Chapter 3862: Digging a Trap
The starry domain shrouded in darkness had already spread to ten light-years away. Only after Zhang Ruochen and Void Heaven rushed out of the darkness did they secretly breathe a sigh of relief, the suffocating pressure brought by the strange evil eye finally dissipating.
Void Heaven was extremely cautious, saying, "Zhang Ruochen, this darkness is strange, most likely the remnant body of the Immortal that the Second Confucian Ancestor spoke of. You must be careful; that black hand is part of His remnant body. You'd better pray that Hao Tian and the others can kill and annihilate Him today."
"A Half-Ancestor is invincible in the current era, but the opponent is an Immortal who has never perished through the ages." Zhang Ruochen dared not hold too much hope.
"If Yan Renhuan succeeds in self-detonating his Divine Source, there is still a chance..." Void Heaven's voice abruptly stopped, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.
Immediately after, he and Zhang Ruochen fled to a farther direction. They sensed the destructive fluctuations of Yan Renhuan's Divine Source self-detonation, and although it was separated by who knows how many trillions of miles, they still treated it with caution.
The instantaneous bloom of an Indestructible Peak would inevitably lead to the annihilation of the starry sky, and the range of influence would not be small. The self-detonation of a Divine Source by an Indestructible Peak was an extremely rare event.
Because, in a one-on-one situation, even a Heavenly Venerable-level figure would find it extremely difficult to kill an Indestructible Peak, and it would be very hard to prevent them from escaping.
An Indestructible Peak facing a Half-Ancestor would almost certainly be unable to escape. However, it would be absolutely impossible for a Half-Ancestor to have a one hundred percent certainty of preventing an Indestructible Peak from self-detonating their Divine Source.
The deterrent of self-detonating the Divine Source had the potential to make a Half-Ancestor back down. Void Heaven dared to fight heaven and earth, dared not to fear a Heavenly Venerable-level figure, and dared to charge into the Heavenly Court, precisely based on this kind of confidence.
Of course, all of this was the ultimate struggle for survival of the weak. From the perspective of the strong, if a Half-Ancestor truly plotted against an Indestructible Peak, the Indestructible Peak was almost certainly doomed.
The remaining thread of life was the deterrent of self-detonating the Divine Source. It was only a single thread of life! Everything depended on how great the Half-Ancestor's determination to kill was.
The divine throne planet belonging to Yan Renhuan in Yama Heaven Beyond Heavens extinguished, and the entire clan mourned together. Countless cultivators knelt on the ground, their wailing resounding throughout Yama Heaven Beyond Heavens.
On the land of Heaven Beyond Heavens, blood rain fell in many places. The fall of a Heavenly Venerable plunged the cultivators of the Hell Realm into shock, fear, grief... and various other emotions, severely damaging morale.
This was an extraordinary major event, a heavy blow not only to the Yama Clan but to the entire Hell Realm.
Chaos erupted in various places, and order was collapsing. Void Heaven said, "Since Yan Renhuan succeeded in self-detonating his Divine Source, the strange darkness must have suffered a heavy blow. It would be best if the three Half-Ancestors could kill Him. If they cannot kill Him, they must further severely wound Him, so that He dares not appear in the world again for at least one Eon."
"And after that one Eon?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Void Heaven said, "After one Eon, I, this Heavenly Lord, will at least be at the Heavenly Venerable level, and might even step into the Half-Ancestor realm. By then, even if He emerges, I, this Heavenly Lord, will not fear Him."
"Half-Ancestor?" Zhang Ruochen's tone was strange.
Void Heaven snorted coldly, "I'm not afraid to tell you, the Sword Source Divine Tree will definitely help me, this Heavenly Lord, cultivate Sword Twenty-Four and break through to the Heavenly Venerable level. And the Heavenly Mechanism Brush can decipher the Sword Source Divine Tree and the Fate Heavenly Book; it is the beacon for me, this Heavenly Lord, to gaze upon the Half-Ancestor realm."
"Are you that confident?" Zhang Ruochen questioned. "You broke through in spiritual power shortly after obtaining the Heavenly Mechanism Brush. Could it be that there is something good inside the brush? The corpse and divine heart of Murong Buhuo?"
"Don't guess recklessly!" Void Heaven immediately changed the subject, smiling, "You suppressed a large number of powerful beings this time. Why not use the Earth Cauldron to refine them into a furnace of Infinite Great Pills to help me, this Heavenly Lord? If I, this Heavenly Lord, reach the Half-Ancestor realm, you will definitely benefit greatly."
Zhang Ruochen said, "That sounds too vague. Are there any tangible benefits?"
"Benefits are naturally plentiful. To show sincerity, I, this Heavenly Lord, will first return the Seven Star Divine Sword to you." Void Heaven waved his sleeve, and the fragments of the Seven Star Divine Sword flew out, hovering before Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's face darkened, "You call this returning? When I lent you the sword, it was intact. Senior Void Heaven, shouldn't you think about how to compensate me?"
Void Heaven said, "I already gave you the Universe Cauldron. What more do you want?"
"The Universe Cauldron was originally mine," Zhang Ruochen said.
Void Heaven said, "In the Sword God Temple, if I, this Heavenly Lord, hadn't helped you, you might have died!"
"But I gave you the Sword Source Divine Tree," Zhang Ruochen said.
Void Heaven was momentarily speechless, thought for a moment, and said, "I gave you both Wu Yue and Feng Caiyi."
"The Heavenly Mechanism Brush was something I let you have," Zhang Ruochen said.
Void Heaven said, "Then you also got the Myriad Forms Formless Seal."...
"Can you two stop arguing for a moment? This turmoil that affects the entire universe isn't over yet!" Ji Fanxin walked out of Zhang Ruochen's Divine Realm World, trying to persuade the two who both wanted to extract benefits from each other.
"I, this Heavenly Lord, am too severely injured to intervene further in the upheaval of heaven and earth. I need to find a safe place to heal." Void Heaven clasped his hands behind his back, glanced sideways at Zhang Ruochen, and said, "What about you, kid?"
"I single-handedly suppressed dozens of powerful beings. How could I still make a move?" Zhang Ruochen was not lightly injured, especially his spiritual power, which had become unstable. "I plan to go to Yama Heaven Beyond Heavens first."
Void Heaven's heart stirred, but then he shook his head, "Yama Heaven Beyond Heavens will surely be coveted by Bone Yama. It's not a good place. I, this Heavenly Lord, won't go." Void Heaven knew it was difficult to gain benefits from Zhang Ruochen and also knew that Zhang Ruochen carried immense karma. Not daring to continue traveling with him, he waved his hand to tear through the void and disappeared into the Void World.
Ji Fanxin said, "Actually, this could be an opportunity to recruit Void Heaven."
"Recruit him to join the Sword Realm?" Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Void Heaven will never be willing to be subordinate to others. All his actions are based on his own preferences, with a lot of unpredictability. The Sword Realm cannot contain this fickle sword of his. It's better to have him as an ally, or even a friend."
Ji Fanxin said, "So you kept the secret of the twelve stone men from him? Do you still think you should maintain some distance from him?"
"Being too close is definitely not a good thing." Zhang Ruochen thought of the Jing Daoren who had been horribly tricked by Void Heaven. Who knew when Void Heaven might pull the same stunt on him?
...
Feng Tian, following the orders of Heavenly Mother, led the gods of the Middle Three Clans, driving the World Tree and Fengdu Ghost City into Lihentian, heading straight towards Yan Di.
But Yan Di had already disappeared first, all heavenly mechanisms severed, impossible to find.
"This little bastard Zhang Ruochen cultivates too fast. Now, trying to manipulate him and extract benefits from him is harder than cultivating Sword Twenty-Four." Void Heaven was furious. In the past, he would have forced Zhang Ruochen to use the Earth Cauldron to refine pills for him and help him heal.
Arriving at Lihentian, Void Heaven entered Fengdu Ghost City. Seeing Feng Tian, his heart stirred, and he intended to scheme against Zhang Ruochen to achieve peace of mind.
"Feng Caiyi! Zhang Ruochen said to give me the six volumes of the Fate Heavenly Book." Void Heaven, completely disregarding that the top gods of the Middle Three Clans were all present, said this so bluntly.
The gods present numbered over a hundred, all influential figures. They had been in heated discussion but suddenly fell silent.
Silence so profound you could hear a pin drop. Feng Tian stood at the center of the gods, one hand behind her back, her expression turning cold and heavy as she stared at Void Heaven who strode in.
As if she hadn't heard Void Heaven's words, she said, "Void Heaven has just returned from the darkness. Can you tell us what the situation is over there?" Void Heaven's words were deliberately ignored by everyone, and someone followed up, "Yes, the Heavenly Venerable has fallen. Can Heavenly Mother suppress it by going there?"
"Should we bring the World Tree and Fengdu Ghost City?" another person asked.
Void Heaven ignored them, walked up to Feng Tian, and said with a beaming smile, "I, this Heavenly Lord, have already reached an agreement with Zhang Ruochen. Feng Tian, quickly give me the Fate Heavenly Book! In this campaign against the darkness, I, this Heavenly Lord, have damaged my foundation. Only the Fate Heavenly Book can heal me."
The scene fell silent again.
Anyone could hear the implication in Void Heaven's words. The gods present couldn't help but wonder, how much face did Zhang Ruochen have with Feng Tian, that Void Heaven had to borrow his name to get the Fate Heavenly Book?
The rumors about Feng Tian and Zhang Ruochen seemed to be mostly true. While they found it hard to believe, their gazes towards Feng Tian also held a hint of strangeness.
This Death God Venerable...
Both were Heavenly Lords of the Destiny Temple, advancing and retreating together. If Void Heaven had truly damaged his foundation, Feng Tian would naturally be willing to give him the Fate Heavenly Book to heal.
Feng Tian was also very curious inwardly. What was this old ghost Void Heaven up to? In her opinion, Void Heaven had no need to create unnecessary trouble.
Could Zhang Ruochen have really used the Fate Heavenly Book as a bargaining chip to trade something with Void Heaven? The Fate Heavenly Book was indeed recovered with Zhang Ruochen's help.
And she had indeed not given Zhang Ruochen corresponding compensation. Zhang Ruochen using this method to forcefully claim it was reasonable and logical.
But Feng Tian was still very displeased.
Void Heaven added, "The Dark Taboo is indeed dangerous, but danger often comes with opportunity. You don't know how much benefit Zhang Ruochen gained this time."
There were many curious people. A God Venerable asked, "What benefit?"
"The palm of the Immortal," Void Heaven said.
"Boom!" All the gods present exploded into commotion, their emotions intense.
"Is the Dark Taboo the Immortal?"
"Does the Immortal really exist?"
"Void Heaven's cultivation far surpasses Zhang Ruochen's. Why did he get the Immortal's palm while you, Senior, didn't?"
Void Heaven sighed deeply, "If I, this Heavenly Lord, didn't have a favor to ask of him, wanting to borrow the Fate Heavenly Book to heal, would that benefit have gone to him? What can I do? I'm the one asking for a favor!"
Everyone understood the hint!
But they didn't believe that if even Void Heaven couldn't get the Fate Heavenly Book from Feng Tian, Zhang Ruochen could make Feng Tian comply with just a word.
Feng Tian's expression was blank, and she said indifferently, "Void Heaven is a member of the Destiny Temple. If you need to heal, why ask an outsider? If you just speak up, would I, this Heavenly Lord, refuse?"
Void Heaven was delighted, "So Feng Tian agrees?"
"There's no question of agreeing or not. Take all six volumes of the Fate Heavenly Book!" Feng Tian said.
Void Heaven sensed Feng Caiyi's emotions and instantly felt his thoughts were clear, even more delighted than if he had actually obtained the Fate Heavenly Book.