Chapter 3034: The Trade
Wu Yue and Shuangcheng Mo’s figures materialized in another stretch of void.
“Feng Yunba, you cannot do anything to me. This battle is meaningless if it continues.” Wu Yue’s voice was calm and distant. “How about we make a trade instead?”
Feng Yunba’s body blazed with scorching divine flames, his hair burning crimson. “It seems you know nothing about me. Making a trade with the Darkness Temple? Are you dreaming?”
“Don’t refuse so quickly.”
Wu Yue spread open her right palm, her five fingers delicate and graceful, like a white lotus blooming.
A man in his thirties sat cross-legged in her palm, no larger than a bean. He furrowed his brow, gritted his teeth, and occasionally showed signs of pain.
On the Xufeng Divine Ship, Feng Xuan’s expression shifted. “That’s the Clear Sky Sword King.”
“This Wu Yue is terrifying. Even with the Clear Sky Sword King’s cultivation, she captured him alive, and it seems he’s trapped in an illusion, unable to escape.”
“Everyone, relax. The two true gods of the Darkness Temple are still in our hands. Wu Yue wouldn’t dare harm the Clear Sky Sword King.”
…
Feng Yan’s face grew heavy with concern. “The Clear Sky Sword King is a top-tier sword cultivator from Sword King Realm. He reached the great god level many years ago. Zhao Gongming, one of the nine war gods of the Heavenly Palace, was born in Sword King Realm and once mentored the Clear Sky Sword King. There’s a master-disciple bond between them. This puts Father in a difficult position!”
Feng Xi furrowed her brows slightly. “Father has never compromised with the Hell Realm in his life, but he shares a deep friendship with the Clear Sky Sword King. He can’t just watch him die before his eyes. That would haunt him for the rest of his life.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Let’s see what conditions the Darkness Temple proposes. As long as they’re not too excessive, saving a great god’s life should take priority over everything else.”
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze fixed on Feng Yunba’s face, where he saw a flicker of hesitation for the first time on that resolute, iron-willed visage.
In the distant void, Wu Yue spoke again. “One great god in exchange for the two Heaven-Replenishing Realm true gods of my Darkness Temple. Isn’t that a fair deal? If you agree, I’ll release the Clear Sky Sword King right now.”
Everyone on the Xufeng Divine Ship breathed a sigh of relief.
If this was the trade, they were clearly getting the better end. They could accept it.
But Feng Xi’s worry deepened. “She’s forcing Father to compromise, to break his state of mind.”
“Exactly. A man who never compromises with the Hell Realm carries an unassailable momentum. It allows him to grow stronger when facing adversity, to charge forward fearlessly without retreat. But once he retreats, his psychological defenses crumble, and that momentum weakens,” Zhang Ruochen said.
In battles between top-tier experts, psychological warfare often proved crucial.
It was like two mortals fighting. If one swung a stick or a blade with reckless abandon, even a stronger opponent might back down. But if that reckless person suddenly retreated because of something he cared about, his opponent would no longer fear him and would counterattack, quickly overwhelming him.
Clearly, Wu Yue didn’t want to provoke Feng Yunba, who was at the peak of his momentum.
What seemed like a favorable trade could destroy the momentum Feng Yunba had built over hundreds of thousands of years.
Advancing was yang; retreating was yin.
For pure yang, there could only be advance, never retreat.
Feng Yunba’s eyes blazed. He roared, “Bring out those two true gods of the Darkness Temple!”
“Excellent. This trade is in your favor. After all, I cannot abandon the two true gods of the Darkness Temple,” Wu Yue said.
The two Darkness Temple true gods brought out by Feng Xuan showed gratitude in their eyes upon hearing this.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly. Truly someone capable of gathering a large force to establish the Spirit God Hall. She achieved her goal while winning loyalty. From now on, those two true gods would fight to the death for her.
The trade proceeded smoothly. Soon, the Clear Sky Sword King was brought back to the Xufeng Divine Ship, his cultivation intact, not crippled.
In the distant void, the two Darkness Temple true gods knelt on one knee before Wu Yue, speaking of something unknown.
“Boom!”
The Pure Yang Divine Sword slashed toward them, carrying a rain of flaming swords that turned the dark void crimson.
“Let’s go!”
Wu Yue waved her sleeve, and the gods of the Darkness Temple vanished into the void.
“If I wish to leave, even an Infinite Realm god cannot stop me. That strike only wasted your divine energy, Feng Yunba. The road through the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain is still long. I may appear before you at any moment. You’d better guard the Xufeng Divine Ship well.”
Wu Yue’s voice faded into the distance.
Moreover, it came from all directions, eerily disorienting.
Zhang Ruochen said, “What a terrifying figure. Leaving that remark before departing is enough to keep everyone on edge, unable to rest easy for the rest of the journey.”
“Darkness is her world. Combined with her unfathomable spiritual power, she’s like a ghost—coming without a trace, leaving without a shadow. Here, even an Infinite Realm god might not be able to do anything to her,” Feng Xi said.
Feng Yan said gravely, “That depends on what kind of Infinite Realm.”
Feng Xi looked at Zhang Ruochen. “Friend, you must not leave the Xufeng Divine Ship. The gods of the Darkness Temple are likely lurking nearby.”
Zhang Ruochen agreed readily.
Feng Yan glanced at Feng Xi’s eyes, then at Qing Pingzi the Daoist, and his expression darkened.
Feng Yunba and Xuan Yuan Qing both entered the protective divine formation of the Xufeng Divine Ship.
Zhang Ruochen and Feng Xi returned to the ancient hall on the third level of the ship, where they saw gods and great saints of the Radiant Divine Temple emerging from Xuan Yuan Qing’s divine realm world.
Zhang Ruochen spotted Shang Hong, who had broken through to the Taiyi Realm and become a great god.
But he was severely wounded, with over a dozen terrifying sword scars on his body. It seemed he had been cut into pieces by a dark divine sword.
The sword scars contained powerful dark sword energy and intent, assaulting his divine body.
He swallowed healing pills and sat in a corner of the hall, refining the dark and sword energies within him.
Besides Shang Hong, Zhang Ruochen also saw Zhen Lin Nan, the true god of the Order Palace of the Radiant Divine Temple, and among the great saints, a familiar figure in radiant armor.
Whether gods or great saints, all were sword cultivators.
From the exchanges between the Radiant Divine Temple and the Wind Clan gods, Zhang Ruochen learned that the Radiant Divine Temple also had a divine ship, but Shuangcheng Mo had infiltrated it and destroyed it from within.
Many cultivators on the ship had died. Xuan Yuan Qing had only saved them by quickly taking them into his divine realm world.
The Wind Clan gods all wore grim expressions. If the Radiant Divine Temple’s divine ship could be destroyed from within, and if Wu Yue infiltrated theirs, they might suffer the same fate—ship destroyed, everyone dead.
One god showed a hint of joy. “He’s awake! The Sword King is awake!”
With Feng Yunba’s help, the Clear Sky Sword King emerged from the illusion, opening his eyes, which gradually regained clarity.
Learning that he had been captured by Wu Yue, the Clear Sky Sword King was filled with shame.
When he found out that because of him, Feng Yunba had compromised with Wu Yue and released the two Darkness Temple true gods, the Clear Sky Sword King grew furious, vowing that if he didn’t kill those two true gods, he would never return to Sword King Realm.
Sword King Realm was one of the top hundred strongest realms in the Heavenly Court, second only to Sword God Realm among the sword realms.
Of course, this was because Zhao Gongming was permanently stationed at the Heavenly Palace and almost never returned to Sword King Realm, nor did he represent it in merit battles. Sword King Realm’s merit value naturally fell short of Sword God Realm’s.
Now, the Clear Sky Sword King was the sole pillar of Sword King Realm.
Still, the name “Zhao Gongming” played a significant role in Sword King Realm’s top-hundred ranking and its invincibility on merit battlefields.
Zhang Ruochen had killed Li Xiao the great god and obtained his Darkness Esoterica, storing it in the Taiji circle. At that moment, the Darkness Esoterica within him stirred with a subtle fluctuation.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze immediately locked onto the Clear Sky Sword King.
But the fluctuation vanished instantly. When Zhang Ruochen tried to sense it again, he found nothing.
“Impossible. The Clear Sky Sword King is an established great god and half a disciple of Zhao Gongming. He can’t be connected to the Darkness Temple. Besides, if he truly had dark energy within him, Feng Yunba would have sensed it when helping him out of the illusion.”
“Could it be that the Darkness Esoterica I just obtained still carries Li Xiao’s residual aura and is beyond my control?”
Zhang Ruochen suppressed his doubts but remained wary of the Clear Sky Sword King.
Better safe than sorry.
It was already unreasonable for Wu Yue to trade an established great god for two Heaven-Replenishing Realm true gods. With her level of spiritual power, Zhang Ruochen couldn’t fathom her intentions at his current cultivation.
What a pity. If only he had brought the Drunkard along.
To deal with such an unpredictable spiritual power expert, one needed someone even stronger in spiritual power.
After this incident, the plan to set up a star domain space teleportation array had to be shelved. The Wind Clan gods began debating whether to continue forward or leave the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
“I believe we should leave the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain first. The enemy is hidden while we are exposed. We can’t keep the protective divine formation fully activated forever—the consumption of divine stones is too great. Once the divine stones run out, we’ll be even more passive,” one god said.
Feng Xuan countered, “If we retreat just because of Wu Yue’s words, won’t the Wind Clan be ridiculed by the world?”
“At least we’ve suffered no losses so far. But if the Darkness Temple joins forces with other Hell Realm powers to attack, the Xufeng Divine Ship may not hold.”
“We came to find the Sword Realm, fully prepared for any danger.”
…
As the debate raged, the peach-headed old man addressed as “Master Mo” by Feng Yunba stood up. “Everyone is overlooking the most critical issue. If the Darkness Temple gods remain hidden near us, we won’t be able to leave space markers or set up a star domain space teleportation array. Continuing deeper will be extremely dangerous—we might never get out again.”
At these words, the atmosphere in the ancient hall grew even heavier.
Even Feng Xuan, who had advocated for pressing forward, fell silent. The decision they made now would determine the fate of the thousands of cultivators on the ship.