Chapter 3318: Self-Detonation
Wu Yue and the Moon Goddess did not regard each other as enemies simply because they belonged to Hell and Heavenly Court respectively. After their private conversation, they instead seemed to have reached some kind of consensus.
The two beauties stood side by side, their radiance unparalleled in the world.
Hearing Chi Xingtian's words, Wu Yue's gaze fell upon Zhang Ruochen. "With your strength, you should be able to deal with the three ancient gods of Paradise Realm. In terms of perception and deduction ability, Zhang Ruochen might even surpass me."
Her words carried a clear intention to leave.
"Hua!"
A beam of divine light flew out from the space beside her and landed in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
"Help me return the Celestial Pivot Needle to Destiny Temple," Wu Yue said.
Wu Yue and the Moon Goddess rose into the air, transforming into two streaks of divine light as they flew into the distance.
Zhang Ruochen held the Celestial Pivot Needle in his hand, watching Wu Yue and the Moon Goddess leave, his mind pondering what they had discussed. Where were they going?
Could it be, as the Moon Goddess had guessed, that Wu Yue had sought her out to verify something?
Zhuque Huowu was filled with curiosity and muttered to herself, "They are heading toward Boundless Light Heaven, or perhaps… an even higher level of heaven. They indeed have an extraordinary connection."
"Wu Yue possesses great boldness. No wonder she was able to cultivate her spiritual power to the eighty-fifth rank," said Shenba Princess.
Entrusting a divine artifact to another person so casually was not common in the cultivation world.
"Crack!"
Zhang Ruochen, wielding the eldest of the six swords, severed the divine chains binding Shenba Princess's wrists and ankles.
"Thank you! You must be a descendant of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, right? I owe you a great debt today. In the future, whenever you need help, no matter how far across the endless star sea, Shenba will surely come."
Strands of brilliant divine light radiated from within and outside Shenba Princess's body. The damaged flesh on her wrists and ankles rapidly regenerated, her skin white as jade.
She raised both hands from below to gather her loose hair, simply tying it into a bun.
The ferocity and coldness in her demeanor gradually faded, revealing her exquisite features and noble, moving temperament.
She still appeared stunningly beautiful, with the youthful look of someone just over twenty.
But in her eyes, there was nothing but vicissitude, lacking the clarity and liveliness of her youth. Chi Xingtian watched her, sighing inwardly.
He, who was usually straightforward, was very restrained in front of Shenba Princess. This was because he had watched her grow up, like an elder brother or uncle, counting as half a relative.
"Let's go!"
Using the Celestial Pivot Needle, Zhang Ruochen deduced the approximate location of the Cyclops.
Zhang Ruochen employed the Wuji Divine Dao, while Shenba Princess used her spiritual power field to conceal everyone's aura. Together, they flew out.
The Cyclops's cultivation was extremely powerful. If he sensed them in advance, not even they, but even Boundless Infinite divine kings and divine lords, might not be able to keep him there.
They had to advance cautiously and surround him before attacking.
When they were about ten Divine Spirit Steps away from the Cyclops, Zhang Ruochen and the others slowed down, becoming even more careful in concealing their auras.
"Leave him to me, the half-god! As long as I enter within one Divine Spirit Step, I, this god, can capture him alone. He absolutely won't escape. But you'd better suppress him with spiritual power, to prevent him from self-detonating his divine source!"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God was impatient, treating the Cyclops as a divine medicine.
Chi Xingtian licked the edge of his battle axe and said, "No, he's mine!"
"You're not good enough. You lost to him earlier," said Xiu Chen Heavenly God.
Chi Xingtian replied, "That was then. This is now."
Just as Xiu Chen Heavenly God and Chi Xingtian were arguing, Zhang Ruochen suddenly acted, using the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram to envelop everyone and rapidly retreat.
"Boom!"
A destructive force swept toward them.
Wherever it passed, everything was obliterated. The colorful clouds exploded one after another, turning into chaotic mist.
After retreating to a sufficiently distant place, the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram dissolved the incoming shockwave.
"How could this happen? The Cyclops actually self-detonated his divine source? Did he sense that he couldn't escape from us and detonated early?" Chi Xingtian was shocked, finding it hard to understand.
Xiao Hei, who had been unable to interject, finally cast a contemptuous glance at Chi Xingtian. "With his cultivation, facing a divine king or divine lord wouldn't make him lose the will to escape. How could he directly self-detonate his divine source?"
"Xiao Hei is right."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned grave. He continued, "That means he encountered a danger even more terrifying than a Boundless Infinite divine king or divine lord."
Xiao Hei was so frightened he held his breath.
The others were not much better.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God had initially wanted to go and investigate, but upon hearing this, he immediately looked around, as if every mist cloud could be an enemy.
Zhang Ruochen dared not investigate and carefully retreated. Fortunately, they had been concealing their auras and were far enough away that nothing pursued them.
Next, Zhang Ruochen used the Celestial Pivot Needle to locate Mila.
On the way there, everyone speculated about the danger the Cyclops might have encountered.
"Could it be the remnant soul of an ancient Heavenly Venerable again?"
"Perhaps he encountered the true body of a contemporary divine king or divine lord. A great battle had already erupted, and by the time we arrived, the Cyclops was pushed to the brink and had to self-detonate his divine source."
"Don't contemporary divine kings and divine lords have the means to suppress his self-detonation?"
"The situation might be more complicated than we imagine."
…
Zhang Ruochen asked Zhuque Huowu about the various dangers of Lihentian.
Zhuque Huowu said, "The secret records of Fengdu Ghost City about Lihentian are very few, with only a handful of entries. An ancestor once left notes, speculating that Lihentian is a place left behind after the Calamity of Quantities about fifty thousand eons ago. It is unimaginably ancient. Moreover, this special world was created by the Calamity of Quantities itself, filled with the power of the Calamity of Quantities."
The power of the Calamity of Quantities, in the final analysis, was the power of heaven and earth, or the power of heaven and earth's self-destruction and restart.
It was also the strongest power in the world.
Cultivators took heaven and earth as their teachers, comprehending the Heavenly Dao.
At the highest levels, one naturally had to comprehend the power of the Calamity of Quantities, to learn and master it.
This was the Great Calamity!
A cycle of fifty thousand eons, where the universe was destroyed and restarted.
Zhuque Huowu continued, "Therefore, the greatest danger in Lihentian comes from the natural forces of heaven and earth."
"Once, a Heart-Stopping Great God from Fengdu Ghost City encountered a rapidly moving thunderstorm vortex the size of a star, with a diameter of a million li. He escaped quickly and saved his life."
"Some cultivators have claimed to pass through a void space a thousand or ten thousand times more terrifying than the Void World, capable of instantly voiding a great god's divine body."
…
Xiu Chen Heavenly God listened to Zhuque Huowu's account for a while, then sneered, "Fifty thousand eons is an incredibly long time, burying too many truths. What Great Calamity, Minor Calamity—even an ancestor might not know the truth. Even if they did, they wouldn't record it, let alone let you juniors know."
Zhang Ruochen asked if she knew something.
But Xiu Chen Heavenly God was very arrogant, claiming that with their current cultivation, they were not qualified to know everything about the Calamity of Quantities. It was like a cultivator telling a mortal about the difficulties they faced—it was meaningless, and the mortal couldn't help. It was better to teach the mortal how to embark on the path of cultivation.
The distance was getting closer, and Mila seemed to have stopped moving.
This was very strange!
"Under normal circumstances, Mila should have gone to rendezvous with the Cyclops and Chrysa as quickly as possible, or headed to Radiant Pure Mountain."
Zhang Ruochen sensed something was wrong. Together with Xiu Chen Heavenly God, he stealthily moved forward.
Better safe than sorry. Zhang Ruochen had Shenba Princess, Chi Xingtian, Zhuque Huowu, and Xiao Hei stay ten Divine Spirit Steps away, ready to support them at any time.
As they got closer, Zhang Ruochen could see Mila, tens of thousands of li away, with just his divine eyes.
She had fiery red hair and the unparalleled beauty of the Elf Clan.
But at this moment, Mila stood on a patch of burning clouds, letting out agonizing screams.
From the burning clouds, wisps of soul-mist air currents continuously surged out, drilling into her body.
Those crimson soul-mist air currents emitted an ancient and eerie aura, with temperatures terrifyingly high. An ordinary great god would absolutely be unable to withstand them and would be burned to ashes.
"What's going on? Has she really encountered an ancient Heavenly Venerable?" Xiu Chen Heavenly God no longer dared to be arrogant. She restrained her aura, and her voice was slightly weak.
"You are a heavenly god, learned, ancient, sacred, and experienced. Take a look and see whose soul shadow that is in history?" Zhang Ruochen said.
(Chapter End)