Chapter 3658: Ancestral Clan, Venerable Jie
Xiu Chen Heavenly God’s curses carried far and wide, leaving the gods hidden in the shadows exchanging bewildered glances.
Their gazes had been fixed on Lei Zu and Zhao Gongming, but now they couldn’t help diverting their divine thoughts to sense the movements of Zhang Ruochen and his two companions.
Many were shaken, sensing that this matter was no small affair.
Beside the golden chariot, Qingyu spoke with a bow: “Young Master Lian, we should leave this place immediately.”
Standing on the carriage platform, Xuanyuan Lian gazed out at the boundless divine sea crackling with thunder and lightning, his demeanor calm. “What is there to worry about? If Zhang Ruochen dares to charge into the Wuding Divine Sea and provoke the Thunder Clan, do I, Xuanyuan Lian, lack the courage to watch from its shores?”
The Heavenly Court cultivators in the wilderness, whose hearts had been shaken, steadied themselves upon hearing this.
...
On the imperial vessel of Dizu Shenjun.
Aoxue Divine Consort was deeply anxious, finally understanding the meaning behind Zhang Ruochen’s earlier words: “Following me is dangerous.”
The things Zhang Ruochen did were utterly beyond conventional reasoning, no different from dancing on a blade’s edge.
Qingsu’s decision to follow him was surely a path fraught with peril, with only a slim chance of survival.
Dizu Shenjun, however, remained composed, even wearing a hint of amusement as if enjoying the spectacle. “If a person’s heart remains calm and numb for too long, they are bound to sink into mediocrity. Letting Qingsu become Zhang Ruochen’s disciple might rekindle her spirit and bring about a magnificent transformation. Her breakthrough from heart-stasis seems imminent.”
Xingni Divine Consort smiled. “In that case, the Dizu Divine Dynasty will soon gain another Infinite Realm cultivator.”
“It will be the Imperial Dao Great World,” Dizu Shenjun said.
Xingni Divine Consort’s smile gradually turned serious, realizing that Dizu Shenjun harbored the ambition to unify the three great divine dynasties of the Imperial Dao Great World. That day should not be far off.
Aoxue Divine Consort exclaimed in shock, “It’s the Refining God Tower! Lei Fa Tianzun has made his move!”
Dizu Shenjun had long sensed the aura of the Refining God Tower from a hundred billion miles away, perceiving the true state of the battlefield in another void. Calmly, he said, “Since Lei Fa Tianzun entrusted the Refining God Tower to Lei Wanjue, he himself must not be in the Wuding Divine Sea.”
“Hmph, in the end, he was still intimidated by Tai Shang. So-called Heavenly Venerable, nothing more—he has yet to break through the barrier of life and death.”
“However, with Lei Wanjue wielding the Refining God Tower, he holds an absolute advantage in war artifacts, enough to overturn Zhao Gongming’s edge in esoteric truths. The outcome is already clear.”
...
A tower-shaped light shadow, a hundred times larger than a star, radiated a world-destroying might, causing space to burn like paper.
Any rules that approached the tower’s body instantly dissolved.
Zhao Gongming, riding the black tiger, wielded the Thirteen Coin Sword, protecting himself with billions of sword dao rules as he rapidly retreated, widening the distance from the Refining God Tower.
“Five Elements Life-Taking Sword, no moment leaves a man alive.”
The Thirteen Coin Sword flew out, hovering above his head.
Countless sword qi swirled around the sword, and dense sword dao rules crashed into the coin sword.
“Whoosh!”
The divine sea surged into towering waves.
In an instant, the seawater turned to metal, condensing into countless Thirteen Coin Swords.
Water and metal, two different attributes within the Five Elements, underwent a common transformation under Zhao Gongming’s dao technique, interchanging freely.
He had reached the level of effortlessly altering heaven and earth!
“Is this the peak of Great Unbound Infinite? It seems I underestimated Zhao Gongming. His mastery of the water and metal paths within the Five Elements surpasses even his sword dao. He is only half a step away from Indestructible, isn’t he?”
Dizu Shenjun’s eyes sparkled with brilliance as he abruptly stood up, carefully sensing the wondrous changes of the Five Elements.
Yu Dongxuan let out a long sigh, recognizing the gap between himself and Zhao Gongming in dao techniques.
He had only just entered the world of the Great Unbound Infinite peak, but Zhao Gongming had already reached the end of that world, pushing his primary dao to its extreme.
Everyone thought Zhao Gongming challenged Lei Zu to accumulate battle achievements and contend for the Heavenly Throne. But Yu Dongxuan now understood: Zhao Gongming sought to go further, to find his shortcomings in battle and the entrance to the Indestructible Infinite.
This was a matter of Heavenly Court’s honor—he could only win, not lose, unlike ordinary sparring and discussion.
Even with Lei Zu unleashing the Refining God Tower, he had no choice but to fight.
Zhang Ruochen sensed the extraordinary fluctuations of the Five Elements around him, gaining a flash of insight into his own future path. Was this perhaps the pinnacle of the Five Elements path?
Suddenly, he felt a resonance and turned his gaze toward the Guixu, faintly perceiving several figures.
“He noticed us? His perception is that strong?”
“He obtained that supreme treasure from the Truth Divine Temple; strong perception isn’t too surprising.”
“Let’s keep him here. The Sundial and Earth Cauldron are of great use to us.”
...
In the Guixu, divine shadows flickered—male and female, each unfathomably profound—as they conversed.
Meanwhile, with the empowerment of water and metal paths, Zhao Gongming pushed the Life-Taking Sword Dao to its extreme, driving the Thirteen Coin Sword, carrying a sky-covering array of war swords, to strike at the approaching Refining God Tower.
Fearless and undaunted, he faced the crimson flame heaven formed by the Refining God Tower head-on.
“This sword dao, derived from a Heavenly Venerable’s divine ability, is truly remarkable. Without relying on a Number One Divine Artifact, no one below Indestructible could withstand this strike. Even the lower-ranked Heavenly Venerables would have to dodge its edge.” Xiu Chen Heavenly God couldn’t help but admire. “In these hundred thousand years, Zhao Gongming has advanced tremendously, nearly completing the path of the Great Unbound Infinite peak.”
This was the first time Xiu Chen Heavenly God had earnestly acknowledged someone.
“Boom!”
The Refining God Tower ground the rain of swords into droplets.
Time and space became chaotic, and the divine sea boiled.
Aquatic lifeforms in the Wuding Divine Sea exploded in vast swaths, dyeing the waters crimson.
When the Refining God Tower reached within ten thousand miles of Zhao Gongming, it finally collided with the body of the Thirteen Coin Sword.
In that instant, the sound of swords and thunder merged, indistinguishable, unleashing a destructive, violent energy.
“Crack!”
A shattering sound rang out.
The Thirteen Coin Sword was struck apart by the Refining God Tower, scattering into thirteen copper coins.
Ten of the coins cracked into fragments.
These fragments flew back, piercing through Zhao Gongming and the black tiger, leaving bloody holes.
Yet, Zhao Gongming and the black tiger stood firm, like indestructible divine swords. They activated forbidden arts, igniting their divine blood within, clearly entering a life-or-death struggle—no longer just a spar.
That earlier clash seemed a crushing defeat for Zhao Gongming, with his sword shattered and himself gravely wounded.
But the sword soul of the Life-Taking Sword Dao had pierced through the void, passing through the Refining God Tower, and struck Lei Zu’s divine soul.
Zhao Gongming had known the Refining God Tower’s power, yet he still forced that clash because he wielded vast sword dao esoterica, allowing the sword soul to strike across time and space.
He had thought that, with Lei Zu’s divine body half-destroyed by Feng Tian, his divine soul must have suffered greatly. This strike should have compounded Lei Zu’s injuries, securing victory.
But...
Lei Zu’s divine soul seemed to have recovered, withstanding the blow.
In these thousand years, he must have devoured countless living souls.
Rage surged in Zhao Gongming’s heart. Facing the Refining God Tower pressing down again, he neither retreated nor yielded, determined to make Lei Zu pay, even at the cost of half his divine blood.
“Move aside! I, the Venerable, will fight him!”
Venerable Jie strode from the horizon, his steps swift and imposing, the sky behind him turning nine-colored, flowing with rivers of chaotic ancestral divine qi.
Layers of heavens piled above his head, like palaces or divine towers, blending with the nine-colored clouds, appearing sacred and majestic.
“Lei Wanjue, I hear you’ve declared that my Zhang Clan has no one?” Venerable Jie demanded.
Lei Zu stood within the purple thunder sea behind the Refining God Tower, confusion in his eyes.
Venerable Jie’s heavens increased to twenty layers, calming the winds and waves, pressing time and space back into stability. “I also hear you once bullied a junior of my Zhang Clan, seeking to seize his treasures?”
Lei Zu sensed the terrifying aura emanating from Venerable Jie—the overbearing power of ancestral divine force, ancestral rules piercing through three realms.
“I have come today to restore the Great Venerable’s name, to restore the Zhang Clan’s name. Do you truly think an ancestral clan is easy to bully? If you can withstand one of my fists, I will spare your life today.”
Venerable Jie’s eyes were sharp, his confidence unshakable, showing no sign of “internal weakness.” He glared at Zhao Gongming. “Didn’t you hear me telling you to get lost? He is the one I intend to kill!”
“Whoosh!”
Venerable Jie swung his arm, his sleeve lashing out, drawing a nine-colored chaotic ancestral river that sent Zhao Gongming and the black tiger flying out of that time-space.
He made it look effortless, like swatting away a mosquito.
Lei Zu’s eyelids twitched, realizing the cultivator before him was no ordinary being.
Venerable Jie let out a long roar, raising his right arm and clenching his fist.
A deafening explosion erupted from within his body, and above his head, the twenty-first layer of heaven condensed.
He threw a punch, deforming space and causing it to bulge outward.
The Immovable Wisdom King Fist carried the power to shatter the void, the might to break heaven and earth with a single blow.
“Bang!”
The Refining God Tower was struck, instantly flying backward.
The fist force surged like a landslide, shattering the thunder sea and landing on Lei Zu.
It was a complete crushing. Lei Zu’s divine abilities burst like bubbles, easily erased by the fist force.
“Pfft!”
Lei Zu’s body exploded into a cloud of blood mist, leaving only a broken skeletal frame that plunged into the seawater.
A stretch of millions of miles of sea sank, forming a fist-shaped crater. It took a long time for the water to surge back up and fill the pit.
Venerable Jie hovered above the sea, his whole body radiating blazing divine light, illuminating the cosmic void. He roared, “Lei Wanjue, is this all the strength you have, and you dare to look down on my Zhang Clan? As long as I, Zhang Jie, live, there is no place for you to show off in this world.”
He peered toward the Guixu, his voice deep. “Who else dares to come out and fight?”
The figures in the Guixu, who had intended to act against Zhang Ruochen, were startled by Venerable Jie’s momentum. They withdrew their auras and retreated, hiding themselves.
The spectators from the Heavenly Court Universe were all shaken, finding it hard to believe.
The gods of the Radiant Divine Palace were horrified, their scalps tingling.
Was the Kunlun Realm’s foundation this terrifying?
Yu Dongxuan was momentarily dazed before giving the order, “Return to the Divine Temple!”
How could they still fight?
Venerable Jie had already cultivated twenty-one layers of heaven, coupled with ancestral divine force and ancestral rules. Even if the Hall Master came, victory was uncertain. Venerable Jie clearly had a vengeful and protective nature—if they didn’t leave now, they might not get away later.
(End of Chapter)