# Chapter 3238: Fourth Master?
"Haha!"
The Undying War God laughed loudly, his figure gradually becoming ethereal and disappearing.
That was merely his projection!
Feng Tian also departed silently, taking away Yang Huo Corpse, the Liang Mask, and the Liang Divine Robe, leaving only Xue Jue War God standing in the Santu River, his eyes still filled with confusion.
His gaze fell upon Mo Yin, and he immediately questioned her, eager to know what had happened over these years, and why Feng Tian's attitude toward Zhang Ruochen had suddenly changed so drastically?
Could it be that Zhang Ruochen had defected to the Death God Palace and joined the Destiny Temple?
Even Xue Jue War God began to suspect whether Zhang Ruochen had fallen under Feng Tian's control, had part of his divine soul taken away, and had become a divine servant.
This was already the limit of his imagination.
...
On the other side, following the aura he sensed, Zhang Ruochen arrived at this desolate and cold star domain.
Xue Mu did not follow him in; with his cultivation level, encountering a powerhouse with an eighty-fourth level spiritual power would leave him utterly powerless.
Just as he entered the star domain, suddenly, the blood within Zhang Ruochen's body turned icy cold, and his life force was silently devoured. Even though he had already activated the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, he could not block the attack of that unknown force.
It was because the opponent's spiritual power was too strong, piercing through the defense of the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram.
"Death Thought Force!"
Zhang Ruochen was prepared. He immediately activated the Earth Cauldron, suspending it above his head.
The ancient desolate patterns on the Earth Cauldron descended, like layers of world light curtains, wrapping around Zhang Ruochen's entire body. Source Divine Light spread outward, manifesting a divine sea.
Finally, the Death Thought Force was dissolved, and the blood within Zhang Ruochen's body gradually returned to normal temperature.
"Shua shua!"
From the darkness, yellow talisman rain flew forth.
Countless talismans, inscribed with blood, were covered in profound talisman patterns, with lightning and sparks flowing within the talisman paper.
Each talisman was like a sword.
The talismans exploded, forming destructive power that gradually broke through the Source Divine Sea and rushed before Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
In that instant, all the talisman papers converged, transforming into a golden dragon claw hundreds of feet long, heavily striking the Earth Cauldron.
"Bang!"
The Earth Cauldron shook, and the powerful force transmitted to Zhang Ruochen's body.
The force was too strong; Zhang Ruochen nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, but he quickly suppressed the internal injury and struck upward from below with his palm, hitting the bottom of the Earth Cauldron.
The patterns of the ancient desolate world spread from his body, striking that golden dragon claw hundreds of feet long.
"Boom!"
The golden dragon claw exploded, golden divine light scattering in all directions, and space was torn apart on a large scale.
He had broken the opponent's talisman patterns, but Zhang Ruochen, along with the Earth Cauldron, was also thrown backward.
Before he could stabilize his form, Zhang Ruochen suddenly sensed something. It was as if he had grown a pair of heavenly eyes on the back of his head, seeing a black hole dozens of feet in diameter appear behind him, about to devour him.
Forgetting to hide his strength, Zhang Ruochen formed hand seals, releasing the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram. The mountain-like Lesser Yang and the sea-like Lesser Yin manifested, colliding with the black hole behind him.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen's body shook violently, once again sent flying by the impact.
After being struck by the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, the black hole's darkness dissipated somewhat, also flying backward, with a figure faintly visible within. The figure seemed surprised, letting out a soft exclamation.
Buddha light suddenly appeared.
Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden stepped on lotus flowers, descending like a Brahma Heavenly Goddess, and said, "You've finally shown yourself. I knew you hadn't left this star domain."
A Netherworld City descended together with Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden, enveloping the black hole within the city.
Zhang Ruochen quickly stabilized his retreat, circulating the blood within his body. In an instant, his divine soul recovered, and his gaze became sharp and clear.
When he had collided with the black hole earlier, he had suffered the opponent's spiritual power attack, causing his divine soul and spirit to become very sluggish.
Fortunately, it was him. If it had been any other Taixu Realm Great God, after suffering this spiritual power attack, they would most likely have lost consciousness.
Too strong!
The opponent's spiritual power was not eighty-fourth level.
It was eighty-fourth level peak.
Their application of spiritual power was exquisite to the extreme, with some techniques that Zhang Ruochen, a deity primarily focused on martial cultivation, could not understand.
Perhaps only Wu Yue could come to fight this opponent head-on in terms of spiritual power.
That's right, although that person was well-hidden, they could not fool Zhang Ruochen's perception. It was not Wu Yue!
Clearly, before Zhang Ruochen arrived, that person had been hiding, and even Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden could not find them in a short time.
It was Zhang Ruochen's arrival that broke the balance of "one hiding, one seeking" here.
The Mani Pearl could seal off a cultivator's five senses, even their consciousness, making it practically a nemesis for spiritual power cultivators.
The person in the black hole, knowing they could not contend with Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden, immediately used dense talisman light to pierce through the Netherworld City and fled toward the Void World.
Zhang Ruochen had already predicted their next move and waited in the Void World, shouting, "Fourth Master, where do you think you're going?"
The mountain-like Lesser Yang flew out, striking toward the black hole.
The divine mountain emitted brilliant Truth Divine Light, breaking the opponent's concealment technique. Within the black hole, the figure gradually became clear, wearing a "Lai" character mask, with a black robe fluttering.
Spiritual power drew upon the power of heaven and earth, forming lightning that filled the sky, striking toward the Lesser Yang Divine Mountain.
From within the Lesser Yang Divine Mountain, six divine swords flew out, forming a sword formation, drawing upon the power of blazing flame divine artifacts, passing through the lightning and successively striking the black hole.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
...
Talisman patterns flickered on the surface of the black hole, like an indestructible shell, blocking all attacks from the six divine swords.
"Boom!"
Following the six divine swords, the divine mountain heavily collided with the black hole. Finally, a crisp sound rang out, and a crack appeared in the talisman patterns on the black hole's surface.
Above, the Nether Ancestor phantom manifested, towering and majestic, striking down with a large hand seal, heavily landing on the black hole.
The black hole finally shattered, disappearing without a trace.
Strangely, the figure within the black hole also vanished.
Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden stood within the Nether Ancestor phantom, her world behind her opening, as divine corpses emanating powerful auras flew out, arrayed in all directions, preventing Liang Lai from escaping.
These divine corpses were refined by Yinxue Tian, each with a great origin, created for battle, capable of participating in wars among the Twenty Heavens.
Of course, they were merely divine corpses; they had to form corpse formations and battle formations, using merged corpse qi and battle intent, to withstand the attacks of the Twenty Heavens.
Although Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden currently only controlled a very small portion of these divine corpses, it was enough to deal with deities below the Infinite Realm!
Zhang Ruochen unfolded the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, blocking the entrance to the Void World, and looked around, saying, "Fourth Master, you don't think you can still escape today, do you? Xue Changjin and Jinjue Heavenly God are already dead, Huang'e Divine Lord and Molo Ancient God are about to be executed. Now it's your turn to hit the road!"
A spiritual power sound wave came from an unknown direction: "I already guessed that the so-called Gong Shang must be someone else. But I never expected it to be you, Zhang Ruochen."
"But you're too clever. On what basis do you judge my identity? Just because someone can use Death Thought Force, does that necessarily make them a member of the Death Clan?"
The voice was vast and ethereal, without direction.
A smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face, and he said, "Of course, being able to use Death Thought Force doesn't necessarily make one a member of the Death Clan. But as a member of the Quantity Organization, if you weren't Fourth Master, wouldn't it be simpler to just admit it directly?"
"Actually, in all of Hell Realm, there are only a few deities with spiritual power like yours. It's not hard to guess."
Zhang Ruochen directly called out "Fourth Master," partly as a test, but also because he had sensed the unique death qi of Tiannan.
Qingtian's several disciples were all very powerful, especially Fourth Master and Fifth Master.
Zhang Ruochen had seen Fifth Master, who was also very strong, but not to this extent.
Silence fell in the darkness.
Zhang Ruochen continued, "Actually, the longer you continue to hide, the more disadvantageous it becomes for you. Because deities from Hell Realm will surely arrive in an endless stream. By then, you will completely lose your chance to escape, and you won't even be able to self-detonate your divine heart, thereby implicating the Liang Emperor or Liang Venerable behind you."
A figure in a black robe, wearing a "Lai" character mask, appeared silently beneath the Nether Ancestor phantom. The long robe fluttered soundlessly, mysterious and extraordinary.
"Aren't you afraid that I will self-detonate my divine heart right now?" Liang Lai said.
Zhang Ruochen met his gaze and said, "Would you be willing? With talent like yours, you might not be unable to grow to Qingtian's height in the future. To self-detonate your divine heart without even fighting—how cowardly would that be?"
"I, Zhang Ruochen, am merely a junior who emerged two thousand years ago. You, the esteemed Tiannan Fourth Master, shake the universe and are worshipped by the entire Death Clan. To self-detonate your divine heart and perish together with me—don't you find that humiliating?"
Liang Lai said, "You say all this, but it still can't hide the fear in your heart."
"Cultivation is not easy; who isn't afraid of death? If Fourth Master self-detonates your divine heart, I admit I would find it hard to survive today. But still, would you be willing? As far as I know, Fourth Master's truly renowned means are not Death Thought Force or talisman dao, but beast taming and soul control."
Zhang Ruochen continued, "You haven't even used your most skilled power, haven't brought it out to fight us, and you're already thinking of self-detonating your divine source. Are you truly willing?"
Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden spoke up, "I won't use the Mani Pearl or the divine corpses. I'll fight you one-on-one. If you can last ten rounds, you win, and I'll let you leave today. If within ten rounds, your physical body is destroyed by me, you surrender immediately. Do you dare to fight this battle?"
"Zen Maiden is a descendant of Yinxue Tian. Can you keep your word?" Liang Lai said.
"I can swear by my ancestor Yinxue Tian's honor that I will not go back on my word. Do you dare to swear by Qingtian's honor?" Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden said.
Liang Lai said, "What is there to fear? Although Zen Maiden ranks third on the comprehensive list of 'On Great Gods,' Qingyusheng is merely a junior. What does she know about the strength of top-tier great gods? What qualifications does she have to compile 'On Great Gods'? People like us all have hidden trump cards that others don't know about."
"Zen Maiden discarding the Mani Pearl and divine stones—isn't that underestimating the heroes of the world?"
Zhang Ruochen also felt that Absolute Wonder Zen Maiden was somewhat overconfident, but he understood why she was doing this.
First, by making Liang Lai swear by Qingtian's honor, she was both testing whether he was Fourth Master and testing whether the person behind Fourth Master was Qingtian.
After all, Tiannan had more than one Infinite Realm cultivator.
Second, when one's spiritual power reached Liang Lai's level, it was truly difficult to refine and kill them. Even if their physical body turned to ashes and their divine soul was refined, they would not die; they would continue to exist in a state of spiritual power.
As long as Liang Lai's spiritual power was not extinguished, once he self-detonated his divine heart, it would be very dangerous.
Third, it could buy time, waiting for more powerful beings from Hell Realm to arrive. By then, with the combined spiritual will of all the deities, they could suppress Liang Lai's self-detonation of his divine heart.
(Chapter End)