# Chapter 3712: Death God's Blade
Blade Venerable cultivated the way of the blade as his main path, known as the "Number One Blade Under Heaven," and naturally had great interest in the Gold Dao Esoterica, making it impossible for him to yield it willingly.
The Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel flew ahead like a blazing sun burning fiercely, its scattered flames capable of reducing any ordinary god to ashes in an instant upon contact.
Like a doomsday light wheel.
Although Xunyangzi had hidden inside the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel, Blade Venerable's blade strike was so powerful that it would inevitably penetrate the vessel's walls, sending blade force impacting against him.
It was like this: if Zhang Ruochen hid inside the Earth Cauldron and a Heavenly Venerable-level expert struck the cauldron from outside, he would certainly not fare well inside.
For this reason, the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel was currently in an uncontrolled state, its divine artifact might far less formidable than before.
"Shua!"
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen and Blade Venerable each displayed their divine abilities, pushing their speed to the limit, both wanting to suppress the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel first.
Although Blade Venerable appeared decrepit and aged, his physical body was actually extremely powerful, with few below the Indestructible Infinite realm able to match him.
With such a physical foundation, he far surpassed Zhang Ruochen in speed.
However, Zhang Ruochen's attainments in time and space exceeded his, compensating for the speed disadvantage and preventing him from being left behind.
"Hua!"
Still ten thousand miles apart, Blade Venerable struck out a second time, hitting the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel again.
Like a divine bell being struck, the sound waves were deafening.
A large patch of flames on the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel was knocked off.
Then Blade Venerable struck a third time, a fourth time...
The Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel was like a ball, knocked flying in different directions by his strikes, causing Zhang Ruochen to miss every time he tried to collect it.
"Heh heh, originally, given Xunyangzi's cultivation, if he had fought to the death, I, this old man, would have had to be somewhat cautious. But hiding inside the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel was nothing but weaving his own shroud."
After striking dozens of times in succession, Blade Venerable confirmed that Xunyangzi had been severely wounded. He then summoned dense blade dao rules, wrapped them around the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel, and collected it into his palm.
From beginning to end, Zhang Ruochen had been unable to intervene.
This old man Blade Venerable's cultivation far surpassed Zhang Ruochen's, and compared to a Heavenly Venerable like the Five Dragon God Emperor, he was not the least bit weaker.
This battle taught Zhang Ruochen a lesson.
When facing a true expert, hiding inside the Earth Cauldron was useless; instead, it would trap oneself and lose the deterrent power of the "self-destruct divine source" move.
Earlier, Blade Venerable had not dared to go all out, certainly also because he feared Xunyangzi would self-destruct his divine source.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Blade Venerable's cultivation is profound, fully worthy of being ranked among the Heavenly Venerables. This junior admires it. However, although the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel has been suppressed, Blade Venerable should not be able to do anything to Xunyangzi hiding inside, right?"
Xunyangzi was at the peak of Great Unbound Infinite cultivation.
For Blade Venerable to refine him to death through the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel was almost impossible.
On the contrary, once Blade Venerable encountered a powerful enemy and fell into a weakened state, Xunyangzi could completely take control of the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel and launch a counterattack.
Of course, Blade Venerable could also send the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel along with Xunyangzi to Hao Tian, but then the Gold Dao Esoterica, the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel, and the wealth and resources Xunyangzi had collected might not necessarily belong to him anymore.
Blade Venerable laughed, "You want a share of the spoils?"
Zhang Ruochen and Blade Venerable did have a grudge.
Blade Venerable's divine envoy, Wuma Jiuxing, had died at Zhang Ruochen's hands.
The reason they could peacefully deal with Fengxian Sect Leader and Xunyangzi together was all because of Hao Tian's will.
In the future, whether they would be friends or enemies remained unknown.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, "Xunyangzi was suppressed by Blade Venerable, so everything of his naturally belongs to Blade Venerable. However, this junior has recently encountered some problems in his cultivation and needs to borrow the Gold Dao Esoterica for a period of time. These are matters for later; Blade Venerable may consider them."
Zhang Ruochen, fearing changes in the Soul Realm, immediately stepped with his Divine Spirit Step and hurried back.
"This kid..."
Blade Venerable's eyes were deep, and the wrinkles on his weathered face deepened.
Wuma Jiuxing was a divine envoy Blade Venerable valued greatly, with high expectations for him.
However, since he was already dead, bearing a grudge against someone like Zhang Ruochen over a dead divine envoy was by no means a wise move. The grudge between Wuma Jiuxing and Zhang Ruochen had originally been a conflict among juniors, and at that time, with Zhang Ruochen's cultivation, he had not even caught Blade Venerable's attention.
If Zhang Ruochen were still at the Great God realm, or even the Qiankun Infinite realm, Blade Venerable might have considered making a move against him.
But now...
"Perhaps I should take this opportunity to form a good relationship and eliminate the discord between us?"
Blade Venerable had already begun to regard Zhang Ruochen as someone of equal standing when weighing gains and losses.
A moment later, he put away his thoughts and rushed toward the Soul Realm.
Good things could not all be taken by Zhang Ruochen and Ji Wang. The Black Tortoise True Ancestor's half-ancestor corpse, half-ancestor divine source, and half-ancestor remnant soul had extraordinary value and should be helpful for his breakthrough toward Indestructible Infinite.
The Eternal Spear and Light Esoterica in Yu Dongxuan's hands would normally have no one daring to covet them.
A golden opportunity was right before him!
When Blade Venerable returned to the Soul Realm, he found that this vast and majestic netherworld soul realm had disappeared!
In its place was a black corpse-water ocean floating in the universe, emitting a nauseating stench, containing death power that could corrode everything in the world.
The half-destroyed Yin Moon, which he had split with one blade strike, along with the other eight Yin Moons, still hung overhead. This indicated that the spatial position had not changed.
In the cosmic space, water dao rules were extremely active, with liquid water constantly condensing.
Even the water from the Santu River was flowing toward this corpse-water ocean.
It was the Black Tortoise True Ancestor!
It had somehow manifested a great divine ability, evolving this cosmic ocean, flooding the entire Soul Realm.
"Sure enough, its corpse contains a half-ancestor divine source, and its qi sea still has half-ancestor divine qi. Excellent, I must take it down."
After locking onto the Black Tortoise True Ancestor's position, Blade Venerable picked up his blade and rushed over.
What was there to fear about a half-ancestor that had been dead for who knows how many eons?
Although the Black Tortoise True Ancestor resembled a large turtle, it was extremely fast, constantly moving toward the entrance of the Santu River. The Dragon Lord attacked with all his might but could not stop its advance.
The Pure Yang Divine Flame contained in the Pure Yang Divine Sword was suppressed by the Xuan Yin Corpse Water and water dao rules it evolved, preventing its power from being fully displayed, making it difficult to cause substantial damage to its half-ancestor physical body.
"Still trying to escape? I, this old man, am here!"
Just as Blade Venerable was about to catch up to the Black Tortoise True Ancestor, suddenly, the blade dao rules around him trembled violently, attracted by a mysterious force, pulled backward, and flew toward the end of the sky.
What power in the world could draw away blade dao rules right under his nose?
Blade Venerable was greatly shaken and immediately stopped.
He turned back, his divine eyes continuously penetrating through space.
He saw that at the other end of the black corpse-water ocean, a brilliant blade light had cut through the Sudhodana White Silver Tree, splitting the cosmic space in two, extending for three hundred million miles.
In the blade light, Zhang Ruochen's body was as tiny as dust, thrown out from the Sudhodana White Silver Tree.
A rotting angel, holding a mottled war weapon shaped like a sickle, flew out from the Ten Thousand Buddha Array and headed toward Lihentian.
"The legendary lost divine artifact, the Death God's Blade!"
Blade Venerable's eyes burned with fervor, his blood boiling. He completely lost interest in the Black Tortoise True Ancestor and roared, "Zhang Ruochen, hold him back for a moment. I, this old man, will come to help you. We absolutely cannot let him escape!"
The Dragon Lord was fighting the Black Tortoise True Ancestor with great difficulty, waiting for Blade Venerable to arrive so they could join forces to keep it there.
Who would have thought that Blade Venerable had already arrived but then ran off?
The Ten Thousand Buddha Array was jointly arranged by Yinshuetian and the Sixth Patriarch, and the Sudhodana White Silver Tree was one of the seven treasures of Buddhism. How could Zhang Ruochen have expected that the Corpse Angel was so powerful that the moment he returned, the other party cut through the Ten Thousand Buddha Array with one blade strike?
However, this was also because the Ten Thousand Buddha Array, lacking Zhang Ruochen's direction, had its power greatly diminished.
This blade strike contained a terrifying power that made Zhang Ruochen's heart tremble. If it had been aimed at him, he might not have been able to withstand it.
There was no need for Blade Venerable to say more. After stabilizing his form, Zhang Ruochen immediately evolved the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal in the starry sky. Countless stars and cosmic rocks were pulled into the diagram seal, like a heavenly and earthly millstone, rotating rapidly to block the Corpse Angel's path.
"Such a petty trick, and you dare to show it before me, the Hall Master?"
The Corpse Angel swung the Death God's Blade, slashing out a blade light that connected the heavens.
The Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal was like a piece of cloth, cut apart by the blade light.
No!
Not cloth, but water.
Because after being cut, the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal quickly coalesced again, striking the Corpse Angel and sending him flying backward.
Behind him, Zhang Ruochen made three consecutive leaps in space, crossing millions of miles, and punched upward.
From afar, it looked like two meteors colliding.
The Corpse Angel was extremely formidable. Before colliding with Zhang Ruochen, he stabilized his form and swung his blade back in a slash.
"Boom!"
The blade edge collided with Zhang Ruochen's fist, surging out layers of energy ripples.
The destructive divine artifact might spread through the universe, shattering many planets.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen wore the Qilin Fist Gloves on his hands, the Heavenly Venerable Gauze on his body, and a Bagua Compass floating before him, blocking the blade qi emitted by the Death God's Blade. Even so, the Heavenly Venerable Gauze was still cut in several places, leaving blood marks on Zhang Ruochen's shoulders and neck.
That sickle was terrifying.
After one collision, both flew backward simultaneously, opening a long distance.
Blade Venerable arrived in an instant, with dense blade qi surging behind him like towering waves, his aura fully unleashed. He said boldly, "Elder Ruochen, help me, this Venerable, suppress this beast. Xunyangzi's Gold Dao Esoterica, I, this Venerable, will lend it to you!"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed as he immediately understood what Blade Venerable coveted.
Clearly, the sickle-shaped war weapon in the Corpse Angel's hands was even more important to Blade Venerable than the Black Tortoise True Ancestor, absolutely an extraordinary item.
Zhang Ruochen said, "No, I want to add conditions."
Blade Venerable frowned, "Let's not discuss this first. Take him down first; we absolutely cannot let him escape!"
"Alright, senior, please go ahead. I must go help Uncle Dragon!" Zhang Ruochen said, preparing to leave.
Fighting alone, Blade Venerable had a ten out of ten chance of defeating the Corpse Angel.
But judging from the Corpse Angel's previous actions, he clearly intended to flee immediately.
No matter how strong Blade Venerable was, he could not single-handedly keep a cultivator at the peak of Great Unbound Infinite who was determined to escape.
"Wait!"
Blade Venerable compromised, gritting his teeth, "Add! But don't go too far. I cannot give you all of the Gold Dao Esoterica."
"I want the Immortal Gold Bright Sun Wheel in Blade Venerable's hands, including Xunyangzi inside it," Zhang Ruochen said.
Blade Venerable's face flushed red, nearly having a heart attack. He had not expected Zhang Ruochen's appetite to be so large, wanting everything.
(Chapter End)