# Chapter 2896: The Story of Desolate Heaven
Desolate Heaven's Divine Realm World was a place of extremes—one side desolate and pitch-black, filled with deathly aura, with void power flowing through it like rivers; the other side featured green mountains and clear waters, with spirit birds soaring, resembling a paradise.
Zhang Ruochen had never seen such an extreme Divine Realm World.
This represented not only the extreme conflict of the divine paths Desolate Heaven cultivated, but also the state of his inner heart.
"Boom!"
A thunderous sound came from above.
Zhang Ruochen looked up and saw a fist the size of a celestial star colliding with a golden giant hand. Through the atmospheric layer of the Divine Realm World, he could only see the shadows of the fist and hand, along with torn space.
Xinghuantian and Moyan Star were separated by billions of miles. Each strike between Desolate Heaven and Duotian Divine Emperor crossed spatial meridians, clashing across distant star domains.
A strange thing happened—mirror images appeared in the sky of the Divine Realm World.
An ancient Buddha with a towering figure sat by a lakeside chanting sutras, seated on a dazzling golden lotus. Though it was merely an image, Zhang Ruochen could actually hear the Sanskrit sounds, and heaven and earth felt peaceful and harmonious.
From the death-aura-filled side of the Divine Realm World, a tall, robust figure walked out, saying: "Yuanxu Ancient Buddha's Buddhist Dharma attainments are profound. He once listened to the Sixth Patriarch's teachings on Zen, and has great hope of becoming a Buddhist Divine Venerable."
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen could make out his features—eyebrows like green peaks, eyes like paired swords, exuding a shocking, sinister aura, like a peerless demon walking through the darkness.
Though it was his first time seeing his true appearance, Zhang Ruochen instantly judged that this was Desolate Heaven.
Involuntarily, Zhang Ruochen's gaze turned outward, beyond the Divine Realm World. He seemed to want to determine whether the figure before him was Desolate Heaven's true self, or the "Xue Jue War God" outside who was clashing with Duotian Divine Emperor from afar.
The demon-like man said: "Don't bother looking. This is the Divine Realm World. The mirror images in the sky are manifestations of my current thoughts. Including myself—I am merely a thought."
Zhang Ruochen found it difficult to regard the Desolate Heaven standing before him as merely a thought. He was so real, his presence so powerful.
At that moment, in the sky's mirror images:
A white stone glowing with treasure light flew up from the lake and landed in the ancient Buddha's hand.
Zhang Ruochen's attention was drawn to it. He said: "Is he your master, Yuanxu Ancient Buddha?"
The demon-like man said: "I listened to my master's teachings for eighty thousand years, and finally transformed from a stubborn stone into a small stone person. The stone person was naive and mischievous, often causing trouble in the Western Buddha Realm—either knocking over lamps or burning down Buddhist pavilions."
"My master said my mind had not yet awakened. I needed to cultivate a physical body and understand the true meaning of life before I could know the seven emotions and six desires, and achieve the Great Vehicle Buddha."
As he spoke, images appeared in the sky.
From beyond the heavens, collision sounds continued to ring out, divine power surging, but unable to breach the Divine Realm World.
A smile appeared in the demon-like man's eyes: "My master took me to the Stone Realm, where I cultivated and comprehended together with the Stone Clan cultivators. My spiritual insight was extremely high, my talent unmatched. I soon cultivated a physical body, reached the Great Saint realm, and returned to the Saint Realm to continue cultivation."
"In the Saint Realm, I accidentally trespassed into the Saint Clan's forbidden grounds and nearly died. But I also met a woman I could never forget in this lifetime. Her name was Yu Baiwei. She had already stepped into the divine realm, descending like a banished immortal from the mortal world, and then deeply engraved herself into the sea of my heart."
In the sky's mirror images, the figure of Bai Huanghou appeared, descending from the heavens, swinging her divine sword to slay all the cyan-scaled fierce beasts surrounding Desolate Heaven.
She looked as if she were only seventeen or eighteen years old then, her black hair flowing, ethereal and misty, truly as beautiful as a peerless celestial spirit.
Zhang Ruochen understood clearly that the demon-like Desolate Heaven before him, along with the scenes in the sky, were all manifestations of Desolate Heaven's turbulent emotions after encountering Duotian Divine Emperor.
He knew this battle might end in mutual destruction.
So, in his heart, he was recalling the past.
All sorts of past events, like images, continuously appeared in the Divine Realm World.
After a long silence, the demon-like man laughed with extreme happiness: "She and I fell in love! When I crossed the Sea of Truth, she stood by the shore watching me."
"When I went to the Merit Battlefield, she made me her Divine Envoy, allowing me to borrow her divine power in life-or-death crises."
"At Wuding Divine Sea, when Xue Jue defeated all the Great Saints of the Heavenly Court, it was she who invited me to make a move. That was the most exhilarating battle I ever fought—not only because I met Xue Jue as an opponent, but because I knew I absolutely could not let her down."
"Later, on the Merit Battlefield, I finally stepped into the divine realm."
"I was overjoyed. Finally, I could go to the Saint Clan with a dignified status to propose marriage, and could marry her with glory. By the way, at that time, the Saint Clan had already changed its name to the God-Defying Clan, and the Saint Realm had already changed its name to the Heavenly Court."
"On the way back to the Heavenly Court, I met an old man. He claimed to be the number one strongman of the Stone Clan in the current world, calling himself Shi Zu."
"How could I not know Shi Zu? He was the patriarch of the Stone Clan, one of the Upper Three Clans of the Hell Realm."
"He was the Stone Clan cultivator I hated most. In his philosophy, there was only slaughter and destruction. He wanted all living beings in the world to perish—utterly insane. How desolate and lonely would such a world be? No worldly fireworks, no laughter and joy, only cold, lifeless stones."
"He wanted me to become his disciple. Naturally, I dismissed him with contempt."
In the sky, an image appeared of Desolate Heaven swinging an axe, slashing at Shi Zu.
Zhang Ruochen continued listening, and suddenly noticed that the demon-like man standing across from him was shedding tears.
After a long time, the demon-like man finally spoke: "But he actually guessed that I was returning to the Heavenly Court to propose to the God-Defying Clan. He told me that the God-Defying Clan had been abandoned by the Heavenly Court and was about to be exterminated."
"How could I believe his words?"
"But after all, he was Shi Zu! An existence like him should not casually fabricate lies to deceive a new god like me. Moreover, he did not forcibly take me away or kill me—he let me leave."
"True or false, I had to rush back to the Heavenly Court immediately, to the God-Defying Clan, to tell Baiwei this news."
"On the way, I met my master. I was overjoyed and immediately told him about encountering Shi Zu."
In the sky, an image appeared of Desolate Heaven and Yuanxu Ancient Buddha conversing.
The demon-like man said: "My master told me this was Shi Zu's scheme to sow discord, and I must not believe it."
"I thought so too. How could the Heavenly Court abandon the God-Defying Clan? If not for Da Zhanglao stepping forward, there would never have been a Heavenly Court. Moreover, the Heavenly Court was originally the God-Defying Clan's territory, their ancestral land."
"At that time, the divine war in the Kunlun Realm was raging fiercely. The Heavenly Court and Hell suffered heavy casualties, with gods falling every day."
"My master told me I could turn the tables—pretend to be disheartened and defect to Shi Zu. Then, set a trap in the Kunlun Realm, using Shi Zu to lure the Hell gods there and annihilate them all. This would surely overturn the entire battlefield, and I would accumulate boundless merit, saving billions of living beings."
"But how could Shi Zu, so shrewd, be easily deceived?"
"My master took me to the Kunlun Realm to discuss the grand plan with the Kunlun gods."
"By then, the Kunlun Realm was already shattered. Wen Tianjun's blood stained the Yellow Spring Star River, Yunshen Daozhu was imprisoned in the Destiny Temple, Biluozi died in the Endless Abyss, the Dragon Lord's life or death was unknown... They had no other choice but to make this final desperate gamble."
"In the end, the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree decided that the heavenly earthly spiritual root must be destroyed for the Hell Realm to take the bait."
"So, I went to defect to Shi Zu, telling him I was utterly disgusted with the Heavenly Court's abandonment of the God-Defying Clan and was completely disheartened. I told him the plan to cut down the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree. The Hell Realm had also suffered heavy losses at the time, and upon learning of this plan, they were naturally overjoyed."
"Shi Zu cut off one of his own arms, refined it into a stone axe, and gave it to me. He told me that with this axe, I could unleash a full-force strike from him, enough to guarantee success."
Suddenly, the demon-like man fell silent.
Zhang Ruochen already had a very clear understanding of what happened in the Kunlun Realm one hundred thousand years ago, and naturally knew what happened afterward. So, he did not ask questions, waiting quietly.
"Boom!"
A thunderous sound came from the sky. Desolate Heaven and Duotian Divine Emperor had already clashed across space countless times.
The demon-like man seemed startled awake. He looked up, his face covered in tears, and let out a hoarse roar: "The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was cut down, but the Hell gods never fell for the trap. Shi Zu was only using me!"
"Instead, the three forces—the Kunlun Realm, the Heavenly Court, and Hell—all became eerily strange."
"The Hell gods did not fall for the trap. The Heavenly Court gods did not come to ambush. In the end, only Xumi Saint Monk sat alone in the starry sky, guarding the Kunlun Realm. I stood in the Kunlun Realm, watching with my own eyes as he achieved the Ten Thousand Buddhas paying homage, breaking through to become a Buddha Ancestor, and also watching with my own eyes as he fell."
"Before he fell, he sent me out of the Kunlun Realm. From then on, the Kunlun Realm was sealed."
"I was lost, with countless questions in my heart. I had to rush back to the Heavenly Court. I had to ask my master what had happened? Why? Why did it turn out like this?"
"Why didn't the Hell gods fall for the trap?"
"Why didn't the Heavenly Court's reinforcements arrive? If the Heavenly Court's reinforcements had come, how could a Buddha Ancestor have fallen?"
"Before I could even reach the Heavenly Court, I encountered Shi Zu first. He told me that someone had betrayed the Heavenly Court, secretly passing the message to him, which was why he did not fall for the trap. Now, Hell and the Heavenly Court had signed a ceasefire agreement, with only one hidden condition—the extermination of the God-Defying Clan."
"He told me not to worry about Yu Baiwei, because few gods in the Heavenly Court knew she was a member of the God-Defying Clan. Moreover, Yu Baiwei was about to marry Duotian Divine Emperor, the son of Shang Zu, which would be enough to save her life."
"Upon hearing this news, it was like a thunderbolt struck me. I asked every god I knew, and it was all true. The God-Defying Clan had suffered a devastating attack. Yu Baiwei and Duotian Divine Emperor were about to marry. Perhaps the God-Defying Clan had already accepted their fate, preserving a thread of bloodline only in this way."
Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel the pain in his heart at that time. The entire Divine Realm World was filled with his emotions—anger, unwillingness, self-blame, confusion...
This memory had likely been sealed in his heart for a very long time, only unsealed now, laid out bloodily before Zhang Ruochen.
The demon-like man laughed self-deprecatingly: "Shi Zu said I could never go back. Now, the entire Heavenly Court believes I am a traitor, that I have defected to the Hell Realm. Xumi Saint Monk's fall, the deaths of all the Kunlun gods—all because of me. The reason Yu Baiwei agreed to marry Duotian Divine Emperor was also because she was too disappointed in me. Her heart had died!"