Chapter 2902: Father, Come Home With Us
The two eyes deep in the universe appeared for only an instant before being shrouded by a nebula. That terrifying aura vanished along with them.
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned contemplative, and he guessed that an extremely powerful being had made a move.
Beneath the seemingly calm surface, there must have been turbulent waves. Unfortunately, his cultivation was still too low to reach that level.
"Who could the owner of those eyes be? Whatever, the old monsters in this world are all more formidable than the last. I'd better keep a low profile and not reveal the secret of my resumed martial path for now."
Zhang Ruochen's body became transparent, then completely disappeared.
...
Within the First Divine Maiden City, White Queen and the eight divine realm pavilion masters of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions stood below the Heavenly Venerable Ancient Formation, gazing at the shattered Molten Flame Star and the divine power storm formed by the self-detonation of a divine source.
They had already calculated various possible outcomes of the situation, all of which filled them with worry.
Liu Qingcheng sighed. "After this battle, Xinghuantian will know no peace. I hope we can weather this crisis."
"Don't worry about the future for now. The urgent task is to survive the immediate crisis. Activate the Heavenly Venerable Ancient Formation together, let divine power envelop the entire Xinghuantian, and withstand the impact of the divine power storm."
After giving the order, White Queen was the first to float up and land at the center of the Heavenly Venerable Ancient Formation.
Her divine realm world unfolded, overlapping with the formation.
Divine Qi surged like water waves from her divine realm world, causing densely packed formation inscription patterns to appear, spreading from the First Divine Maiden City to the entire Xinghuantian.
Without divine protection, whether it was the terrifying scorching heat from the shattered Molten Flame Star or the divine power storm from the self-detonating divine source, the entire Xinghuantian would have been reduced to scorched earth, with all life extinguished.
For the cultivators, commoners, birds, and beasts living on Xinghuantian, this day was like doomsday, with all kinds of ominous phenomena appearing.
The sky's edge had been burned red, and a vast land spanning over ten thousand miles had turned into a sea of fire. Mountain ranges had vanished from the horizon.
The seas boiled, and countless aquatic creatures died miserably, their bodies floating on the surface.
The earth trembled, causing one massive earthquake after another. In some places, volcanoes erupted; in others, tsunamis submerged the land; in still others, fierce winds raged.
Night had just fallen when the sun rose again, growing larger and larger, as if it were about to fall from the starry sky.
Finally, the sun shattered directly, splitting into ten.
With ten suns in the sky, the clouds turned crimson, like a sea of fire.
Saint realm cultivators, who knew at least some of the information, understood that powerful gods were locked in battle, and their hearts were uneasy, fearing that a mere residual wave might fall from the sky.
Mortals, however, were clueless and could only kneel in terror, kowtowing.
Although the Goddess Twelve Pavilions were doing their utmost to protect them, and the gods engaged in battle tried their best to restrain themselves, for the living beings on Xinghuantian, it was still a great calamity. Countless villages and towns were reduced to ashes, and countless races were wiped out.
This was divine war!
Above Xinghuantian, the gods of both the Heavenly Court and Hell saw the surging divine power storm.
"This power... this is a god self-detonating their divine source..."
"Who is it?"
Shuo Qianhai's voice trembled. "Could it be the Blood Absolute War God? The War God was no match for the Duotian Divine Emperor, so he had to resort to a mutual destruction tactic. Heavens, alas, what a tragedy!"
"Impossible. The Blood Absolute War God has been so extraordinary throughout his life, destined to ascend to God Venerable and impact the Heavens. How could he fall here? No, it can't be true."
The gods of Hell could not accept this outcome.
In their hearts, especially among these new gods, the Blood Absolute War God was a banner, an idol from their youth and a goal to pursue.
While the Hell gods were filled with grief, the Heavenly Court gods could not be optimistic either.
If the Blood Absolute War God had successfully self-detonated his divine source, how could the Duotian Divine Emperor have survived?
Although the divine power storm formed by the self-detonation was terrifying, by the time it reached Xinghuantian, it had weakened considerably and no longer threatened true gods.
After an unknown amount of time, the storm finally subsided.
Hai Shangminggong looked toward the starry sky where the Yellow Spring Star River lay, his tense expression relaxing slightly. "Everyone, don't worry. The Blood Absolute War God's Star Soul Divine Throne has not disappeared; it still shines brightly."
"The Duotian Divine Emperor's Star Soul Divine Throne hasn't disappeared either," a Heavenly Court god said joyfully.
But the gods were puzzled. The divine power storm just now was clearly formed by a self-detonating divine source. Why hadn't both the Blood Absolute War God and the Duotian Divine Emperor fallen?
"The Duotian Divine Emperor cultivates the 'Three Corpses Refining God.' Could it be that he was no match for the Blood Absolute War God and one of his corpses self-detonated? But it failed to kill the War God," Yan Yu speculated.
Lan Jun sneered. "Are you telling a joke? How could the Duotian Divine Emperor be no match for the Blood Absolute War God? This god has heard that the Blood Absolute War God cultivated an Undying Blood God with combat power not inferior to his original body. In this god's opinion, it was the Blood Absolute War God who was defeated by the Duotian Divine Emperor and had no choice but to self-detonate his Undying Blood God."
As the Heavenly Court and Hell gods argued, Shang Hong's expression grew increasingly grim, and a strong sense of unease arose in his heart.
His perception was very sharp. He clearly sensed that the divine power storm just now contained a strong aura of Radiant Light. How could that be the aura of the Undying Blood God?
Suddenly, Shang Hong spoke. "The invisible barrier in the star domain has disappeared. We should leave as soon as possible."
Lan Jun glanced at Shang Hong and noticed the caution in his eyes, which made his heart sink with a sense of impending doom.
He quickly said, "Everyone, stop arguing. No matter who is stronger between the Blood Absolute War God and the Duotian Divine Emperor, Xinghuantian has become a place of trouble. We must leave immediately."
The Heavenly Court gods flew away one after another, charging into the deep, dark starry sky.
The Hell gods also did not want to stay long on Xinghuantian. The huge eyes that had manifested deep in the universe earlier still made them uneasy. So they too transformed into beams of divine light and fled.
Zhang Ruochen's figure reappeared about two hundred million miles from Xinghuantian, landing on a small planet. Using his divine eyes, he watched as streaks of meteor-like divine light cut through the darkness and flew away.
"So you all leave, but Xinghuantian has been pushed to the forefront of the storm," Zhang Ruochen sighed.
"Whoosh!"
A beam of white light fell from above, condensing into Bai Qinger's beautiful figure.
She wore a veil, and her skin was covered in a layer of white, gleaming radiance. Light rain scattered around her as she spoke coldly, "So I never placed my hopes on these people. They all came for profit. When disaster looms, they naturally avoid the Goddess Twelve Pavilions. The one who fought the Duotian Divine Emperor wasn't the Blood Absolute War God, was it? It was Huang Tian, right?"
Zhang Ruochen knew that Bai Qinger harbored immense hatred for Huang Tian, but he didn't want to lie to her. He was still thinking about how to answer when—
Bai Qinger said, "So that's it. How could the Blood Absolute War God fight the Duotian Divine Emperor to the point of self-detonating his divine source? Besides, only Huang Tian, a great god who simultaneously masters the Way of Life and the Way of Death, could help you comprehend life and death and undergo a complete transformation."
"Actually..." Zhang Ruochen began.
Bai Qinger's eyes were frosty. "You'd better not meddle in the matters between him and me. Any good word you say for him will only make me detest you more. Of course, you don't have to care about my feelings. You can leave Xinghuantian like those gods to avoid trouble. Haven't you noticed that Huang Tian has already left?"
At this moment, Bai Qinger was extremely extreme and wouldn't listen to anything.
Zhang Ruochen could understand her emotions. Behind the tragic story of Huang Tian and Yu Baiwei, wasn't she, the daughter who should never have been born, the biggest victim?
Back when she was at the Great Saint realm, why did Bai Qinger spare no effort to break through to the Eon-level genius level?
It was to earn the qualification to challenge Huang Tian in the future.
Zhang Ruochen didn't try to persuade her, nor did he leave. At times like this, anything he did would be wrong. He could only wait for her emotions to calm down.
Bai Qinger turned her gaze to a rocky mountain on the small planet.
Two figures flew in from the universe and landed on the mountain's peak.
A man and a woman.
The woman stood at the peak, carrying a blood-red sword on her back. Her palace attire and coiled hair, along with her beautiful eyes, held boundless resentment as she gazed at Zhang Ruochen from afar.
The man also carried a sword on his back—a black broadsword. He walked down the mountain step by step until he stood before Zhang Ruochen.
He took the black broadsword from his back, held it with both hands, knelt on one knee, and offered it to Zhang Ruochen. In a choked voice, he said, "Father, Mother and I have searched for you so bitterly. Come home with us!"
Hearing the word "home," Zhang Ruochen's eyes instantly became moist and blurred.
He took the Abyssal Ancient Sword from Chi Kunlun's hands.
The sword spirit sensed him and immediately chirped with joy.
Chi Kunlun's eyes were red. "Father! In the decades you've been gone, Mother has been wronged by cultivators across the world, enduring countless slanders and insults, yet she never explained herself. She said that you once suffered the same, being branded a traitor of the Kunlun Realm, ostracized, and slandered. Now it's even."
Zhang Ruochen looked at Chi Yao, standing on the distant mountain peak.
Yes, sometimes you think you're doing something good for someone, but because of you, they end up being scorned by the world.
Chi Kunlun continued, "Mother and I have been searching for you in the star region around Xinghuantian for decades. Although Tai Shang concealed the heavenly secrets, Mother has never dared to reveal herself. If her whereabouts were exposed, she would be killed by the top powers of Hell. Do you want her to continue living like this?"
"All misunderstandings can be resolved. All difficulties can be faced together as a family. Father, come home with us!"
Not far away, Bai Qinger, who had just urged Zhang Ruochen to leave Xinghuantian, was secretly tense. She looked toward Chi Yao on the distant mountain peak and thought to herself, "What a clever move. She doesn't appear herself but sends her son to appeal to emotion and reason. She knows Zhang Ruochen yields to softness, not hardness. Does she think she can take him away like this?"
Zhang Ruochen's heart ached. He knew that during the years he was missing, he had caused too many people to suffer alongside him. He nodded vigorously.
"Alright, let's go home. Back to our home."