Chapter 3211: Heaven Cauldron and Earth Cauldron Emerge Together
Zhang Ruochen said, "I have a grand plan in mind, to eradicate the entire Quantity Organization in one fell swoop. But before that, I must eliminate all the Quantity Envoys within Fengdu Ghost City!"
"What do you mean?" Hai Shang You Ruo asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I want to become the real Quantity Machine! But Xue Changjin knows I am a fake, and any Quantity Envoy who has been in contact with Xue Changjin definitely knows I am fake as well."
Hai Shang You Ruo was indeed startled by Zhang Ruochen's bold plan. "So, what kind of help do you need?"
"As long as Zhao Wu is still in my hands, Huang'e Divine Lord will definitely come to kill me again. I want to use the power of the Destiny Temple to eliminate him."
Zhang Ruochen said coldly, "Once Huang'e Divine Lord is dead, there will be no need for any evidence!"
"Alright, I'll help you! But Huang'e Divine Lord is extremely shrewd; luring him into a trap will not be easy," Hai Shang You Ruo said.
Zhang Ruochen split off a strand of divine soul, condensed it into a ball of soul light, and handed it to Hai Shang You Ruo. "Right now, Huang'e Divine Lord is likely hiding somewhere, secretly observing us, waiting for an opportunity. After we part ways, I will immediately head to the Ghost God Temple, and Huang'e Divine Lord will surely intercept and kill me."
"What you need to do is bring the gods of the Destiny Temple to help me in the shortest possible time. This time, I will find a way to hold him back and not give him another chance to retreat."
"With this ball of soul light, you can find my location at any time."
Hai Shang You Ruo took the soul light. "This is too dangerous! It would be safest if the three of us stay together; Huang'e Divine Lord would not dare act rashly. We can go together to meet the gods of the Destiny Temple, or we can go to the Ghost God Temple together."
"If we do that, Huang'e Divine Lord will go into complete hiding and never show himself again," Zhang Ruochen said. "To accomplish great things, one must take great risks. Although Huang'e Divine Lord is strong, I am not weak now either. It shouldn't be difficult to tangle with him for a while."
"Fine, if I say any more, you will surely accuse me of being indecisive. It's settled. I will lead the gods of the Destiny Temple to rescue you as quickly as possible."
"Whoosh!"
Hai Shang You Ruo's figure faded, as if merging into nothingness, disappearing without a trace.
Having cultivated the Way of Nothingness, navigating such a complex environment as Fengdu Ghost City to evade Huang'e Divine Lord's perception was not difficult for her.
Hai Shang You Ruo's ready agreement made Zhang Ruochen suspicious instead.
He could understand that she trusted him. But how could she convince the gods of the Destiny Temple to join forces against Huang'e Divine Lord?
Because she was a descendant of the previous Life God Venerable?
Because of Tang Lan's one-sided story?
Zhang Ruochen felt that Hai Shang You Ruo was somewhat off, and even began to doubt the authenticity of Bore revealing his identity. Given Bore's personality, she should absolutely never have let it slip.
But to say that Hai Shang You Ruo wanted to harm him—Zhang Ruochen absolutely did not believe that.
Just then, at the top of the divine mountain, a large expanse of dark clouds appeared, and the aura of corpse decay spread up the mountain. Sensing Hai Shang You Ruo's departure, Huang'e Divine Lord could not wait and made his move again.
...
As soon as Hai Shang You Ruo descended the divine mountain, she arrived by a river of darkness and bowed in salute: "I pay my respects to Feng Tian!"
By the riverbank, purple-black willow trees grew densely.
Their branches swayed, like a thick mass of human hair.
Hai Shang You Ruo spoke in a low voice, recounting Zhang Ruochen's plan.
Feng Tian, in the guise of Mu Lingxi, stood beneath the tree, her slender and graceful figure in the shadows. "Transforming into the Quantity Machine to destroy the Quantity Organization—his cultivation is not high, but his ambition is considerable. It seems he has reached an agreement with the higher-ups of the Heavenly Court."
"This is indeed an opportunity! If we let the Quantity Organization continue to wreak havoc like this, who knows when they might cause a major disaster, just like today's Fengdu Ghost City," Hai Shang You Ruo said.
Mu Lingxi nodded. "Go ahead. In my name, mobilize the gods of the Destiny Temple."
"But... Feng Tian said there are traitors within the Destiny Temple, and the secret of your return to the Hell Realm cannot be leaked?" Hai Shang You Ruo said.
Mu Lingxi said, "I, this Heavenly One, intend to take this opportunity to lure out the traitors. At the same time, I will also draw out all the Quantity Envoys hiding in the shadows and wipe them out in one net. Zhang Ruochen wants to do something, and it happens to be something I, this Heavenly One, want to do. How could I not give him a hand?"
A flicker of doubt appeared in Hai Shang You Ruo's eyes, but she did not ask further.
After she left, Mu Lingxi stepped out of the shadows, her star-like beautiful eyes looking towards the distant divine mountain shrouded in corpse aura, and murmured to herself, "The Universe Cauldron, the Heaven Cauldron, and the Earth Cauldron have all emerged because of you. Could you be the person of the Nine Cauldrons prophesied in the Destiny Heavenly Scripture?"
...
The entire divine mountain was enveloped by Huang'e Divine Lord's Divine Realm World.
Only Feng Tian could see through the Divine Realm World and perceive the corpse aura shrouding the mountain. To other cultivators, everything there remained calm, without any fluctuation of power.
Huang'e Divine Lord's Divine Realm World was filled with dark clouds and rivers of corpses, dense with rules and divine patterns, rendering eyes useless.
A calm divine voice came from the darkness: "Hai Shang You Ruo has left, probably to seek the gods of the Destiny Temple, right? Rest assured, before they arrive, I, this Lord, will end your life, and then kill Yao Guang."
"I will tell the gods of the Destiny Temple that Yao Guang self-detonated his divine heart, taking you down with him!"
"After that, I will find a chance to deal with Hai Shang You Ruo and Tang Lan. With all traces gone, I will remain the number one powerhouse of the Corpse Clan. As for you, Gong Shang, who have cultivated for several eons, you will vanish into smoke and dust, and still end up branded a traitor of the Hell Realm."
The divine voice drew nearer.
Sounds of breaking wind came one after another.
Suddenly, a thunder beast divine ability attacked from the left.
A thick, bowl-sized staff fell from above.
One by one, artifact-refined corpse soldiers appeared in Zhang Ruochen's perception, attacking from all directions.
"Bang! Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen, holding the cauldron in one hand and forming a fist with the other, sent the attacking artifact-refined corpse soldiers flying.
Cang Jue manifested an ocean of yin energy beneath his feet, with green ghost fire burning, illuminating the darkness. Within the yin energy ocean, thousand-zhang-high waves surged, sending the charging corpse soldiers flying.
"Gong Shang, today let you witness what a fully realized Infinite Divine Ability is!"
Huang'e Divine Lord hovered in mid-air, surrounded by rivers of corpses, his hands slowly rising. Dense rules and divine patterns, along with thick divine qi, surged from the palms of his hands.
The sound of metal clashing and warhorses neighing rang out, deafening.
Above Huang'e Divine Lord's head appeared billions of corpse soldiers and generals, some clad in armor, some riding divine dragons, some holding war implements, their momentum swallowing mountains and rivers, their divine might shaking heaven and earth.
"Rustle!"
The corpse soldiers and generals swooped down from the sky, each exuding murderous intent.
Cang Jue's face changed drastically. From the yin energy ocean beneath his feet, a hundred thousand yin sparrows flew out, charging towards the descending corpse soldiers and generals.
"I, this Lord, have cultivated this Corpse Summoning Divine Ability for five hundred thousand years, reaching the highest realm. Can you block it?" Huang'e Divine Lord said.
The hundred thousand yin sparrows were like wild ducks before the corpse soldiers and generals, trampled and exploded, failing to stop them in the slightest.
A fully realized Infinite Divine Ability was said to crush everything below the Infinite Realm.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was grave. Divine qi surged violently within him, pouring into the Earth Cauldron.
The Earth Cauldron spun fiercely, growing to the size of a mountain, and smashed into the descending corpse soldiers and generals.
"Bang! Bang!"
A large swath of corpse soldiers and generals exploded, but they continued to come endlessly, like moths diving into a flame.
The impact was too strong. Zhang Ruochen took a step back, then another...
Cang Jue was besieged by dozens of artifact spirit corpse soldiers, unable to care for himself. His ghost qi was being devoured mouthful by mouthful, making it impossible for him to help Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen let out a long roar. Divine blood burned within him, merging with the Earth Cauldron.
On the Earth Cauldron, various shamanic scripts flickered. After being stained by the blood, unknown mountains, rivers, and geography extended out in space, unfolding into a vast and desolate ancient world.
The Earth Cauldron shattered the flying corpse soldiers and generals, turning them into source particles that continuously merged into the ancient world.
The power unleashed by the Earth Cauldron grew stronger and stronger, overwhelming the corpse soldiers and generals, and pressing back towards Huang'e Divine Lord.
Huang'e Divine Lord's eyes were full of admiration. He immediately changed his tactics, forming hand seals.
Instantly, the dense mass of corpse soldiers and generals collided with each other, producing thunderous explosions, and finally condensed into a Corpse Ancestor whose head touched the sky and feet trod the earth.
The Corpse Ancestor was ferocious and glaring, its aura covering the galaxy. Its palm pressed down like a cloud covering the sky.
Zhang Ruochen raised the cauldron with both hands, like a giant supporting an ancient world. His eyes turned into the sun and moon, his aura stabilizing mountains and rivers, and he clashed with the Corpse Ancestor's palm.
Silently, Mu Lingxi, who had infiltrated Huang'e Divine Lord's Divine Realm World, saw this scene from afar. "As expected of the Earth Cauldron. With Zhang Ruochen barely stepping into the Grand Void realm, borrowing its power, he can cross five or six cultivation levels. The battle power he unleashes already surpasses that old ghost at the Soul-Stopping Realm. Unfortunately, compared to Huang'e, his cultivation is ultimately too far behind. Pushing it to this extent is his limit!"
She flipped her palm, and the Heaven Cauldron flew out from her hand.
The Heaven Cauldron did not emit any divine light, but it was extremely heavy, like a steel mountain, striking Huang'e Divine Lord heavily with pure force.
How could Huang'e Divine Lord have expected another cauldron to suddenly fly out?
Were the Nine Cauldrons already this common?
"Bang!"
Before he could react, Huang'e Divine Lord's corpse body was struck by the Heaven Cauldron. Flesh exploded, divine bones shattered, turning into a cloud of blood mist.
How could Zhang Ruochen let this opportunity slip?
The Earth Cauldron pressed upward, the ancient world shattering the Corpse Ancestor's body, and absorbed Huang'e Divine Lord's blood mist into the cauldron.
Zhang Ruochen flew to the top of the Earth Cauldron, sealed the cauldron's mouth, and began refining with all his might.
Huang'e Divine Lord's cold voice came from within the cauldron: "Who is it? Who ambushed me, this Lord, with the Heaven Cauldron?"
Mu Lingxi withdrew the Heaven Cauldron, walking over barefoot with graceful steps.
Unfortunately, Huang'e Divine Lord had already been refined by the Earth Cauldron, turning into a mass of source particles. If he had known that the one who ambushed him was Feng Tian of the Twenty Heavens, he might have felt honored.
Or perhaps... he would have despaired!
Zhang Ruochen stared at Mu Lingxi. Seeing her appear here so "coincidentally," he understood everything.
Mu Lingxi's red lips were crystal clear. She said lightly, "Do you know why Huang'e asked that question before he died?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "This Huang'e Divine Lord is somewhat strange. Although his cultivation is extremely high, the corpse qi within him is not Huang'e corpse qi, but Yin Shang corpse qi."
Mu Lingxi's slender jade fingers caressed the Earth Cauldron. "The Three Calamities Emperor Lord had three disciples, each cultivating one of his three ultimate arts: Yin Shang, Yang Huo, and Huang'e. I, this Heavenly One, did not expect the Three Calamities Emperor Lord to be so fond of this youngest disciple, passing on both Yin Shang and Huang'e to him."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Perhaps even Yang Huo was passed on to him. Feng Tian means that the one I refined and killed was Huang'e Divine Lord's Yin Shang corpse, not his true body?"
"Exactly! This Huang'e dares to style himself a Divine Lord, and indeed has some skill. He has truly received the true teachings of the Three Calamities Emperor Lord. If he breaks through the Infinite Realm, the Corpse Clan will have another remarkable God Venerable figure," Mu Lingxi said.
Among the Great Gods, very few could receive such praise from Feng Tian.
Zhang Ruochen pondered, "The Three Calamities Emperor Lord's cultivation method is somewhat similar to the Shang Clan's 'Three Corpses Dao Refinement.' I wonder if there is any connection."
(End of this chapter)