# Chapter 3041: Darkness Temple Cannot Withstand a Single Strike
Shang Hong was a Truth Envoy, wielding a vast amount of Esoterica and countless trump cards in his hand. Precisely because of this, when facing a mid-stage Taiyi Great God, he had great confidence in securing victory.
But when facing a peak Taiyi, he could only defend himself. How could he be like Qing Pingzi, who could fight to a draw in a head-on clash?
Yet he did not know that Zhang Ruochen was inwardly sighing with relief. With Qing Pingzi's identity, he was truly constrained. If he had been wielding the Six Divine Swords, that previous strike would have shattered the Monarch Sacred Artifact war sword in Qingkong Sword King's hand.
Low profile, low profile.
If people learned that Zhang Ruochen, crippled by Qing Zu, had managed to rebuild his martial path and, in an extremely short time, reached such a terrifying height, it would surely alarm Qing Zu and the Darkness Temple's Hall Master once more. Perhaps other old monsters would also jump out.
Since that was the case, he would just casually fight Zhao Wuyan and Qingkong Sword King!
As long as he could protect Feng Yan through his divine tribulation, the matter of slaying gods and killing deities would naturally be handled by him. By then, everyone's attention would surely focus on this five-colored mud figurine, and they probably wouldn't think Qing Pingzi was unreasonably strong.
Probably.
Feng Yan looked from afar at Qing Pingzi, seeing him single-handedly resist two Great Gods, Qingkong Sword King and Zhao Wuyan. His gaze could not help but grow complicated.
Suddenly, he understood somewhat why his sister held him in such high regard.
This Daoist priest was indeed a towering figure! If he could risk his life today to protect a junior who had once offended him, would he not also be willing to risk his own life to protect his sister in the future?
Such responsibility, such integrity—how many in the world could compare?
Feng Yan could not help but feel ashamed, thinking his previous views had been too shallow. But soon, he collected himself, for the first tribulation lightning had already descended.
"Show your true skills. Deal with them quickly, or else once Shuang Cheng Mo makes a move, Feng Yan will be in danger!" Xuan Yuan Qing's pleasant voice transmitted into Zhang Ruochen's ears.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly, becoming even more certain that Xuan Yuan Lian had surely told Xuan Yuan Qing his identity.
Show true skills...
Easy to say. What if his identity was exposed?
Could he only return to the Heavenly Court?
Even returning to the Heavenly Court might not be safe.
Shuang Cheng Mo had been continuously killing cultivators who fled the divine ship, seeking to slaughter them all. He had no time to divide his attention, but his focus frequently drifted toward the void where Zhang Ruochen, Zhao Wuyan, and Qingkong Sword King were fighting.
Once he discovered that Qingkong Sword King and Zhao Wuyan, even joining forces, could not break through "Qing Pingzi," he would surely act personally.
At this moment, even if Zhang Ruochen wanted to keep a low profile, he could not.
On the divine ship, Feng Xuan said: "A Great God's spiritual will and divine soul have long merged into every inch of their body, even wandering between heaven and earth. Killing them completely is extremely difficult. Xi'er, give the Hunyuan Bottle to Fellow Daoist Qing Pingzi! In his hands, this secret treasure of the Wind Clan will surely be put to great use."
A three-inch-tall jade porcelain bottle flew out from Feng Xuan's divine realm world and landed in Feng Xi's hands.
"The Hunyuan Bottle was on Seventh Uncle all along? Why didn't you take it out earlier?"
Feng Xi placed Feng Xuan's head on the ground and rapidly flew toward the battlefield of the three Great Gods.
"Be careful, don't get too close!" Feng Xuan shouted loudly in warning.
...
Zhang Ruochen's voice was deep but carried throughout the void: "Qingkong Sword King, though you are a peak Taiyi realm powerhouse, you had your heart and spirit broken by Wu Yue. Now you are nothing but a dark puppet. A peak Taiyi who has lost his essence and spirit—what do I have to fear from you? Killing you is like slaughtering a pig or a dog."
Xue Jue War God dared to say he wanted to fight Bian Zhuang and was unafraid to go to Tiannan. Jie Zunzhe even talked big, claiming he did not fear Shang Tian. Even Xue Tu could shout, "I am the Destiny Temple."
Zhang Ruochen felt he needed to say some harsh words, since he could no longer keep a low profile.
Zhang Ruochen pointed his sword at Shuang Cheng Mo in the distance and shouted loudly: "Shuang Cheng Mo, dare you fight me? This humble monk will challenge three Great Gods today and crush the prestige of the Darkness Temple. Even if Wu Yue were here, I would say the same."
"Just entering Taiyi, yet so arrogant."
Shuang Cheng Mo's gaze was icy, his killing intent soaring to the heavens. The Dark Divine Sword was about to strike.
"Come then! Even the wielder of the Dark Divine Sword must join forces with others before daring to fight me again." Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhao Wuyan recondensed his ghostly divine body and said: "Do not fall for this treacherous Daoist's scheme. He is trying to provoke you into attacking, to buy time for the deities on the divine ship to escape."
"Fine, Zhao Wuyan, you ruined my plan. I'll cut you down with one sword."
Zhang Ruochen's face turned cold as he raised his sword and attacked.
Although Zhao Wuyan had been caught off guard earlier and beaten without the ability to fight back, Qing Pingzi's combat power was indeed very formidable and not to be underestimated.
"Earlier, you shattered my ghostly divine body yet still could not kill me. Now, you will have no more opportunities!"
"A thousand billion vengeful ghosts transform into a ghost city, divine thoughts pierce the heavens to suppress the Yellow Spring."
The thousand billion yin ghosts above Zhao Wuyan's head condensed into a black ghost city, causing the surrounding heavenly and earthly rules to become chaotic as it pressed down toward Qing Pingzi, who was charging with his sword.
"Can't kill you? I just didn't want to reveal my trump cards. Of course I can kill you."
A bright sea of stars manifested around Zhang Ruochen. Truth rules from heaven and earth continuously converged toward him. The Qingping Sword thrust out rapidly, its azure light seemingly illuminating the entire Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
"This is... Truth Esoterica. He is also a Truth Envoy?" Shang Hong's eyes were filled with confusion.
"Boom!"
A shattering sound, like the sun exploding, released overwhelming divine power.
The Xufeng Divine Ship, originally parked hundreds of thousands of miles away, was shaken and flew another ten thousand miles.
"Not good."
Shuang Cheng Mo's face changed drastically. He knew that Zhao Wuyan's divine source had been shattered by Qing Pingzi.
But how was this possible?
Zhao Wuyan's cultivation was clearly far superior to Qing Pingzi's.
Even if Qing Pingzi could accurately lock onto the divine source using the Way of Truth, Zhao Wuyan should not have been crippled after failing to block even a single sword strike. Were Great Gods so fragile?
"This Qing Pingzi is not simple. He must harbor a great secret."
Shuang Cheng Mo could no longer care about anything else. He flew through the void with his sword, now forced to act personally.
Zhang Ruochen had been able to find Zhao Wuyan's divine source so easily, both because he had derived the Two Forms and greatly increased his perception, and because he could unrestrainedly mobilize Truth rules, combining them with the Heart of Truth to see through the mysteries.
Zhao Wuyan's ghostly souls flew everywhere as he roared in agony: "Treacherous Daoist, who exactly are you? You dare destroy my divine source and cripple my cultivation. The Darkness Temple will make sure you die without a burial place!"
Zhang Ruochen reached through the void to collect the Hunyuan Bottle that Feng Xi had thrown, his gaze sharp: "You will die without a burial place first! This Hunyuan Bottle contains Seven Scattered Divine Water, which can grind away a Great God's spiritual will and divine soul thoughts. After forty-nine years, Great God Zhao Wuyan will no longer exist in this world."
The Hunyuan Bottle absorbed all the ghostly mist between heaven and earth.
Although using Esoterica could refine and kill Zhao Wuyan faster, he simply did not have the time. Qingkong Sword King and Shuang Cheng Mo had both attacked, making him, Qing Pingzi, their greatest enemy.
This was the price of being the bird that sticks its head out!
Speaking harsh words was satisfying in the moment, but it meant getting beaten.
The Heavenly Venerable's daughter was on the Xufeng Divine Ship. Her status was supremely noble, her treasures countless, and she was in a half-crippled state. Yet they chose to ignore her.
Shuang Cheng Mo's cultivation had long surpassed the Taiyi realm. Even among Taibai realm Great Gods, he stood at the peak. With the divine artifact Dark Divine Sword added to the mix, no matter how confident Zhang Ruochen was, he dared not clash head-on with him.
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen slashed his sword horizontally through the air, shattering ten thousand miles of space and creating a chaotic void zone to block Shuang Cheng Mo.
"One Sword Vanquishes the Soul!"
Shuang Cheng Mo's giant divine body stood thousands of feet tall. Ignoring the shattered space, he swung the Dark Divine Sword, crossing ten thousand miles to strike at Zhang Ruochen.
The divine sword pressed down, destroying the Taiji Two Forms Diagram Seal around Zhang Ruochen and splitting apart the vast, universe-like Truth Realm Form.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to flee into the Void World, a heavenly voice sounded behind him, close to his ear: "Fight him together. Light breaks darkness."
Without turning back, Zhang Ruochen sensed an extremely soft palm pressing against his back, surging Great Radiant Divine Power flowing into his body. He did not know if Xuan Yuan Qing knew he cultivated the Way of Light, but she had come up with this method.
With a great enemy before him, how could he care about so much?
Combining the strength of Zhang Ruochen and Xuan Yuan Qing, they drove the Radiant Divine Sword to its limit, striking a world-shaking sword strike that clashed with the Dark Divine Sword.
Light and darkness collided in the void, forming ripples of light and darkness that sent all three combatants staggering backward.
"Not good, Qingkong Sword King..."
Zhang Ruochen separated from Xuan Yuan Qing, activating the light of Time Imprints. He rode the River of Time with his sword, chasing after Qingkong Sword King, who was attacking Feng Yan.
The Time Sword Art erupted. Faintly, Time Imprint light points could be seen gathering into a bright moon, then flashing away in an instant.
"Puchi!"
Blood splattered as Qingkong Sword King was severed in two by the Qingping Sword.
Even though he had unfolded his divine realm world before this, it could not stop Zhang Ruochen in the slightest.
First, he shattered Zhao Wuyan's divine source with one sword. Now, he had bisected a peak Taiyi Great God with a single strike. No one knew how many cultivators were frightened out of their wits.
"Shua!"
The second sword thrust out, destroying Qingkong Sword King's divine sea and sending his divine source flying out.
Zhang Ruochen drew talisman patterns with his hand, sealing the divine source, and with lightning speed, collected Qingkong Sword King's two severed divine body halves into the Chaos Bottle.
The entire killing process took no more than a single breath.
This stretch of space fell silent, with only the rumbling of the distant tribulation.
On the Xufeng Divine Ship, countless pairs of eyes stared at Zhang Ruochen, their emotions varied. Feng Yan, who was undergoing his tribulation, was surging with momentum, yet he could not draw their gaze.
Shuang Cheng Mo stood on the opposite side of the ten-thousand-mile-wide chaotic space. His gaze seemed sharper than the Dark Divine Sword itself, as if trying to see through the Daoist who had just broken through to the Taiyi realm.
Even the big-headed cloth doll, which had been chasing Mo Xiansheng, stopped.
Zhang Ruochen knew that this time he had truly been too conspicuous, already arousing suspicion from all the cultivators present. But what choice did he have? He was forced by circumstances. When the situation was stronger than the person, one had to adapt.
Since he had already hardened his stance, he would see it through to the end. He raised his sword to the heavens: "The Darkness Temple cannot withstand a single strike. With me, Qing Pingzi, guarding the path, who can cross from here?"
Anyway, Xuan Yuan Qing seemed to have temporarily suppressed the Yellow Spring Flower's toxin and was not far away. Even if Shuang Cheng Mo was stronger, what was there to fear?
"Shuang Cheng Mo is no easy opponent. Do you have any powerful treasures similar to the 'Twenty Heavens Diagram'? Hurry up and bring them out!" Zhang Ruochen transmitted to Xuan Yuan Qing.
Xuan Yuan Qing transmitted back to him: "You have more treasures on you than I do. Bring out the God-Defying Stele, and we will join forces to cut him down."
(Chapter End)