Chapter 3695: The Shadow Appears
Zhang Ruochen stood at the highest level of the Space Divine Temple, his figure straight, hands clasped behind his back, gazing toward Buzhou Mountain shrouded in clouds and mist.
He closed his eyes, sensing carefully.
Around the mountain, spatial meridians crisscrossed, forming countless spatial bubbles of various sizes. Ancient divine patterns surged like great rivers, shuttling through the mountain.
A single mountain, yet vaster than a great world, with many places where divine thoughts could not reach.
Or perhaps, ancient forces severed his divine thoughts.
One of the most mysterious divine mountains in the Heavenly Court, its legends could be traced back to the Primordial Beginning. Even with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation realm, facing it stirred a sense of awe, as if gazing up at a towering peak.
Behind him, light footsteps sounded.
A faint fragrance drifted over.
Chi Yao could see what Zhang Ruochen was pondering, and said, "The Space Divine Temple's hall master is indeed highly suspicious. But in terms of controlling the various foundational powers within the Space Divine Temple and Buzhou Mountain, he far surpasses us, and his cultivation is unfathomable. Even if we want to test him, we must be extremely cautious. As for the legendary Yu Xu, it is certainly even more perilous."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Xuanyuan Lian told me that the Space Divine Temple's hall master has another special identity—he was once the Third Elder of the Inverse God Clan. This secret is known to very few."
Chi Yao's face showed an indescribable shock, and she said, "How is that possible?"
A hundred thousand years ago, the Inverse God Clan's suffering was even worse than that of the Kunlun Realm.
That old case remains a taboo that cannot be discussed to this day.
Whoever discusses it must suffer divine punishment.
All records about the Inverse God Clan were burned. Both the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm wanted to erase their traces.
This included when the Heavenly Court army attacked Xinghuantian, and Shang Tian ordered the external slogan to be the destruction of the Inverse God Clan.
With this slogan, the various forces of the Hell Realm that had rushed to Xinghuantian chose to stand by. Fortunately, Heavenly Mother feared no taboos and lent divine power to Zhang Ruochen, allowing him to repel the Heavenly Court army and protect Bai Qinger and the Inverse God Clan.
A powerful ancient clan native to the Heavenly Court, first had the Inverse God Heavenly Venerable lead the Heavens to campaign into the unknown.
Later, the Inverse God Clan's Grand Elder, at a critical moment of heaven-shattering crisis, traveled through the myriad worlds of the universe, established the Heavenly Palace, and founded the Heavenly Court.
Such a great race was abandoned by the Heavenly Court a hundred thousand years ago, and they even sought to eradicate them completely.
So unfathomably mysterious!
No one knows how many unknown secrets occurred back then.
That is a past that even the Heavens are unwilling to speak of, or perhaps do not know the details of.
That the Inverse God Clan's Third Elder could hide his identity and serve as the Space Divine Temple's hall master is clearly due to Hao Tian's protection.
According to Desolate Tian's account, when Shang Tian's son, the Duotian Divine Emperor, married Bai Qinger's mother, Yu Baiwei, it was intended to preserve the Inverse God Clan's bloodline. As for why Shang Tian later clamored to kill the Inverse God Clan, whether it was because Yu Baiwei left with Desolate Tian, damaging the Shang Clan's face, or for other reasons, is unknown.
In short, Hao Tian and Shang Tian's actions are too strange, their deeds very contradictory.
On the surface, they treated the Inverse God Clan with great disdain, forbidding cultivators across the world from discussing them, wanting to completely erase their traces. Many cultivators even believe that Hao Tian and the top deities of the Heavenly Court betrayed the Inverse God Clan a hundred thousand years ago in exchange for a ceasefire agreement with the Hell Realm.
Because, when the ceasefire agreement was signed, the Inverse God Clan was mysteriously annihilated.
But secretly, Hao Tian and Shang Tian preserved the Inverse God Clan's bloodline and seeds through their own methods.
Zhang Ruochen had no goodwill toward the Shang Clan. He rarely bothered to think about what Shang Tian's true intentions were.
But the impression Hao Tian left on Zhang Ruochen was profound. He simply could not believe that such a majestic and unparalleled figure would sit idly by while the Inverse God Clan was annihilated just to sign a ceasefire agreement.
What unknown secrets lie hidden behind all this?
Why did the Inverse God Clan, once a revered holy clan, become unacceptable to the entire universe?
Chi Yao said, "Any news from the Sword God Temple? What is the situation with Senior Nine Heavens and the others?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head gently and sighed, "Senior Nine Heavens and Senior Yu are both Heaven-round Unfailing ones, and they went with many strong experts from the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm, but none have returned. The Sword God Temple must hold great terror. For now, I can only wait for Grandmaster to recover his cultivation. Then I will go invite Nutian Shenzun or Heavenly Mother. Only figures of that level can probably handle the situation at the Sword God Temple."
Chi Yao could feel the heavy burden on Zhang Ruochen's shoulders and his worry about the current situation.
In such chaotic times, even Heavenly Venerable-level figures face great difficulties and must contend with various factions.
Chi Yao took out a booklet and said, "This is my plan for activating the Sundial, along with the list of personnel allowed to cultivate inside the Sundial."
"No need, I trust you."
Zhang Ruochen took out two Divine Sources and handed them to her, saying, "These are the Divine Sources of the Chivada Mother Goddess and the Three Fiends Divine Lord. They can be used to refine Divine Pills. You distribute the pills as you see fit."
Seeing Chi Yao hesitate, Zhang Ruochen said, "Although the Chivada Mother Goddess and the Three Fiends Divine Lord had high cultivation, they did not reach the Indestructible Infinite level. Their Divine Sources are supreme treasures for other Divine Kings and Divine Venerables, but they are of no use to me anymore."
"Right now, to improve my cultivation, I need to cultivate the Five Elements, which requires time and gradual accumulation."
"The Earth Element Divine Realm World is already complete. Earth generates Metal. The next step is to cultivate the Shaoyang Divine Mountain with the attribute of Metal. Once successful, it will be equivalent to breaking through a realm."
According to Zhang Ruochen's estimation, he must cultivate all Five Elements to perfection, allowing all Dao principles to transform into each other and integrate completely, before he can reach the pinnacle of the Great Unbound Infinite. Only then can he seek the next transformation.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Have you informed the Empress?"
Chi Yao said, "The Empress will arrive at the Space Divine Temple in a few days."
"Excellent. To cultivate the Shaoyang Divine Mountain into the Metal Element as quickly as possible, I need to borrow her Sword Dao Essence. Sword Dao Essence, Heart of Truth..." Zhang Ruochen suddenly thought of something and said, "Leave Zangjin Baihu here! Cultivating the Burial Gold Dao should also provide some help."
Zangjin Baihu, inseparable from Chi Yao, emerged from the celestial world she had manifested, its gaze still unfriendly.
Ever since Zhang Ruochen suggested it mate with the Black Tiger to produce offspring, it had looked at him with displeasure, no longer as close as before.
Chi Yao accepted the two Divine Sources and said, "The Divine Sources of Heavens are extremely rare, more precious than many divine medicines. They can indeed be used to refine Divine Pills that enhance cultivation. But very few cultivators can refine them. I will go to the Five Elements Temple and ask the Temple Master for help."
Although the Earth Cauldron could also refine pills, it could not properly utilize the power of Divine Sources. The Divine Pills it produced were far inferior to true Divine Pills.
Chi Yao walked toward the temple's exit. At that moment, a burly deity stood at the entrance.
He wore thick black armor, was over two meters tall, and had a cape like a war banner on his back. Although only a Tai Xu Great God, his aura was intimidating.
With his appearance, a cold wind swept into the hall.
Chi Yao stepped into the shadow cast by his body, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cave. A strange sense of danger arose in her heart, and her pace slowed.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Elder Xuan, what are you doing here?"
It was the Fourth Elder responsible for guarding the divine domain, Xuan Yin Cheng.
Xuan Yin Cheng clasped his fists and bowed his head, saying, "With the deities of the Black Demon Realm, Yin Yang Realm, and Ten Thousand Evil Realm captured, the number of deities imprisoned in the divine prison has exceeded a hundred. I came to ask the Grand Elder whether we should fully activate the Seven-Layer Prison Suppressing Divine Formation? In case..."
Just then, Xuan Yin Cheng suddenly stepped forward. His hand, wearing black exotic metal gauntlets, erupted with space-tearing power, striking at Chi Yao.
Chi Yao's willow-like, slender figure seemed so fragile before this punch, as if it would be blasted into a bloody mist.
"Roar!"
Zangjin Baihu roared in fury, trying to rush over, but it was too late.
Chi Yao remained calm and composed. The seventeen-layer celestial world instantly manifested above her head. Her right hand, with five snow-white, jade-like fingers clenched tightly, delivered a punch.
The two fists collided like divine iron striking each other, producing a thunderous, ear-splitting sound.
"Boom!"
Xuan Yin Cheng flew backward like a cannonball.
The moment he struck, the temple's doors were shut, and the formations inside the hall activated eerily in an instant, forming a pitch-black, lightless independent world.
Countless divine formation spaces manifested within the temple.
The flying Xuan Yin Cheng crashed into a mass of black mist and disappeared.
Zhang Ruochen had already appeared beside Chi Yao, his expression calm, and said, "Won't you show yourself, sir?"
From the darkness came a strange voice, neither male nor female, neither old nor young, saying, "What boldness. Not flustered at all at a time like this. Truly worthy of being the number one under heaven throughout the ages."
This was definitely not Xuan Yin Cheng's voice!
Someone had hidden inside Xuan Yin Cheng's Divine Realm World, concealing the heavenly secrets, and come to the temple.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I have been searching for you, waiting for you. Now that you have finally appeared, why should I be flustered? I am delighted."
"You expected me to make a move?" the voice said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Chivada Mother Goddess and the Three Fiends Divine Lord had their Dao and spiritual will broken, leaving them with no hope of reaching the Indestructible Infinite. You abandoned them, deliberately making me underestimate you, making me think you dared not show yourself. But you chose to strike after Divine Ancestor Pater left, when I had lost strong support and was at my most relaxed, delivering a fatal blow."
"Because, in your eyes, my value far exceeds that of the Chivada Mother Goddess and the Three Fiends Divine Lord. If I had not been on guard just now, and Yao Yao had fallen into your hands, I would have lost everything."
When Xuan Yin Cheng struck, the shadow had followed closely.
But Zhang Ruochen easily passed through layers of formation spaces and appeared beside Chi Yao, exceeding the opponent's expectations, thus intimidating them into retreating.
The voice from the darkness said, "So, the Chivada Mother Goddess and the Three Fiends Divine Lord were just decoys, and you were the bait. And not only are you the bait, but you also want to be the angler?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "To you and the Quantity Organization, what could be more attractive than me?"
"Do you think you are qualified to be the angler?" the voice said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If you truly had the strength to take me down, you would have struck at me directly just now. Why choose Yao Yao?"
"I just wanted to win in the easiest way."
The voice continued, "Moreover, what attracts me is not just you. Chi Yao and Zangjin Baihu are still my targets. Although the surprise attack failed, the outcome will not change. Do you know why?"
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened as he looked at Chi Yao and Zangjin Baihu beside him.
The voice said, "With them in the temple, you are bound to be constrained. In a clash of experts, hiding them in your Divine Realm World is useless. And I am not only stronger than you, but I also have no constraints. I can go all out to kill you."
From the very beginning, the two had been engaged in a psychological battle. Whoever first shattered the other's state of mind, making them believe they had fallen into a trap, would have a greater chance of winning.