Chapter 3384: Time Is on Our Side
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan stood opposite Zhang Ruochen, exchanging glances with him.
The old drunkard waved his hand and said, "Just go ahead and talk. Pretend I'm not here, no pressure. Actually, this old man also wants to know where the Sword Realm is!"
Pretend you're not here?
No pressure?
After a moment, Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan relented, not daring to clash head-on with Zhang Ruochen at this time.
Dai Fei Divine King, after all, was a figure from an older generation, capable of bending when necessary. He said, "Realm Lord Ruochen, lay out your terms. Today, how will you let the two of us go?"
"How about just killing them directly, to eliminate future trouble?"
Zhang Ruochen deliberately looked toward the old drunkard.
The old drunkard grew anxious and said, "Don't look at me! I'm really just a bystander. If you have the skill to kill them, this old man can only stop them from escaping and self-destructing their Divine Source, and help cover up the heavenly secrets so Ke Luo can't sense who the murderer is. That's all a bystander can do!"
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan felt a chill in their hearts, unable to calm themselves.
Zhang Ruochen pondered, then said solemnly, "There should be quite a few gods wanting to probe the location of the Sword Realm. The Dark Great Triangle Star Domain is turbulent beneath the surface. If they die at the hands of a god from the Hell Realm, it would actually be quite reasonable. I possess Feng Tian's Darkness Esoterica!"
The old drunkard thought Zhang Ruochen had quite the nerve, wanting to kill Ke Luo's own son and frame Feng Caiyi for it.
The Radiant Divine Temple Hall Master and the Death God Venerable—which of them was easy to mess with?
But he felt Zhang Ruochen probably wouldn't do it, and was only saying this to scare the two in front of him.
For now, the Sword Realm had just been established, and it wasn't suitable to thrust itself into the spotlight and become the center of a storm.
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan's faces turned pale, and they hated Zhang Ruochen to the core.
This junior's methods were too insidious!
The old drunkard showed a conflicted expression and said, "This old man does have some friendship with that old fellow Ke Luo. Cutting off one of his Vice Hall Masters and killing his own son seems a bit immoral. Troublesome!"
Dai Fei Divine King completely shed his arrogant demeanor, bowed deeply, and said, "Senior, Zhang Ruochen is still too young after all. He acts too radically, disregarding righteousness and consequences. You, venerable and virtuous, please think thrice before acting. Killing us brings a hundred harms and not a single benefit."
Ke Yangshan's divine light converged inwardly, and he slowly knelt on one knee, showing supreme respect, and said, "Senior Nine Heavens, if you can spare us this one offense, this junior dares to swear by light that as long as this junior lives, I will surely promote friendly cooperation between the Radiant Divine Temple and the Sword Realm, jointly facing the crises of this great era."
The old drunkard nearly pulled out a handful of hair and said, "Killing them really doesn't seem to have any benefits."
"It can deter other gods who want to probe the Sword Realm, and we can obtain the Judgment Palace, Light Esoterica, Divine Source, Scepter of Order... They have quite a few treasures on them," Zhang Ruochen said.
Dai Fei Divine King realized that Nine Heavens truly intended to hand the decision-making power to Zhang Ruochen, to support the younger generation's leading figure. So he looked at Zhang Ruochen, no longer showing any contempt, and said, "Realm Lord Ruochen, doing so would be too shortsighted. Killing a True God can spark a war. Killing a Divine King and the son of a Hall Master will make the Paradise Realm and the Sword Realm irreconcilable. Killing is never the best way to solve problems!"
Ke Yangshan knew of Zhang Ruochen's hostility toward the Paradise Realm and said, "In the battle of the Paradise Realm, the Dwarf Clan was nearly annihilated, and the Great Shang Divine Dynasty and the Blood Sea Hidden Heaven Divine Temple both suffered heavy losses. The Paradise Realm has already formulated a retaliation strategy. This matter won't involve the Infinite level, so the one in charge is this god. As long as this god returns alive, this retaliation can be pushed forward in a gentler manner."
"You still want retaliation? Retaliate against whom?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Ke Yangshan quickly corrected himself, no longer being euphemistic, and said bluntly, "This god means to resolve this retaliation as much as possible. After all, the Heavenly Court's great enemy is the Hell Realm. There shouldn't be more internal conflicts!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Young Hall Master had better clearly understand that the calamity in the Paradise Realm was caused by yourselves, by the Quantity Organization."
"If you hadn't treated Princess Shen Yao that way, how could she have gone on a killing spree? If your own ranks hadn't produced so many Quantity Organization members, how could such turmoil have occurred?"
"This god went to the Paradise Realm because I was worried you'd be overthrown by the Quantity Organization, to help you. Remember this favor—we'll settle it later!"
Ke Yangshan gritted his teeth, saying nothing.
This was too much!
Zhang Ruochen said, "How about this: leave behind all your treasures, including your Esoterica."
Ke Yangshan's eyes flashed with sharp light, and he was about to speak.
But Dai Fei shook his head at him.
When under someone else's roof, one must bow the head. As long as they could keep their lives and cultivation, these external things weren't important. Later, when the opportunity arose, the Paradise Realm would take everything back with interest.
When the situation developed to a certain point, the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm would never allow a neutral force like the Sword Realm to exist.
Zhang Ruochen took the Judgment Palace, Light Esoterica, Scepter of Order, Light War Axe... including Ke Yangshan's divine robe and Dai Fei Divine King's armor—all treasures were collected.
The Judgment Palace alone already stored a large amount of precious treasures and war weapons.
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan appeared calm, but inwardly, they were filled with resentment. Losing the Judgment Palace, they didn't know what severe punishment awaited them upon returning to the Paradise Realm.
Having lost so much face, they would surely become a laughingstock among the gods of the world.
This humiliation could only be engraved in their hearts.
"Realm Lord Ruochen, may we leave now?" Dai Fei Divine King asked calmly.
Chi Yao said, "What about the oath? Young Hall Master promised several things earlier!"
Swearing in the name of "Light" still had considerable binding force on cultivators of the Path of Light, especially for Ke Yangshan, the Young Hall Master.
"No rush! Even if we're to swear an oath, it won't be here. Don't leave just yet."
Zhang Ruochen's figure shifted, appearing beside the old drunkard.
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan felt an ominous premonition, so aggrieved they wanted to die. With their status, when had they ever been toyed with like this?
Facing the old drunkard, Zhang Ruochen felt no pressure. He took the gourd from his hand and took a sip, asking, "What's really going on?"
It was very strange. For a being with Spiritual Power at the ninetieth rank, killing a Divine King and a Great God shouldn't be so hesitant.
They were destined to be enemies, so why let the tiger return to the mountain?
Zhang Ruochen didn't believe the old drunkard really had any friendship with Ke Luo.
The old drunkard said, "You don't really think only I am watching this place, do you?"
Zhang Ruochen drew in a cold breath, secretly glancing into the darkness.
The old drunkard said, "The Sword Realm emerges, with Xinghuantian, Hundred Clans Royal City, and Ancient God Nest all joining at once—what earth-shattering event is this? Do you think the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm aren't wary, aren't covetous?"
"To be honest with you, more than one Heavenly Venerable is watching me. Otherwise, I would have reached the Sword Realm long ago. Why would I be lingering at the edge of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain?"
"You can plunder Shorty Dai and Young Ke, but you can't kill them. Those in the shadows are happy to see us weaken the Radiant Divine Temple, but they'd be even happier to see the Radiant Divine Temple and the Sword Realm go to war."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned grave. "I was too simplistic. It seems I must be even more cautious in the future."
The old drunkard said, "Actually, there's no need to worry too much. In the current situation, time is on our side."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The old drunkard said, "You've uncovered a large number of Quantifiers, with many Quantity Venerables and Quantity Emperors behind them. Some of those Quantity Venerables and Quantity Emperors still can't be confirmed; they're in a stage of suspicion and surveillance. This is enough to keep many old fellows immobilized and also tie down some Heavenly Venerables!"
"Moreover, although the northern expedition against the Ancient Chaos Demon Gods was a great success, some of those demon gods still escaped. Imagine how they will retaliate next? Once their cultivation fully recovers, each one will be terrifyingly powerful."
"Right now, no one knows the location of the Sword Realm, so we can rest easy. But those Infinite-level beings in the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm are all losing sleep. Hehe!"
"Then there's the Thunder Clan, Lihentian, the Void World—many places are unsettled."
"These hidden dangers are what truly give those old fellows in the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm headaches. The Sword Realm? For now, it doesn't even rank. If we keep a low profile, time is on our side."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "All the Ancient Chaos Demon Gods have awakened? How is that possible? How could they have survived for over ten million years?"
The old drunkard snatched the gourd back from Zhang Ruochen and said, "Not all, but about fifty or sixty. Some demons recorded in ancient texts as already dead also awakened at the North Marsh Great Wall."
"As for what exactly happened over ten million years ago, there are various theories now. Some guess it was the Great Demon God's backup plan, some guess it's related to the Immortal, some guess it might involve one of the Nine Cauldrons, the Time Cauldron, the Zhou Cauldron... Anyway, it's all messy, no conclusion."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "How many demon gods escaped?"
"No more than ten, but each one is formidable. Once their cultivation fully recovers, they absolutely cannot be underestimated," the old drunkard said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Is Qiangshake, one of the Supreme Four Pillars, among them?"
The old drunkard squinted and smiled. "Why do you care about that?"
Then, Zhang Ruochen recounted his encounter in the Sword God Temple.
The old drunkard grew more and more impressed with this kid. He actually dared to refine the divine soul thoughts of the Supreme Four Pillars. His nerve wasn't just fat—it could be cut off and stir-fried into a dish to go with drinks!
"Doing this means you'll have to bear the karmic consequences," the old drunkard said.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze turned strange. "You're not afraid of the Supreme Four Pillars, are you?"
"Afraid? Haha!"
The old drunkard laughed, then gradually grew serious. "Qiangshake escaped! Even if his cultivation hasn't recovered yet, he's still an extremely formidable existence. He might be able to sense what happened to his remnant soul. If he comes after you..."
Zhang Ruochen said, "If he comes after me, I'll definitely come to you."
The old drunkard's eyes showed genuine worry. "Truly strange. Strange things are happening everywhere in heaven and earth. I must go to the Sword God Temple. Some hidden dangers must be cleared in advance."
Zhang Ruochen said, "You alone? The Grand Minister of Works said to invite Hao Tian and bring more gods along."
"When the boss was alive, he always liked to make a big deal out of everything, overly cautious. If he weren't so fussy, I wouldn't have gone to Tiannan to cultivate. A bunch of remnant souls—this old man could suppress them all with a single sneeze," the old drunkard said.
Zhang Ruochen, like an elder, earnestly advised, "Better to be cautious! This is very abnormal. Why not invite the two from Star Heaven Cliff to go with you? Stop drinking—drinking leads to mistakes."
"They're not here! One went to Fengdu Ghost City, the other to the Abyss of Darkness."
The old drunkard thought for a moment, then suddenly his eyes rolled, and he smiled as he looked at several directions in the dark void. "This old man still has helpers!"