Chapter 3826: The Shura Clan Upheaval
"One and six share the same origin, water resides in the north."
In the northern part of the River Diagram's light projection, a blazing cloud cluster and six dark, gloomy black holes were arrayed. There, the sound of surging water roared, vast and magnificent.
The source divine sea representing Zhang Ruochen's Four Symbols' "Lesser Yin" and the Five Elements' Water stirred abnormally, manifesting on the northern side of the divine ship.
"Two and seven walk the same path, fire resides in the south."
The River Diagram's light projection, the Four Symbols' "Greater Sun," and the Five Elements' Fire resonated, revealing a flickering star sea on the southern side of the divine ship.
"Three and eight are companions, wood resides in the east."
…
"Four and nine are friends, metal resides in the west."
"Five and ten share the same journey, earth resides in the center."
Zhang Ruochen had once again evolved to this step.
Since achieving the perfection of the Five Elements in the Time Divine Temple, this was already the eight hundred and fifth time over thousands of years.
"It's fundamentally impossible to stabilize. Evolving from the Four Symbols and Five Elements into the heaven and earth of the River Diagram seems even more difficult than the gap between a mortal and my current cultivation. This path should be correct, but how should I walk it step by step?" Zhang Ruochen pondered.
Fifty-five was the number of heaven and earth, in other words, the entirety of the cosmos.
Wanting to ascend to heaven in a single step was undoubtedly a fool's dream.
Zhang Ruochen thought of something. He raised his left hand, and a mass of radiance appeared before his palm.
Within the radiance, the light projection of the Luo Diagram manifested.
The Luo Diagram differed from the River Diagram. It had only forty-five cloud clusters in total: twenty-five white cloud clusters representing the yang attribute and twenty black cloud clusters representing the yin attribute.
The total number of cloud clusters in the two light projections added up to exactly one hundred: fifty yang and fifty yin.
If the two were combined, yin and yang could be balanced.
The River Diagram was arranged according to the Five Elements, while the Luo Diagram was arranged according to the Nine Palaces.
Their only commonality lay in the Central Palace.
Whether in the River Diagram or the Luo Diagram, the very center consisted of five blazing white cloud clusters.
"The Central Palace? Could it be that all things in the world evolve from these five points?"
"The Daoists say that the Lesser Evolution number is five: Water is one, Fire is two, Wood is three, Metal is four, and Earth is five. Completing the Lesser Evolution first to construct the Central Palace might be a feasible strategy."
Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had been enlightened. He dispersed all the cloud clusters and soared up from the divine ship.
"Whoosh!"
With a sweep of his arm, from the source divine sea representing the Water Element, an endless stream of yin-attribute rule divine patterns flew out, gradually coalescing into a yin-cold black cloud cluster.
Following the same method, from the Four Symbols' extraordinary phenomena beneath him and the divine realm world at his feet, rule divine patterns flew out one after another, condensing into five cloud clusters that gathered around his body.
The yin and yang attributes of these five cloud clusters were not unified. They first had to be completely transformed into the yang attribute.
For Zhang Ruochen, who had perfected the Five Elements, this was not a difficult task.
As the five cloud clusters continuously revolved around his body, their rules interweaving, the light they emitted grew brighter and brighter, releasing heat far more terrifying than that of a star.
The heaven and earth rules in the starry sky began to boil.
Even stars hundreds of millions of trillions of miles away started to deviate from their original orbits, as if drawn by some force, and then began to revolve around Zhang Ruochen.
This kind of might—"shifting stars and moving constellations, drawing heaven and earth"—filled Ice King and A Fuya with shock.
"Is he about to break through?" Corpse Burying Man found it unbelievable.
"Boom!"
An explosion erupted above the divine ship, and the five cloud clusters burst apart.
Time and space were shattered for billions of miles, and countless stars were annihilated.
When Zhang Ruochen reappeared on the divine ship, his body was tattered, black as charcoal, and bleeding from every pore.
"Failed?" A Fuya asked.
Zhang Ruochen coughed, spitting out blood, but his mental state was excellent. "I feel like I'm just a little short. There must be something wrong somewhere. But the direction is correct. I must combine the River Diagram and the Luo Diagram."
Although Ice King felt regret for Zhang Ruochen, he also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, his emotions complicated.
If Zhang Ruochen's breakthrough to Indestructible Infinite were so easy, it would be too discouraging. After all, Ice King was also an extraordinary figure of unparalleled brilliance with the ambition of an Ancestor, yet he had been stuck below Indestructible Infinite for many years.
Corpse Burying Man could sense Ice King's subtle emotional changes and chuckled, "Feeling the pressure?"
"My strength is already inferior to his. What pressure could I feel?" Ice King shrugged with a smile.
Corpse Burying Man said, "Ji Wang has already reached Indestructible Infinite."
Ice King's smile gradually faded. "I will catch up to their pace."
Corpse Burying Man said, "For the Undying Blood Clan, the Blood Sea Heavenly Dao Esoterica has the greatest effect, continuously strengthening one's own blood qi. More than half of the Blood Sea Heavenly Dao Esoterica must remain in the Undying Divine Temple. Even the Temple Master only has the right to control it, not the authority to take all the Esoterica out of the temple."
"If you become the new Temple Master of the Undying Divine Temple, you can control more than half of the Blood Sea Heavenly Dao Esoterica and become the nominal master of the Blood Sea Heavenly Dao. With master-level Esoterica to assist you, breaking through to Indestructible Infinite with your talent is within reach."
Ice King was silent for a moment, then said, "The other Heavenly Venerables of the Hell Realm probably won't let me ascend to the position of Temple Master."
"The Temple Master of our Undying Blood Clan has nothing to do with them. If they try to stop us, we'll just move the entire clan to the Sword Realm." Corpse Burying Man let out a long sigh. "My time is running out. The Undying Blood Clan must have another Indestructible Infinite to stabilize the situation. The era is becoming increasingly turbulent. Who knows when we might face the calamity of clan annihilation?"
Zhang Ruochen's injuries gradually healed. He looked ahead at a hazy, dark red nebula and asked, "What place is that?"
Ice King said, "That is the Veil Nebula. Inside, there are over three hundred stars and dozens of life-bearing planets. It seems we have traveled out of the Starry Sky Wasteland and are about to enter the prosperous regions of the Heavenly Court Universe and the Yellow Spring Star River. Once we pass through the Veil Nebula, the Wuding Divine Sea and the Starry Sky Defense Line are not far away."
"Something's wrong," Zhang Ruochen said.
Hearing this, Ice King and A Fuya both released their divine thoughts to probe the Veil Nebula, hundreds of millions of miles away.
Zhang Ruochen extended his arm and spread his five fingers.
"Sizzle!"
Divine qi and countless rules burst forth from his palm, and in an instant, the void manifested layers of colorful clouds.
A massive handprint crossed the distant star domain and appeared before the Veil Nebula.
It was Shang Tian's ultimate technique, the Eight Techniques of Desolate Heaven—the Heaven-Desolating Seal.
"Boom!"
The nebula shook violently, and space was torn apart.
Within the shattered space, a tributary of the Santu River emerged.
The river was filled with gray death qi, with rotting corpses floating on its surface.
Several figures flew along this tributary, moving as fast as points of light.
These figures were enveloped in a light sphere. Inside the sphere, five divine formations were operating at full speed, unleashing both defensive and speed-boosting powers. It was clearly an escape treasure.
The people inside the light sphere were channeling all their divine qi to drive the formations.
Fengchen Sword God stood at the center of one formation and said, "Not good. That's the Heaven-Desolating Seal. Could there be a Shang Clan deity nearby?"
In another formation, a Shura clan deity with bull horns said worriedly, "Such powerful force—could it be Shang Tian himself? Have we fled along the Santu River all the way to the Heavenly Court Universe?"
"The attacks from behind are coming again!"
Ni Xuan Beishi stood at the center of the light sphere, her face pale as death. She had three bowl-sized bloody holes in her body, her internal organs were completely shattered, and black blood continuously oozed from the wounds.
Fortunately, when Zhang Ruochen had activated the Sundial at the White Clothes Valley and invited her and Fengchen Sword God, her cultivation had reached the Qiankun Infinite level. Otherwise, she would never have lasted until now.
From behind the Santu River tributary, countless dark figures flew out.
These figures were arranged in military formations, all clad in armor and wielding spears and halberds.
At the forefront of the dark figures stood two mountain-like deities, one holding a spear and the other a halberd, their bodies radiating Shura battle qi at the level of God Kings and God Venerables.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
With two long howls, from the dark figure legion, countless spears and halberds flew out.
Like a rain of arrows, they fell toward the fleeing group ahead.
In an instant, the entire Veil Nebula collapsed, hundreds of stars were annihilated, and the life-bearing planets had turned to ash even earlier.
Zhang Ruochen once again manifested the Heaven-Desolating Seal, crossing the void and striking out.
"Boom, rumble."
All the spears and halberds flying toward Ni Xuan Beishi and Fengchen Sword God exploded, turning into wisps of black mist.
"It's not Shang Tian. It's Zhang Ruochen."
Fengchen Sword God was overjoyed, then threw his head back and laughed wildly: "Heaven hasn't abandoned us! We've finally met our savior. Now it's their turn to be unlucky!"
The Shura clan deity with bull horns, enduring his injuries, laughed heartily: "Come and chase us! Your nemesis is here. The true god of death is right ahead."
Ni Xuan Beishi looked at the divine ship approaching ever closer, saw Zhang Ruochen and Ice King on the deck, and the spirit and energy she had been holding onto seemed to drain away all at once. She could no longer support herself.
The light sphere vanished, and her body fell straight down.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen teleported to her side, grabbed her arm, helped her stabilize, and restored her to a standing posture.
At the same time, abundant life qi surged into her body.
Ni Xuan Beishi lunged forward, tightly embracing Zhang Ruochen. Her eyes were filled with boundless hatred and killing intent, yet also brimming with tears. She gritted her teeth and said, "The Ancestor has fallen. The Temple Master's fate is unknown... The Shura Divine Temple..."
"Don't say anymore. Leave this to us. You heal first."
Zhang Ruochen knew how strong and proud Ni Xuan Beishi was. If she hadn't been utterly broken, how could she have shed tears? How could she have instinctively embraced him upon seeing him, as if grasping at a lifeline, seeing hope?
This was a body and soul both wounded, seeing light in the darkness.
Ni Xuan Beishi gradually regained her composure, released her arms from around Zhang Ruochen, and the tears in her eyes had disappeared. She said firmly, "It's Luo Tong Luo, and her Shadow Legion."
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised.
He had thought the instigator of the Shura clan's upheaval would be Qinglu God King, but unexpectedly, a legendary figure had emerged out of nowhere.
Luo Tong Luo was as famous as Asura, known as the "One Mountain, One Sea" in Shura clan history. She was a true Ancestor, not a reputation exaggerated by later generations.
Asura had left behind Asura Mountain.
Luo Tong Luo had left behind the Shura Battle Soul Sea.
Because cultivators of all races had to undergo the baptism of the Shura Battle Soul Sea to transform into the Shura clan, Luo Tong Luo was also called the Mother of Shura!