# Chapter 3037: Yellow Spring Flower
Xuan Yuanqing continued: "What the Heavenly Court can do is the same as what you can do in Kunlun Realm — it can only remain impartial in the grand direction, striving to balance and mediate. But it cannot change the law of the strong preying on the weak."
"The Heavenly Venerable was born in Wanxu Realm, but never involves himself in Wanxu Realm's affairs. Bian Zhuang War God was born in Pangu Realm, but hasn't returned there for hundreds of thousands of years. Senior Zhao Gongming was born in Jianwang Realm, but aside from occasionally guiding Qingkong Sword King in his cultivation, he dares not meddle in any worldly affairs of Jianwang Realm."
"Everyone wants to be as fair as possible, not wanting the interests of their mother realm to influence their decisions and exacerbate the internal divisions among the various realms of the Heavenly Court."
Zhang Ruochen said: "You stand too high and cannot see the cultivators below. Do those below feel the same way?"
"It is precisely because human hearts are difficult to unify, and selfish petty people exist everywhere, that faith is needed," Xuan Yuanqing said.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, saying: "The cultivators of the Light Path I have encountered are not as kind, upright, and selfless as you describe. So if you want to convince me to believe in Light, join the Radiant Divine Temple, and help you resolve the conflict between Kunlun Realm and Paradise Realm, I'm afraid I cannot do that."
He stood up, grabbing the Qingping Sword.
Xuan Yuanqing looked at Zhang Ruochen, paused slightly, then released her grip.
Zhang Ruochen held the sword, opened the door, and walked out.
Behind him came Xuan Yuanqing's voice: "Daoist friend's understanding of Light should begin with Xuan Yuanqing."
After walking far away, Zhang Ruochen let out a long breath. He had to admit that Xuan Yuanqing was a formidable persuader. If Zhang Ruochen hadn't had so many conflicts and deep hatred with the Heavenly Realm Faction, he might have accepted her philosophy and way of looking at things.
Light, perhaps, was not wrong.
But the cultivators of the Radiant Divine Temple — Zhang Ruochen truly couldn't stand a single one of them.
Just as this thought passed through his mind, he saw more than a dozen Great Saints from the Radiant Divine Temple and the Wind Clan gathered ahead. Among them, a woman with the highest cultivation had reached the Half-God peak. Her face was cold and beautiful, and the white armor she wore accentuated the alluring curves of her chest and hips.
It was Lianxi, the Great Palace Master of the Judgment Hall's mortal world, formerly known as the Shadowless Fairy.
Those Great Saints surrounded Master Mo, who was flushed red and drunk, listening to his lecture.
Master Mo, with a thick tongue and a deep, slurred voice, said: "Wu Yue's spiritual power cannot be lower than eighty-fourth rank. Otherwise, how could Fourth Master, with his profound mastery of the Truth Path, fail to find her? The Truth Path specifically counters the Illusion Path."
Gasps of surprise rose from all around.
A Great Saint asked: "It's said that at the eightieth rank of spiritual power, one can possess the combat strength of a Tai Xu Great God. Wouldn't the eighty-fourth rank be able to contend with the Infinite Realm?"
Master Mo chuckled: "I'm afraid there's still a gap. What do you youngsters know? Before the eightieth rank, every rank is a chasm, the gap is enormous, and it's very difficult to fight across realms."
"After reaching the eightieth rank, improving spiritual power becomes exponentially harder, but the combat power gap narrows. For example, an eightieth-rank Rune Path Divine Master who creates a powerful divine talisman can certainly fight against an eighty-first or eighty-second-rank spiritual power expert. They might even challenge an eighty-third-rank spiritual power expert."
"Of course, that's assuming the opponent doesn't have powerful trump cards."
"Otherwise, the absolute advantage of realm is still not so easy to overcome."
"The true major leap in spiritual power is actually at the eighty-fifth rank — 'One Thought Determines Heaven and Earth' — and the ninetieth rank — 'Heaven Round No Defect'. In the entire universe, fewer than ten have achieved Heaven Round No Defect, and each one is renowned and fearsome."
Another Great Saint asked: "Then, old sir, what realm are you at? Could you fight against Wu Yue?"
"Me? I'm still stuck at the peak of the seventy-ninth rank. If I fought Wu Yue... hmm, if she called my name, she could probably use the Illusion Path to trap me in an illusion. Why do you have to ask such upsetting questions? Are you trying to anger this old man?" Master Mo scolded them harshly.
Zhang Ruochen didn't stay here, nor did he intend to meet Lianxi, because he sensed something that made his hair stand on end.
Xuan Yuanqing's earlier words didn't seem like an attempt to win over Qing Pingzi, who had little time left to live, but rather to win over Zhang Ruochen himself. It was very likely that Xuan Yuanlian had already told his sister Qing Pingzi's true identity.
If that were the case, could Lianxi's appearance here be intentional?
Zhang Ruochen had refused so decisively earlier — might that have made her lose patience?
Once his identity was exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The more Zhang Ruochen thought about it, the more dangerous he felt it was to stay on the Xufeng Divine Ship. Just as he was preparing to take a risky move, change his appearance, rescue Xiao Hei and Xue Tu, and activate his hidden escape plan...
Suddenly, he looked up and saw a black divine sword in the distant void.
Shuang Chengmo's figure stood on the sword, gazing at the Xufeng Divine Ship from afar.
Since Shuang Chengmo had revealed himself, Wu Yue must be nearby as well.
A resounding horn blast echoed from the divine ship.
The gods all came out, adopting a battle-ready stance.
Feng Yunba radiated Truth Divine Light that illuminated heaven and earth, scanning the distance to find traces of Wu Yue.
Shuang Chengmo's voice was as thunderous as a divine roar: "Feng Yunba, the time has come to take your life and annihilate all life on the Xufeng Divine Ship. If you voluntarily hand over half your divine soul and kneel before Lady Wu Yue, you may save their lives today."
Feng Yunba's eyes blazed with heat: "Say that again after you've taken one of my swords!"
The Pure Yang Divine Sword soared into the sky, its divine weapon radiance instantly igniting the darkness, causing millions of miles of space to boil.
These past days, the gods on the Xufeng Divine Ship had been utterly stifled, living under the shadow of the Darkness Temple yet unable to find their opponent.
Feng Yunba could tell that was Shuang Chengmo's true body, not an illusion — how could he let him go easily?
This sword pushed the divine weapon's power to its limit, locking onto Shuang Chengmo, aiming to kill him in one strike and force Wu Yue to reveal herself.
Indeed, after the Pure Yang Divine Sword was swung out, it froze time and space, suppressing Shuang Chengmo so he could barely move.
Strangely, Shuang Chengmo made no attempt to resist the sword's intent, instead revealing a hint of a smile in his eyes.
"Something's not right!"
Zhang Ruochen sensed the eerie atmosphere, a chill running down his spine.
"Pfft!"
Feng Yunba, standing at the top of the Xufeng Divine Ship's third level, suddenly spat out a mouthful of divine blood. His mighty, domineering figure shook violently, stumbling backward, his face turning deathly pale.
The divine qi he had erupted instantly dissipated.
"Fourth Master!"
"Father!"
...
The gods were greatly alarmed and immediately surrounded him.
Feng Yunba's eyes bulged as he stared at the distant void. Without his control, the flying Pure Yang Divine Sword's power sharply decreased. It was taken by a divine talisman that flew out from somewhere unknown, falling into Shuang Chengmo's hands.
Shuang Chengmo held the Pure Yang Divine Sword, laughing uproariously: "Feng Yunba, how does the Yellow Spring Flower taste? Can you still circulate divine qi and mobilize rule divine patterns? Has the blood qi in your body coagulated?"
"Yellow Spring Flower? What Yellow Spring Flower?"
"Never mind that! Activate the divine ship's attack formation, kill Shuang Chengmo, and reclaim the Pure Yang Divine Sword!"
...
"Stop! No one make a rash move!"
Feng Yunba's face changed colors several times. He immediately sat cross-legged, blazing divine flames burning around him as he refined the terrifying poison within his body while giving orders: "Feng Xuan, guard the core of the ship-protecting formation. Don't let any cultivator approach. Remember, don't fully activate your divine qi, or you'll also instantly succumb to the poison."
"Yes, I'll go now."
Feng Xuan forced himself to look away from Shuang Chengmo, hatred burning in his heart, but he understood that today had truly reached a life-or-death crisis. With reddened eyes, he rushed toward the formation's core.
Feng Yunba issued several more commands, then emphasized: "The power of the Yellow Spring Flower has already silently invaded our bodies. Since the poisoning is recent, everyone just needs to ensure they don't circulate divine qi, and the poison won't activate for a short while."
"Once it activates... everyone, take care of yourselves."
All the cultivators on the divine ship fell into panic.
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, "Once the poison activates, the Yellow Spring Flower's power will first devour the god's divine qi, grind away the god's rule divine patterns, coagulate blood qi, and when their cultivation is completely lost, it will gradually consume their life force until death."
Zhang Ruochen knew something about the Yellow Spring Flower.
Legend had it that this flower grew in the tomb of the Yellow Spring Great Emperor, serving as a guardian of the grave. Any god who went to rob the tomb would encounter disaster without realizing it, even including Infinite Realm gods who couldn't escape.
But that Infinite Realm god had found the cause — this flower growing in the tomb contained eerie, unpredictable power that could destroy a god's cultivation and kill them invisibly.
Although the Yellow Spring Flower was terrifying, it also had its non-terrifying side.
It only worked on gods, and the higher the cultivation, the more significant the effect. It was completely useless against Saint Realm cultivators with weak cultivation.
It also posed no threat to pure spiritual power gods.
However, the Yellow Spring Great Emperor's tomb had long disappeared into the Santu River, becoming part of ancient history. The reappearance of the Yellow Spring Flower caught not only Feng Yunba off guard but also shocked Zhang Ruochen, who hadn't sensed any danger beforehand.
"That's not right! The Xufeng Divine Ship's realm-protecting divine formation has been active all along. Even if the Darkness Temple found the Yellow Spring Flower, how could it be powerful enough to penetrate the divine formation?"
A thought flashed through Zhang Ruochen's mind, then he was suddenly alarmed and rushed toward the divine ship's third level.
When he arrived, he found Feng Xi, Feng Yan, Xuan Yuanqing, Shang Hong, and Master Mo all guarding Feng Yunba.
A figure continued walking toward them.
Zhang Ruochen roared: "Qingkong Sword King, die!"
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Countless talismans flew out from Zhang Ruochen's sleeve.
Qingkong Sword King's face changed. Ignoring Zhang Ruochen behind him, his body transformed into a sword light, stabbing straight at Feng Yunba, who was sitting cross-legged.
Immediately, angry shouts rang out.
Xuan Yuanqing reacted first. Ignoring the Yellow Spring Flower toxin in her body, she summoned the Radiant Divine Sword and swung it, sending Qingkong Sword King and his sword flying sideways just half an inch from Feng Yunba's brow.
Xuan Yuanqing didn't dare to fully activate her divine qi, so this strike didn't wound Qingkong Sword King.
"How could it be you?"
Xuan Yuanqing's eyes were cold as frost, filled with pain and grief, her sword-wielding hand trembling.
Zhang Ruochen knew that falling into the Darkness Temple's hands would lead to no good outcome. At this moment, he had to stand with them against the common enemy. He walked over quickly and said: "With Wu Yue's spiritual power and mastery of the Darkness Path, even a great god's spiritual will cannot resist. The Qingkong Sword King before you is no longer the one you once knew — he is merely Wu Yue's puppet."
"I clearly used the Light Esoterica to investigate," Xuan Yuanqing said, still unable to accept this fact.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Your cultivation is far inferior to Wu Yue's, and you cultivate the Light Path. How much do you know about Darkness? The methods of an eighty-fourth-rank spiritual power expert are beyond our comprehension."
Feng Yan asked: "Daoist, how did you detect this?"
Zhang Ruochen was momentarily speechless, growing increasingly annoyed with Feng Yan, but quickly said in a firm tone: "Because I, this poor Daoist, live right next to Qingkong Sword King. I once saw him planting an unknown flower in his courtyard. Moreover, he is the only cultivator who has had contact with Wu Yue. If not him, then who?"
...
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(End of chapter)