Chapter 3278: Cang Jue Makes His Move
The opportunity to recklessly kill gods and devour divine souls does not come often.
Back before the Boundless Northern Expedition, if one wanted to kill a True God, it would inevitably alarm the Boundless-level powerhouse behind them, causing massive upheaval. Not to mention a True God, even moving against a Saint-level cultivator could invite great calamity—Xiu Chen Heavenly God knew this all too well.
The opportunity before them was rare. Even if they went on a killing spree, Zhang Ruochen would cover for them.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God requested to fight again, saying, "They are setting up formations outside the realm, clearly trying to kill you. Those who seek to kill me, I will kill in return."
"Make a decision quickly, Zhang Ruochen. You need to show the boldness of a regional overlord! Make a name for yourself today and shake the cosmos."
Zhang Ruochen glanced sideways, knowing Xiu Chen Heavenly God was deliberately provoking him.
What boldness? What shaking the cosmos? Having been born for two thousand years and reaching the Grand Void realm—wasn't that already shocking enough?
Too shocking was not a good thing; it would invite great disaster.
Zhang Ruochen now only wanted to keep a low profile, lest he expose his true strength. Otherwise, the next time someone made a move against him, it would inevitably be a Boundless-level existence.
Earlier, the appearance of Lei Zu's Divine King Shi De was a dangerous signal.
Zhang Ruochen had vaguely learned from Xue Jue War God and Wu Yue that, aside from the Watchers, there were still some Boundless-level old-timers who had not gone to the North Marsh Great Wall. Moreover, they might very well make a move against him because of the Earth Cauldron's emergence.
Even if not for the Earth Cauldron, for the God-Defying Stele, the Six Divine Swords, the Buddha Relic, the First-Rank Divine Path… those old fellows might all take the risk.
Especially at this juncture when the Watcher had gone to the Thunder Clan, it was extremely dangerous.
If the Hundred Clans Royal City were not on the verge of destruction, Zhang Ruochen would not want to be so high-profile at all.
"Zhang Ruochen, aren't you arrogant? Wanting to interfere with the Hell Realm army's actions in this star domain? What's wrong now, playing the coward? If you have the guts, come out and fight me. One-on-one, life and death duel!"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord shouted, his voice spreading across the star domain where the Black Sea Realm was located.
All living beings were shocked, but those with insufficient cultivation could not hear the divine voice, only a series of thunderous roars.
After all, Zhang Ruochen had once displayed combat power at the initial Grand Void level, so the gods of Hell Realm did not take him lightly. Arriving in the void outside the Black Sea Realm, they dispersed and set up formations to prevent Zhang Ruochen from escaping.
The Death Clan elder with an eighty-third-level Spiritual Power, who had a goat's head and white hair trailing to the ground, was a highly respected elder of the Death God Temple.
Holding a crystal bone, he channeled powerful Spiritual Power toward the Black Sea Realm.
In the atmosphere of the Black Sea Realm, densely packed formation inscription patterns appeared, transforming into storm vortices.
The Goat-Headed Elder said, "Impressive! The Black Sea Realm's protective divine formation has been analyzed. Everyone be careful; Zhang Ruochen should have a quite formidable formation divine master by his side."
Emperor Kun was bound by Fu Chuan using Rule Divine Patterns and suppressed in the palm of a bone claw. He said, "That formation divine master is the Young Lord himself."
No one believed him.
"It should be Yu Yao; she has most likely rushed over from Xinghuantian!"
Some gods made this guess, and it was widely accepted.
"Yu Yao studied under Jiu Tian and received guidance from a ninety-level Spiritual Power existence. Her formation skills are extraordinary."
"Don't worry. No matter how strong Yu Yao is, her Spiritual Power is still far inferior to Elder Yang's."
……
Seeing these gods all discussing Yu Yao, with no one believing him, Emperor Kun was both amused and exasperated. He thought to himself, those who reach the divine realm are indeed confident enough, but judging the Young Lord by their own understanding was not confidence—it was arrogance.
Having witnessed Zhang Ruochen's current combat power, coupled with his unparalleled cultivation speed, Emperor Kun was now completely in awe of him, with no second thoughts. He even believed Zhang Ruochen was the second coming of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable.
"Zhang Ruochen's martial arts cultivation is indeed heaven-defying, but his Spiritual Power is probably still far from the eightieth level, and his formation skills cannot be compared to a divine master. Becoming a divine master requires a vast amount of time for study and research; without hundreds of thousands of years of effort, don't even think about it."
Elder Yang added, "Everyone rest assured. If Yu Yao appears, leave her to me."
The Yin Yang Eighteen Formations had indeed once allowed Zhang Ruochen to display great power, but they had already received news that those eighteen Space Divine Formations were refined with the help of Wu Yue to achieve such power (weili).
In the eyes of the Hell Realm gods, they were not underestimating Zhang Ruochen; on the contrary, they regarded him as a formidable opponent.
"Are we being too cautious? Zhang Ruochen is indeed a prodigy of his generation with extraordinary means, but with all of us gods gathered here, one divine ability each would reduce him to ashes," Chi Xuan Ghost Lord said.
The Fengdu Ghost City Grand God at the Grand Void peak, titled "Se Jie Wang," looked cautious and said, "Don't underestimate him. The fact that Zhang Ruochen has attracted the attention of Lord Hun Qi means his current cultivation must have improved dramatically. Set up the formation first; don't let him escape. Once he gets away, finding him again will be difficult."
"Shua!"
A shadowy soul light shot out of the Black Sea Realm's atmosphere and appeared opposite Fu Chuan's massive bone body.
It was Cang Jue!
Ghost Lord, Yang Shuo, Se Jie Wang, and Chi Xuan Ghost Lord successively crossed space, arriving at the nearby starry sky around Fu Chuan at the fastest speed, forming an encirclement. Waves of divine might pressed down on Cang Jue.
All were Grand Void realm, some riding divine halls, some like blazing suns, some with shadowy souls stretching ten thousand miles.
Seeing it was Cang Jue, not Zhang Ruochen, Chi Xuan Ghost Lord immediately said, "Not good, it's not Zhang Ruochen. This is a diversion tactic; Zhang Ruochen is going to flee!"
The gods present immediately released their divine souls, enveloping the Black Sea Realm, afraid that Zhang Ruochen might escape from another direction.
Cang Jue laughed loudly, full of mockery, and said, "Your insight is so shallow. With just you lot, does the Young Lord need to flee? Without the Young Lord making a move, this old man can deal with you all."
"Heh, interesting. A Ghost Clan Grand God has actually chosen to follow Zhang Ruochen. Today, I will slay you and cleanse the Ghost Clan of this traitor."
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord stood atop a sea of shadowy souls stretching ten thousand miles, condensing a ghost claw of the same size to strike at Cang Jue.
This was a strike from a Grand Void Grand God, denting space. Within the ghost claw, Rule Divine Patterns interwove, containing streaks of bright destructive energy.
"Not good!"
In his field of vision, Cang Jue's figure vanished.
Sensing danger, Chi Xuan Ghost Lord immediately activated his Divine Realm World, merging it with the shadowy soul sea beneath him.
Cang Jue's blurry figure appeared within Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's Divine Realm World, instantly solidifying.
He swung his arm, and streaks of bone-like patterns appeared on it.
"Boom!"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord was sent flying by the blow, rings of divine light shattering around him. His left shoulder split open, wisps of ghostly qi leaking from his body.
With just one strike, he was injured.
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord was horrified and immediately rushed toward Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang. The opponent's cultivation was too terrifying; he was no match.
"Boom!"
Cang Jue's second strike shattered space, cutting off Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's escape route.
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord unleashed a sub-divine-level Supreme Sacred Artifact in the form of a ghost banner, but Cang Jue seized it with a divine ability. The ghost banner instead whipped back at Chi Xuan Ghost Lord, smashing a large part of his chest into pieces.
"Stop!"
"Don't be reckless!"
The highest-cultivation gods present, Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang, acted simultaneously.
Cang Jue and Chi Xuan Ghost Lord were engaged in close combat, changing positions and directions dozens of times in an instant. Using divine abilities and battle weapons could easily injure Chi Xuan Ghost Lord by mistake.
Thus, Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang could only charge in, also using close-combat attack methods.
Their ghost bodies were extremely powerful, having reached the Body-Stop realm, far surpassing ordinary Grand Void peak cultivators.
Cang Jue naturally did not put Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang in his eyes, but he also did not want to fall into an encirclement by three Grand Void Grand Gods. Who knew if they had trump cards left by Boundless-level beings?
Therefore, before Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang could arrive, Cang Jue stopped holding back. Using a divine ability, he punched through Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's chest, turning most of his ghost body divine form into shadowy mist.
Just as Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's divine soul was severely damaged and his consciousness had not yet recovered, a space rift tens of thousands of feet long appeared beside him. A divine hand reached out from the space rift and dragged him inside.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The Hell Realm gods who had rushed over all struck out with divine abilities at the space rift, trying to save Chi Xuan Ghost Lord. But it was too late!
Yang Shuo, whose body was like a blazing sun, smashed through space and chased into the Void World.
The Void World was empty, with no trace of Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's aura.
Too strange, too terrifying!
What level of space technique was this?
A Grand Void Grand God had been taken away alive just like that.
Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang, both battle-hardened ancient gods, immediately sensed something was wrong. The Ghost Clan elder before them was far stronger than they had estimated.
Earlier, Cang Jue had been concealing his aura. They only felt he was strong, but did not know how strong.
Now they had a direct understanding. The opponent's ghost body divine form was extremely powerful, definitely surpassing the Body-Stop realm. Close combat would be very disadvantageous!
Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang rapidly retreated, seeking another battle strategy.
"Since you're here, where do you think you're going?"
Cang Jue had been hiding his strength earlier precisely to lure them into close combat. How could he let them retreat?
If they fought from a distance, with the number of Hell Realm gods present, one divine ability each would drown Cang Jue.
"Boom!"
The three Ghost Clan Grand Gods clashed in the void with one strike. Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang, working together, were still pushed back, much of their ghost fire extinguished.
Cang Jue pursued again, focusing on Ghost Lord, beating this Grand Void peak ancient god back step by step. The ghost fire on his body flickered on and off, and his protective talisman treasures kept shattering.
Se Jie Wang knew very well that they absolutely could not engage Cang Jue in close combat, but he also knew that if Ghost Lord was severely injured, the plan to deal with Zhang Ruochen today would be a complete failure. Or even worse.
"Possession Technique, all gods of Fengdu Ghost City, aid me!"
Se Jie Wang released ghostly qi and his Divine Realm World, making his surroundings hazy and chaotic.
The gods of Fengdu's rules—Grand Gods, Upper Gods, and Middle Gods, over a dozen in total—charged into that hazy cloud of ghostly qi. Gradually, the ghostly qi cloud condensed into a suit of armor, attaching itself to Se Jie Wang.
On the armor grew over a dozen ferocious ghost heads.
The armor was real, a Possession Armor, a treasure of Fengdu Ghost City worth more than a sub-divine-level Supreme Sacred Artifact, with extraordinary defensive power.
To use the Possession Technique, one must rely on the Possession Armor.
With the aid of the Possession Armor and over a dozen Ghost Clan gods, Se Jie Wang's aura surged dramatically. Rule Divine Patterns spread across the void, and with a thought, over a dozen Supreme Sacred Artifacts flew out to attack Cang Jue.
In just a brief exchange, Ghost Lord was beaten to a sorry state, repeatedly injured, with one ghost hand torn off by Cang Jue.
Fortunately, Ghost Lord had cultivated a Chaos Ghost Body, making his ghost body power far superior to other Body-Stop experts, allowing him to hold on without his ghost body being completely shattered.
Only after Se Jie Wang arrived to rescue him did Ghost Lord catch his breath.
Yang Shuo and several Grand Gods also arrived, but they dared not get too close. They formed a formation a thousand miles away, using combined attack techniques to unleash a beam of blazing flame at Cang Jue.
Unfortunately, the distance was too great to lock onto Cang Jue.
Cang Jue single-handedly fought a large group of Hell Realm gods, leaving the six gods kneeling outside the seven temples of the Black Sea Realm utterly shocked.
A powerhouse like this, placed in any major clan of Hell Realm, would be among the top existences, able to enter the top ten, or even higher.
Yet, such a powerhouse had called himself an old servant in front of Zhang Ruochen.
Was Zhang Ruochen's status even more exalted than a Divine King or Divine Venerable?
Yuan Tian Monarch secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a brilliant smile on his face, and said, "The Realm Lord truly has hidden dragons and crouching tigers around him. This god's fortune in being able to follow Lord Cang Jue and the Realm Lord is the luck of ten lifetimes."
No one looked down on Yuan Tian Monarch anymore. Their gazes all fell on Chi Xuan Ghost Lord.
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord had been stunned by Cang Jue's successive blows earlier, his ghost body and divine soul severely damaged. Then Zhang Ruochen used space techniques to drag him directly from beyond the heavens to this place.
Now, he had regained consciousness and realized things were bad.
Zhang Ruochen's strength was extraordinary, and the experts around him were not limited to Cang Jue alone. Not far away, Xiu Chen Heavenly God was staring at him with a very strange look, sending chills down his spine.
"Chi Xuan Ghost Lord insulted you too much; he must be killed to establish authority."
Xiu Chen Heavenly God's right hand formed a claw, wisps of Killing Rule Divine Patterns flowing between his fingers as he walked toward Chi Xuan Ghost Lord.
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord was greatly alarmed and immediately tried to activate his divine power, only to find his body bound by space, his arms unable to move.
Fortunately, his cultivation was strong enough that his divine body's interior could resist the frozen space. He spoke with his divine thought, "I am a Grand Void Grand God of the Darkness Temple. If you kill me, can you withstand the wrath of the Darkness Temple?"
"When Jiusi Yitianhuang and Wubian were around, Zhang Ruochen still dared to kill Grand Gods of the Darkness Temple and sleep with the Temple's Hall Masters. Now… heh, what does killing you matter?"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God shifted all the blame onto Zhang Ruochen and added, "Zhang Ruochen is the Divine Envoy of Heavenly Mother. Insulting him is no different from insulting Heavenly Mother. If I kill you, who dares to object?"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's heart pounded, realizing that Xiu Chen Heavenly God intended to kill him to nourish her own divine soul.
This was serious, not a threat.
"Xiu Chen, Zhang Ruochen, don't force me to die together with you!" Chi Xuan Ghost Lord put on a posture of mutual destruction, his gaze sharp and his tone extremely tough (qiangying).
Xiu Chen Heavenly God sneered, "In front of me, do you, Chi Xuan Ghost Lord, think you can self-destruct your divine source? After a hundred thousand years, has the name Xiu Chen lost its deterrent power?"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's face changed several times before his tone finally softened. "Realm Lord Ruochen, we're on the same side. Don't harm our goodwill. You married Hall Master Wu Yue, making you the son-in-law of the Darkness Temple, no—the half-master of the Darkness Temple."
"What the Realm Lord may not know is that within the temple, I have always followed Hall Master Wu Yue's lead. My earlier offense was also out of necessity (pobudeyi), since the Darkness Temple's affairs in the Hundred Clans Royal City star domain were all decided by Grand God Zhen Yun."
"Ghost Lord and Se Jie Wang also forced me to take a stance earlier, making me draw a line with Hall Master Wu Yue and the Realm Lord. To be honest, I deliberately lost earlier, precisely to come to the Black Sea Realm and meet with the Realm Lord in person to clear up all misunderstandings."
"We're on the same side, really on the same side."
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord's backing was the Ghost God Venerable, who had been suppressed by Hao Tian.
After losing his support, his confidence naturally waned.
Yuan Tian Monarch said, "I have never seen such a shameless Grand Void Grand God. Who was it that was cursing the esteemed Realm Lord outside the heavens earlier?"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God was very nervous, afraid that Zhang Ruochen would spare Chi Xuan Ghost Lord. "His words are not to be trusted. Don't be fooled. Chi Xuan Ghost Lord is notorious for saying whatever suits the occasion."
"Xiu Chen, don't slander me. Every word I speak is true," Chi Xuan Ghost Lord said.
Zhang Ruochen appeared very calm. "Since you are Wu Yue's man, I will give her face."
Just as Chi Xuan Ghost Lord was secretly rejoicing, Zhang Ruochen added, "However, since you have pledged allegiance to me, you must do something for me, right? At this critical moment, it's time for you to contribute. Go, help Cang Jue rescue Emperor Kun."
Pledged allegiance?
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord was taken aback. Recalling the conversation, he did not remember saying the words "pledge allegiance."
Fortunately, the spatial binding on him had disappeared. Regaining his freedom, Chi Xuan Ghost Lord immediately flew toward the heavens, saying, "Rest assured, Realm Lord. I will not disappoint your expectations."
Zhang Ruochen said to Xiu Chen Heavenly God, "I have given him a chance. If he does not cherish it, you may kill him."
Xiu Chen Heavenly God was in a great mood, looking forward to it. If she could refine Chi Xuan Ghost Lord, restoring her divine soul to twenty percent of the Boundless level would not be difficult. But she was also anxious, afraid that Chi Xuan Ghost Lord would become too sensible.