Chapter 3434: Artifact Spirit Awakens, Dark Cauldron
Dense swarms of Gu insects flew across the sea surface, devouring the blood energy and divine soul thoughts that Xuan Yi had broken free from.
The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was suppressed in the blood-dyed sea region, towering into the clouds.
Yin Yuanchen sat cross-legged beneath the divine tree, absorbing the Killing Dao Esoterica and refining Xuan Yi's Heaven and Earth Heart Divine Path.
Over the years, he had always concealed his true strength. His actual cultivation had already reached the Great God level; otherwise, he could not have survived A Le's self-destruction of his divine source.
Xuan Yi's energy had all been spent on scheming to throw the world into chaos and breaking through to the Infinite Realm. Thus, he had failed to notice this.
This battle was meticulously planned by Yin Yuanchen. He had thought it would be very difficult, but he never expected Xuan Yi to be so severely injured, escaping back with only a single divine heart. Moreover, the divine heart contained very few residual divine soul and spiritual will thoughts.
"Hoo!"
Yin Yuanchen let out a long breath. After absorbing twenty percent of the Killing Dao Esoterica, he clearly felt his perception of heaven and earth become sharper.
However, the killing intent in his heart had also grown heavier!
"Boom!"
The extinguished star beneath him flickered with dark red light, then accelerated its movement toward the Night Soil.
Yin Yuanchen suppressed the killing intent with his mind, stood up, and returned to the side of the ancient chariot.
He glanced at the child inside the chariot.
The child named "Yun Qing" had already woken up and was looking at him with fearful eyes.
Such familiar eyes, just like his own back then.
Yin Yuanchen's face showed no emotion. He said, "Now, I'll give you two choices! First, I leave you on this star, using a formation to temporarily protect you. There's a more than seventy percent chance that your father's good brother will sense your position and rescue you before the formation is destroyed."
"Second, come with me, to the outer realms. Perhaps..."
Yin Yuanchen looked at the endless darkness ahead, where not a single star could be seen. "Perhaps, one day in the future, we can return. Or perhaps, we will die alone in the boundless darkness."
Yin Yuanchen dared not stay any longer in the Illusory Extinction Star Sea, nor did he dare return to the Heavenly Court Universe or the Hell Realm Universe. The Thunder Clan and the Quantity Organization would never let him off.
A Le's death, and the deaths of countless Kunlun Realm cultivators, were directly or indirectly related to him. It was impossible for him to go and seek refuge with Zhang Ruochen, or with his grandmother.
He had lived obediently for so many years, finally cutting down the chess player from the position of a chess piece. In the future, he did not want to take orders from anyone!
The future...
He wanted to live as his true self and walk his own path.
"Your tongue has already been regrown. You haven't been scared stupid, have you? Can't you speak?"
Yin Yuanchen shook his head slightly. Yun Qing Ancient Buddha was such a wise and divine being, with the Sixth Patriarch and Yinxue Heavenly Lord as his disciples. Yet this reincarnated Buddha child had inherited none of that wisdom. It was truly disappointing.
However, thinking back to himself at the age of seven, he had been so terrified that he had collapsed on the ground, even more pathetic than Yun Qing.
What child would not fear death?
"If you don't speak, I'll take it as your agreement!"
Yin Yuanchen boarded the ancient chariot and sat on the shaft. After a moment's thought, his sleeve space trembled, and he took out a green melon and tossed it to Yun Qing.
"Let's go. Heading to the outer realms, if I get lonely, at least there will be someone beside me to talk to. I won't have to just speak my heart to the fish in the water or the Gu insects in the mud, like a madman!"
Thinking of his former self, Yin Yuanchen let out a self-deprecating laugh.
The chariot, trailing a tail of lightning, rushed out of the Illusory Extinction Star Sea and disappeared into the endless darkness.
...
The entire starry sky seemed to be falling downward, the crushing force surging in from all directions of the universe.
"Crack!"
The Blood Leaf Parasol Tree could not withstand it. Its branches and leaves turned to powder, and cracks appeared in its trunk.
The Bodhi Tree below it suffered the same fate.
These two divine trees were like two umbrellas shielding Zhang Ruochen.
But the umbrellas had already broken.
They were about to turn to ashes!
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen was subjected to a powerful spiritual attack. His sword soul flew out of his body, slashing in all directions. The Earth Cauldron and the Bright Mirror Platform floated on his left and right, resisting the invisible spiritual power.
If it had been any other Divine King or Divine Lord at the early stage of Qiankun Infinite, their divine soul would likely have been crushed.
Zhang Ruochen was very clear that Feng Tian and the Starry Sea Angler, who were in the Night Soil, would definitely sense the disturbance here and would not stand idly by. He only needed to hold on until they arrived!
"So powerful! The spiritual power must have reached above the ninetieth rank, and the true body must be somewhere in the Illusory Extinction Star Sea."
Dense cracks appeared all over Zhang Ruochen's body, but they were like a broken lotus root still connected by threads, tough enough to keep him from shattering.
Just as Feng Tian spread her wings and left the Night Soil, a semi-transparent giant handprint condensed above Zhang Ruochen's head. It was thirty million miles long, crushing space as it descended.
"Whoosh!"
At this moment of extreme danger, the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron flew out from the divine pattern space within Zhang Ruochen's sleeve.
Zhang Ruochen was astonished, looking up.
The artifact spirit of the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron had actually awakened on its own. Was it protecting its master?
No!
Zhang Ruochen had never been the master of the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron's artifact spirit.
In fact, because he was wary of the artifact spirit, Zhang Ruochen did not dare to release his divine soul into the internal space of the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron.
The sleeping artifact spirit had awakened on its own!
The Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron was a yellow bronze cauldron with six legs. Each leg bore the carved mark of a divine beast: Phoenix, Divine Dragon, Red Centipede, Demon Spider, White Fox, and Golden Crow.
At this moment, all these carvings came to life, forming a wondrous scene of six beasts guarding the cauldron's body.
From the openwork patterns on the cauldron's body, dark power emanated, radiating a cold force that could swallow heaven and devour the earth. It collided with the descending semi-transparent handprint.
With a loud crash, the handprint, which was enough to shatter Zhang Ruochen's physical body, was pierced through by the cauldron.
The terrifying pressure across heaven and earth vanished!
Zhang Ruochen was utterly shocked, unable to believe that the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron was so powerful that it could break a divine technique from a Heaven Round No Deficiency cultivator.
Even though that Heaven Round No Deficiency cultivator was in a distant location trillions of miles away, greatly reducing the power of the divine technique, it was still no small feat.
Not only Zhang Ruochen, but even Feng Tian, who had rushed to the nearby star domain, narrowed her phoenix eyes.
"Whoosh!"
The Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron disappeared.
However, both Zhang Ruochen and Feng Tian could sense it flying toward the Night Soil.
"The Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron is actually the Xuan Cauldron, the Dark Cauldron."
Feng Tian glanced at Zhang Ruochen. Then, transforming into the Dark Lord God, she mobilized the dark rules of heaven and earth, wrapping them around the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron in an attempt to subdue it.
But...
The Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron smashed through the dark rules Feng Tian had condensed and broke through the air, disappearing.
Huang Tian's divine body recondensed. He stared blankly in the direction where the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron had vanished from his perception.
Just a cauldron, and it was this heaven-defying?
First, it broke the divine technique of a Heaven Round No Deficiency cultivator, then it broke the divine power of an Indestructible Infinite.
Feng Tian's two slender, long eyebrows tightly knitted together. With her veil on, it was impossible to tell her expression.
She looked at Zhang Ruochen, as if to interrogate him. "Do all Nine Cauldrons have artifact spirits?"
The cracks on Zhang Ruochen's body had already healed, and his physical form was restored. "I, the Original Self, only just learned that the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron is one of the Nine Cauldrons! The Earth Cauldron has no artifact spirit. As for the Heaven Cauldron, whether it has an artifact spirit or not, could it escape Feng Tian's perception?"
"The Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron is special. It should be because it was once jointly refined by the six ancestors of the Night Demon Six Clans."
Flowing light rule divine patterns and space rule divine patterns appeared around Feng Tian. She was about to pursue the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron, but her gaze swept the surroundings, and she ultimately stopped.
She was searching the residual aura in space, trying to perceive the Heaven Round No Deficiency cultivator hiding in the shadows.
Zhang Ruochen put the hundreds of God-Eating Insects back into the Bronze Coffin.
These God-Eating Insects had survived only because Zhang Ruochen had acted in time, taking them into the Shaoyang Divine Mountain and hiding them in his Xuan Tai. Now, they were all half-dead and would not awaken for a long time.
Huang Tian channeled the life energy of the starry sky, helping the severely damaged Blood Leaf Parasol Tree and Bodhi Tree regrow their branches and leaves.
But the Red Stain Tower, which had been suppressed by the Blood Leaf Parasol Tree, had vanished!
Clearly, Tian Sheng Jun had taken advantage of the chaos to escape.
Zhang Ruochen came behind Feng Tian, looking at her slender, elegant figure from close range. Her curves were graceful, and her long hair hung straight down to her waist and hips.
He bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Feng Tian!"
This time, Zhang Ruochen was truly grateful.
He didn't need to guess that the battle in the Night Soil must have been critical and dangerous. Yet, to save him, Feng Tian had still come at the first moment.
Just now, she could have gone after the Six Directions Heavenly Venerable Cauldron to claim that dark treasure cauldron. But, worried that the Heaven Round No Deficiency cultivator hiding in the shadows might strike again, she stayed behind.
Huang Tian walked over and also bowed in thanks.
Today, they had indeed incurred a great debt of gratitude! Huang Tian had always been clear about favors and grudges. When it was time to bow and thank someone, he would never be arrogant or aloof.
"It has nothing to do with you. I came for the Blood Leaf Parasol Tree," Feng Tian said indifferently.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The spiritual power giant hiding in the shadows has most likely reached Heaven Round No Deficiency. There is a high probability that it is Kui Liang Huang among the Four Great Liang Huang. Feng Tian, have you calculated his position?"
The Celestial Pivot Needle floated before Feng Tian, but its pointer was chaotic and erratic.
"You are not yet qualified to make him use his true power. The aura is very faint; he is probably trillions of miles away. He is very cautious, afraid of revealing his identity. Hiding his aura like this means that Kui Liang Huang is not Lei Fa Tian Zun."
After a few more breaths, Feng Tian said, "He has already gone far, no longer in the Illusory Extinction Star Sea. It's impossible to catch up now."
Zhang Ruochen could feel the bone-chilling cold radiating from Feng Tian.
Suddenly, Feng Tian added, "Now is the time of the decisive battle between the Heavenly Court and Hell. Almost all the Heavens have made their move. There are only eight Heaven Round No Deficiency spiritual power gods. Whoever is not on the battlefield is Kui Liang Huang. It's not hard to find him."
"Blood Leaf, keep an eye on Zhang Ruochen. Don't let him slip away. After I finish dealing with matters in the Night Soil, I will make good use of him."
Feng Tian's figure vanished as she rushed back to the Night Soil.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was grave. "The decisive battle between the Heavenly Court and Hell... What does Feng Tian mean?"
In the Lihentian, Zhang Ruochen had actually guessed that a shocking upheaval must have occurred in the Real World. Otherwise, with the situation so critical, Tai Shang would not have failed to appear in person.
But how had it escalated to a decisive battle?
With Hao Tian stationed at the Starry Sky Defense Line, it shouldn't have been so easily breached.
"It seems the turmoil in the Lihentian and the Illusory Extinction Star Sea were just two appetizers. The main course is still on the Starry Sky Battlefield!" Huang Tian said.