# Chapter 3363: Three Dangerous Places
One should never underestimate a God King!
Zhang Ruochen successively employed the power of Wuji Divine Dao and the Heart of Truth, yet he could not find any trace of God King Guo remaining in the Sword God Temple.
Formless and shadowless, leaving no mark where he passed.
Grandmaster Taiqing and Grandmaster Yuqing converged from the other two directions, likewise finding nothing.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "Currently, there are three dangerous places within the Sword God Temple, extremely perilous. Even an Infinite must approach them with caution."
"The Sword Soul Pool, the Blood Mud City, and the very center where the Sword Source Divine Tree is located."
"If God King Guo has indeed infiltrated the Sword God Temple, he must have entered one of these locations. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to evade our search."
"The Sword Source Divine Tree can be ruled out. God King Guo is not a sword cultivator. Approaching it in his severely injured state would bring him no benefit." Grandmaster Yuqing said, "The Sword Soul Pool is the most likely possibility! He is a ghost cultivator; perhaps he sensed something and intends to nourish his soul with souls."
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "If he truly went to the Sword Soul Pool, we actually no longer need to worry."
Grandmaster Yuqing nodded and told Zhang Ruochen and the others that the Sword Soul Pool was the most terrifying place in the Sword God Temple and must not be approached at all costs.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "The Heavenly Ladder entered the Blood Mud City. We found traces."
Zhang Ruochen had already gone to the outskirts of the Blood Mud City to inspect it earlier.
It was not a real city, but rather the collapsed ruins of many buildings in the Sword God Temple, leaving behind broken walls and shattered pillars. The walls were like horizontal mountain ridges, the pillars like mountain peaks, all shrouded in blood mist, with a strong sense of danger.
The ground for hundreds of miles around was blood-red.
Aside from the three dangerous places, other areas of the Sword God Temple also had some perils, or beings like the Heavenly Ladder and the Sword-Unbinding Beasts. But their group were all gods and could ignore them.
If a Great Saint realm cultivator were to venture here, every place would be a forbidden zone, every step a deadly trap.
Zangjin Baihu and the two Sword-Unbinding Beasts roamed the Sword God Temple, awakening all divine-level beings that had developed intelligence.
Before long, a procession of bizarre things followed behind Zangjin Baihu: a door, a cauldron, a lamp, two stools, a table...
Any item that had reached the divine realm was made of extraordinary material.
Take that Door God, for example. The material used for it was even rarer than the doors of the Sword God Temple itself.
It was said to be the door of the Scripture Depository Hall from the Sword God Temple's past.
As for the two Stool Gods, their material was a kind of divine jade that had already gone extinct, completely exhausted in the ancient era. According to Xiao Hei's speculation, they were stools used by the Sword Ancestor for meditation, stained with the aura of an Ancestor.
But no one believed that.
A venerable Ancestor, meditating on stools? And using two stools?
That Cauldron God received special attention from Zhang Ruochen, who pulled it aside to inspect its body. No abnormalities were found.
These exotic divine beings all had rare materials, but they were cultivators, not artifacts.
They were fundamentally different from divine artifacts.
Led by Grandmaster Taiqing and Grandmaster Yuqing, Zhang Ruochen and the others arrived at an area near the Origin Divine Tree.
Here, the light rain was dense, and even an ordinary Great God could not withstand it.
The ground had been tempered countless times by the light rain, as smooth and hard as jade. Looking out, it was a vast plain with no other buildings in sight.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "Every time we enter, we set up a defensive formation here. But without exception, the defensive formation is always destroyed by the next time we come."
Grandmaster Yuqing waved his sleeve, and three hundred and sixty pre-forged formation swords flew out from within.
The Sword God Temple was fraught with danger. To cultivate in peace, formations had to be arranged.
Zhang Ruochen suggested, "I think we should set up the formation in a more peripheral location. Moreover, we should set up the strongest formation!"
Zhang Ruochen pointed into the distance, about a hundred miles away, where two graceful, slender figures stood.
It was Chi Yao and Bai Qinger, standing at the boundary between the jade-like plain and the ruined buildings.
Grandmaster Taiqing understood Zhang Ruochen's intention—it was to consider the gods with lower cultivation levels. The light rain was like swords; not everyone could withstand such dense penetrating power.
Grandmaster Yuqing said, "I agree with setting up the strongest formation. If we cannot break through to the peak of Qiankun Infinite within three months, we will not leave. We will place ourselves in a life-or-death situation, forcing ourselves to the limit to break through."
Zhang Ruochen indeed had the idea of going into seclusion in the Sword God Temple for a long time, but to be cautious, he asked, "Once the Sword Source Divine Tree extinguishes after three months, will it truly be impossible to enter or leave the Sword God Temple?"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God snorted, "How is that possible? In the end, it's just a temple that fell into the darkness. With so many of us God Venerables together, it's enough to blast through it."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then go blast through the Sword Soul Pool? Forget it, the Sword Soul Pool is too dangerous. You should first go to the base of the Sword Source Divine Tree and see what it's rooted in. What kind of thing can support it?"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God had a very stubborn personality and said, "If it were a hundred thousand years ago, so what if I blasted through the Sword Soul Pool? Cutting down the Sword Source Divine Tree wouldn't be impossible either! What are you afraid of? Even if we can't fight our way out, the Infinite Northern Expedition will return soon. When that happens, any old fellow like Nine Heavens or Starry Sea Angler comes, can the Sword God Temple stop them?"
Too stubborn!
But the key point was that what she said actually made some sense, and it was full of boldness, putting Zhang Ruochen, the Young Lord, in an awkward position, unable to save face.
She had stolen all the thunder!
Xiu Chen Heavenly God said, "Don't you want to know what the Sword Source Divine Tree is rooted in? Wait until its light goes out in three months, and I'll go with you. I'll take the lead. I now have God Venerable cultivation and fear nothing in the world."
What a load of nonsense!
You even dared to strike the Buddha, dared to openly criticize Feng Tian.
It's a miracle you've survived this long.
If Zhang Ruochen were also alone, one person dies and one person is buried, he could "fear nothing in the world." But now he had a family and dependents, with the lives of beings from hundreds of great worlds relying on him. Could he be as reckless as her?
Everyone joined forces to set up the formation.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Battle Dharma Divine Temple left behind by a Heavenly Venerable from Muotuo War God, using it as their cultivation base in the Sword God Temple. The divine Qi of the Heavenly Venerable within the temple had been mostly absorbed by Zhang Ruochen, but the divine formation remained.
Grandmaster Yuqing controlled the three hundred and sixty formation swords, inserting them at various positions around the Battle Dharma Divine Temple. He raised his arms, and all the formation swords rapidly grew, transforming into sword mountains.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God manifested a hundred thousand avatars, using the Sundial as the formation core, to set up a time grand formation.
She discovered that the Sword God Temple contained many strange phenomena, making it an excellent place to rapidly improve cultivation. Even if Zhang Ruochen didn't use the Earth Cauldron to refine divine soul pills for her, she would take action herself.
She silently planned in her heart, intending to go alone to the Sword Soul Pool and Blood Mud City.
Ji Fanxin released the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations and said, "From now on, I will focus on studying formations. You all can cultivate in seclusion in the Sword God Temple with peace of mind. Leave the defense to me."
Although these words seemed to be said casually, Chi Yao and Bai Qinger both felt that Ji Fanxin's gaze was constantly fixed on them.
Bai Qinger walked over, her figure tall and aloof. Even facing a Spiritual Power God Venerable, she remained composed.
"Whoosh!"
A roll of beast hide appeared in her palm, and she handed it to Ji Fanxin, saying, "God Venerable Ji was born in the Thousand Rui Realm and probably hasn't had the opportunity to access profound formations. This is the formation manual of the Seven Star Dragon Subduing Formation, ranked fifth among the top ten divine formations in the Scripture Cavern of Starry Sky Cliff."
Ji Fanxin said, "Thank you for your kindness, Miss Bai. But I have already obtained the formation manual of the Thousand Sons Qilin Formation from the Second Elder of the Formation Destruction Palace, and I plan to study that formation first."
"As a formation master, having one more formation manual means having one more measure of strength." Bai Qinger said.
Ji Fanxin said, "Miss Bai seems to have misunderstood. I am not a formation master. I only temporarily study formations because I think a formation master's skills can help everyone here."
This verbal swordplay was as terrifying as blades and shadows.
Even Grandmaster Yuqing and Grandmaster Taiqing, who didn't fully understand the relationship between Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin, found it headache-inducing.
"Zhang Ruochen, do you know the story of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, Ling Yanzi, and Kong Yinxue from back then?" Grandmaster Taiqing intended to subtly hint, warning Zhang Ruochen to be cautious in matters of the heart and not repeat past mistakes.
"Grandmaster, rest assured. I can handle this matter." Zhang Ruochen said.
Grandmaster Yuqing and Grandmaster Taiqing truly didn't want to get involved, afraid of being dragged in to mediate. Therefore, they immediately left the formation and went to a place closer to the Sword Source Divine Tree to cultivate.
Zhang Ruochen took the beast hide formation manual from Bai Qinger's hand and handed it to Ji Fanxin, smiling, "Starry Sea Angler has a deep connection with Fanxin, considered half her guide. You can accept this formation manual with a clear conscience. In the future, when Fanxin's formation attainments reach the Tai Shang level and she creates new divine formations, she can send one copy to the Scripture Cavern."
Ji Fanxin took the beast hide, turned around, and walked into the Battle Dharma Divine Temple, leaving a trail of flowers in her wake.
The air was filled with drifting fragrance.
Zhang Ruochen knew how strong-willed Bai Qinger was. He grabbed her jade hand, stopping her from leaving.
"Is God Venerable Zhang Ruochen offering some instruction?" Bai Qinger said.
What a grating form of address.
Zhang Ruochen didn't even know how to respond.
Bai Qinger said, "God Venerable Ji sees us as burdens, thinking only she can protect everyone. I must work even harder in cultivation. If God Venerable Zhang Ruochen has nothing else, please release my hand."
The word "us" she used directly dragged Chi Yao into it as well!
"Once I refine the Divine Communication Divine Pill, I'll accompany you into the Sword Soul Pool." Zhang Ruochen transmitted his voice.
Earlier, they had already found the specific location of that unknown power that had summoned the Earth Demon Sparrow—it was within the Sword Soul Pool.
Bai Qinger made no reply. She walked side by side with Chi Yao, like a pair of close sisters with deep affection. Gracefully and elegantly, they sat down outside the Battle Dharma Divine Temple, bathing in the Sword Source light rain, and began to cultivate.
(Chapter End)