Chapter 3347: Full-Scale Outburst
While the Half-Venerable attacked Feng Yan, Mu Tuo War God released Dark Rules from his brow, condensing them into chains that coiled toward the Pure Yang Divine Sword, attempting to seize this clan-protecting divine artifact of the Wind Clan.
Zhang Ruochen secretly activated the power of the God-Defying Stele, breaking free from the binding formation inscription patterns first, and leaped up to grab the hilt of the Pure Yang Divine Sword.
Touching the sword was like touching lightning.
He sensed that the energy within the sword was inexhaustible, seeing a boundless sea of fire as vast as a universe. Once the flames inside were drawn out, they could burn the entire Hundred Clans Royal City Star Domain into a void of annihilation.
"Little Rock, the old one will help you."
A faint voice from within the sword entered Zhang Ruochen's mind.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen knew it was the sword spirit of the Pure Yang Divine Sword. Using his divine Qi to activate it, the radiance emitted by the divine sword brightened more than tenfold.
Flames surged from the sword's edge, capable of burning the heavens and boiling the seas.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was like the reincarnation of Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable, swinging the sword to strike, with a majestic aura that caused the sky to collapse and the earth to split.
"Bang! Bang!"
With one slash, he broke through over a dozen divine formations!
Zhang Ruochen's long hair flew wildly as he soared into the sky, breaking free from the suppression of two Battle Method Divine Palaces.
The sword spirit of the Pure Yang Divine Sword had lived since the era of Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable, accompanying him throughout his life. For many years, it had been in a dormant state, only awakening some of its intelligence after Feng Yan became a god.
The boundless sea of fire Zhang Ruochen had seen earlier was the inner world of the Pure Yang Divine Sword.
All the divine flames were real.
Deep within the sword's inner world, Zhang Ruochen even saw a blazing eternal sun, its aura so intense that it seemed capable of incinerating his divine soul and spiritual power, making it impossible to approach.
That power was likely the Heavenly Venerable Divine Qi left behind by Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable.
Zhang Ruochen did not attempt to draw upon that power, fearing he would burn himself.
With the help of the Pure Yang Divine Sword's sword spirit, Zhang Ruochen felt as if he could sever fate itself, cut through all the intricate rules of the world, and possess the strength to rival Divine Kings and Divine Venerables.
Breaking over a dozen divine formations with a single slash was truly spectacular, the energy radiance illuminating a vast expanse of the starry sky.
The Half-Venerable no longer dared to deal with Feng Yan. He focused all his efforts on mobilizing the divine Qi and rule divine patterns left by the Great Unbound Infinite Divine Venerable within the Battle Method Divine Palace, condensing them into a thousand-mile-long sword that slashed horizontally.
The divine Qi and rule divine patterns were very thin, but they were more than enough to cut through Greater Gods like chopping vegetables.
Zhang Ruochen's spirit and energy were at their peak, merging with the Pure Yang Divine Sword as one, striking straight down.
The two swords clashed.
Both sword Qi dissipated into nothing.
The Half-Venerable's expression grew increasingly grim. That strike just now was no less than a divine ability unleashed by a Qiankun Unbounded Initial Stage Divine King or Divine Venerable, yet it was met head-on by Ming Jian God.
He transmitted a message to Mu Tuo War God: "The sword spirit of the Pure Yang Divine Sword has awakened. Ming Jian God's combat power right now is no weaker than a true Divine King or Divine Venerable. Attack with full force."
On the Battle Method Divine Palace where Mu Tuo War God stood, the jade-carved divine flood dragon, after absorbing the divine Qi of the heavens, detached from the palace and flew out.
The divine flood dragon emitted a white misty light; anything it touched immediately turned to jade.
The heavenly sword Dao rules within trillions of miles of starry sky rapidly converged toward Zhang Ruochen, further enhancing the divine sword's power as he struck at the jade-carved divine flood dragon.
These sword rules were not mobilized through Sword Dao Essence but were drawn by the Wuji Divine Dao.
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
Zhang Ruochen was like a peerless sword immortal, surrounded by countless sword Qi in the space around him.
Wherever the sword's edge pointed, nothing could stop it.
With several consecutive slashes, the jade-carved divine flood dragon left behind by an ancient Heavenly Venerable was cut in two.
Each of his strikes contained the essence of the "One" character sword Dao, unleashing power at the level of divine abilities.
The divine formations and rule divine patterns guarding the two Battle Method Divine Palaces were continuously broken through. The Half-Venerable and Mu Tuo War God switched from offense to defense, retreating toward Xiongguan Star.
"Too strong. Even the Battle Method Divine Palaces can't stop him. We have to use Xiongguan Star's star-protecting divine formation to deal with him."
"Lure him to Xiongguan Star!"
...
On the other side, Xiu Chen Heavenly God, who had just captured Bao Jun and Bing Jun, encountered a major problem.
The three ancient gods of the Bone Clan each summoned hundreds of billions of bone soldiers, flooding Xiu Chen Heavenly God from three different directions in the void.
Every bone soldier was a formation piece.
After they linked into three bone seas, their defensive power greatly increased, and they had regenerative abilities.
Even if shattered into bone dust, they could reconstitute themselves.
The three bone seas naturally could not threaten Xiu Chen Heavenly God's life, but they prevented her from breaking free in a short time, trapping her inside.
...
Shen Feng Ancient God looked at the Half-Venerable and Mu Tuo War God, who were being continuously pushed back, and said, "With the sword spirit's enhancement and residual Heavenly Venerable Divine Qi, the Pure Yang Divine Sword is more terrifying than many ancestral divine artifacts left behind by Primordial Ancestors."
Yan Yang Heavenly Master said, "The sword spirit doesn't dare to fully awaken. It has lived too long. Once the heavenly rules detect it, the descending Eon Calamity will surely reduce it to ashes."
"What ancient Heavenly Venerables and peerless Primordial Ancestors? They are all things of the past. The Heavenly Venerables of the present era are the masters of this age!"
"Heavenly Banner, rise!"
Yan Yang Heavenly Master's body grew increasingly bright, golden, as he raised both hands.
Within Xiongguan Star, the gods of the Yan Yang Civilization simultaneously exerted their strength, shooting out beams of divine Qi.
A heavenly banner imprinted with the image of the Four Suns Heavenly Venerable slowly rose. Above the banner, four blazing eternal suns condensed. Each eternal sun was formed from the divine power of the Four Suns Heavenly Venerable.
This was the power of the present era's Heavenly Venerable, more than ten times denser than the divine Qi of the heavens in the Battle Method Divine Palaces. Not to mention Greater Gods, even a Qiankun Unbounded Initial Stage Divine King or Divine Venerable would have to immediately retreat upon seeing this heavenly banner.
To break the Hundred Clans Royal City's Star Prison Grand Formation, the heavenly banner was one of the most crucial means.
All the gods of the Hell Realm made way for the heavenly banner.
Suddenly, a change occurred.
The four eternal suns above the heavenly banner flickered slightly, dimming considerably.
Yan Yang Heavenly Master's body shook, a blood-red crack splitting his brow. He could no longer control the heavenly banner, and its power nearly crushed him to death. It was like lifting a heavy rock that almost crushed oneself.
He glared down at Xiongguan Star with fury, roaring, "Enemy attack... There are enemies attacking Xiongguan Star!"
Battle erupted fully within Xiongguan Star, with over a hundred divine auras surging forth.
There were True Gods and False Gods alike.
They swiftly breached the major cities, took control of the sacred realm armies of various clans, and seized the formations within the cities. They also released doppelgangers to rescue the beings of the Hundred Clans Royal City Star Domain who had been imprisoned.
Chi Yao and Zangjin Baihu charged into the Yan Yang Civilization military camp, severely wounding the Tai Xu Greater God Yang Shuo who was guarding the camp.
She wore a gold-threaded divine armor, her hair tied in a ponytail, holding a blood-dripping sword in one hand and the Space-Time Chaos Lotus in the other, her body brimming with Zangjin Divine Qi. She advanced forward, cutting down one Yan Yang Civilization god after another.
Though she couldn't kill them completely with a single strike, she could severely wound them first, preventing them from jointly activating the heavenly banner.
Anyone struck by the blood-dripping sword would lose a massive amount of divine blood. Even if they reconstituted their divine bodies, they would be greatly shriveled.
Yang Shuo chased closely behind Chi Yao, trying to restrain her. But this was the Yan Yang Civilization military camp, filled with countless sacred realm soldiers, all elites of the Yan Yang Civilization, which instead made him hesitant.
While stopping Chi Yao's slaughter, he also had to collect the Yan Yang Civilization army into his divine realm world.
...
"Brother Wu Gan, take my advice. Your side has already lost. Hurry and flee!"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord encountered an ancient god of the Darkness Temple and advised him thus.
"Chi Xuan, you have betrayed the Darkness Temple. When Emperor of the Strange Heaven returns, you will surely suffer divine punishment," Wu Gan Ancient God said.
"I gave you good advice, yet you respond with harsh words. Alas, there's no choice. We must fight!"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord made his move, manifesting a divine ability and striking out.
Before coming to Xiongguan Star, Chi Xuan Ghost Lord had already met Zhang Ruochen and witnessed his current power, knowing that Zhang Ruochen was invincible under heaven until the Boundless Ones returned from the northern expedition.
At this moment, betraying Zhang Ruochen would be very unwise.
Better to seize the opportunity and plunder heavily on Xiongguan Star.
Those who shared the same thought included Chi Hun Monarch, Yuan Tian Monarch, Xiao Hei, and many other gods.
The difference was that Xiao Hei had been ordered by Zhang Ruochen to find where the major Hell Realm forces had hoarded their wealth, carrying Zhang Ruochen's divine token, and no one could compete with him.
Chi Hun Monarch, Yuan Tian Monarch, and others could only intercept Hell Realm cultivators to seize resources and treasures.
Of course, every Hell Realm god who had defected had a quota for the number of people they needed to save. Failure to meet the requirement would result in punishment.
They knew that Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao were forcing them to completely break with the Hell Realm.
But they couldn't resist!
Such an opportunity to seize resources and treasures wouldn't come once in an Eon. If they seized it, they could climb up over the corpses of Hell Realm cultivators.
If they didn't act, who knew if Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao would kill them afterward, making an example of them.
"Is the divine stone and resource wealth the Bone Clan collected in the Hundred Clans Royal City in this city?"
Xiao Hei lifted a Bone Clan god, opening his big owl beak wide, glaring fiercely.
"The divine stones and all treasures have been collected into the divine realm worlds by the three ancient gods..." The Bone Clan god, afraid of having his soul searched, spoke directly.
"I, the Emperor, don't believe it. There are so many sacred realm soldiers of the Bone Clan here, consuming a mountain of divine stones every day. And activating the formations also consumes a huge amount of divine stones. If you don't confess honestly, I'll search your soul directly!"
Xiao Hei extended his cat claw and pressed it on the Bone Clan god's head.
The Bone Clan god said, "I confess, this god will confess now. In the city, there is a divine treasury in this city. This god will take you there!"
Xiongguan Star was in complete chaos, with divine battles erupting everywhere.
But before the divine battles erupted, both sides had tacitly prioritized rescuing people first.
"Damn it, who is the traitor? Who brought the gods of Xinghuantian into Xiongguan Star?" Yan Yang Heavenly Master recalled the loopholes of the past few days and quickly identified the problem.
He set Ghost Lord as the primary suspect.
Fu Chuan Greater God roared, "Where are the four divine masters? Why haven't they activated the star-protecting divine formation to suppress the Xinghuantian gods?"
"It's useless! Would the gods of Xinghuantian, Shen Gu Chao, and those Hell Realm defectors dare to enter Xiongguan Star without first dealing with the four divine masters?" Shen Feng Ancient God said.
Fu Chuan Greater God and several Hell Realm gods immediately charged into the atmosphere, heading toward Xiongguan Star.
Shen Feng Ancient God shook his head slightly, muttering to himself, "The other side's layout is meticulous. They've lured away the top-tier experts of the Hell Realm. What chance do you have left?"
"Boom!"
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen stopped hiding his strength. Using the God-Defying Stele, he broke the defensive formation inscription patterns of the Half-Venerable's Battle Method Divine Palace.
The Pure Yang Divine Sword slashed down, unstoppable, splitting the Battle Method Divine Palace in two.
The Half-Venerable couldn't block it. His body was torn apart by the divine sword, turning into blood mist and shattered bones. Much of the blood mist was refined into ash by the Pure Yang Divine Flame.
Zhang Ruochen didn't give the original body a chance to escape. He teleported, striking a second slash that broke through his divine sea.
Within the divine sea, the divine source cracked.
The Half-Venerable tried to use the divine source to continue fleeing, but Zhang Ruochen reached out and captured it from afar.
"You are not Ming Jian God! Zhang Ruochen, is this your Wuji Divine Dao?" The Half-Venerable's divine voice transmitted from within the divine source.
If not for the Wuji Divine Dao being omnipresent, concealing heaven and earth, he refused to believe he wouldn't even have a chance to escape.
(Chapter End)