Chapter 3340: The Battle Begins
Xu Fa stood atop the Divine Mountain, gazing down at Yu Mangjun's Divine Realm World. His gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen as he called out, "Well done, I was just wondering where to find you."
On the Empty Flame Divine Mountain, over a thousand spiritual power cultivators raised their staves in unison, thrusting them into the ground before them as they chanted ancient incantations. Strands of spiritual power flowed through the staves into the mountain.
The soil on the Divine Mountain turned completely golden, and the flames blazed even more fiercely.
At the summit, the seven-zhang-tall golden divine tree beside Xu Fa grew rapidly, soon transforming into a towering giant tree whose branches and leaves enveloped the mountain's body.
Xu Fa raised both hands above his head, chanting eerie incantations as a golden light identical to that of the Divine Mountain emerged from his body. The spiritual power fluctuations erupting from the mountain grew stronger and stronger...
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple manifested in the void. The temple was as massive as a city, like a square celestial body, crashing heavily into the Empty Flame Divine Mountain.
The entire starfield trembled, and the surrounding space collapsed on a massive scale. Golden fireballs scattered across the universe like a meteor shower.
Standing beneath the golden divine tree, Xu Fa's gaze darkened as he stared at the Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple beyond the layers of golden flames. "Yu Ling Shen, the day of your Yaksha clan's annihilation is near, and you still dare to act recklessly here?"
Yu Ling Shen stood within the temple, meeting Xu Fa's gaze across the void. She said with a light laugh, "Whose annihilation day it is remains to be seen!"
"Bang!"
The Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple struck again.
One divine formation after another manifested around the temple, unleashing various destructive forces—cascading lightning like waterfalls, sword light that tore the sky apart, and towering Yaksha ancestral light shadows stretching ten thousand li...
In cosmic battles, once they escalated to the level of war, the contest was never just about the cultivation and combat power of the current cultivators. It was also a clash of foundations and ancestral legacies.
It was about which clan had produced more powerful ancestors, left behind stronger means, and possessed deeper foundations.
The clash between the Empty Flame Divine Mountain and the Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple was a collision of the Blazing Sun Civilization's and the Yaksha clan's foundations.
With each successive impact, some spiritual power cultivators on the Empty Flame Divine Mountain who were not strong enough bled from their seven orifices and collapsed limply to the ground.
As more and more spiritual power cultivators fell, Xu Fa, who had been full of confidence, gradually grew solemn. He could sense that within the Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple, there was not only Yu Ling Shen but also a being with a spiritual power level above the eightieth rank.
"Rustle!"
The sound of flowing water arose.
A black celestial river flew out from the Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple, piercing through layer after layer of the Empty Flame Divine Mountain's defenses.
The black celestial river was not real but a spiritual power illusion, formed by the external dispersion of the Black Water Divine Staff's power.
Princess Shen Ba, having borrowed the Black Water Divine Staff from Zhang Ruochen, charged into the Empty Flame Divine Mountain.
With a single swing of the staff!
"Pfft!"
"Psh!"
...
The golden light enveloping the Blazing Sun Civilization's spiritual power cultivators was shattered, and a large swath of them collapsed to the ground. Some had their heads explode outright, others screamed in agony as their spiritual power suffered severe damage, as if they had gone mad.
Xu Fa recognized the intruder as Shen Ba and coldly rebuked, "Shen Ba, you dare to storm the Empty Flame Divine Mountain?"
"Although the Blazing Sun Civilization once produced a being with a spiritual power exceeding the ninetieth rank, its spiritual power cultivation has long since declined. With just you, Xu Fa, why wouldn't this princess dare to storm the Empty Flame Divine Mountain?"
Princess Shen Ba, wielding the Black Water Divine Staff and stepping on a black celestial river, headed straight for the summit.
She knew well that the Blazing Sun Civilization's spiritual power being above the ninetieth rank had existed in the distant past. Even if the Empty Flame Divine Mountain had preserved some of that being's means, they would have been worn down countless times by the power of time.
Since ancient times, no matter how powerful a god was, once they fell, the power they left behind weakened significantly with each eon.
Moreover, the Yaksha Ancestral Divine Temple was tying up most of the Empty Flame Divine Mountain's power.
Princess Shen Ba fought her way all the way to the mountain's summit, sending any who blocked her flying with her spiritual power.
She swung her staff, striking at Xu Fa's head.
"Boom!"
A burst of talisman light appeared around Xu Fa, blocking the Black Water Divine Staff.
At the same time, the golden Divine Mountain shot out countless beams of golden light, like thousands of golden war swords striking at Shen Ba.
The golden light was blocked by the black celestial river, unable to harm Princess Shen Ba.
...
Below.
Zhang Ruochen had already acted decisively. Wielding the war axe, he chopped off the arm with which Yu Mangjun held the war hammer.
After seizing the war hammer, he held the hammer in one hand and the axe in the other, blocking the nine death beams sprayed by the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent as he rapidly closed in.
When he closed to within ten li, Zhang Ruochen leaped up, his movement technique reaching an extreme speed, and stomped down on one of the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent's heads.
He swung the axe down.
"Rip!"
One of the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent's heads was severed, crashing heavily to the ground.
Yu Mangjun struggled to reform his arm, watching Zhang Ruochen and the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent clashing in the distance. He saw that the serpent's second head had already been blown apart, sending bone fragments flying.
He knew the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent well, understanding that its bone body's past life was a very remarkable Boundless-level powerhouse, likely a Heavenly Venerable of a certain era.
In other words, it possessed the bone body of a Heavenly Venerable.
Of course, after endless ages, the divine power of the Heavenly Venerable's bone body had dissipated, its rules no longer existed, and its strength had been corroded by time. But even so, with the cultivation of a new life form backing it, how could it be so easily shattered by a cultivator below the Boundless realm?
Thinking that even with his own cultivation, he had lost an arm and had his weapon seized in just a few exchanges with Zhang Ruochen, Yu Mangjun felt a chill run down his spine, deeply realizing the terror of this junior.
"This kid is very strange. I can't fight him head-on. Time to retreat!"
Yu Mangjun withdrew his Divine Realm World, tore open space with his bare hands, and prepared to flee into the Void World.
"Bang!"
The Sundial flew out from the Void World, striking him heavily.
Stone collided with stone.
Clearly, the Sundial was harder. The divine light on Yu Mangjun's body dimmed considerably, and a large hole was pierced through his chest by the sundial's needle, with cracks spreading nearby.
A vast time divine sea manifested around the Sundial, bright and dazzling.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God stood gracefully at the center of the divine sea, her long hair flowing, looking more and more feminine. Her eyes were filled with contempt as she said, "This Heavenly God is here. Where do you think you're going?"
Yu Mangjun's blood-jade-like body radiated brilliant light. He stepped with Divine Spirit Steps, fleeing in the opposite direction from Xiu Chen Heavenly God.
But under the influence of time power, his steps were extremely slow.
After successfully covering 129,600 li, he found that Xiu Chen Heavenly God had already appeared ahead of him.
"Within one Divine Spirit Step of this Heavenly God, no one can escape."
Xiu Chen Heavenly God elegantly raised her slender right arm, forming a large hand seal, and struck out directly.
Yu Mangjun used his Profound Meaning to mobilize the hammer path rules of heaven and earth, manifesting a divine hammer of heaven and earth, which crashed toward Xiu Chen Heavenly God's hand seal.
But this seemingly ordinary hand seal from Xiu Chen Heavenly God turned out to be a fully realized Boundless divine ability. It directly crushed the divine hammer of heaven and earth that Yu Mangjun had manifested, sending him plummeting downward.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God pursued, delivering a second strike.
From Yu Mangjun's Divine Realm World, over twenty war weapons flew out, all of them Supreme Sacred Artifacts. Over the years of conquest, he had destroyed countless realms, killed over ten gods, and seized many treasures.
These Supreme Sacred Artifacts could not withstand Xiu Chen Heavenly God's power and were shattered one by one.
Each Supreme Sacred Artifact's destruction was as brilliant as a star exploding, releasing terrifying power capable of severely wounding gods.
This was a top-tier battle below the Boundless realm, where every force could shake the starfield, affect the rules of heaven and earth, and throw time and space into chaos.
Xiao Hei, who was refining the bone weapon, looked at the scene in the distant starfield and let out an envious yet pained sigh.
What pained him was that one Supreme Sacred Artifact after another was being destroyed. Each of these war weapons was a heirloom artifact of a major world in the Hundred Clans Royal City starfield.
What he envied was that both Xiu Chen Heavenly God and Zhang Ruochen now stood at the pinnacle below the Boundless realm, capable of crushing the top-tier experts of the Stone Clan and Bone Clan.
"Xiu Chen, you are no longer a Heavenly God. If you want to kill me, you will pay a heavy price."
Yu Mangjun's stone body had been shattered once. Although he had reformed, cracks still covered it, and it would be difficult to return to peak condition in a short time.
His Divine Realm World had been shattered, breaking into pieces of land millions of li long, floating in the starfield.
He sensed a death crisis and knew that the gap in combat power between him and Xiu Chen Heavenly God was significant. To escape today, he would have to fight desperately, resorting to forbidden techniques that would harm himself.
What Xiu Chen Heavenly God hated most was hearing words like "you are no longer a Heavenly God." Her gaze darkened as she said, "What, you want to self-destruct your Divine Source? With this Heavenly God's current divine soul strength, if you can actually self-destruct your Divine Source, I'll take your surname from now on."
Yu Mangjun's gaze turned cold and ruthless to the freezing point. He unleashed a forbidden technique, burning his lifespan, divine body, and divine soul.
"Stone and Jade Together in Ruin!"
The radiance emanating from Yu Mangjun's body seemed to illuminate the entire universe. Small planets in the nearby starfield all shattered into sand and dust.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God also cultivated the Extreme Jade Heavenly Path and knew that "Stone and Jade Together in Ruin" was a forbidden divine ability that bordered on mutual destruction.
What "bordering on mutual destruction" meant was that the caster would lose at least two eons of lifespan in an instant, with their divine body and divine soul also suffering massive depletion.
The price paid was so great that often, once the technique ended, the caster would die.
Yu Mangjun's aura rapidly surged, soon reaching a level not inferior to Xiu Chen Heavenly God's, and it continued to grow wildly.
"Bang!"
The Earth Cauldron flew over, striking Yu Mangjun heavily.
Yu Mangjun spread his burning arms to block the Earth Cauldron, letting out a long roar from his serpentine mouth. His battle intent was overwhelming, and he actually managed to withstand this strike from Zhang Ruochen.
On the other side of the Earth Cauldron, Zhang Ruochen punched down.
"Bang!"
The Earth Cauldron rang like a divine bell, and the surging origin divine power transmitted layer by layer to Yu Mangjun, sending him flying backward.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God flew over, fully activating the Sundial to suppress Yu Mangjun with time power. She said to Zhang Ruochen, "We absolutely cannot let him fully execute 'Stone and Jade Together in Ruin.' Otherwise, in a short time, he will possess combat power at the Qiankun Boundless level. Even if we can endure until this forbidden great technique wears off without dying, we won't be able to stop him from self-destructing his Divine Source afterward."
Zhang Ruochen struck out punch after punch, transmitting them through the Earth Cauldron onto Yu Mangjun, blasting the cosmic void for millions of li. He said, "You know that killing an existence like Yu Mangjun is extremely difficult. You need to use tactics and wear him down slowly. Or, you could wait for me to deal with him using the Earth Cauldron. Who told you to push him into a corner?"
Xiu Chen knew she had messed up this time by underestimating her opponent, so she proactively lowered her stance, saying, "With you here, what big waves can he stir up?"
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen and Xiu Chen Heavenly God struck together, using the Earth Cauldron to shatter Yu Mangjun's divine body and divine soul.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God transformed into a beam of jade light, charging toward the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent, which was rushing to rescue Yu Mangjun. A bloody Shura battlefield manifested beneath her feet, and planet-sized undead war gods all swung their blades at the Nine-Headed Bone Serpent.
On the other side, Zhang Ruochen took advantage of this brief moment to collect Yu Mangjun into the Earth Cauldron and began refining him directly.
Yu Mangjun's desolate and furious voice came from within the cauldron, roaring, "Flee! The Earth Cauldron is a god-killing great weapon. Zhang Ruochen and Xiu Chen's cultivation is already invincible below the Boundless realm. All our life-saving and countermeasures will be crushed... If you don't flee now, you'll all... die..."
"Boom!"
Within the cauldron, Yu Mangjun self-destructed his Divine Source.
A powerful shockwave erupted from within the cauldron, forming a brilliant ripple, but it was neutralized by the Primordial World Diagram on the cauldron's body.