# Chapter 3474: Offense and Defense Reversal
The situation that was absolutely disadvantageous for the Rakshasa Clan was completely transformed by the emergence of Heavenly Mother.
First, there was the change in mentality!
Even powerful beings like Second Master and Shen Tu Ghost Emperor, who could contend with the All Heavens, lost their confidence and fighting spirit.
Once they were certain of inevitable defeat, they would only lose faster.
Second Master retreated from Dingzu Mountain, allowing Emperor Luo Yan to completely free himself and clean up the chaotic situation. With one hand, he held aloft the God-Defying Stele, grinding away all the formation inscription runes along the path.
With the other hand, he wielded the Great Luo Divine Seal, drawing upon the divine veins beneath Rakshasa Divine City, his momentum rising step by step. He could truly be called a king's return—wherever he passed, no one failed to kneel.
In the Clan Mansion.
Shen Tu Ghost Emperor, Second Master, Gu Xin, Shi Zhi Divine Venerable, Qi Lin, and Zong Mu Divine Venerable gathered together, standing at various positions within the Array Hall.
The Array Hall was a thousand zhang tall, entirely pitch black in color.
Gone was their previous arrogance; they all gazed at the sky, their faces shrouded in worry and heaviness.
Qiangshake's severed arm and leg were enormous, occupying a vast area of the sky, both eerie and strange.
Too fast!
Qiangshake had been defeated too quickly!
Heavenly Mother's power was within their expectations. But being this powerful was too shocking to the world.
Gu Xin said, "Only the Supreme Pillar came; all of you have become abandoned pieces."
"Please choose your words carefully, sir. To deal with Fengdu Dadi, the Quantity Emperors must have already paid a huge price. Facing Heavenly Mother, they cannot continue to clash head-on. This Emperor believes that the Quantity Emperors are definitely hiding in the shadows, ready to appear at any moment to receive us." Shen Tu Ghost Emperor's gaze was cold as he spoke thus.
Shen Tu Ghost Emperor absolutely did not believe that Kui Liang Huang had truly left. After all, within Rakshasa Divine City, there was still a fatal weakness concerning him.
Only Tian Yin Shen Mu knew his true identity.
If Tian Yin did not die, how could he leave?
Of course, Shen Tu Ghost Emperor understood human nature very well. He certainly would not place his hopes on people like Kui Liang Huang and Lei Fa Tian Zun. The reason he spoke these words was entirely to stabilize morale.
Qi Lin was charming and radiant, her beautiful and graceful figure moving as her gaze shifted from the sky to the Great Luo Divine Seal that was continuously moving toward the Clan Mansion, and to the imposing figure beneath the seal.
"Luo Yan is coming!" she said.
Gu Xin laughed, "Such strong confidence, coming alone."
Zong Mu Divine Venerable's expression was serious as he said, "The entire qi and momentum of Rakshasa Divine City are converging toward him; the power fluctuations within his body are continuously growing stronger. Now, there is nothing that can suppress him anymore. Even an Indestructible Infinite might not be his match."
Shi Zhi Divine Venerable smiled, looking toward Wolf Ancestor, Zun, Feng Zun, and Nie Shen Wang, who were bound by ghost mist and spiritual power chains, and said, "After all, he is not Indestructible Infinite. Besides, we are not without bargaining chips. The entire Clan Mansion controls one-third of the city-protecting divine formation!"
"Then let's begin!"
Second Master turned and walked into the Array Hall.
Within Rakshasa Divine City at this moment, his spiritual power was the strongest, far surpassing all other deities.
He wanted to use the Clan Mansion's formation, relying on his own strength, to resist the pressure from Dingzu Mountain and the Great Luo Divine Palace, opening a path of escape.
Shen Tu Ghost Emperor walked toward the four suppressed Infinite-level beings, choosing Nie Shen Wang, and said in a deep voice, "Before we leave, let's give Luo Yan a big gift."
Meanwhile, Su War God and Qian Xi Goddess Lord entered the Great Luo Divine Palace and Dingzu Mountain respectively.
This life-and-death contest of magical arts had officially begun.
However, the offense and defense had reversed, and those trapped in a life-and-death situation had become Second Master, Shen Tu Ghost Emperor, and the others.
...
Zhang Ruochen passed through a crack in the city-protecting divine formation and appeared in the sea of clouds above the divine city.
Behind him, the formation crack instantly disappeared.
"Be careful. Qiangshake is a Supreme Pillar, with profound and unfathomable cultivation!" Luo Sha's voice came from the Great Luo Divine Palace, sounding in his ears.
"Heavenly Mother is here; I'm just an assistant."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the shattered space before him, feeling the chaotic divine power fluctuations, secretly sighing at the power of Heavenly Mother and Qiangshake. Just the residual power gave one a suffocating feeling.
Earlier, while inside the city-protecting divine formation, he only felt they were strong, but there was no such immersive shock.
However, Zhang Ruochen knew very well that any single strike of this power hitting him would shatter him into pieces, wounding his divine soul and spirit.
"Qiangshake's recovery speed is too fast. He must die. Otherwise, once he recovers to his peak, no one in the world will be able to control him," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Boom rumble!"
As if sensing Zhang Ruochen's killing intent, the one arm and one leg suspended in the void shook violently, emitting bursts of howling sounds.
The spatial shockwaves spread outward like water waves.
"Youngster, how dare you meddle in a conflict at the Indestructible Infinite level?" Within the blood-drenched arm, Qiangshake's divine soul thoughts emitted divine sounds.
The divine sounds contained soul attacks, capable of shattering a deity's spiritual will.
Zhang Ruochen took a Divine Spirit Step, arriving in one step above the severed arm.
Around him, blood mist was vast.
Strands of blood qi and divine soul thoughts condensed into divine abilities and great techniques, blasting outward, but were all sealed by the densely packed demonic pattern symbols arranged by Heavenly Mother, unable to break through.
After examining the demonic pattern symbols for a while, Zhang Ruochen summoned the Soul-Fixing Needle.
"Puchi!"
The Soul-Fixing Needle flew out, piercing through the demonic pattern symbols and stabbing into the severed arm.
"Forgive this junior for speaking bluntly, but you, sir, are in such a miserable state that you have no right to speak such arrogant words."
Zhang Ruochen used his fingers to guide the Soul-Fixing Needle, shuttling it through the thousands-of-miles-long severed arm, continuously grinding away Qiangshake's divine soul thoughts. Only when the severed arm completely quieted down did he retract the Soul-Fixing Needle.
The demonic pattern symbols arranged by Heavenly Mother only sealed Qiangshake's divine soul and blood qi, not affecting the Soul-Fixing Needle at all.
This was clearly intentional, so that Zhang Ruochen could refine the severed arm and leg.
The method of killing a god by dismemberment required an assistant. Otherwise, Qiangshake could recall his residual body at any time and restore his strength.
Zhang Ruochen suppressed the severed arm into the inner space of a Supreme Sacred Artifact. Suddenly sensing something, he discovered that the severed leg had already fled tens of thousands of miles away.
The blood qi and divine soul contained in the severed leg were continuously striking the demonic pattern symbols.
"Still trying to escape?"
Zhang Ruochen chased after it, holding the Earth Thunder Pearl, and summoned over a thousand bolts of lightning, each several meters thick, striking down.
That thigh quickly became charred black, emitting thick smoke.
The severed leg, tens of thousands of miles long, emitted Qiangshake's furious roar from within: "You're dead, I'll grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes, I'll make you perish in both form and spirit... ah..."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Earth Cauldron and struck down heavily.
The severed leg's flesh and blood flew everywhere, large amounts of divine substance being ground away.
"To be honest, I really don't want to struggle with a pile of dismembered corpse remnants, but you have far too little regard for the current Divine Venerables."
Zhang Ruochen couldn't be bothered to listen to Qiangshake's severed leg's roars and threats, and collected this severed leg into the inner space of the Earth Thunder Pearl to suppress it.
He could somewhat understand Qiangshake's anger. After all, he was a Supreme Pillar, a being standing at the very top of the universe.
Now, first being dismembered, then bullied by a junior, how could his Dao heart not collapse?
Zhang Ruochen looked up and gazed into the distance. Heavenly Mother and Qiangshake had already fought to an infinitely faraway place, separated from Rakshasa Divine City by who knows how many star domains.
Not chasing after them, Zhang Ruochen took out the Earth Cauldron, held it between his hands, and sat cross-legged in the sea of clouds, beginning to refine the End of Dharma God King within the cauldron.
First refine the End of Dharma God King, then refine Qiangshake's severed arm and leg, and he would surely obtain a large amount of divine pills.
By then, breaking through to the middle stage of Qiankun Infinite, or even the peak, would be within reach.
The severed arm and leg of a Supreme Pillar were more precious than divine medicine. However, with Heavenly Mother's cultivation and status, she probably wouldn't ask for them back.
The Earth Cauldron emitted bright Origin Divine Light, slowly rotating.
The urgent voice of the End of Dharma God King sounded from within the cauldron: "Chen Zun, I was forced by circumstances and had no choice but to submit to Ding Zu. He had taken half of my divine soul; how could I dare to defy his will?"
With each "I" spoken with such self-importance, Zhang Ruochen knew very well that old-timers like the End of Dharma God King simply could not accept his rise.
Subconsciously, they still regarded him as that junior at the Saint Realm from before.
Zhang Ruochen reminded him, "When you submitted to him, your divine soul had not yet been taken! You were simply afraid of death, having long lost the enterprising spirit of your youth. If you had been willing to cooperate with Jian Gu to deal with Ding Zu together, our grievances could have been completely wiped clean. How could you have ended up like this?"
"I am a God King of the Death God Temple. If you refine and kill me, the entire Death Clan will be at odds with you forever. This will bring you nothing but harm and no benefit." A deep, cold voice sounded from within the cauldron.
"First, you are not that important. Second, I simply do not care about the Death Clan's attitude!"
Zhang Ruochen no longer paid attention to the End of Dharma God King's various words. His determination to refine and kill him was firm.
Because even if he released the End of Dharma God King, the latter would never be truly grateful to him.
Instead, because of today's humiliation, they would have forged a deep, bloody grudge.
The End of Dharma God King's divine soul had lost half, and had also suffered severe damage. Under Zhang Ruochen's full suppression, he could not even self-detonate his divine source.
Today, his fall was destined.
...
Dingzu Mountain, the Clan Mansion, and the Great Luo Divine Palace each shot up a bright pillar of light, connecting with the city-protecting divine formation in the sky.
The formation inscription runes contained in the three pillars of light clashed fiercely, causing dense thunder to sound in the sky.
Destructive power condensed into a vortex, crashing down onto the city's earth.
"Boom!"
With each strike, an area of the city a hundred miles in diameter was reduced to ruined wasteland.
Shen Tu Ghost Emperor stood atop a divine hall, saying, "Luo Yan, let's go out and settle this. If we keep fighting like this, before we fall, the Rakshasa cultivators in the city will die first!"
"Want to escape now? Isn't it too late?"
Emperor Luo Yan knew very well what Shen Tu Ghost Emperor truly intended.
Once they left Rakshasa Divine City, they would immediately scatter and flee. How many could he keep behind?
He absolutely could not let the tiger return to the mountain.
Only by trapping them within the city could he kill them all.
"Hua!"
Emperor Luo Yan waved his arm, and the God-Defying Stele flew out, heavily striking the light barrier of the Clan Mansion's protective formation, embedding itself there.
On the light barrier, the formation inscription runes quickly dimmed.
"Go, break it for me!"
Emperor Luo Yan's divine soul communicated with the Great Luo Divine Seal. The seal became scorching hot and dazzling, and with a booming sound, it shattered the protective formation's light barrier.
The powerful divine force directly sent Qi Lin and Shi Zhi Divine Venerable flying backward.
Just as Emperor Luo Yan was about to charge inside, Shen Tu Ghost Emperor condensed a hand seal dozens of zhang long, slapping down from above.
"Luo Yan, this Emperor has long wanted to fight you, and today I can finally have my wish fulfilled." Shen Tu Ghost Emperor laughed.
Emperor Luo Yan instinctively sensed something was wrong.
In terms of cultivation and combat power, he and Shen Tu Ghost Emperor were indeed evenly matched. But this was Rakshasa Divine City. He wielded the Great Luo Divine Seal, with the power of the entire divine city supporting him. What gave Shen Tu Ghost Emperor the confidence to face him head-on?
Emperor Luo Yan secretly guarded himself, releasing divine qi and rule divine patterns, striking back.
"Bang!"
Nie Shen Wang, with disheveled hair, crashed through the Clan Mansion's gate, his entire body burning with ghost fire, his face ferocious, charging toward Emperor Luo Yan like an arrow.
(This chapter ends)