Chapter 3518: The Emergence of the Quantity Emperor
The moment the two Buddha handprints manifested, Zhang Ruochen immediately retreated at top speed.
The aura unleashed by Nutian Shenzun and Leifa Tianzun was too formidable. Once they clashed, an entire starfield would be annihilated. Even with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he still felt like a mortal gazing up at a soaring dragon—utterly unable to intervene.
Those dozens of Divine Throne planets originally belonged to the deities of the White Clothes Valley, but they had been seized by ancient powerhouses like Fei Wang and Chang He, severing the connection between the planets and their original masters.
Now, these Divine Throne giants, millions of miles in diameter, flew out from the center of the battlefield between Nutian Shenzun and Leifa Tianzun.
They, too, were fleeing.
The Divine Throne planets were linked by an unfathomably profound array of formation inscriptions, numbering in the billions. They arranged themselves in a strange yet orderly pattern, hurtling toward Zhang Ruochen along with a dark-gold nebula spanning hundreds of billions of miles.
The momentum was overwhelming, awe-inspiring, as if they were being pursued by an entire world.
Fei Wang stood atop the foremost Divine Throne planet at the front of the formation. Demonic qi merged with the nebula, her long hair flowing like rivers of blood within the starry clouds, exuding a majestic grandeur.
Her eyes, like blood-red amber, locked onto Zhang Ruochen. "Ruochen Realm Lord, dare you stay and fight?"
Zhang Ruochen stepped on the Divine Spirit Step, fleeing swiftly.
That divine formation, arranged from fifty-three Divine Throne planets, was clearly the handiwork of the Quantity Emperor.
Seven Infinite Realm powerhouses jointly activated the formation, including Fei Wang, a mid-stage Great Unbound Infinite. Even if Zhang Ruochen faced them, let alone him, even a Heavenly Venerable would struggle.
Not flee? Only a madman would stay.
Zhang Ruochen still remembered, a hundred thousand years ago, when Qing Cang set up a grand divine formation outside the Kunlun Realm to deal with the Saint Monk. A deity sat atop a star, countless planets fell, divine abilities rained down like a storm, and war artifacts filled the sky. The Saint Monk's golden body was shattered.
Zhang Ruochen would not harbor a death wish like the Saint Monk, refusing to flee or retreat.
Chang He sneered, "Is this the so-called number one under heaven throughout the ages? Where has Ruochen Realm Lord's earlier arrogance and courage gone?"
"I thought a heroic figure capable of proving the Ancestor Dao had emerged in later generations. Now that we truly clash, I see he's nothing but a boastful rat," another ancient powerhouse taunted.
After putting some distance between them, Zhang Ruochen laughed, "In the Rakshasa Clan battle, you underestimated Fengdu Dadi. How many members of the Quantity Organization and ancient powerhouses fell, meeting a miserable end? Today, you've underestimated Nutian Shenzun again. If you don't flee now, once the Hell Realm's strong ones arrive, not a single one of you will escape."
"You people were once rulers of heaven and earth, but you overestimate yourselves, failing to recognize your current strength. That ensures you won't die well."
"The times have changed!"
Zhang Ruochen's words struck like a sharp sword, piercing the deepest vulnerabilities of the ancient powerhouses.
Gu Xin, Qiang Sha Ke, and Shi Zhi Shenzun—each had once been a figure who shook the universe. Yet after living a second life, their fates were one worse than the last.
Nutian Shenzun's combat power had indeed far exceeded their expectations.
The original plan had also gone awry.
They had thought that even if Zhan Shen Mingzun couldn't kill Nutian Shenzun, by self-detonating his divine source, he could at least severely wound him and level the White Clothes Valley.
Then, they would descend together and end the battle within a quarter-hour.
What was even more unexpected was that Zhang Ruochen and Nutian Shenzun actively sought them out, catching them off guard, forcing the battle to erupt only in the starry sky. The world-protecting formation of the great world where the White Clothes Valley was located had been activated, making it extremely difficult for them to enter that world.
Of course, the biggest miscalculation was still Nutian Shenzun's cultivation.
Nutian Shenzun could contend with Leifa Tianzun on equal footing, which meant today's plan had already completely failed.
Leifa Tianzun and Nutian Shenzun had already exchanged dozens of rounds, their divine power piercing three realms and annihilating vast stretches of the starry sky.
Stars flew through the cosmos like fireballs, vanishing into the deep void.
Countless natural laws were drawn upon by the two, making time and space unstable. Light, darkness, life, and death ceased to exist in this region, leaving only various Dao techniques, divine abilities, and the might of divine artifacts.
Leifa Tianzun knew well that even if he could defeat Nutian Shenzun, he would certainly be tied down.
But time was not on their side.
The longer they delayed, the greater the chance that Xu Fengjin would return.
Thus, Leifa Tianzun sent a telepathic message: "You have only a quarter-hour. Capture Zhang Ruochen and breach the world-protecting formation. Whether or not you take the White Clothes Valley, you must withdraw within a quarter-hour. The disastrous defeat of the Rakshasa Clan battle must not be repeated."
Zhang Ruochen, who was retreating rapidly, noticed that Fei Wang and the others were steering the formation toward the Kongming Realm, where the White Clothes Valley was located, no longer pursuing him.
Almost simultaneously, Zhang Ruochen found his legs unable to move, as if trapped in a swamp.
He looked down.
The void beneath his feet had turned into a liquid, swallowing him up to his knees.
Space became frozen, making it impossible for him to move.
His vision darkened, and his perception of the world vanished.
"The Quantity Emperor, you've finally shown yourself!"
Zhang Ruochen's five senses were sealed by powerful spiritual power, but he could still speak.
In his mind, a scene materialized: ten steps behind him stood a mysterious figure in a black robe, as if emerging from a different time and space, both illusory and real.
He couldn't make out the face; the Quantity Emperor's visage was hidden beneath the hood of his black robe.
He held an ebony staff.
At the top of the staff hung a pale blue divine lamp. His feet stood on water, with a clear reflection in the liquid.
"The Heart of Truth, a first-rank divine path—truly extraordinary. Even with a Heaven Round No Lack cultivator's sealing of the five senses, you can still generate perception."
The Quantity Emperor walked step by step toward Zhang Ruochen, his soles creating fine ripples on the water's surface.
Zhang Ruochen felt the image in his mind growing increasingly blurry, as if he were falling into an abyss, his consciousness weakening.
"What terrifying spiritual power! No, I cannot fall into the dark abyss of unconsciousness, or I will die without a burial place."
In his mind, Zhang Ruochen visualized the evolution of Wuji, Taiji, and Four Symbols, cycling endlessly, repelling the encroaching darkness and stubbornly holding onto the last vestiges of clarity.
Darkness tightly wrapped around his consciousness, constantly eroding it, making it impossible to even stir the skull of Zhan Shen Mingzun.
Fortunately, the skull of Zhan Shen Mingzun was hidden within the Four Symbols, which in turn was concealed deep within the Xuan Tai, wrapped in Ancestor divine qi. It should not be discovered.
"Zhang Ruochen, your cultivation speed truly astonishes me. Is it the wonder of the first-rank divine path, or the extraordinary nature of the Earth Cauldron?"
The Quantity Emperor had arrived beside him. "Don't worry, I'm reluctant to kill you. This body of yours, and the Dao you've cultivated, are too precious. A great figure has already reserved them. Still struggling? Sleep now. When you wake, you will be reborn."
Zhang Ruochen slowly collapsed, half his body submerged in the water.
It wasn't real water, but liquefied spiritual power.
With a thought from the Quantity Emperor, he brought the boundless watery domain beneath him to the skies above the Kongming Realm. Then, he raised his ebony staff.
His ninety-second-level spiritual power instantly enveloped the entire Kongming Realm. The planets, rock fragments, and starry dust in this vast starfield all altered their movement patterns, revolving around him as the center.
His black robe fluttered like a war banner.
The fifty-three Divine Throne giant planets and the seven ancient powerhouses appeared above the Quantity Emperor, forming a nebula grand formation. Stars spun, storms raged, and a buzzing, whirring sound echoed through the universe.
Below, on the ground of the Kongming Realm, all living beings were crushed flat by the Quantity Emperor's aura, trembling in terror.
Cultivators with powerful cultivation had already rushed to the White Clothes Valley when the world-protecting formation was activated.
Now, their faces were pale, their inner fear uncontrollable, their legs shaking.
Wu Yue stood in a bluestone Dao field surrounded by many temples, looking up at the dark-gold nebula filling the sky and the fifty-three massive, blazing suns. She murmured to herself, "It has failed after all. With spiritual power as high as the Quantity Emperor's, he can even challenge a Heavenly Venerable. With just a thought, he could make Zhang Ruochen lose consciousness and fall into slumber."
Jue Miao Chan Nu stood atop a Buddhist pagoda, her green Buddhist robe fluttering in the wind. Her eyes were serene and insightful. "No, Zhang Ruochen's spiritual will is strong, and he is an Infinite Realm cultivator. Even the Quantity Emperor must get extremely close and use great means to make him lose consciousness. This precisely shows that Zhang Ruochen's earlier battle with Fei Wang played its intended role, successfully luring the Quantity Emperor to personally capture him. Now, our plan has a chance of success."
"Do you believe he can break free from the Quantity Emperor's spiritual suppression?" Wu Yue asked.
"Don't you have faith in him?"
Jue Miao Chan Nu said, "The Quantity Emperor's target is the Kongming Realm, the White Clothes Valley, and us. As long as we can force him to expend a great deal of spiritual power dealing with us, the suppression on Zhang Ruochen will lessen."
(Chapter End)