# Chapter 3201: Strength is Confidence
The divine realm world of Extreme Wind Great God was dented by the fist, with layers of earth collapsing within the world. Finally, the divine force penetrated through the divine realm world and landed on Extreme Wind Great God himself.
"Boom!"
Extreme Wind Great God flew out, crashing heavily into a stone wall of the temple.
"You... how did your cultivation recover?" Extreme Wind Great God's terrified voice came from within the stone wall.
Lightning currents flowed over the Emperor's body, forming dozens of electric light rings, his voice deep and resonant: "Since I, the Emperor, have recovered my cultivation, today will be your day of death."
Extreme Wind Great God calmed himself down and said, "No matter what opportunity you have obtained, if you dare kill me, you will also be walking a path of death. The Bone God Temple must already know what is happening here. Grand Void Great God will arrive immediately."
"Is that so?" A voice came from the top of the temple.
Extreme Wind Great God looked up, his gaze piercing through the temple roof, seeing a towering figure standing above. That person stood with hands clasped behind his back, facing the wind, his spiritual power covering the entire temple.
"Zhang Ruochen, Zhang Ruochen has actually reappeared in the world!"
Extreme Wind Great God was filled with extreme fear and immediately activated an escape secret technique, transforming into a streak of black light that rushed straight toward the temple gate.
"Still trying to escape?"
The Emperor's speed far surpassed Extreme Wind Great God's. His arm, as thick as a water bucket, swept horizontally, striking Extreme Wind Great God's chest and sending him flying.
"Boom rumble rumble!"
Zhang Ruochen had no interest in interfering with the battle inside the temple.
However, he used spatial power to seal the temple, preventing Extreme Wind Great God from escaping.
Before long, the Emperor walked out of the temple, his damaged bone body restored to completeness. Moreover, having refined Extreme Wind Great God's divine bones, he had become even stronger.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You didn't kill him?"
"I can't kill him for now. If I did, his divine throne star outside the heavens would go dark, and the great gods of the Bone God Temple would immediately rush over," the Emperor said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly: "So what if the great gods of the Bone God Temple come? If I want to leave, who among them can stop me?"
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation and the various methods at his disposal, he naturally had the confidence to contend with the Bone God Temple.
That's right, contending with the entire Bone God Temple, even the entire Bone Clan.
Strength is confidence.
The Emperor did not know how powerful Zhang Ruochen was now, but over eighty years ago, Zhang Ruochen already had the strength to challenge Grand Void Great Gods. With his terrifying cultivation speed, how strong he was now was truly hard to guess.
However, just from Zhang Ruochen's fearless attitude toward the Bone God Temple, the Emperor was already filled with admiration, thinking to himself: "Zhang Ruochen is truly the undisputed king of this era, with the demeanor of a young Heavenly Venerable. Perhaps following him will be a wise choice."
"Master must not underestimate the enemy. The Bone God Temple has many experts and numerous deities, and this is their territory. We cannot afford to be careless," the Emperor said cautiously.
"It's good that you can be so cautious. Let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen restrained his aura and sped away with the Emperor.
The Emperor chose to kill the two false gods and capture Extreme Wind Great God, not only to take revenge and vent his anger, but also as a pledge of allegiance to Zhang Ruochen.
Leaving no retreat, he demonstrated his determination to break away from the Bone God Temple.
Moreover, after refining Extreme Wind Great God's divine bones and sealing his divine soul, the Emperor rearranged the battle traces in the temple, leaving behind a wisp of ghostly qi.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "That wisp of ghostly qi you left in the temple, it should be Xue Changjin's, right?"
"Correct! Because I know that Xue Changjin is Master's mortal enemy," the Emperor said.
For an ancient god like the Emperor, who had participated in countless divine battles, collecting the divine qi of other deities on the battlefield was a normal thing.
The more ancient the existence, the more they would do such seemingly meaningless things.
Because they knew very well that this wisp of divine qi might come in handy someday. As the saying goes, preparedness prevents calamity.
The Emperor said, "A mere wisp of divine qi naturally cannot frame Xue Changjin, but it can always cause him some trouble. Such a petty trick, I hope Master will forgive my audacity."
Arriving at the Santu River, the two stepped with Divine Spirit Steps, going downstream.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "How has Xuemu been all these years?"
The Emperor laughed: "That old fellow is worse off than me. His disciple Zhao Qing gained the support of Divine Lord Huang'e and became the new hall master of the Longevity Hall."
"This Zhao Qing is quite a ruthless character. On the very first day he became hall master, he took all of Xuemu's concubines for himself. It is said that under Zhao Qing's coercion, Xuemu revealed the location of his hidden treasures, and decades of accumulated wealth were all taken by his own disciple."
"Not only was his reputation destroyed, but he also became a laughingstock among cultivators across the world."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Weren't you two on good terms with the Ghost Lord? That old Ghost Lord didn't help you?"
The Emperor snorted coldly: "In the Hell Realm, what sincere friendships exist? They are nothing but unions of interests. Helping two cripples like us would mean offending the Bone God Temple and Zhao Qing. The Ghost Lord calculates these accounts very shrewdly!"
"Xuemu is still enduring until now, clearly placing his hope on Master. I bet that as long as Master stands before him, he will immediately kneel and submit."
"I won't bet with you!" Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
...
Arriving at the Longevity Hall, Zhang Ruochen and the Emperor appeared before Xuemu.
Just as the Emperor had predicted, Xuemu immediately knelt down, tears and snot flowing: "Realm Lord Zhang Ruochen, Xuemu knows his wrongs. As long as you return my divine source to me, I am willing to pay any price. Even if I have to join the Quantity Organization, I will not hesitate."
The Emperor scolded: "What nonsense are you spouting? Master is not a member of the Quantity Organization at all. He was framed by Xue Changjin."
Xuemu immediately kowtowed: "Xuemu is willing to be the Realm Lord's servant, willing to go through fire and water for the Realm Lord, only asking to regain my cultivation."
"Get up quickly. You're so old, why are you crying?"
Zhang Ruochen slightly raised his hand, and a wisp of divine qi flew out, lifting the kneeling Xuemu up.
The divine source appeared in Xuemu's hand, radiant and flowing with rich divine qi.
Having regained his divine source, Xuemu was overjoyed, and then a fierce killing intent surged in his eyes. He stored the divine source into his brow and began refining it.
The aura on Xuemu's body grew stronger and stronger, with death qi condensing into a sea beneath him.
Gradually, he recovered to his peak state.
"Master, can you wait a moment longer? This old servant wants to destroy the Longevity Hall before leaving with you," Xuemu said, his killing intent so strong it was difficult to suppress, condensing into clouds above his head.
The Emperor said, "Wouldn't that cause too much commotion? Behind Zhao Qing stands Divine Lord Huang'e. If we provoke him and delay Master's important matters, that would be bad."
"If I don't kill Zhao Qing, my thoughts cannot be clear. I beg Master to grant my wish," Xuemu kowtowed.
Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. Do whatever you want."
"Whoosh!"
Xuemu's figure flickered and disappeared from the spot.
The Emperor looked worried and said, "Zhao Qing's cultivation has reached the Taibai Realm. His strength is not weak. I'll go help Xuemu."
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly.
...
Half a day passed.
A blood-soaked Xuemu, ferocious and terrifying, returned laughing loudly, kneeling outside the stone pavilion: "Thank you, Master, for granting my wish!"
The entire territory where the Longevity Hall was located was covered by the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram.
Even now, one could still see the black-and-white yin-yang fish pattern in the sky, covering an area of a hundred thousand miles.
A gentle breeze blew, and the branches swayed.
Zhang Ruochen sat in the stone pavilion, holding a piece of white jade mirror, quietly contemplating. Hearing Xuemu's voice, he woke from his meditation and looked over: "Already killed?"
"Zhao Qing and all the corpse clan cultivators of the entire Longevity Hall have been swallowed into my belly," Xuemu said.
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly but said nothing, then said: "Alright. I need to go to Fengdu Ghost City to settle accounts with Xue Changjin from back then. You two will come with me."
"Their cultivation is too weak. They would only be burdens if they go." A gloomy voice sounded in the stone pavilion.
Both Xuemu and the Emperor were greatly startled, releasing their divine souls to probe the source of that voice.
Logically speaking, at such a close distance, even a peak Grand Void Great God would find it difficult to hide from their perception. But after releasing their divine souls, they found nothing.
Cang Jue appeared, standing beside Zhang Ruochen, proudly looking at the two ancient gods outside.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Let me introduce you. This is my servant, Cang Jue! From now on, you two are the same as him. No need to call me master; just address me as Young Lord."
"Greetings, Young Lord! Greetings, Lord Cang Jue!"
Xuemu and the Emperor were shocked in their hearts. That old ghost clan cultivator's cultivation was unfathomably high, yet he had also acknowledged Zhang Ruochen as his master.
Thinking of this, their submission to Zhang Ruochen no longer seemed like a disgrace.
It seemed Zhang Ruochen's background was even greater than they had estimated.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Both of them are undead ancient gods. They must be very familiar with Fengdu Ghost City. Bringing them along will be useful."
"Xue Changjin is the number one expert under Divine Lord Shen Tu, and one of the five great powerhouses below the Infinite Realm in all of Fengdu Ghost City. Dealing with him, we must plan carefully," the Emperor said.
Xuemu said, "Young Lord wants to deal with Xue Changjin, but now is not the time."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xuemu said, "Soon, it will be Xue Changjin's seven hundred thousand year birthday celebration. Many deities will go to Fengdu Ghost City to offer congratulations. After this time passes, we can use a plan to lure Xue Changjin out of Fengdu Ghost City, and then make our move."
Zhang Ruochen became interested and said, "Seven hundred thousand year birthday celebration? Such a festive occasion, how can we not send a gift? How can we not go to offer congratulations?"
Where would Xuemu and the Emperor have expected Zhang Ruochen to have such boldness, actually planning to storm Fengdu Ghost City.
It was clearly impossible to stop Zhang Ruochen, so they could only rack their brains to help him think of countermeasures.
The Emperor said, "I have a plan."
"Speak!"
"To deal with Xue Changjin in Fengdu Ghost City, we must borrow help from within Fengdu Ghost City. The five great ghost emperors under Fengdu Dadi are all earth-shaking figures, but they also have conflicts and grudges among themselves."
"Among them, the one with the deepest conflict with Divine Lord Shen Tu is Ghost Emperor Wen He."
"That's right. The deities under the two ghost emperors are constantly in conflict, with deep-seated grudges."
"Ten years ago, Ghost Emperor Wen He fell at the North Marsh Great Wall, and his star soul divine throne was extinguished. Xue Changjin and the deities under Divine Lord Shen Tu immediately acted, using the crime of colluding with the Heavenly Court to suppress Chi Chaluo and throw him into the divine prison. This incident shocked the entire ghost clan, and the deities under Ghost Emperor Wen He were all filled with rage."
"To deal with Xue Changjin, we might be able to borrow the power of those deities under Ghost Emperor Wen He."
Zhang Ruochen stroked his chin and said, "As far as I know, Chi Chaluo's cultivation is even above Xue Changjin's, right?"
"Correct. Chi Chaluo is one of the five great powerhouses of Fengdu Ghost City and the most relied-upon war god of Ghost Emperor Wen He. What a pity!" the Emperor said.
(End of chapter)