Chapter 3110: Do Not Bring Harm Upon Yourself
Li Yuan Heavenly God rushed over immediately, using the power of esoterica to help that Bone Clan upper-ranked god extinguish the Buddhist fire and assist him in reforming his divine body, roaring: "There are God-Shooting Crossbows on the divine ship. Gods below the True Realm level, leave this star domain immediately."
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen aimed at a Corpse Clan mid-ranked god who was fleeing and fired the third arrow.
The crossbow bolt dragged a streamer of light thousands of miles long, its speed terrifyingly fast.
"Don't be so arrogant, little brat Ruochen!"
Xu Liao struck out with a crescent-moon-shaped Monarch Sacred Artifact, flying across the void and colliding with the crossbow bolt.
"Boom!"
The Monarch Sacred Artifact exploded, turning into metallic dust.
The crossbow bolt's speed did not diminish, but it deviated slightly from its course, failing to hit that Corpse Clan upper-ranked god.
Zhang Ruochen was not disappointed. After all, with two Grand Void Realm great gods present, being able to kill one god and severely wound another was already a stroke of luck.
Moreover, his primary purpose in using the God-Shooting Crossbow was to restrain Li Yuan Heavenly God, Xu Liao, and Qianqian Divine Master, buying time for the Blood-Colored Divine Centipede Ship to reach Xinjia Main Star.
The gods watching from the distant starry sky were all utterly stunned.
Having come to the Hell Realm, Zhang Ruochen still dared to slay gods.
In this eon, there was no god more arrogant than him! Even someone as proud as Xue Jue War God would still hold back somewhat when facing a true god, not killing them outright.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
Arrow after arrow was fired. Even with Zhang Ruochen's formidable physical body, the recoil force from the God-Shooting Crossbow caused blood lines to appear on his arms, his skin splitting open.
The mountain-sized divine stone embedded in the crossbow had been completely consumed.
Zhang Ruochen stopped, somewhat unsatisfied, as the cracks on his arms healed rapidly.
He detected a powerful aura hidden ahead and transmitted the spatial coordinates to Bore, saying: "Capture him."
Bore, tall and graceful, her gaze deep and hazy, looked toward the direction Zhang Ruochen had indicated. Her eyes saw nothing. Clearly, whoever was hiding in the shadows must be a great god.
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
From the holes on both sides of the Blood-Colored Divine Centipede Ship, lightning tentacles like centipede legs shot out.
One of the lightning tentacles suddenly extended in length, wrapping around a Taiyi Realm great god who had been hiding ahead, intending to ambush them, and dragged him to the edge of the Blood Absolute Divine Ship.
This Taiyi Realm great god came from the Hidden Exhausted Bone Sea, his entire skeleton like black jade.
"How dare you! What are you doing? I only came to watch the battle; I never made a move!" That Taiyi Realm great god exclaimed in shock and anger, propping up his divine realm world shrouded in dark clouds, trying to break free from the lightning tentacle's suppression.
"Senior Brother, don't let him go. He's Li Yuan Heavenly God's junior brother, the Bone Clan great god Cang Changji." Xue Tu roared.
Xue Tu's body had been charred black by lightning, his divine soul severely injured.
Zhang Ruochen reached out with his palm across the void, his five fingers forming claws, tearing through space. He grabbed Cang Changji, punched him with one fist, and knocked his three-meter-tall bone body to the ground.
Stepping on Cang Changji's divine body, Zhang Ruochen carved runic patterns onto him, sealing his cultivation.
Just as the lightning river above descended once more, Zhang Ruochen struck Cang Changji with a palm, manifesting a giant divine body. The three-meter-tall skeleton grew to three thousand zhang in length, acting like a shield above the Blood-Colored Divine Ship.
Li Yuan Heavenly God, chasing from behind, shouted: "Divine Master, withdraw your hand! That is my junior brother."
Qianqian Divine Master furrowed her brow slightly. With a wave of her finger, the lightning river that was about to fall on Cang Changji a million miles away dissipated, turning into strands of electric light that scattered away.
"This divine ship is incredibly fast and priceless. It must have been bestowed upon Zhang Ruochen by Xue Jue War God." Xu Liao was furious, grinding his teeth in anger.
Earlier, they had come so close to seizing two of the Sword Ancestor's Soul Swords.
Now, with him and Li Yuan Heavenly God, two Grand Void Realm powerhouses, descending in person, plus a Formation Divine Master, they still couldn't stop Zhang Ruochen. Instead, he had killed a true god.
What a loss of face!
"Don't worry, he won't escape."
Li Yuan Heavenly God also felt humiliated, but he remained relatively calm.
Many of the gods following behind, hoping to pick up scraps, were beginning to have second thoughts. There was no helping it—Zhang Ruochen was too strong. Earlier, with the Sword Ancestor's Soul Sword, he had struck Xu Liao back with a single slash.
With the God-Shooting Crossbow, he had killed a true god in the starry sky.
Taiyi Realm great god Cang Changji had been knocked down with one punch and turned into a shield.
With such combat power, could they really pick up scraps?
If their luck was slightly worse, they would lose their lives here.
"No wonder Zhang Ruochen dared to step into the Hell Realm and go to the Destiny Temple. Even with Xu Liao, Li Yuan Heavenly God, and Qianqian Divine Master joining forces, they still couldn't hold him."
Suddenly, a delighted voice rang out: "Look, it's the Ghost Lord! This time, Zhang Ruochen should have no way out."
...
The chase across this star domain lasted for most of the day. Even though Zhang Ruochen used Cang Changji as a shield, making the three pursuing gods hesitant to act recklessly, skirmishes were still frequent, and this stretch of starry sky was shattered into pieces.
Xiao Hei was exhausted, lying on the ground, unable to sustain the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations any longer.
Xue Tu's body looked like charcoal, his face black as a pot bottom. He sat down against the wall of the divine ship, dazed, his eyes unmoving.
Bore's divine qi was completely depleted. She sat cross-legged beneath the Gate of True Self, trying to recover as quickly as possible.
Though Zhang Ruochen could still stand and control the Blood-Colored Divine Centipede Ship's flight, he had been struck from afar by Xu Liao's soul attack, leaving his face extremely pale.
Xiao Hei said weakly: "If the first leg of the journey is this hard, there's no way we can reach the Fate Divine Domain. Zhang Ruochen, do you have any other trump cards? Use them now! Don't hold back!"
The Blood-Colored Divine Centipede Ship suddenly slowed down and stopped.
Zhang Ruochen gazed ahead and said: "The Ghost Lord is indeed here."
Xiao Hei, lying on the ground; Xue Tu, leaning against the wall; and Bore, beneath the Gate of True Self, all turned their heads toward the direction of Xinjia Main Star. There, ghostly qi shrouded the entire starry sky, dark and oppressive, blocking their view and obscuring the stars.
Above the ghostly qi floated a magnificent divine hall, its divine might seeming to pierce through time and space, shaking past and present.
If Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation was a hundred thousand miles away from Xu Liao and Li Yuan Heavenly God, then the gap between Xu Liao and Li Yuan Heavenly God and the Ghost Lord was even greater than a hundred thousand miles.
The master of the third largest ghost city of the Ghost Clan, a true giant-level god of the Hell Realm, stood before them, blocking the way.
It was utterly despairing.
Behind them, Xu Liao, Li Yuan Heavenly God, and Qianqian Divine Master fanned out, encircling them.
From the distant divine hall, the Ghost Lord's deep voice sounded: "I didn't expect you, Zhang Ruochen, to be so remarkable, actually managing to get this far. A talent like yours makes me, this lord, reluctant to kill you. Why not surrender? I'll give you a way out."
"Stop pretending! Would you give me a way out?"
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, his battle intent and aura surging. He continued: "Besides, what right do you, Ghost Lord, have to say such things as giving me, this Realm Master, a way out? You overestimate yourself!"
"Why don't you submit to Xinghuantian? I, this Realm Master, will spare your life?"
The starry sky fell silent.
Xu Liao and Li Yuan Heavenly God, who had caught up, exchanged glances, finding it hard to understand how Zhang Ruochen could be so arrogant.
Was it the bloodline inheritance of the Blood Absolute Family?
Xue Tu and Xiao Hei also exchanged looks, realizing for the first time that when Zhang Ruochen threw out threats, he was even more arrogant than them, and it came naturally. But threatening had to be done according to the situation!
In their current predicament...
The harsher the words, the harder the beating they would receive later.
The Ghost Lord walked out of the divine hall, draped in a black robe. The void around him seemed to turn into a black hole, devouring all light and heat. Following that, the ghost clouds in the starry sky transformed into billions of giant hands, as well as shadows of heads and tentacles.
Souls howled, cries shook the heavens.
No one knew how many souls the Ghost Lord had devoured to reach his current level of cultivation.
"Why does the Ghost Lord need to act? I, Xu Liao, can take his life."
Xu Liao had been knocked back by Zhang Ruochen's Sword Ancestor Soul Sword earlier, but he knew that must have been Zhang Ruochen's strongest strike. And he, Xu Liao, had yet to use his most powerful technique.
As long as Zhang Ruochen didn't flee, Xu Liao was fully confident he could kill him in this starry sky.
The Ghost Lord nodded slightly and said: "Then I'll give you a chance to regain your face."
"Thank you, Ghost Lord."
Xu Liao manifested his giant divine body, his head like a star, his arms like mountain ranges. Corpse qi surged outward from him, emitting a strong corrosive force. Clusters of divine flames condensed around him.
He primarily cultivated the Way of Fire, the Way of Death, and the Way of Corrupting the World, possessing a large amount of Fire Way esoterica.
Those who could step into the Grand Void Realm were naturally no mediocrities.
Zhang Ruochen pointed at Xu Liao and said solemnly: "Do not bring harm upon yourself. I, this Realm Master, will give you one last chance. Get lost immediately, or you will die without a burial place."
Xu Liao was practically exploding with rage. A mere new god, even if blessed with great fortune and possessing extraordinary combat power, was far too arrogant in front of him, an ancient god of the Grand Void Realm.
Unbearable.
"Courting death!"
Xu Liao made his move. The Fire Way rules in heaven and earth became active.
Divine flames took various forms, surging toward the Blood-Colored Divine Centipede Ship from all directions.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen sacrificed a fist-sized divine hall. The hall's height rapidly increased, emitting a corrosive aura far stronger than Xu Liao's Way of Corrupting the World.
Gray death qi surged out from within the hall, accompanied by the sound of dragging chains.
A roar echoed from the divine hall, shaking the star sea.
The Ghost Lord's brow twitched.
The next moment, a disheveled ancient corpse rushed out of the divine hall.
The ancient corpse was bound by chains to a pillar of flame. It entered the void, its body expanding continuously, reaching over ten thousand miles in height.
It spat out a mouthful of corpse qi, icy and bone-piercing, completely freezing the divine flames Xu Liao had summoned.
Zhang Ruochen held the "Ming" token, using his spiritual power to control the pillar of flame, and through it, he commanded the old corpse ghost. He struck a palm toward Xu Liao.
Xu Liao looked up. The starry sky above him was completely covered by a rotting giant hand. His heart trembled violently, but he still punched upward.
"Boom!"
With his Grand Void Realm cultivation, he was like a child before the old corpse ghost, sent flying by the slap.
Back then, the Nine-Headed Dragon God, far stronger than him, couldn't withstand three strikes from the old corpse ghost.
Xu Liao's protective field shattered, and green corpse blood spewed from his mouth. Before he could stabilize his form, he found the space around him frozen, and he appeared within the five-fingered giant hand of the old corpse ghost.
"Not good..."
He was terrified, desperately activating his sub-divine-rank Supreme Sacred Artifact fist gloves and propping up his divine realm world.
The old corpse ghost seemed like a corpse ancestor emerging from the world, its eyes like blood moons, its killing intent soaring to the heavens. Its five fingers crushed Xu Liao's divine realm world, the earth cracking inch by inch. Then, lifting Xu Liao with its fingers, it tossed him toward its mouth.