Chapter 2869: Crumbling Temple
The fall of Wuma Jiuxing and the Demon Eye sent shockwaves through Xinghuantian, casting a bloody shadow over the once-lively Linglong Assembly.
"When a god falls, the sky turns blood-red for tens of thousands of miles, blood rain falls upon the earth, and every blade in the world wails in unison. It's unimaginable—the one who fell was Wuma Jiuxing. A thousand years ago, he was an undefeated existence in the mortal world!"
"Who in the world was the god-slayer?"
"Word has it, it was an old man with heaven-reaching cultivation, mysterious origins, and unfathomable power."
...
"The Blade Venerable has finally been provoked. He issued a divine decree: whoever kills that old man shall become his Divine Envoy."
"Someone like the Blade Venerable—even upper-level gods might make a move just for the title of Divine Envoy. Just wait and see; a divine war is bound to erupt in Xinghuantian next."
Zhang Ruochen walked down the long street, voices of discussion drifting in from all directions.
Some debated the Linglong Assembly five days away; others discussed the divine fall.
Some sang the legends of peerless powerhouses like Shang Hong, Yu Taizhen, and Hai Shangminggong; others recounted the beauty of the pavilion masters in the Goddess Twelve Pavilions.
The identity of the Blade Venerable's Divine Envoy was, naturally, a tremendous temptation.
Once one became a god's Divine Envoy, within a certain star domain, they could borrow the god's power for their own use.
In other words, becoming the Blade Venerable's Divine Envoy meant borrowing part of his divine power. This was tempting not only for Heaven-Mending Realm gods but even for some Great Gods.
Moreover, if a Divine Envoy faced danger, the divine master could sense it and intervene to save them—provided the distance wasn't too great. Otherwise, even the master couldn't help, and borrowed power couldn't reach.
Take Zhang Ruochen, for example. Though he was the Heavenly Mother's Divine Envoy, he couldn't borrow her divine power from the Abyss of Darkness. It was merely a title.
But when he served as the Moon God's Divine Envoy, he could directly use her divine power.
Having accepted Bai Qinger's invitation, no matter how dangerous, Zhang Ruochen had to leave Weiming Manor. He couldn't be intimidated by a Shang Hong.
Crossing street after street, he exited the west city gate and headed straight for the Yuhong Mountain Range, three thousand li away.
With his powerful spiritual power, he concealed his aura, appearing as an ordinary mortal. Even strolling boldly through the streets, ordinary gods couldn't sense him.
The Yuhong Mountain Range, the oldest mountain range near the First Divine Maiden City, stretched five thousand li from south to north, like a barrier blocking the boundless western ocean.
Because of its proximity to the ocean, the range was thick with moisture and rain, often adorned with rainbow light spanning forests and great peaks.
Thus, it was named "Yuhong"—Rainbow.
Close to the First Divine Maiden City and at the edge of a divine vein, the mountains were rich in divine qi, making them an excellent cultivation ground. They nurtured tree spirits, stone men, flower demons, and other beings, with sacred medicines growing in deep valleys and abysses.
As the sun climbed higher, Zhang Ruochen ascended a peak and finally spotted a desolate area within the range.
Amid the lush mountains lay a stretch of red earth, the air gray and hazy, obscuring the spatial layout deeper within. At the edges, craters dozens of li in diameter dotted the ground, their origins unknown and sight chilling.
With a flicker, Zhang Ruochen arrived at the edge of the red earth, where powerful divine patterns appeared before him.
These patterns were formless and invisible, merging with the world's rules, detectable only through spiritual power.
"As expected of a great world that once birthed a Heavenly Venerable—extraordinary places are plentiful."
Without deliberately touching the divine patterns, Zhang Ruochen relied on his spiritual power and the Heart of Truth to sense them, avoiding them as he ventured deeper into the red earth.
The crumbling temple Bai Qinger mentioned should lie at the heart of this area.
Here, the weather was scorching, with air temperatures exceeding five hundred degrees. An ordinary person entering would feel like jumping into a boiling oil cauldron.
The deeper he went, the hotter it became.
Zhang Ruochen, sensitive to spatial forces, noticed that the space rules here were highly active, showing signs of artificial modification. Phenomena like spatial reversal, spatial folding, and spatial collapse were evident.
After walking for an unknown time, just before noon, Zhang Ruochen spotted a largely collapsed temple. Only a few dilapidated structures still stood.
Outside the temple, thorny plants with broad green leaves grew, glaringly bright against the red-yellow earth.
Among the thorns stood rows of tombstones.
Cracks ran across the tombstones, weathered until their inscriptions were illegible.
The temple gate consisted of two stone pillars and a crossbeam.
On the crossbeam hung white bones, crystalline and translucent, unrotted for ten thousand years—Great Saint bones.
Thorny vines coiled around the stone pillars, climbing to the crossbeam to suspend these bones. Whether the thorns killed them or other dangers lurked was unclear.
The old yellow ox grew uneasy, pawing the ground, unwilling to proceed.
"What's there to fear? I'm here."
Zhang Ruochen tugged the rope, approaching the gate step by step.
The surrounding thorns, like green serpents, slithered across the ground, slowly closing in.
"Back off, or I'll burn you all."
Zhang Ruochen released his divine might, and a surge of energy burst from him, kicking up sand and stones. The thorns, as if intelligent, quickly retreated into the forest of tombstones, no longer baring their fangs.
The moment he crossed the gate, Zhang Ruochen felt the world spin violently. Space shifted fiercely, as if trying to drag him into the earth's core or tear him apart.
Fortunately, his deep understanding of space allowed him to sense the danger and retreat swiftly.
Above, the white bones on the crossbeam rattled, creaking.
Zhang Ruochen walked to the right stone pillar and touched it.
"Whoosh!"
Spatial array inscriptions emerged on the pillar.
"Such profound spatial arrays—who set them up?"
Zhang Ruochen examined them closely, growing increasingly astonished. He recognized the array as the Star Gate Subdue Kun Formation, one of the Nine Yin Escape Formations.
The Space-Time Secret Scripture left by Xumi Saint Monk recorded both the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Escape Formations.
These were divine arrays among spatial formations.
Could Xumi Saint Monk have set up this array here?
Though only one of the Nine Yin Escape Formations, the Star Gate Subdue Kun Formation was immensely powerful, capable of trapping and killing gods.
Zhang Ruochen could easily withdraw because of his deep spatial understanding, his study of the Nine Yin Formations, and the array's age—its spatial inscriptions had weakened over time.
As he studied the spatial array on the stone gate, noon arrived unnoticed.
The sun shone directly overhead, erasing all shadows.
Rustling sounds came from the thorn thicket.
Tombstones slowly rose, the ground cracked, and gray death qi seeped out.
Though it was noon—the peak of yang energy—the place turned eerie and cold. Temperatures above a thousand degrees plummeted, bringing a bone-chilling cold.
From the collapsed temple ruins came a strange song, like a young woman chanting, but ethereal, hollow, and sinister, conjuring images of a hideous female ghost singing and dancing within.
Zhang Ruochen had dealt with the Ghost Clan many times, but even he felt a creeping dread.
He tried sensing with his spiritual power, but the spatial array blocked him. He called out, "Miss Bai, are you in there?"
No response.
The song grew clearer, carrying a hypnotic force that filled Zhang Ruochen's vision with thick mist.
"Thousand Stars Aligned!"
"Thousand Stars Aligned!"
...
A hoarse voice rose from underground, deep and repetitive, muttering those four words.
The old yellow ox trembled in fear, unable to help blurting out, "Run! Run! Run..."
Zhang Ruochen glanced at it in surprise, then peered underground with his divine eyes, condensing his spiritual power into sound, and asked, "What does 'Thousand Stars Aligned' mean? Who are you?"
"Run! Run! Run..."
The old yellow ox went wild, kicking frantically, whether in fear or excitement unclear. But it couldn't break free from Zhang Ruochen's grip.
Just then, the divine patterns in the red earth were triggered by some force.
"Boom!"
In the distance, divine fire erupted from underground, accompanied by powerful divine energy fluctuations.
"A god has intruded here."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened. Ignoring the disturbance, he stepped back, hiding within the Star Gate Subdue Kun Formation. He had thoroughly studied the spatial array earlier.
Moments later, four beams of divine light, radiating powerful auras, flew over and landed outside the temple gate.
They were the Paradise Realm faction's Four-Armor Blood Ancestor, Yan God, Kailan Feili, and Jia Linnan.
Zhang Ruochen had seen them before, all following Heavenly Grandson Shang Hong. Each had profound cultivation and overwhelming divine might, far surpassing newly ascended gods.
The Four-Armor Blood Ancestor's divine body was charred, smoke rising from his head.
Clearly, he had triggered the divine patterns earlier and been struck by divine fire.
"Why are they here?"
Zhang Ruochen had a bad feeling.
The four gods surveyed their surroundings, as if searching for something.
"This cursed place feels off—eerie, like something's about to crawl out of the ground."
"Do you hear that faint singing?"
"What's there to fear? We've faced Ghost Clan gods without flinching. Why fear a few wandering souls here?"
Yan God stepped under the gate, using his divine eyes to peer into the collapsed temple, and said, "Is the information accurate? Is that old man really hiding here?"
"The information came from Bai Qinger herself, told directly to the Heavenly Grandson. How could it be false?" Jia Linnan, an Angel Clan god with a handsome face and white wings glowing with divine light, purified the surrounding gray death qi.
The Four-Armor Blood Ancestor laughed heartily, "Many gods visited Bai Qinger, but she only saw the Heavenly Grandson and revealed the old man's hiding place to him. Clearly, she hopes the Heavenly Grandson can seize the Heavenly Venerable Gauze and marry her."
"The Heavenly Grandson defeated Hai Shangminggong, unmatched in this eon. As Shang Tian's grandson, if I were Bai Qinger, I'd choose him too," Kailan Feili said.
Yan God grew cautious, releasing his divine realm world, and said, "Everyone, be careful. The old man's residual aura is indeed here. He's likely hiding nearby."