Chapter 3441: Thunder Clan God Venerable
The Starry Sea Angler, accompanied by Fisherman's Song and the Mandala Flower Goddess, along with the entire Thousand Stamen Realm, departed directly from the Southern Universe, heading toward the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
They went to the Sword Realm!
Originally, the Starry Sea Angler had planned to visit the Kunlun Realm, the Starry Sky Battlefield, and the Wuding Divine Sea to gain a precise understanding of the current situation and resolve some doubts in his mind.
However, after hearing Zhang Ruochen's account of the Sword God Temple's anomaly, he changed his itinerary.
Clearly, the Sword God Temple had captured his attention, and he was uneasy about Nine Heavens.
As for the Mandala Flower Goddess, she already had an extraordinary relationship with the Starry Sea Angler. Seizing this rare opportunity to lead the Thousand Stamen Realm into joining the Sword Realm was a natural progression.
The Dragon Lord, meanwhile, went to the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
Regardless, since he was already in the Southern Universe, he certainly intended to return there.
...
Zhang Ruochen, Qiangu Nüdi, and Chi Xingtian boarded a crimson divine ship, traveling alone toward the Western Universe without deliberately concealing their whereabouts.
Qiangu Nüdi raised her jade hand and pressed it against the void.
"Hua!"
Light flickered.
Before her, a long row of bookshelves materialized, faintly visible and ethereal.
With a thought from her divine consciousness, an ancient tome flew off the shelf.
The bookshelf then vanished!
After reading the biography in the ancient text, her expression turned solemn. "Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable and Yinsnow Heaven were contemporaries. If he truly still lives, I've roughly calculated—he has lived for eighteen eons. This is simply impossible!"
Chi Xingtian said, "Of course it's impossible! Legend has it that a Half-Ancestor's lifespan tops out at fifteen eons."
"Eighteen eons would require being an Ancestor."
"According to records, the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable himself only lived for eighteen eons. If Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable were truly that formidable, how could he have been defeated by the Inverse God Heavenly Venerable back then?"
The lifespan of an ordinary god is one eon.
Among Upper-Level Gods, the strong can withstand the first Eon Calamity and live into a second eon.
Only Great Gods can live into a third eon.
The maximum lifespan of a Grand Void Great God is six eons, nearly eight hundred thousand years. Of course, the vast majority of Grand Void Great Gods do not reach that point.
Those who can live ten eons are almost invariably Indestructible Infinite. Some special races or certain Great Unbound Infinite with unique methods can also achieve this.
Take Yinsnow Heaven, for example—she lived fifteen eons thanks to the Time Ice Silkworm.
This is definitely something that would make all Indestructible Infinite beings under heaven envious and jealous!
Of course, there is inevitably a gap between theoretical maximum lifespan and actual lifespan.
Gods who use forbidden techniques in battle, suffer incurable injuries over years of cultivation, and so on—all of this shortens their lifespan. Some cannot even survive until the Eon Calamity descends and die from depleted longevity.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is it possible that Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable found a divine object similar to the Time Ice Silkworm?"
"If that were the case, then three hundred thousand years ago, after the Inverse God Heavenly Venerable and the Twenty-Four Heavens fell, the Thunder Clan could have emerged. That timing was even better than now. If Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable had appeared then, he could have unified the chaotic myriad realms under heaven."
Qiangu Nüdi continued, "I'm more inclined to believe that during the Thunder Clan's million-year seclusion, Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable used some method to enter a deep slumber, slowing the loss of his lifespan."
"No!"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Using slumber can indeed slow lifespan loss. But what about the Eon Calamity?"
"Each Eon Calamity is stronger than the last. Unless Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable is an Ancestor, how could he withstand eighteen Eon Calamities?"
"Yinsnow Heaven managed to block the fourteenth Eon Calamity and live into the fifteenth eon only by borrowing the power of the divine army."
Chi Xingtian said, "Could it be that Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable slumbered within the Ancestor Realm? That way, he could conceal heavenly secrets and evade the Eon Calamity... Forget it, pretend I didn't say that."
Even if he could evade the Eon Calamity, there's no way Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable could live into the eighteenth eon.
Slumber does not mean lifespan stops flowing.
It only flows more slowly.
Being able to live an extra eon is already remarkable!
Zhang Ruochen said, "Actually, there is another possibility. If Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable knew a million years ago that in this era, the rules of heaven and earth would change, allowing ancients to descend into the present, he might have hidden in the Ancestor Realm or Lihentian to make secret arrangements and complete a possession."
"A million years of cultivation would be more than enough for Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable to go from possessing a new body to reaching his former peak. He might even have surpassed it!"
"This would explain why the Thunder Clan withdrew for a million years and why they didn't emerge three hundred thousand years ago. Because at that time, Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable wasn't strong enough!"
Qiangu Nüdi said, "Perhaps the Time Cauldron is in Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable's hands? No matter how we speculate, it's meaningless. Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable has indeed emerged, lived for eighteen eons, and remains at his peak. Even Hao Tian and Fengdu Dadi have to avoid his edge. Our troubles are enormous!"
Shide God King was refined to death by Zhang Ruochen using the Earth Cauldron.
Lei Lingsu, an eighty-fourth-level Spiritual Power expert, and Lei Yu, the Thunder Clan's number one War God below the Infinite Realm, died at the hands of Zhang Ruochen and Qiangu Nüdi.
As for Lei Zu, the enmity runs even deeper!
And then there's Xuan Yi!
With hatred reaching this level, if the Thunder Clan could let bygones be bygones, human nature would have to be incredibly kind!
Zhang Ruochen and Qiangu Nüdi felt immense pressure and immediately entered the Time Divine Formation to refine the divine pills they had previously consumed.
Chi Xingtian stood at the prow of the divine ship, unleashing the divine might of a Grand Void Great God. As they passed through star regions, no god from the demon clans dared to intercept them.
After a series of spatial traversals, they finally entered the Western Universe and arrived outside the Kunlun Realm.
More than a month had passed.
Outside the Kunlun Realm, a vast starfield had all its stars shattered, leaving it dark and desolate.
Many areas had severely damaged space.
There were space rifts tens of billions of miles long, spatial vortices filled with spiritual power flames, and misty chaotic zones.
It would take who knows how many years to repair.
An army appeared before the divine ship.
It consisted of hundreds of saintly ships, vast and imposing, forming a dark, overwhelming mass.
Behind the saintly ships, divine chains dragged a dark red star a million miles in diameter, gradually illuminating the dark universe with a crimson glow.
The star moved, "buzzing" deafeningly, causing space to tremble incessantly.
As they met, Chi Xingtian exchanged words with a god from the fleet.
It turned out that the cultivators on this fleet came from the Eastern Universe's ruling world, "Pangu Realm." They had withdrawn from the Wuding Divine Sea and were ordered to center around the Ghost Gate Pass, combining with the Starry Sky Grand Formation left by Yunshen Daozhu a hundred thousand years ago, to build a new defensive line along the Kunlun Realm, Guanghan Realm, Sword God Realm, Blade God Realm, and several dozen other major worlds.
The Ghost Gate Pass and the Wuding Divine Sea defensive line had always formed a pincer formation, jointly serving as two major barriers against the Yellow Spring Star River and the Hell Realm.
It was precisely because the Heavenly Court's myriad realms had massed their heavy troops at the Wuding Divine Sea that the Hell Realm's strong could not easily reach the Ghost Gate Pass and break the Starry Sky Grand Formation set by Yunshen Daozhu.
Clearly, the gods of the Heavenly Court did not trust the Thunder Clan.
After the armies from various realms withdrew from the Wuding Divine Sea, the Ghost Gate Pass and the Starry Sky Grand Formation became the focus of defense.
The several dozen major worlds closest to the Ghost Gate Pass and the Wuding Divine Sea became frontline strongholds. The armies of the Heavenly Court's myriad realms gathered around these worlds to rebuild their defensive lines.
That army took its leave and headed into deep space.
"The Thunder Clan has seized the perfect time and place, putting both the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm at a disadvantage, forcing them to agree to all their terms. Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable is undoubtedly a masterful chess player!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Qiangu Nüdi snorted lightly. "This is only temporary. Once the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm build their new defenses and stabilize their internal situations, it will be time to deal with the Thunder Clan. Being sandwiched between two universes allows them to play both sides, but it could also lead to their annihilation."
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Thunder Clan will definitely not sit idly by. They will make new moves. The old hatreds between the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm are still intense, and there's almost no chance of them joining forces to destroy the Thunder Clan in the short term."
"Don't forget, the Quantity Organization hasn't been completely rooted out. If they secretly fan the flames, constantly stirring up conflict between the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm, the Thunder Clan will only thrive even more," Chi Xingtian said.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly looked toward the western star region.
He saw a bright lightning shuttle cutting through the dark, silent universe, heading straight for the Kunlun Realm.
Inside the lightning shuttle was a hundred-zhang-long war artifact called the "Lightning Shuttle," shaped like a cone, its surface covered with lightning inscriptions and flowing light inscriptions.
The Lightning Shuttle stopped several million miles outside the Kunlun Realm.
From within the Kunlun Realm, three divine shadows flew out, materializing into the true forms of Xue Lingxian, Chi Kunlun, and Xue Wuye. They stood atop a vast sea of clouds, with three formations appearing beneath their feet, ready for battle.
Shizhi God Venerable stepped out of the Lightning Shuttle, his black hair hanging on either side of his face, his purple robe flashing with electric light, and an extremely powerful aura emanating from him.
Shizhi God Venerable swept his gaze over the three of them, then turned his eyes toward the vast land of the Kunlun Realm. His divine power merged with his voice: "Shizhi of the Thunder Clan, by order of the Heavenly Venerable, seeks an audience with Huaying Tai Shang!"
The divine sound stretched far, spreading across the land of the Kunlun Realm, audible even to ordinary mortals.
Chi Kunlun and Xue Wuye exchanged bitter smiles, realizing they had been ignored by this Thunder Clan god who had come calling.
However, this Thunder Clan god named "Shizhi" seemed to be ignored as well.
There was no response from within the Kunlun Realm.
Shizhi God Venerable raised his voice again: "Shizhi of the Thunder Clan, by order of the Heavenly Venerable, seeks an audience with Huaying Tai Shang on important matters!"
Chi Kunlun knew the other party's cultivation was extremely high, but he held his ground against the divine might and spoke: "Senior Shizhi, Tai Shang is severely injured and likely not fit to receive guests. If you have important matters, you may inform this junior, and this junior will find an opportunity to report them to Tai Shang."
Shizhi God Venerable looked down at Chi Kunlun and said, "What status do you have to discuss important matters with me? Open the formation immediately. I must meet Tai Shang in person. This is the Heavenly Venerable's will! Who will take responsibility if you delay the great affairs of the Heavenly Venerable and Tai Shang? You?"
Shizhi God Venerable deliberately belittled Chi Kunlun and the others, because his visit to the Kunlun Realm had an important mission: to verify the true state of Yunshen Daozhu.
Or rather, to determine whether Yunshen Daozhu had already fallen.