Chapter 2795: The Unknown Descends
"Wuwang Xuan Sha."
Luo spread his arms, and his Dao domain rapidly contracted, shrinking to a mere three zhang in diameter, forming a sphere. Within the sphere, countless divine pattern runes were woven into tens of thousands of nets. The smaller the Dao domain, the stronger its defense.
"Roar! Roar! Roar…"
At the same time, eight Xuan Sha Yin Ghosts surged out from Luo's sleeves. Their bodies stood a full zhang tall, clad in golden armor, and they formed a Wuwang Xuan Sha Ghost Formation.
"Boom!"
The sword Zhang Ruochen slashed out pierced through the Dao domain, then cleaved through one of the Xuan Sha Yin Ghosts, sending Luo flying back dozens of zhang. The black robe he wore was once the divine robe of the Ghost Lord, possessing extremely strong defensive power.
The eight Xuan Sha Yin Ghosts were nurtured by Luo with immense effort, intentionally raised to become eight divine generals. Having one destroyed by Zhang Ruochen made Luo's heart bleed, and he felt both shame and fury.
Because his opponent was Zhang Ruochen, a rising star who had yet to achieve godhood in martial arts. No matter the reason, suffering a loss at his hands was a profound humiliation.
"Dark Light Curse!"
Zhang Ruochen unleashed his curse once more, trapping the enraged Luo within a ring of dark light.
Zhang Ruochen was far too rational to lose sight of priorities. He had no intention of prolonging the fight. Saving people came first.
Xu Rulai and Gong Nanfeng stood atop a black boulder the size of a mountain peak, over two hundred li away, watching the battle.
"Impressive," Xu Rulai remarked sincerely.
Gong Nanfeng looked rather pleased, grinning. "See how formidable he is now? So, what do you think? How confident are you that you could defeat him?"
"Ten out of ten," Xu Rulai said.
Gong Nanfeng's face darkened.
Xu Rulai continued, "But capturing or killing him would not be easy. His spiritual power has already reached the seventy-first rank. Although he hasn't achieved godhood in martial arts, his combat strength is terrifyingly high, reaching a level never before attained in history. Luo is no weakling!"
Hearing Xu Rulai praise Zhang Ruochen, Gong Nanfeng's expression softened slightly. "The greatest responsibility of the Destiny Temple is to maintain balance among the ten clans, resolve conflicts between major powers, and avoid internal strife as much as possible. The fall of a false god is still a conflict that can be mediated, but if a true god were to fall, it would cause a massive upheaval."
"Now they're tearing each other apart. Aren't you going to step in and stop them?"
Xu Rulai asked, "Can it be stopped? At this point, only a great god could suppress them."
Gong Nanfeng said, "Why don't you step in and rescue the five true gods of the Yama Clan? That way, both sides would be evenly matched, and mutual fear might prevent further fighting."
"You just want me to help Zhang Ruochen and the others, don't you?" Xu Rulai said.
"No! I'm thinking of the bigger picture."
Gong Nanfeng's expression turned serious as he scanned the surroundings, his face growing grim. "Because I sense an unknown crisis creeping closer. Where is this place? This is the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. Stirring up such a commotion here will inevitably invite disaster."
Xu Rulai trusted Gong Nanfeng's ability to sense danger and knew the disturbance was indeed too great. Just as he hesitated over whether to intervene, he saw Zhang Ruochen in the distance produce a bronze coffin.
From the coffin, strange creatures flew out.
"Are those… Devouring God Insects?" Xu Rulai said.
The Devouring God Insects Zhang Ruochen had raised, having fed on numerous divine corpses, had fully evolved into the third generation.
"Rustle."
Dense swarms of Devouring God Insects poured out from the coffin's opening, their bodies ablaze with blue flames, brimming with divine-level toxins. There were thousands of them, flying toward the gods of the Darkness Temple and the Nether Hall. The insects emitted strange sounds from their mouths, carrying spiritual attacks.
To a god, a single Devouring God Insect was nothing to fear. But a swarm of them was terrifying beyond measure.
"Devouring God Insects! Devouring God Insects… How could there be such terrifying Devouring God Insects… Ah…"
A false god from the Darkness Temple was engulfed by the swarm and devoured into a skeleton in an instant. Moments later, even the skeleton was gone.
Then, two more screams rang out. The remaining two false gods of the Darkness Temple were also consumed cleanly.
Three false gods couldn't withstand the swarm; instead, they were devoured, lacking even the strength to resist or flee. This horrified the true gods present. Even more shocking was that after consuming the three false gods, the Devouring God Insects grew stronger!
Inside Yun Qing Ancient Buddha's body, the inner space of the bronze coffin couldn't be opened, so Zhang Ruochen had been unable to use this trump card of the Devouring God Insects.
After evolving to the third generation, the swarm's power exceeded Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
Three millstone-sized Devouring God Insects clamped their sharp teeth around three divine source crystals and landed at Zhang Ruochen's feet, handing them over. The divine sources were covered in venom.
Zhang Ruochen accepted the divine sources and waved his hand. The three insects, like obedient pets, flew off again.
Wujiang watched Zhang Ruochen controlling the insect swarm, his eyes fierce. He hadn't expected that, even at his current level of cultivation, he would suffer such a loss at Zhang Ruochen's hands. Three false gods had died right before his eyes.
"Hei Yun, deal with those Devouring God Insects."
Wujiang ordered the lower-ranked god, the Black Lion Divine Beast, then added, "Everyone, unleash your ultimate techniques and divine abilities. We must break the Great Thousand Ice Soul World as quickly as possible."
Zhang Ruochen's strength shattered Wujiang's composed demeanor, finally stirring a hint of urgency in him.
The Ice King's thousand-zhang-long handprint still hung above their heads, proving difficult to breach. Wujiang, Jiang Qing, Yuancang, and Mohe Yan, four divine-level powerhouses, controlled their war artifacts for support while channeling divine energy to unleash powerful techniques.
…
"Roar!"
The Black Lion Divine Beast named Hei Yun stomped its front paws on the ground, releasing its beastly might. It raised its massive head and let out a roaring sound.
As the deafening divine roar echoed, fierce gales followed. It sought to intimidate the lower-level beasts charging toward it with its divine beast's authority.
If this were the Kunlun Realm, such a divine lion's roar would have sent all birds and beasts within a million li cowering in fear. But the Devouring God Insects were nothing like those low-level savage or sacred beasts.
The first generation of Devouring God Insects had been born from the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, feeding on its divine wood. Now evolved to the third generation, how could a mere lower-ranked divine beast intimidate them?
"Chi chi."
Soon, the Black Lion Divine Beast was surrounded by the swarm.
Its divine power was immense, filled with deathly energy, sending the approaching insects flying. Many of them, unable to withstand a true god's attack, had their shells shattered and died on the spot.
But some insects got close to the Black Lion Divine Beast, biting off large chunks of flesh. Venom quickly seeped into its body.
After being bitten by four Devouring God Insects, the Black Lion Divine Beast was drenched in blood. It could no longer endure. Its abdomen turned crimson, releasing astonishing heat.
"Huff!"
It opened its mouth and spewed a torrent of divine fire.
As it breathed fire, its divine body continued to grow. Three zhang tall, ten zhang tall, a hundred zhang tall…
Without any suppression of its power, the Black Lion Divine Beast's maximum form could reach three hundred li in height and seven hundred li in length, its body like a star or moon, capable of crossing star rivers.
Now, its body had grown to a thousand zhang tall, like a towering divine mountain. In this state, even if the Devouring God Insects multiplied tenfold, they couldn't devour it quickly. Meanwhile, it could kill all the insects first.
The Black Lion Divine Beast thought the three false gods who had died earlier were fools—why hadn't they manifested their giant divine forms? Of course, perhaps they simply hadn't had the chance.
"Boom!"
A thunderous crash!
Suddenly, the Black Lion Divine Beast's head exploded into a shower of blood, raining down from the sky.
Then, the massive headless lion body crashed heavily to the ground.
No one knew what had just happened.
Why had the Black Lion Divine Beast's head been blown apart? And it seemed its divine soul had been shattered entirely, leaving it lifeless, devoid of any aura.
The gods who had been fighting all stopped.
One by one, they looked on in shock and suspicion, their divine eyes blazing as they stared incredulously at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's face was grim. He scanned the surroundings and said, "Don't look at me. I didn't kill it. It's here! A big trouble has arrived. Are you satisfied now? You've finally stirred up the taboo of the Ancient Desolate Ruins City."
Using his Wuji Sacred Intent, Zhang Ruochen sensed an incredibly sinister, freezing aura rapidly approaching. But its speed was too fast, as if it were leaping through space, constantly shifting positions. Zhang Ruochen had no idea from which direction it would suddenly strike.
Moreover, his attention had been focused on the Black Lion Divine Beast earlier, and he hadn't seen how its head was shattered.
This was terrifying, enough to inspire fear.
Xiao Hei was also badly shaken, genuinely sensing the threat of death. He had already withdrawn the Great Thousand Ice Soul World and, clutching the Ice Soul Cold Pearl, moved close to Zhang Ruochen.
He knew that Zhang Ruochen had refined the Buddha Emperor's Relic and was protected by the Seventh Patriarch's Sanskrit script. In a critical moment, it might be able to block the unknown creature lurking in the shadows.