Chapter 3757: Forming Enmity
Void Heaven, Feng Tian, Zhang Ruochen, and Well Daoist were riding a celestial boat traveling on the Heavenly River. As long as they crossed the river, no one would be able to detain them any longer.
The sudden appearance of blood talismans filling the sky caught everyone off guard.
War God Bian Zhuang's imposing figure stood on a dark star at the edge of the Heavenly River, his expression solemn, feeling caught in a dilemma.
Each blood talisman contained astonishing destructive power, flying straight toward the Heavenly River.
If he and the heavenly soldiers and generals guarding the river fully activated the divine formation on the Heavenly River to block the blood talismans, they would undoubtedly be helping Void Heaven and Feng Tian of the Hell Realm. But if he did nothing and let the blood talismans fly into the Heavenly River, the river might be severed, and the Heavenly Court's defensive forces would suffer severe damage.
"War God Bian Zhuang, activate the Weak Water Heaven-Swallowing Divine Formation and help Bu Huo Ancestor suppress Xu Fengjin and Feng Caiyi," said a divine king from the Murong clan, his divine voice echoing through the cosmos.
Another divine venerable from the Murong clan addressed the gods of the Heavenly Court: "Xu Fengjin and Feng Caiyi have already left the Heavenly Court. There's no need to worry about them causing catastrophic destruction here. If we don't strike them down now, when will we?"
"Even if it costs us the Heavenly River, it would be worth it to suppress two top-tier Indestructible Infinite experts from the Hell Realm," added another Murong clan deity.
Years of war had bred deep hatred between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm. Some had lost brothers and comrades, others their dao partners, and still others had seen their masters fall at the hands of Hell Realm deities. The enmity ran deep, and grudges were hard to erase. Now, with the chance to kill two Hell Realm Heavenly Venerables, the emotions of the Heavenly Court gods were instantly ignited, bringing back many painful memories.
On the banks of the Heavenly River, stars emerged above the Merit Star, each star representing a deity. The Merit Divine Hall was already prepared to act. Once Void Heaven and Feng Tian rushed out of the Heavenly River, they would intercept them immediately.
In the starry sky, countless divine throne planets revolved, casting down radiant light.
Void Heaven and Feng Tian's expressions were ice-cold. They clearly believed that the Heavenly Court gods had set up this trap from the beginning, deliberately letting them leave only to ambush them on the Heavenly River.
Zhang Ruochen knew that the key to today's situation lay with War God Bian Zhuang. He immediately sent him a voice transmission: "War God Bian Zhuang, activate the divine formation to block Murong Bu Huo's attack. His target is not Void Heaven and Feng Tian, but the Heavenly River. If the river is destroyed, the Heavenly Court will lose its most important barrier."
War God Bian Zhuang still hesitated, clearly unwilling to stand against the other gods of the Heavenly Court.
At the same time, War God Bian Zhuang had a grudge against Feng Tian and strongly wished to kill her.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Feng Tian.
Feng Tian's eyes turned gray, and a sea of corpses manifested beneath her feet. Her killing intent and death qi had fully erupted. "Since the Heavenly Court wants to kill us at all costs, it clearly doesn't care about your or Well Daoist's lives either. Why not join forces and fight back, turning the world upside down? Let's see if the Heavenly Court can really kill us. Zhang Ruochen, even now, why are you still willing to fight for the Heavenly Court?"
Void Heaven raised his sword and slashed out a sword qi, intending to cut through the Heavenly River and escape first.
But the formations on the Heavenly River had already been activated. The Weak Water was filled with countless rule divine patterns. Even with Void Heaven's power, cutting through the river from within was no easy task.
The sword light extinguished the rule divine patterns in the void one after another, but its power rapidly diminished upon entering the Weak Water. In the end, it only split a thousand-zhang-deep waterway before the sword light dissipated completely.
Zhang Ruochen knew well that the Heavenly River, used to guard the Heavenly Court, was not so easily breached. Meanwhile, within the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Law Order and Heavenly Punishment Divine Light were brewing, condensing into a patch of purple clouds that could fly toward the Heavenly River at any moment.
The reason they hadn't come yet was undoubtedly due to ongoing power struggles among the various forces within the Heavenly Court.
Zhang Ruochen directly seized Feng Tian's Celestial Canopy Bell and, with a wave of his hand, struck it toward War God Bian Zhuang.
Feng Tian's eyes were frosty as she stared at Zhang Ruochen, feeling that he was too presumptuous, daring to make decisions for her.
"This time, you have to listen to me."
Zhang Ruochen directly transmitted to War God Bian Zhuang: "Both Murong Huan and Blood Talisman Evil Emperor received divine talismans bestowed by Murong Bu Huo. This man Murong Bu Huo is definitely cooperating with the Quantity Organization. When the Heavenly Venerable returns, the first one he will strike down is him."
"The forces of the Quantity Organization and ancient powerhouses have already grown very strong. The only thing they still fear is another alliance between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm. If Void Heaven and Feng Tian are killed here, war between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm will be inevitable."
"I'm returning the Celestial Canopy Bell to you. Act now. If you delay any longer, it will be too late."
War God Bian Zhuang took back the Celestial Canopy Bell and no longer hesitated. He shouted, "All generals, hear my command! Our primary mission is to guard the Heavenly River. Defend against any force that threatens it."
"Whoosh!"
On the celestial bodies beside the Heavenly River, beams of light rose up, forming a formation light barrier.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
One blood talisman after another struck the formation light barrier, erupting in blinding light.
Huge waves surged on the Heavenly River.
Some celestial bodies guarding the river exploded, killing countless cultivators on them.
Well Daoist looked shocked, turning to Zhang Ruochen. "How did you do it? Just by returning the Celestial Canopy Bell to Bian Zhuang, he chose to help us?"
Void Heaven laughed. "That's only natural. Which man doesn't care about face? Feng Caiyi took his Celestial Canopy Bell and beat him half to death, yet he chose to let Feng Caiyi leave. How would the cultivators of the world see him? Now, it's clear that the renowned Feng Tian, to escape the Heavenly Court, took the initiative to return the Celestial Canopy Bell. He's saved face and dignity all at once!"
"Feng Caiyi, Zhang Ruochen told you to return the Celestial Canopy Bell and you did? You, the Death Overlord, have no dignity at all! That's a divine artifact!"
Zhang Ruochen knew that the old ghost Void Heaven was just stirring up trouble, so he quickly said, "It's not just about face! It's that Murong Bu Huo was too impatient. Anyone with reason can see his ill intentions."
"But it seems some within the Heavenly Court can't see the situation clearly."
Void Heaven's gaze fixed on the other side of the Heavenly River.
The purple clouds containing the Heavenly Law Order drifted toward their location.
Some deities within the Heavenly Court had made their move.
Feng Tian could no longer hold back. The sea of corpses beneath her feet spread toward the purple clouds, with divine artifacts rising and falling within it, unleashing earth-shaking power.
"If we must fight, then we'll fight. We might as well charge back into the Heavenly Court and break through to the Heavenly Venerable level in a desperate battle."
Void Heaven was enraged. He had been compromising for the greater good, repeatedly reining in his sharpness, yet the Heavenly Court gods seemed determined to have him.
As Void Heaven and Feng Tian prepared to strike, Zhang Ruochen observed the interior of the Heavenly Court, trying to find the root of the problem.
"This shouldn't be happening. Once the Heavenly Law Order is triggered, wouldn't the two of us be wiped out as well? Senior Brother wouldn't be so ruthless," Well Daoist said, feeling a chill, believing that someone within the Heavenly Court wanted to kill both him and Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Only the Heavenly Law Order has come, not the Heavenly Punishment Divine Light. This shows there's serious disagreement within the Heavenly Court. I can see it—it's Chongming Old Ancestor and the demon clan gods."
That patch of purple cloud of Heavenly Law Order rose from the Southern Continent. Chongming Old Ancestor's powerful spiritual power fluctuations came from a sea area near the Southern Continent.
Without a doubt, Chongming Old Ancestor had already arrived at the Heavenly Court, but he chose not to act when the unrest broke out at Buzhou Mountain.
The divisions among the major forces of the Heavenly Court were too severe. Without Hao Tian sitting in the Heavenly Palace, these divisions had fully surfaced.
Well Daoist's emotions ran high. "Let's join the fight too! Although Old Ghost Void and Feng Caiyi are powerful, they can't possibly defeat all the gods of the Southern Universe. If we escape today, I, the poor daoist, will definitely go to the Demon God Realm to seek justice."
"Others are sacrificing the small self for the greater good. There's nothing wrong with what they did," Zhang Ruochen said.
As Well Daoist looked on in astonishment, Zhang Ruochen said, "Senior, lend me a hand."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the God-Defying Stele and struck it toward the formation light barrier and the blood talismans. With a thunderous roar, the stele shattered into thousands of fragments, embedding themselves into the light barrier.
Well Daoist said, "Although the God-Defying Stele is miraculous, the formation light barrier of the Heavenly River gathers the power of the entire Heavenly Court. You can't break it. And Murong Bu Huo's blood talismans contain ancestral-level talisman techniques. You won't be able to erase the talisman patterns in a short time."
"I don't need to erase them. I just need to weaken them."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Universe Cauldron, pressing both hands onto its body. Divine qi, including nine-colored ancestral qi, poured into the cauldron.
Immediately, the Universe Cauldron rapidly expanded, becoming as massive as a divine mountain, releasing mysterious spatial power.
The spatial veins of this universe continuously manifested, and even the Heavenly River, the Heavenly Court, and the blood talismans could not block the evolution of these spatial veins.
The waves of the Heavenly River were frozen, and even the rule divine patterns in the Weak Water were suppressed.
Well Daoist's face showed surprise. "No wonder it's one of the Nine Cauldrons!"
Well Daoist understood what Zhang Ruochen intended to do and shouted, "Old Ghost Void, if you want to leave today, hurry up and return the divine source!"
Void Heaven was not having an easy time resisting the Heavenly Law Order and immediately threw the divine source back to Well Daoist.
After retrieving his divine source, Well Daoist surged with five-colored five-element qi, striking it toward the fragments of the God-Defying Stele, continuously eroding the formation light barrier and the blood talisman patterns.
Zhang Ruochen bit his finger and used his own blood to draw formation patterns on the Universe Cauldron.
Before long, a Space Teleportation Array was inscribed on the cauldron.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen struck the cauldron's body with one palm, activating the Space Teleportation Array.
Void Heaven, Feng Tian, and Well Daoist immediately converged toward Zhang Ruochen. Light flickered, and powerful spatial energy spread outward in all directions.
When the light faded, Zhang Ruochen and the other three had vanished from the Heavenly River.
The purple cloud of Heavenly Law Order, having lost its resistance, surged into the Heavenly River, colliding with the formation light barrier and the endless blood talismans. A fierce storm of divine power erupted, sweeping outward into the universe.
Chongming Old Ancestor stood on the sea surface, gazing into the sky, his eyes filled with worry. "In the end, they still escaped."
"Both Xu Fengjin and Feng Caiyi have strong vengeful hearts. They will likely take action," said a demon clan divine venerable.
A mysterious demon clan powerhouse, entirely shrouded in a black robe, said, "All of this is because of Zhang Ruochen. Not only did this child cause chaos in the Heavenly Court, but he also ruined our great plans. However, his current cultivation is quite remarkable. He can do what even an Indestructible Infinite cannot. If there's an opportunity, he must be eliminated."
The aura emanating from him far surpassed that of the nearby demon clan divine venerable. He had no legs, only a tail covered in scales beneath him. A small portion of those scales were rotten, emitting wisps of death qi.