Chapter 3891: Battle Begins
"What promise?"
Just as Zhang Ruochen asked this question, he and Yuansheng simultaneously sensed something and transformed into two beams of light, shooting out of the Hei Wuchang Divine Temple.
Standing outside the temple, they gazed at the World Tree in the vast starry sky.
They saw ghost clan deities, like a meteor shower, flying out of the World Tree and heading toward the territory where the Cangjin Guhai was located. At the forefront of the meteor shower was a black-and-white circular wheel—it was Heibai Daoren.
He activated a great space divine ability, and all the ghost clan deities flying into the black-and-white circular wheel vanished, teleported away.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed sharply. Heibai Daoren had ultimately acted according to his expectations.
This old fellow certainly had courage and boldness, but he had clearly been away from the Hell Realm for too long. He didn't understand that this era was different from before—that the cultivation of the Indestructible Infinite Realm could not crush everything.
Yuansheng's beautiful eyes showed joy, and she said with a smile, "Excellent. Heibai Daoren is arrogant and conceited, and he has indeed fallen into the trap. As long as he leaves Fengdu Ghost City, everything will be easy!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "What do you plan to do?"
In a great mood, Yuansheng acted as if she would no longer argue with Zhang Ruochen, and said, "Do you really think I would be foolish enough to kill an Indestructible Infinite cultivator in the upper realm? In truth, the purpose of luring Heibai Daoren away from Fengdu Ghost City is to reclaim the Yinhuai Divine Tree."
Zhang Ruochen had seen the Yinhuai Divine Tree before. It could transform into myriad forms and contained rich life energy.
Back then, Zhang Ruochen, Gai Mie, Jie Tian, and Chi Yao had been imprisoned in the Chaotic Divine Prison inside the Yinhuai Divine Tree, showing just how extraordinary this tree was.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Just for a divine tree, is it worth taking such a huge risk?"
Yuansheng turned around, looking directly at Zhang Ruochen, and said, "The opportunity is right in front of us. Will you help me or not?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then you have to at least tell me the truth, right?"
Yuansheng shook her head and said, "No. Not unless you first agree to help me and swear an oath in the name of the Great Venerable."
Zhang Ruochen thought carefully and said, "You don't trust me?"
Yuansheng said, "How can I trust you? You are a lord of the upper realm, and I am the emperor of a lower clan. War between the upper and lower realms is imminent. I can't even be sure you won't secretly scheme against me. If not for Elder Jie telling me to trust you, I wouldn't have told you even this much."
"You actually trust him?"
Zhang Ruochen found it hard to understand.
"The cultivators of the upper realm, only Elder Jie can be fully trusted." After a pause, Yuansheng added, "He can swear in the name of the Great Venerable, so why shouldn't I trust him?"
Old Jie swore oaths as easily as eating and drinking. He probably didn't even remember how many oaths he had made.
The reason Yuansheng could trust Old Jie so much was definitely because of the battle at Wujian Ridge, where Old Jie had shown enough bravery and fearlessness to save the Great Elder of the Yuandao Clan.
No wonder so many women, abandoned by Old Jie, still loved him wholeheartedly. This old fellow could say anything and swear any oath to pursue women. And the key was, women fell for it.
Of course, Old Jie would never admit to abandoning anyone. He would only say he had loved them and had countless unavoidable reasons.
"Since Elder Jie told you to trust me, you should trust me."
Zhang Ruochen certainly wouldn't swear an oath so easily. He said, "What do you plan to do? Can you sense the location of the Yinhuai Divine Tree? Is it in Heibai Daoren's divine realm world, or in Fengdu Ghost City?"
Yuansheng shook her head, looking at Fengdu Ghost City at the top of the World Tree, and said, "No matter where the Yinhuai Divine Tree is, as long as I take something Heibai Daoren cares about enough, he will definitely trade with me."
"You want to take Fengdu Ghost City? I advise you to drop that idea. Fengdu Ghost City is one of the top divine cities in the Hell Realm. It has countless formations and many deities. If it were so easy to breach or take away, it would have been destroyed long ago," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yuansheng said, "What if I first break the Wuchang Ghost City, release the strange blood spring, and create a great chaos?"
"I will never allow you to do that," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yuansheng's eyes widened, her gaze turning cold, and she said, "You simply don't want to help me, do you?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Considering you helped me in the Abyss of Darkness, I can help you reclaim the Yinhuai Divine Tree, but that's all."
Before Yuansheng could speak, Zhang Ruochen continued, "If you think that thirteen ghost clan deities can lure Heibai Daoren into a trap, you are underestimating him."
Yuansheng understood immediately and said, "You mean this is a setup?"
Zhang Ruochen's ears twitched. He faintly heard the sound of water coming from the heavens and earth.
Then, he looked in the direction of the water sound, his gaze falling on the Wuchang Ghost City beneath Yinshan. By the Santu River, he saw a Shura clan formation master.
This Shura clan formation master had a tall body, eight arms, and wore a white formation master divine robe.
He was walking alone quickly toward the formation divine temple at the south city gate of Wuchang Ghost City, appearing extremely out of place compared to everyone else.
Yuansheng noticed Zhang Ruochen's expression change and followed his gaze. She said, "This person is acting strangely. What did you notice?"
"It's the sound of the Shura Battle Soul Sea," Zhang Ruochen said.
Below.
"Boom!"
A dazzling blue light burst from the body of that Shura clan formation master.
With a scream, the Shura clan formation master's body exploded, and countless blue rivers surged out from within.
The largest formation divine temple outside the south city gate of Wuchang Ghost City was shattered by a burst of Shura battle qi. Countless blue rivers rushed toward Wuchang Ghost City.
These blue rivers were Luo Tongluo's hair.
Her body radiated bright divine light. Her graceful, slender figure was covered by a form-fitting scale soft armor. Her chest and hips were full, giving her a powerful, domineering yet seductive appearance.
Because the formation divine temple was destroyed, the defensive formation light barrier of Wuchang Ghost City quickly dimmed, unable to block Luo Tongluo's hair divine river.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The city walls of Wuchang Ghost City were continuously breached, and fierce blood springs gushed out from within the walls.
The Ghost Divine Temple Lord, who had long been hiding in the city, was extremely surprised and said, "How could it be Luo Tongluo?"
Since Heibai Daoren wanted to lure the snake out of its hole, he naturally wouldn't give the opponent a chance to successfully breach Wuchang Ghost City. He had already made thorough preparations inside the city.
The Ghost Divine Temple Lord carried the Soul-Suppressing Platform and led the deities of the Ancestor Realm, personally sitting in the city.
The Soul-Suppressing Platform was hundreds of feet tall, shaped like a pyramid, shrouded in thick Ancestor Divine Qi. On it were not only the Ghost Divine Temple Lord, a Great Unbound Infinite cultivator, but also ten of the ghost clan's most mysterious dragon corpse knights, and over five hundred great gods and true gods.
Ghost Lord said, "Master, make your move. If you don't, Wuchang Ghost City will really be breached by Luo Tongluo!"
The Ghost Divine Temple Lord's three dragon heads nodded in unison, and then he said in a deep voice, "Dragon corpse knights, activate the Ancestor Soul-Suppressing power of the Soul-Suppressing Platform to suppress her soul and intimidate her spirit. All other deities, pour all your divine qi into the formation and activate the Nine-Kill Soul-Destroying Formation left by the Spiritual Power Ancestor."
The Soul-Suppressing Platform flew out of Wuchang Ghost City, its Ancestor Divine Qi spreading outward, blocking Luo Tongluo's path.
Ancestor radiance, formation inscriptions, and Shura battle qi clashed together, causing the earth to continuously crack and the sky to tremble incessantly. In an instant, countless cultivators were reduced to dust.
Outside Wuchang Ghost City, chaos reigned. Many deities were fleeing on their divine temples.
They were not fools. They could see this was a trap set by the ghost clan. But the ghost clan had completely kept them in the dark, leaving them unprepared. As a result, countless cultivators had been annihilated in this battle, filling them with intense resentment.
They had come from various clans to help the ghost clan defend Wuchang Ghost City, only to end up in such a situation. Who would want to stay any longer?
Heibai Daoren, holding the Soul-Suppressing Banner, led the meteor shower of deities back, cutting off Luo Tongluo's escape route, and laughed loudly, "Luo Tongluo, you dare to oppose the ghost clan. Today is the day you die!"
"Swoosh!"
Zhou Qi Ghost Emperor and Yang Yun Ghost Emperor, guarding Fengdu Ghost City, gradually lit up the World Tree.
On Yinshan, Yuansheng saw such a formation. Even with Luo Tongluo's abilities, she was struggling to cope, and a chill ran down her spine.
If she had been the one to strike just now, facing the pincer attack of the Ghost Divine Temple Lord and Heibai Daoren, how long could she have held out?
But Yuansheng was, after all, the emperor of a clan. She quickly composed herself, her gaze fixed on the World Tree that had not yet been fully lit, and said, "If I were to attack Fengdu Ghost City now, you would definitely stop me, right?"
"Don't act rashly. Do you think only we are watching this battle?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Yuansheng said, "Once the World Tree is fully lit, Luo Tongluo definitely won't be able to escape. She will be suppressed. This is the full strength of the ghost clan, not something one person can resist."
Zhang Ruochen said thoughtfully, "What is inside the Yinhuai Divine Tree that makes you willing to risk everything to reclaim it? Can you tell me now?"
Yuansheng hesitated.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If you don't tell me, how can I know whether I should help you?"
Yuansheng said, "Inside the Yinhuai Divine Tree, there are two divine medicines growing..."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Don't give me that vague talk. I'm not interested in divine medicines."
With a hint of anger, Yuansheng said, "Inside the Yinhuai Divine Tree, there is a treasure that concerns the life and death of the Yuandao Clan."
Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to drop it and said, "Does Heibai Daoren know?"
"That treasure is hidden very secretly, and with Heibai Daoren's cultivation, he can't break the formation seal in a short time. So, he probably doesn't know yet," Yuansheng said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Then it's easy to handle."
Yuansheng quickly asked, "Do you have a good plan?"
Seeming to realize that she, as the emperor of a clan, should have her own opinions like the Great Elder had said, she added, "After all, you are a cultivator of the upper realm, and you are Tianyuan Wuque. You know more about the ghost clan and the situation here. I am willing to hear your advice."
Zhang Ruochen never expected her to have so many thoughts in her mind.
He pointed at the Soul-Suppressing Banner in Heibai Daoren's hand and said, "Capturing ghost clan deities is useless, even if the hostage is Heibai Daoren's disciple. But see that banner? It is one of the ghost clan's foundational treasures. If you seize it, Heibai Daoren will definitely trade the Yinhuai Divine Tree for it. Of course, it's inconvenient for me to act. It's all up to you!"
Yuansheng was about to move.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed her wrist and said, "Wait a little longer."