Chapter 3514: A Single Slap
War God Ming Zun followed closely, saying, "I heard that the Valley Lord was severely injured, wounded in the Divine Sea and Divine Source? There are many rumors outside, saying that the Valley Lord no longer has any chance to glimpse Indestructible Infinite and will fall in this Eon."
"A minor injury, how could it be exaggerated to such an extent?" Nutian Shenzun sneered coldly.
"Not long ago, the Nether Hall received intelligence that the Quantity Organization and some remnant souls of ancient powerhouses intend to cause trouble for the White Cloth Valley. I was truly worried and couldn't rest easy, so I decided to return."
War God Ming Zun held his hands aloft in midair, and a blue Divine Jade Box materialized from space.
"After all, Shou Ji was born in the White Cloth Valley, and Yinxue Tian has shown me great kindness. How could I stand by and do nothing? This is a divine medicine found during the last opening of the Jade Emperor Realm—the Divine Ming Festival Juniper. It may be of some use to the Valley Lord."
Arriving outside the thatched hut, Nutian Shenzun stopped, looked at the Divine Jade Box in War God Ming Zun's hand, and said, "Divine Ming Festival Juniper! Aren't you also injured? Take it yourself!"
"Shou Ji's injuries don't require the Divine Ming Festival Juniper."
Nutian Shenzun was not one to be overly modest. He took the Divine Jade Box and said, "That little bit of kindness from back then, why remember it for a lifetime? You are now the first War God of the Underworld Clan, with your own glorious future. Don't let the White Cloth Valley bind you."
Nutian Shenzun pressed his palm onto the jade box and pushed the lid open.
"Swoosh!"
A large green talisman flew out from the box, its speed breaking the scale of space, directly imprinting itself onto Nutian Shenzun's body.
The moment the talisman flew out, the entire canyon was illuminated, as if a Divine Sun had been placed inside.
This shocking turn of events caught everyone off guard.
The talisman landed on Nutian Shenzun's body and immediately transformed into countless green chains, binding him in place.
"Bai Shou Ji!"
Nutian Shenzun roared in fury.
"Valley Lord, Shou Ji has returned to see you off on your journey."
War God Ming Zun had already summoned his Black Gold Pu Dao, slashing out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering blade light, straight at Nutian Shenzun's head.
The blade aura was overwhelmingly powerful. Just its residual force sent the rushing Bai Zun flying, crashing into the cliff wall.
Zhang Ruochen released his Taiji Four Symbols Diagram, but it was too late... The expansion speed of the Four Symbols Diagram couldn't keep up with the speed of War God Ming Zun's blade.
Only Nie Zang Venerable, sweeping the courtyard in the thatched hut, remained extremely calm, continuing to sweep the yard as if nothing had happened.
"Boom!"
War God Ming Zun's blade struck Nutian Shenzun's head, producing a clanging sound like metal striking stone. Rings of energy ripples spread outward in all directions.
The Divine Artifact war blade had failed to break through Nutian Shenzun's physical defense.
"How is this possible? Your cultivation..." War God Ming Zun exclaimed in shock.
A force like a mountain collapsing and the sea overturning erupted. The chains on Nutian Shenzun's body shattered completely, and layers of black heavens surged up from the top of his head, stacking upward like a Nether City.
"Slap!"
Nutian Shenzun's body doubled in size. He leaned down and struck a palm onto War God Ming Zun's head, smashing his skeletal body into collapse, his spine breaking into several segments, turning into a pile of crushed bones.
Only then did Zhang Ruochen's Taiji Four Symbols Diagram envelop Nutian Shenzun.
Nutian Shenzun looked up and glanced at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's heart was shaken with unparalleled shock. A figure like the first War God of the Underworld Clan, someone who could contend with the Dragon Lord, had been reduced to crushed bones with a single slap. What realm was this?
And wasn't Nutian Shenzun supposed to cultivate the *Nether Book* and the Path of Fate? How could there be a strange scene of layered heavens resembling both a celestial sky and a Nether City above his head?
Nutian Shenzun's body instantly returned to normal size. He looked at the trembling bone fragments on the ground and grabbed a skull, saying, "Why did it have to be you?"
Nutian Shenzun didn't bother hoping to extract anything from War God Ming Zun's mouth. He directly performed a Soul Search.
But at the top of the skull, green talisman patterns emerged, transforming into talisman fire, both resisting Nutian Shenzun's Soul Search power and burning the divine substance of the skull.
"Haha, Valley Lord, you hide yourself well, but having the entire White Cloth Valley buried with me is worth it!"
Inside the skull, the sound of the Divine Source shattering rang out.
Nutian Shenzun's brow tightened. He looked at the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram covering the valley, his gaze locking onto the Taiyin "Jade Tree Dark Moon," and he roared, "Seal the Heavenly Secrets!"
In the thatched hut, Nie Zang Venerable threw away his broom, formed hand seals, and his Spiritual Power erupted outward.
"Sizzle!"
The Taiyin Jade Tree disintegrated, transforming into countless Time Rules that converged into Nutian Shenzun's palm, sealing War God Ming Zun's skull.
Within a space less than half a meter in diameter, time had completely stopped!
Zhang Ruochen's heart even stopped beating, because he had clearly sensed that War God Ming Zun's Divine Source had already exploded. It was just a hair's breadth away from unleashing its destructive energy. With War God Ming Zun's cultivation, at such a close distance...
He dared not imagine what the consequences would have been.
Bai Zun and Wolf Ancestor were both extremely tense, holding their breath completely, staring at the skull in Nutian Shenzun's hand.
It wasn't until the sound of wind breaking rang out and Yan Shu Chan Master and Jue Miao Chan Nu arrived that the atmosphere eased.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Was it a scheme set by Kui Liang Huang? Did he order War God Ming Zun to kill you?"
Clearly, the green talisman patterns on the skull had both blocked Nutian Shenzun's Soul Search and bought War God Ming Zun time to self-destruct his Divine Source.
These talisman patterns, even if they could only block Nutian Shenzun for a few breaths, were not something an ordinary Rune Path Divine Master could achieve. They required a Tian Yuan Wu Que level expert.
Jue Miao Chan Nu said, "No! War God Ming Zun didn't come to kill Grandfather, but to test his true strength. Because even if his ambush succeeded, he couldn't have escaped the White Cloth Valley. Of course, if the assassination had truly succeeded, he would at least have had a chance to survive."
Yan Shu Chan Master's face was grim, filled with worry, and he said, "It's not just Kui Liang Huang! How could Kui Liang Huang drive Bai Shou Ji and make him risk his life like this?"
Zhang Ruochen sensed that Yan Shu Chan Master's tension was abnormal, and asked, "From within the Underworld Clan? Is it Gong Xuan Zang, or the Nether Hall Hall Master? It should be Gong Xuan Zang! With War God Ming Zun's cultivation, the Nether Hall Hall Master doesn't have that much influence."
Nutian Shenzun held the skull wrapped in Time Rules and said, "Gong Xuan Zang still couldn't make Bai Shou Ji betray the White Cloth Valley, even at the cost of his life. It seems He has finally appeared."
Yan Shu Chan Master, Jue Miao Chan Nu, as well as Nie Zang Venerable and Wolf Ancestor, all had extremely ugly expressions, as if a great disaster was imminent.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Who is He?"
Nutian Shenzun remained calm and composed, a cold smile that was neither angry nor amused appearing on his face. He said, "He may not exist, but if He does... then it's very interesting! Do you know about the Withering Death Art?"
How could Zhang Ruochen not know?
Nutian Shenzun said, "Back then, the Great Venerable was pursuing the Immortal. Perhaps even the Immortal felt fear! Not long after, Ling Yanzi and Kong Yinxue both fell victim to the Withering Death Art, which tied the Great Venerable's hands."
"With the Great Venerable's peak cultivation, he couldn't undo the Withering Death Art. He had to go to the Western Buddha Realm, gamble in meditation with Yu Tian Fo, and win the Mani Pearl."
"But there was only one Mani Pearl. The Great Venerable gave it to Ling Yanzi, lifting the Withering Death Art for her."
...
Nutian Shenzun narrated all of this in a calm tone from start to finish, finally saying, "The Withering Death Art is a curse! And curses are the specialty of the Underworld Clan."
"Casting a curse is easy; lifting it is difficult. In fact, back then, the Great Venerable believed it was Kong Yinxue's doing, done deliberately, to test who was more important in his heart. Because Kong Yinxue was the strongest in the Underworld Clan and the most proficient in curses at the time!"
"Is that why the Great Venerable didn't give the Mani Pearl to Kong Yinxue?"
Zhang Ruochen had never met Kong Yinxue, but based on Jue Miao Chan Nu's past accounts and some materials he had researched, he could roughly understand what kind of person she was.
If she had done something like that, it was indeed quite possible.
Nutian Shenzun said, "No one knows exactly how many things happened back then, but the grudges and entanglements that followed all stemmed from this misunderstanding. It grew bigger and bigger, until finally, they were irreconcilable."
Zhang Ruochen said, "That doesn't add up. Since Kong Yinxue was the most proficient in curses, why would she use a curse to deliberately provoke the Great Venerable? Wouldn't that be too obvious?"
"Yes, but emotions are just that unreasonable, often blinding people. It's like a man betrayed by his most beloved woman—his heart fills with hatred, and he can only see her evil, forgetting the good she once did."
"Love is honey in the heart, but also a sword that kills."
"The Great Venerable must have later awakened, realizing he had wronged Kong Yinxue. So he came to the White Cloth Valley once, but was turned away at the door. After waiting many days in vain, he left the Arhat White Pearl and departed. Once he left, there was never any news again."
As Nutian Shenzun recounted these things, Jue Miao Chan Nu was lost in thought, because many of these hidden details she was hearing for the first time.
Zhang Ruochen said, "There's something I'm not sure if I should say. Although there are many unreasonable aspects to Kong Yinxue personally casting the Withering Death Art, it's not impossible. Was the Great Venerable's blame on her really just a misunderstanding?"
Bai Zun, Yan Shu Chan Master, and even Jue Miao Chan Nu all looked at Zhang Ruochen with unfriendly expressions.
Nutian Shenzun said, "You're right! The Withering Death Art must have originated from the Underworld Clan. To cast a curse that even the Great Venerable couldn't undo, it would have required things like Kong Yinxue's and Ling Yanzi's blood, hair, and divine thoughts. Someone must have helped, either unintentionally or deliberately. The hidden details here are known only to them."
"Zhang Ruochen, people like you and the Great Venerable, who can see the future at a glance, would have had someone laying plans for you very early on. Luo Sha, Wu Yue, Yan Zhexian... need I say more?"
"But one thing is certain: the Withering Death Art has tormented us for many years, making everyone's life unbearable. Even if Kong Yinxue had some connection with the behind-the-scenes mastermind back then, it must have been severed ten Eons ago. They may have even become enemies."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Are you suspecting that the Immortal the Great Venerable was searching for is connected to the Underworld Clan? That the behind-the-scenes mastermind is the Immortal, the one who cast the Withering Death Art? The one who manipulated War God Ming Zun?"
Nutian Shenzun sneered coldly, "If this person really exists and has lived until now, how could he not be an Immortal?"
Zhang Ruochen thought of something and said, "Divine Venerable, you are certain that Kong Yinxue is connected to the behind-the-scenes mastermind. Do you have some clue?"
(End of Chapter)