Chapter 3966: Warning to the World
Zhang Ruochen looked behind him. The starry sky continued to collapse, but under the protection of order power, it did not affect the space around him.
Zhang Ruochen checked on Ci Hang Xianzi's condition and removed the forbidden power that Qishier Pin Lian had set within her body.
Ci Hang Xianzi gradually regained her ability to move, circles of Buddha light appearing behind her head. Before she had fully recovered, she said, "Imperial Dust, you must return to Kunlun Realm immediately. Qishier Pin Lian is using Jing Xiu as a hostage, forcing Chi Kunlun to help her seize the Time-Space Chaos Lotus, and to rescue the Heavenly Venerable-level sword cultivator and the Dark Aberration remnant body. The Nether Hall Hall Master, who is hiding in Jing Xiu's Divine Realm World, has already gone to Kunlun Realm."
Zhang Ruochen appeared extremely calm. "Don't worry about this. I anticipated it long ago. Do you know where Qishier Pin Lian has gone?"
"After learning that you had left Kunlun Realm, Qishier Pin Lian ordered those ancient Hall Masters to go to the Eastern Universe to lure you away. Then she herself left the Western Buddha Realm. I suspect she might have also gone to Kunlun Realm."
Ci Hang Xianzi could see a faint trace of disappointment in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. Though it flashed by in an instant, it was so obvious.
Of course Zhang Ruochen was disappointed.
But not because of Qishier Pin Lian. It was because of Chi Kunlun.
It wasn't disappointment that Chi Kunlun had compromised with Qishier Pin Lian. After all, if Zhang Ruochen were in his position, facing his maternal grandfather's life or death, any choice would be extremely difficult.
The disappointment was that Chi Kunlun had hidden all of this from him.
Even if Qishier Pin Lian had placed means on him to monitor his every word and action instantly, Chi Kunlun should have understood that his father had the ability to resolve all of this.
Yet he hadn't even given a hint!
Furthermore, Chi Kunlun couldn't possibly have been unaware that releasing the mysterious sword cultivator and the Dark Aberration remnant body would trigger such a terrifying disaster. The only explanation was that he had reasons to convince himself to do it, that he himself wanted to do it.
This was already a fundamental opposition in stance!
Xuan Yuan Di'er cursed and walked out of the shattered and chaotic void, his flesh and skin completely turned to ashes, reverting to his Bone Clan form.
Seeing Xuan Yuan Di'er approaching him with murderous intent, Zhang Ruochen was about to explain.
After all, he truly had not expected Qishier Pin Lian to be so ruthless. To kill him, she had sacrificed a powerful ancient Hall Master to self-detonate his Divine Source.
Before Zhang Ruochen could speak, Xuan Yuan Di'er's Demon God Stone Pillar was already suspended directly above Ci Hang Xianzi's head. He said coldly, "Speak. Why did you set up a killing formation against me?"
The power of Indestructible Infinite, accompanied by the fluctuations of Half-Ancestor aura, made Xuan Yuan Di'er extremely imposing at this moment.
Ci Hang Xianzi glanced at Zhang Ruochen, looking somewhat bewildered.
Xuan Yuan Di'er roared, "Don't pretend to be innocent in front of me, and don't try to seduce Zhang Ruochen into protecting you. It won't work. Such petty tricks might fool a young man like Zhang Ruochen, but how could they fool a former Half-Ancestor? Besides, if I want to kill someone, even Zhang Ruochen can't protect them."
Ci Hang Xianzi knew Xuan Yuan Di'er's identity and was not angered by his offense. Her mind was calm. "May I ask, Senior Di'er, why do you think I set up a killing formation to kill you?"
Xuan Yuan Di'er said, "If you hadn't set it up, how could you, with your cultivation, have appeared in the Jinggai Treasure Hall? This was a bitter flesh trick, wasn't it? Once that blade-wielding cultivator failed, you would have struck again unexpectedly. Unfortunately, you miscalculated. You didn't expect that Zhang Ruochen was extremely shrewd and directly triggered the power of the Divine Source self-detonation, making it impossible for you to use your subsequent measures."
Zhang Ruochen frowned. He really couldn't understand Xuan Yuan Di'er's logic.
Was he overthinking things?
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "Senior thinks I shouldn't have appeared in the Jinggai Treasure Hall?"
Xuan Yuan Di'er's eyes were stern. "With your cultivation, if the blade-wielding cultivator wanted to kill you, why would he need to borrow the power of a Divine Source self-detonation? Since he didn't want to kill you, why did he place you in the Jinggai Treasure Hall? If he wanted to use you as a hostage, he could have placed you in his own Divine Realm World. Why put you in the treasure hall? None of this makes sense!"
Xuan Yuan Di'er shot a smug smile at Zhang Ruochen, as if to say, "Kid, you still have a lot to learn! If it weren't for me, you would have been fooled by her."
Ci Hang Xianzi said unhurriedly, "Because they didn't dare to kill me themselves, but they wanted to try. Even more, they wanted to use Zhang Ruochen's hand to kill me, or rather, to bring disaster upon Zhang Ruochen."
Xuan Yuan Di'er was startled. "What are you talking about?"
Even Zhang Ruochen, who absolutely trusted Ci Hang Xianzi, fell into thought, carefully understanding her words.
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "Qishier Pin Lian said that I am the backup for the Nether Ancestor's immortality, the second path the Nether Ancestor reserved for himself. So she didn't dare to kill me."
"But she could use the destructive power of a Divine Source self-detonation to try to kill me, to see if it would force the Nether Ancestor to appear. If she could frame all of this on Zhang Ruochen, that would be even better!"
Xuan Yuan Di'er sneered, "I'm afraid she wanted to frame me, right? That makes sense. I do have the motive to lure out the Nether Ancestor. But what do you mean by being the backup for the Nether Ancestor's immortality?"
Ci Hang Xianzi felt that Xuan Yuan Di'er was being too one-sided. The person Qishier Pin Lian wanted to deal with couldn't possibly be him.
"Speak!"
Xuan Yuan Di'er shouted.
The Demon God Stone Pillar suspended above Ci Hang Xianzi's head surged with strands of Xuanhuang Qi.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to intervene and snatch the Demon God Stone Pillar away. This Xuan Yuan Di'er gave off a feeling of not being very intelligent, and he might actually do something foolish.
If he had enough self-awareness, he wouldn't have declared himself the second best under heaven throughout history.
Ci Hang Xianzi, however, appeared extremely composed. She directly revealed the secret that she was the ten-thousandth reincarnation of the merit body of Buddha Jiaye.
Xuan Yuan Di'er connected this with the secret Zhang Ruochen had told him earlier and immediately understood the relationship between Ci Hang Xianzi and the Nether Ancestor.
His gaze towards Ci Hang Xianzi gradually changed. He scrutinized her carefully, then put away the Demon God Stone Pillar. "What proof do you have that you are the ten-thousandth reincarnation of Buddha Jiaye?"
Zhang Ruochen finally stepped forward, blocking Ci Hang Xianzi. "Why should we prove it to you? Allowing you to know this secret is already the greatest respect and trust. Don't push your luck!"
Xuan Yuan Di'er said, "Zhang Ruochen, this has nothing to do with you. Don't think that just because you saved me just now, you can act arrogantly in front of me. To be honest, that ancient Hall Master's Divine Source self-detonation couldn't kill me."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Who said they were trying to kill you?"
Xuan Yuan Di'er said proudly, "Because no force in the world would allow the Xuan Yuan Clan to produce a third Heavenly Venerable-level, no, a second Half-Ancestor. The Xuan Yuan Clan is honored as the number one clan in the universe. A tall tree catches the wind. You simply cannot understand the danger involved."
Zhang Ruochen began to understand why Xuan Yuan Di'er thought this was a killing formation aimed at him.
In his view, the Xuan Yuan Clan was the greatest obstacle to the destroyers of the world, the enemy they most wanted to eliminate.
And in fact, up to now, that was indeed the case.
Zhang Ruochen didn't bother to explain further. "Ci Hang Xianzi is my friend. You'd better restrain your aura. If you threaten her safety again, I will definitely act."
Xuan Yuan Di'er's gaze alternated between Zhang Ruochen and Ci Hang Xianzi's faces, as if he had discovered some earth-shattering secret. "Zhang Ruochen, you clearly know the ten-thousandth reincarnation of Buddha Jiaye, yet you introduced a completely unknown Jing Xiu to me. What did you mean by that? Were you afraid I would discover your secret?"
"Amitabha! Senior Di'er seems to have misunderstood something." Ci Hang Xianzi said.
Xuan Yuan Di'er said, "I want to become your disciple and cultivate the Buddhist path. If you agree, then I won't misunderstand. Otherwise, don't blame me for spreading your affairs."
Zhang Ruochen was already having trouble controlling himself.
He could see that Xuan Yuan Di'er was being clever again, trying to force Ci Hang Xianzi to teach him Buddhism. After all, he wanted to walk the Nether Ancestor's path. If he wanted to cultivate Buddhism, what better teacher could there be than Ci Hang Xianzi?
"Agree to him!"
Zhang Ruochen suggested to Ci Hang Xianzi.
After all, Xuan Yuan Di'er had already started acting foolish. Unless they killed him, if he went out and talked nonsense, with his Indestructible Infinite status, there would definitely be believers.
Most importantly, Zhang Ruochen didn't have a very good reputation anyway.
Xuan Yuan Di'er looked at Ci Hang Xianzi with a triumphant smile.
Ci Hang Xianzi clearly didn't care about reputation at all and wouldn't bother with the outside world's gossip. But as a Buddhist cultivator, how could she turn away a cultivator who wanted to learn Buddhism?
For a strong person like Xuan Yuan Di'er, if they could guide him with Buddhism and lead him towards goodness, it would be a great merit.
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "I can accept you as a disciple and teach you Buddhism, but you must agree to one condition."
"Just one condition. That's simple." Xuan Yuan Di'er said.
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "Imperial Dust, would you be willing to be a witness?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "If you want to enter my Buddhist sect, you must agree to abide by all the precepts I set."
"Impossible! Isn't that turning one condition into countless conditions? Do you think I'm that stupid?" Xuan Yuan Di'er said.
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "I will only tell you what not to do, not order you to obey me. Moreover, you don't have to follow the ten Buddhist precepts. I will personally formulate precepts that belong to you."
"If you agree, stay. If not, please leave. Or I can send a message to Xuan Yuan Taizu and ask him to take you away."
While Xuan Yuan Di'er was deliberating,
"Hua!"
A golden Buddha light bloomed before the three of them.
The current Buddha Master of the Western Buddha Realm, "Yuan Yi Gu Fo," stood within the Buddha light. He was the senior disciple of the Sixth Patriarch, with a cultivation of Great Unbound Infinite.
Yuan Yi Gu Fo glanced at the wreckage of the Jinggai Treasure Hall floating in the starry sky. "Was it her?"
Ci Hang Xianzi nodded lightly and explained the cause and effect.
After hearing this, Yuan Yi Gu Fo let out a long sigh. "How did she become like this? To achieve her goals, she would even sacrifice so many innocent lives in the Western Buddha Realm. She wasn't like this back then!"
Zhang Ruochen knew that, given the master-disciple relationship between the Sixth Patriarch and Kong Yinyue, Yuan Yi Gu Fo and Kong Faning must have known each other. Only they knew how deep their friendship was.
"Greetings, Imperial Dust!"
Yuan Yi Gu Fo pressed his palms together and bowed to Zhang Ruochen. "May I ask, Imperial Dust, has that blade-wielding perpetrator fallen?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head gently. "Hard to say! His own cultivation and spiritual power are both extremely high, at the Indestructible Infinite level. Moreover, he has obtained the Dark Aberration's spatial power, so there is a chance he escaped."
If he didn't have a trump card to escape the energy of the Divine Source self-detonation, why would he have left the Jinggai Treasure Hall to ambush Zhang Ruochen?
So Zhang Ruochen believed that Lao Mo was probably still alive.
Yuan Yi Gu Fo asked again, "Does Imperial Dust think that ancient Hall Master who self-detonated his Divine Source did so voluntarily, or was he coerced?"
This was, of course, very important!
Because Qishier Pin Lian had too many ancient Hall Masters under her command. If every one of them was willing to self-detonate their Divine Source, how terrifying would that be?
At the very least, throughout the Heavenly Court, all beings above the God Venerable level had cultivated painstakingly for hundreds of thousands of years, and none were willing to self-detonate their Divine Source.
Unless they were truly at a dead end with no other choice.
One was forced, with no other option. The other was voluntary, making it impossible to defend against.
The threat posed by the two was worlds apart.
"I think, having already reincarnated through remnant soul possession and living a second life, no one would be willing to kill an enemy by self-detonating their Divine Source."
Zhang Ruochen thought of the situations with He Rong and Jin Ling. "As far as I know, the consciousness seas of these ancient Hall Masters have been tampered with. It's possible they are all just tools for Qishier Pin Lian and the Dark Aberration to kill enemies!"
"Amitabha! This would be the worst outcome!" Yuan Yi Gu Fo said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "These ancient powerhouses were all famous great sages in history. They painstakingly lived a second life, only to become someone else's pawn, tonic, servant, or mount. No one wants to see them regain their former glory."
"Zhang Ruochen, are you saying this for my benefit?" Xuan Yuan Di'er said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Of course not. Meng Ge and A Fuya are living quite well. You should learn from them... Eh!"
Intense space-time fluctuations appeared before the four of them.
Time and space were both trembling.
Power from a different time-space converged, forming a Buddha ring about a zhang in diameter.
The inside of the Buddha ring was like a mirror, revealing the face of Can Deng: "Ruochen benefactor, immediately gather all the strong people you can and prepare to counter the Dark Aberration's black hand."
Everyone present became tense.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Senior Can Deng, where are you now? Can't even your cultivation suppress that black hand?"
Can Deng said, "We are not in this time-space."
"We?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Can Deng said, "In my time-space, the Dark Aberration in the Sword God Temple has joined forces with the black hand! Once they complete their fusion, their combat power will reach the Ancestor level, and no one will be able to restrain them."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is there a countermeasure?"
"Yes, and that is to fight! Chase them and keep fighting. Only then can they be prevented from achieving fusion."
Can Deng said, "But just now, the Dark Aberration in the Sword God Temple and the black hand separated. The Dark Aberration turned back to contain me, while the black hand returned to your time-space."
Zhang Ruochen finally understood the real reason the Dark Aberration had fled earlier without retaliating. In its eyes, fusing with the black hand was the top priority.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen realized the true danger had arrived.
With the black hand's combat power, if no Half-Ancestor appeared, who could stop it?
Most importantly, the black hand had given up on fusion and returned to this time-space. What was its purpose?
What was more important than returning to the Ancestor realm?
Zhang Ruochen had no time to think further. He immediately released his spiritual power, condensing it into tens of thousands of talisman messages that flew out, warning all Indestructible Infinite-level powerhouses in the current Heavenly Court and Hell Realm.
Ci Hang Xianzi said, "I'm afraid the black hand's target is Kunlun Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen wasn't originally worried about Kunlun Realm's situation, as they had already deployed defenses.
Moreover, Qishier Pin Lian had been frightened away by an unknown force before, so her true body probably wouldn't dare to enter Kunlun Realm again.
But now, the situation was clearly completely different!
(End of this chapter)