Chapter 3174: Enemies in the Darkness
Back during the Heaven Hunting Battle, finding even a single drop of liquid Dark Time-Space Substance in the Dark Star possessed immense power.
Although Dark Substance wasn't as mystical as Dark Time-Space Substance, the Dark Substance here had directly condensed into land. Such a thick concentration of dark power would be overwhelming even for ordinary cultivators of the Dark Path.
For gods who cultivated the Dark Path, however, this was undoubtedly a supreme treasure ground.
It was eerily quiet, with no danger for now.
Zhang Ruochen couldn't help but think of Yan Liren. A thousand years ago, he had shed his cocoon body and entered the Blood Domain. Was he still alive?
The Blood Domain was incredibly dangerous. As a Great Saint, he was most likely doomed.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen hadn't sensed his aura in the Blood Domain. Given his cultivation level, the probability of him reaching this place and surviving was extremely slim.
Yan Liren was both the Supreme Elder of the Blood God Sect and the Master of the Dragon-Protecting Pavilion. He had a deep friendship with the Ming Emperor, had helped Zhang Ruochen in the past, and had even saved his life.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was lost in thought, he spotted a familiar figure in the dim distance, several thousand zhang away.
"Supreme Elder, is that you?"
Zhang Ruochen's face showed surprise, mixed with a hint of joy.
But the figure vanished instantly, as if it were merely an illusion of Zhang Ruochen's own making.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to chase after it to investigate, but his gaze fell on Mu Lingxi, and he immediately stopped.
He was certain that the figure had been real and that its silhouette closely resembled Yan Liren's. But if it was him, why did he retreat?
Something was wrong!
Better safe than sorry. Zhang Ruochen immediately deployed the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, using the Bodhi Tree as the core to evolve the formation.
At the same time, he drove the Six Divine Swords deep into the ground of the Dark Substance land, forming a sword formation beneath the surface.
With these two formations—one visible, one hidden—Zhang Ruochen felt slightly more at ease. He extended his Spiritual Power and the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram outward. At the eightieth level of Spiritual Power, he could only reach thirty li away before the spiritual tendrils were corroded by the darkness.
The Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, combined with the Heart of Truth, could probe farther, but even at a hundred li, the perception grew increasingly blurry.
Fifty li above the ground, the dark energy gradually weakened, while the power of nothingness grew stronger.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen stood up, looking in one direction. The Abyssal Ancient Sword automatically floated above his head.
"Roar!"
A colossal human divine corpse charged toward him, its body taller than a mountain.
It was shrouded in dark aura, its rotting flesh seeming ready to fall off at any moment. The Supreme Sacred Artifact armor on its body was tattered and rusted.
Wielding a war hammer, divine power surged from its body as it swung down.
"Boom!"
The war hammer struck the formation light barrier of the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations. Zhang Ruochen immediately activated the formation, generating a powerful spatial shockwave that sent the divine corpse flying.
The already decayed armor on the corpse shattered into iron shards, scattering across the ground.
Zhang Ruochen didn't press the attack, because more corpse roars came from the darkness, from all directions. Each sound was more piercing than the last, and the divine power fluctuations were fierce.
The divine power erupting from their bodies illuminated the darkness.
To Zhang Ruochen's left, four phoenixes flew in. Their corpses were massive and emitted a foul stench, yet their divine feathers remained vibrant. Their wings spanned over ten li.
They seemed to be deliberately controlling their divine bodies to avoid contact with the nothingness.
Had the Phoenix Clan of the Kunlun Realm been wiped out in the battle at the Endless Abyss?
Before Zhang Ruochen could think further, the sound of wooden fish came from the right. Seven divine corpses in kasayas charged forward. Their bodies were thousands of zhang tall, humanoid, but covered in black fur.
Golden light radiated from them, but they inhaled and exhaled dark qi.
These were Buddhist gods who had fallen here, all corrupted into evil corpses.
After that came the Angel Clan, the Demon Clan, the Dragon Clan, the Underworld Clan... The number of divine corpses grew, attacking the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations from all directions.
"Boom!"
A phoenix corpse spewed black flames, circling above the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, until Zhang Ruochen cut it down with the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Zhang Ruochen released the Devouring Spirit Insects, letting them feast on the remains.
The divine corpses here were strange. They didn't seem to possess intelligence like the Corpse Clan; they only knew how to attack.
Moreover, even if their bodies were shattered, they could quickly reform.
"Bang!"
A divine corpse in a kasaya wielded a wooden fish Buddhist artifact, which Zhang Ruochen captured with the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram.
The wooden fish artifact should have been a Primordial-level Supreme Sacred Artifact, but after being eroded by dark power for a hundred thousand years, it had lost its Buddhist nature. Zhang Ruochen crushed it directly, letting the Abyssal Ancient Sword absorb it.
Though the divine corpses were numerous, Zhang Ruochen was no longer the same as before. He could handle them with ease.
After dragging the sixth divine corpse into the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, Zhang Ruochen suddenly felt a sharp pain in his divine soul. His vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed.
It was a curse!
An unknown, powerful divine corpse in the darkness had cast a curse on him, attacking his divine soul.
Or perhaps it wasn't a divine corpse...
Zhang Ruochen activated the power of the Buddha Emperor Relic within him and retreated toward the Bodhi Tree, using Buddhist power to resist the curse. At the same time, he unleashed his Spiritual Power and cast a curse of his own, retaliating against the powerful enemy hidden in the darkness.
Pinned down by the unknown powerful foe, the power of the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations weakened. One by one, divine corpses broke into the formation, heading toward the Bodhi Tree at its center.
The Devouring Spirit Insects surged out in a swarm, engaging in fierce battle.
Beneath the Bodhi Tree, Mu Lingxi's Divine Tribulation had reached a critical moment. Wisps of demonic fire began to coalesce around her. Some erupted from the ground, while others fell from the nothingness above.
Feng Tian's voice reached Zhang Ruochen's ears: "The demonic fire is about to descend. Finish your fight quickly, defeat your opponent, and retreat far away. Don't let the Divine Tribulation sense you!"
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly. The enemy buried in the darkness could harm his divine soul with curses—either an Infinite Realm divine corpse or a Grand Void realm great god.
In such a situation, she still wanted him to finish quickly.
For Lingxi's sake, he would give it his all today.
"Slash!"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes grew fierce. He stopped holding back and summoned the Six Divine Swords buried underground. The might of divine artifacts spread out.
The sword formation spanned the sky, and sword qi scattered like celestial maidens scattering flowers, slashing in all directions.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
...
With this one strike, he shattered all the dozens of divine corpses that had surged forward.
Limbs flew, and rotting blood poured like a waterfall.
Whether it was the massive phoenixes and divine dragons or the eerie Underworld Clan divine corpses, none could withstand Zhang Ruochen's sword might. They were like chickens and dogs, their broken bodies falling into the swarm of insects.
Then, Zhang Ruochen soared into the air and struck a palm toward the darkness.
The God Venerable Talisman in his palm flickered. From within the talisman, a blood-red fist imprint flew out, illuminating the darkness as it blasted toward the source of the curse.
Under the light of the blood-red fist imprint, Zhang Ruochen saw two figures in the distant darkness.
One looked very much like Yan Liren, but he couldn't see clearly.
The other was draped in a black robe, retreating rapidly while raising a staff, forming a shadow of the Nether Ancestor that collided with the incoming fist imprint.
A scream rang out in the darkness, and blood splattered.
Unfortunately, the blood-red fist imprint had traveled too far through the darkness, its power greatly diminished. It failed to kill him.
In Zhang Ruochen's perception, the two figures fled into the distance, and all the divine corpses withdrew as well.
"Who was that? Those divine corpses must have been controlled by him." The worry in Zhang Ruochen's brows didn't dissipate.
Although the darkness had eroded the blood-red fist imprint, the fact that the opponent could withstand that strike and survive meant his cultivation was no small matter.
He looked at the God Venerable Talisman in his palm. It was already covered in cracks and could be used at most one more time.
Beneath the Bodhi Tree, demonic flames raged like a rolling lake of fire, completely engulfing Mu Lingxi.
Zhang Ruochen retreated into the distance, pushing the Heart of Truth and the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram to their limits, guarding against any sneak attacks or curses from the hidden enemy that might target Mu Lingxi during her tribulation.
In his perception, the aura of a living being approached from afar.
Gradually, it came into Zhang Ruochen's view.
It was indeed Yan Liren!
Zhang Ruochen smiled and called out, "Pavilion Master Yan!"
Yan Liren's expression was unnatural, showing no joy at all. He said, "I never thought that after all these years apart, your cultivation would have become so powerful."
"Hasn't Pavilion Master Yan also stepped into the divine realm?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Given Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation level, he addressed him as "Pavilion Master Yan" instead of "Supreme Elder."
Yan Liren understood that Zhang Ruochen was reminding him that he was the Master of the Dragon-Protecting Pavilion of the Sacred Bright Central Empire and thus his subordinate.
This was how a superior addressed a subordinate.
It was also a sign of dissatisfaction with his earlier actions.
Yan Liren smiled bitterly and was about to say something to warn him when suddenly his eyes turned pitch black, all the whites disappearing. His voice became eerie: "We are all gods of the Hell Realm. The earlier incident was a misunderstanding. I saw the Bodhi Tree blooming in the darkness and mistook you for Buddhist gods, which is why I attacked. I am a great god of the Underworld Clan, Gong Shang."
Zhang Ruochen had heard the name Gong Shang before. He was the son of Gong Xuanzang, but according to legend, he had fallen a hundred thousand years ago.
Had he been here for a hundred thousand years?
Zhang Ruochen realized that the current Yan Liren was merely a puppet through which Gong Shang was speaking. It seemed the power of the God Venerable Talisman had intimidated him, preventing him from coming in person.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Has Pavilion Master Yan told you who I am?"
"Hmph! He was unwilling to say anything, but I could easily probe his consciousness. You have the bloodline of the Undying Blood Clan and have received a talisman bestowed by a god venerable of the Undying Blood Clan. Clearly, you are a god of the Hell Realm. We are on the same side; there's no need for a deadly fight. Can we let bygones be bygones?" Yan Liren said.
In a place like this, Zhang Ruochen couldn't trust him at all. He said, "You were struck by the God Venerable Talisman. You must be badly injured, right?"
"It was all a misunderstanding. I was in the wrong first. How could I hold a grudge? Great God Ruochen, there's no need to worry." Yan Liren's voice was full of magnanimity.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Brother Gong, could you tell me how long you've been here? What kind of place is this?"
Yan Liren let out a long sigh. "A hundred thousand years! I've been trapped here for a hundred thousand years."
"Your father is the most renowned strongman of the Underworld Clan. Doesn't he know you're still alive? Why hasn't he come to rescue you?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Yan Liren said, "It's a long story. Why don't we meet in person and discuss it?"
Though Zhang Ruochen addressed him as "brother," his vigilance only deepened. He said, "My senior sister is at a critical moment in her Divine Tribulation. Let's wait until she successfully crosses it before we meet in person."
...
Can anyone tell me how many chapters I owe in total?
There will be another update tonight.
(Chapter End)