Chapter 3451: Zun Venerable
The Rakshasa Divine City was located in the most core star domain of the Rakshasa Clan, magnificent and majestic, with divine glow surging forth.
The veins of heaven and earth energy converged here.
With the naked eye, one could see the colorful and variegated vein belts in the starry sky, with countless life planets suspended within, guarding the Divine City.
Xu Yin Great God escorted Shang Yue into the city and headed straight toward the Divine Prison.
Zhang Ruochen did not hide inside his Divine Realm World but instead dispatched Xue Tu, Dai Xue Queen, and Quan Zhongsheng to go.
He had more important matters to attend to!
Zhang Ruochen, wearing the Ancestral Divine Traveling Cloak, walked along the long street.
Beside him, chariots emitting divine might occasionally passed by, and iron cavalry shuttled through the alleys. Among some of the Saint Palaces, Ancient Towers, and Spirit Mountains, fluctuations of battle could be heard, with a thick scent of blood.
When a whale falls, everything thrives!
Luo Yan Great Emperor, along with the deities under his command and the forces close to him, controlled the vast industries and interests of the Rakshasa Clan.
With the Great Emperor's fall, the strongest pillar of power was lost, and interests would be redistributed.
Old forces would collapse.
New forces would seize power and resources, becoming the new nobles of the Rakshasa Clan.
Every new reign brings its own ministers.
This was the most normal natural law.
Chaos, slaughter, undercurrents, and treacherous clouds—thousands of large and small forces were competing on the chessboard of the Divine City.
Zhang Ruochen's heart was calm as he step by step arrived outside the Clan Mansion.
The Clan Mansion was the residence of the clan leader and the power center of the clan.
But for the Rakshasa Clan, the Great Luo Divine Palace was the true power center, and the Clan Mansion was almost just a decoration, holding only symbolic significance.
Nevertheless, it was still the mansion of a major clan. No matter how diminished its authority, it remained a sacred and important place, and ordinary deities dared not approach it.
The Rakshasa Divine City could not be without an Infinite realm powerhouse stationed there!
If Zhang Ruochen wanted to take away Luo Sha and Luo Shengtian, he would inevitably have to confront the Infinite realm experts in the city.
If he rescued them first and then fought, the opponent would surely activate all the city-protecting grand formations of the Rakshasa Divine City. At that point, not even Zhang Ruochen, let alone a Heavenly Venerable, would be able to escape.
Ten zhang away from the Clan Mansion's gate, Zhang Ruochen stopped and slowly pressed his palm forward.
"Whoosh!"
A layer of barrier light curtain manifested.
It could not stop Zhang Ruochen. Like a god of space, he easily and naturally stepped through the barrier light curtain.
Arriving at the Clan Mansion's gate.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the wide-open mansion gate, already having an idea in his heart. He took out the God-Defying Stele and placed it at the entrance. Then, he stepped inside.
Inside the Clan Mansion, not a single cultivator could be seen.
The great halls were like haunted houses.
Fallen leaves drifted among the pavilions and towers.
Weeds grew rampant on the ground.
The wind blew, sending dead leaves rushing toward Zhang Ruochen, some even sticking directly to his black robe.
"You have come after all."
A voice drifted into Zhang Ruochen's ears with the wind.
"I have no intention of interfering in the internal power struggles of the Rakshasa Clan. I only wish to take Luo Sha and Luo Shengtian away. I hope you can grant me this convenience."
Zhang Ruochen walked against the wind on the empty bluestone path, his footsteps rhythmic, like war drums, beat by beat, wave by wave.
"Is this the will of Heavenly Mother, or are you acting on your own?" the voice asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "This matter has nothing to do with Heavenly Mother."
"Sorry, I cannot allow you to take them away. They are very likely members of the Quantity Organization," the voice said.
Passing through winding stone paths, Zhang Ruochen arrived outside the central great hall.
The hall was a thousand zhang tall, entirely pitch black.
There was nothing around it—only a square paved with stone slabs, ten thousand zhang wide.
The square was empty.
Only Zhang Ruochen, like a tiny black dot, stood within it, looking up at the black divine hall that loomed like a mountain, step by step drawing closer.
Even Zhang Ruochen suspected Luo Sha might be a member of the Quantity Organization, let alone others.
But for Zhang Ruochen, even if Luo Sha were a member of the Quantity Organization, he would still take her away today!
Zhang Ruochen said, "All the way here, the city is in chaos. Countless deities lurk in the shadows, including many who are not of the Rakshasa Clan. You can ignore all of this, yet you fixate on those siblings. As the guardian of the Clan Mansion, you are gravely negligent!"
The doors of the divine hall opened.
Inside the doors, a cluster of crimson firelight flickered.
From within the firelight, a voice emerged: "Since you know the situation in the city, you should not come to add fuel to the fire. If you force your way into the Divine Prison to rescue them, you will ignite all of this. That is why I will definitely stop you!"
"Are you a man of Ding Zu?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"No, I only obey the clan leader and take it as my duty to protect the Rakshasa Clan."
The guardian of the Clan Mansion, named "Zun," was, like Feng, one of the eight Infinite War Gods of the Rakshasa Clan.
Zun was a title, not a name.
Only War Gods and their families could be titled with this character.
Zun Venerable walked out from the flames, appearing outside the divine hall.
In an instant, the entire square ignited, transforming into a boundless sea of fire.
The starry sky vanished; the Clan Mansion vanished.
In this world, there was only Zun Venerable, Zhang Ruochen, and the blazing crimson flames.
The divine flame possessed the power to incinerate gods.
Zun Venerable displayed the peerless mastery of a Fire Path Lord God. His armor was bright and resplendent, and a precious wheel hovered above his head.
"You cannot intimidate me," Zhang Ruochen said, unperturbed.
Zun Venerable said, "You are the Divine Envoy of Heavenly Mother. I do not wish to be your enemy. Whether Tian Yin is a member of the Quantity Organization, you should know better than I. Leave now. If you truly want to save them, go obtain Heavenly Mother's divine decree. Then, I will not stop you."
"Otherwise, even if you break into the Divine Prison and rescue them, you will not be able to leave the Divine City."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is Zun Venerable speaking in riddles? Speak plainly."
Zun Venerable said, "Your entry into the Divine City is still unknown to others. Retreat now, and it is not too late."
Zhang Ruochen took out his divine sword, forming a sword seal with his fingers and tracing it along the blade, saying, "Since I have appeared here, does Zun Venerable think that a few words from you can make me retreat?"
Zun Venerable knew that any further words would be superfluous. The precious wheel above his head turned, and the rules within the flame divine realm world began to flow rapidly. He said, "Promise me this: if you lose to me, leave immediately."
The flames of heaven and earth boiled, transforming into blazing, fierce light forms of azure birds, phoenixes, qilins, and taoties, pressing down upon Zhang Ruochen like a blanket covering the sky.
Zun Venerable was no ordinary divine venerable. He was a peak-level Qiankun Infinite cultivator, second only to those few Great Unbound Infinite experts. He was a peerless figure who could rank among the top ten of the entire Rakshasa Clan.
Those flame light forms collided with Zhang Ruochen but automatically dispersed, turning into wisps of flame that were absorbed into his Taiji Four Symbols Diagram.
This caused the stars within the "Sun" of the Four Symbols—the "Stellar Sea"—to be lit up, rapidly becoming brilliant and as scorching as a sun.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword, unleashing the One-Word Sword Dao.
A horizontal "One" character tore through the sky full of flames and rules, flying before Zun Venerable.
"Boom!"
The precious wheel flew in front of Zun Venerable, spinning rapidly with a booming sound, blocking the "One" character sword energy.
Even so, the impact force still sent Zun Venerable flying back a thousand li.
Zun Venerable's heart tightened, realizing he had underestimated the young man before him.
He had thought that Zhang Ruochen had just broken into the Infinite realm, with a battle power at most at the top of the early Qiankun Infinite stage. So, in his earlier strike, he had only used two-tenths of his divine power.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Ruochen, standing still, had neutralized his two-tenths divine power and knocked him back with a single sword strike.
This battle power…
Even a mid-stage Qiankun Infinite cultivator could not compare.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Thank you for your goodwill, Zun Venerable. But if you want to defeat me, you will need to use all your strength to have a chance. And that chance is zero!"
"I absolutely refuse to believe that you have the strength to contend with a peak Qiankun Infinite cultivator," Zun Venerable said.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to waste time. His body vanished, and in the next instant, he pierced through Zun Venerable's protective divine patterns and divine light, appearing behind him, only two steps away.
So close.
Zhang Ruochen's sword was pressed against his back.
This was a divine sword, condensed from the six broken swords from back then!
Zun Venerable's expression did not change. Calmly, he said, "The Ancestral Divine Traveling Cloak and the Ancestral Boots. With these two supreme treasures, you can indeed remain undefeated against a peak Qiankun Infinite cultivator. But that is only undefeated!"
"Shua!"
Tens of billions of light patterns emerged on the surface of Zun Venerable's skin. He directly used his body to collide with the tip of the divine sword.
Zhang Ruochen was sent flying by the powerful impact force. After stabilizing his form, he looked at the divine sword in his hand, then at the distant Zun Venerable, and said, "As expected of Zun Venerable. What formidable fleshly body! Is this skin the legendary Rakshasa Clan treasure, the Zun Ancestral Battle Armor?"
Every clan had many exaggerated ancestral legends.
Zun Ancestor was one of the legendary ancestors in the tales of Rakshasa Clan cultivators.
That was why the eight War Gods were titled with this character.
The legend of the Zun Ancestral Battle Armor was very similar to the Heavenly Venerable's Gauze of Xinghuantian.
Zun Venerable said, "Just now, if I had wanted to take your head, it would have been as easy as reaching into my pocket. You have lost!"
"Is that so? But if I had wanted to take your life, from the moment we decided to fight, you would have been either dead or crippled."
"Boom!" With a loud crash, from the position of Zhang Ruochen's Xuan Tai, nine-colored Ancestral Divine Qi and Ancestral Divine Patterns surged out, shattering Zun Venerable's divine realm world into pieces.
In just an instant, these Ancestral Divine Qi and Ancestral Divine Patterns surged back into Zhang Ruochen's body.
Zun Venerable's expression completely changed. He sighed and said, "No wonder you have such confidence. Alright, I admit that I am no match for you."
"Whoosh!"
The sky full of flames vanished.
Zun Venerable and Zhang Ruochen reappeared in the Clan Mansion, still standing in their original positions—one at the entrance of the divine hall, the other on the square below.
"Zun Venerable will no longer stop me, will you?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Zun Venerable pondered for a long time before saying, "The situation on the Starry Sky Battlefield has stabilized. The Rakshasa Divine City is shrouded in treacherous clouds, with true dangers lurking in the shadows. Even I cannot see clearly."
"The seven great divine kingdoms all have experts deploying their forces, and even foreign clans have gotten involved."
"Zhang Ruochen, since you have defeated me, I will no longer block you."
Zun Venerable turned and returned to the divine hall.
The hall doors closed.
Zhang Ruochen left directly, arriving at the Clan Mansion's gate, and put away the God-Defying Stele.
It was precisely because the God-Defying Stele had suppressed the divine formations within the Clan Mansion that Zhang Ruochen had the confidence to face Zun Venerable head-on. Even if it turned into a life-and-death struggle, he had nothing to fear.
Suddenly, Zun Venerable's voice entered Zhang Ruochen's ears: "The greatest threat in the Divine City is not here, but in the City Lord's Hall of Ding Zu Mountain. Take care of yourself!"
A deep and solemn expression appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. He turned and bowed deeply toward the depths of the Clan Mansion.
Clearly, Zun Venerable knew something but dared not speak openly, only able to warn him in this way.
It was indeed very strange.
Before coming, Zhang Ruochen had made a special trip to the Starry Sky Battlefield to understand the recent situation of the Rakshasa Clan in detail. He could confirm that the Infinite realm experts of Ding Zu's lineage were not in the Divine City.
So what did Zun Venerable mean by specifically mentioning the City Lord's Hall of Ding Zu Mountain?
Zhang Ruochen formed some guesses, but no matter how dangerous the road ahead, he would take Luo Sha and Luo Shengtian away today.
His heart was utterly firm and unshakable.
Just as he stepped out of the Clan Mansion, he felt a sensation and looked up. Under the ethereal night, a familiar graceful figure walked out from the shadows of a row of ancient buildings.