Chapter 3857: Dark Weirdness
These ancient hall masters were all overlords of history. Even if only remnants of their souls had returned, they were not weak and could fight against the divine kings and divine venerables of the present age.
But in just a few breaths, the skeletons of over a dozen ancient hall masters were dismantled by Zhang Ruochen.
Broken bones littered the ground, with death qi and the stench of decay spreading everywhere.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power surged vast and mighty, suppressing the land at the entrance of the Sword Soul Hollow.
Within the blood mist, the soul thoughts of these ancient hall masters, while resisting the pull of the Dao Soul Platform on their divine souls, shouted fiercely: "Zhang Ruochen, you are already at death's door! This is the Sword God Temple!"
Some soul thoughts condensed semi-transparent bodies and bowed toward the Sword Soul Hollow: "O great Dark Sovereign, please bestow eternal undying divine power to slay this traitorous seed before you."
Others pleaded with the two dark abyss evil eyes above, chanting ancient sacrificial prayers.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power transformed into lightning and heavenly fire, striking all these soul thoughts back into a misty state.
Screams rang out continuously, curses unceasing.
He drew a circle with his right hand, his sleeve becoming heaven and earth, containing the universe within, and swept up all the broken bones, blood mist, soul mist, and divine spirit energy in the area into his sleeve, forcibly suppressing them.
It was as if he alone was suppressing an entire clan of the Hell Realm—such was Zhang Ruochen's current strength.
The Dao Soul Platform was primarily a defensive-type divine artifact; its speed in absorbing divine souls was too slow.
Once he had dealt with the ancient hall masters who had fled, he would slowly break the Dao, search for the divine sea and divine source, and refine and kill them one by one.
Although the number of ancient hall masters was large, precisely because there were so many, none was willing to be the first to self-destruct their divine source.
If they had all been fearless of death, with firm spiritual will, Zhang Ruochen, even with his perfect celestial sphere, would not have been able to handle them.
Only about ten ancient hall masters had escaped. Shocked and terrified, they concealed their auras and hid in various parts of the Sword God Temple.
One or two had intended to flee the Sword God Temple.
But the entire temple was covered by the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal. The temple gate was blocked by the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, making escape impossible.
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen sensed an unusual aura. Narrowing his eyes, he looked toward the dark and deep Sword Soul Hollow.
Inside the Sword Soul Hollow, thick black clouds drifted, obstructing his vision.
But Zhang Ruochen's eyes could see extremely far. It seemed to be a world of its own inside, or perhaps it existed in a different dimension—vast, barren of vegetation, with black mud reeking of decay.
Five figures of varying sizes emerged from the darkness, walking out step by step.
The one on the far left had disheveled hair and a wine gourd hanging from his waist—a human.
From left to right, the second was a chicken-headed giant, over a hundred zhang tall. Its bright red comb clashed with the dark gloom of its body, and two chains hung over its shoulders, dragging with a clattering sound.
The third was an ancient corpse with six arms, each hand holding a battle weapon of no low rank. Two of them were divine artifacts.
The fourth had a body the size of a mountain and a tortoise shell, but its head was like a lion or tiger, with demonic qi soaring to the heavens. On its back was a divine furnace hundreds of zhang high, flames flickering within.
The fifth was an alien creature, flying in midair, resembling a white piece of leather.
"Old Drunkard, Void Kun War God, Shiva Emperor, Xuanwu Divine Ancestor, Baiyun Divine Ancestor."
Zhang Ruochen had seen their figures in the memories of Xiang Fati.
These five great experts had once broken into the Sword Soul Hollow but were swallowed by the darkness, sinking like stones into the sea, never to emerge again.
Seeing them, Zhang Ruochen showed no joy on his face.
These five great experts were all top-tier powerhouses with formidable auras. Among them, Void Kun War God and Shiva Emperor had even briefly served as Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm.
Now, they were filled with dark and eerie qi, their bodies shadowy and insubstantial.
Zhang Ruochen tried to communicate with Old Drunkard using his spiritual power, but not only did he receive no response, he was instead attacked by Old Drunkard's spiritual power.
Stumbling back three steps, Zhang Ruochen felt a sharp pain in his head.
Ji Fanxin's voice rang out from within the Divine Illumination Lotus: "They have been tainted by dark weirdness and must be under control. This is too terrifying, Chen Ge. We must leave the Sword God Temple immediately. There must be forbidden things deep within the Sword Soul Hollow that we cannot handle."
Even divine ancestors, Heavenly Venerables, and perfect celestial sphere experts had been controlled—how terrifying must the entity behind this be?
Zhang Ruochen had great confidence in Old Drunkard and was unwilling to believe that someone with such spiritual will could become a shadow of the darkness.
"Let's go!"
The sense of crisis grew stronger. Zhang Ruochen decisively rushed out of the Sword God Temple.
Just as he was about to leap into the Ten Thousand Buddha Forest, he looked back and saw Void Kun War God and Shiva Emperor flanking him closely from left and right.
Both were burning with black alien flames, each unleashing combat techniques aimed at Zhang Ruochen.
The two divine artifacts in Shiva Emperor's hands—one like a hook, the other like a fork—emitted dazzling beams of light, unleashing earth-shattering divine power.
The divine artifact thrown by Void Kun War God was a metal sphere, incredibly heavy, as if forged from an entire great realm. If struck by it, even Zhang Ruochen's indestructible dharma body would not fare well.
Zhang Ruochen hurled the Demon Ancestor Meridian Axe and the Eight Trigrams Compass, sending Shiva Emperor and the metal sphere flying backward.
Shiva Emperor quickly steadied himself, let out a corpse roar, and attacked again.
Void Kun War God's movement technique was eerily exquisite. Dodging the Eight Trigrams Compass, he had already breached Zhang Ruochen's eighteen-zhang radius. His hand, like a steel chicken claw, came crashing down heavily.
Zhang Ruochen held the Eternal Spear and struck Void Kun War God's palm, sending him flying back with blood spraying from his mouth.
His hand was now drenched in blood.
"Impressive. Their combat power is close to the Indestructible Infinite level. Could it be that the dark weirdness qi has made them stronger?"
Before Zhang Ruochen could think further, he saw Old Drunkard appear above the Ten Thousand Buddha Forest, sealing off his escape route.
Old Drunkard spread his arms, releasing his spiritual power, and began erasing Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power imprints left in the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, attempting to seize control of the formation.
"Old fellow, have you drunk yourself senseless? Regain your wits, or I'll have to get rough with you!"
Before Zhang Ruochen finished speaking, Old Drunkard spat out a cloud of mist from his mouth, which transformed into a five-colored nebula surging toward Zhang Ruochen.
The five-colored nebula was a spiritual power divine artifact, like gauze or a net, trapping Zhang Ruochen inside. Even spatial displacement could not escape.
The space for movement was restricted. Void Kun War God, Shiva Emperor, Baiyun Divine Ancestor, and Xuanwu Divine Ancestor appeared around Zhang Ruochen from four directions, either striking with divine artifacts or unleashing divine abilities, forcing Zhang Ruochen into a purely defensive stance.
After enduring the first wave of attacks, Zhang Ruochen grew enraged. With a loud roar, he unleashed the Heaven Cauldron and the Earth Cauldron.
The Heaven Cauldron flew upward, the Earth Cauldron downward, transforming into a patch of sky and a patch of earth.
The five-colored nebula spiritual power divine artifact was stretched taut.
"Rip!"
Amid a series of explosive sounds, this spiritual power divine artifact was torn apart by the Heaven Cauldron and the Earth Cauldron.
Divine artifacts were not indestructible; with enough force, they could be shattered.
After breaking free, Zhang Ruochen punched Void Kun War God in the chest.
The black flames on Void Kun War God's body were extinguished, and a strange black scale-like substance appeared on his chest. His body flew backward, crashing heavily into the Sword God Temple, but he withstood Zhang Ruochen's fierce punch and immediately flew back.
"Could it be that the dark weirdness has truly awakened and bestowed upon them the so-called undying divine power?"
Zhang Ruochen's heart sank further. He immediately sent a telepathic message to Yan Renhuan.
"You need to leave this place immediately."
Yan Renhuan formed the Yama Great Hand Seal, shattering the left eye of the dark abyss evil eye. Glancing at the Mani Pearl in his hand, his eyes showed determination. "Take the Mani Pearl and leave. Leave the rest to me."
"No one is leaving today!"
Yan Jun's tattered demon body burst out from the World Tree's light projection, his body as majestic as a mountain. Holding the Human Ancestor Banner, he slashed straight at Yan Renhuan.
Yan Renhuan quickly put away the Mani Pearl, let out a deep snort, and shot out like a beam of light, colliding with the Human Ancestor Banner.
"Bang! Bang!"
Punch after punch struck Yan Jun's body, each one full force, containing fifty percent of the Yama Heavenly Dao profound meaning.
In an instant, Yan Jun's demon body was shattered into pieces, a gruesome sight.
But the previously shattered left eye of the dark abyss evil eye had already reformed, releasing even more terrifying soul-stealing power, hindering Yan Renhuan from pursuing Yan Jun's remnant body.
Old Drunkard had shown Zhang Ruochen great kindness; how could he abandon him?
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had always possessed the means to refine and absorb dark weirdness, which could help restore his sanity.
But first, he had to suppress him!
Zhang Ruochen controlled the four cauldrons, severely wounding Void Kun War God, Shiva Emperor, Baiyun Divine Ancestor, and Xuanwu Divine Ancestor in succession, sending them all flying. Then, he charged straight toward the Sword God Temple.
"What are you doing?"
Yan Renhuan sensed Zhang Ruochen's unusual behavior.
"The light of the Sword Source Divine Tree can suppress the dark weirdness qi. I need to undo the seal on the tree."
As soon as Zhang Ruochen rushed into the Sword God Temple, he found it had changed from before. The black clouds from the Sword Soul Hollow had surged out, filling the temple.
The ancient hall masters who had been hiding in various parts of the temple all came out, kneeling and bowing toward the Sword Soul Hollow, muttering incantations.
Their eyes had become murky and vacant, as if they had lost their spirit and energy.
Suddenly, the black clouds surged continuously, pouring into the body of one of the ancient hall masters.
That ancient hall master, whose back was covered in spikes, trembled violently, letting out a heart-wrenching scream: "No, I don't want this power! Give me back my sanity... Ah..."
His body was stretched to the point of explosion, transforming into a dark beast several tens of zhang long, with blood-red pupils. Its aura had reached the Indestructible Infinite level.
The dark beast charged toward the Sword Source Divine Tree, attacking Zhang Ruochen.
The other ancient hall masters kneeling on the ground were all struggling, trying to get up and flee, but their spiritual consciousness was out of control, and their knees could not leave the ground.
When had Zhang Ruochen ever seen such a bizarre sight?
Creating an Indestructible Infinite out of thin air—this was likely a method only an Ancestor could possess!
Of course, such a method must come at a cost.
The ancient hall masters who turned into dark beasts probably would not live much longer.
If it weren't for wanting to save Old Drunkard, Zhang Ruochen would have fled the Sword God Temple immediately.
But the Sword Source Divine Tree was right in front of him—how could he give up now?
He could only hope that the seal on the Sword Source Divine Tree was not too strong; otherwise, trapped inside the Sword God Temple, he would have no way to escape.
As countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Ruochen's mind, Void Heaven's excited voice rang out outside the Sword God Temple: "Zhang Ruochen, don't you dare take it! Step aside! You promised me long ago—the Sword Source Divine Tree is mine, all mine! Haha!"
Void Heaven rushed into the Sword God Temple in high spirits, afraid of being even a step too late.