Chapter 3428: Strange Changes in the Emperor's Tomb
Shi Tian has come to Night Soil?
Upon hearing this, both Zhang Ruochen and Qiangu Nüdi felt a prickling sensation on their backs, a chill running through their bodies.
Even though they had both reached the Infinite Realm and stood at the pinnacle of the gods, encountering an ancient relic like Shi Tian, whose prestige shook the universe, would still leave them at a disadvantage, unable even to escape.
"It should be Shi Tian who brought Desolate Tian, crossing the barrier between Lihentian and the Real World, to arrive here."
Qiangu Nüdi vigilantly surveyed her surroundings.
The time rules and time imprint light points enveloping her and Zhang Ruochen grew denser, like a cloud of light.
Zhang Ruochen said, "It's useless. If Shi Tian makes a move, no matter what means we employ, it will be futile."
"Separate and flee? Even if Shi Tian is that strong, capturing two God Venerables at once is no easy feat," Qiangu Nüdi said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "There's no need to rush, actually. I think Senior Desolate Tian must have reached some agreement with Shi Tian, which is why Shi Tian hasn't attacked us. Besides... Shi Tian coming to Night Soil at this critical moment may not necessarily have us as his target."
"Shi Tian couldn't possibly have no interest in the Earth Cauldron, the God-Defying Stele, and also your First-Rank Divine Path and my thirty percent Time Esoterica," Qiangu Nüdi said.
Zhang Ruochen himself had no confidence.
Since Desolate Tian told them to leave quickly, it was clearly because he didn't trust Shi Tian.
But A Le and Peach Blossom's child was still in Xuan Yi's hands; how could Zhang Ruochen leave just like that?
Besides, Xuan Yi was already severely injured and cornered by them in Night Soil. This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity; if missed, when would the next come?
Next time, Xuan Yi might do something even more heinous.
This was absolutely something Zhang Ruochen could not tolerate.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's gaze gradually firm, Qiangu Nüdi understood his decision. She held her sword before her eyes, exhaled a breath like orchid mist onto the blade, and said, "To be honest, there might still be Lei Fa Heavenly Venerable's power within Xuan Yi's Qi Sea. Desolate Tian may not necessarily be able to take him down. Let's finish this quickly!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen and Qiangu Nüdi simultaneously erupted with brilliant sword light, transforming into two streams of sword energy, flying straight toward the breach in the Hundred-Leg Emperor's Tomb.
The blood rivers below contained terrifying energy, emitting thick blood mist and death factors.
Zhang Ruochen calculated secretly, feeling that the energy within the blood rivers could threaten some Great Gods.
What kind of blood was this?
Could it be the corpse blood flowing from the Hundred-Leg Great Emperor's body?
If not, how could it be so fearsome?
Wu Dao and the Phoenix Clan Chief also speculated that Xuan Yi had likely entered the Hundred-Leg Great Emperor's tomb.
Seeing Desolate Tian, Zhang Ruochen, and Qiangu Nüdi successively charge inside, they hesitated no longer, using divine qi and rule divine patterns to protect themselves as they crossed the blood river and rushed over.
The Phoenix Clan Chief said, "What's going on? Could the Great Emperor's corpse have undergone some strange change? The death factors in the blood are too sinister!"
Wu Dao's expression was very ugly. The emperor's tomb being destroyed and the Great Emperor's corpse desecrated was a great humiliation for the Red Centipede Clan.
Within the emperor's tomb were various measures left by the Hundred-Leg Great Emperor during his lifetime, such as spatial rift storms, killing formations, and demonic poison. Even if the power of these measures had diminished by over ninety percent after endless years, cultivators at the Great God level who dared to rob the tomb would still meet their death.
At the collapsed opening of the emperor's tomb, Zhang Ruochen sensed a powerful lightning force that had blasted an ancient killing formation and the formation boundaries set up by successive Red Centipede Clan gods into scorched, blackened wasteland.
Undoubtedly, Xuan Yi had carried Lei Fa Heavenly Venerable's power, specifically to destroy the tomb's defenses.
...
Deep within the emperor's tomb, in an open space.
Xuan Yi stood at the edge of a cliff, below which was a sea of blood.
His lips moved, as if communicating with something.
The aura emanating from the blood sea was scorching hot, blowing to a position ten zhang in front of Xuan Yi, shaking his protective light shield.
Behind him, Desolate Tian's angry voice rang out: "Xuan Yi, where do you think you can flee today?"
Xuan Yi's face was calm as he looked back.
Before the person arrived, death divine light had already transformed into tidal waves, surging forward mightily.
The divine robe on Xuan Yi emitted numerous talisman patterns. Divine qi circulated within his body, activating the "Heaven and Earth Heart Divine Path." The incoming death divine light was continuously absorbed into his body.
Desolate Tian arrived, his true body charging into the ten-zhang range around Xuan Yi, entering the Heaven and Earth Heart's domain. He threw a punch.
The fist was imbued with heavy death divine light.
Xuan Yi met it barehanded, executing the Great Dao Heavenly Desolate Seal, clashing with Desolate Tian.
Earlier, Xuan Yi had been repeatedly blasted apart by Zhang Ruochen, and his blood qi had been refined by divine flames. Although he had swallowed ancestral blood, he had not fully recovered, having lost a significant amount of divine substance.
With one exchange, Xuan Yi was sent flying backward, falling off the cliff and down toward the blood sea below.
Desolate Tian pursued, a stone axe appearing in his hand as he struck down heavily.
Xuan Yi brought his hands together, pressing down on the descending stone axe. But Desolate Tian's power came down like a mountain avalanche, the axe blade pressing against his chest.
On his chest, the talisman patterns emitted by his divine robe grew even more brilliant.
But they were caving in!
The stone axe sank bit by bit, and Xuan Yi's chest continuously seeped blood.
"Plop!"
The two fell into the blood sea.
Seizing this opportunity, tens of thousands of lightning bolts erupted from within Xuan Yi, spreading out along the blood sea.
The blood sea turned into a sea of lightning.
Xuan Yi teleported away from beneath the stone axe, avoiding being split in two.
As an assassin, Xuan Yi had extraordinary skill in the Way of Flowing Light and the Way of Time, making him extremely fast. But Desolate Tian had no weaknesses; his physical body, speed, Dao techniques, and divine soul were all on par with Xuan Yi.
Every time Xuan Yi changed his position, Desolate Tian would follow suit, catching up to him and swinging his axe.
Countless afterimages of Xuan Yi and Desolate Tian appeared on the blood sea.
"Bang!"
Xuan Yi was ultimately no match for Desolate Tian, taking a stone axe strike to the shoulder and being sent flying.
Desolate Tian naturally pressed the advantage, raining down axe shadows, divine abilities, and rule divine patterns without pause.
Xuan Yi activated thirty percent of the Killing Dao Essence, causing the killing dao rules of heaven and earth to continuously converge toward him, blocking Desolate Tian's attacks.
"Did Yu Baiwei's death hit you that hard? You should be going after Yi Tianjun and Shang Tian instead. If not for their orders, I had no enmity with Yu Baiwei, why would I kill her?" Xuan Yi said.
Desolate Tian said, "Don't worry. After you die, I will send them off one by one."
"Wind Thunder Heaven-Piercing Seal!"
Wind and thunder sounds erupted from within Xuan Yi's body. His physical power surged instantly. He struck out with one finger, hitting the stone axe and deflecting the axe blade.
The next moment, his body collided heavily with Desolate Tian.
"Boom!"
It was like two divine mountains crashing together, forming intense energy ripples that violently shook the blood sea and the Hundred-Leg Emperor's Tomb.
Desolate Tian was sent flying back hundreds of miles.
Undoubtedly, with the Wind Thunder Heaven-Piercing Seal activated, Xuan Yi's physical power temporarily surpassed Desolate Tian's.
"Life and Death Without Interval!"
Desolate Tian simultaneously activated Death Essence and Life Essence, his form splitting into two sides—one a demon, the other a Buddha. He leaped up, swinging his axe to strike at Xuan Yi, who was trying to flee.
On the stone axe, a mountain-sized axe-shaped light formed, cleaving the blood sea below.
The blood sea seemed split in half from the middle, continuously sinking...
Suddenly, Desolate Tian's pupils contracted.
Beneath the blood sea, two enormous, pitch-black eyes appeared, containing soul-capturing power. The soul attack they unleashed was so strong that even Desolate Tian's will couldn't withstand it, causing a momentary lapse in concentration.
At that moment, the blood sea behind Desolate Tian churned.
"Splash!"
The blood water coalesced into a giant handprint, striking down heavily, slapping Desolate Tian to the bottom of the blood sea.
Zhang Ruochen and Qiangu Nüdi arrived just then, appearing on the cliff above the blood sea.
Zhang Ruochen's perception was powerful, and he detected the unknown mysterious force at the bottom of the blood sea. Without a moment's thought, he immediately acted, raising both hands.
"Whoosh!"
Above the blood sea, a Taiji Four Symbols Diagram condensed, slowly rotating.
The blood water was pulled upward, flying into the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram, as if the entire world was about to flip over.
On the other side, Qiangu Nüdi flew toward Xuan Yi, who was trying to escape, slashing out a spatial rift to intercept him. The two engaged in combat, unleashing various Dao techniques.
As the blood water was drawn away by the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram, Desolate Tian, who had been slapped into the blood sea, emerged.
Desolate Tian's body was wrapped in chains formed from rule divine patterns. Those rule divine patterns were extraordinary, not something a Qiankun Infinite-level god could cultivate.
"Roar!"
Desolate Tian let out a long roar, erupting with Grand Derivative Divine Power, shattering all the chains.
Just as he was about to break free, a thick corpse qi surged from the bottom of the blood sea.
Zhang Ruochen was prepared. The Bright Mirror Platform suspended above his head erupted with a blinding golden light, like a star, dispelling the blood qi in the air and heavily colliding with the corpse qi surging from the seabed.
Buddhist sounds were vast and profound; the Bright Mirror Platform purified all evil in the world.
The corpse qi retreated!
But Zhang Ruochen's eyes suddenly narrowed.
After the corpse qi retreated, a crimson centipede tail emerged, striking out heavily, sending both the Bright Mirror Platform and Desolate Tian flying.
"Bang!"
Desolate Tian crashed into the cliff wall by the blood sea.
With a rumble, a large section of the cliff wall collapsed.
Cracks appeared on Desolate Tian's chest.
The rule divine patterns, life divine light, and death divine light protecting his divine body were all shattered.
That centipede tail flipped up from the blood sea again, this time striking at the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram suspended above.
"Boom!"
The Taiji Four Symbols Diagram shook violently, and the blood water that had been drawn into it fell back down like a waterfall.
Zhang Ruochen immediately dispersed the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram, not daring to clash head-on with that centipede in the blood sea. His expression grew increasingly grave, sensing extreme danger.
Wu Dao and the Phoenix Clan Chief also arrived!
The Phoenix Clan Chief looked at Wu Dao and said, "This aura... could it be Tian Shengjun?"
Tian Shengjun, Wu Tiansheng, was Wu Dao's grandfather, the previous Red Centipede Clan Chief. He had long since passed away and was buried elsewhere in Night Soil.
Wu Dao's expression was shocked, clearly unaware of this.
Why was his grandfather still alive and hiding in the Hundred-Leg Emperor's Tomb?
Looking at the aura his grandfather was emitting, his body was heavy with corpse qi, but there was also life fluctuation. He hadn't turned into a Corpse Clan member, nor was he being controlled by someone.
He was genuinely still alive.
Zhang Ruochen's heart was heavy as he said, "It's the Corpse Transformation Forbidden Art! That Tian Shengjun cultivated the Corpse Transformation Forbidden Art and devoured the Hundred-Leg Great Emperor's corpse."
...
The previous chapter had a bug regarding the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron, which has been corrected!
There will be another chapter tonight.