Chapter 3179: Corpse Within the Formation
“You still think a few ancient sword souls can intimidate me?”
Gong Shang let out a cold, deep shout. Raising his hand, a towering phantom of the Nether Ancestor manifested, sweeping down with an imposing palm strike that pressed forward with overwhelming force.
One after another, the soul swords were sent flying. The hand seal descended toward the Bodhi tree, and toward Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi beneath it.
Above, the wind howled sharply. Zhang Ruochen’s sense of danger surged, but he remained calm. He summoned six divine swords to protect his body, and billions of sword qi transformed into a sword dao world.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
The Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram and the sword dao world were shattered one after another, yet the power unleashed by the Nether Ancestor showed no sign of diminishing. That single palm seal seemed capable of piercing through everything in the world.
Just as it seemed the two would be crushed into the ground, Zhang Ruochen raised both hands as if supporting something.
A blood-red talisman seal appeared between his hands, radiating the aura of a God King.
“Boom!”
The Nether Ancestor’s hand seal collided with the God King talisman. The dark material ground beneath Zhang Ruochen’s feet sank violently. The floating bubbles of nothingness in the air burst one after another, unleashing a powerful shockwave of nothingness force.
How could Gong Shang have expected that Zhang Ruochen, aside from carrying an offensive God Venerable talisman, also possessed a defensive God King talisman?
Was he merely the grandson of Xue Jue? Could he really enjoy such treatment in the Undying Blood Clan?
Seizing this brief opportunity, Zhang Ruochen picked up Mu Lingxi, who had fallen to the ground.
“Die!”
Gong Shang waved his hand, sending three supreme sacred artifacts flying—a hook, a mace, and an arrow—all of which he had found in this divine battlefield.
Zhang Ruochen’s figure flickered and vanished from the spot.
The three supreme sacred artifacts slammed into the ground, creating three massive craters as divine power exploded in all directions.
“That’s spatial displacement… No, it’s a bizarre movement technique…” Gong Shang was astonished.
In this world filled with darkness and nothingness, spatial techniques were not so easy to use. The movement technique Zhang Ruochen employed was the Wushikong he had learned from Hai Shang Youruo.
Using the Wushikong movement technique, Zhang Ruochen continued to flee far away, his form shifting unpredictably as he evaded the three supreme sacred artifacts attacking from behind.
Gradually, relying on his speed advantage, Zhang Ruochen shook off Gong Shang.
He escaped beyond the range of Gong Shang’s perception.
Looking down at Mu Lingxi, her flesh was severely rotting, and her body seemed on the verge of splitting apart. From the cracks, powerful phoenix divine power seeped out.
Was her “shell” about to shatter?
It was as if he could hear the agonized screams of Mu Lingxi’s soul, could feel her life force being devoured relentlessly.
“No, absolutely not. Lingxi, I will save you. I’m here, I’m here…”
While fleeing, Zhang Ruochen’s eyes turned red. The Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram manifested around him, continuously drawing the Three Corpses Corpse Poison from Mu Lingxi’s body into his own through the yin and yang energies.
At the same time, through the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, he continuously channeled the life qi from his own body into Mu Lingxi.
If it could save Mu Lingxi, he would pay any price, even at the cost of his own life.
“Boom!”
Just as Zhang Ruochen was fully focused on saving Mu Lingxi, his body slammed into a formation. A dark purple formation light screen appeared ahead, covering a vast area.
Dense formation inscriptions flowed across the light screen.
Zhang Ruochen was struck by the formation’s counterforce, with over a thousand nether lightning bolts hitting his body, sending him crashing heavily to the ground. Yet even so, he arched his back, shielding Mu Lingxi beneath him.
Mu Lingxi’s eyes opened, regaining a glimmer of light. Weakly, she said, “It’s Gong Shang’s aura. This formation was set by him. Once the formation is triggered, his true body will immediately sense it and come…”
After speaking, as if she had exhausted her last strength, she closed her eyes again.
The nether lightning attacks were mostly blocked by the six divine swords, with only a portion landing on Zhang Ruochen, not causing him too severe an injury.
Taking advantage of the light emitted by the formation’s light screen, Zhang Ruochen glanced inside the formation.
Inside the formation lay a divine corpse tens of thousands of zhang long, towering like a majestic divine mountain. Its aura was exceptionally powerful, with white mist bridges floating above the corpse, shrouded in clouds and fog.
The divine corpse was in human form, with glowing feathers and sword patterns flowing across its skin.
The corpse seemed to have been shattered into many pieces, which Gong Shang had stitched back together with divine chains, restoring it to a complete state.
Zhang Ruochen only caught a glimpse of the corpse’s profile, but it was as if an electric current shot through his heart—shock and horror surged within him. This divine corpse’s appearance was strikingly similar to Kong Lao, the guardian of the Nether Prison in the Kunlun Realm.
Before he could think further, Gong Shang had already entered his perception range. Breaking through the formation and escaping in such a short time was impossible.
The Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram floating around Zhang Ruochen transformed all its aura into darkness, then abruptly contracted into a speck of dust, plunging into the ground and merging with the dark material.
Gong Shang arrived at the spot, holding the Refined Divine Flower in his hand as he landed on the ground.
After confirming that the formation had not been breached, he looked around, expanding his spiritual power and divine realm world, cautiously searching for Zhang Ruochen and Feng Caiyi.
He was certain that Zhang Ruochen and Feng Caiyi must be hiding nearby.
Because this was indeed a dry riverbed, extending only in two directions. If they left the riverbed, they would collide with the dense bubbles of nothingness.
As for Feng Caiyi, both Gong Shang and the half-headed Three Corpses Emperor were filled with caution and fear.
After searching three times without finding any trace of Zhang Ruochen or Feng Caiyi, Gong Shang grew increasingly agitated, and the murderous aura around him thickened.
The dust-sized Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram kept colliding with an extremely hard spot deep underground before stopping. Zhang Ruochen had no energy to investigate what had blocked the diagram.
At this moment, chaos energy surged endlessly from within him. Using the Wuji Divine Dao, he had already absorbed most of the Three Corpses Corpse Poison from Mu Lingxi’s body into his own.
Having absorbed the life qi from Zhang Ruochen, Mu Lingxi’s body gradually recovered, her skin turning fair again.
Throughout this process, Feng Tian was also doing her utmost to heal Mu Lingxi’s body.
Having temporarily passed the most dangerous stage, Mu Lingxi opened her eyes and looked at Zhang Ruochen, whose body was covered in corpse spots. His flesh and skin seemed ready to fall off under the erosion of the Three Corpses Corpse Poison.
A softness she had never shown before appeared in her eyes. She had seen warriors who fought to the death to save one person, soldiers who sacrificed themselves to save a group, and cultivators who gave up all their Buddhist power to save an entire realm.
But none of it had ever moved her, and she never thought them remarkable.
Perhaps she thought they were acting on impulse, or that they were fools and pedants, or that they had ulterior motives, or that they sought inner peace.
In short, she could never empathize.
Until now, even though she knew Zhang Ruochen was saving Mu Lingxi, she still found it unbelievable. How could someone like Zhang Ruochen—a proud son of heaven with limitless future potential, no fool or pedant—be so reckless for a woman?
Of course, it was only a flicker of curiosity. What truly moved her was an emotion she couldn’t quite name, one she had never felt before.
Perhaps it was because, since awakening from the Santu River, she had never been protected like this.
Gong Shang’s voice penetrated the dark material ground and reached Zhang Ruochen’s ears: “Zhang Ruochen, if you don’t show yourself now, I will kill Yan Liren!”
Immediately, a heart-wrenching scream echoed from the ground.
The Three Corpses Corpse Poison seeping from Gong Shang’s fingertip condensed into a sharp thorn, piercing inch by inch into Yan Liren’s brow.
Yan Liren’s body rotted continuously, his soul as if being corroded by molten iron.
“Come out. I won’t kill you. Your cultivation is beneath mine; you are no threat to me. I only want Feng Caiyi. If we both drain her, we can surely step into the Infinite Realm and leave this dark, nothingness-filled world.”
“I only want her divine soul and divine source. The divine blood is yours. If you don’t believe me, I can swear a soul blood oath.”
Then, Yan Liren’s screams rang out again.
Earlier, when Zhang Ruochen and Yan Liren had gone into the darkness to investigate, they were some distance apart. When Zhang Ruochen sensed the incident at the Bodhi tree, he had no time to take Yan Liren into his divine realm world before rushing back.
Deep underground, within the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, Zhang Ruochen continued to absorb the Three Corpses Corpse Poison from Mu Lingxi’s body. His body trembled slightly, and the cold, fierce aura in his eyes grew stronger.
There was no choice. Mu Lingxi had only just become a god; her body hadn’t even fully transformed into a divine body. Even a wisp of the Three Corpses Corpse Poison was more than she could bear.
This Three Corpses Corpse Poison was not much weaker than the corpse poison of the Three Corpses Emperor himself.
That she had held out so long was entirely due to Feng Tian’s power within her body resisting it.
Only by drawing out all the Three Corpses Corpse Poison could Zhang Ruochen truly fight with all his might against Gong Shang. Even knowing he had no chance of victory.
Sometimes, choosing to fight is not because you are sure you can defeat the opponent or survive, but because there are things more important than victory, defeat, life, or death.
But at this moment, caught between Yan Liren and Mu Lingxi, Zhang Ruochen chose Mu Lingxi. The torment and anguish he endured in his heart were no less than when he had personally killed Man Jian Great Saint.
“Ruochen, you owe me nothing… Don’t… don’t come out…” Yan Liren shouted with all his might.
With a furious roar from Gong Shang, Yan Liren’s body melted under the erosion of the Three Corpses Corpse Poison, and with the shout, it dissipated into nothing.
On the ground, only black dust remained.
After calming his emotions, Gong Shang laughed. He took out the Refined Divine Flower, holding it in his palm, and said, “Zhang Ruochen, I’ll give you one more chance to choose!”
The Refined Divine Flower released lightning, but it couldn’t harm Gong Shang or escape his grasp.
Gong Shang cast a soul curse, and Mo Yin’s agonized wails echoed from the Refined Divine Flower. With her cultivation, she couldn’t withstand the curse’s power; her soul seemed to be constantly dissolving.
The darkness remained silent.
Gong Shang’s eyes grew increasingly vicious. With a cruel smile, he said, “It seems I underestimated you, Zhang Ruochen. You truly are a ruthless one, unshaken by threats. My methods, used against you, seem rather crude!”