Chapter 3039: I Will Guard the Path
The Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman was extremely rare, with an incalculable number of talisman patterns—countless trillions. Even a Rune Path Divine Master would need to seek out heavenly materials and earthly treasures to refine the talisman paper.
It would then take several hundred years, or even several thousand, to refine a complete talisman.
Moreover, the probability of failure during refinement was extremely high.
Wu Yue had used the Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman, which showed just how strong her desire was today to kill Feng Yunba, Xuanyuan Qing, and Shang Hong.
The suppression from Wu Yue and the Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman forced Mo Xiansheng to be unable to continue activating the attack divine formation. With no time to spare for the Big Head Cloth Doll, he had to focus all his effort on controlling the ship-protecting divine formation.
Both Wu Yue and the Big Head Cloth Doll knew very well that the Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman could not break the ship-protecting divine formation of the Xufeng Divine Ship.
But it could tie down Mo Xiansheng, buying time for the Big Head Cloth Doll to break the formations and divine patterns outside the formation tower.
"Light-Splitting Nether Shadow!"
The Big Head Cloth Doll laughed incessantly, the sound echoing through heaven and earth.
Above its head, a sky full of nether shadows appeared, all clad in black armor. Some drove war chariots, some raised war banners, and some rode nether beasts, unleashing an unmatched, world-dominating battle might.
This army of nether shadows surged forward in a sky-covering, earth-sweeping assault, charging toward the formation tower.
"Bang! Bang!"
The ancient heavenly patterns were triggered. In an instant, lightning flashed and thunder roared, divine power surged, tearing the charging nether shadows into fragments that turned into wisps of black smoke.
The Big Head Cloth Doll traced a line in front of itself with its finger and chanted, "Heaven and Earth, Separate!"
It merely drew a line, yet it formed a spatial barrier ten thousand miles wide.
Clearly, it dared not easily touch the destructive power unleashed by the heavenly patterns. It could only control the nether shadow army to charge forward wave after wave, clearing a path and wearing down the heavenly patterns.
At this moment, the Big Head Cloth Doll finally had its hands free, ready to completely extinguish Feng Xuan's spiritual will and divine soul. It looked down, but was suddenly shocked.
Feng Xuan's head and body had actually disappeared!
"How is this possible?"
The Big Head Cloth Doll was astonished beyond measure. Someone had actually managed to silently rescue a half-dead god from right in front of it. Even if its attention had been elsewhere just now, it shouldn't have been completely unaware.
"What a Qing Pingzi, interesting, truly very interesting."
The Big Head Cloth Doll saw the Taoist who had fled into the distance, and though fury burned in its heart, its laughter rang out loudly.
It was unclear whether it was laughing or raging.
Zhang Ruochen held Feng Xi with one hand and the headless Feng Xuan with the other, sprinting at full speed, wanting only to get as far away from that Big Head Cloth Doll as possible.
The gap in cultivation was too great; he couldn't muster any thought of resistance or sneak attack.
Feng Xuan held his own head in his hands, speaking urgently, "Daoist Qing Pingzi, how can we flee? No matter how we run, we're still on the Xufeng Divine Ship. Once the realm-protecting divine formation is breached, everything we've done will be meaningless. It's better to go back and fight Shidi to the death; perhaps there might be some turn of fortune."
Zhang Ruochen said, "How can we fight? Facing a spiritual power expert of that level, you couldn't even self-detonate your divine source, Daoist friend. Since staying on the Xufeng Divine Ship means certain death, let's break out."
Feng Xi gazed at Shuangcheng Mo, who stood in the distant dark void, and said, "It's useless. Breaking out also means death. It's better to stay on the divine ship and live or die together with everyone."
"Exactly. Even if we die, we must die with integrity," Feng Xuan said.
The ship-protecting divine formation was meant to block external forces from entering the ship, not to stop cultivators on the ship from breaking out.
The Darkness Temple clearly intended to kill everyone.
Shuangcheng Mo manifested his giant divine body, standing in the void like a world-dominating demon lord. Any cultivator who escaped would be killed by his sword qi, turning into clouds of blood mist in the darkness.
"Boom!"
In the distance, under the assault of the Big Head Cloth Doll, Mo Xiansheng ultimately failed to hold out. The seventy-two-layer formation tower collapsed, turning into a pile of ruins.
"How could it be so fast?"
Zhang Ruochen, Feng Xi, and Feng Xuan all felt their hearts leap violently, turning their heads to look back in unison.
The formation's central hub was destroyed, and the light of the ship-protecting divine formation quickly dissipated, unable to resist the Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman pressing down from above.
A world-destroying aura enveloped every cultivator on the divine ship.
"It's over! Everything is over!"
A Great Saint of the Wind Clan was pressed to the ground by the power of the divine talisman.
Lian Xi was a peak Half-God, and under the suppression of the divine talisman, she could still remain standing, but there was no light in her eyes, only boundless desolation.
Even gods were falling one after another; how could a Saint-realm cultivator hope to survive?
In the face of such destructive power at this level, any struggle was laughable and meaningless.
Xuanyuan Qing glanced toward the sky beyond, as if waiting for something, and muttered to herself, "In the end, is it too late? A calamity, truly a calamity."
Then her voice, beautiful and peerless, turned desolate and icy as she declared loudly, "Gods of the Darkness Temple, I, Xuanyuan Qing, swear today that I will cut down every single one of you here."
"You're about to die, yet you can still be so arrogant? Wrong, you are the daughter of Haotian; Lord Wu Yue is reluctant to kill you. Hehe!"
The Human Skin Lantern raised its war axe above its head, gathering dark force.
Xuanyuan Qing's aura was weak; the poison of the Yellow Spring Flower had already seeped into her divine source, coagulating her blood. The white divine light on her body grew dim. She stared at the Human Skin Lantern, her gaze as resolute as facing death, without any fear.
"Wu Yue!"
A deafening divine roar sounded from the highest point of the divine ship. The sound waves sent Zhao Wuyan and the Clear Sky Sword King flying.
Zhao Wuyan's mount, the Red Howl Ghost Beast, screamed in agony, turning into ghost mist, its soul scattering, stirring up a thick cloud of dust.
"Pfft!"
The Clear Sky Sword King spat blood, flying dozens of miles away, triggering seventeen formations, his body scorched black by divine fire.
Even the powerful Human Skin Lantern was forced back, seven sword marks appearing on its human skin.
The gazes of the three experts converged on Feng Yunba.
At this moment, Feng Yunba rose higher and higher, his entire body burning with divine flames, like a towering torch of fire. He looked up at the skull-shaped Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman descending from above.
His aura was thick and heavy, his disheveled hair turning crimson red, with no signs of poisoning. He said, "Wu Yue, I will take you away from this world today."
Outside Feng Yunba's form, a ten-thousand-zhang flaming giant sword's silhouette appeared, shooting up into the sky, colliding with the rapidly descending Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman.
The ten-thousand-zhang flaming giant sword seemed to possess the might to cleave the heavens, splitting the Mourning Diagram Divine Talisman in two.
The fragments of the divine talisman turned into countless fireballs, flying into the void.
"Pure Yang Self-Immolation Art! Good, very good, Feng Yunba!"
Even with Wu Yue's abilities, facing Feng Yunba who had activated the Pure Yang Self-Immolation Art, she had to avoid his edge and immediately fled far away.
The ten-thousand-zhang flaming giant sword pursued closely, striking from behind with a single slash, illuminating half the dark void with extreme brightness, piercing through all of Wu Yue's defensive measures.
From a distance, it looked as if her physical body had exploded!
But soon, it reformed and continued to flee.
Zhang Ruochen was astonished, saying, "Fourth Master's skill is extraordinary! Why didn't he use it earlier?"
Feng Xi's face showed unprecedented pain, tears falling like a curtain of pearls, completely uncontrollable.
Feng Xuan, a god who had lived for many years, also spoke with a dry voice, "Once the Pure Yang Self-Immolation Art is activated, within a quarter of an hour, the body, including the divine source and divine soul, will burn to nothing. I think Fourth Brother only just managed to suppress the Yellow Spring Flower poison in his body, and then, with a death-seeking heart, he aimed to kill Wu Yue and buy us a path to survival."
Zhang Ruochen's heart suddenly grew heavy. Although he had nearly died under Feng Yunba's sword earlier, he felt immense admiration for this man.
Because what Feng Yunba did was something Zhang Ruochen often could not bring himself to do.
He was the kind of upright and unyielding figure Zhang Ruochen rarely encountered, someone who drew a very clear line between right and wrong.
Zhang Ruochen considered himself not an absolutely righteous person; he had innocent blood on his hands and had acted unscrupulously at times. But he wished the world had more people like Feng Yunba, who could steadfastly uphold the righteous path and unwaveringly draw a line against evil and corruption.
Zhang Ruochen believed that if Feng Yunba had wanted to escape alone, he had a chance to get away.
He did not retreat, did not flee. He still charged forward with his sword, even burning himself, to fight for a glimmer of life for the cultivators on the divine ship.
"Father!"
Feng Yan roared in anguish, his body erupting with five-colored light, sometimes flesh, sometimes mud.
In the endless dark void, a patch of calamity clouds appeared.
Heaven and earth rules rapidly converged toward the calamity clouds, causing the area they covered to grow larger and larger, the energy within them increasing at an explosive rate.
Feng Yan rushed out of the Xufeng Divine Ship, putting distance between himself and the cultivators on board.
"Does crossing the divine tribulation now have any meaning? Even if you succeed, you'll only be a Lower Position God." Zhao Wuyan laughed loudly.
The Human Skin Lantern's divine light flickered, its two bright eyeballs beneath its long black hair burning with fervor. It said excitedly, "The legend is actually true! The legend is true... Haha, legend says that during her lifetime, Goddess Wa used five-colored mud to mold a clay figure, stored in the Wind Clan's Five-Colored Stone Valley. After many years, the clay figure spontaneously developed intelligence, possessed world-dominating combat power, cultivated to the Heavenly Venerable rank, and was titled Pure Yang."
"In his later years, Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable returned to the Five-Colored Stone Valley, his body reverting to a pile of five-colored mud. The Wind Clan used this five-colored mud to mold twelve clay figures, hoping that after many years, another clay figure would develop intelligence."
"I thought it was just a legend, but today I've seen a real clay figure. This is five-colored mud left by Goddess Wa, a part of Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable, practically his second life. Obtaining it will surely bring endless wondrous uses."
Feng Xuan stared intently at Feng Yan standing beneath the calamity clouds in the distance, saying excitedly, "There's still a chance! There's still a chance! So Fourth Brother placed his hope on Yan'er. As long as Yan'er crosses the divine tribulation, he will surely awaken the artifact spirit of the Pure Yang Divine Sword."
"The artifact spirit of the Pure Yang Divine Sword has lived since the time of Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable, always in a state of feigned death and slumber to avoid the Eon Calamity. If the artifact spirit awakens, Shuangcheng Mo won't be able to suppress it at all. One sword strike can burn a Great God."
The experts standing at the top of the Darkness Temple clearly had some understanding of the Pure Yang Divine Sword.
The Big Head Cloth Doll, who was pursuing Mo Xiansheng, transmitted with spiritual power: "Kill that five-colored clay figure. Don't let him cross the divine tribulation."
Zhao Wuyan soared up from the divine ship, a thousand billion fierce ghosts appearing behind him, forming a vast ghost cloud, charging murderously toward Feng Yan beneath the calamity clouds.
Feng Xuan said urgently, "We have to help... Yan'er..."
Before he could finish, the poison of the Yellow Spring Flower erupted, his entire body stiffening. He couldn't even hold his own head, which fell to the ground like a watermelon, rolling around with a clatter.
Zhang Ruochen held back Feng Xi, who was about to rush forward, and said, "I'll go! If you go, you won't even have the strength to put up a fight; it's pure suicide. At least I can still put up a struggle."
Stepping on the Divine Spirit Step, Zhang Ruochen held the Qingping Sword, his gaze resolute and sharp.
At this moment, the speed he unleashed was actually slightly faster than that of the Taiyi Great God Zhao Wuyan.
Feng Xi stared blankly at Zhang Ruochen's retreating figure. It wasn't that she was surprised he would charge out to face Zhao Wuyan—after all, in her heart, Daoist Qing Pingzi was the same kind of person as her father. He was someone who could selflessly save others, draw his sword for his emotions at the Fire Seed Assembly, and risk his life to save a world's living beings, a man of towering integrity.
What made her lose focus was that Daoist Qing Pingzi had always referred to himself as "this poor Taoist" and addressed others as "Daoist friend," but just now he had said "you" and "I."
Zhao Wuyan saw Zhang Ruochen chasing from another direction, a cold smile appearing in his eyes. "I didn't kill you earlier, and now you're coming to die on your own."
"Swoosh!"
The crescent-shaped war blade swung out, tearing a broken path through space.
Zhang Ruochen felt as if the entire universe was collapsing inward, oppressive force coming from all directions. His body couldn't even move, clearly locked onto by Zhao Wuyan's battle intent, leaving no way to dodge.
This strike was far more powerful than the casual blow from before.
Zhao Wuyan was stronger than any Taiyi Great God Zhang Ruochen had ever fought, and much stronger.
At this critical moment of life and death, Zhang Ruochen's heart suddenly grew calm, sinking into a wondrous state where only he existed in the world, and he understood.
Feng Xuan had said that as a man, one's essence is yang, and achieving yin-yang balance is as hard as reaching the heavens.
But a person's heart has two choices: the will to live and the will to die.
The will to live is yang; the will to die is yin.
From the moment Zhang Ruochen decided to stay, when he saw Feng Yunba activate the Pure Yang Self-Immolation Art with a death-seeking heart, when he resolved to face Zhao Wuyan and help Feng Yan cross the divine tribulation... at every moment, Zhang Ruochen's state of mind was shifting from the will to live to the will to die.
And it was a natural shift.
The moment he decided to face Zhao Wuyan and save Feng Yan, he didn't hesitate at all. It came entirely from his heart. Knowing he might fall, he still charged forward to fight fiercely.
The yin and yang forces within his body reached a delicate balance in that instant.
Zhang Ruochen slowly raised the Qingping Sword in his hand. Behind him, a Taiji Two Forms Diagram Seal automatically manifested. It seemed only eighteen zhang in diameter, yet also like one hundred and eighty zhang, eighteen thousand zhang... or even boundless.
"Swoosh!"
With one sword strike, he shattered the crescent-shaped blade light Zhao Wuyan had sent at him.
This strike appeared effortless, as if no power had been used at all.
Looking at the sword in his hand, then touching the empty void, Zhang Ruochen's eyes held a smile, then turned cold and sharp. He strode forward.
With each step, his aura doubled as he faced Zhao Wuyan, saying, "Today, Feng Yan crosses his tribulation. I will guard the path!"
Not only did the Taiji Two Forms Diagram appear behind him, but beneath his feet, above his head, and in all directions, yin and yang qi were everywhere, the diagram seal covering every corner of the void.
No cultivator present was not astonished.
...
This chapter is four thousand words, considered a large chapter, so I have the confidence to ask for monthly votes!