Chapter 3438: A Once-in-a-Millennium Opportunity
In the endless starry sky, a lone boat.
"I must leave now!"
Huang Tian, his injuries fully healed, stood with an outstanding figure beneath the star-filled sky, exuding a sense of solitary pride and grandeur, yet also a deep, somber emotion of desolation and compassion.
His cloak fluttered in the wind.
His armor was already neatly donned.
All of this showed his determination to face various challenges upon returning to the Stone Clan.
Shi Fu Jun stood behind Huang Tian, his posture straight, and clasped his hands toward Zhang Ruochen, saying, "Thank you for your appreciation and regard, Dust Venerable, but I have made my decision. I will follow Huang Shenzun back to the Stone Clan and assist him in taking control of the Stone Divine Temple."
Although he had the support of Shi Tian, taking control of the Stone Divine Temple would undoubtedly be fraught with difficulties.
After all, at his current level of cultivation, he had not yet reached the point where he could single-handedly support an entire clan's divine temple. There were certainly many within the Stone Clan who would not accept him.
Huang Tian did not have many gods at his disposal. As the Hall Master, he could not possibly handle everything personally.
The position of the Hall Master's top enforcer was a lucrative post that Shi Fu Jun was more than capable of filling.
For Shi Fu Jun, going from fleeing in panic to returning triumphantly with the Hall Master and Shi Tian—how much face did that give him? How much future did that promise?
The choice was clear.
Zhang Ruochen understood Huang Tian's difficulties and said, "If you dare to betray Huang Shenzun, the first one to show you no mercy will be me."
"Understood, after all, the Young Hall Master is your wife, Dust Venerable," Shi Fu Jun said.
Huang Tian gave Zhang Ruochen a deep look and said, "You'd better remember this too. If you fail to protect her, the first one to show you no mercy will also be me."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Are you really not going to have a proper talk with her? You clearly care deeply, yet you act as if you'll never see each other again. Why bother?"
"That's none of your business!"
Huang Tian turned and was about to leave.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then you'd better be careful. Don't let her cultivation surpass yours. Otherwise, even if you don't want to see her, she will come to you. She will try to kill you!"
"That day will never come."
Huang Tian enveloped Shi Fu Jun with divine qi, transforming into a beam of light that vanished into the depths of the universe.
"I hope so."
Zhang Ruochen truly did not wish to see the day when his wife and father-in-law would fight to the death.
But Bai Qinger was in the Sword Realm, aided by the Sundial, and her cultivation realm would undoubtedly advance by leaps and bounds.
Although only a little over two hundred years had passed since Zhang Ruochen left the Sword Realm, nearly a hundred thousand years had passed under the Sundial. Moreover, Bai Qinger had received the inheritance of the Inverse God Clan's Great Elder!
Zhang Ruochen turned his head and stared at Chi Xingtian, who had a strange expression, and said, "Enjoying the show? What's there to see?"
Chi Xingtian chuckled and said, "Look at Huang Tian, Qing Chan, and you—none of you are as old as I am, yet you've all broken through to the Infinite Realm and earned the title of Shenzun. I think I'm not far behind either. In Lihentian, I absorbed quite a bit of power... Hey, about that thing we agreed on earlier, when are you going to make good on it?"
Zhang Ruochen walked up to Chi Xingtian and said with emotion, "Look at how dangerous it was breaking through in Lihentian this time. If the Five Dragon God Emperor hadn't stepped in, we might not have survived, right?"
Chi Xingtian nodded and said, "That's true. And there's the Dragon Lord, the Ice Emperor, the old woodcutter from Star Heaven Cliff, and Senior Yu. We really should remember this debt of gratitude."
Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and said, "It's different! Uncle Long is one of us, no need to be so formal. The Ice Emperor is Uncle Long's close friend, and the two seniors from Star Heaven Cliff are our elders. But the Five Dragon God Emperor is different—he is the master of the Heavenly Dragon Realm. We owe him such a huge favor. Can we not repay it?"
Chi Xingtian caught on and said, "So, your meaning is, you'll help me repair my cultivation foundation, and I'll go repay the favor by becoming the Heavenly Dragon's son-in-law?"
Zhang Ruochen punched Chi Xingtian in the chest with a thud and said, "Outsiders all think you're a reckless brute, but I alone know that the great god Chi Xingtian is both brave and wise."
Chi Xingtian looked very troubled and said, "You've seen what kind of woman Long Ba is. Without Infinite Realm cultivation, even if I could swallow my pride, I wouldn't dare."
Zhang Ruochen knew Chi Xingtian was bargaining and said, "I'll definitely go back to Lihentian. When the time comes, I'll help you absorb the power of the Quantities."
"If that's the case, then I'll go all out!"
Chi Xingtian burst into laughter.
The Dragon Lord walked out of the wooden boat, having clearly heard their conversation, and said, "Is marrying a Shenzun really that difficult? And you, Zhang Ruochen, I've seen Linglong. Her appearance, character, and talent are all first-rate in the world. Are you feeling wronged? Are the women of my Heavenly Dragon Realm's Dragon Clan really so unappreciated?"
Knowing they were in the wrong, Zhang Ruochen and Chi Xingtian exchanged glances and dared not say another word.
After all, Long Ba was the Dragon Lord's sister.
At the same time, the Dragon Lord was also an elder of Linglong Xianzi.
Qiangu Nüdi followed them out and said, "Now that the cosmic situation is changing so rapidly, it's still unknown whether the Heavenly Dragon Realm is still willing to form a marriage alliance with you."
"Eighth Aunt and Linglong Xianzi might not even have their eyes on you. Even if a marriage alliance were to happen, it would be forced by the situation, a choice they had to make at their own expense. The truth is, the Kunlun Realm and the Sword Realm need the Heavenly Dragon Realm as an ally even more!"
"Lesson learned!"
Zhang Ruochen and Chi Xingtian said in unison.
There was no need to be so serious when talking among themselves.
The Dragon Lord appeared to be scolding Zhang Ruochen and Chi Xingtian, but in reality, he wasn't truly angry. If he were truly angry, he wouldn't have said those words.
Qiangu Nüdi seemed to be lecturing, but she was actually teasing. Now that Zhang Ruochen had reached the same height as her, he was qualified to be her friend, so she was no longer so aloof.
All the aloofness people saw was because they stood too low and were too far away.
The Dragon Lord said, "I just exchanged some information with Senior Yu and learned that the cosmic structure is truly about to undergo a massive change."
Then, the Dragon Lord detailed the collective descent of the ancient Heavenly Venerables and ancient All Heavens.
Zhang Ruochen had already seen many residual souls of ancient Heavenly Venerables and ancient All Heavens, so he wasn't too shocked, but he had many questions. "Logically, there should be very few ancient powerhouses who could preserve their residual souls until this era. Why have so many suddenly appeared?"
The Dragon Lord said, "There are traces of the Primordial Ancestor in this! During the Battle of Guangjing Mountain, the residual soul of the Great Demon God appeared. And the Elf Ancestor A Fuya also showed up, didn't she?"
Chi Xingtian was a firsthand witness to the Battle of Guangjing Mountain, but recalling it still made him gasp.
The Primordial Ancestor, even if just a residual soul, was terrifying.
The Dragon Lord said, "Actually, it's not that many. Since ancient times, every era has had All Heavens, like stars in the river of history. But only a few dozen have used the power of Night Soil and Di to descend into the real world. Moreover, more than half of them were killed by Senior Yu and the others!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Who exactly could have hidden this from the calculations of the current All Heavens and silently helped them find so many vessel bodies?"
With the pride of ancient powerhouses, they would certainly look down on ordinary vessel bodies.
Moreover, the difficulty of possession itself was enormous. A single mistake could cause the body to explode, killing both parties.
Yet, under such extreme circumstances, a large number of ancient powerhouses had successfully possessed bodies!
"Who else could it be? It must be the Quantity Organization," Chi Xingtian said.
Qiangu Nüdi said, "The ancient powerhouses waited until this era's Heavenly and Earthly rules changed before collectively emerging, wanting to live a second life, not to destroy the world like the Quantity Organization. I believe the ancient powerhouses cooperated with the Quantity Organization, but I think it's unlikely that the Quantity Organization would pay a huge price to help them find many vessel bodies."
"Don't forget, the truly unfathomable force in Lihentian is the Yama Clan!"
The Yama Clan had the "Two Main Branches and Thirteen Gods."
The "Two Main Branches" referred to the Lihentian Yan Clan and the Tiantian Yan Clan.
The Tiantian Yan Clan was already very transcendent, with its visible strength ranking first among the Ten Clans of Hell.
As for the Lihentian Yan Clan, it existed only in legends, known to very few.
As Qiangu Nüdi said, it was unfathomable.
Now that Zhang Ruochen and Qiangu Nüdi had stepped into the Infinite Realm, the Dragon Lord believed they were qualified to know many secrets and major matters. He said, "Senior Yu also has many suspicions about the Lihentian Yan Clan!"
"With so many ancient powerhouses successfully possessing bodies and appearing collectively, they might have hidden it from the All Heavens of the real world, but they couldn't have hidden it from the Lihentian Yan Clan."
Chi Xingtian said, "Is Senior Yu planning to go to the Lihentian Yan Clan to demand an explanation?"
"This matter will naturally be handled by the Hell Realm's Heavenly Venerable, Fengdu Dadi. Why should the Sword Realm get involved? I guess Senior Yu won't wade into this muddy water," Zhang Ruochen said.
Emotionally, Zhang Ruochen was reluctant to view the Yama Clan with malice.
After all, the Yama Clan had never targeted him. On the contrary, they had helped him many times, and he owed them many favors.
Qiangu Nüdi said, "These ancient powerhouses, influenced by their vessel bodies, might not be very powerful now, but given enough time, each of them will become extremely terrifying in the future."
Chi Xingtian said, "So, you and Zhang Ruochen will be in great danger! One of you controls thirty percent of the Time Esoterica and is the Time Lord God. The other possesses the Sundial and is the master of time and space. If they want to restore their former glory as quickly as possible, they will definitely come after you, using the shortcut of time."
"What's there to fear? Maybe they won't come as enemies but to pledge allegiance to me? After all, their era is gone forever. But I am the number one of this era, unparalleled in history."
Zhang Ruochen said this deliberately to lighten the tense atmosphere.
Chi Xingtian said, "Right, right, right, you're absolutely right. Maybe some ancient Heavenly Venerable with a beautiful face will even give herself to you in marriage. Marrying into the Sword Realm would be great, with such abundant cultivation resources! In my opinion, the Elf Ancestor A Fuya is not bad, and there's Lady Shiji too. Tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes you happy... Ha ha!"
The Dragon Lord laughed and said, "You really don't need to worry. For Ruochen and Qing Chan, this might even be a huge opportunity."
"Uncle Long, are you referring to...?" Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed, his interest piqued.
The Dragon Lord guessed what Zhang Ruochen was thinking and said, "You and Qing Chan have just entered the Infinite Realm. Under normal circumstances, it would take hundreds of thousands of years of insight and accumulation to reach the Great Unbound Infinite."
"But if you treat the ancient All Heavens and ancient Heavenly Venerables as divine medicine, hunt them, and seize their cultivation insights, each one could be worth tens of thousands of years, or even an entire Eon, of bitter cultivation."
"In those days... forget it. In short, for you, you must seize this once-in-a-millennium opportunity to break through to the Great Unbound Infinite as quickly as possible. If you don't seize it, after Shi Tian and Feng Tian spread the news, the Stone Clan and the Destiny Temple will surely launch major operations."
Chi Xingtian clapped his hands and said, "Damn, that means Zhang Ruochen's dream of marrying an ancient Heavenly Venerable is hopeless!"
"Ahead is the Scorpion Star. We've entered the territory of the Southern Universe."
The Dragon Lord looked at Zhang Ruochen and Chi Xingtian and said, "I plan to make a detour back to the Heavenly Dragon Realm. Do you want to come with me?"