Chapter 3471: Gathering Storms
To completely conceal their aura, Divine Blessing Venerable's spiritual power aperture covered only a few light-years in diameter, less than one hundred trillion li. For a Heaven Round No Lack cultivator, this range was like the palm of their hand, allowing them to control everything. It was akin to the absolute dominion that the Star Sea Angler held over Star Heaven Cliff and Star Huan Heaven.
How could other Heaven Round No Lack cultivators and the heavens of the Hell Realm, located tens of thousands of light-years away, across countless trillions of li and separated by an uncrossable void, possibly sense the deliberately altered heavenly secrets of the Rakshasa Clan?
However, Fengdu Dadi, with his exceptional intellect, had long deduced various outcomes and left the Yellow Spring Seal in the starry sky in advance. While executing the Thousand Star Convergence, he subtly activated the Yellow Spring Seal.
The moment the Yellow Spring Seal broke through the spiritual power aperture, the heavenly secrets of this star domain were sensed by the sharpest group of top-tier experts in the universe.
Without using wormholes, the spread of information and the diffusion of destructive force would take tens of thousands of years to be detected. But heavenly secrets could be perceived in a single thought.
Such a major event would also create celestial phenomena across the universe, as its far-reaching impact would manifest heavenly secrets in various locations.
Starry Sky Battlefield, Shura Star Pillar Realm.
"Whoosh!"
A sword light shot up from the Shura Star Pillar Realm, reaching the top of the great world. It stopped and condensed into the figure of Void Heaven.
Void Heaven's gaze was so sharp it seemed to pierce the void, peering toward the direction of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
"Swish! Swish! Swish…"
Streams of light radiating Boundless aura flew from all over the battlefield, converging in the star domain near Void Heaven.
Snow Sea Emperor said, "It's the Yellow Spring Seal—it's the Heavenly Venerable's warning. It seems to come from the star domain where the Rakshasa Clan is located. Something terrible has happened to the Rakshasa Clan!"
The Darkness Temple tore through space and descended here. Jiusi Yitianhuang's voice came from within the temple: "This is not a warning—the Heavenly Venerable has already fallen! There is residual aura of his at Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, but no trace of his heavenly secrets remains in the universe."
"Can't you see? The World Tree is dimming, the ghostly qi of Fengdu Ghost City is dissipating, and the momentum of the Divine City has plummeted. The wandering souls and wild ghosts along the Santu River are all wailing."
Everyone naturally trusted Jiusi Yitianhuang's words without question. Among those present, his cultivation was the strongest, able to see through distant space with a single glance, breaking the boundaries of time and space—something other Boundless cultivators could not do.
For a moment, the Boundless cultivators present were thrown into turmoil, various worries flooding their minds.
"This matter cannot be hidden from Hao Tian. The Heavenly Court will surely take the opportunity to attack us. We must prepare in advance!"
"This cannot be suppressed. If the gods of the Hell Realm learn of the Heavenly Venerable's fall, morale will collapse."
"What exactly happened to the Rakshasa Clan? A few Chaos Ancient Demons aren't even enough for the Heavenly Venerable to suppress with one hand. Who did this? Who made the move? Could Hao Tian have gone to the Rakshasa Clan?"
"The Rakshasa Clan is surely finished. I don't know how terrifying this undercurrent truly is—it might even spread to the nearby star domains of the Undying Blood Clan and the Santu River basin. We must return immediately while leaving enough forces to counter the Heavenly Court army's counterattack."
"Could it be that there is no undercurrent at all, and Hao Tian led the heavens of the Heavenly Court to take advantage of our rear being undefended, setting a trap to kill the Heavenly Venerable?"
"Impossible. Void Heaven and Qingtian are both on the Starry Sky Battlefield. The disappearance of any Heavenly Court heaven's aura could not escape their perception."
…
Void Heaven had been calculating on his fingers all along. Suddenly, he let out a cold shout: "What's all this noise? What's there to fear? Even if the Heavenly Venerable truly falls, the Hell Realm has countless strong experts. As long as we don't fall into chaos, what undercurrent, what Heavenly Court army, would dare to act rashly? Besides, the Heavenly Venerable hasn't fallen at all!"
Hearing this, the Boundless cultivators present wore strange expressions, involuntarily looking toward the Darkness Temple. They were very worried that, at this critical moment, Void Heaven and Jiusi Yitianhuang would oppose each other.
After all, with the Heavenly Venerable gone, who in the Hell Realm could still suppress the two before them?
Void Heaven, intending to stabilize morale, spoke his deductions and guesses in an absolutely certain tone: "The one who made the move was Di, the Quantity Organization, and the Chaos Ancient Demons. Quantifier Emperor concealed the heavenly secrets of that star domain, which is why we didn't detect the changes in the Rakshasa Clan."
"We treated the Heavenly Court as our main enemy and the Thunder Clan as a potential threat, but we overlooked the Quantity Organization and the Chaos Ancient Demons, who bear deep grudges against us. This is the price of underestimating our foes. The Hell Realm has been too arrogant for too long, too arrogant to take the Quantity Organization and Chaos Ancient Demons seriously, thinking they were already utterly defeated."
A Ghost Emperor asked, "But the Heavenly Venerable's heavenly secrets have indeed disappeared. The celestial changes at Fengdu Ghost City also prove this."
Void Heaven said, "Didn't you all sense the abnormal fluctuations in time earlier? If my deduction is correct, the Heavenly Venerable and Di have fought their way into the future together."
Seeing that the gods still had doubts in their eyes, Void Heaven added, "You must understand that with the Heavenly Venerable's cultivation, even if Di, Quantifier Emperor, and Qiangshake joined forces, they couldn't kill him completely in such a short time."
Hearing this, the gods' expressions relaxed.
Indeed, how could someone with the Heavenly Venerable's cultivation fall in an instant?
From within the Darkness Temple, Jiusi Yitianhuang's voice rang out: "Void Heaven speaks reasonably. As a Heaven Round No Lack cultivator, his perception of the universe must be clearer than mine. I spoke rashly earlier!"
Void Heaven appeared calm and composed, but inwardly, he was extremely agitated, generating many guesses.
Quantifier Emperor's spiritual power was far stronger than his, likely reaching the ninety-second level. Even if he were at the Destiny Temple, let alone the Starry Sky Battlefield, he might not have detected the changes in the Rakshasa Clan.
After all, the "Destiny Heavenly Scripture" had been lost!
He simply couldn't figure out who Quantifier Emperor was. Only three or four people had reached that level of spiritual power. But all of them could now be ruled out!
"Don't let me catch you—if I do, I'll fight you for ten thousand years, no, a hundred thousand years!"
Void Heaven was very agitated, more so than after Xumi's death. He desperately wanted to find Quantifier Emperor and have a fight. A fight that wouldn't stop until he killed the other party.
Just like back then with Xumi Saint Monk!
Void Heaven prepared to move, immediately heading to the Rakshasa Clan. He believed that no matter how well Quantifier Emperor concealed it, a battle at the Heavenly Venerable level would leave traces. As long as he found those traces, he could expose Quantifier Emperor.
"The Hell Realm cannot be without a Heavenly Venerable for even a day. Someone must step up to take charge and deal with the current crisis. I propose that Void Heaven temporarily take over the position of Heavenly Venerable!"
Jiusi Yitianhuang added, "I'll leave the Starry Sky Battlefield to Void Heavenly Venerable. I'll head to the Rakshasa Clan now."
"Whoosh!"
Void Heaven teleported, blocking the front of the Darkness Temple, and said, "Emperor of the Strange Heaven, your divine powers are vast—I admit I'm inferior. You becoming the Heavenly Venerable would be truly fitting. As for the Rakshasa Clan, I'll go!"
Void Heaven was indeed interested in the position of Heavenly Venerable, but what was the point of a temporary one? If he were to become Heavenly Venerable, it should be by defeating Fengdu Dadi in a fair fight and taking the position from him.
Besides, Jiusi Yitianhuang had no good intentions, clearly pushing him into the role of Heavenly Venerable to bear the brunt of Hao Tian's attacks.
Before mastering Sword Twenty-Four, Void Heaven would be crazy to contend with Hao Tian.
"Eh!"
Suddenly, Void Heaven looked toward the Yellow Spring Star River. At the tail of the river, near the star domain of the Abyss of Darkness, stars flickered, and heavenly secrets pierced the cosmos.
Immediately, Void Heaven burst into laughter, saying, "No need to argue! She has emerged—the crisis of the Hell Realm is resolved. I've always said those Chaos Ancient Demons were asking for death. Why did they have to target Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm? The Rakshasa Clan may be weak, but as long as Heavenly Mother is there, their strength ranks among the top three of the ten clans."
Then, pointing at the Darkness Temple, he said, "Your days won't be easy from now on!"
The Abyss of Darkness fell within the Darkness Temple's sphere of influence. If Heavenly Mother left the Abyss of Darkness, the strange beasts inside would no longer be suppressed. For the Darkness Temple, this was undoubtedly a huge challenge!
"Whoosh!"
Beneath Void Heaven's feet, a star-domain-level Space Teleportation Array automatically formed. Space rules from heaven and earth surged toward him wildly.
"Void Heaven, take me along!"
Snow Sea Emperor flew into the Space Teleportation Array.
In an instant, he and Void Heaven disappeared above the Shura Star Pillar Realm.
…
Undying Blood Clan's Divine City.
"The goddess has returned!"
The old clan leader laughed heartily, hands on his hips, like a child. Then, barefoot, he rushed out of the clan mansion, heading toward the Rakshasa Clan.
Meanwhile, the top experts of the various clans remaining in the Hell Realm, after arranging defensive measures, all rushed toward Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
They naturally understood what the Yellow Spring Seal's warning and the changes in Fengdu Ghost City meant, but Heavenly Mother had returned!
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, Heavenly Mother was already invincible in her domain. How powerful must she be now?
With a single Heavenly Decree, she had suppressed Qingtian, forcing him to release someone. This matter had spread like wildfire among the gods.
It was said that the Undying Blood Clan's clan leader had personally recounted it, making it highly credible.
…
Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable had left the Void World!
He had greater schemes and could not let anyone know he had come to Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
Divine Blessing Venerable began cleaning up the traces in this star domain. Wherever his lamp shone, everything burned into nothingness, including the rules of heaven and earth!
"I need to go to Rakshasa Divine City and kill her for you. That way, no one will ever know your identity, and you can continue to stay hidden."
Qiangshake looked up at the blood moon in the sky, feeling very reluctant.
He had already probed and found that Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm was very likely the Ancestor's original body of the Demon Ancestor. It had many strange aspects that he couldn't fully understand even with his current cultivation.
If he could refine this great world and merge it into his demon body, not only would he restore his cultivation, but he might even comprehend the path to Half-Ancestor.
But under the current circumstances, he had no time for that. He had to rush to Rakshasa Divine City immediately.
If he could capture the Divine City before Heavenly Mother and the Hell Realm's strong experts arrived, he could still restore his cultivation and use the city's formations to sweep through the Hell Realm's cultivators.
Divine Blessing Venerable watched Qiangshake leave, his eyes deep and a cold smile appearing on his face.
He understood that, having already exposed the heavenly secrets, Qiangshake's decision to go to Rakshasa Divine City was not to save Gu Xin and the others. Rather, he was not afraid of Heavenly Mother at all.
After all the painstaking scheming, how could he give up halfway?
Having witnessed the might of Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable and Fengdu Dadi, Qiangshake, wanting to maintain the dignity of the Supreme Four Pillars and his contempt for the current world, was undoubtedly desperate to restore his cultivation. He also had a huge desire for the Earth Cauldron and God-Defying Stele in Zhang Ruochen's hands.
Capturing Rakshasa Divine City meant restoring his cultivation, gaining a vast amount of Profound Meaning—more than Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable—and acquiring powerful divine artifacts and war weapons…
There was great desire in this!
Divine Blessing Venerable very much wanted to go to Rakshasa Divine City, but he restrained himself. Compared to gambling on everything in Rakshasa Divine City, the identity of "Divine Blessing Venerable" was more important.
Of course, with such a major incident, no matter how well he concealed it, there would be flaws. Keeping this identity would be very difficult. Returning to the Destiny Temple was an extremely dangerous move.
But what in the world wasn't dangerous?
Just like Qiangshake—if he fled now, would he be absolutely safe? No. Heavenly Mother would hunt him to the ends of the earth.
"I hope you really can kill her!"
Divine Blessing Venerable said this, then disappeared into the void.
The "her" he referred to was clearly not Heavenly Mother.
(End of Chapter)