Chapter 2936: The Return of the Famous Sword God
"A bunch of vile creatures, how dare you attack this god?"
Within the gray mist, blood light surged into the sky, and the divine voice of Sanjia Xuezu roared, echoing across the heavens.
His blood wings vibrated, and with bright blood radiance, he sliced apart the two divine corpses that lunged at him, sending rotting flesh scattering to the ground.
But the evil divine corpses did not die; soon their broken bodies reassembled, the rotting flesh fusing back together.
"What kind of monsters are these? If they were merely divine corpse puppets, they couldn't possess such powerful self-healing abilities."
Sanjia Xuezu sensed something was wrong and dared not continue fighting the evil divine corpses. He drew a blood blade, slashed open the broken divine realm world, spread his wings, and soared upward.
"Whoosh!"
A foul-smelling divine wind swept toward him.
A terrifying divine corpse, ten thousand miles tall, stood within the divine realm world, appearing before Sanjia Xuezu. It wore a Daoist robe, a wooden hairpin in its head, but its face was withered and shriveled to the extreme, with only its two eyeballs blazing with divine light, crimson and sinister.
The Daoist robe was no ordinary garment; it had once been a top-tier divine garment.
But over the long river of time, it had corroded and become tattered.
Corpse fluid seeped through the holes in the robe.
"This is..."
Sanjia Xuezu's expression suddenly changed drastically.
The divine corpse old Daoist extended its withered five fingers, like an eagle's claws, and grabbed him.
With a "bang," Sanjia Xuezu's divine body was crushed and exploded into a cloud of blood mist. The blood mist could not escape the old Daoist's palm and was swallowed into its belly.
This scene was utterly shocking!
A peak Upper Rank God powerhouse was directly crushed and devoured.
"It's the Venerable's rule divine patterns that locked Sanjia Xuezu in place, preventing him from escaping."
"This old Daoist, when alive, must have been an ancient Venerable-level powerhouse. Even in death, his combat power remains extraordinary. Even Taiyi Daishen probably couldn't defeat him!"
...
The Heavenly Court gods were all horrified, because besides the divine corpse old Daoist, several other divine corpses in the gray mist had Venerable-level rule divine patterns flowing around them, each radiating immense power—undoubtedly ancient Venerable-level titans.
Holes appeared in the divine corpse old Daoist's rotting body, and blood qi shot out from them.
Sanjia Xuezu was not dead yet, trying to break free from the old Daoist's corpse.
But something even more unbelievable happened.
The divine corpse old Daoist actually sat down cross-legged, hands clasped before its abdomen, breathing and circulating, using rule divine patterns to refine Sanjia Xuezu in its belly.
Zhang Ruochen watched in horror, "What's going on? It's a corpse, and it can still sit and cultivate? This old Daoist must have already developed consciousness—no, it might be consciousness awakening. Could it be that the secret of immortality truly exists in this world?"
The words "Undying Curse Art" flashed through Zhang Ruochen's mind.
He dared not dwell on it.
After all, the orthodox Corpse Clan of the Hell Realm all develop new consciousness and intelligence, starting from the most basic martial arts. Even a god's corpse can at most awaken fragmented memories and have an advantage in physical body.
How could it awaken with divine-level combat power and consciousness? Isn't that the same as immortality?
Even the extremely rare "Heavenly Corpse Divine Fetus" is not this powerful.
The Heavenly Corpse Divine Fetus also needs to undergo divine tribulation to attain divine-level cultivation.
Erjia Xuezu recognized the divine corpse old Daoist's power and was even more wary of the countless evil divine corpses in the gray mist. He did not rashly go to save Sanjia Xuezu but instead transmitted a message to Jiushou Longshen, who was battling Yuyao.
Jiushou Longshen was about to go rescue him and also planned to deal with Zhang Ruochen and Bai Qinger together.
Unfortunately, Yuyao did not give him the chance. She activated a corner of the Heavenly Venerable Ancient Formation, trapping him firmly and turning defense into offense.
The graceful figure of Mingjianshen walked over from the horizon, divine light shining around him like a rising morning sun.
He was known as the Sword Gentleman, brilliant and talented.
His clear voice came from ten thousand miles away, "Yuyao, give up. Struggling in vain will only make you more desperate."
"Whoosh!"
The divine sword flew out, trailing sword light, and slashed across the sky, cutting apart the mountains that trapped Jiushou Longshen.
The formation inscriptions in the mountains all shattered.
"The Famous Sword God has returned!"
"This is the number one sword under heaven; even the Heavenly Venerable Ancient Formation cannot stop it."
"The many formations of the Divine Maiden City probably cannot block the Mingjun Sword."
...
The morale of the Heavenly Court gods surged, and they regained their confidence.
Earlier, they had been thoroughly beaten by Zhang Ruochen, losing all face.
For the Heavenly Court army, the biggest threats to invading Xinghuantian were Huang Tian and Juemiao Channi. To fully occupy Xinghuantian, they had to kill these two first.
Next was breaking the Divine Maiden City and seizing control of the formations.
Powerful beings like Huang Tian and Juemiao Channi required several times, even ten times, the force to besiege and kill them while suppressing their self-detonation of divine sources.
Just like when the Hell Realm killed the strong ones of the Kunlun Realm, they used siege tactics, not one-on-one combat.
But sensing the upheaval in the Divine Maiden City, Mingjianshen, who had been pursuing Juemiao Channi overseas, immediately returned.
Mingjianshen glanced at Zhang Ruochen, standing in the Yin Escape Nine Formation, and said indifferently, "Just a seventy-fourth-rank spiritual power god with nine divine formations, and you all got beaten so badly? You've disgraced the Heavenly Court. Jiushou Longshen, go deal with him and suppress those evil creatures. Yuyao, leave her to me."
Mingjianshen was proud and aloof, considering himself a gentleman, extremely protective of his reputation. He disdained to fight a seventy-fourth-rank spiritual power god—it would be beneath him and ruin his style.
Only a powerhouse like Yuyao was worthy of his attention.
Jiushou Longshen had reached the Taixu Realm, the last realm of the Taizhen Realm. His status in the Paradise Realm was no less than Duotian Daishen, and he was the strongest of the Western Dragon Clan.
If not for his fear of the Heavenly Dragon Realm, he would have already declared himself Dragon God Emperor.
Being "arranged" like this by Mingjianshen, Jiushou Longshen was displeased but did not show it. After all, this number one sword under heaven was indeed far stronger than him, the strongest of the Western Dragon Clan.
Erjia Xuezu was also a lover of fame, determined to become a chess player in the universe. He said to Jiushou Longshen, "Please, Dragon God, give me the chance to personally deal with Zhang Ruochen. Otherwise, if the Heavenly Court cultivators learn that I couldn't even take down a crippled Zhang Ruochen, I'll be laughed at for eternity."
"Fine! I'll give you this chance."
Jiushou Longshen also disdained Zhang Ruochen, a mere ant of a millennium.
As for the treasures on Zhang Ruochen, Erjia Xuezu had already transmitted the sharing method to him. These words could not be said openly.
"Roar!"
A dragon's roar echoed.
Jiushou Longshen spat out divine flames, turning them into a sea of fire that clashed with the overwhelming deathly gray mist, forcing back the evil divine corpses.
He strode forward through the sea of divine flames and, from a distance, tore open the broken divine realm world of the divine corpse old Daoist with a claw, saying, "Daring to devour a Heavenly Court god, you're asking for death!"
Before he even arrived, divine fire had transformed into thousands of dragons, attacking the divine corpse old Daoist from all directions.
The divine corpse old Daoist's pupils were like blood beads. He pressed his hand to the ground, and instantly, divine thunder rained down, shattering the fire dragons into fireballs that scattered across the broken divine realm world.
In the gray mist, roars came one after another.
Several evil divine corpses with Venerable-level divine patterns flowing around them charged into the old Daoist's broken divine realm world, joining forces to attack Jiushou Longshen.
Even with Jiushou Longshen's power, facing such a lineup, he had to be cautious.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly, "The divine war that broke out at Yuchen Divine Temple back then must have been incredibly brutal, with so many Venerable-level powerhouses falling. It probably wasn't just for the Heavenly Venerable Divine Source."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if struck by a sword.
It was Erjia Xuezu launching a spiritual power attack.
Erjia Xuezu was clearly an outstanding figure among gods. In just one eon of cultivation, not only was his martial arts cultivation formidable, but his spiritual power had also reached the seventy-fifth rank.
"Zhang Ruochen, no matter how powerful the Yin Escape Nine Formation is, if I break your spiritual power, can the nine spatial divine formations still function properly?" Erjia Xuezu thought he had found Zhang Ruochen's weakness, a smile on his face.
That smile was full of confidence in his own cultivation.
But at that moment, his vision blurred, as if drowsy, and his body involuntarily began to fall from midair.
Bai Qinger's jade-like fingers dripped with blood, the blood threads weaving into a picture in the void. She used a spiritual power divine art stronger than Erjia Xuezu's—Seven Soul Nightmare.
How could Zhang Ruochen miss such a perfect opportunity? He controlled the Yin Escape Nine Formation and covered Erjia Xuezu.
By the time Erjia Xuezu woke up with his strong spiritual will, he had already fallen into the formation.
His expression changed, and he muttered, "Not good!"
Outside the formation, he naturally had no fear of Zhang Ruochen and could take the absolute initiative.
But now that he was inside the formation, with the power of the Yin Escape Nine Formation, it was hard to say whether he could defeat Zhang Ruochen.
"Star Gate!" Zhang Ruochen launched an attack.
Above Erjia Xuezu's head, countless stars pressed down, forming a divine gate containing spatial pressure.
The divine gate seemed omnipresent, impossible to evade.
Erjia Xuezu reached out and held up the divine gate, his eyes sharp, "The absolute gap in cultivation cannot be bridged by a few formations. How much do you really know about the cultivation of a Great God?"
"Shua!"
Erjia Xuezu turned into a blood light, escaping the suppression of the divine gate, and appeared before Zhang Ruochen, pointing a finger at his heart.
In front of Erjia Xuezu's fingertip, space twisted into a vortex.
"Petty tricks."
With a loud crash, the twisted spatial vortex was shattered by Erjia Xuezu's finger force.
But Zhang Ruochen and Bai Qinger had both disappeared.
Erjia Xuezu looked around and found that space had changed drastically. He was locked inside a formation tower. Inside the tower were two Heavenly Court gods who had been crushed into bloody chunks, their divine bodies unable to reform.
A Heavenly Court god sent a divine thought to warn, "Be careful, Blood Ancestor. The space here is very strange."
As soon as the words were spoken, a spatial vortex appeared beneath Erjia Xuezu's feet, pulling him downward.
In addition, another spatial vortex pressed down from above.
"This trick again. It seems the so-called Yin Escape Nine Formation is nothing special."
Scales of blood-red armor grew out of Erjia Xuezu's skin, quickly covering his entire body. His divine body grew larger within the two vortices, using the blood-red armor to resist the grinding force of the spatial vortices.
Suddenly, his sense of danger surged, and he had no time to activate a protective divine ability.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two spatial vortices collapsed inward, crushing his armor and squeezing his divine body until it exploded. Blood mist sprayed everywhere, and his bones crackled like frying beans.
Soon, his powerful Great God divine body was compressed by the collapsing spatial force to the size of an egg.
Bloody and indistinct, it was impossible to tell where the head was and where the legs were.
Outside the formation tower, Bai Qinger and Aji assisted Zhang Ruochen in controlling the formation, resisting the attacks of the Heavenly Court gods.
"I told you, the legacy of your Blood War Divine Temple is about to be cut off today, yet you still insist on challenging me."
Zhang Ruochen pressed his hands together, gritting his teeth, unleashing his spiritual power to its fullest, suppressing Erjia Xuezu, who was struggling to break free from space, crushing him smaller and smaller.
The nine spatial divine formations turned like nine millstones, grinding with difficulty.