Chapter 3098: Divine Venerable Falls
This scene was deeply etched into the hearts of countless cultivators within the city. The exquisitely beautiful woman in the temple was like a man-eating demon.
Yu Ling Shen cast a glance toward the black temple where Wubian was located. Seeing that the temple remained utterly unresponsive, her heart was greatly reassured.
Even the cultivators of the Darkness Temple felt fear. At this moment, they knelt one after another before the black temple, calling out the name of "Wubian Divine Venerable."
"Hall Master, please send down the light of darkness to purify her tainted soul."
"Where is the War God Mutuo? Why hasn't he come out to kill Yu Ling Shen and Zhang Ruochen?"
...
Yu Ling Shen raised both hands. Centered on the Yecha Ancestor Temple, a circular formation disk covered the entire Hundred Clans Royal City.
The formation disk rotated, emitting a harsh scraping sound like stone grinding against stone.
"Clatter!"
Purple lightning bolts, like ripples of water descending from the sky, struck down into the city, killing cultivators of the Darkness Temple. In every instant, tens of thousands of cultivators turned into wisps of green smoke.
Since it was already a life-or-death confrontation, Yu Ling Shen no longer held back as she had before.
Even if she were killed by an Infinite Realm deity after this battle, she would still make the Yecha Clan's might known today and force the Darkness Temple to pay a heavy price.
"Once a woman gets ruthless, there's nothing left for men to do."
Zhang Ruochen also wanted to go on a killing spree, but only against deities.
Such a large-scale slaughter of Saint Realm cultivators was enough to cripple the Darkness Temple's secular forces. However, it also broke the rules and would inevitably invite backlash.
After all, the Yecha Clan had thirty-eight great worlds!
Nevertheless, Zhang Ruochen could understand why Yu Ling Shen was doing this.
Because the Darkness Temple's secular forces had already spread throughout the Hundred Clans Royal City. If she didn't take this opportunity to wipe them all out, even if the three major clans regained control of the city in the future, these secular forces of the Darkness Temple would have already gone underground, scattered throughout the city, becoming a hidden threat.
In summary, this move had both advantages and disadvantages.
Yu Ling Shen's desperate gamble also involved a bit of scheming against Zhang Ruochen. Because by doing this, the Yecha Clan's thirty-plus great worlds would have no choice but to relocate to the Sword Realm.
It was risky, but it was also an opportunity for the Yecha Clan to rise again.
In the city district covered by the thirty-six formation towers, Rain Master had been jointly suppressed by the Yecha Clan Chief and the Fire Ghost Clan Chief, imprisoned within a transparent spiritual power war artifact.
Additionally, eight divine corpses lay on the ground, belonging to deities of small clans who had refused to submit.
...
After Xuanqi Old Ancestor died, four more Great Gods successively made moves, trying to break into the city district where the formation towers were located. They understood clearly that if the Yecha Clan and Fire Ghost Clan gained control of the formations in the Hundred Clans Royal City, all would be lost.
Unfortunately, all were stopped by Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen activated the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, evolving eighteen divine formation spaces, as if holding eighteen worlds in his hands. He fought alone against five Great Gods, including Qingyuntai.
His spiritual power was formidable, his divine qi abundant, continuously drawing the heaven and earth divine qi of the Hundred Clans Royal City into his body to maintain the formation's operation.
At the Earth Demon Clan's sacred land, Yan Yu gazed into the distance at the region blazing with divine light and sighed, "Xiang Ruyue of Fengdu Ghost City, Huoze Divine Lord of the Fierce Awe Divine Palace of the Destiny Temple, Yi Huang of the Hidden Bone Sea, Xuemu Hall Master of the Corpse Clan's Longevity Hall, and Qingyuntai. Any one of these five Great Gods could shake the starry sky and intimidate all directions. Yet today, five Great Gods joining forces cannot do anything to Zhang Ruochen."
Yan Zhexian, Yan Huangtu, the Earth Demon Clan's Clan Emperor, and dozens of other powerful cultivators were all dumbfounded, unable to recover from their shock for a long time.
Zhang Ruochen had truly recovered his martial arts, and in such a short time, had reached such a height.
This was simply monstrously excessive, beyond all reason.
Yan Zhexian, her talisman robe resplendent like a celestial maiden from a painting, snorted, "So what if he's become a Great God? Does that mean he can run rampant in the Hell Realm? Being this impatient only plays into others' schemes."
Yan Huangtu nodded repeatedly, "When Zhang Ruochen first became a god, he provoked Qingtian to personally take action. If I were him, even if I had recovered my martial arts, I would keep a low profile. I'd wait until I reached the Infinite Realm before stepping into the world to sweep away all enemies."
Yan Zhexian's bright eyes showed no lack of worry, "This time, he won't provoke another Heavenly Venerable, will he?"
"Times have changed."
Xue Zhi Gu Shen, though old and decrepit, had bright eyes, standing tall like a sturdy pine, an unyielding rock.
"Great-grandfather, what do you mean by that?" Yan Zhexian quickly asked.
Xue Zhi Gu Shen said, "Yu'er, tell them."
Yan Yu smiled, "The Zhang Ruochen of today already has the capital to look down on the world. As long as he doesn't indiscriminately massacre, among the deities above the Infinite Realm in the Hell Realm, only a handful of Heavenly Venerables would dare to kill him."
"Second Uncle means that Heavenly Mother is intimidating these people?" Yan Zhexian asked.
Yan Yu said, "Not entirely, but that is indeed the biggest reason. Heavenly Mother's face is not something most forces in the Hell Realm can afford to offend."
A trace of annoyance appeared on Yan Zhexian's face, "Wasn't it said that that bastard Zhang Ruochen had offended Void Heaven, Fengdu Dadi, and the Darkness Temple all at once? If he appeared in the Hell Realm, he would surely die?"
"Have Void Heaven and Fengdu Dadi personally stated that?" Yan Yu continued, "As long as these two haven't made their stance clear, which Divine King or Divine Venerable would dare to act rashly? Besides, is this really the Hell Realm? If it were truly the Hell Realm, Zhang Ruochen and Yu Ling Shen wouldn't dare to go on such a killing spree."
"This isn't the Hell Realm?" Yan Zhexian asked.
Yan Yu shook his head, "This starry domain is ruled by Star Heaven Cliff. In the past, the gods of the Hell Realm wouldn't have been so restrained either. But who would have thought that Xinghuantian would produce another Heaven-Perfecting spiritual power master? Haven't you noticed? Even the mighty Darkness Temple had to fabricate a pretext before daring to touch the Hundred Clans Royal City?"
"Without two spiritual power giants backing her, where would Yu Ling Shen have the guts to offend the Darkness Temple like this?"
"In truth, the Darkness Temple using Wu Yue as an excuse to make a big issue was also a way to break the protective barrier that Heavenly Mother had placed over Zhang Ruochen."
Hearing this, Yan Zhexian frowned and snorted, "If he hadn't been blinded by lust and left such a flaw, how could a demoness from the Darkness Temple have taken advantage of him?"
Yan Yu smiled without speaking.
Xue Zhi Gu Shen looked up at the black temple in the sky, "Look, Wubian Divine Venerable still hasn't come out of the temple. He's trapped inside. What kind of incredible divine power could achieve that?"
"Whoosh!"
A message light talisman flew in from beyond the universe and landed in Yan Yu's hands.
After reading its contents, Yan Yu's expression changed drastically. He stared intently in the direction of Guanyun Formation Tower, "Hao Tian has made his move. The Ghost Divine Venerable of the Darkness Temple has fallen on the Starry Sky Battlefield."
A Divine Venerable's fall was earth-shattering.
Xue Zhi Gu Shen's wrinkles tightened into a ball. After a long while, he exhaled, "Hao Tian wants to force Xinghuantian, Star Heaven Cliff, and even the Hundred Clans Royal City into the Heavenly Court's camp. I don't know how this storm can be calmed. The times have truly changed."
...
"Zhang Ruochen, you've finally shown yourself!"
From beyond the sky, a thunderous divine voice rang out.
Bright divine light broke through layer after layer of formations, flying toward the location of Guanyun Formation Tower.
It was Six Venerable, returning from Fire Cloud Realm.
After Zhang Ruochen killed Three Venerable's disciple—a seventy-sixth-order spiritual power master—in Fire Cloud Realm, Six Venerable had immediately rushed over.
But just as he arrived, he heard that Zhang Ruochen had appeared in the Hundred Clans Royal City. Furious beyond measure, Six Venerable had rushed back without stopping.
"Six Venerable, don't bother with Zhang Ruochen. First, seize control of Guanyun Formation Tower," Qingyuntai said.
Six Venerable's spiritual power was formidable. He instantly grasped the situation in the Hundred Clans Royal City and became even more enraged, realizing he had fallen for Zhang Ruochen's decoy tactic.
But with the battle having reached this point, why hadn't Wubian Divine Venerable, the Darkness Temple Hall Master stationed in the city, made his move yet?
The Yecha Clan Chief had already entered Guanyun Formation Tower and, together with the deities of various small clans, was activating the Star Prison Grand Formation. At such a critical moment, how could Yu Ling Shen allow Six Venerable to get there?
From the Yecha Ancestor Temple, a winding river of light a thousand miles long coiled around Six Venerable.
"Yu Ling Shen, offending the Darkness Temple is one thing, but do you also want to be an enemy of Tiannan?" Six Venerable didn't take Yu Ling Shen seriously at all. He snorted coldly, his tone full of threat.
"Among Qingtian's seven disciples, you're the only one whose spiritual power is still below the eightieth order. How can you represent Tiannan?"
With a thought from Yu Ling Shen, the thousand-mile river of light became dense with talisman patterns, crushing Six Venerable's body into pieces. But she didn't kill him.
After all, the one on Xinghuantian had a rather special relationship with Tiannan, and Yu Ling Shen couldn't be sure of that existence's stance.
Now, the Yecha Clan had no choice but to rely on Xinghuantian and Star Heaven Cliff.
Seeing Six Venerable return, Zhang Ruochen realized that the Great Gods who had been lured to the ten realms would surely be returning to the Hundred Clans Royal City one after another. So he stopped holding back and decided to end things quickly.
"Qingyuntai!"
Zhang Ruochen shouted, taking a step forward and appearing within eighteen zhang of Qingyuntai.
"Zhang Ruochen, you little brat, come on!"
Qingyuntai was trapped in the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, with space chaotic, shifting up and down, unable to find Zhang Ruochen's true body. He was extremely frustrated inside.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen appear, Qingyuntai swung his hand and smashed out a supreme sacred artifact—a great cauldron.
"Bang!"
A Taiji mark flashed around Zhang Ruochen for an instant. He swung his divine sword, splitting the supreme sacred artifact cauldron in two and also cleaving Qingyuntai's divine body in half.
At the cut of the supreme sacred artifact cauldron, metal melted, gleaming golden.
Qingyuntai suffered unprecedented severe damage. The divine substance contained in his divine body was refined away by one-fifth from this single sword strike.
"Whoosh!"
Seven Sword Ancestor soul swords flew out from between Zhang Ruochen's brows. With seven consecutive strikes, they blasted Huoze Divine Lord of the Destiny Temple's divine body into fragments. His divine form was utterly destroyed, and he died on the spot.
The momentum with which Zhang Ruochen charged forward, sword in hand, was like a young Heavenly Venerable emerging into the world—slaying gods who stood in his way, demons who opposed him.
None of the deities who dared to strike at him today were innocent.
...
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