Chapter 3951: Facing Death Calmly
Mu Rongyue, clad in a black robe and wearing a black veil, stood by the banks of the Luo River, gazing at the sky. "Heavenly Demon Venerable Xing Tian was not wrong in his prediction. The world-destroying calamity has truly descended!"
Behind her, a dark purple circular spatial gate appeared, and vast demonic qi surged forth, pulling a region spanning millions of miles, including the Luo River, into her Divine Realm World in an instant.
Then, she sped toward King Mountain at the fastest possible speed.
Facing a Heavenly Venerable-level destruction storm, perhaps only the defensive formations of King Mountain and the residual might of the Heavenly Venerable tomb deep within it could withstand it to some degree.
...
The Eastern Domain was vast. Even though the destruction storm spread at the speed of light, gods in more distant regions, with their reaction speed, could release their Divine Realm Worlds and take away some of the living beings on that territory.
However, whether these gods could withstand the aftershocks of a Heavenly Venerable-level destruction storm and escape its range of attack was an unknown.
After the Divine Source self-destructed, the Three Palaces and Seventy-Two Halls of the Liangyi Sect were all buried under gray dust.
"Hua!"
From within the dust, a magnificent eighteen-story tower flew out, heading straight for the world-protecting divine formation in the sky.
"The Sword Pavilion has appeared!"
An ancient hall master, resembling an ape with a foot-long white fur, rapidly expanded his body and reached out a heaven-spanning hand to grab the Sword Pavilion.
Divine Maiden Shen Ba stood outside the gate on the first floor of the Sword Pavilion, clad in a purple robe, with a wooden hairpin in her bun, holding a divine staff. She pushed her spiritual power to its limit, making the formation inscriptions that Tai Shang had engraved on the Sword Pavilion shine brightly, greatly increasing its speed and evading the spatial containment force in the ancient hall master's palm.
After inheriting the divine heart containing the remnant soul of Murong Buhuo, Divine Maiden Shen Ba's spiritual power had already reached the level of "one thought determining the universe."
With a spiritual power god-venerable like her stationed in the Kunlun Realm, the formations laid down by Tai Shang could be activated to a certain degree.
The Sword Pavilion was the array eye of the world-protecting divine formation. It continuously jumped through space, evading the suppression of the ancient hall master from the Space Divine Temple. At the same time, the formation inscriptions on the tower were closely connected to the world-protecting divine formation, gradually activating it.
Divine Maiden Shen Ba said coldly, "Do not be so arrogant. Once the world-protecting divine formation is fully activated, none of you will escape."
Before she finished speaking, Divine Maiden Shen Ba raised her divine staff, channeling the power of the incomplete world-protecting divine formation, and struck an ancient hall master who was closely pursuing her with a bolt of lightning, sending him reeling back.
That ancient hall master was charred black all over, emitting smoke, with his outer skin and flesh turned to ash.
The world-protecting divine formation contained not only the power of the formation itself but also the collective power of all living beings in the Kunlun Realm. It connected mountains, rivers, sacred mountains, divine veins, seas, and ancient cities through the formation, thereby mobilizing the power of the great world itself.
It could also connect to the cosmic meridians, stars beyond the heavens, drawing in an endless stream of heaven and earth power.
This was why no one dared to easily break into the interior of the Kunlun Realm!
To enter and destroy the realm, one must be prepared to die within the Kunlun Realm.
Unless one had absolute certainty that they could destroy the world-protecting divine formation or annihilate the entire great world before it was fully activated.
"Shua!"
Seventy-Two Lotus stepped through space, appearing before the Sword Pavilion. The divine might and presence emanating from her body caused even the formation inscriptions between heaven and earth to become chaotic. She said calmly, "Facing me, even if Hua Ying Cang Jie were personally stationed in the Kunlun Realm, he would not dare to have such confidence. Relying on a single formation, do you think you are invincible under heaven?"
"Myriad Forms Formless."
She raised her right arm and pressed her five fingers into the void.
The Sword Pavilion was frozen in space.
Even Divine Maiden Shen Ba, with her spiritual power, found herself completely unable to move. Even her spiritual power seemed to have solidified, unable to be controlled, activated, or utilized.
The formation inscriptions that Tai Shang had laid on the outer perimeter of the Sword Pavilion were rapidly being erased by the power of Myriad Forms Formless.
Suddenly, Seventy-Two Lotus sensed extreme danger and retreated explosively.
"Shua!"
Her neck turned cold, and a flash of blood sprayed before her eyes.
Her neck was severed halfway by the Demon Ancestor Zi Wu Yue, divine blood continuously spilling out, staining her white clothes like plum blossoms, beautiful and vivid.
Gai Mie's blurry afterimage, gripping the Demon Ancestor Zi Wu Yue, launched a second attack.
Seventy-Two Lotus steadied her form, then raised both hands to meet the attack, transforming into thousands upon thousands of hand shadows, directly clashing with the Demon Ancestor Zi Wu Yue.
"Bang bang!"
After an unknown number of exchanges, the two flew back.
Seventy-Two Lotus touched the wound on her neck with her finger, and the wound healed automatically. She said calmly, "No wonder the strong ones of the Kunlun Realm dared to leave en masse. So they left you here to ambush me in the Kunlun Realm. But the so-called Supreme Pillar is nothing more than this!"
Gai Mie laughed heartily, "Being the daughter of the Primordial Ancestor and having inherited the true teachings of the Immortal to cultivate the power of Myriad Forms Formless, I still don't find you that impressive. You're a far cry from the Heavenly Demon of those days!"
Gai Mie had hidden within the Sword Pavilion, waiting to strike with a decisive blow, aiming to cut off Seventy-Two Lotus's head.
As long as her head was separated from her body, and she was not given a chance to reassemble her divine body, her combat power would inevitably drop significantly.
However, Seventy-Two Lotus's mastery over time and space was profound and unfathomable, allowing her to evade half of Gai Mie's thunderous strike.
Her combat power was too terrifying. She caught Gai Mie's subsequent attacks with her bare hands, rendering the ambush a failure.
Among Gai Mie's old acquaintances, only the Heavenly Demon from his Heavenly Venerable period could surpass Seventy-Two Lotus by a margin.
Gai Mie looked up, watching the Sword Pavilion rise into the sky and disappear into the world-protecting divine formation. "The world-protecting divine formation is about to activate! With me here, do you still think you can leave the Kunlun Realm?"
Besides the Sword Pavilion, the Kunlun Realm had five other important formation foundations: Heavenly Demon Mountain, Tongtian Divine Temple, the Peach Tree, the Dragon God Temple, and the Central Imperial City.
Chi Xingtian and the Eight-Winged Nightmare Dragon stood atop Heavenly Demon Mountain.
The three elders of the Ancient Divine Nest and Chi Yao emerged from the Tongtian Divine Temple, the Peach Tree, the Dragon God Temple, and the Central Imperial City, respectively.
Seventy-Two Lotus could sense their auras and naturally understood that the Kunlun Realm was well-prepared. "Is this a trap to lure me in? Unfortunately, this trap of the Kunlun Realm, which has been in ruins since an eon ago, cannot hold a Heavenly Venerable. It will only meet its destined end of destruction."
...
Jie Tian sensed something and looked toward the starry sky. "Something has happened in the Kunlun Realm!"
"This was to be expected. The star domain teleportation array has been set up. Grandfather will surely return as quickly as possible," said Qiangu Nüdi.
Jie Tian said, "If he returns, it might be exactly what they want."
Qiangu Nüdi also sensed it. "The Eastern Domain has been destroyed. How can Jie Tian remain so calm?"
"Having already experienced the great calamity an eon ago, what is there that cannot be endured? The casualties in that battle were several times more severe than today's, weren't they? Forget the Kunlun Realm. The crisis before us is far more terrifying."
Jie Tian's teeth were nearly ground to dust as he spoke these calm words. He said in a deep voice, "It's stirring again. Damn it."
"Rumble!"
Below the Nine Heavens, within the Second Confucian Ancestor's Ancestor Realm, dark power continuously seeped out, impacting the world of the Nine Heavens.
Standing inside the Shura War Soul Sea, Zhang Ruochen naturally sensed some of the situation in the Kunlun Realm. His gaze became distant and profound.
But, as Jie Tian said, there was nothing they could do now!
Returning would already be too late. Resolving the immediate crisis was the top priority.
As a Heavenly Venerable, as a strong one holding up a piece of the sky, sometimes one must control one's emotions. No matter how sorrowful, angry, or painful, one must remain calm and composed.
It wasn't just the dark anomaly in the Second Confucian Ancestor's Ancestor Realm that was impacting the seal. The stone men in Zhang Ruochen's Divine Realm World were also stirring, seemingly stimulated by some unknown force.
The stone skin on them kept falling off.
The cracks on the stone skin grew larger and larger.
Fortunately, when Zhang Ruochen left the Wuding Divine Sea, he had decided to disperse the danger, entrusting six of the eleven stone men to his grandmaster for suppression. Otherwise, he would not be able to hold them back now.
"I wonder if the six stone men in the Wuding Divine Sea are also stirring?" Zhang Ruochen's mood grew heavier.
Never before had he felt so acutely the precarious state of the universe, the true arrival of the world-destroying calamity.
The turmoil before the Calamity of Quantities, the struggle before destruction. All stability would be shattered. No matter how high one's cultivation, they could turn to ashes in the next moment.
"There's a situation."
Xiu Chen Heavenly God's voice pulled Zhang Ruochen back from his sorrowful thoughts.
A dark purple divine chariot, pulled by two white deer-like divine beasts, was heading straight for the Heavenly Human Academy, completely out of place with the grim atmosphere of the Heavenly Court cultivators fighting the dark anomaly together.
On the chariot's wall was an engraved character "Heaven."
This was the chariot of the "Heavenly Envoy" under the Death God Temple Hall Master.
This "Death God" was not the Death God Temple. It was the largest assassin organization in the current universe. After being subdued by Zhang Ruochen, A Fuya served as its hall master, while Han Qiu and A Le served as the Heaven and Earth Envoys, respectively managing the forces in the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm.
In other words, this was Han Qiu's chariot.
Xiu Chen Heavenly God said, "I have a bad feeling! Zhang Ruochen, no matter what happens, you must stay calm. Otherwise, if the dark rules break the seal and the five stone men emerge, everyone will die."
...
Han Qiu and Qing Su sat calmly on the left and right sides of the chariot. Their eyes held both the unwillingness of facing the end of life and the relief that came from accepting the inevitability of death.
The sword cultivator, who looked exactly like Shang Qing, sat steadily at the back of the chariot. "Your ability to remain so calm and composed exceeds my expectations. No wonder Zhang Ruochen entrusted you with such important tasks. But have you ever considered why it was you who were chosen to oversee the Death God Temple and the Goddess Twelve Pavilions? Why were women like Bai Qinger and Wu Yue placed in the safest places and protected by Zhang Ruochen?"
Han Qiu recalled her moments with Zhang Ruochen—their first meeting in the Yunwu Commandery, their escape together when Zhang Ruochen taught her swordsmanship, and their joint entry into the Liangyi Sect...
So many years had passed, and it all felt like a dream.
From her initial obsession with marrying Zhang Ruochen and becoming the Crown Princess of the Sacred Bright Empire,
to now, she had come to see the gap between herself and Zhang Ruochen, and even the gap between herself and women like Chi Yao, Wu Yue, and Bai Qinger. Now, Han Qiu only wished to go further on the path of cultivation. If possible... to leave some mark in Zhang Ruochen's heart, that would be enough.
Loving someone was inherently unfair. Some things, no matter how hard one tried, could never be obtained.
But at least she had tried, had given her all, and had no regrets.
Pulling herself from her memories, Han Qiu smiled fearlessly. "To sow discord at a time like this, isn't that beneath your status, senior?"
Qing Su said, "If he had true magnanimity, he wouldn't use two young women like us to threaten our master. This shows that high cultivation does not necessarily command respect."
The sword cultivator resembling Shang Qing was not angered. "Zhang Ruochen used the woman I love most against me. Is that magnanimity? Using you against him is only fitting, isn't it? Unfortunately, I failed to capture the woman Zhang Ruochen cares about most."
Han Qiu and Qing Su exchanged a look of disbelief, the same question arising in their minds: "What exactly is the relationship between the Primordial Ancestor Luo Tuo Luo and him?"
The sword cultivator resembling Shang Qing said, "Whether you live or die depends on Zhang Ruochen's choice!"
A cold smile appeared on Han Qiu's face. "If you let me go see Zhang Ruochen, I am confident I can persuade him to release Luo Tuo Luo and also free your true body suppressed beneath the Nine Heavens world."
The sword cultivator resembling Shang Qing saw through her at a glance. "You want to take your own life, don't you? Young one, your life no longer belongs to you. It is now in my hands... no, in Zhang Ruochen's hands."
The smile on Han Qiu's face gradually faded.
The sword cultivator resembling Shang Qing said thoughtfully, "If you truly have the courage to end your own life, I can grant you that wish. After all, it would make Zhang Ruochen feel the cruelty of opposing me. From now on, he will remember this lesson. That has some value. I just worry that you mean nothing to him, and all my efforts would be in vain."
Han Qiu's gaze dimmed.
Qing Su knew that Han Qiu was no match for the person before them. "The moment we fell into your hands, I knew our lives had lost their meaning. But as long as our master can steadfastly refine and kill Luo Tuo Luo, suppress the dark anomaly, and prevent you from succeeding, I will be happy even if I lose my life."
Han Qiu recovered and said, "To die at the hands of a figure like you is an honor in itself. At the same time, it proves our value in the eyes of Emperor Chen. Isn't that so?"
The sword cultivator resembling Shang Qing laughed. "Interesting. I hope you can remain this composed when death is upon you. The Heavenly Human Academy has arrived!"