Chapter 3018: Feel Free to Attack Together
"Does Zhang Ruochen not fear the Destiny Temple?" The gods were all shocked.
In recent years, due to the Destiny Temple's tough stance, the major forces of the Hell Realm had been avoiding the Wujian Pavilion, fearing they would be implicated. The Demon Wolf Clan dared to shelter the Wujian Pavilion's master only because they had Nutian Shenzun backing them, but they still had to tread carefully.
Moni Shen hadn't expected Zhang Ruochen to be so unyielding. Slightly surprised, he let out a hoarse laugh: "Severing one of my arms, Realm Lord Ruochen displays quite the authority. Do you think this is Xinghuantian?"
The Hundred Clans Royal City was the royal city of the hundred clans.
Here, Moni Shen was confident that even if Zhang Ruochen had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare touch him.
Zhang Ruochen snorted coldly, causing the demon hall to tremble. With lightning-fast speed, his fingers traced ninety-nine talisman seals onto the Abyssal Ancient Sword, completing them in an instant.
"Rise!"
Driven by his spiritual power, the talisman light on the sword blade blazed brightly as it sliced through the air and struck out.
The spiritual power emanating from Zhang Ruochen was overwhelmingly powerful, startling the gods in the hall into releasing their divine realm worlds, activating defensive war artifacts, and retreating rapidly.
Some of the gods, who had arrived as divine shadow avatars, were struck by the spiritual power impact, their shadows shattering instantly.
In an instant, only twelve gods remained in the hall, including Zhang Ruochen.
"Zhang Ruochen, how dare you?" Moni Shen roared.
His cultivation had reached the early stage of Upper-Level God. It was precisely because of his formidable strength that he showed no weakness whether facing Handa Shen or Zhang Ruochen.
"Whoosh!"
A force filled with a rotting stench turned into dark clouds and spewed from Moni Shen's mouth.
His divine realm world unfolded beneath his feet, pushing aside space. Within the demon hall, a vast, muddy world appeared, spanning over a hundred thousand miles. Dense arrays of rule divine patterns crisscrossed the heavens and earth.
This was still suppressed by the demon hall, so the divine realm world could only expand to a hundred thousand miles.
"Clang!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword dragged a thousand-mile sword light, breaking through his divine realm world and slashing inside.
Rules shattered, space split apart—no force could block it.
"Pfft!"
Moni Shen was locked onto by Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power, leaving no escape. Layers of divine light on his body burst open, his right arm was severed, and he let out an angry roar.
From the talisman patterns on the Abyssal Ancient Sword's blade, scorching divine flames emanated, burning the arm to ashes.
In the hall, angry shouts erupted.
"This is too much! Fight—let's teach this outsider a lesson together."
"Moni Shen only made a remark, and he severed his arm? This is bullying! He's slapping the faces of all the gods in the Hundred Clans Royal City."
"If word of this gets out, how can we hold our heads high in the world?"
...
The gods in the demon hall glared angrily, simultaneously mobilizing their divine qi to attack Zhang Ruochen.
A star-sized iron hammer, a millstone-shaped thunderbolt, a divine ability in the form of a freezing, thousand-mile-wide Qilin...
This was the Hundred Clans Royal City—their territory.
Zhang Ruochen was too domineering, too arrogant. Did he really think that being the Heavenly Mother's divine envoy allowed him to do whatever he wanted?
"Just you lot?"
Zhang Ruochen's long hair flew up as he looked at the war artifacts and divine abilities of the gods. His gaze was contemptuous. He released his spiritual power, freezing the war artifacts and divine abilities in midair. Then, he pressed his palm forward, sending them crashing back.
"Boom!"
The various war artifacts and divine abilities reversed direction, striking seven of the gods and forcing them all back.
Two of the gods, weaker in cultivation, couldn't withstand the counterattack. They were sent flying, crashing into the chaotic, misty divine realm world. Though not seriously injured, they lost all face.
Ailian Jun and Yun Jun stood together, not attacking, but exchanged shocked glances.
Ailian Jun said, "Legend has it that Qinglu Divine King once evaluated Zhang Ruochen, saying that after he became a god, he would change the landscape of the divine realm. At the time, the gods of the Hell Realm thought it was an exaggeration. Now it seems that if Zhang Ruochen's martial cultivation hadn't been crippled, he might truly have been as Qinglu Divine King described."
Yun Jun nodded slightly. "With just his spiritual power, in a mere hundred years, Zhang Ruochen can already sever an Upper-Level God's arm as easily as taking something from a pocket. I can't imagine how terrifying he would be if his martial cultivation were intact."
Handa Shen released his divine qi, activating all the formations and divine patterns in the demon hall to withstand the shockwaves of the divine battle.
Handa Shen's position was awkward; he couldn't mediate, so he could only let them fight it out and determine right and wrong. Fortunately, the demon hall was protected by the Wolf Ancestor's divine patterns and reinforced by formations, so it wouldn't collapse.
"A warrior would rather die than be humiliated. Today, I will settle this with you, life or death."
Moni Shen stood in his shattered divine realm world, his pupils emitting a cold, dark light. A ten-thousand-foot-tall stone city flew out from within his body and hovered above his head.
Above the Hundred Clans Royal City, a star soul divine throne composed of seven planets rapidly rotated, releasing seven beams of divine qi that pierced the atmosphere and struck the top of the demon hall.
With the star soul divine throne's empowerment, Moni Shen's aura grew stronger and stronger.
This was the advantage of fighting on home ground!
Zhang Ruochen remained expressionless. "Since you're seeking death, I'll grant your wish. Anyone else who wants to fight, feel free to attack together."
Space trembled slightly.
Yulong Xian's figure emerged from behind Zhang Ruochen.
Yulong Xian, barefoot and stunningly beautiful, wielded the Black Gold War Heaven Pillar. She swung it, shattering Moni Shen's divine realm world again and scattering the divine light everywhere.
"Boom!"
The pillar gleamed with golden light, like a divine peak.
With a single strike, she broke the white cloth bands on Moni Shen's body, sending black, rotting blood flying.
The gods of the Hundred Clans Royal City all acted to rescue Moni Shen, but even together, they could only fight Yulong Xian to a stalemate, unable to gain the upper hand.
This was no longer just a demon hall; it was a battlefield of gods.
Zhang Ruochen stood at the demon hall's entrance, taking out the Ten Thousand Curse Heavenly Bead, seemingly having already decided to kill.
Handa Shen transmitted a message, urging, "Don't actually kill a god. If it comes to that, it'll be hard to resolve."
Even more anxious than Handa Shen was Yun Jun. His cultivation had reached the Great Perfection of Upper-Level God, making him the strongest among the Hundred Clans Royal City gods present. Seeing Zhang Ruochen bring out the Ten Thousand Curse Heavenly Bead, he immediately sensed trouble. He shifted his position and appeared before Zhang Ruochen.
"Realm Lord Ruochen, put away your divine ability. Continuing this fight benefits none of us." Yun Jun's flames were hotter than a star, and a vast space naturally formed around him, his aura erupting invisibly.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. "I can stop. Will they stop?"
"I can mediate on their side," Yun Jun said.
Zhang Ruochen had escalated the situation not just to protect his own but also to draw out the snake from its hole.
The snake hadn't emerged yet—how could he stop now?
"Haha!"
Deafening laughter sounded outside the hall.
A black vortex, a hundred zhang in diameter, appeared above the square outside the demon hall. A voice came from within: "Realm Lord Ruochen displays quite the authority. In someone else's territory, you dare to injure or even kill gods at will. Are you trying to trample the face of the entire Hundred Clans Royal City underfoot?"
From the black vortex, a hundred-zhang-tall humanoid skeleton charged out, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Whoosh!"
A wave of deathly aura surged in all directions.
The formations of the Fourth Peak, activated by this divine power, fully awakened, sending up hundreds of beams of light that condensed into a massive divine array in the sky.
Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual power to form a light barrier, blocking the impact of the deathly aura.
"Stomp, stomp, stomp!"
He took three steps back before fully neutralizing the force.
The humanoid skeleton's eye sockets were filled with dark power. It said in a deep voice, "I am Li Xiao of the Darkness Temple."
Feeling this terrifying power fluctuation, the gods in the demon hall all stopped fighting.
Handa Shen, Yun Jun, and Ailian Jun were the first to step out of the hall, bowing to the giant skeleton. "Greetings, Great God Li Xiao!"
The humanoid skeleton looked down at them. "Yun Jun, you're a Great Perfection Upper-Level God, one of the top experts of the Fire Ghost Clan. Yet when someone humiliates you, you choose compromise. Are you that afraid of Zhang Ruochen?"
Yun Jun had originally felt that someone with ulterior motives was secretly driving the situation, perhaps even trying to use Zhang Ruochen to escalate matters. After discussing with Ailian Jun, he had wanted to downplay the issue. But being called out by Great God Li Xiao stirred the emotions of the Hundred Clans Royal City gods, including Moni Shen. Yun Jun was forced to the edge of a cliff and had to step forward and take a stand.
Yun Jun said, "Zhang Ruochen cannot interfere in the affairs of the Hundred Clans Royal City, but neither should you, Great God Li Xiao, fan the flames and deliberately escalate the conflict. Realm Lord Ruochen, today I represent the Hundred Clans Royal City in seeking a contest with you. If I am fortunate enough to win, I ask that you leave one arm behind."
Zhang Ruochen said, "And if you lose?"
"Then all past grievances are wiped clean, and you may take the Wujian Pavilion's master with you. I will provide the healing pills for Moni Shen," Yun Jun said.
Zhang Ruochen regarded Yun Jun with a bit more respect. It was rare to find someone who could still remain rational. "Fair. But it's not balanced."
"Where is it unbalanced?" Yun Jun asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Your strength is far inferior to mine. How about this: I'll stand still. If you can push me back even one step with all your power, I'll consider it a loss."
Gasps of shock and angry shouts erupted all around.
No matter how strong Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power was, he had only been cultivating for a short time. How strong could he be?
To dare act so arrogantly before a Great Perfection Upper-Level God.
Moni Shen sneered. "Good! Very good. Yun Jun, go ahead. If you still lose to him under these conditions, I'll have nothing more to say. I can only blame myself for not knowing my place, for offending the illustrious Realm Lord Ruochen. Losing an arm is my own fault."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I have a condition. If I win, you must release all the Wujian Pavilion cultivators you've detained."
"Agreed!" Moni Shen said.
Yun Jun was clearly angered by Zhang Ruochen's arrogance. He said coldly, "Fine, it's settled. Let's go to the starry sky for the battle."
"Why go to the starry sky? Right here will do. Surely the Wolf Ancestor's divine patterns can withstand your power? Right, Handa Shen?" Great God Li Xiao laughed.