Chapter 2806: Zen Maiden? Chi Yao?
The Dark Domain Heavenly Net was an ancient secret treasure of the Darkness Temple, held by many deities over the ages. Since ancient times, across endless years, it had suppressed and killed more than ten deities.
The black metal box seemed alive, flying out metal pillars one after another.
The metal pillars were sharp as knives, pointed as spears, growing larger and more numerous, the dark force growing stronger.
"Ooo!"
"Roar!"
...
From the "Seven Fiend Formation Diagram," seven divine beasts charged out in succession.
The Black Wolf, Crimson Tiger, Cloud Listener, Sky-Treader, Phoenix-Tailed Vulture, Mountain-Piercing Silver Moon Armor, and the most powerful, the Single-Horned Li Dragon. Each was more massive than the last, their ferocious might wild and violent, colliding with the Dark Domain Heavenly Net formed by the black metal box.
At the same time, Xue Tu, Xiao Hei, and Chi Yao each unleashed their own methods, attacking the enemy.
Xue Tu's divine body swelled greatly, spitting divine fire from his mouth, turning the earth into a sea of flames.
Chi Yao swung the Fate Determination Staff, the two forces of light and darkness twisting together like a black and white divine dragon, surging outward simultaneously.
Jiang Qing and Mohe Yan remained unflustered, each taking a step back.
Master Qu You's figure, however, stepped forward. Her form was like a shadowy phantom, standing there without any visible technique, yet the scorching divine fire and the forces of light and darkness, at a distance of ten zhang from her, seemed to collide with an invisible wall.
"Bang, bang."
The divine fire exploded, turning into clusters of flames scattering in all directions.
The forces of light and darkness shattered and split, turning into black and white light mist.
Xue Tu and Chi Yao were struck as if by a heavy blow, flying backward like kites with broken strings.
"This is too strong, her spiritual power is at least at the seventy-fourth rank." This thought flashed through Xue Tu's mind, and the next moment he crashed to the ground, rolling like a gourd and ending up covered in dust.
Chi Yao, with her stronger cultivation, was not so disheveled. She landed on the ground and stabilized herself, but divine blood spilled from her mouth.
One of Master Qu You's gaseous arms condensed, her fingers drawing talisman patterns. In an instant, this entire world seemed to turn into her talisman paper, with lines appearing everywhere.
She was drawing a vicious killing talisman, intending to directly suppress all the cultivators opposite her.
"Oh?"
Master Qu You sensed something, finding that the surroundings had turned icy and snowy, with heavy snow falling. Above, a figure radiating majestic divine might was looking down at her.
It was the Ice Emperor's phantom formed from the condensation of the God Venerable's divine patterns.
The Ice Emperor's phantom pressed down with one palm, the hand like the sky, the cold air surging, the wind and snow biting, the divine might shaking the soul. Xiao Hei's voice sounded from within the phantom: "This Emperor is here; even the so-called Twelve Spirit Gods must die."
Master Qu You raised her hand, and the completed vicious killing talisman rose slowly, imprinting toward the Ice Emperor's phantom.
Chi Yao knew very well that Master Qu You was their most powerful enemy, and she had to be severely wounded first for them to have a chance of victory today.
"Shua!"
A divine light flew out, appearing in her hand.
It looked like a rod, covered in rust.
It was the Sixth of the Six Divine Swords.
The Sixth had been corroded the most severely, its blade edge gone, resembling a yellowish-brown rusted iron bar.
"Today is extremely perilous; help me kill the enemy?" Chi Yao used her spiritual power to communicate with the Sixth's sword spirit.
The Sixth's sword spirit refused, saying, "I am a divine sword, I only help my master. You are not my master."
Chi Yao knew it was referring to Zhang Ruochen as its master, and said, "Helping me is helping your master."
"No, you are deceiving him. You and my master are enemies." As a divine sword's spirit, the Sixth's sword spirit was immensely proud, recognizing only Zhang Ruochen as its master. No other cultivator could command it.
Chi Yao did not want to waste more time arguing with it. She sealed the sword spirit again, lifted the sword, and charged into the Great Thousand Ice Soul World, swinging it at Master Qu You.
Even a divine artifact with its spirit sealed possessed unparalleled power.
Master Qu You, who was resisting the Ice Emperor's phantom, was forced back by Chi Yao's sword strike, which broke through her spiritual power field.
Mohe Yan unleashed a pagoda, which grew to a hundred zhang high. Divine lightning and thunder surged from its peak, crashing toward Chi Yao.
"Hua—"
Chi Yao swung her sword, and Mohe Yan's strongest battle weapon was split in two like tofu by the divine sword's light. The sword light extended all the way to Mohe Yan, blood splattering as it severed one of his arms.
The divine sword's light was utterly unstoppable.
"What kind of battle weapon is this? It kills gods and Buddhas alike."
Xue Tu climbed up from the ground, his eyes burning with desire.
The cultivators of the Yama Clan all made their moves, supporting the "Seven Fiend Formation Diagram."
Taking this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen withdrew, his gaze falling on Chi Yao, who was attacking Master Qu You. He muttered to himself, "Finally stopped hiding?"
As the two sides fought fiercely, the glazed light curtain of the Heavenly Gate trembled slightly, and Gui Si and Tianque Shenji broke in.
Gui Si was an upper-level god who had lived for countless years. His gaze fell on the Wu Hall and the Nine Cauldrons, and he immediately sensed something was amiss. Then, ecstatic, he knew he had come to the right place, and today there would be a tremendous opportunity.
"Let them weaken each other, then we'll finish off the survivors. Everything here will belong to us." Gui Si transmitted his voice to Tianque Shenji, saying this.
The arrival of Gui Si and Tianque Shenji made Zhang Ruochen, who had been about to deal with Master Qu You, hesitate to act rashly.
Yan Wushen transmitted to Zhang Ruochen, "If this drags on, it will be disadvantageous for us. Let's retreat first, stall for time. Once the true gods of the Yama Clan arrive, we can turn the tables."
Zhang Ruochen thought the same. If the six true gods of the Yama Clan arrived, even if Gui Si, Tianque Shenji, and Wujiang joined forces, what was there to fear?
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to transmit to Chi Yao and Xiao Hei, another fluctuation came from the Heavenly Gate.
"Amitabha!"
Hai Shui, dressed in a green robe, her demeanor soft and beautiful, stepped across the glazed light curtain, appearing in everyone's sight. Her skin was like divine jade, flowing with a holy white radiance.
"Senior Brother, it's the little nun. She seems to have reached the divine realm too, her aura completely different from before."
Xue Tu's eyes were fixed on Hai Shui, unable to look away. Indeed, Hai Shui at this moment was so stunningly beautiful that she could tempt a Buddha to break his precepts and make even the divine fall into obsession.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was also fixed on Hai Shui, but filled with wariness.
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
Hai Shui waved her sleeve, and a flash of Buddha light passed.
The six true gods of the Yama Clan flew out from her sleeve, each one bloodied, with patterns like dragons and snakes writhing on their bodies, causing their forms to bulge and sink in places. They seemed to be enduring immense pain, their bodies curled up, trembling, emitting low groans.
The infatuation in Xue Tu's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by shock and disbelief.
What was going on?
How had the six true gods of the Yama Clan, including the upper-level god Qian Kong, all flown out from the little nun's sleeve? Who had wounded them?
Xue Tu's mind went blank; for a moment, he couldn't process it.
Not only him, but the Yama Clan members, Gui Si, and Tianque Shenji all changed expression drastically.
Chi Yao, Xiao Hei, Wujiang, and Master Qu You, who had been in combat, all stopped and retreated.
Xiao Hei muttered, "The little nun has a problem, a big problem. Could she be possessed by some ghostly strange beast?"
"She is no nun at all, but a great god. The one Wujiang mentioned who has been using Zhang Ruochen all along should be her. Truly a master. Not only is her cultivation high, but her methods are also formidable." Chi Yao said.
Hai Shui said, "The six of them are all under the Life-Death Curse. If I want them to live, they live. If I want them to die, they die immediately. Senior Brother Ruochen, do you want them to live or die?"
Zhang Ruochen met her gaze and sighed, "I have calculated this scene countless times in my mind. But I always hoped it would never come to pass. Who are you, really?"
"Answer my question first."
Hai Shui waved her sleeve, and the divine bodies of the six Yama Clan true gods began to fester on a large scale, their surfaces turning into a bloody mess, rotting toward their internal organs and divine seas.
Their screams grew louder and more miserable.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and said, "Speak. How can you let them go?"
"Their lives or deaths mean nothing to me. As long as you agree to come with me now and do everything I say, I will spare them." Hai Shui said.
"Fine. I agree." Zhang Ruochen said.
Chi Yao said, "You can't agree to her."
Hai Shui shot a glance at her, and Chi Yao flew backward, crashing heavily toward the Wu Hall, her body smashing into the first hill, buried by earth and stone.
Hai Shui reached out with a virtual grab, and the yellowish-brown iron bar that had fallen from Chi Yao's hand flew into her own.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze turned ice-cold.
Hai Shui toyed with the yellowish-brown iron bar in her hand, saying, "Senior Brother Ruochen's Anger Sword is very powerful; it should be inherited from the Sword Ancestor. But if you think you can kill me, you are likely misjudging my cultivation."
Jiang Qing stood behind Hai Shui, speaking with utmost respect, "The Zen Maiden is a descendant of Yinsuetian's bloodline and the future Hall Master of the Nether Hall. Not to mention everyone present, even if the Blood Absolute War God, the Great Clan Chief of the Blood Heaven Tribe, were to come in person, he might not be able to do anything to the Zen Maiden, Your Highness."
The cultivators present, including the gods, all felt suffocated.
Zhang Ruochen knew it was very dangerous to approach the Wu Hall, but he still rushed forward without hesitation, heading toward where Chi Yao had fallen.
"Ah..."
Behind him, a Yama Clan god let out a miserable scream.
His divine body exploded into a mist of blood, leaving only a head.
Hai Shui said, "Senior Brother Ruochen, do you really think you have any bargaining chips before me? I gave you a choice, not because you have the strength, but because I don't want unnecessary complications."
Hai Shui's voice pressed down on Zhang Ruochen like mountains, making it impossible for him to take another step.
Zhang Ruochen sensed Chi Yao's life aura beneath the earth, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, I'll go with you. But you must promise not to harm any of them."
"My target was never them."
Hai Shui stepped forward, heading toward the direction from which the fragrance of the Udumbara Flower came. As she passed by Gui Si and Tianque Shenji, the two gods immediately bowed and retreated to make way.
Facing a great god, and such a ruthless one at that, who could not be in awe?
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei understood, more serious than ever before, saying, "Don't worry, leave this to this Emperor. I'll go save her. Be careful of the little nun!"
In truth, Xiao Hei knew that telling Zhang Ruochen to be careful was useless. Hai Shui's cultivation was unfathomable, far stronger than even the great god Jin Ju.
Only a God Venerable's arrival could suppress such a figure.