Chapter 3053: Chaotic Ancient Gods and Demons, the Nine Cauldrons Emerge
On this day, the outside world was once again in an uproar.
The Hall Master of the Darkness Temple was enraged, and various forces in the Hell Realm sent messages one after another, inquiring about the reason.
The fall of a Great God was a crippling blow to any power, no matter how great.
Whether it was the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms or the Ten Clans of Hell, the gazes of all the gods were fixed on the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, their attention surpassing even the Starry Sky Battlefield.
Anyone could guess that within that endless darkness, a great storm must have already formed.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for two Great Gods, several True Gods, and countless False Gods to fall in such a short time.
This was to pave the road to the Sword Realm with the blood of gods.
"My current methods for killing gods are still too weak. If I were the master of a certain path, to refine and kill a Zhao Wuyan, why would it take this long?" Zhang Ruochen sighed.
Although the Wuji Divine Dao could mobilize various Heavenly Dao rules, the quantity that could be mobilized depended on the area covered by Zhang Ruochen's Taiji Two Forms Diagram Seal.
Theoretically, the Taiji Two Forms Diagram Seal was infinitely vast, equal to the heavens.
But how could Zhang Ruochen mobilize rules in places his divine soul and spiritual power could not reach?
So, in the end, it was still limited by his cultivation realm.
Zhang Ruochen believed that if he could cultivate to the small goal he had set earlier, his cultivation would surely advance greatly. Then, to refine and kill Zhao Wuyan, it would probably only take a few hours.
To cultivate to this small goal, the Chaos Bottle in his hand was crucial.
Because, although Zhao Wuyan's spiritual will and divine soul had been completely refined, his divine Qi was still stored in the bottle.
How much divine Qi does a Great God possess?
The Divine Realm World of a Great God is already extremely vast and can store divine Qi.
Zhao Wuyan, a Great God whose cultivation was close to the peak of the Taiyi realm, had even more abundant divine Qi.
In other words, Zhang Ruochen now had a realm's worth of divine Qi to absorb.
Zhao Wuyan was of the Ghost Clan, his divine Qi was cold and yin, with the attributes of "ghost Qi" and "death Qi." Although it was possible to absorb and refine it directly, it would inevitably leave hidden dangers.
Zhang Ruochen summoned Yu Longxian, took out the Arhat White Pearl from her body, and placed it into the Chaos Bottle.
Purifying the ghost Qi would take time.
Taking advantage of this gap, Zhang Ruochen performed a spatial displacement and arrived beneath the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, his gaze falling on a pink skeleton.
This skeleton was once one of the three Fate Divine Maidens in the Heaven Hunting Battlefield a thousand years ago, the Great Saint Yan Hong.
Legend said she had awakened from the depths of the Santu River basin, giving birth to spiritual intelligence. She had been killed three times and resurrected three times, extremely bizarre.
Zhang Ruochen had also killed her once, even using dark time-space matter.
Zhang Ruochen believed he had killed the Great Saint Yan Hong, completely annihilating her. But was the Great Saint Yan Hong the master of this body?
The reason he had placed the pink skeleton here was that Zhang Ruochen had discovered that even after annihilating the soul of the Great Saint Yan Hong, she could still continuously absorb the death Qi of heaven and earth.
This skeleton of hers was filled with Undying Divine Patterns and could not be destroyed.
Deep within her skull was an unknown region. Zhang Ruochen had once probed it with his spiritual power but had almost been injured.
Although her cultivation was only that of a Great Saint, Zhang Ruochen guessed that in life, she must have been a remarkable ancient god, and it was very likely she had not completely died, making her extremely dangerous.
Just like the Blood Moon Ghost King back then.
Who would have known she was actually a ghost body cultivated from a divine thought clone of the Moon God?
Over the years, the pink skeleton had continuously absorbed death Qi, and her divine bones had undergone great changes.
The pink bones were crystal clear, like rubies.
Zhang Ruochen believed that with his current cultivation, he was no longer afraid of the unknown region within her skull. Even if it was an ancient god who had not completely died, could they still contend with a current Great God?
But for safety's sake, Zhang Ruochen began to inscribe Corpse-Driving Inscription Patterns on her bone body.
He engraved tens of millions of them before stopping.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen removed the spatial chains from the pink skeleton. Her bone body rapidly expanded, becoming one thousand eight hundred miles long, lying on the ground like a pink mountain range, with death Qi soaring to the sky, extremely terrifying.
Flying down to land on the pink skeleton's brow, Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands together. His vast spiritual power erupted from his body, turning into a river of light that rushed into the skull, entering the intracranial world.
This place was vast and hazy, filled with gray mist.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power advanced with irresistible force. For safety's sake, he even released a Soul Sword and a Spirit Sword to clear the way. Even if there were remnant souls within her skull that had not been extinguished, he would cut them down today to eliminate future trouble.
"Boom!"
Deep within the unknown region, a pink light burst forth. Even the Soul Sword and Spirit Sword could not block it.
The one thousand eight hundred mile long pink skeleton also emitted a pink radiance, and death Qi frantically leaked out. Wherever it passed, a hundred plants withered, trees withered, spreading into the Qiankun Realm.
The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree swayed, its leaves spitting out life Qi, opposing the death Qi.
Under another sky, the Bodhi Tree shone with golden light, and the sound of ten thousand Buddhas chanting sutras echoed from within the tree.
It seemed as if some terrifying ancient monster had truly been awakened from its eternal slumber.
"I refuse to believe this! Divine soul, leave the body!"
Zhang Ruochen shouted loudly. His divine soul and six other Spirit Swords flew out from his body, charging into the intracranial world, straight towards the center of the pink light to kill.
Spiritual power served as the path, seven Spirit Swords cleared the way, and the Soul Sword protected his body.
Arriving at the very center, he saw a blood lake suspended within the pink light mist.
The blood lake contained surging demonic Qi.
If it were a knowledgeable ancient god, they would surely have abandoned their intentions and retreated immediately.
But Zhang Ruochen, wielding the Sword Ancestor's seven Spirit Swords, was fearless. He controlled the Anger Sword and slashed it towards the blood lake.
"Boom!"
The blood lake was split in half.
Immediately, an ancient aura that made Zhang Ruochen's divine soul tremble erupted from the blood lake, forming a monstrous wave that surged towards him.
The wave condensed into seventy-two towering demonic pillars, intending to suppress Zhang Ruochen's divine soul.
"Not good!"
Zhang Ruochen used the seven Spirit Swords to protect his body and swiftly fled.
"Pfft!"
Returning to his body, Zhang Ruochen's body shook violently, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth.
Ignoring his injuries, he immediately took out a Buddha Relic and pressed it onto the pink skeleton's brow. Dense Sanskrit characters flew out from the Buddha Relic, wrapping around the entire skull.
At the same time, the Corpse-Driving Inscription Patterns Zhang Ruochen had previously engraved all lit up, firmly suppressing the violently trembling pink skeleton to the ground.
The divine soul power that had awakened in that blood lake was indeed terrifying. Zhang Ruochen's divine soul had almost failed to escape. But the death Qi within the intracranial world was limited. Now that he was outside, Zhang Ruochen was not afraid of her.
A full quarter of an hour passed before the powerful divine soul power within the intracranial world gradually subsided.
Zhang Ruochen did not dare to take away the Buddha Relic. He split off a spiritual thought and continued to inscribe Corpse-Driving Inscription Patterns on the bone body.
"What is going on? Why did I just see the seventy-two pillar demon gods? Was she, in life, some great demonic figure from the Chaotic Ancient Era? Could she be one of those seventy-two?"
"No, that's not right. So many tens of thousands of years have passed; her divine soul should have long since dissipated."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something, and his pale face changed slightly: "Santu River! It must be the Santu River!"
The Santu River basin in the Hell Realm was arguably the most temporally and spatially bizarre place in the universe. The river connected the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms and all corners of the cosmos. Any world or planet with living beings would inevitably have an entrance to the Santu River, which could continuously send corpses, dry bones, and ghosts to the Hell Realm.
The bones of the myriad realms flowed downstream, gathering in the Santu River basin.
This became the source of the birth of the three clans in the Hell Realm.
But in the starry sky of the Heavenly Court Universe, the Santu River could not be found at all, and it was impossible to cut it off.
If she was truly one of the seventy-two pillar demon gods when she was alive, what state was she in now? How powerful was she? How much of her combat power remained? Had she fully awakened?
Feima, ranked thirty-eighth among the seventy-two pillar demon gods, was a woman, said to be from the extinct Jade Blood Spirit Human Clan.
Could it be her?
The world was full of strange things. He had heard of the Emperor of the Strange Heaven, who had lived nine lives, seen ancient species hatched from prehistoric eggs, and slept on the Divine Illumination Lotus, which had survived from the Minggu era. At this moment, Zhang Ruochen's heart was truly panicked.
Even if someone told him now that there really was an Immortal in the world, he would believe it.
"No, I can't keep her here. That sword strike of mine must have awakened her. The Corpse-Driving Inscription Patterns and the Buddha Relic may not be able to suppress her, and I can't let her continue to absorb death Qi."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Sacrificial Heaven Bronze Cauldron he had brought from the Liangyi Sect and threw her into it, preparing to seal it.
This cauldron, as Zhang Ruochen had guessed, was extremely extraordinary. Even using a divine sword, he could not split it open.
Just as Zhang Ruochen had set up seven seals and was preparing to set up an eighth...
A faint, indistinct voice sounded: "What era is this? Why am I still alive? Whose divine blood preserved my soul?"
Standing outside the cauldron, Zhang Ruochen's hair stood on end, his scalp tingling.
Could it be...
Could it really have come back to life?
"Boom!"
A heavy blow struck from the inside out.
The bronze cauldron rang out like a heavenly bell, shaking the ground beneath the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree until it cracked, and Zhang Ruochen's eardrums buzzed.
This was going to be big trouble!
Zhang Ruochen immediately opened the "Sixth Patriarch's Zen Meditation Diagram," struck the bronze cauldron with a palm, sending it flying out of the Scroll World and into the dark void.
The old yellow ox, carrying the "Sixth Patriarch's Zen Meditation Diagram" on its back, was startled, its tail sticking straight up as it bellowed: "My ox guts are about to be scared out! What are you doing, making such a big commotion?"
"Scram! If you don't want to die, get far away!"
Zhang Ruochen had no time to pay it any attention. He embraced the Sacrificial Heaven Bronze Cauldron with both hands, surging divine fire erupting from his palms as he refined it with all his might.
"Even if you were once one of the seventy-two pillar demon gods, you've been dead for who knows how many years. I am a current Great God! Do you think I'm afraid of you? Refine!" Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth.
"Bang! Bang!"
The pounding sounds from within the cauldron were incessant.
Each strike shattered a piece of space.
The positions of the cauldron and Zhang Ruochen constantly shifted in the void.
Blood flowed from Zhang Ruochen's seven orifices from the shock, but he never let go.
Gradually, an even more bizarre thing happened. The surface of the Sacrificial Heaven Bronze Cauldron melted in the divine flames, revealing ancient shamanic script, as well as geographical patterns of mountains and rivers from an unknown land.
The space rules of heaven and earth converged continuously, actually stabilizing the space.
Even the space that had been shattered moments before instantly closed up.
"The Nine Cauldrons... have they emerged? The Cauldron of Space, the Universe Cauldron!"
This voice was not spoken by Zhang Ruochen, but came from within the cauldron.