Chapter 3160: The Hunt
“Whoosh!”
The Bodhi tree manifested in the Void World. Zhang Ruochen, clad in white robes as pure as snow, with a Buddhist halo behind him, appeared like a Buddha descending, his voice warm and distant: “This is a substitute puppet refined by the Ancient God Mara!”
“How could a substitute puppet be this powerful?” Feng Yan bore numerous bloody gashes on his body, injuries from the backlash of the Pure Yang Divine Sword.
Xuan Yuan Qing said: “He didn’t bring the divine artifact, the Mara Ancestral War Axe, nor did he use any esoterica. It should be, as... Master Yuanchen guessed, a substitute puppet. An old fellow who has lived for hundreds of thousands of years wouldn’t risk his true body to break into Red Gate Star.”
Xuan Yuan Qing couldn’t help feeling somewhat frustrated—losing a Radiant Divine Venerable Talisman over a mere substitute puppet.
Chi Yao said: “The stronger the substitute puppet, the greater the loss for the Ancient God Mara, and perhaps even his true body has been injured!”
The Mara Ancient Clan was a massive force comparable to the Blood Absolute Family, possessing an equally ancient lineage and having once produced an Ancestor-level powerhouse. Unfortunately, like the Blood Absolute Family, it had declined and was now in a phase of resurgence.
Qing Sixue and Feng Yan exchanged telepathic messages, their eyes filled with worry.
Xiang Chunan had come with Feng Yan from the second Starry Sky Defense Line all the way to Red Gate Star. The Ancient God Mara couldn’t have come from within the defense line, so the problem must have occurred along the way.
Xiang Chunan had likely fallen into the hands of the Ancient God Mara.
Zhang Ruochen communicated telepathically with Xuan Yuan Qing: “The Ancient God Mara’s target is you, and he doesn’t want to kill you—he wants to capture you. What do you make of this?”
Beneath her veil, Xuan Yuan Qing’s eyes were like cold stars: “The Ten Clans of Hell are scheming against each other. Capturing me would inevitably bring a massive calamity upon the Rakshasa Clan, allowing the other nine clans to reap the benefits. Do you think the Ancient God Mara doesn’t realize this?”
“Perhaps he wants to provoke a war,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xuan Yuan Qing said: “No need to say more—it must be the Quantity Organization. If you hadn’t been here today, even with the Radiant Divine Venerable Talisman, I might not have been able to use it. Truly infuriating... Zhang Ruochen, you have a pretty good relationship with the Rakshasa Clan, don’t you?”
Zhang Ruochen knew what she was hinting at, and he gazed into the endless void: “To control a substitute puppet, the true body of the Ancient God Mara must be in this star domain.”
Xuan Yuan Qing said: “It’s useless! A Grand God of the Grand Void Realm, hiding within a city, can evade the perception of an Infinite Realm deity. And here, hiding in such a vast star domain?”
“If an Infinite Realm deity truly wanted to search meticulously, how could a Grand Void Realm Grand God hide?”
Zhang Ruochen stared for a moment, then suddenly reached out and grabbed the air. Strands of Buddhist Qi flowed from his palm, condensing into a staff as thick as a bowl, which he hurled fiercely.
“Swish!”
The staff, like a golden meteor, shot across millions of miles at an inconceivable speed and struck a patch of void.
As if hitting something, the staff exploded into a ball of golden light.
The true body of the Ancient God Mara was forced out, a flicker of surprise in his eyes before he fled toward the starry sky where the Shura Star Pillar Realm lay.
He wasn’t exactly afraid of Zhang Ruochen and the others, but this place was very close to the second Starry Sky Defense Line. Once he was entangled, a large number of Heavenly Court powerhouses could arrive immediately.
His path back to the Shura Star Pillar Realm would also be cut off by the Heavenly Court Grand Gods on the Starry Sky Battlefield.
He had to retreat quickly!
How bizarre—how could that white-robed monk’s perception be so astonishing? Could he be a hidden Infinite Realm deity from the Heavenly Court?
Zangjin Baihu, Putuo Ancient Buddha, and the Pure Yang Divine Sword all attacked the Ancient God Mara across the star domain. But the distance was too great, their power drastically reduced, and they had no effect on him.
Xuan Yuan Qing remained remarkably calm, walking alongside Zhang Ruochen as they gave chase, raising her voice: “You’ve come all the way to Heavenly Court territory, and you still think you can leave?”
Zhang Ruochen actually didn’t want to pursue—after all, the Ancient God Mara was absurdly strong, and even if they caught up, they wouldn’t gain any advantage.
But seeing Xuan Yuan Qing so confident, he immediately understood.
Sure enough, moments later, golden divine light illuminated the Void World. A golden chariot rumbled forward, as if racing from the end of time and space, its momentum overwhelming, blocking the Ancient God Mara’s escape.
Accompanying the golden chariot were two vast, magnificent rivers of rules.
One was formed by the Wood Dao rules of heaven and earth, the other by Water Dao rules.
As the main deity of the Water and Wood Daos, Xuan Yuan Lian was for the first time fully mobilizing the Water and Wood rules, displaying the domineering might of a main deity. The entire world seemed to belong to her.
In the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, Xuan Yuan Lian had also used the Water Dao and Wood Dao esoterica, but the Water and Wood rules there were sparse—how could they compare to the infinite starry sky outside?
“Mara, where do you think you’re going?”
The golden chariot raced at full speed, the two rivers of rules surging ahead first, manifesting visions of a Heavenly River flooding the world and a Divine Tree reaching the sky, exuding an overwhelming oppressive force.
Facing two main deities, the Ancient God Mara remained ferocious. His divine body expanded, evil flames burning all over him. He raised the divine artifact, the Mara Ancestral War Axe, mobilized the Axe Dao rules of heaven and earth, and struck out.
“Boom!”
The vision of the Heavenly River flooding the world, formed by Water Dao rules, was split apart by the axe.
The Ancient God Mara, like a giant who had split heaven and earth, his battle qi surging, struck again at the Sky-Reaching Divine Tree formed by Wood Dao rules, displaying a might that seemed to “shatter heaven and earth and devour the star river.”
But this time, he failed to shatter the Sky-Reaching Divine Tree!
Because within the countless Wood Dao rules, at the center of the Sky-Reaching Divine Tree, a true divine tree was being nurtured.
The tree was like black iron, shaped like a pagoda.
“If you were the main deity of the Axe Dao, you might still contend with me, but you’re far too weak!” The golden chariot erupted with power even more terrifying than a divine artifact, colliding with the Ancestral War Axe struck by the Ancient God Mara.
At that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Zhang Ruochen stopped and grabbed Xuan Yuan Qing, who was charging forward. Suddenly, he felt a strange power flowing within her wrist, and a flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes.
Xuan Yuan Qing immediately shook off Zhang Ruochen’s hand, glaring at him.
“Boom!”
The full-force clash of two peak Grand Void Realm Grand Gods sent divine power surging like monstrous waves, crashing into Zhang Ruochen and Xuan Yuan Qing, pushing them back hundreds of miles.
Feng Yan, Feng Xi, Jing Xiu, Qing Sixue, and the other Heavenly Court deities were flung away like scarecrows.
After steadying himself, Zhang Ruochen deliberately whispered in Xuan Yuan Qing’s ear: “Impressive, this Xuan Yuan Lian—so the golden chariot is his strongest divine artifact. But when he fought King Yu, I remember he cultivated nine divine palaces. Why are only eight manifesting now?”
Xuan Yuan Qing hid it well, but a strange light still flickered in her eyes. She said calmly: “With my brother’s cultivation, why would he need to use his full strength against a mere Ancient God Mara?”
In that single clash, the Ancient God Mara was already wounded, divine blood flowing from within his armor.
He couldn’t break free.
Surrounded by eight divine palaces, he kept swinging the Ancestral War Axe, emitting blinding divine light and thunderous roars, throwing the Void World into chaos.
Everyone knew that the Ancient God Mara was no match for Xuan Yuan Lian. With Zhang Ruochen, Putuo Ancient Buddha, the Pure Yang Divine Sword, and Zangjin Baihu guarding all sides, his defeat was only a matter of time.
Zhang Ruochen said: “In this situation, the Ancient God Mara will surely fight to the death.”
“Why fear him? The Ancient God Mara’s greatest weakness is his spiritual power. Before the son of the Heavenly Venerable, how could he have a chance to self-destruct his divine source?” Xuan Yuan Qing’s eyes were full of cold pride, her jade-white neck held high like a swan’s.
She couldn’t help but seethe with anger at the thought of the Ancient God Mara trying to capture her.
“Pfft!”
The Ancient God Mara was struck by the divine tree. The divine realm world enveloping his body shattered into pieces, and even more blood seeped from his armor. His physical body was nearly beaten to a pulp!
“Xuan Yuan Lian, you are the son of the Heavenly Venerable. Do you care about the life or death of this Heavenly Court cultivator?”
The Ancient God Mara grabbed Xiang Chunan from his divine realm world, holding him in his hand.
His palm was much larger than Xiang Chunan’s entire body, crushing Xiang Chunan’s flesh until it deformed, bones breaking one by one, blood gushing from within like a spring.
The golden chariot stopped, and a voice rang out: “You’re too naive, aren’t you? You think you can trade your life for a Supreme Realm Great Saint?”
“Young Master Lian, please save him!”
Qing Sixue rushed recklessly toward the battlefield between the Ancient God Mara and Xuan Yuan Lian.
Zhang Ruochen moved with spatial displacement, blocking her, and also stopping Feng Yan, who wanted to charge forward.
At that level of combat, Zhang Ruochen didn’t dare to intervene now. If the two of them went over, what was the difference from seeking death? In Feng Yan’s current state, he could at most swing the Pure Yang Divine Sword one more time.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Xuan Yuan Qing and telepathically said: “Tell your brother quickly—he must save Xiang Chunan, or else my feud with him will never end!”
“It’s simply impossible to save him!” Xuan Yuan Qing said coldly.
Zhang Ruochen said: “Your understanding of light begins with Xuan Yuan Qing!”
This was what Xuan Yuan Qing had said to Zhang Ruochen in the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain!
Hearing this, Xuan Yuan Qing met Zhang Ruochen’s burning gaze and finally suppressed the killing intent toward the Ancient God Mara in her heart.
She understood that if she abandoned Xiang Chunan today and insisted on killing the Ancient God Mara, Zhang Ruochen might not hold a grudge against her, but they could never be friends again.
“You know it’s impossible to save him, yet you insist on trying. Zhang Ruochen, you’re letting the tiger return to the mountain,” Xuan Yuan Qing said.
Zhang Ruochen said: “Lend me the Radiant Divine Sword!”
...
The Ancient God Mara, seeing that Xuan Yuan Lian had not attacked again, knew he had found his weak spot and laughed without restraint: “Since you’re not attacking, why don’t you retreat?”
From within the golden chariot, Xuan Yuan Lian’s deep voice rang out: “Release him!”
“I will release him once I leave the Starry Sky Battlefield. Believe it or not, you have no choice but to believe now!” The Ancient God Mara’s momentum was overwhelming.
Zhang Ruochen secretly released the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram. The diagram was formless, merging with heaven and earth, spreading outward until it enveloped the Ancient God Mara.
The Ancient God Mara’s spirit and attention were entirely focused on the golden chariot, wary of a sneak attack from Xuan Yuan Lian, and he didn’t notice this subtle fluctuation.
Just as the golden chariot moved aside to clear a path, and the Ancient God Mara was at his most arrogant and complacent, the Void World seemed to turn upside down. Space shifted.
Zhang Ruochen, who had been hundreds of thousands of miles away, crossed the Void World in an instant, appearing above the Ancient God Mara’s massive wrist.
The Radiant Divine Sword slashed down, cutting through layers of protective divine light and severing countless rule divine patterns.