Chapter 3104: All Are Impoverished Gods
After leaving the Earth Demon Clan, Zhang Ruochen pondered along the way, why had the Learning Ancient God made such a decision?
First, it must be because of the strength and talent he had displayed, earning the other’s recognition, intending to forge a good connection and make Zhang Ruochen owe a huge favor.
Second, Yan Yu and Yan Zhexian’s attitude toward Zhang Ruochen should also carry some weight.
Third, it was to protect the six small clans and the Yama Clan’s interests in the starry sky of the Hundred Clans Royal City.
But was it really that simple?
With just these three points, the Learning Ancient God had no need to appear personally, nor to meddle in the internal conflicts of the Destiny Temple, dragging the Yama Clan into the vortex.
Soon, Zhang Ruochen grasped the key and a smile appeared on his face.
It should be related to the changes on the Starry Sky Battlefield.
The Yama Clan was worried that the war-faction in the Hell Realm would truly push Xinghuantian, Star Heaven Cliff, and the Hundred Clans Royal City into the Heavenly Court’s camp. That would bring nothing but harm to the Hell Realm, with no benefit at all.
…
An hour later, Zhang Ruochen flew out of the Hundred Clans Royal City, arriving at a desolate stretch of starry sky.
Here, the rules of life and death were chaotic and dense. Everywhere, one could see shocking spatial rifts, undying divine flames, fragments of supreme sacred artifacts, and broken divine realm worlds…
The battlefield stretched for hundreds of millions of miles, and it must have been a cataclysmic scene before, all of it bearing witness to a clash between top-tier great god-level beings.
After confirming it was Desolate Heaven’s aura, Zhang Ruochen’s initially worried heart calmed down.
He searched the starry sky for most of the day, finding nothing, before returning to the Hundred Clans Royal City.
News had already spread in the city.
“They say that Pu Chuanqi, the Taixu Great God of the Green Deer Divine Temple, tried to seize the divine artifact Earth Demon Sparrow, but provoked Desolate Heaven Great God, who struck him down, forcing him to flee across the starry sky, and even cut off his head.”
“Exactly! Some gods went to watch and saw Pu Chuanqi, headless, burning his divine blood to escape, all of them horrified. Luckily, the War God Mu Tuo of the Darkness Temple arrived in time, or Pu Chuanqi would have fallen today.”
“How dare you speak a great god’s name directly?”
“What’s there to fear? Pu Chuanqi first offended the Blood Absolute War God, then set his sights on Desolate Heaven Great God’s daughter. Where in the Hell Realm will he have a place to stand from now on? He’d better hide in the Green Deer Divine Temple and not come out, haha!”
…
“Ruochen Realm Lord, please come to the Crown Cloud Formation Tower to discuss important matters.” The voice of the Yecha Clan’s clan leader rang in Zhang Ruochen’s ears.
Zhang Ruochen entered the gate of the Crown Cloud Formation Tower, where gods had already gathered.
Representatives from over a hundred small clans had come, all assembled in the tower. Truly, divine radiance filled the place, with divine realm worlds one after another, as if entering the legendary God Realm.
Over a hundred gods rose simultaneously, saying, “Greetings, Ruochen Realm Lord.”
Such a grand scene of gods welcoming him was a first even for a great god-level deity.
The three great clan leaders sat in the three positions facing the tower gate.
Additionally, there were eighteen great gods in the tower, each with extraordinary bearing, surrounded by divine light, hailing from different small clans. Every clan had countless billions of cultivators, controlling at least one major world.
But these eighteen, considered ancestral figures in their respective clans, now looked at Zhang Ruochen with eyes full of wariness, gravity, or deep thought.
It wasn’t just because Zhang Ruochen’s backing, Nine Heavens, was terrifying enough; the strength he had displayed earlier was enough to keep them from acting rashly.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, “Everyone need not be so formal. This Realm Lord is merely here at the invitation of the three clan leaders to listen in. After all, Xinghuantian and the Hundred Clans Royal City are now bound by life and death. In times of crisis, we must help each other.”
Taking an empty seat very close to the three clan leaders, Zhang Ruochen sat down, quietly observing the gods in the hall, matching them with the names that surfaced in his mind.
The gods of the six small clans allied with the Yama Clan were also in the tower.
The Fire Ghost Clan’s leader, Xuan, said, “If the Hell Realm intends to destroy the Hundred Clans Royal City and rule this star domain, it won’t be a protracted war like on the Starry Sky Battlefield. They’ll send a massive army, strike like thunder, and end the battle quickly. To resist, we can only keep the Star Prison Cage Grand Formation activated.”
“But that formation is enormous, covering billions of miles of starry sky. Relying solely on the cosmic divine vein in the city can’t sustain it; it consumes divine stones at an alarming rate.”
“We three great clans invited everyone here to think of a countermeasure and to raise the divine stones needed to maintain the formation.”
At the mention of divine stones, the gods from various clans immediately grew restless, their discussions unceasing.
A god from the Immortal Source Clan, a blue-robed beautiful woman, said, “Not every major world can produce divine stones. My Immortal Source Clan’s ancestral world cannot produce them. The divine stones I use for cultivation are gathered bit by bit from selling wine. I’m not afraid to be laughed at—I only have ten thousand divine stones now, barely enough for one thousand-year closed-door cultivation session.”
The Immortal Source Clan was famous throughout the world for brewing wine.
But ten billion sacred stones could only be exchanged for one divine stone.
And one sacred stone required ten million spirit crystals to exchange.
Even if the entire Immortal Source Clan exhausted its strength, relying solely on selling wine, how many divine stones could it accumulate?
“You Li True God, don’t complain. Your Immortal Source Clan at least has a business spanning the world. I’m the one who’s truly miserable. I have to spend a lot of time personally condensing divine crystals and refining sacred pills, only to sell them for a few divine stones, seriously delaying my cultivation. Otherwise, why would I still be at the mid-stage of the mid-level god?”
The Ghost Horse Clan’s god added, “I’m not playing the victim; I really am pitiful.”
Instantly, the place turned into a scene of gods from various clans airing their grievances, each pouring out their hardships. Some gods even claimed they had sold their divine blood and scales for a closed-door breakthrough.
Although they were deliberately playing up their misery, unwilling to donate divine stones, these small clan gods were genuinely poor.
If the ancestral world lacked divine stone veins, then every divine stone had to be earned through great effort—like alchemy, artifact forging, or talisman crafting.
But alchemy required sacred herbs, and artifact forging required ores.
Talisman crafting required even greater investment, and one misstep could lead to losses.
Moreover, spending too much time on these pursuits inevitably delayed cultivation, leading to slow progress. Even if they earned a large number of divine stones, they couldn’t save them.
The consumption of divine stones for a god’s cultivation was a bottomless pit.
Forging one’s own supreme sacred artifact and protective treasures required a sea of divine stones. If, in battle, the supreme sacred artifact was taken or damaged, they could be bankrupt in an instant.
It was perfectly normal for these small clan gods not to be as wealthy as the favored sons of great saint heavens from illustrious backgrounds.
But to say they had truly reached the point of selling divine blood—Zhang Ruochen didn’t believe it at all.
Even if these small clans had thin foundations, they always had some valuable treasures to offer. At worst, ambushing a god friend and selling the divine corpse and divine source could yield a hefty profit.
The three great clan leaders sat above, utterly helpless, and could only turn their gazes to the eighteen great gods.
The races behind these eighteen great gods all had tens of millions of years of heritage, with much deeper foundations.
One great god said, “Now is a time of life and death for the Hundred Clans Royal City. We naturally cannot shirk our duty. The Sack Cloth Clan has two supreme sacred artifacts, passed down from our ancestors. I am willing to take one and sell it for divine stones.”
A complete town-suppressing supreme sacred artifact was worth nearly a million divine stones, a truly massive fortune.
“I am willing to dig up an ancestor’s divine corpse from my clan and sell it for divine stones. I’m not joking! Since they’re dead, we should make the best use of them.” A heretical great god said this.
“My clan has a false god with extremely low combat power. I’ll go back and take his divine source; it should fetch a good number of divine stones.”
…
Although Zhang Ruochen found the small clans’ methods of raising divine stones quite unconventional, he didn’t find it amusing at all. Instead, he admired them. No matter how poor, when facing life and death, they didn’t hesitate.
From start to finish, Zhang Ruochen remained silent, letting them handle the crisis themselves.
Though he could quickly obtain a large number of divine stones using the Earth Cauldron, it would easily expose the secret of possessing it.
The Hundred Clans Royal City had a total of 137 small clans, but only 111 had gathered here. Where were the gods of the other 26 small clans?
Just selling the divine corpses of those small clan gods would yield a massive amount of divine stones.
Moreover, the wealth of those 26 small clans would surely be divided up.
External crisis could unite all small clans.
But this massive profit could make all small clans willingly unite.
The three great clan leaders understood the thoughts of these small clan gods far better than Zhang Ruochen.
The Yecha Clan leader had invited Zhang Ruochen here more to let the gods meet him and to help Zhang Ruochen better understand the internal situation of the Hundred Clans Royal City.
They had never expected Zhang Ruochen to solve their problems for them.
At least, not in the short term.
After the discussions ended, the gods departed one after another.
Yu Ling Shen returned to the Hundred Clans Royal City, her expression extremely grim, her aura heavy with killing intent. “We were still too late. The Yecha Clan lost four major worlds to their destruction. The beings of Yunfa World were refined into a soul pill by the Ghost Lord. Yang World was shattered into pieces by Mu Tuo’s Soul-Suppressing Hammer, turning into world fragments, with corpses strewn everywhere. I don’t know how many trillions of Yecha Clan members died… miserably…”
As she spoke, Yu Ling Shen’s voice trembled, her eyes reddening as if she might shed tears.
After all, these Yecha Clan members had met their doom because of her decision. How could Yu Ling Shen, a god not devoid of emotion, not feel guilt and remorse?
Too many clansmen had died, and the scenes she had witnessed were too horrific.
This would surely form a demonic nightmare in Yu Ling Shen’s heart!
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t bear to see a woman so sorrowful. He walked over, reaching out to embrace her, wanting to offer his shoulder for her to lean on, but was stopped by a cold, sword-like glare from Yu Ling Shen.
Their eyes were inches apart. Zhang Ruochen could even see the mist in Yu Ling Shen’s eyes and his own handsome reflection in her pupils. The fragrance at the tip of his nose was tempting him to err.