Chapter 3385: Four Great Helpers
Zhang Ruochen was not surprised that the Starry Sea Angler had gone to Fengdu Ghost City.
As the number one figure of the Sword Realm, how could he not have a dialogue with the Heavenly Venerable of the Hell Realm? Regardless, if the Sword Realm wished to be a neutral force, it first needed to reach agreements with the Heavenly Venerables of both the Heavenly Court and Hell.
As for the Old Woodcutter going to the Abyss of Darkness, it still stirred many thoughts in Zhang Ruochen.
It was definitely not about entering the Abyss of Darkness; it should be related to the Dark Abyss Yan Clan.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Ancestor Divine Travel Cloak and handed it to Old Wine Man, asking him to help repair it.
"This is a fine treasure!" Old Wine Man stroked the black garment, looking at Zhang Ruochen meaningfully, and chuckled, "Have you taken the Yaksha Clan?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "For now, it's just mutual benefit and coexistence."
Although Old Wine Man was not skilled in artifact refining, his spiritual power had reached the ninetieth level. With Zhang Ruochen providing the materials, it took only half a day to repair the Ancestor Divine Travel Cloak.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he could no longer detect any flaws.
Old Wine Man said, "With this divine cloak, you can deceive all beneath the Heavens."
"Only beneath the Heavens?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Old Wine Man replied, "At a certain distance, even the Heavens cannot sense it. But don't underestimate the Heavens, or those old fellows who have a chance to seal the heavens. Even when I approach them, they will have a subtle reaction. Do you think you can completely fool their perception with just an Ancestor relic?"
"What distance are you talking about?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Old Wine Man said, "If they are deliberately searching for you, within a realm, no matter how you hide, it will be dangerous. But as long as your identity is not exposed and you don't attract their attention, it's easy to evade their perception."
"You're just a Great God. With the Ancestor Divine Travel Cloak, you can roam the world. Why fear the Heavens? If you keep a low profile, which Heavenly Venerable would be so bored as to target a junior like you?"
"I fear your master!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Old Wine Man was speechless for a moment, then said, "The Tiannan region has members of the Quantity Organization. Old Qingtian is being closely watched by Fengdu Dadi and Xu Fengjin, so he has no time for you for now. Don't go causing trouble in Tiannan, and you should be fine."
Old Wine Man glanced at Chi Yao and asked, "Are you planning to go to the Kunlun Realm or the Ancient Divine Nest?"
"I need to return to the Kunlun Realm first to find an opportunity to break through," Zhang Ruochen said.
Old Wine Man said, "That works. The Kunlun Realm indeed has many opportunities. Some relics left by the Ancestors, if you can find a few, are even better than divine artifacts. The residual Ancestor power within them can still be quite intimidating. Hey, the Great Venerable should have left behind many good things. Don't you have any?"
Zhang Ruochen's mind turned to the Jade Emperor Cauldron and the Swallow Token.
The Jade Emperor Cauldron was with the Moon God and likely contained no Ancestor power.
The Swallow Token did contain a trace of power, but it was too sparse to be significant. When Chi Kongle was possessed, it had already been used against Xiu Chen Heavenly God.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen shake his head, Old Wine Man lowered his voice and said, "That Boundless Realm member of your Zhang family should have some good stuff. He's escaped death several times. At the North Marsh Great Wall, he used a pair of boots left by the Great Venerable to flee from the siege of several Demon Gods."
Zhang Ruochen pondered silently. Jie Zunzhe had obtained the Great Venerable's divine source, which must contain a vast amount of Ancestor divine power. That old fellow often pretended to be a false god—how shameless!
Most of the Great Venerable's relics had probably been taken by him!
He was hoarding everything, leaving nothing for his descendants.
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan couldn't hear what Zhang Ruochen and Old Wine Man were discussing, but seeing their gazes occasionally turn their way, they couldn't help but feel nervous.
Finally, Old Wine Man laughed loudly. "The Judgment Hall is in your hands, but you can't hold onto it. Lord Ke Luo might come for you personally. Better leave it with me!"
Old Wine Man took the Judgment Hall, and two gray beams of light flew from his eyes, filled with intense deathly aura.
The next moment, Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan screamed in agony as their divine souls were pinned by an invisible gray long halberd.
"Tiannan, Death God Soul Halberd!"
Dai Fei Divine King's face changed dramatically as he looked at Old Wine Man. Suppressing his anger, he bowed and said, "Senior Nine Heavens, why go back on your word and plant a soul halberd in our divine souls?"
Old Wine Man drew a light talisman on his palm, handed it to Zhang Ruochen, then calmed their emotions, saying, "Don't be nervous. What's there to fear? It's just a soul halberd!"
Just a soul halberd?
This was Tiannan's Death God great technique. Once triggered, their divine souls would be annihilated in an instant.
Old Wine Man said, "Don't you have some vows to make? Obey Zhang Ruochen, fulfill your promises, and the soul halberd will naturally dissipate."
"What if they don't obey?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Old Wine Man said, "Then crush the light talisman in your hand."
Zhang Ruochen opened his palm, the light talisman floating above it, and made as if to crush it.
Dai Fei Divine King quickly said, "We will certainly fulfill our promises. Rest assured, Senior Nine Heavens."
Old Wine Man gave a sinister smile. "Don't try any tricks. The Death God Soul Halberd I planted cannot be undone even by Ke Luo. Moreover, I can perceive your thoughts at any time."
Dai Fei Divine King and Ke Yangshan hurriedly cleared their minds of any schemes. Facing a being with ninetieth-level spiritual power, they had no fight left in them.
"I've informed Ji Wang. He will meet you at the Starry Sky Defense Line." Old Wine Man vanished, leaving only this voice echoing in Zhang Ruochen's mind.
Chi Yao asked, "Did you tell Senior Nine Heavens about the Sword God Temple?"
"Yes."
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment and said, "Don't go to the Ancient Divine Nest yet, including Senior Yimu and the others. Come with me to the Kunlun Realm first."
The situation was grim. Any cultivator leaving the Sword Realm could be intercepted and killed.
If even one person was caught, the Sword Realm's location would be exposed.
Chi Yao looked at Dai Xue Queen and Quan Zhongsheng. "What about them?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't know how many eyes were watching him in the shadows. Although Old Wine Man was in this star domain, he clearly couldn't open a Space Teleportation Array to send them to the Sword Realm.
Chi Yao said, "Leave them to me."
"Alright."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the two and said, "Since you sincerely wish to join the Sword Realm, I, as the Realm Venerable, will not take Dai Fei Divine King's divisive words to heart. When the time is right, I will bring you and your clans to the Sword Realm."
"Thank you for your trust, Realm Venerable."
Quan Zhongsheng and Dai Xue Queen bowed together.
Chi Yao took the two gods into the Celestial World Light Projection.
"Now we can leave."
Old Wine Man's voice came from somewhere, entering Zhang Ruochen's ears.
Clearly, Old Wine Man had already set up a formation to conceal the heavenly secrets, ensuring no one could track Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen immediately took out the formation flags, activated the Space Teleportation Array, and with Chi Yao, Dai Fei Divine King, and Ke Yangshan, vanished into the void, crossing star domains.
Not far from the teleportation array, in the darkness, Old Wine Man used his spiritual power field to cover millions of miles. All the powerful beings watching him appeared within the field.
Someone tried to deduce Zhang Ruochen's teleportation coordinates, but Old Wine Man sensed it and immediately sent out spiritual power to shake the heavenly rules, shouting, "White Skin, even the Tai Shang of your Yama Clan intends to take Zhang Ruochen as a son-in-law. What are you doing?"
Tens of thousands of miles away, a white shadow floated in the air, not human-shaped, like a piece of skin drifting there.
It wasn't skin but a strange creature, renowned in the Hell Realm, ranked among the top five of the Yama Clan. Its true title was "White Cloud God Ancestor."
The nickname "White Skin" displeased White Cloud God Ancestor greatly.
In another direction, demonic aura surged into the sky.
A demonic god ancestor, shaped like a giant rat but as fierce as a lion or tiger, appeared, its body the size of a planet. "Wine Man, you gathered us here for some earth-shattering matter. Don't beat around the bush. Spit it out!"
Two God Ancestor-level beings had appeared, each with a chance to seal the heavens.
Additionally, two true Heavens were present, their forms faint and indistinct.
Four great powerhouses—two from the Heavenly Court Universe and two from the Hell Realm—had all come for the Sword Realm.
Old Wine Man chuckled. "You've been watching in the shadows, and it's been tiring. I've been on guard against you, unable to go anywhere, which is also exhausting. How about I take you to a good place to seek the great fortune of immortality?"
White Cloud God Ancestor said, "Immortality? Can you exaggerate any more? In my view, you're just finding an excuse to tie us up and let those juniors escape. They clearly went to the Heavenly Court Universe. You can't hide that!"
Old Wine Man grew angry. "Do you even know they're just juniors? White Skin, how many eons have you lived? As a God Ancestor, with cultivation no weaker than theirs, why haven't you sealed the heavens? Because you're always fixated on juniors and haven't accomplished any earth-shattering deeds. This time, I'll take you to see something grand, to do something that will make even Hao Tian and Fengdu Dadi admire us!"
A Heavenly Venerable spoke from the void, his tone cold. "Enough nonsense! What are you really up to? Trying to escape, or scheming against us?"
Old Wine Man composed himself, his eyes turning somber and sorrowful. "Just now, Zhang Ruochen told me terrible news. The Elder... the Elder fell in the Sword God Temple. He spent his entire life seeking the method of immortality, even unwilling to take the position of Heavenly Palace Master. Perhaps he really discovered something and went to the Sword God Temple."
"The Great Elder?"
The demonic god ancestor was moved but felt Nine Heavens was spinning a tale. The Great Elder spent his life seeking immortality? That was a bit far-fetched!
"Are you taking us to the Sword Realm?" White Cloud God Ancestor grew wary.
Old Wine Man wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "The Sword God Temple is not in the Sword Realm! It should be a dangerous place, or the Elder wouldn't have fallen there. If I were confident, I wouldn't have feared following in his footsteps and would have gone alone. Why bring you along? What if there really is a chance at immortality? Wouldn't that be a waste if I kept it to myself?"
The four powerhouses from the Heavenly Court and Hell discussed in secret, all agreeing that Nine Heavens was scheming against them.
But they had no fear. Rather than stalemating like this, it was better to go to this so-called Sword God Temple. Nine Heavens wouldn't lead himself to his own death, would he?