Chapter 2820: Killing a God in the Dojo
Only divine qi can activate divine artifacts, unleashing their boundless power.
The greater the quantity and quality of divine qi, the stronger the divine artifact's might. A wisp of divine qi from a Lower Deity might be enough to part a sea, while a wisp from an Upper Deity could split a planet.
The difference is like heaven and earth.
Only when an Eon-level representative steps into the divine realm can they defy the hierarchy and fight across cultivation levels.
Although Zhang Ruochen had not yet achieved martial arts godhood, he had long possessed a half-god body, capable of producing a small amount of divine qi within himself. Moreover, any Supreme Realm Great Saint who could integrate rules into godhood would also have cultivated and stored some divine qi in their body.
Wujiang watched the Nether Realm Kingdom shatter inch by inch, the disdain and arrogance in his eyes gradually fading.
A dark destruction light shot out from the black lightning pattern on his forehead, turning into a slender black beam that struck toward Zhang Ruochen. Its speed was faster than lightning itself.
Zhang Ruochen was well aware of the terror of Wujiang's attack, which his current cultivation could not withstand. So, he immediately summoned his Soul Swords.
"Shua! Shua! Shua..."
Seven Soul Swords flew out from his forehead, colliding with the black beam.
The sound of swords was piercing, and the sword light stood in opposition to the black beam.
The six swords—Anger Sword, Sorrow Sword, Love Sword, Fear Sword, Desire Sword, and Joy Sword—were sent flying upon impact. Only the Hate Sword, with its greatest power, clashed evenly with this divine ability of Wujiang's.
The Hate Sword!
Its power grew stronger the more intense the emotion of hatred.
Even though Zhang Ruochen's hatred for Wujiang was already deep enough, the combined power of the Hate Sword and the other six swords was still far less than the single strike of the Anger Sword against Guisi.
Hatred has its limits, but anger has none.
"Dark Domain Heaven Net."
Seizing the moment, Wujiang recalled the Dark Domain Heaven Net and swung it toward Zhang Ruochen.
Although Zhang Ruochen's seven Soul Swords had surprised him greatly, he was more aware that the real threat was that divine sword.
A divine sword could kill a god!
The Dark Domain Heaven Net flew out, and the icy, piercing dark force descended like nightfall, enveloping Zhang Ruochen.
The temperature within the entire stone temple plummeted.
Zhang Ruochen's divine flame blazed, dispelling the darkness, but he saw a dense mass of metal spikes pressing down upon him. He had just summoned the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror for defense, but before he could activate it, his body was pierced by the metal spikes.
Wujiang breathed a slight sigh of relief, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. "I have to admit, you, this mortal myth, are truly powerful and possess many treasures. But no matter how many treasures or how strong your battle weapons, in the face of an absolute gap in cultivation, they cannot change the outcome."
Not far away, Maha Yan slowly crawled up from a pool of blood.
But the Dark Domain Heaven Net had devoured too much of his divine qi, divine soul, and blood qi, and even his lifespan had been severely drained. At this moment, he was extremely weak, and when he looked at Wujiang, his eyes were filled with fear.
From within the mass of black metal spikes, Zhang Ruochen's voice rang out: "If I hadn't wanted to see what kind of treasure the Dark Domain Heaven Net was, how could it have pierced my physical body?"
Wujiang's eyes narrowed sharply.
Then, Zhang Ruochen, who had been pierced by the Dark Domain Heaven Net, saw each piece of his flesh condense into a doppelganger, pulling away from the attack. The entire stone temple was filled with Zhang Ruochen's figures.
Even Maha Yan was stunned. He had just experienced the terror of the Dark Domain Heaven Net—how could it be so easy to escape?
Wujiang snorted coldly: "The Dark Domain Heaven Net is like a heavenly net and earth trap, endless and boundless. How many doppelgangers can you create?"
Wujiang's divine qi and rule divine patterns had already covered the internal space of the stone temple. Under his control, the Dark Domain Heaven Net grew wildly like a living thing, unpredictable, cold and dangerous, containing the power to destroy all life.
Each of Zhang Ruochen's doppelgangers unleashed a Supreme Sacred Artifact.
The Golden Moon Wheel, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, the Black Gold Heaven-Supporting Pillar, the Soul-Devouring Bell...
These doppelgangers could all be considered true bodies, parts of his physical form.
Under the assault of several Supreme Sacred Artifacts, the black metal spikes and dark force flying from the Dark Domain Heaven Net could not converge, constantly being scattered.
Wujiang and Zhang Ruochen were locked in a fierce battle, evenly matched.
Maha Yan seized this rare opportunity, rushed out of the stone temple, and fled far away. Both Wujiang and Zhang Ruochen were bizarre—despite being much weaker in cultivation than him, they made him, a Middle Deity, feel unable to contend with them.
Of course, the main reason was that he had been too severely injured by the Dark Domain Heaven Net; otherwise, Maha Yan would have wanted to stay and find a chance to finish off both Wujiang and Zhang Ruochen.
"Hua!"
Zhang Ruochen's strongest doppelganger channeled divine qi, swung the divine sword, and cleaved through the darkness.
A bright, crimson sword light pierced through Wujiang's layers of defense, striking his body.
Wujiang's divine robe split open and caught fire, his body sent flying, landing outside the stone temple.
"Retract!"
All of Zhang Ruochen's doppelgangers merged into one, holding the divine sword, surrounded by various Supreme Sacred Artifacts, and stepped out of the stone temple in a single stride. The divine fire radiance of the divine sword and the light of the Supreme Sacred Artifacts' supreme power shone brilliantly, like stars surrounding him.
Zhang Ruochen stood at the entrance of the stone temple and said, "Even though you've reached the divine realm, it doesn't seem like you're anything special."
Wujiang's chest had its skin burned by the sword qi, causing intense pain.
His severed palm still dripped divine blood.
The vitality of a god was indeed powerful; even if blasted apart, they would not die. A god's regenerative abilities were also strong, allowing them to quickly reform their divine body.
But this was an exception when facing a god-killing battle weapon.
A divine artifact was the strongest god-killing weapon.
Wujiang's gaze was sharp as a sword, fixed on Zhang Ruochen, scrutinizing him repeatedly, as if suspecting that Zhang Ruochen had already achieved martial arts godhood. He simply could not believe that Zhang Ruochen, without achieving godhood, could be so powerful.
In the distance, Maha Yan had not managed to escape and was surrounded by a large number of serpent-like strange beasts.
These serpent-like strange beasts also had varying strengths; not every one of them had only pseudo-god-level combat power.
"Don't be too pleased too early. This is the Abyss of Darkness," Wujiang said.
Zhang Ruochen replied, "So what if it's the Abyss of Darkness?"
"The Abyss of Darkness is the territory of dark cultivators. Those who cultivate the path of darkness can unleash combat power far beyond their cultivation level here."
As Wujiang said this, he raised his hands above his head, using the Dark Esoterica to mobilize the dark rules of heaven and earth, drawing them toward him in an endless stream.
Wujiang possessed a vast amount of Dark Esoterica, close to one ten-thousandth, allowing him to mobilize nearly one ten-thousandth of the dark rules in the universe. With this massive amount of Dark Esoterica, he was destined to become a dominant force in the divine realm in the future.
Although his current divine soul strength could not even use one percent or one-thousandth of the power of the Esoterica within him, it was still enough.
Because this was the Abyss of Darkness.
A place where dark rules were most active and dense.
At the edge of the Abyss of Darkness, countless dark rules turned into myriad rivers, rushing into Yinyuetian's dojo, converging toward Wujiang.
Wujiang's aura surged step by step, his body vanishing into the darkness, devouring the light emitted by the divine artifact and Supreme Sacred Artifacts. Endless darkness pressed down upon Zhang Ruochen.
"Zhang Ruochen, you can only blame yourself for having too much Esoterica, too tempting, yet you cannot use it yourself."
Wujiang's voice came from within the darkness.
In an instant, the darkness swallowed Zhang Ruochen, sending all the Supreme Sacred Artifacts flying, scattering to the ground, unable to block Wujiang even for a moment.
The entire stone temple fell silent.
"Weng!"
Like a divine bell being struck, the darkness violently shook.
Threads of golden Buddha light tore through the darkness.
Wujiang let out a miserable scream, flying out like a cannonball, his arms reduced to bloody pulp. The pure power of the Buddha light caused him to ignite, his divine body dissolving into specks of light, breaking apart.
"Buddha Emperor Relic!"
He roared in terror and fury.
Zhang Ruochen's Buddha light spread out for tens of thousands of miles, illuminating a large area of this dark space continent. Seven Ancestor Sanskrit characters surged from his chest, flowing around his body.
At this moment, he was sacred and majestic to the extreme.
Zhang Ruochen said, "With the Buddha Emperor Relic protecting me, do you think your Dark Domain Heaven Net can still harm me?"
The power of the Buddha Emperor Relic was as difficult to refine as the power of the divine sword. Wujiang's arms could not recover. Moreover, the Buddha power was spreading toward his shoulders and chest.
Wujiang had never been so jealous of Zhang Ruochen. Why did all the best treasures in the world fall into his hands?
Zhang Ruochen saw the unwillingness and hatred in his heart and said, "The facts prove that you are no match for me. Not before, not now, and certainly not in the future. If I were you, I would immediately flee and hide in the Darkness Temple, never coming out again. That is your only way to survive."
Wujiang knew he had suffered a great defeat today, and staying here was pointless.
He reached out into the void, intending to recall the Dark Domain Heaven Net.
"Nether Light Curse!"
Zhang Ruochen used the Ten-Thousand-Curse Heavenly Bead to cast a curse, sealing the Dark Domain Heaven Net.
"Zhang Ruochen, you go too far!"
Wujiang roared, veins bulging on his face.
Zhang Ruochen raised the divine sword above his head, channeling divine qi and the "One" character Sword Dao Sacred Intent.
The sword body blazed with divine light, flames soaring to the sky.
Wujiang trembled with rage but ultimately chose to flee, rushing out of Yinyuetian's dojo.
As Wujiang charged out of the dojo, Zhang Ruochen's eyes finally revealed killing intent. He put away the divine sword, took out the dark time-space material sphere, and hurled it in the direction Wujiang had fled.
"Boom!"
Outside the dojo, as the dark time-space material detonated, the three forces of darkness, space, and time erupted wildly.
Time became chaotic, space shattered, and darkness raged.
This vast dark space continent, spanning countless miles, had a corner collapse. Mountains toppled, and tens of thousands of strange beasts died horribly. Only Yinyuetian's dojo, protected by heavenly patterns, remained intact.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen was well aware that using the divine sword could not kill Wujiang.
During this expedition to the Abyss of Darkness, many true gods had fallen, but almost all had died at the hands of Great Gods. The only exception was the Sword God Realm's Lower Deity, Situ Yunlin, who had been killed by the combined efforts of Zhang Ruochen, Chi Yao, and Xue Tu, using the power of Fate Esoterica.
This showed that only Great God-level beings and self-detonating divine sources could kill true gods with relative ease.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen had intended to let Wujiang go, using him as a catalyst to stir up conflict between the Nether Hall and the Darkness Temple. With both enemies fighting each other, he could relax.
But realizing that Wujiang knew too many secrets, he could not let him leave. Thus, he had no choice but to use the dark time-space material to kill him. Although using such a unique and invaluable treasure on Wujiang felt somewhat wasteful, Zhang Ruochen had no other option.
Wujiang, Maha Yan, and a large number of strange beasts all turned into black dust, with no trace of life force remaining.
Zhang Ruochen gazed at the fragmented continental plates before him and the chaotic energy fluctuations, letting out a long, deep sigh.
Even gods—how could they still die?
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen began to understand why, throughout history, so many gods had tirelessly sought immortality.