# Chapter 3349: The Situation Is Set
The Death Clan gods urged the God King Battle Formation to slowly retreat, pulling back toward Xiong Guan Star.
Princess Shen Yao and the Second Elder of Array Extermination Hall continued to pursue, but without urgency, as if hoping they would return to Xiong Guan Star.
The battle situation had become somewhat delicate.
...
Bai Changxu, who had been besieging Xiu Chen Heavenly God, transmitted a message to the other two Bone Clan ancient gods: "The situation is lost. Should we withdraw now?"
"The Bone Clan has many troops in the Hundred Clans Royal City Star Domain, with enormous interests. It would be unwilling (bu gan xin) to flee so shamefully!" said Hei Tao.
Bai Changxu asked, "Can you block a few of Zhang Ruochen's sword strikes?"
Hei Tao looked toward Zhang Ruochen standing with his sword, meeting his gaze directly. A dangerous aura struck his divine soul, impacting (chong ji) his mental thoughts.
"Let's go!"
Yun Zhonghu acted decisively, immediately withdrawing his bone weapon, stepping on flowing light rule divine patterns, and fleeing (dun xiang) into the depths of the universe.
Bai Changxu and Hei Tao dared not stay any longer, fleeing in two other directions.
The three Bone Clan ancient gods nervously sensed Zhang Ruochen. Seeing that he did not intercept them, they felt greatly relieved and fled at even greater speed.
"Leave? This god hasn't fought enough yet!"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God pursued in one direction, killing intent thick. No longer concealing himself, he directly deployed (shi zhan) time secret techniques, striking with killing divine abilities from afar.
"It really is her."
Hei Tao suffered Xiu Chen Heavenly God's soul attack, his vision going dark, divine qi circulation in his body obstructed.
With a "bang," he was struck by a divine ability launched from millions of miles away. His divine body was damaged, forcing him to burn lifespan and deploy (shi zhan) escape secret arts, immediately doubling his speed.
Zhang Ruochen had not intentionally let the three Bone Clan ancient gods escape. Rather, he had sensed a dangerous aura and therefore did not act rashly.
"Come out. I've been waiting for you," he said.
"As expected of the world's number one! Your cultivation progress is truly terrifying. Have you already reached Heart Stop?"
A cyan mist emerged in the void a thousand miles away.
Shen Feng Ancient God stood within the mist, stepping on a black ancient coffin. The butterfly wings on his back radiated brilliant light. His expression was calm, without fear or joy.
He said, "Hua Ying Qing Chan should have told you, right?"
Zhang Ruochen looked at him, then shifted his gaze to the black ancient coffin beneath his feet.
Shen Feng Ancient God confirmed his guess, saying, "You know full well what means I possess, yet you remain so composed. Truly worthy of being the person Master values."
Zhang Ruochen said, "You know that even Yuan Ruhai and Mu Tuo's War God Divine Hall could not stop me, yet you still dare appear before me. You can be considered (ye suan) a notable figure."
Shen Feng Ancient God stepped down from the ancient coffin, his palm stroking the coffin lid. "You don't think that with the Pure Yang Divine Sword, you can match it, do you?"
After a moment's thought, he added, "Aren't you worried about what's happening at Xiong Guan Star? The three gods of Xinghuantian and Shengu Chao are definitely no match for the Hell Realm gods. They will soon be defeated. Look, the hundred-plus gods in the Death Clan God King Battle Formation are about to enter Xiong Guan Star!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "You can still remain calm at this moment, trying to use the situation at Xiong Guan Star to distract me. That's quite impressive. But your thinking is still not rigorous enough, cannot compare to (bi bu shang) your master."
"Oh? Please enlighten me, Realm Master," said Shen Feng Ancient God.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You can't see the forest for the trees! What is the strongest force in the Hundred Clans Royal City Star Domain? The black coffin in your hand? The sword in my hand? No, none of those."
Shen Feng Ancient God's expression changed dramatically, and he looked toward the direction of Hundred Clans Royal City.
The strongest force in this star domain was naturally Xiong Guan Star and Hundred Clans Royal City.
Hundred Clans Royal City alone, with its Star Prison Grand Formation, could contend against (dui kang) a God Venerable.
And contending against (dui kang) was not limited to initial stage Qiankun Infinite God Venerables!
With Xiong Guan Star having broken free from Hell Realm's control, who in this star domain could block Hundred Clans Royal City's attack?
"Whoosh!"
At the periphery of Hundred Clans Royal City, a thousand stars (heng xing) flickered, their light suddenly surging.
Each star (heng xing) was a Divine Throne Planet and also a formation foundation of the Star Prison Grand Formation.
The thousand stars (heng xing) expanded outward, quickly enveloping Xiong Guan Star within the formation.
All the gods of Hundred Clans Royal City stood within their respective race's (zhong zu) great world boundaries, leading billions of cultivators from their worlds, stirring (yin dong) the spiritual qi and saint qi within their bodies, stimulating (ji fa chu) world power.
"Whoosh!"
From one star (heng xing), a beam of light a thousand miles thick descended, piercing through Xiong Guan Star's defensive formation.
From the Star Prison Grand Formation, one flame beam after another descended. Any Hell Realm god struck by them was instantly reduced to ashes.
The star domain was enveloped, making escape impossible.
Like an Eon Calamity, like divine punishment, destructive force continuously fell.
In less than a quarter of an hour, over a hundred gods had their souls scattered, their divine matter (wu zhi) annihilated, their divine soul thoughts turning to nothing.
The Hell Realm gods who had flown back to Xiong Guan Star earlier were all filled with regret. If they had known Zhang Ruochen would be so ruthless, about to massacre, they should have learned from the Darkness Temple gods and left decisively.
Xiong Guan Star was already riddled with holes, its star body (xing ti) core pierced through.
The seventh-level war star, hundreds of thousands of miles in diameter, split apart in space, magma flowing, dust dispersing. The scene was shocking, like the destruction of heaven and earth.
The gods of Xinghuantian and Shengu Chao, after rescuing people, had already withdrawn first.
The surviving Hell Realm gods no longer dared to contend against (dui kang).
Earlier, the Darkness Temple Great God Wu Gan, who had been fighting fiercely with Chi Xuan Ghost Lord, had his divine body tattered and torn. He transmitted a message: "Chi Xuan, we are both Darkness Temple Great Gods. This god is willing to follow Realm Master Zhang Ruochen and Hall Master Wu Yue. Please help pass a message and ask Realm Master Zhang Ruochen to give us a way to live?"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord said, "Sorry, this lord is now a god of Xinghuantian."
Wu Gan gritted his teeth. "This god is willing to offer three million divine stones."
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord was somewhat tempted, squinting with a smile. "You, Wu Gan, are a Tai Xu Great God. Is your life only worth three million divine stones?"
"Plus one sub-god-level Supreme Sacred Artifact."
Seeing another god beside him struck dead, Wu Gan immediately added benefits.
"Fine! This lord will only help pass the message. Whether you live or die depends on the Realm Master's mood."
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord smiled and bowed to Chi Yao: "Your Majesty, Wu Gan is at Tai Xu realm cultivation, not weak in strength, and intends to defect to (tou kao) Xinghuantian. Could you spare his life first?"
Chi Xuan Ghost Lord knew very well who could make the decisions here.
Chi Yao looked at Wu Gan. "Defect to (tou kao) Wu Yue?"
"Although Hall Master Wu Yue is a god of Darkness Temple, she mainly oversees the spiritual power cultivators of the Spirit God Hall. We have no deep friendship with her. If Your Majesty saves Wu Gan's life, how could he not swear to die (shi si) repay in the future?" Chi Xuan Ghost Lord, gauging (chuai mo) Chi Yao's thoughts, answered carefully.
Chi Yao said, "If you want to defect to (tou kao), first offer half your soul. I want seventy percent of the benefits he gave you."
After today's battle, no matter how things were managed afterward, Xinghuantian and Hell Realm had formed a deep enmity.
Chi Yao understood Zhang Ruochen's thinking. Toward Hell Realm, he would certainly befriend some, teach a lesson to (jiao xun) some, and kill some.
He did not want to completely (che di) offend Darkness Temple and had been showing mercy. So, if Chi Xuan Ghost Lord approached Zhang Ruochen, Zhang Ruochen would certainly not kill Wu Gan.
Since that was the case, why shouldn't she take control of such a Tai Xu Great God?
...
In the distant void, Shen Feng Ancient God fell beneath Zhang Ruochen's sword.
The Pure Yang Divine Sword was thrust (cha) into Shen Feng Ancient God's body, burning his divine body into dry bones. The bones collapsed, turning to dust.
The battle ended almost in an instant.
A monk covered in evil patterns (xie wen) stood beside the black ancient coffin, his eyes hollow, his body like a stone statue, motionless.
But a moment earlier, when he had just flown out of the black ancient coffin, his evil qi (xie qi) had been overwhelming, his divine might vast, directly shattering a large area of space.
Zhang Ruochen looked toward Ji Fanxin, who was walking toward him, and smiled. "Such powerful spiritual power! Thank you!"
"It's not that my spiritual power is powerful, but that Shen Feng Ancient God's spiritual power is too weak, so I could sever the connection between him and this monk. You don't need to thank me. I sensed a very strong aura on you. Even if I hadn't acted, you could definitely have suppressed them."
The fragrance of flowers on Ji Fanxin's body could be smelled even in the void. She walked step by step to Zhang Ruochen, like an exiled immortal descending to the mortal world.
Fresh and refined, yet carrying a commanding majesty (wei yan).
Zhang Ruochen rolled up the Heavenly Venerable character scroll and smiled. "Still angry? Let me apologize to you, okay? As long as you can forgive me, I'll do anything."
Ji Fanxin's gaze was cold, radiating distance. But combined with the fact that she had just helped Zhang Ruochen deal with Shen Feng Ancient God, her current demeanor seemed overly deliberate (ke yi).
If she were truly so cold, why would she have helped earlier?
Having helped, why would she still appear?
Zhang Ruochen could see that Ji Fanxin was indeed different from before, no longer the ethereal and pure Hundred Flowers Fairy of the past. But he could also see that she was deliberately changing, with a forced air of a superior.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Should I now address you as Ji God Venerable? Or Hundred Flowers God Venerable? A God Venerable must be broad-minded and not hold grudges. You've already forgiven me!"
"Forgiven?"
Ji Fanxin's expression was blank. She glanced at Zhang Ruochen and was about to say something more when she saw Man Tuo Luo Flower God, Feng Yan, and others approaching. She turned into a rain of flower petals and disappeared.
Zhang Ruochen could sense that she had not left, but was nearby.