Chapter 3177: The Final Means of Self-Protection
"Clearly injured, poisoned by corpse toxins, with internal organs difficult to heal, yet you still pretend to be fine—truly asking for trouble." Mu Lingxi sat down on one of the roots of the Bodhi tree, staring at Zhang Ruochen, whose blood vessels had all turned black.
Zhang Ruochen showed neither joy nor sorrow, neither anger nor resentment. He sat cross-legged, activating the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram. The yin and yang energies flowed, the Buddha Emperor's golden light protected his body, and a sacred aura radiated from him.
Mu Lingxi snorted coldly: "Exactly the same disposition as Xumi."
Gong Shang's substitute puppet possessed genuine Taixu realm combat power, with formidable corpse toxins in its body. During those initial hundred-plus punches, it had seized the advantage with fierce, overwhelming force, completely suppressing Zhang Ruochen.
To save Yan Liren, Zhang Ruochen had forcibly suppressed his internal injuries and corpse toxins earlier.
After a while, Zhang Ruochen's injuries fully healed. He looked at Mu Lingxi, who sat beneath the Bodhi tree exuding boundless charm, and said, "Thank you, Senior Feng Tian."
"What are you thanking me for?" Mu Lingxi asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I don't know how Yan Liren managed to resist Gong Shang's will, but I suspect only Senior Feng Tian's methods could have enabled him to do so."
Mu Lingxi rolled her eyes and looked elsewhere, saying, "Gong Shang's cultivation far surpasses yours. How do you plan to deal with him? Don't stare at me—I can currently only use an extremely weak amount of power. This physical body has only just become a god; it's still fragile."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Actually, it's quite simple. Gong Shang can find us because the Bodhi tree's light is too bright, visible from ten thousand miles away. If I put away the Bodhi tree, we can shift from the open to the shadows. When it comes to perception, I'm confident I surpass Gong Shang."
"You mean hide? Zhang Ruochen, I am a Heavenly Lord of the Hell Realm. Have you ever seen a Heavenly Lord hide from a Taixu realm Great God?" Mu Lingxi's tone was cold, her eyes full of disdain. "Your divine path is ranked first-grade under heaven. Many believe you could become an Ancestor-level being in the future. And this is all you're capable of?"
Zhang Ruochen felt a pang of irritation. He had only condensed Shaoyang, just one phase. If he could condense Shaoyin as well, with both phases coexisting and yin and yang complementing each other, he naturally wouldn't put a Gong Shang in his eyes—he would have already charged over to kill him.
A Heavenly Lord fallen to the mortal world truly did not understand the dangers of the mortal realm.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Gong Shang is a Great God of the Hell Realm, the son of Heavenly Lord Gong. From what Feng Tian implies, you want to kill him?"
"He threatens my safety, so of course he must die." Mu Lingxi was very direct, stating it plainly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "In Feng Tian's view, how can a Great God who has just entered the Taibai realm kill a Taixu peak Great God? A figure like Gong Shang—even if a God King or God Venerable made a move, they wouldn't necessarily be able to kill him, would they?"
Mu Lingxi said, "The reason God Kings and God Venerables can't kill a Taixu Great God is definitely not because they truly can't. Perhaps it's because behind this Taixu Great God stands a stronger Infinite realm existence. Perhaps it's because this Taixu realm Great God carries escape methods granted by a Heavenly Lord."
"It could also be because the God King or God Venerable doesn't want to pay the price. Like a cunning mosquito—if you truly want to kill it, it will die without a doubt. Yet there are some mosquitoes that can live quite well in front of humans."
"Ultimately, it's because God Kings and God Venerables, deep down, only see a Great God as a mere mosquito."
"Your martial realm, Zhang Ruochen, isn't high enough yet, but your spiritual power has already reached the eightieth rank. Eightieth rank is the minimum threshold for killing a Taixu peak Great God, and coincidentally, Gong Shang is now injured."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Feng Tian means to use the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations?"
"Back then, when Xumi's spiritual power was at the eighty-fourth rank, he used the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations to fight a God King for five days without losing. If you refine the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations to a higher level, with your current spiritual power, you can contend with Gong Shang on equal footing," Feng Tian said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Even if I can contend on equal footing, killing him would still be as difficult as reaching the heavens."
"Plus me? Release the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations," Mu Lingxi said.
Zhang Ruochen really had no idea how much combat power Feng Tian could currently unleash. But since she insisted so strongly and didn't want to show weakness before Gong Shang, he had no choice but to go along with her and give it his all.
Mu Lingxi walked within the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations and said, "With your spiritual power, being able to inscribe the formation to this level is not bad. But it lacks a formation spirit."
"I can use the Divine Illumination Lotus as a substitute. She has been cultivating with me all along, has considerable skill in the Way of Space, and is mentally connected to me." Zhang Ruochen summoned Mo Yin.
In the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, she had been struck by the spiritual power storm and fallen into slumber. She had only awakened after Zhang Ruochen condensed Shaoyang.
Mu Lingxi glanced at Mo Yin and said, "Her cultivation is too weak, but she'll do. Usable."
She raised her delicate arm and extended a finger. After waiting for a while, she said rather displeasedly, "Support me!"
Zhang Ruochen didn't know what she intended, but he still walked over and supported her arm.
"Spiritual power!"
Mu Lingxi glared at him and said, "Can you not understand what I'm thinking at all? With comprehension like that, you still want to prove the Ancestor path?"
Zhang Ruochen understood. Feng Tian currently couldn't use her own spiritual power and could only borrow his.
Supporting her arm, Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power, channeling it through his palm into her body, spreading to her fingertips.
Her snow-white, slender fingers lit up like a divine brush, emitting white light. Using space as paper, she drew upon the existing formation foundation, sketching out one profound and extraordinary formation inscription after another.
At first, Zhang Ruochen felt awkward. No matter how he supported her, it felt like holding up a mountain—an immense pressure. But gradually, he became immersed in the formation inscriptions she was drawing. Each inscription seemed like the most beautiful artwork in the world, perfectly aligned with the Heavenly Dao.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen was completely captivated by the process of drawing the formation inscriptions. He felt as if Mu Lingxi's arm was his own brush, that he was the one drawing the formation inscriptions. His hand slid from Mu Lingxi's arm down to the back of her hand, gently grasping it.
Even if he occasionally noticed a strange expression on Mu Lingxi's face, Zhang Ruochen didn't think of her as Feng Tian at all. He felt she was simply Mu Lingxi, and he was personally teaching her how to draw the formation inscriptions, his gaze always focused.
Yan Liren woke up inside the formation, sitting up. All around him were stars.
In midair, Zhang Ruochen stood behind Mu Lingxi, holding her, using her arm to draw phoenix-like, dazzling formation inscriptions.
The scene was utterly beautiful, romantic and enchanting, making Yan Liren, who had narrowly escaped death, feel that the world was wonderful. An envious smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
But this romantic scene didn't last long. It ended when Mu Lingxi delivered an elbow strike to Zhang Ruochen's chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
Zhang Ruochen touched his chest, fully snapping out of his absorption in the formation inscriptions. He looked up at Mu Lingxi descending from the sky, unaware of what had just happened, but he realized even more deeply that this Feng Tian was truly unpredictable in her moods. She regarded even Great Gods like him as mere mosquitoes.
To her, there was only usefulness and uselessness.
The Yin Yang Eighteen Formations had been completely transformed. Within the space covered by the formation, ten thousand phoenixes danced, inscriptions pulsed, and space was in constant motion and change.
The formation's power had directly risen by an entire major level.
Mu Lingxi landed on the ground and coldly stared at Zhang Ruochen. "With your eightieth-rank spiritual power, even with me personally making a move, this is the best I can do."
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew that these formation inscriptions had actually been drawn by Feng Tian. But strangely, he found that he had learned all the formation inscriptions Feng Tian had just drawn. He even felt that some of them were his own work.
Mu Lingxi turned her gaze to Yan Liren. "Now it's time for you to play your part. Tell me, what is so special about this world? Also, what trump cards does Gong Shang have?"
Yan Liren said, "Gong Shang only treated me as a servant. He would never reveal his secrets to me. However, there is one place in this world that is quite interesting, but Gong Shang never allowed me to enter."
"Excellent. Gong Shang has most likely gone there to heal his injuries. Lead the way," Mu Lingxi said.
Yan Liren knew well how formidable Gong Shang was. Cautious, he looked at Zhang Ruochen.
"Listen to her."
Zhang Ruochen put away the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations and lifted the Bodhi tree.
Even without refining the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations anew, Zhang Ruochen wasn't afraid of Gong Shang. If he wanted to leave, Gong Shang couldn't stop him.
Earlier, he had chosen to hide simply because there was no need for a head-on confrontation.
Who would have thought that Feng Tian, clearly a ruler of the Hell Realm, would be so hardline? So determined to kill?
Mu Lingxi seemed to see through his thoughts and said, "The best way to protect yourself is not self-defense, but offense—to eliminate all threats through attack."
"Is that why you wanted to destroy Kunlun Realm back then, and now want to destroy the Heavenly Court?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Mu Lingxi said, "The Calamity of Quantities is approaching. Only by making oneself strong enough can one face it. Relying on the sheep of the Heavenly Court is worse than slaughtering the sheep to strengthen oneself. If I can step into the Ancestor realm, what can the Calamity of Quantities do to me?"
"Don't you believe in fate? Do you think the Calamity of Quantities destroying the world is the fate of the universe?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Mu Lingxi said, "Discussing fate with me? Are you worthy? Hmph, I believe that one day, I will control the fate of the entire universe, becoming the God of Fate who transcends the rules—the one and only god!"
If anyone else had said this, Zhang Ruochen could have mocked them for overestimating themselves. But before her Nirvana, Feng Tian was already one of the Twenty Heavens of the Hell Realm. Now that her Nirvana was successful, her realm had undoubtedly entered new territory, making her one of the most powerful beings in the world.
With such cultivation, all her wild words were no longer arrogance but genuine confidence to look down on the world.
Of course, if Zhang Ruochen really wanted to mock her, he could. But why bother?
Yan Liren stared intently at Mu Lingxi, very confused. "Miss, since you are already so powerful, why do you need to borrow Zhang Ruochen's hand to kill Gong Shang? With your ability, a single thought could kill him, couldn't it?"
He was genuinely puzzled.
Mu Lingxi fell silent, but her gaze turned cold to the freezing point.