Chapter 3665: Eon Calamity
In the cosmic void outside the Kongming Realm, long rivers of star mist flowed, twisting and tangling together, continuously accumulating into multi-colored calamity clouds.
Within the calamity clouds, lightning dragons of various colors shuttled back and forth, their emitted fluctuations causing stars billions of miles away to tremble.
Nie Cang Venerable stood within the sea of clouds of the Kongming Realm, gazing at Zhang Ruochen beneath the calamity clouds. He had already fully released his spiritual power, enveloping a star domain spanning tens of trillions of miles, blocking all probing and divination.
"My spiritual power, after all, still has a considerable gap compared to those who have achieved Heavenly Circle Without Deficiency. I may not be able to completely conceal the heavenly secrets," he said.
Nutian Shenzun said, "With me here, their spiritual power won't find it so easy to perceive the heavenly secrets of this star domain."
"I'm afraid it won't be enough to deceive them. Over the years, more than ten cultivators have come to the Kongming Realm to train, and each one's cultivation has skyrocketed. The outside world will definitely become suspicious," Nie Cang Venerable said.
Nutian Shenzun said, "It was never going to be hidden for long. In the end, we still have to rely on force to suppress them. As long as they can't figure out the extent to which the Sundial and Xiu Chen have recovered, that's enough. When they make the first move to test us, I'll have a reason to cut them down. At least on the Hell Realm side, I can suppress this era."
Nie Cang Venerable remained somewhat worried. There were certainly not a few in the world who coveted the Sundial.
Those who dared to offend Nutian Shenzun were naturally few and far between. But would they just sit back and wait for death?
Absolutely not.
They would definitely take action.
And once they struck, it would surely be a bloody storm.
It was still difficult to judge where they would strike from, which was the root of Nie Cang Venerable's concern.
Over this thousand years, the major powers of the universe had been checking each other, forming a delicate balance. It was precisely because of this that this thousand years had been relatively peaceful.
But this was not a good thing!
Because no one knew how many ancient powerhouses had descended into the present era, secretly recovering their strength.
No one knew whether the Quantity Organization was plotting something in the shadows. After all, as long as they didn't move, there were no flaws to be found.
Silence must mean they were accumulating energy, brewing a great storm.
One thousand years. Under the Sundial, that was over three hundred thousand years.
Among them, Zhang Ruochen had only cultivated for tens of thousands of years, until today, finally facing his first Eon Calamity.
It wasn't that he didn't want to cultivate for more time, but rather, because he himself was the youngest, cultivating for long periods in a different time with extremely slow time flow was not a good thing. It would affect his state of mind and his soul's perception of the real world.
Therefore, each time, he controlled his cultivation time to around ten thousand years.
Only after surviving the Eon Calamity would he attempt to cultivate for a longer period in one go.
Generally speaking, when one's cultivation reached the Great Perfection of Upper-Level God, there was a very good chance of surviving the first Eon Calamity.
Given Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation and strength, he naturally wouldn't fear the Eon Calamity.
But he still took it very seriously.
Because this was not only a calamity that could kill cultivators, but it could also temper a cultivator's physical body and divine soul, allowing their strength to advance further. More importantly, it was an opportunity to comprehend the power of heaven and earth.
"Boom!"
The heavenly tribulation fell like a purple waterfall from the calamity clouds.
Zhang Ruochen stood in the void, spreading his arms wide, not using any defensive measures. He let the tribulation lightning fall upon him, closing his eyes to deeply feel the mystery of that power.
One hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years of cultivation. All accumulated knowledge, all insights into the Dao, surged into his mind.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
One after another, the divine thunder of the heavenly tribulation grew increasingly fierce.
The tribulation thunder fell, piercing through Zhang Ruochen's body from the top of his head, and bursting out from the soles of his feet.
The tribulation lightning was far more powerful than the first Eon Calamity of other gods, shattering a large area of space, turning it into a chaotic spatial zone spanning hundreds of thousands of miles.
Such a powerful fluctuation of heaven and earth could not be completely concealed by Nie Cang Venerable, who had not reached Heavenly Circle Without Deficiency. Some heavenly secrets leaked out.
Some gods rushed towards the Kongming Realm, wanting to investigate the situation, to know who was undergoing the Eon Calamity.
But they were deterred by the divine might released by Nutian Shenzun and dared not approach.
The behind-the-scenes strongman who had dispatched the gods stood at a hidden section of the Santu River, making a judgment: "Protesting too much. That one from White Clothes Valley is worried that the true power of the Sundial will be leaked. Secretly spread the word, saying that Xiu Chen Heavenly God's cultivation has fully recovered, and the Sundial only lacks the Time Esoterica in Qiangu Nüdi's hands to reach its peak state from the Middle Ages."
"Whoosh!"
At that moment, a divine sun slowly rose above the Santu River.
That divine sun was a Gate of Destiny.
"What virtue or ability do you have, to dare offend me? To dare bring disaster upon White Clothes Valley? Who gave you the courage?"
The silhouette of Nutian Shenzun stood within the Gate of Destiny, his figure towering and majestic. He swung his arm, striking out with a heaven-covering, earth-shading great hand seal.
"Boom!"
That Boundless Realm behind-the-scenes strongman from the Corpse Clan was slapped into a bloody mist by Nutian Shenzun's palm, his corpse and bones utterly destroyed.
This section of the Santu River was blasted dry, leaving only a nine-thousand-mile-long, five-finger-shaped spatial hole in the void.
The news quickly spread, silencing the entire starry sky where the Underworld Clan resided, and then spreading throughout the entire Hell Realm.
Those behind-the-scenes strongmen who were full of questions and curiosity about the power of the Sundial, and even harbored thoughts of seizing it, saw Nutian Shenzun's will and dared not take any further action.
But various rumors about the Sundial still quietly circulated.
However, under deliberate guidance, these rumors became a mix of truth and falsehood, making it impossible to judge the reality.
As for who was undergoing the Eon Calamity, no one had definite information, only that it was a Boundless Realm powerhouse. From this, it could be judged that the Sundial could at least support the cultivation of gods at the Qiankun Boundless Realm.
Nutian Shenzun personally issued a statement to the world: "The Sundial is in White Clothes Valley, and it already possesses the power to support the cultivation of Qiankun Boundless gods. Those who have the courage may come and seize it. White Clothes Valley will not activate the Sundial on a large scale. Without more than fifty percent of the Time Esoterica, the Sundial does not have the ability to activate on a large scale."
Over this thousand years, Xue Jue War God and Desolate Heaven, relying on the Sundial, had both reached the peak of Qiankun Boundless, only half a step away from Great Unbound Infinite. This matter could not be hidden.
Furthermore, Hai Shang You Ruo, Zhuque Huo Wu, Underworld King, Xue Hou, Que, Xiao Hei, Luo Sha, Gu Ye Jing, and other Hell Realm cultivators who were closest to Zhang Ruochen and exceptionally talented, had all made rapid progress in their cultivation, with some even breaking through to the Boundless Realm.
As for some other top-tier Great Gods and Qiankun Boundless Hell Realm cultivators, they had also entered the Sundial to cultivate, but they had remained deeply hidden, unknown to the outside world. These were the hidden pieces Zhang Ruochen had deployed. For example, Ni Xuan Bei Shi and others.
This campaign to win hearts and minds within the Hell Realm, despite being carried out with caution and as low-key as possible, had still caused considerable impact, alerting many Heavenly Lords of the Hell Realm.
...
The calamity clouds gradually dispersed.
The electric light on Zhang Ruochen's body retracted back into him. A sharper brilliance appeared in his eyes, and every line on his face seemed to be traced by the Heavenly Dao, containing infinite Dao resonance.
He could sense the changes in the outside world, and a hidden worry arose in his heart.
"Whoosh!"
With a single movement, he crossed the void and appeared beside Nie Cang Venerable, asking, "Venerable, have you been able to deduce who dispatched those gods to investigate?"
Now, the aura emanating from Zhang Ruochen was no weaker than Nie Cang Venerable's. It was as if a universe was hidden within his body, containing the power to destroy the world.
"Those who can break through my spiritual power barrier are only a few. If we really want to trace it to the end, it's nothing more than Qingtian, Kui Liang Huang, Jiusi Yitianhuang, the Yama Clan Tai Shang, plus the martial arts limit, Lei Fa Tianzun. Anyway, it's most likely one of them, or several of them were involved." There was a cold intent in Nie Cang Venerable's eyes.
Wu Yue walked out of White Clothes Valley and ascended to the sea of clouds outside the realm, saying, "No matter what, this time we concealed the Eon Calamity crossing. The outside world will inevitably have all sorts of speculations. Those who fear you, those who covet the Sundial, will definitely take action. They won't allow you to continue hiding in White Clothes Valley to cultivate. You have too much karma, deeply entangled with too many people. This means weaknesses are everywhere."
Wu Yue did not continue, but Zhang Ruochen could feel that sense of crisis, which was already imminent. The unease in his heart grew even stronger.
Zhang Ruochen said, "On the Hell Realm side, with Nutian Shenzun and Heavenly Mother here, I'm afraid those people won't even dare to make small moves. I'm more worried about the Kunlun Realm side!"
A dying Tai Shang was the most terrifying existence in the entire universe, making the Kunlun Realm the safest place.
But a Tai Shang who was prolonging his life had a completely different meaning, enough to turn the Kunlun Realm into the most dangerous place in the world.
Over a thousand years, Tai Shang had not died.
Moreover, Jiusi Yitianhuang had spread the secret of the Udumbara Flower.
"You want to return to the Kunlun Realm?"
Yan Shu Chan Shi, Jue Miao Chan Nu, and Qing Su successively ascended the sea of clouds.
The one who asked the previous question was Jue Miao Chan Nu.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Although I made some arrangements before, there are still a few people I haven't settled properly. I want to first send those cultivators closest to me to a safe place, as much as possible. Then, I will take the initiative to do a few things, tie down some people, and share the pressure on the Kunlun Realm side..."
His words stopped there.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze locked tightly onto the front.
He saw that, about several hundred miles away from the crowd, a hundred-zhang-long pitch-black rift suddenly tore open in the void.
A bloodstained white unicorn slowly walked out from the rift.
Drops of bright red blood fell from the unicorn's back, lingering in the void like flower petals. The unicorn carried a headless corpse on its back, and the blood flowed from the broken neck of the corpse.
Chi Kunlun's war sword was tied to the unicorn's neck with iron chains, making a "clang, clang" metallic striking sound as the unicorn stepped forward.
The war sword was broken!
This was an incredibly desolate and tragic scene. Zhang Ruochen stared without blinking, only the slight trembling of his fingers revealing the pain within his heart, and the indescribable emotions of regret, or anger, or coldness.
Nie Cang Shenzun was the first to react, transforming into a streak of light and rushing into the spatial rift behind the unicorn.
Almost at the same time.
Kunlun Realm.
In the courtyard outside the Sword Pavilion, Chi Yao received an exquisitely decorated jade box.
The moment she opened the box, she met Chi Kunlun's eyes.
(Chapter End)