Chapter 3729: Breaking Through
The metal path had completed its evolution, reaching full perfection.
The metal-attribute rules of heaven and earth frantically converged toward Zhang Ruochen. All the gods in this star domain could feel the unusual flow of the world's rules.
The Young Sun Divine Mountain appeared as if forged from gold, majestic and towering.
Among the main rules that condensed into the divine mountain, the "Sword Dao Rule" and "Fist Dao Rule" underwent the greatest transformation. Zhang Ruochen's attainments in the sword and fist paths ascended to a higher level. He grasped a trace of the mystery of Sword Twenty-One and gained new insights into the Immovable Wisdom King Fist.
The metal path most significantly enhanced the physical body. Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel a substantial surge in his internal strength.
The perfected metal and earth paths flowed between the Young Sun Divine Mountain and his Divine Realm World, driving the other three elements of the Five Elements to operate together, pushing his cultivation realm into a new level.
"He actually broke through?"
Sensing the change in Zhang Ruochen's aura, Murong Tailai felt a chill in his heart, finding this man before him even more monstrous than the legends suggested.
This was far more terrifying than the rumors claimed.
The planets in this star domain, influenced by Zhang Ruochen's aura, were all turning metallic and altering their orbits, flying toward him.
"Again!"
Zhang Ruochen, reveling in the battle, swung the leg of the Earth Cauldron in his right hand. The light of the Origin Divine radiance blazed, and his strength was formidable.
Murong Tailai no longer dared to catch it with his bare hands.
A golden horsetail whisk appeared in his hand.
The whisk's strands were silver, refined from the hair of an ancestor.
This was the Stainless Whisk, a heirloom divine artifact of the Murong Clan, forged by the Unconfused Ancestor in ancient times.
"Whoosh!"
Murong Tailai swung the whisk, scattering countless strands of silver light. Using the principle of softness overcoming hardness, he redirected the immense force unleashed by the Earth Cauldron to all directions.
Immediately, the heavens and earth shook violently. Outside the battle circle of Zhang Ruochen and Murong Tailai, space collapsed in a ring, spreading into the distance.
Murong Tailai, with his vast combat experience, sensed Zhang Ruochen's ferocity. His physical strength was terrifying, his blood energy as vigorous as if he contained great rivers and seas within his body. Especially in close-quarters combat, leveraging the weight of the Nine Cauldrons, his battle prowess was exceptionally domineering, even suppressing the momentum of a Heavenly Lord like himself.
Murong Tailai stepped on auspicious clouds, tearing through the void, intending to distance himself from Zhang Ruochen and avoid close-quarters clashes.
"Murong Tailai, where do you think you're fleeing?"
Zhang Ruochen pursued closely.
Murong Tailai was so angry he nearly spat blood. He was merely trying to change tactics—how had that turned into fleeing?
Didn't a dignified Heavenly Lord need to save face?
Many gods were watching from afar!
Before Murong Tailai could stew in his frustration, he felt a gust of wind surging from behind.
It was the Hong Cauldron!
The Hong Cauldron radiated Truth Divine Light, with shamanic inscriptions flying around its body, already reaching his back.
Murong Tailai immediately realized his miscalculation. Zhang Ruochen was a master of time and space, and having gained a large amount of Space Essence from the Space Divine Temple, shaking him off and creating distance was no easy feat.
"Light Mirror Boundless, Reflecting Sun and Moon."
Murong Tailai turned around and executed a powerful divine ability. Using the Stainless Whisk, he drew a bright light mirror before him, like a bright moon shining in the sky. Ripples of divine power spread outward.
The Hong Cauldron struck the light mirror but became trapped within, unable to break it.
Zhang Ruochen was secretly astonished. A Heavenly Lord was indeed formidable—a casual divine ability could block the Nine Cauldrons.
"Again!"
Zhang Ruochen directed the planets flying toward him, like a meteor shower, all crashing into the light mirror.
"Boom!"
The light mirror shattered, and fragments of stars filled the sky.
But Murong Tailai had already retreated tens of millions of miles away, standing within the Void World, using the power of the void to suppress Zhang Ruochen's spatial techniques.
Zhang Ruochen struck the body of the Hong Cauldron with his palm. The bronze eye rotated, shooting out a beam of Truth Light.
At the same time, the Earth Cauldron flew upward, evolving into a primordial world, pressing down from above toward Murong Tailai.
Murong Tailai activated the power of his Profound Meaning, drawing upon the rules of heaven and earth and the energy of the universe. A chaotic divine light appeared around him, his rule divine patterns twisting like divine chains, forming a defense that actually blocked the Truth Light.
"Mountain River Path, Divine Thunder."
As he performed his Dao technique, a mountain range spanning millions of miles appeared above Murong Tailai's head, running from north to south.
Then, a cosmic river emerged, flowing around the mountain range.
Next came a second mountain range, a second river...
Countless mountains and rivers converged above him, with divine thunderbolts weaving through them, opposing the descending Earth Cauldron and the primordial world.
This battle of Dao techniques grew increasingly widespread, shocking all the cultivators who had arrived in this star domain.
One divine king after another, one god-venerable after another, arrived. Each was a renowned elder of the Heavenly Court, masters of powerful realms, with illustrious reputations.
"This is defying the heavens! The Grand Elder Ruochen is actually battling Heavenly Lord Tailai, forcing him to use divine artifacts and Profound Meaning—he's going all out!"
"From the looks of it, Realm Lord Ruochen seems to have the upper hand!"
"He's only using two of the Nine Cauldrons, relying on the Earth Cauldron and Hong Cauldron, these supreme war treasures, to gain the advantage."
"Oh? If you were given the Earth Cauldron and Hong Cauldron, would you dare challenge a Heavenly Lord? I'm afraid any Great Unbound Infinite could take the two cauldrons from you. Is it so hard to admit that Realm Lord Ruochen is powerful? Is this the breadth of mind of you Murong Clan cultivators?"
...
The gods heatedly discussed the matter, immediately spreading the news.
There had always been two voices within the Heavenly Court. One faction believed Zhang Ruochen's strength was questionable, that his achievements weren't entirely credible and contained a lot of exaggeration.
The other faction believed Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was unfathomably deep, with many trump cards he had never revealed.
Today's battle led many gods to believe that Murong Tailai had forced out Zhang Ruochen's true strength—domineering and unmatched, not inferior to any Heavenly Lord.
A god-venerable from the Wind Clan crossed a space wormhole to arrive, confused, and asked, "What's going on? Why is Heavenly Lord Tailai fighting Zhang Ruochen?"
"Second Grandfather!"
Feng Yan stepped forward, concealing nothing, and explained the whole story.
The impact of a battle between Heavenly Lords was extraordinary, especially occurring in the heart of the Heavenly Court universe. Logically, even if the Heavenly Venerable didn't intervene, the Heavenly Lords of the Eastern and Western Universe's ruling worlds should have stepped in to stop it.
But strangely, the number one figure of Pangu Realm, "Primordial Ancient God Pan," and the two Heavenly Lords of Paradise Realm, "Radiant Divine Temple Hall Master" and "Shang Tian," all failed to appear.
Just as gods from various star domains were speculating about the reason, a nine-colored Ancestor Divine Light streaked across the Heavenly Court, piercing through cosmic space.
The divine voice of Jie Zunzhe came from the Heavenly Court: "Murong Tailai, you shameless, despicable old scoundrel! A dignified Heavenly Lord, bullying a junior—do you really think the Zhang Clan has no one?"
Jie Zunzhe's true body hadn't arrived, but his divine light projection landed in this star domain first.
After seeing the situation on the battlefield, Jie Zunzhe was stunned. He hadn't expected Zhang Ruochen to be so formidable, using the Earth Cauldron and Hong Cauldron to trade blows with Murong Tailai.
Was this being bullied?
This was clearly using Murong Tailai to make a name for himself across the universe!
Jie Zunzhe abandoned the idea of sending his true body, coughed dryly, and taunted, "A dignified Heavenly Lord, being pinned down and beaten by a junior of my Zhang Clan. With strength like this, if not for borrowing the power of the Murong Clan, I doubt you'd even qualify to be listed among the Heavenly Lords."
Murong Tailai's mental state was actually quite good, but upon hearing this, he nearly lost his composure.
When had he been pinned down and beaten by Zhang Ruochen?
How could he say such things casually? If this got out, would he have any face left?
Zhang Jie, that old bastard, was even more detestable than Zhang Ruochen.
"Petty little Murong Clan, how laughable. I am ashamed to share the Heavenly Lord rank with you," Jie Zunzhe said.
Zhang Ruochen transmitted his voice: "If you're so idle, go help Uncle Dragon suppress Murong Huan. Don't let him escape!"
"Do you know how weak I am? How can I act so easily?" Jie Zunzhe said with utter confidence, then added, "Don't worry. In the heart of the Heavenly Court universe, he can't escape."
"You two should stop now!"
In the starry sky, a five-colored light circle with a diameter of a billion miles appeared. Black, cyan, red, yellow, and white—five colors flowed, forcibly separating Zhang Ruochen and Murong Tailai, pulling them to the north and south ends of the circle.
The Five Elements Temple Master stood at the center of the light circle, holding the pale-faced Murong Huan in his hand.
With the Five Elements Temple Master's arrival, Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel the Five Elements rules and Five Elements Qi within his body calming down, becoming extremely difficult to mobilize. At this moment, he finally realized the gap between Great Unbound Infinite and Indestructible Infinite.
Previously, his cultivation realm hadn't been high enough to understand this.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Earth Cauldron and Hong Cauldron and retreated directly.
Jie Zunzhe's divine light projection chased after him, his expression grave, and said, "Zhang Ruochen, you're about to face a great calamity!"
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Jie Zunzhe said, "You alone control two of the Nine Cauldrons—that is the source of calamity! Do you think today's battle was glorious? Wrong. The world will only think it's the power of the Nine Cauldrons. Those Heavenly Lords and Indestructible Infinite will inevitably stir, using all kinds of methods against you to seize the two cauldrons. Hand the Earth Cauldron and Hong Cauldron over to me. I'll keep them safe for you, guaranteed to be foolproof."
Zhang Ruochen stopped and stared at him.
Jie Zunzhe, angered and embarrassed, said, "What's with that look? Do you think I'd covet your Earth Cauldron and Hong Cauldron? Once you break through to Indestructible Infinite, I'll definitely return them."
"Back then, you said when my cultivation reached a certain level, you'd return the Jade Emperor Cauldron. I don't quite remember," Zhang Ruochen said.
Jie Zunzhe's old face flushed red, and he said, "The Jade Emperor Cauldron is a relic left by the Great Venerable. As the number one expert of the Zhang Clan, it naturally falls to me to keep it. What does it have to do with you?"
"Whoever is the number one expert of the Zhang Clan gets to wield it?"
By the time Zhang Ruochen asked this, Jie Zunzhe had already dispersed his divine light projection and vanished.
The Dragon Lord rendezvoused with Zhang Ruochen, looking at him with a complex expression, and said, "The Five Elements Temple Master is trustworthy. Now that Murong Huan has fallen into his hands, as long as he holds secrets, they will definitely be uncovered."
"I will definitely visit the Five Elements Temple. Let's return to the Heavenly Court first. While everyone's attention is focused here, we'll take the Time Divine Temple." Zhang Ruochen thought of something and added, "When the time comes, Uncle Dragon can enter the Sundial to cultivate. Ask the Truth Temple Master to help conceal the heavenly secrets."
After the Soul Realm campaign, Zhang Ruochen's understanding of the Truth Temple Master had deepened another level, and he felt he could share the secret of the Sundial.
...
With A Fuya making a move in advance, and the covert support of the Truth Temple Master and the Red Cloud Flying Immortal Valley Master, Zhang Ruochen advanced unimpeded, encountering no real resistance, and took the Time Divine Temple.
And the ripple effects of this series of events—from the Soul Realm to the Golden Axis Star, and then to the Time Divine Temple—were still brewing and fermenting.
One major incident after another, like a terrifying tsunami, was shocking the various forces of the Heavenly Court universe. In an extremely short time, the news even spread to the Hell Realm universe.
(End of chapter)