# Chapter 3078: Dark Night Realm Gate
"Not a bad technique. An ordinary great god couldn't perform this secret art of yours."
Zhang Ruochen was fully dressed, the wounds on his body completely gone.
It was Xiu Chen who had projected the scene onto the Gods Continent, yet the aura contained in the projection belonged to Wu Yue. Zhang Ruochen knew he couldn't have done it himself. This being had once been able to fight against the Saint Monk, so it truly couldn't be underestimated.
Unfortunately, its luck was too poor. Every time, it was targeted by top-tier powerhouses, beaten countless times, as if cursed by misfortune.
Xiu Chen snorted coldly, sneering, "Compared to you, I'm far inferior! As for your method, not to mention that no great god could pull it off, among those who care about their reputation, not a single one would do something like that. But it's so utterly despicable that no one would believe it, only inviting ridicule."
Zhang Ruochen said, "My methods can't fool anyone, so how could Wu Yue's methods fool anyone either? Therefore, I don't need anyone to believe it. I just need to give those cultivators who don't want to be used a reason not to act! That way, there should be fewer enemies."
Zhang Ruochen's mood was not light. The secret of his martial arts cultivation recovery could no longer be hidden, and combined with the scene Wu Yue had caused, it would inevitably draw out countless former enemies.
But as long as the Destiny Temple and Fengdu Ghost City didn't get involved, the storm would be much smaller.
If Zhang Ruochen hadn't used this lowly, almost self-destructive method, the Destiny Temple and Fengdu Ghost City, even if they saw through everything behind it and didn't want to be used by Wu Yue and the Darkness Temple, would still have had to act.
Now, at least there was some room for maneuver.
But the situation was still far from optimistic. Among the gods of the Destiny Temple and Fengdu Ghost City, there were countless who wanted Zhang Ruochen dead. How could they let this opportunity slip by?
Xiu Chen said, "Next, are you planning to leave the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain and manage things outside? Or continue searching for the Sword Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen fell into thought. He understood clearly that whoever could first leave the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain and spread the news would hold the greater advantage.
He knew the principle of first impressions dominating.
Xiu Chen said, "I think, since we already have clues about the Sword Realm, no matter what happens outside, we shouldn't bother with it. Go to the Sword Realm, help me refine a Divine Source, and once my cultivation returns to its peak state, with my protection, who in the Hell Realm would dare touch you?"
Zhang Ruochen shot a cold glare at him, saying, "Even if within one eon your cultivation returns to the level it was a hundred thousand years ago, you've still fallen behind the gods of that era by a hundred thousand years. Any Heavenly God of the Hell Realm could defeat you."
Having seen Zhang Ruochen's miserable state, Xiu Chen's mindset had improved considerably. He wasn't angry, saying, "If you're going to fight a public opinion war, you're not suited to be on the front lines yourself. Besides, if you don't go out, the storm might be a bit smaller."
On these two points, Xiu Chen had hit the mark.
Zhang Ruochen looked toward the distant, colorful starry sky of the Lost Paradise, and could only place his hopes on Xue Jue War God. He believed that no matter how dangerous this matter became, his maternal grandfather would definitely get involved.
Just like back then, when his grandfather had killed his way to Tiannan without regard for anything.
And what he could do now was to prepare for the worst, find the Sword Realm, and secure a path of retreat for everyone. The final retreat!
"To the Dark Night Realm Gate."
...
Hai Cang Star was located in the far southern deep space of the Lost Paradise starry sky, hundreds of billions of miles from the Gods Continent. The planet's surface was perpetually frozen, with few cultivators ever coming here.
Ming Jianshen sat cross-legged in a valley, surrounded by glaciers.
The entire valley was covered by a formation.
After refining a healing divine pill, Ming Jianshen's spirit and energy had recovered considerably, but Void Heaven's sword qi and sword intent were extremely powerful, rampaging through his body, impossible to refine.
Shang Hong walked over and asked, "Has the Sword God fully recovered?"
Ming Jianshen remained seated cross-legged, shaking his head. "Void Heaven's sword path is truly the number one in the world. That sword strike not only severely wounded my divine soul, but the sword qi and sword intent it contained will probably take several hundred years to completely refine. If not for the blade strike the Blade Venerable bestowed upon me, which blocked most of the power, I might not still be sitting here."
"But this isn't entirely a bad thing! Void Heaven's sword qi and sword intent will temper my will, honing the sword in my heart even sharper. And in just these few days, I have already comprehended many sword path mysteries I could never penetrate before. Perhaps I don't need to seek the Sword Realm to break through to the Infinite Realm with a single sword strike."
Shang Hong laughed loudly. "Only the Sword God has the ability to turn calamity into blessing. This is a manifestation of your own strength. The Sword God's comprehension and will rank among the top ten of all sword cultivators throughout history. This is no flattery!"
Ming Jianshen naturally had unparalleled confidence in himself. Even against the Chaos Ancient Demon God, he could contend, and at the same realm, he had only ever lost to Xuan Yi.
But thinking about how he had twice fallen into the hands of that junior Zhang Ruochen, a nameless fire burned in his heart.
Although Zhang Ruochen had borrowed the power of Heavenly Mother and Void Heaven, it was still a massive blow to his reputation, an unspeakable humiliation.
Shang Hong guessed what Ming Jianshen was thinking, saying, "Let me tell you something interesting. Zhang Ruochen was brutally humiliated, and the projection was transmitted to the Gods Continent. Now, cultivators everywhere are mocking him. Haha! This time, he has completely disgraced Heavenly Mother, Yunshen Daozhu, and the others!"
Shang Hong couldn't sense the aura contained in the projection, nor did he know that Void Heaven had taken Wu Yue as his Heavenly Concubine. He had only watched from afar, treating it as a joke.
Ming Jianshen said, "Then all the treasures on Zhang Ruochen must have been taken, right? That's an astonishing fortune! Do you know who did it?"
Shang Hong shook his head. "The Lost Paradise is now filled with powerhouses. I suspect that some titled kings and venerables have already arrived. I dare not go deep into the hinterlands to investigate."
Ming Jianshen let out a long sigh.
The Six Divine Swords, the God-Defying Stele, the Buddha Relic, the Sword Ancestor's Sword Soul—each one was a treasure of the world. Even with his cultivation, he longed to possess them.
"What about Wu Yue? Has she appeared again?" Ming Jianshen asked.
Shang Hong said, "Wu Yue and the Chaos Ancient Demon God clashed once. Space shattered piece by piece, and the entire starry sky trembled. I don't know if the Universe Cauldron is still in her hands. This Chaos Ancient Demon God, just what..."
Suddenly, Ming Jianshen sensed something. He stood up abruptly, his bright eyes fixed on the dark void.
"What is it?" Shang Hong asked.
Ming Jianshen said, "There's a faint divine power fluctuation, extremely well-hidden, flying past three million miles away, heading south."
"That's impossible. Further south leads into endless darkness!" Shang Hong said.
"A god of this level wouldn't wander aimlessly. Anomaly means there's a reason. Continuing south from here, there's a qi belt, isn't there?" Ming Jianshen's expression shifted slightly as he asked.
Shang Hong laughed. "There is one. But there are tens of thousands of qi belts stretching from the Lost Paradise into the darkness."
"Let's go, follow and see. Use the talisman Shang Tian gave you to hide our aura. Don't let the one ahead notice!" Ming Jianshen said.
Shang Hong had used the talisman Shang Tian gave him to silently rescue Ming Jianshen, putting the Sword God in his debt.
"Is this necessary?"
The divine talisman was precious, and Shang Hong didn't want to waste it here.
"Trust the spiritual instinct I've cultivated over hundreds of thousands of years. This is definitely not normal. There might be a great harvest." Ming Jianshen smiled, but suddenly his face turned pale as he coughed up blood.
Void Heaven's sword qi had begun erupting inside him again, damaging his organs, flesh, and marrow.
Suppressing his injuries, he activated the divine talisman, and he and Shang Hong followed far behind.
According to Lan Wuteng, the Dark Night Realm Gate was located five million steps south of Hai Cang Star. This was a vast distance, and even for a great god, it would take several days to reach.
Within the Lost Paradise star domain, Zhang Ruochen didn't dare use the Divine Spirit Step. Instead, he suppressed his aura to its weakest level, flying slowly to avoid alerting any other gods in the star domain.
But he never imagined that Shang Hong and Ming Jianshen were hiding in such a remote place as Hai Cang Star to heal their wounds.
And Ming Jianshen's divine soul was powerful enough to sense his aura from millions of miles away.
Zhang Ruochen didn't know that two great enemies were following him. After leaving the Lost Paradise star domain, he stopped suppressing his aura and used the Divine Spirit Step to travel quickly.
"It's him."
Shang Hong sensed Zhang Ruochen's aura, both shocked and delighted, immediately wanting to make a move.
Ming Jianshen stopped him, even more pleased. "Why kill him?"
"This is a perfect opportunity!" Shang Hong said.
Ming Jianshen said, "I can take Zhang Ruochen's life anytime. But aren't you curious about where he's going? Don't forget, he's the one most likely to find the Sword Realm!"
Shang Hong instantly understood, an even happier expression on his face. "It seems this time, the heavens are on our side. They don't always favor Zhang Ruochen."
"Yes, this time it truly is fate! If we hadn't chosen Hai Cang Star as our healing spot, how could we have encountered such good fortune?" Ming Jianshen's earlier gloom was swept away, his mood greatly improved.
After Shang Hong and Ming Jianshen followed, a golden-haired man with an imposing aura appeared in the void. He had a pair of dragon horns on his head, and his silver-white divine robe was covered with various divine beast patterns, fluttering without wind.
Even though he casually followed very close behind Shang Hong and Ming Jianshen, the two gods, with their powerful divine souls, couldn't sense him at all.
...
After spending over half a year, Zhang Ruochen finally crossed five million steps and arrived at the Dark Night Realm Gate.
Calling it a realm gate, it wasn't actually a realm, nor was there any gate.
It was a celestial body similar to a black hole.
Still on the periphery, Zhang Ruochen discovered that space was distorted, and the flow of time was unpredictable, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. The dark force was incredibly powerful, capable of devouring the spiritual power he released.
Here, it was even easier to get lost than in the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
Zhang Ruochen circled this region, even darker than the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, and found that the influence of the Dark Night Realm Gate extended across a space tens of billions of miles in diameter. And this was just the core area.
Not daring to venture in recklessly, Zhang Ruochen summoned Xiu Chen and Lan Wuteng from the Sundial.