Chapter 3472: Heavenly Mother Returns
After Di Xin and Fengdu Dadi were exiled into the future, Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable believed that in the current world, only Hao Tian could contend with him, the two of them sitting opposite each other across the universe. As long as he restrained his aura and concealed his heavenly secrets, no cultivator would be able to sense or deduce that he had visited Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
The Void World was an even more natural environment for concealing one's aura.
However, on his way back from the Void World to Wuding Divine Sea, he was still intercepted by Heavenly Mother.
That brilliant young woman from back then, after enduring the baptism of ten eons of time, now stood at the pinnacle of the universe, her eyes filled with indifference toward the bustling mortal world.
It was a loneliness born of standing at heights where the cold was unbearable!
Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable stopped, smiling as he said, "The lineage of the Demon Ancestor cultivates the heart and tempers the body. I didn't expect you to have cultivated your demon heart to such a formidable level, able to sense me across infinite void space."
Heavenly Mother replied, "Many things can be concealed, but truth forever exists in the world."
Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable sighed, "I intended to rush to Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm to assist, but I was ultimately too late. Fearing it might cause misunderstanding, I concealed my aura and left. Now it seems the misunderstanding has indeed arisen!"
"Thunder Punishment, someone like you can become a powerful figure, but you can never become a Heavenly Venerable. A Heavenly Venerable need not always act with openness and righteousness, but must act with candor and integrity. If the heart is not upright, how can one be honored by all heavens?" Heavenly Mother said.
Clearly, with these words, Heavenly Mother not only denied Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable but also negated many Heavenly Venerables throughout history!
Only someone who had reached her level of height had the right to say such things.
Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable's smile faded, his handsome and heroic face turning solemn. "So, what do you have to say? With just this projection of yours, do you think you can stop me?"
"I will definitely visit Wuding Divine Sea in person!" Heavenly Mother said.
"Come then! In Wuding Divine Sea, I am invincible under heaven. If you come, I will bury you."
With a thought from Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable, a cold light flew from his eyes, tearing apart Heavenly Mother's projection in the Void World, turning it into wisps of green smoke.
Heavenly Mother's cultivation exceeded Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable's expectations. It seemed she was even closer to the Half-Ancestor realm than Fengdu Dadi, having already placed one foot inside.
It was this unexpected variable that disrupted all of Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable's plans, forcing him to rearrange many things!
"The risk of setting up the trap against Fengdu was indeed too great!"
A trace of regret arose in Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable's heart, but in an instant, he cut it away.
Since he had done it, there was no need for regret.
Given the current chaos in the Hell Realm and Heavenly Court, no one would dare to easily touch the Thunder Clan. To seize the initiative in this turbulent era, more aggressive strategies were necessary!
After a moment of contemplation, Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable abandoned his decision to return to Wuding Divine Sea and headed toward Lihentian instead.
...
The Rakshasa Divine City was located within the spiritual power barrier of Fortune God Venerable. It was precisely for this reason that the Heavenly Venerable-level clash erupting from Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm was sensed by the Boundless cultivators in the city at the very first moment.
But with the heavenly secrets concealed, they could only sense the auras of Fengdu Dadi and Qiangshake.
Fierce battles were raging everywhere in the city, not only at the Great Luo Divine Palace, the Divine Prison, the Clan Mansion, and Dingzu Mountain, but also in other Boundless battlefields. Gu Xin was not the only Chaotic Ancient Demon God in the city.
Many parts of the divine city had turned into ruins, reduced to scorched earth, still burning.
Saints of the Rakshasa Clan fell in droves, their bodies and bones utterly destroyed, turned into blood mist, becoming food for the Chaotic Ancient Demon Gods.
Fortunately, the city-protecting divine formation of the Great Luo Divine Palace had been activated, greatly increasing the city's defensive power. Otherwise, the city's structure would have already collapsed.
But Luo Sha and the others were ultimately not at the Boundless level. They could activate the city-protecting divine formation, but sustaining it was extremely difficult. Using the formation's inscriptions to protect the divine city meant they couldn't use the formation to suppress and kill the Boundless within the city.
Their divine souls and spiritual power were not strong enough!
They could only choose between offense and defense.
Within the Great Luo Divine Palace, dozens of divine halls had collapsed, divine trees had turned into fireballs, and spiritual lakes had dried up. Everywhere were broken formation platforms, with rule divine patterns filling the space, condensing into various destructive divine powers.
Zhang Ruochen's abdomen was split open by the Yin-Yang Double Fork Halberd, leaving a half-foot-long bloody gash, nearly cutting him in two.
Behind him stood the formation tower of the city-protecting divine formation, thirty-seven stories tall, crystal clear and pure white, square in shape.
Dingzu, clad in full armor, held the Yin-Yang Double Fork Halberd, which emitted a brilliant blue-red light, dividing the space of the Great Luo Divine Palace into half blue and half red.
He pressed forward step by step, saying, "Fengdu Dadi has already fallen. The Hell Realm has changed, and the heavens and earth have been overturned. Continuing to block here is nothing but a mantis trying to stop a chariot—utterly meaningless."
"Do you really think you've already won? The heavens of the Hell Realm will arrive soon."
Zhang Ruochen's face was covered in blood and grime. With one hand holding the Earth Cauldron and the other clenched into a fist seal, the Great Luo Divine Seal hovered above his head, while the broken Four Symbols swirled around him, resisting the suppression of Dingzu's rule divine patterns.
This was a clash with a vast gap in cultivation. Even borrowing the power of the divine city, he could not overcome the disadvantage and triumph.
All he could do was fight to the death, waiting for a variable to occur.
Dingzu sneered contemptuously, "Fengdu Dadi wanted to lure out the Calamity Emperor, so he had to act silently, absolutely not alerting any other heavens of the Hell Realm. This is a life-and-death gamble for both sides! But clearly, he and Luo Yan lost. Not only did they fall, but the Rakshasa Clan will be buried along with them."
Unwilling to delay any longer, Dingzu leaped up and struck down with the double fork halberd.
The ferocious and powerful force, like a mountain avalanche and a sea tsunami, crashed down toward Zhang Ruochen, who was already nearly exhausted. Dingzu believed this was the final blow, enough to take down this young Boundless cultivator.
Zhang Ruochen's battle intent boiled over. He stepped forward and threw a punch, striking the double fork halberd.
"Boom!"
A force that could overturn mountains and seas erupted from Zhang Ruochen's fist, pouring onto Dingzu like a torrent, sending him flying backward.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen's second punch came with incredible speed, breaking through layers of rule divine patterns and striking Dingzu's chest.
The armor on Dingzu's body caved in, and his body shot backward, crashing heavily into the ground, carving a deep trench hundreds of meters long.
Dingzu crouched on one knee, holding the Yin-Yang Double Fork Halberd horizontally in front of him, staring in shock at Zhang Ruochen ahead. His voice trembled, "Heavenly Mother, this is Heavenly Mother's power!"
Zhang Ruochen stood tall and straight, every strand of his hair emitting bright divine light. "I am Heavenly Mother's divine envoy. Heavenly Mother has already emerged from seclusion. I can borrow one-tenth of her divine power for my own use. Can you still laugh now?"
Naturally, Dingzu could no longer laugh.
Tens of thousands of years ago, Heavenly Mother was the strongest of the Rakshasa Clan, a figure whom the young Dingzu and Emperor Luo Yan most admired and revered.
Facing such a figure, even though Dingzu was already a Great Unbound Infinite, he still felt fear in his heart, like a rebellious son who had committed a grave sin, terrified of his old father.
It was both reverence and fear!
"Shua!"
Dingzu shot out, fleeing directly!
"Heavenly Mother has returned. I must flee, I must flee, I must get far away from the divine city before she returns..." Dingzu muttered to himself.
At this moment, where was any trace of a powerful expert's dignity?
"You won't get away!"
Zhang Ruochen raised his right hand above his head, channeling the Great Luo Divine Seal, pulling it down to suppress Dingzu.
The moment Heavenly Mother stepped out of the Abyss of Darkness, Zhang Ruochen felt a special divine power surge within him. With the empowerment of this special divine power, he felt he could battle the heavens.
Dingzu propped up the Yin-Yang Double Fork Halberd, spread his bone wings, and unfolded his divine realm world, going all out to resist the Great Luo Divine Seal.
But the might of the Great Luo Divine Seal was far stronger than before, pressing down until his entire body trembled and his legs slowly bent. The double fork halberd in his hand seemed about to snap, emitting one explosive sound after another.
"Ruochen, you brat, how dare you..."
"Bang!"
The bone wings on Dingzu's back snapped, and he was crushed to the ground by the Great Luo Divine Seal, his voice drowned out. The earth was leveled, and even his divine realm world collapsed!
Zhang Ruochen had only borrowed one-tenth of Heavenly Mother's divine power.
But even that one-tenth was enough to suppress Dingzu.
Although Heavenly Mother had not yet arrived, as Zhang Ruochen channeled her divine power, her silhouette appeared within the Great Luo Divine Palace. Towering like a mountain, vast and mighty like the heavens and earth.
"Heavenly Mother has returned! Heavenly Mother has returned! The Rakshasa Clan is eternal!"
"Chaotic Ancient Demon Gods, traitors, the Calamity Organization, all of you must die. Heavenly Mother will slaughter you all!"
...
In the divine city, including the gods, all Rakshasa Clan cultivators were boiling with excitement, their battle intent surging.
All fear was gone!
All worries vanished.
Heavenly Mother was the spiritual banner of the clan. With just one word from her, they dared to raise their swords against any powerful enemy.
At Dingzu Mountain.
Er Daren had been trying to contain Emperor Luo Yan, and his divine body had been blown apart twice. Only by relying on his powerful spiritual power could he hold on until now.
Sensing Heavenly Mother's aura, he finally felt the urge to retreat, knowing the tide had turned.
Although Fengdu Dadi's heavenly aura had vanished—either fallen or exiled into the river of time—the current situation was far from what they had hoped for.
In this game, both sides had suffered losses, and neither had gained an advantage.
If even Er Daren felt this way, then Qi Lin, Zongmu Shenzun, Shentu Guidi, and the others naturally had their battle intent greatly diminished. They all wanted to escape before Heavenly Mother arrived.
Though she had not appeared for hundreds of thousands of years, her legend still lived on in the Hell Realm. The stronger the cultivator, the more they knew, and the greater their fear of Heavenly Mother.
A heavy demonic voice came from the universe: "No need to fear. She is not a Half-Ancestor. As long as we seize control of the divine city, we can suppress her. Even Fengdu Dadi was killed; defeating her is no difficult task!"
Qiangshake's true body appeared outside the Rakshasa Divine City, a vast ocean of demonic qi above his head. He struck down heavily with the Demon God Stone Pillar, colliding with the sea of clouds.
"Boom!"
The city-protecting divine formation immediately manifested, its inscriptions flashing as it resisted the Demon God Stone Pillar.
At the Clan Mansion, Shentu Guidi had already defeated four Boundless cultivators of the Rakshasa Clan, severely wounding them all.
Shentu Guidi walked into the divine hall and activated the formation base of the city-protecting divine formation.
Immediately, a corner of the city-protecting divine formation was torn open.
"Welcome the Supreme Pillar!" Shentu Guidi shouted loudly.
In the Great Luo Divine Palace, Zhang Ruochen's heart sank. So did Emperor Luo Yan at Dingzu Mountain, and Wolf Ancestor, Feng Zun, and the others at the Clan Mansion.
Knowing that Heavenly Mother had emerged, Qiangshake still dared to come to the Rakshasa Divine City.
Combined with the earlier Heavenly Venerable-level battle at Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, everyone guessed that Qiangshake's cultivation might have returned to its peak!
This was one of the Supreme Four Pillars, famed alongside the Heavenly Demon!
Once Qiangshake entered the city, who could stop him?
But after a moment, everyone was astonished to find that Qiangshake had not entered through the tear in the divine formation.
Zhang Ruochen's furrowed brow relaxed, and he said, "Heavenly Mother has arrived!"