Chapter 3805: Gazing at Each Other
Zhang Ruochen had long cultivated an indestructible divine body, refined the Buddha Emperor's relic, externally cultivated the Four Symbols, and internally refined the Five Elements. How could his physical strength be blocked by Qingcheng Yun?
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's terrifying power, Qingcheng Yun's internal pressure reached an unbearable level. Dense flowing light rule divine patterns emerged on his legs, and he shot out like a beam of light.
Moments later, even the light vanished.
His speed exceeded light speed, reaching a level that affected time.
"Hua!"
Zhang Ruochen's expression remained calm as he directly crossed space-time and caught up with him again.
He spread his five fingers and grabbed toward Qingcheng Yun's neck.
At this critical moment of life and death, Qingcheng Yun let out a long roar. The Merit Divine Armor on his body released dark order power from within.
This dark power was immensely strong, corrupting all things, piercing bones and hearts—something an ordinary Indestructible Infinite could not possess.
Zhang Ruochen was struck by the dark order power, and Buddhist light and Dao radiance automatically appeared on his body, causing him to retreat several steps through the void.
His right hand turned pitch black, flowing with rotting blood, with large amounts of flesh necrotizing.
Moreover, these highly corrosive dark order forces surged along his blood vessels toward his arm, intending to corrupt his entire body.
"Such powerful dark order power. Beixi is indeed still alive."
Zhang Ruochen sighed.
In the present world, only Jiusi Yitianhuang and Beixi could cultivate the Way of Darkness to such a level.
Zhang Ruochen had fought against Beixi's remnant soul possessing Chrysar's body and had obtained the one-tenth Dark Essence he controlled. He was naturally familiar with Beixi's power and would not mistake it for Jiusi Yitianhuang's strength.
"Zhang Ruochen, this is the price of your arrogance!"
Seeing that even Zhang Ruochen's indestructible divine body was corrupted by the dark order power, Qingcheng Yun's confidence in Beixi surged. He decisively struck, channeling Flowing Light Essence and unleashing the "Heavenly Desolate Flowing Light Finger," aiming at Zhang Ruochen's Xuan Embryo.
If this strike succeeded, victory and defeat, life and death, would instantly reverse.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened. His left hand formed a sword finger and struck out with the One-Word Sword Dao.
"Bang!"
The two fingers clashed.
Overwhelming sword energy surged from Zhang Ruochen's fingertip, sending Qingcheng Yun flying backward.
Although it still failed to break the Merit Divine Armor, Qingcheng Yun's finger bones turned to powder, and his entire arm trembled.
He deeply realized the insurmountable gap between himself and Zhang Ruochen. Turning around, he shattered space and fled into the Void World.
Behind Zhang Ruochen, the Jade Tree Ink Moon manifested. As the Four Symbols rotated, the Ink Moon continuously absorbed the dark order power invading his body.
The black vein patterns on his arm gradually receded.
Zhang Ruochen did not immediately chase Qingcheng Yun. Instead, he opened his other hand, and Dao light flickered in his palm.
Instantly, in this boundless starry sky, a Zhang Ruochen light shadow, countless billions of miles tall, appeared. The shadow bore a Buddhist halo behind its head, with a Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal spinning above it. Its enormous hand was slightly open.
Qingcheng Yun, who had already fled millions of miles away in an instant, now appeared in the palm of this light hand.
No matter how fast he fled, his position within the palm never changed, as if he were running in place.
Cultivators on Ice King Star could all see this human-shaped light shadow in the universe, filled with profound Dao meaning, as if a single person held up the entire starry sky.
The stars before him were like dust.
When he exhaled, the power of heaven and earth surged toward him.
When he breathed out, it turned into nine-colored star clouds.
Standing outside the Ice Imperial Palace, Qingyulou and all the Undying Blood Clan cultivators in the square bowed and kowtowed toward the universe, as if worshipping a supreme sacred being.
Qingcheng Yun felt the terror of a First-Rank Divine Path. Although Zhang Ruochen had not broken through to Indestructible Infinite, at the same cultivation level, he suppressed Qingcheng Yun so completely that he had no power to fight back.
He was no ordinary person; his resolve was absolute.
Knowing he could not escape, he immediately activated his divine Qi, intending to self-destruct his divine source.
But Zhang Ruochen could see through the essence of truth with a single glance, perceiving Qingcheng Yun's intention.
The Five Elements rules of this star region were fully mobilized by Zhang Ruochen. Using the power of the Five Elements, he sealed Qingcheng Yun's physical body from a distance.
His body gradually petrified from the skin inward.
"No... you cannot suppress my spiritual will... your cultivation is not... that strong yet... if we die, we die together..." Qingcheng Yun's voice gradually dried up, like stones grinding together, extremely harsh.
Moments later, he turned into a human-shaped five-colored stone with separated Five Elements.
"As long as one is a cultivator, they must be within the Five Elements. My Five Elements are complete and perfect; I can control this heaven and earth. How could you possibly self-destruct?"
Relying on the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen had cultivated for a full Eon over these ten thousand years.
Over the course of an Eon, through continuous accumulation, he had perfected all Five Elements.
Every Five Elements rule had reached its extreme, allowing him to freely transform them at will.
Within a certain range, even without mastering the Five Elements Essence, Zhang Ruochen could be considered the main god of the Five Elements and Five Paths.
In other words, less than ten percent of the Five Elements and Five Paths Essence was negligible to Zhang Ruochen.
This was something ordinary Indestructible Infinites could not match.
Because when Indestructible Infinites were at the Saint realm, they could never have merged with the Five Elements and Five Paths to cultivate a perfect Five Elements Sacred Intent.
Thus, no matter how high their cultivation, how long they had trained, or how deeply they studied the Five Elements Path, their Five Elements would inevitably be flawed and imperfect.
Even Zhao Gongming back then could only simultaneously cultivate the Metal Path and Water Path to their extremes, and the flaws were still enormous.
With flaws, the mutually restrictive attributes of the Five Elements would be infinitely magnified, causing a sharp decline in power.
With perfect completeness, the mutually generative advantages of the Five Elements would multiply exponentially.
One grew, the other diminished; the power difference was incomparable.
Now, Zhang Ruochen's Five Elements and Five Paths had reached their limit. If he wanted to transform from the main god of the Five Elements and Five Paths into their overlord, he would need to comprehend the Five Elements Order.
Five Elements rules were the laws of the Five Elements.
Five Elements Order was the law of the Five Elements rules.
As his hand contracted, Zhang Ruochen's enormous light shadow in the universe gradually retracted into his body.
After sealing Qingcheng Yun into the Earth Cauldron, Zhang Ruochen gazed into the distant depths of the universe and thought, "Beixi indeed doesn't dare to show himself."
Logically, with such a close relationship between Qingcheng Yun and Beixi, when he encountered danger, Beixi would surely sense it and even cross space to save him.
Just as this thought crossed Zhang Ruochen's mind, the space around him suddenly boiled.
Dark rules became active, rapidly coalescing into rivers of dark rules, like thousands of tentacles, piercing through stars and attacking toward Xiu Chen Heavenly God and Ji Fanxin.
"Here it comes!"
Zhang Ruochen shifted his form, crossing the void to block in front of those dark rule rivers.
"Vanishing Star Sea."
Zhang Ruochen manifested the Sun of his Four Symbols.
It was a vast star region, with countless divine suns flickering within. The power of the two eternal paths—Light and Space—continuously purified and trapped the incoming dark rule rivers.
These divine suns contained light and heat no less than that of stars, and they were numerous.
It was hard to imagine that this was derived by a single cultivator.
Of course, the Sun Vanishing Star Sea Zhang Ruochen had cultivated was still far from the true Vanishing Star Sea of the borderland universe back then.
But it also showed that he had infinite room for growth. Perhaps one day, the Sun Vanishing Star Sea could evolve into a true universe.
This dark power...
It wasn't Beixi; it was Jiusi Yitianhuang.
Just as Wuwei was suppressed by Xiu Chen Heavenly God and Ji Fanxin, Jiusi Yitianhuang crossed space and launched an attack.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God's face changed drastically as he watched the dark rule rivers weaving through the Vanishing Star Sea. These rivers were constantly approaching Zhang Ruochen.
Legend had it that Jiusi Yitianhuang had already reached the Heavenly Venerable rank. When such a figure struck, it would surely destroy heaven and earth.
"Hua! Hua! Hua! Hua! Hua!"
Including the Jade Emperor Cauldron retrieved from the Moon God, five cauldrons flew out simultaneously, suspending themselves in the Vanishing Star Sea, completely suppressing the dark rule rivers.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes gazed into the endless darkness. At the end of the darkness, he could see Jiusi Yitianhuang's figure.
It wasn't true sight, but a perception beyond vision—a gaze across star regions.
Behind Jiusi Yitianhuang was the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, clearly extremely far from Ice King Star.
He said, "Zhang Ruochen, since you've left the Kunlun Realm, you should keep a low profile. You should know that I will never let you off. Are you seeking death?"
Zhang Ruochen knew the gap between himself and Jiusi Yitianhuang was enormous. At the very least, Jiusi Yitianhuang's ability to launch a powerful attack across endless star seas and open a space channel to speak with him was something Zhang Ruochen could not yet do.
Even Qingtian, who had crossed the star sea to attack Zhang Ruochen when he became a god, was far inferior to Jiusi Yitianhuang at this moment.
The dark techniques Jiusi Yitianhuang employed were likely something only Zhang Ruochen could block among those below Indestructible Infinite.
But Zhang Ruochen showed no fear. He laughed, "If Emperor Yitian wants to kill me, he can come to Ice King Star immediately. But without your true body arriving, I'm afraid you won't be able to kill me. However, I won't wait here for you!"
Jiusi Yitianhuang's eyes were deep and unfathomable, revealing no emotion.
"No, I forgot. The current number one powerhouse of the Hell Realm is Heavenly Mother. She must have already sensed what's happening here. By the time Emperor Yitian arrives, she will surely arrive too."
Zhang Ruochen's tone gradually became less polite. "Perhaps even more Heavenly Realm powerhouses will come to stop you. Emperor Yitian must be careful. Once you leave the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, the entire Darkness Temple might cease to exist!"
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen channeled the power of the five cauldrons, shattering all the dark rule rivers in this star region.
The starry sky shattered like a broken mirror, with countless cracks appearing.
The dark channel Jiusi Yitianhuang had opened was naturally resealed by Zhang Ruochen.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God, carrying the suppressed Wuwei, immediately rushed to Zhang Ruochen's side. His worried expression did not fade. "A being like Jiusi Yitianhuang cannot be threatened, nor will he easily abandon Wuwei, a peak Great Unbound Infinite cultivator. It's best to leave Ice King Star quickly."
"Hua!"
Bai Qinger crossed space and appeared beside them. "Jiusi Yitianhuang might not leave the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, but our position is exposed. People like Baer, Qishier Pin Lian, and Kui Liang Huang, who want you dead, might rush here immediately. Don't be careless!"
Zhang Ruochen remained very calm. "Don't worry. I just sensed Void Heaven's spying. That old fellow is surely rushing here as fast as he can. He's been waiting for me for ten thousand years! With him here, no one in the Hell Realm will dare act rashly. Let's first search Wuwei's and Qingcheng Yun's souls and see what they are plotting."
(End of Chapter)