu and Yan Ting hide with the Yama Clan's elder Supreme Realm Great Saints and came to help you. Now it seems my worry was unnecessary. Did Bei Yu, Lan Gu, and Ai Longxing of the Nether Hall all die by your hand?"
Zhang Ruochen did not hide it. "That's right."
"And Kong Zhi?" Yan Wushen asked.
Zhang Ruochen took out Kong Zhi's Divine Source and handed it to Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen took the Divine Source, held it in his hand to observe, and sighed. "This Divine Source originally belonged to Hongyu Great God of the Underworld Clan, a powerful figure who lived for hundreds of thousands of years. Kong Zhi had the potential to become a mid-third-rank False God, yet he fell by your hand."
He returned the Divine Source to Zhang Ruochen.
He did not ask how Zhang Ruochen had done it, because asking such a question would undoubtedly be forcing an answer. If Zhang Ruochen had powerful trump cards, didn't he as well?
Yan Wushen said, "Refining Dark Source Liquid can indeed rapidly increase Sacred Dao Rules. However, the rules that increase are all of the dark attribute. Refining too much may not be a good thing. But forget it—you surely understand this well, so I shouldn't say more."
So-called dark attribute rules were not limited to Darkness Rules.
After all, the various great and small paths in the world all originated from the Nine Eternal Paths.
Sacred Dao derived from the Path of Darkness was naturally numerous.
These Sacred Dao were all of the dark attribute.
Yan Wushen continued, "There is one thing you might not know. In the Abyss of Darkness, serpentine strange beasts are indeed very dangerous, and Saint realm cultivators face a nine-in-ten chance of death. But there are strange beasts even more terrifying than serpentine ones."
"This I truly don't know," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Wushen said, "Humans, ghosts, dragons, and phoenixes."
"What do you mean?"
Yan Wushen said, "Humanoid strange beasts are the most terrifying. Once they appear, with our cultivation, we wouldn't even be able to escape. Dragon-phoenix form strange beasts are the weakest, yet they are still more than ten times stronger than serpentine ones. Unless you and I break through to the God realm, we could only contend with them a little."
"And the ghost type?" Zhang Ruochen asked curiously.
Yan Wushen said, "Unfathomably mysterious, far more powerful than dragon-phoenix form strange beasts. Once, a ghost-type strange beast escaped the Abyss of Darkness and was encountered by the clan leader. The clan leader personally took action, yet it still got away."
"Where did it escape to?"
Yan Wushen shook his head.
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen left the place, flying deeper into the Abyss of Darkness.
The two landed on a vast dark space continent, and under Yan Wushen's lead, they went to rendezvous with Xue Tu and the others. But halfway there, Yan Wushen's expression changed.
Zhang Ruochen also sensed it, perceiving fluctuations of divine qi in the air.
"Shua!"
Yan Wushen's speed surged, turning into a dark light, and in an instant, he arrived at the place where Xue Tu and the others were hiding.
Here, mountains had collapsed, filled with all kinds of chaotic forces.
The concealment formation on the ground had been destroyed.
Zhang Ruochen found traces of blood on the ground, crouched down, and touched the blood with his finger. "It's Yan Hai's Great Saint blood."
Yan Wushen's eyes turned sharp. He formed hand seals, and the Six Paths Reincarnation Imprint appeared on his back, his pupils turning into two star seas. "There is the aura of Darkness Temple gods, and more than one."
"Why would Darkness Temple gods appear here?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Yan Wushen said, "The Darkness Temple has always been the major power closest to the Abyss of Darkness. One could even say the Abyss of Darkness falls within the Darkness Temple's sphere of influence."
"The Darkness Temple has existed since ancient times. Their understanding of the Abyss of Darkness surpasses even that of our Yan Clan."
"To the Darkness Temple, the Abyss of Darkness is both a forbidden land and a sacred land."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes showed a strange light. "Your Yan Clan moving to the Abyss of Darkness would encroach on the Darkness Temple's interests. How could they tolerate you?"
"Whether they tolerate it or not, they have to," Yan Wushen said.
Yan Wushen continued, "One hundred thousand years ago, the Yama Clan's old clan leader fell into the Abyss of Darkness and never returned. At that time, although the old clan leader was aged, he was still at his peak. No one doubted he would survive the next Eon Calamity."
"When the old clan leader was alive, his status was equal to that of the current Fengdu Dadi. He was a supreme existence in the Hell Realm. As long as the Darkness Temple could not prove the old clan leader was dead, they dared not launch a full-scale attack on the Yan Clan. Minor skirmishes, of course, were unavoidable."
Fengdu Dadi, with his single strength, commanded the entire Middle Three Clans.
A figure of this level, thirty thousand years ago, would have been a Heavenly Venerable. Who would dare offend him?
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since the Darkness Temple understands the Abyss of Darkness so well, they should know that the path we are taking now is unsuitable for gods. Why would Darkness Temple gods appear here?"
"It can only mean that the purpose of their journey is more important than their lives," Yan Wushen said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "So, it's also aimed at me?"
Zhang Ruochen pressed his palm to the ground, using the power of the Heart of Truth to perceive. Immediately, scenes appeared in his mind.
Xue Tu, Yan Ting, and the Yama Clan's elder Supreme Realm Great Saints were within the concealment formation.
Three cultivators in black robes appeared outside the concealment formation.
...
Two black-robed cultivators were killed, their bodies exploding, and their Divine Sources were dug out.
The remaining black-robed cultivator fled along with the Yama Clan's elder Supreme Realm Great Saints.
Zhang Ruochen tried to see who had killed those two black-robed cultivators, but found nothing.
"What did you detect?" Yan Wushen asked.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was grave. He looked around, spread his golden wings, and flew about eight hundred miles before stopping on a stretch of shattered land.
The dark aura here was exceptionally dense.
At the bottom of a collapsed mountain, Zhang Ruochen dug out a broken divine corpse. The corpse was severely decayed, filled with corrosive power, and emitted a strong stench.
Yan Wushen's tone was heavy. "Darkness Temple's Jiugui Divine General, a Corpse Clan member. Who killed him?"
"Xue Tu and the others don't have the ability to kill a False God. It can only mean there is a third party, with extremely high cultivation, possibly more than just a False God," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Wushen said, "Recently, someone leaked your whereabouts, and many powerful figures from various major forces have gathered in the Abyss of Darkness. So it could be from any side."
"Do you know who leaked the information?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Yan Wushen said, "Only one possibility: Jinju Great God of Wuchang Ghost City. Because when the Yan Clan went to pick you up at the Life-Death Boundary Star, they borrowed the ghost ship from him."
"I thought he and the clan leader were close friends, worthy of trust. But he still leaked the information to Wentong Great God of the Nether Hall. When the clan leader went to find him again, he had already left and disappeared."
"Could he have come to the Abyss of Darkness?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Yan Wushen said, "Probably not. Even with his powerful cultivation, entering the Abyss of Darkness carries considerable risk of falling."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "I don't think so. First, this Jinju Great God, even at the cost of offending the Yama Clan leader, leaked the information to Wentong Great God. Clearly, from the start, his target was the treasures or the Profound Meaning on me."
"Second, Jinju Great God is, after all, a major figure in Wuchang Ghost City. If he were elsewhere, he might fear the Yama Clan leader a bit. But in Wuchang Ghost City, with numerous Ghost Clan gods standing and the city lord backing him, even the Yama Clan leader couldn't do much to him, right? Why would he flee?"
"Perhaps he didn't flee at all, but merely moved from the open to the shadows, intending to strike at me again in the Abyss of Darkness. This is something even the Yama Clan leader might not have expected."
Yan Wushen said, "With what you're saying, it's not impossible. Although the Abyss of Darkness is dangerous, it is also an excellent hiding place. No external divination can calculate what happens inside. For the sake of Profound Meaning, a Great God taking risks is also plausible."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the divine corpse on the ground. "But the one who struck was probably not him. If a Great God's true body had acted, how could Xue Tu and the others have had a chance to escape?"
"What if it was a doppelganger?" Yan Wushen said.