Chapter 3188: Outside the Divine Temple
"Xingtian, this time you might not return. Do you truly wish to go?"
"Then I shall not return."
...
An ancient tree stood like a pagoda, its leaves as large as palm-leaf fans.
Beneath the tree, Chi Xingtian opened his eyes, gazing into the distance at the Tongming Divine Temple, most of which was hidden within the clouds and mist.
In the instant his eyes had just closed, his mind was filled with memories of his time with Wen Tianjun. Although Wen Tianjun was not Chi Xingtian's master teacher, he had guided and taught him, acting as both teacher and father.
He cultivated the demonic path, yet always managed to hold fast to his original heart.
He was not constrained by trivialities, yet never lost sight of greater righteousness.
These were the influences Wen Tianjun had left upon him!
The Tongming Divine Temple remained, but Wen Tianjun of those days was no more.
Thinking of how Wen Tianjun had stained the starry sky with blood for the sake of the Kunlun Realm, thinking of how Wen Tianjun's clan descendants had been slaughtered to extinction, thinking of how Princess Shenba was imprisoned within the Tongming Divine Temple, Chi Xingtian felt a burning pain in his heart, which then transformed into boundless fighting spirit.
He activated a divine ability from the *Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription*, concealing his form, and stealthily made his way toward the Tongming Divine Temple.
As one of the three most magnificent divine temples of the Kunlun Realm in ages past, the Tongming Divine Temple's halls were as tall as divine walls propping up the heavens and earth, capable of influencing the surrounding space and the rules of heaven and earth.
The closer he got to the Tongming Divine Temple, the more restless Chi Xingtian's heart became, and he quickened his pace.
What should he say when he saw Princess Shenba? Perhaps nothing at all. It would be enough to go and slay Xuan Yi together! Back then, the choices she made herself had harmed Wen Tianjun and harmed her clan. She truly ought to bear that pain herself.
But, after a hundred thousand years, what needed to be borne should have been borne enough!
What sins needed to be atoned for should have been atoned for completely!
The rule divine patterns and formation inscriptions that permeated the heavens and earth were silently melted and severed by the demonic aura Chi Xingtian released, unable to hinder his steps.
Suddenly, his divine soul trembled, and his sense of crisis surged.
"Crash!"
Chi Xingtian's feet sank downward, and the ground beneath him transformed into a silvery-white liquid lake. Every drop of water was like a chain, binding him.
It was an extremely clever formation trap, having evaded Chi Xingtian's divine eyes.
"Sssss."
Wisps of demonic aura were released from within Chi Xingtian's body, turning the surroundings into an ocean of demonic energy, supporting his body so it would not sink.
A thunderous boom came from the sky.
Immediately after, a purple-black bolt of lightning fell from the firmament, like a divine blade splitting heaven and earth. It pierced through the demonic energy ocean and struck the top of Chi Xingtian's head.
The electric current spread from his head throughout his entire body, then extended across the ground, reaching as far as ten thousand miles away.
Chi Xingtian's hair stood completely on end. His eyes bulged like bronze bells, and a long roar erupted from his mouth. The roar was like a wolf's howl, like a dragon's cry, forming waves of force that tore through the illusions.
Space was like paper, shattered layer by layer, revealing the figures hidden in the shadows.
Being ambushed was a possibility Chi Xingtian had long anticipated.
But there are some things in this world that, even if dangerous, must be done. Knowing full well that ahead lies a mountain of blades and a sea of flames, one must still step over them, using one's own flesh and blood to level the path.
Quanzhongsheng floated in midair, his purple robe fluttering. Dense rule divine patterns surrounded him. He held a hammer and a spike in his hands, and a lightning pattern flickered between his brows, standing proudly like a heavenly god.
He had cultivated for over five hundred thousand years, possessing extraordinary attainments in the Way of Lightning. Ranked among the top ten on the *Great God Theory* list, his cultivation was unfathomably deep.
Yet this powerful being, who looked down upon all living things, now had eyes filled with shock.
Chi Xingtian had actually used his physical body to withstand his full-powered strike.
The Purple Calamity Divine Lightning, capable of annihilating a blazing sun, had not even pierced Chi Xingtian's skin.
Just as Quanzhongsheng raised his hammer to strike a second blow, Chi Xingtian broke free from the silvery-white lake, transformed into a streak of demonic light, and crashed into him.
"Boom!"
With just one punch, Quanzhongsheng, whose cultivation had reached the peak of Grand Void, had all his defensive measures shattered, accompanied by a series of explosive sounds from his body. Instantly, his chest exploded, blood mist burst forth, and his body was sent flying backward, carving a canyon hundreds of miles long into the ground.
Drops of divine blood stained the canyon a deep red.
"Chi Xingtian, so you really did escape from the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm. Zhang Ruochen helped you, didn't he?" A rough voice sounded from the ground.
It was a giant covered in golden fur!
He held a warhammer the size of a palace, and as he spoke and exhaled, he stirred up ripples in space.
This man was the war god of the Titan Giant clan, known as Tailun, a contemporary of Chi Xingtian.
"What a pity, what a pity. The Blood Absolute Family was destroyed by this god, and Zhang Ruochen was discovered to be a member of the Quantity Organization, hunted by the entire Hell Realm." Ming Jianshen, dressed in an immaculate white robe, walked out from among the lush grass, his bearing ethereal.
The entire world believed that Ming Jianshen and the Second Elder of the Array-Destroying Palace had destroyed the Blood Absolute Family and achieved a great victory.
After returning to the Heavenly Court, Ming Jianshen was praised and worshipped by all sides, returning like a hero. The Heavenly Palace and the Merit Divine Temple both issued commendations and bestowed generous rewards.
The previous humiliation of losing the Mingjun Sword and the Sword Dao Essence was reinterpreted as being able to bend and stretch, rising to new heights from the abyss.
With no response from the Blood Absolute Family, Ming Jianshen calmly accepted the credit for destroying them.
Chi Xingtian laughed wildly: "Do you think you are worthy of fighting me? Where is Xuan Yi? Tell him to come out! Today, I, Chi Xingtian, will settle life and death with him beneath the Tongming Divine Temple."
The earth shook as Tailun War God walked forward step by step, saying: "Chi Xingtian, you may have once looked down upon your generation, but times have changed! A hundred thousand years have passed. A hundred thousand years! We have all progressed, while you have been a slave in the Hell Realm for a hundred thousand years. Not only have you not improved, but you have probably regressed quite a bit, haven't you? Forget Xuan Yi. For me to defeat you, would it be such a difficult thing?"
Tailun War God's body was like a mountain cast from gold, his blood energy within as thick as an ocean, his golden light illuminating a territory of a hundred thousand miles.
Also renowned throughout the world for his formidable physical body, Tailun War God had long wanted to fight Chi Xingtian, to crush this demonic path powerhouse who had been hailed a hundred thousand years ago as having the number one physical body among great gods, to prove his own strength.
The Titan clan was a first-class ancient clan of the Paradise Realm.
The Titan Divine Temple was one of the top three divine temples in the Paradise Realm.
Tailun War God's combat power could rank first among the great gods of the Titan clan. One could imagine his status in the Paradise Realm, and even the entire Heavenly Court universe.
"Haha!"
Chi Xingtian laughed three times, his eyes filled with disdain.
Tailun War God said: "Bring out your Twenty-Four War God Stele Diagram!"
"The War God Stele Diagram was shattered long ago in battle against the gods of the Hell Realm. Why would I need it to deal with you?"
Chi Xingtian glanced at the distant Tongming Divine Temple, then clenched his fist and swooped down. In front of his fist, space collapsed, and demonic energy surged.
Tailun War God did not use his warhammer. He channeled the divine energy within his body and threw a brilliant golden punch.
"Boom!"
Their fists clashed.
The formation inscriptions on the ground shattered continuously. Tailun War God's body sank, retreating more than ten miles, the ground behind him rising high.
"To be able to take one of my punches, it seems you really have improved over the years!"
Behind Chi Xingtian, a phantom of the Heavenly Demon manifested, presenting the awe-inspiring scene of the *Heavenly Demon Drawing Sword Diagram*. The figure of the Heavenly Demon appeared and swung its blade down.
"Sssss!"
The demonic blade slashed across Tailun War God's chest, dragging across his golden fur, creating a long trail of sparks and fine spatial cracks.
Tailun War God's body flew backward, his chest cut open, divine blood spilling all over the ground.
The gods present were all horrified. Who would have thought that even a powerhouse as formidable as Tailun War God would be injured after only two exchanges with Chi Xingtian?
Chi Xingtian did not press his advantage. Instead, he activated his demonic speed and rushed straight for the Tongming Divine Temple.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Ming Jianshen formed sword seals with both hands. Above his head, a sub-god-level supreme sacred artifact war sword appeared, countless sword dao rules coiling around its blade.
This sword was a reward from the Heavenly Palace.
With a single slash, the sword light was like a silver waterfall of the Ganges River, falling toward the rapidly advancing Chi Xingtian.
"If your divine sword and Sword Dao Essence were still here, you could still fight me. But as for now, you are not even fit to hold my shoes!"
Chi Xingtian turned and struck out with a palm. A demonic dragon coiled around his arm.
Amidst the dragon's roar, the earth shook and the mountains swayed. A demonic dragon charged out, colliding with Ming Jianshen's world-covering sword strike.
Both annihilated simultaneously.
Ming Jianshen retreated several steps, his aura becoming chaotic.
Borrowing the force of the shockwave, Chi Xingtian continued his charge toward the Tongming Divine Temple. With every step he took, a large area of the ground sank, and countless formation inscriptions shattered.
Dai Xue, the queen of the Elf clan, appeared. The pair of thin, cicada-wing-like elf wings on her back scattered particles of light. The flowers and grass beneath her feet grew rapidly, turning into ten-thousand-zhang-long vines.
She held a longbow as clear as crystal, and with a specially made God-Shooting Arrow, she aimed it directly at Chi Xingtian.
"Twang!"
Ripples of space spread outward from the bowstring.
The God-Shooting Arrow crossed a thousand miles in an instant, striking toward Chi Xingtian's back.
The arrowhead of the God-Shooting Arrow was forged from Radiant substance, inscribed with killing patterns by a heavenly-rank figure of the Elf clan from ancient times. It possessed a certain lethality even against divine kings.
Chi Xingtian was rich in combat experience. At the moment the crisis arrived, his body rapidly shrank, becoming only the size of a bean. After dodging the arrowhead, his body re-expanded, and he grabbed the arrow's shaft. The arrow's momentum dragged him a hundred miles backward.
His pupils were bloodshot as he glared at Dai Xue, a thousand miles away, and let out a roar like a lion or tiger.
Using his body as a bow and his arm as the string, he shot the God-Shooting Arrow back.
Dai Xue's face paled slightly. She had never seen such a ferocious figure below the Infinite Realm. But her cultivation was profound, and she remained calm and composed.
Under the guidance of her spiritual power, one mountain after another rose from the ground to block the God-Shooting Arrow.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
All the mountains collapsed one by one.
Just as the God-Shooting Arrow was about to strike her, a heavily armored dwarf crawled out from underground and swung his axe, striking the arrow and sending it flying away.
"Fear not, my queen. Puerbas is here, haha!"
The dwarf named Puerbas, like a rolling ball, shot through the air toward Chi Xingtian. When he was still a hundred miles away, he leaped up, raised his axe with both hands, and brought it straight down.
Behind Puerbas, a wolf shadow appeared. The divine might he erupted with and the war clouds he condensed were even a cut above Tailun War God's.
Chi Xingtian had just repelled Tailun War God and Ming Jianshen. Now, bare-fisted, he threw a punch at the descending war axe.
(End of this chapter)