Chapter 3256: Xuanyuan Lian Arrives
Breaking through the Body Stop and Soul Stop within a quarter of an hour was an unimaginable feat, worthy of being recorded in the annals of the gods. A million years later, ten million years later, gods would still sing of it, and countless future generations would marvel.
The name "Desolate Heaven" would be renowned for eternity.
As for those Tai Xu powerhouses who could not break the Body Stop in a hundred thousand years or the Soul Stop in two hundred thousand years, their hearts would likely shatter. After all, any god who could cultivate to the peak of Tai Xu was one in a trillion, nearly invincible among their peers in youth.
Zhang Ruochen was both shocked and delighted. Desolate Heaven, having broken through the Soul Stop, wounded Xuan Yi with a single sword strike. Would he not then reign supreme below the Infinite Realm?
With the Infinite having marched north and not returned, and the Watchers not intervening, who could stand against him?
"Excellent. Truly worthy of one who cultivates two types of Second-Rank Divine Paths simultaneously. Now, you are worthy of my full effort."
Xuan Yi's gaze was steady, and thunderous explosions rang from the bones within his body. The wound on his arm healed instantly.
The temple gates opened, and he flew out.
The temple had been located underground. As Xuan Yi charged out, the soil and stone melted from the heat radiating from his physical body. The earth liquefied, turning into a red-gold color that spread far and wide.
On the banks of the Santu River, a sea of magma ten thousand miles in diameter appeared, its heat overwhelming, like a heavenly and earthly furnace.
Xuan Yi flew out of the magma sea, and the rules of killing, flowing light, light, and time in the heavens and earth converged toward him endlessly, forming a four-colored nebula around his body.
Clearly, Xuan Yi had no intention of leaving. Instead, he sought a larger battlefield to settle the score with Desolate Heaven, or to decide life and death.
"Xuan Yi, you should also reveal your Heaven and Earth Heart Divine Path, shouldn't you?"
Desolate Heaven pursued him out of the magma sea, his stone body covered in dense patterns of life and death.
The rules of death and life in the heavens and earth rapidly gathered toward him.
Free from the temple's suppression, the might of a Lord God erupted fully.
The energy of the entire starry sky converged toward the two of them. Space could not withstand it, collapsing on a large scale, becoming chaotic and turbulent.
In the starry sky, the Santu River's channel was vast, shrouded by special heavenly and earthly rules. Despite the collapse of space and the surging divine power, the river flowed eternally, its course unaffected.
It seemed to contain power beyond the divine realm.
On both sides of the Santu River lay endless stretches of land, floating in the starry sky, forming a vast and mysterious river basin. This was the birthplace of the Corpse Clan, Ghost Clan, and Bone Clan.
The site of the duel between Desolate Heaven and Xuan Yi was actually far from the core area of the Santu River basin, located in the "Chaos Zone" where tributaries were dense.
These tributaries connected to various realms, planets, and secret realms across the universe.
In a sense, this was another borderland between the Hell Realm Universe and the Heavenly Court Universe.
It was called the Chaos Zone not only because of the chaotic space but also due to the turbulent situation. Some cultivators from the Heavenly Court Universe would secretly infiltrate through the Santu River tributaries to trade with the undead clans of the Santu River basin.
Many dark forces also grew strong in the Chaos Zone.
When the divine might of Desolate Heaven and Xuan Yi erupted, it shook the earth and rattled the stars, immediately alarming all cultivators in the Chaos Zone. They gazed at the starry sky, seeing two nebulae shining and colliding, trembling with fear.
"This is definitely the aura of top-tier Great Gods. It must be Zhang Ruochen and the Quantity Organization. Send a message quickly and inform the Great Clan Leader." A saint from the Undying Blood Clan was overjoyed and sent out a Message Light Talisman.
The talisman flew toward a wormhole, where an Undying Blood Clan cultivator stationed there re-engraved the talisman and transmitted it.
To find the Quantity Divine Temple and Zhang Ruochen, Xue Jue War God, Jue Miao Zen Nun, Hai Shang You Ruo, and Hun Qi had mobilized nearly all cultivators in the Santu River basin and the Chaos Zone.
Anyone who provided clues would be heavily rewarded.
With the Infinite absent, they were the rulers of the Hell Realm, wielding immense power and influence.
Having caused such a commotion, they no longer cared whether it would scare off the Quantity Organization members. The key was to rescue Zhang Ruochen and Desolate Heaven.
The sudden disappearance of the Quantity Divine Temple had sunk their hearts into the abyss.
Although they had faith in Zhang Ruochen and Desolate Heaven, who would dare to gamble with life and death?
Making the matter big enough to scare away the Quantity Envoys who might gather at the temple was actually a good thing.
...
A golden carriage traveled on the river's surface, then suddenly stopped.
Xuanyuan Lian had sensed the general direction using a lotus leaf given to Zhang Ruochen and tracked it to a nearby star domain. However, the Quantity Divine Temple had blocked all auras, making it impossible to find the exact location.
Sensing the divine power fluctuations beyond the sky, Xuanyuan Lian, standing in the small world within the carriage, narrowed her eyes and said, "How could it be his aura?"
Qing Yuyu, holding an umbrella, said, "If Xuan Yi is a member of the Quantity Organization, it's no wonder the temple changed location. Zhang Ruochen, disguised as a Quantity Machine, walked right into the trap."
"Let's go!"
At the bottom of the golden carriage, spatial formation inscriptions emerged, quickly forming a golden teleportation array a hundred zhang in diameter on the river's surface.
Moments later, the golden carriage appeared beside the ten-thousand-mile-wide magma sea. Above in the starry sky, Desolate Heaven and Xuan Yi were locked in fierce battle. The two nebulae seemed to have fused together, with chaotic forces spreading in all directions, destroying over a dozen nearby planets.
To top-tier Great Gods, these planets were like stone balls.
The living beings on those planets were less than ants.
Zhang Ruochen used a Space Divine Formation to lift the Quantity Divine Temple out of the magma sea and stepped out of the temple. He saw a woman holding an oil-paper umbrella standing outside.
She was surrounded by mysterious power, her spiritual power formidable. Only a graceful, soft silhouette could be seen, like a blurred painting of a beauty caught in the rain.
Zhang Ruochen met her for the first time, but a name naturally surfaced in his mind. He said, "As expected of the Valley Master of the Chixia Feixian Valley. Your spiritual power is truly impressive."
"Compared to your wife, I am still a bit lacking." Qing Yuyu glanced toward the temple, sensing something, and her tone grew heavy. "Young Master Lian is over there and wishes to see you."
Zhang Ruochen followed Qing Yuyu to the golden carriage.
"Zhang Ruochen, you're still alive. It seems your strength is greater than I imagined." Xuanyuan Lian's voice came from within the carriage.
"I'm badly injured. Won't you invite me into the carriage to recuperate? I helped your Heavenly Court find two Quantity Envoys. Shouldn't you compensate me with a few healing divine pills? If you have any divine medicine that extends lifespan, even better." Zhang Ruochen spoke without any pretense.
"You still need others to give you divine pills? Even I, the son of a Heavenly Venerable, am not as wealthy as you." Xuanyuan Lian's voice was cold, her mood sour.
Although she disliked Xuan Yi's methods, he was still the strongest below the Infinite Realm, a great deterrent for the Heavenly Court against the Hell Realm.
The news that he was a Quantity Envoy would be a massive blow to the Heavenly Court.
Zhang Ruochen said, "What do you mean by that? Just because I'm richer than you, you won't give me any benefits? Do you know how dangerous it was in the Quantity Divine Temple earlier? I nearly lost my life helping you!"
Zhang Ruochen coughed deliberately, his face turning pale—half acting, half real. Weakly, he said, "I know you'd be reluctant to part with divine pills and medicine. How about this: your sister is my close confidante. Let her accompany me for a while."
"Presumptuous! Zhang Ruochen, has your divine soul been crippled?" Xuanyuan Lian said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I meant, let her help me heal. The Light Path she cultivates would greatly aid my recovery."
"Don't even think about it. I see you're not injured at all. Where is my lotus leaf?" Xuanyuan Lian intended to take it back, lest Zhang Ruochen use it to track her location in the future.
After today, it was hard to say whether they would be friends or foes.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I ate it."
"Ate... you ate it?"
Xuanyuan Lian in the carriage nearly revealed her true voice.
Qing Yuyu beside him was stunned, and the oil-paper umbrella in her hand nearly flew away from the shockwaves of the distant battle.
Zhang Ruochen said seriously, "I had no choice. I was truly too badly injured and ate everything edible. That lotus leaf of yours was probably picked from a divine medicine, right? Can you give me a few more?"
Xuanyuan Lian released her spiritual power to sense it. Her perception of the lotus leaf grew weaker and weaker, as if Zhang Ruochen had indeed swallowed and refined it.
The Heavenly Azure Lotus had grown on Xuanyuan Lian's brow since birth, coexisting with her like part of her body.
Xuanyuan Qing was a Light Doppelganger she had refined from the lotus root of the Heavenly Azure Lotus, along with one of her souls and one of her spirits.
Seeing the carriage fall silent, Zhang Ruochen's eyes showed disappointment. He said, "I believe that with your spiritual power, you must have sensed the aura in the Quantity Divine Temple when the gates opened. That's right, besides Xuan Yi, there was another Quantity Envoy: the son of the Mother Goddess Qiwada. But don't you want to know their specific identities within the Quantity Organization?"
Qing Yuyu, with a faint, elegant fragrance, took out an exquisite bronze box and handed it to Zhang Ruochen. "Please, Ruochen Realm Lord, tell us the truth."
Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual power to undo the inscriptions, opened the box, then quickly closed it. He exclaimed, "The Valley Master is truly generous, unlike some son of a Heavenly Venerable."
"To the Feixian Valley, nothing is more precious than accurate intelligence." Qing Yuyu stood under the umbrella, dispersing her spiritual power and mysterious aura to reveal her true face.
Her beauty did not disappoint Zhang Ruochen. She had a scholarly air, not flashy or ostentatious, and was very pleasant to look at. It was like the wind blowing away the fog, revealing the splendor of a flower.
Qing Yuyu had offered such a precious item and voluntarily revealed her true face, clearly intending to build a connection with Zhang Ruochen.
After all, having fought the world's number one, Xuan Yi, and survived, how powerful must Zhang Ruochen be?
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen's wife was Wu Yue, his maternal grandfather was Xue Jue, and his betrothed was Chi Yao. The Desolate Heaven battling in the sky above was also closely related to Zhang Ruochen. In Qing Yuyu's eyes, all of these people had the potential to become Heavenly Venerables.
Unless one was foolish, it was clear that Zhang Ruochen's wings were growing. At most, after one Eon, the universe's tenth super-great clan would be born.
Given Zhang Ruochen's cultivation speed, perhaps it wouldn't even take an Eon.
The Heavenly Court and Hell Realm would soon enter the era of Zhang Ruochen.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen was already steadily moving toward the center of this era.