Chapter 3677: The New Grand Elder
The Heavenly Palace had nine war gods, each with a fearsome reputation. During the divine war one hundred thousand years ago, they fought alongside Hao Tian, slaying countless gods of the Hell Realm.
In that divine war, half of the gods from both the Heavenly Court realms and the Hell Realm fell, and countless great worlds were destroyed. Thus, it was designated as the end of the Middle Ages.
The Broad Vision War God, ranked third among the nine war gods, was born in the Ten Thousand Ruins Realm. He had followed Hao Tian longer than the other eight war gods.
He was responsible for guarding the West Ox Continent, suppressing Hell Realm gods who had infiltrated, mediating disputes among gods from various worlds in the Western Universe, and judging gods who violated heavenly laws.
With such a major incident erupting at the Space Divine Temple, how could it not alarm him?
The Broad Vision War God wore a red divine robe inside, clad in armor, a dragon helmet on his head, and a pair of golden wings several zhang wide on his back. Standing amidst the clouds, his eyes exuded a sharp, murderous aura.
When Xue Qing fell, he had intended to act, but Zhao Gongming had dissuaded him.
The Broad Vision War God looked down below and said, "More and more gods are gathering from all sides. Some side with the Kunlun Realm, others with the Space Divine Temple. The entire Heavenly Court is about to be split in two! If we don't act now, a great disaster may occur."
Zhao Gongming sat on the back of the Black Tiger, smiling faintly. "Act? Against whom?"
"Whoever creates chaos, I will slay them," the Broad Vision War God said.
Zhao Gongming said, "Then I'm afraid you won't be able to slay a single one! You know full well who supports the Space Divine Temple from behind. Would you dare go to the Paradise Realm and slay that one? Secondly, this matter began with Chi Kunlun's death. Do you know who killed him? Do you know who the Liang organization member in the Space Divine Temple is? Have you investigated that? Tell me, who would you kill?"
The Broad Vision War God's unusual eyes shot out sharp light. "You know who I'm talking about. Why pretend to be confused? Could it be that you owe a favor to that female emperor of the Kunlun Realm and have come to repay it this time? If personal matters cause the Heavenly Court to fall into crisis, you cannot bear that responsibility."
Zhao Gongming exuded a natural authority and sneered, "You want to slay Zhang Ruochen, but do you know why he could cross the Heavenly River? Why is he so emboldened?"
"Nothing more than his status as the Realm Lord of the Sword Realm and the indulgence of Jie Tian. But these two golden bodies are not enough to give him the capital to act recklessly in the Heavenly Court. I guard the West Ox Continent. Whoever dares to ignore heavenly laws and cause chaos here, no matter how noble their status, must pay the price."
The Broad Vision War God summoned a war hammer, no longer wanting to bother with Zhao Gongming, and prepared to act quickly to prevent the situation from escalating into a civil war within the Heavenly Court.
Zhao Gongming naturally knew that the Broad Vision War God had a fiery temperament and a determination to protect the Heavenly Court even at the cost of his life, but he still stepped forward and said solemnly, "Zhang Ruochen killed Xue Qing and destroyed the divine ladder. That was indeed too extreme. I have no objection to you slaying him. But, have you forgotten where this all started?"
"If you only slay Zhang Ruochen, what will the gods of the Kunlun Realm think? What about the Thousand Star Civilization, the Heavenly Dragon Realm, the Five Elements Temple... all of which have good relations with the Kunlun Realm? What will they think?"
The Broad Vision War God said, "I will certainly investigate the cause of Chi Kunlun's death and root out those behind it, one by one, leaving none alive."
Zhao Gongming said, "Is today's matter really only because of Zhang Ruochen? Xie Tianyi repeatedly provoked him, even threatening him with his daughter, clearly trying to stir up conflict. You can't be blind to that, can you? How will you deal with him?"
"Furthermore, Zhang Ruochen is the Lord of the Sword Realm. If you kill him, wouldn't that push the Sword Realm completely into the Hell Realm?"
"Third, do you bear some responsibility for Chi Kunlun's death?"
Before the Broad Vision War God could get angry, Zhao Gongming continued, "The Liang organization member in the Space Divine Temple was supposed to be investigated by you, yet you found nothing. If you had found that Liang organization member earlier, would today's events have happened?"
"If you attack Zhang Ruochen now, won't you be putting yourself in the middle of controversy?"
The Broad Vision War God said, "Are you suspecting me now?"
Zhao Gongming shook his head and laughed, "If you were the Liang organization member, could you have survived until today? The Heavenly Venerable sees things as clearly as a mirror! What I mean is, you must not be used by others!"
Although the Broad Vision War God had a fiery and straightforward personality, he had lived for many years and gradually calmed down. He said, "I do have a bias. My desire to slay him is not entirely because of today's events, but because he is too close to those high-ranking figures in the Hell Realm. Moreover, he is so astonishing and cultivates so quickly. If he ends up siding with the Hell Realm in the future, it would be a great disaster for the Heavenly Court!"
"And Feng Caiyi and Kong Fannu are both main war factions. How many cultivators of the Heavenly Court have they slain?"
Seeing that his murderous intent had subsided, Zhao Gongming smiled more easily. "You only see that he is close to the high-ranking figures of the Hell Realm, but you don't see that he is also close to several high-ranking figures of the Heavenly Court. What does that mean?"
"What does it mean?" the Broad Vision War God asked.
Zhao Gongming said, "It means that there is a gap between you and these top-tier great figures! What they can think of, can't you think of it too?"
The Broad Vision War God had no intention of comparing himself to the All Heavens, let alone the Heavenly Venerable rank. "Forget it! This matter involves the All Heavens, and even Tai Shang... Never mind, I won't interfere with his dealings with the Hell Realm. But what about the matter before us? Are we just supposed to watch the situation deteriorate step by step?"
Zhao Gongming looked towards the Space Divine Temple. "The truly great figures haven't made their move yet. And although the current situation clearly favors Zhang Ruochen, Jie Tian hasn't shown himself. Don't you find that strange?"
"You mean there's something we don't know about in all this?" the Broad Vision War God asked.
"Oh!"
Zhao Gongming's expression changed. He raised his arm and looked at the rules flowing between his fingers. "The space rules of the entire Heavenly Court are converging on the Space Divine Temple. Could it be that this boy truly has the ability to move heaven and earth, and can mobilize the esoterica within the Space Divine Temple?"
The Broad Vision War God could not remain calm either.
If the esoterica within the Space Divine Temple could be so easily mobilized by an outsider, how could it have been passed down to this day?
Was a First-Rank Divine Path truly so monstrous?
...
Not a single god in the Space Divine Temple was not shocked.
Even they could not mobilize the esoterica within the temple, so why could an outsider?
Space rules continuously converged, wrapping around the temple and enveloping Zhang Ruochen.
Above the temple, a massive Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal spun endlessly, mobilizing space rules to resist the attacks from the Star-Swallowing Divine Formation.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
The forces struck by Xie Tianyi, who was controlling the Star-Swallowing Divine Formation, were all blocked by the Space Divine Temple and the space rules.
The elder standing beside Xie Tianyi was very uneasy and immediately tried to dissuade him. "Vice Palace Master, we cannot attack anymore. Even if we break through the space rules, I'm afraid the temple will not be spared."
How could Xie Tianyi let go of this perfect opportunity?
Today, he had already made an enemy of Zhang Ruochen to the death. If he didn't kill him now, once Zhang Ruochen recovered, what kind of revenge would he face?
"Zhang Ruochen, have you stolen the inherited divine artifact of the Space Divine Temple?" Xie Tianyi asked loudly.
Hearing this, the gods who had been amazed that Zhang Ruochen could mobilize the space esoterica within the temple suddenly understood. Then, the hatred and anger in their hearts grew even stronger.
"Zhang Ruochen, if you have the guts, don't hide in the Space Divine Temple. Come out and fight us openly!"
"Hand over the inherited divine artifact, or today will be a fight to the death."
"Everyone, use all your power to mobilize the power of the Divine Throne Planet, strike into the temple, and kill this Eon-level great villain!"
...
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and sighed. He did not think these gods were foolish.
Having cultivated to the divine realm, how could they lack such wisdom?
It was simply malicious intent.
They had jumped out so easily, which meant they believed this was a perfect opportunity and that Zhang Ruochen had committed an unforgivable crime with no chance of turning things around.
Good!
Very good!
There was no need to continue hiding.
In the previous exchanges, Zhang Ruochen had been observing everyone with his Heart of Truth and had already formed a preliminary understanding.
"Zhang Ruochen, you are the Lord of the Sword Realm. Based on the alliance between the Heavenly Court and the Sword Realm, it's not too late to turn back now!" The voice of the Heavenly Cliff God Venerable came from his suppressed, broken body.
Zhang Ruochen ignored him. He proudly looked up at the gods in the sky and finally fixed his gaze on Xie Tianyi. "I am unparalleled throughout history, the number one under heaven. How can you fathom me? To mobilize the esoterica within the Space Divine Temple, why would I need to use any inherited divine artifact? My Dao is the strongest divine artifact."
Xie Tianyi sneered. "If that's the case, Realm Lord Ruochen, why don't you use your Dao to break the Star-Swallowing Divine Formation? Relying on the Space Divine Temple, you can hide for a while, but can you hide forever? Two war gods of the Heavenly Palace have already arrived. Do you think you can still leave today?"
Zhang Ruochen had long sensed the auras of Zhao Gongming and the Broad Vision War God, but he didn't take them too seriously. With his current cultivation, background, and status, how could two war gods control him?
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since you are the Vice Palace Master of the Array-Destroying Palace and have profound knowledge of formations, don't you know what the core of a divine formation is?"
Xie Tianyi naturally knew. For a formation like the Star-Swallowing Divine Formation, the formation spirit was the core.
But why was Zhang Ruochen suddenly bringing this up?
"As long as the formation spirit is on my side, do you think I can't break the Star-Swallowing Divine Formation?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xie Tianyi laughed. "I think you're..."
His voice abruptly stopped as he stared intently at the command seal in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
Zhang Ruochen held the command seal and swept his gaze over the gods present. "I, this venerable one, have received the decree of the Heavenly Venerable. From today onward, I will assume the position of Grand Elder of the Space Divine Temple. First, I will investigate the case of Chi Kunlun's murder. Second, I will investigate the Liang organization member and its members hidden within the Space Divine Temple. I hold the power of life and death to purge traitors and evil spirits. Anyone who dares to obstruct me will be killed without mercy!"
The last three words contained a soul attack.
Upon hearing them, even the gods trembled.
Zhang Ruochen threw the command seal to the suppressed Heavenly Cliff God Venerable, then turned his gaze to Xie Tianyi. "I, this elder, originally thought the Liang organization member must be in the Space Divine Temple. But today, your actions in stirring up trouble are no different from those of the Liang organization, which makes you suspicious. Palace Master Xie, should I personally suppress you, or will you surrender?"
Above the clouds, Zhao Gongming and the Broad Vision War God were both stunned.
If even they were so shocked, one could imagine the expressions of the gods from various realms who were watching the Space Divine Temple at this moment.
(End of this chapter)