Chapter 2879: High Spirits and Bold Ambition
“So you’re saying that mere Shang Hong cannot be killed?”
Zhang Ruochen shot a sidelong glance, somewhat displeased.
Blood Butcher said, “Shang Hong is by no means ‘mere.’ You didn’t see his battle with Hai Shangming Palace—it was earth-shattering and soul-stirring, completely overturning the understanding of all the gods who witnessed it regarding upper-level gods. It made me clearly realize what a future God Venerable looks like. Moreover, in that battle, I felt he was still holding back, not fully revealing his abilities.”
“Why all this nonsense? I’ll ask just one question: if my maternal grandfather makes a move, can he kill him? Can he or can’t he?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Blood Butcher was greatly alarmed, truly frightened by these words.
He wanted to invite the War God to act?
“If the Great Clan Leader personally makes a move, of course he can kill him, naturally he can. Behind the Great Clan Leader stands our entire Undying Blood Clan—how could we fear his Shang Tian?”
“Then do you think I can persuade my maternal grandfather?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Blood Butcher said, “You can persuade him, absolutely you can.”
“So if I want Shang Hong dead, is he doomed to die without question?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Blood Butcher dared not refute. He felt in his heart that he, as a disciple of a God Venerable, was far inferior to this third-generation descendant of the Great Clan Leader.
Words like “If I want Shang Hong dead, he is doomed to die without question” were something Blood Butcher couldn’t confidently say even if he cultivated for another hundred thousand years.
Clearing his throat twice, Blood Butcher said awkwardly, “Senior Brother, what exactly is the grudge between you and Shang Hong that requires such a big commotion? Don’t end up triggering a celestial-level battle. Besides, our Undying Blood Clan doesn’t need to take this lead. If it causes a war between the Undying Blood Clan and Paradise Realm, wouldn’t the Upper Three Clans and Middle Three Clans be laughing behind our backs?”
Zhang Ruochen patted Blood Butcher on the shoulder and said with satisfaction, “The fact that you can offer this advice shows that although you’ve joined the Destiny Temple, you still have the Undying Blood Clan in your heart. Very good. I’ve decided to give you a great opportunity.”
Blood Butcher’s eyes lit up. “I knew it—Senior Brother is my true senior brother. What great opportunity?”
“I killed Four-Armor Blood Ancestor.”
Zhang Ruochen took out a blood-red Divine Source and played with it in his palm.
Blood Butcher stared at the Divine Source, secretly shocked. Was this the strength of an Eon-level genius? Was a withered Eon-level genius greater than an Eon-level representative?
Even with his cultivation crippled, killing a mid-level god was still like child’s play.
At least Blood Butcher currently did not have the strength to kill Four-Armor Blood Ancestor.
Blood Butcher gave a thumbs-up, genuinely admiring, and said, “Four-Armor Blood Ancestor was an old-school god at the peak of mid-level godhood with extremely profound cultivation. If this news gets out, Senior Brother’s name will instantly resound across the universe again, enough to intimidate those petty villains who have been badmouthing Senior Brother.”
“The news that I’m still alive cannot be told to anyone. If it leaks…” Zhang Ruochen said.
Blood Butcher said, “Understood. If it leaks, I’ll cut off my own tongue.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Yan God of the Merit Divine Temple, Kailanfeli of the Elf Clan, and Jia Linan of the Radiant Divine Temple are all in this reddish-yellow Gobi. Moreover, I know exactly where they are.”
Blood Butcher caught on immediately. “Senior Brother wants to kill them first, to cut off Shang Hong’s arms?”
“Not me. You.” Zhang Ruochen pointed at him.
Blood Butcher laughed awkwardly. “Senior Brother overestimates me. But the three of them are all old-school mid-level gods, especially Yan God, who can fight one against three. With my early-stage mid-level god cultivation, I wouldn’t dare claim victory even against one of them.”
Cultivating from mid-level god to upper-level god, and from upper-level god to the Great God level, took an extremely long time—often tens of thousands of years, even a hundred thousand.
Thus, mid-level gods would evaluate their own and their opponents’ cultivation levels.
Hence the three minor realms: early stage, middle stage, and peak stage.
Although he had just stepped into the mid-level god realm, Blood Butcher was confident that, relying on the solid foundation he had built during his Saint realm days, he could cross two minor realms and fight against a peak-stage mid-level god.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Yan God, Jia Linan, and Kailanfeli all possess Supreme Sacred Artifacts. Do you want them?”
“I do.” Blood Butcher nodded.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Although you have entered the God realm, you still lack impressive achievements. Don’t you want to step on the names of these three gods and shake the world? In the future, Death God Venerable will surely think more highly of you, won’t he?”
Blood Butcher said, “Senior Brother, what exactly are you thinking? Why not just say it directly?”
“I need you to make a move and capture these three gods. Although you are no match for them, you still have another senior brother!”
Zhang Ruochen waved his sleeve, and a spatial mirror appeared.
On the mirror’s surface, a crow was flying above a sea of clouds.
No matter how fast the crow flew, it could never reach the edge of the cloud sea, trapped within the space.
“Even an upper-level god is trapped? Too strong!” Blood Butcher thought to himself.
He dared not underestimate Zhang Ruochen any longer. He felt that Zhang Ruochen was even more unfathomable than before, with no bottom in sight. If Patriarch Qing hadn’t personally crippled his martial cultivation, who knew how strong he would be by now.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I know that with just you and Ancient Crow, you still cannot hold onto the three gods. I will assist from the shadows.”
“With Senior Brother personally acting, this matter is sure to succeed.”
Blood Butcher said, “But the gods of the Hell Realm and Heavenly Court have all made promises to White Queen that they will not bring grudges and war to Xinghuantian, and will absolutely not trigger a divine war. Capturing the three gods will surely anger the Heavenly Court’s gods, and White Queen won’t be able to explain it.”
“I’ll take care of everything. What are you afraid of? As the Divine Envoy of Heavenly Mother, am I not qualified to sit on equal footing with White Queen? Isn’t the name of Heavenly Mother enough to use as an explanation?” Zhang Ruochen’s voice turned cold, wanting to send Blood Butcher off quickly to stop him from asking more questions.
“Understood! Now I fully understand! Senior Brother, rest assured, leave it to your junior brother.”
Under Zhang Ruochen’s clever arrangement, Blood Butcher left the Space Divine Formation and rendezvoused with Ancient Crow.
The two gods joined forces, broke through the Space Divine Formation, and escaped.
“This place is too dangerous. I can’t stay any longer. Once my cultivation reaches the Great God level, I’ll come back to investigate.”
Blood Butcher said this, then together with Ancient Crow, retreated along the route Zhang Ruochen had pre-planned, heading toward the Four-Star Oasis.
Bai Qinger’s graceful, immortal-like figure emerged from behind Zhang Ruochen. “You cannot kill Shang Hong.”
Zhang Ruochen knew the concerns in her heart and said, “This doesn’t sound like the Bai Qinger I know.”
“Times change. Now the war between Heavenly Court and Hell Realm has erupted in full force, raging like wildfire. Xinghuantian could be annihilated in the flames of war at any moment. With concerns in one’s heart, one naturally becomes more cautious in action.” Bai Qinger said.
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen instead smiled with relief.
A person with concerns, someone who can restrain themselves for the sake of a realm’s living beings—that is a person with feelings, with flesh and blood.
If Bai Qinger were a heartless and selfish person, Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t be going out of his way to confront Shang Hong for her sake now.
No matter how clever Bai Qinger was, she couldn’t guess that Zhang Ruochen was doing all this for her.
She said, “But having Blood Butcher and Ancient Crow capture the three gods of Paradise Realm is a clever move. You can use the power of the Destiny Temple to lure Shang Hong out of Xinghuantian, then kill him.”
If Shang Hong died outside Xinghuantian, it would naturally have nothing to do with the Goddess Twelve Pavilions.
“Are you really planning to invite Blood Absolute War God here? If he comes to Xinghuantian, he will inevitably attract a War God from the Heavenly Court side.” Bai Qinger reminded him.
Zhang Ruochen curled his lips, as if holding a winning strategy: “To kill Shang Hong, I have a better candidate. Come, let’s go take a look. Capturing three gods is harder than killing three gods. I’ll need you to make a move.”
“If you want my help, that’s fine, but you have to tell me the real reason you must kill Shang Hong.” Bai Qinger keenly sensed that there must be a deeper secret behind this.
Otherwise, the low-profile Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t need to do something that was bound to ignite a major event across the world.
“Because of you! On Xinghuantian, the only god you personally received was him. The more I think about it, the angrier I get.”
Zhang Ruochen floated up and rode the wind away.
Bai Qinger was slightly stunned, then a look of disdain appeared in her eyes. She knew Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to tell the truth and was deliberately brushing her off like this.
If it were Luo Sha, upon hearing these words, even knowing Zhang Ruochen was talking nonsense, she would still be very happy.
But Bai Qinger had this kind of aloof personality. She only found him childish, not as steady as when he was older. Of course, she could also understand that Zhang Ruochen, having survived a desperate situation, was bound to be in high spirits and bold, and his mentality would inevitably change compared to before.
The so-called Four-Star Oasis referred to four connected oases in the reddish-yellow Gobi.
After nightfall, various spatial techniques that the late Master Fangcun had arranged all manifested. The area around the oasis was fraught with danger, and space extended dramatically.
Yan God, Jia Linan, and Kailanfeli went out one after another to investigate, but after flying millions of miles, they still couldn’t leave the Gobi. In the end, they discovered they were just circling around the Four-Star Oasis.
Bai Qinger had Turtle Lord bring them here with the intention of trapping them and making other plans.
“Turtle Lord, your spatial attainments are profound. Think of a way quickly!” Yan God said.
Turtle Lord was entirely emerald green, crystal clear, and said, “No… no… no…”
“Forget it!”
Yan God waved his hand. By the time it finished a complete sentence, the sky would already be bright!
“Boom!”
In the western sky, the earth burned with divine fire, illuminating the heavens in a blazing blaze.
Powerful divine energy fluctuations stirred up thick layers of sand and dust across the Gobi.
“Not good, Jia Linan has encountered a god from the Hell Realm.”
Yan God’s figure vanished from where he stood.
Turtle Lord was about to move and chase after him, but Bai Qinger’s voice sounded in his ear: “Don’t go. Let them fight.”
Bai Qinger and Zhang Ruochen walked out from behind Turtle Lord.
Ten thousand miles away, Blood Butcher and Ancient Crow had encountered Jia Linan.
Gods of the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm were naturally irreconcilable. Seeing a lone god from the Heavenly Court, instigated by Blood Butcher, how could Ancient Crow let go of this rare opportunity?
With Ancient Crow’s upper-level god cultivation, he released his Divine Realm World and instantly swept Jia Linan into it.
By the time Yan God arrived, Jia Linan had already manifested his giant divine body, covered in wounds, with an arm severed. The Supreme Sacred Artifact war sword in his hand had been snatched away by Blood Butcher, who had struck by surprise.