Chapter 3973: The Dark Hand Holds the Hammer, Lightning Star Sea
Legend has it that in some ancient era, Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable once wielded the Pure Yang Divine Sword, and with a single slash, caused the entire Wuding Divine Sea to boil.
Presumably, back then, the Wuding Divine Sea had no thousand realms stationed there, nor were there formations laid down by several Heaven Round Unfailing experts.
To split the Wuding Divine Sea of today, even half-ancestor-level power might not be enough.
But with the appearance of a mass of lightning clouds in the starry sky, everything changed!
That lightning spread for millions of miles, colored purple and azure, emitting rumbling, muffled roars.
"It's the Thunder God Hammer! Why is the Thunder God Hammer appearing in the starry sky?"
"What does the Thunder God Hammer matter? Why is the Great God so terrified?"
"If it were just the Thunder God Hammer, it would naturally not be feared. But the Thunder God Hammer and the Bronze Divine Tree appearing together... Haven't you noticed that in the Wuding Divine Sea, whether in the sky or underwater, there is a resonance of lightning?"
...
Elderly cultivators floating within the great worlds on the Wuding Divine Sea all had expressions of extreme gravity, constantly glancing at that Bronze Divine Tree, which flickered with lightning and whose roots spread into every region of space.
The roots, branches, and leaves of the Bronze Divine Tree were like knives cutting through space. Growing alone, they posed no visible threat. On the contrary, they could solidify space, making the Wuding Divine Sea's space more stable.
But after the Thunder God Hammer appeared, many experienced gods sensed a great calamity approaching.
The lightning rules in space were rapidly surging toward the Bronze Divine Tree.
Dragon Lord said, "Tai Shang, the one wielding the Thunder God Hammer must be the Dark Hand. The Thunder Clan has entrenched themselves in the Wuding Divine Sea for many years, and the surrounding starry sky is their inherent territory. Now that the lightning rules in the surrounding starry sky have been activated, we must find a way to destroy the Bronze Divine Tree."
Before Dragon Lord's words had even faded, the Thousand Star Civilization's first divine artifact, "Thousand Star Slash," had already struck the trunk of the Bronze Divine Tree.
"Boom!"
The metal collision sounded like a great bell booming, and vast seas surged with waves thousands of feet high.
Jing Daoren's screams, accompanied by black mist, emanated from the roots of the Bronze Divine Tree.
The Thousand Star Slash, renowned for being unstoppable, had failed to sever the Bronze Divine Tree. Instead, the shockwaves released from the collision caused great earthquakes in the surrounding great worlds, burying countless mortals.
Yunshen Daozhu said, "It's the Dark Hand's spatial order and eerie aura, reinforcing the Bronze Divine Tree. Without breaking its order, it's impossible to destroy the Bronze Divine Tree. And that is something even I cannot accomplish in a short time. There's only one way now!"
"Leave the Darkness Temple to you!"
Yunshen Daozhu's sleeves billowed like clouds as he executed a spiritual power escape technique, flying over the sea. Each time his figure flickered, he crossed billions of miles.
He only stopped when he reached the base of the Bronze Divine Tree.
"Lords of all realms, chiefs of all clans, divine beings of the heavens, hear my decree: gather the power of all living beings and activate the formation."
Yunshen Daozhu slowly spread his hands, knelt cross-legged, ignoring the dark eerie aura surging from behind him, and looked up at the starry sky above. A dark hand held the Thunder God Hammer, the size of a star, striking straight toward the top of the Bronze Divine Tree.
The aura emanating from the Dark Hand was enough to make even gods tremble in their souls.
The lightning power summoned by the Thunder God Hammer converged into a nebula ocean.
It was easy to imagine that once the Thunder God Hammer struck the Bronze Divine Tree, the lightning power would spread through its branches and roots across the entire Wuding Divine Sea, tearing apart this eternal sea.
Faced with such a situation, Yunshen Daozhu remained calm and composed, his ten fingers forming a seal: "All Dharmas Are Empty."
"Whoosh—"
Boundless spiritual power erupted from his body, in an instant lighting up the formation above the entire Wuding Divine Sea.
The dark eerie aura surging toward him was scattered into nothingness.
All Dharmas Are Empty was a forbidden technique that instantly released all spiritual power from the body, and it was the reason Yunshen Daozhu could remain so composed.
Back then, using this very move, he had laid down a starry sky grand formation that blocked the entire Yellow Spring Star River.
However, after executing this move, his spiritual power would be depleted, leaving him in an extremely weakened state.
Sensing the powerful spiritual power erupting from beneath the Bronze Divine Tree, the cultivators of the thousand realms shed their fear, their confidence soaring. They went all out, channeling divine and saintly qi to power the formation.
"Boom!"
The Thunder God Hammer fell, striking the Bronze Divine Tree.
Instantly, bright lightning light spread along the branches and trunk to the roots, extending into the surrounding space.
From afar in the universe, within the Wuding Divine Sea, a flash of purple-azure light spread outward. But the formation's light barrier and the great worlds within the sea remained intact.
The entire star domain's space shook violently.
Zhang Ruochen, Qishier Pin Lian, Void Heaven, and Panyuan Ancient God, who were locked in fierce combat, all paused for a moment, anxiously watching the situation there.
A flicker of surprise passed through Panyuan Ancient God's eyes.
"Haha, so-called Dark Hand, nothing more than this. After all that preparation—setting up the Bronze Divine Tree, borrowing the Thunder Clan's gathered celestial lightning power to trigger resonance—yet it couldn't break the formation laid by three old men."
Void Heaven laughed loudly at Qishier Pin Lian, his tone full of mockery, clearly aiming to deal her a psychological blow.
If a person lost their unwavering confidence, their combat power would weaken by at least two points.
Zhang Ruochen understood clearly that the Thunder God Hammer must have been obtained by Qishier Pin Lian and the Dark Eerie from Gu Yanluo.
The time of borrowing the hammer would trace back to before Gu Yanluo went to the Nether Prison.
In other words, before the Sword Realm was moved to the Wuding Divine Sea, the Dark Eerie and Qishier Pin Lian had already predicted this. This showed that the enemy was far smarter than he had estimated.
Such strategic foresight could no longer be described merely as intelligence; it should be called great wisdom.
The more this was the case, the stronger Zhang Ruochen's desire to kill Qishier Pin Lian became.
He absolutely could not give her another chance to act.
"Like the Sun at High Noon!"
Zhang Ruochen released a blazing, fiery radiance. Within his Xuan Tai, ten yang-attribute Dao lights spun rapidly.
A Dharma light shadow, countless billions of miles tall, appeared, riding on a qilin's back, with countless lightning currents flowing, and punched toward Qishier Pin Lian.
"Soul Capture!"
At this moment, Qinglu Divine King finally made his move, executing the "Ashura Soul Capture Seal," launching a spiritual-level attack at Qishier Pin Lian.
Affected by the spiritual attack, Qishier Pin Lian failed to dodge and struck out with the Stainless Whisk, meeting Zhang Ruochen's most powerful punch head-on.
"Bang!"
The three light shadows to her left, right, and behind were shattered, and her body was flung away like a broken kite. The hand holding the Stainless Whisk showed many cracks.
Back then, the mysterious sword cultivator had been snapped in half at the waist by this very move of Zhang Ruochen's.
Before Qishier Pin Lian could stabilize herself, Panyuan Ancient God had already swung his axe down.
The battle axe's power was overwhelming, shaking the Heavenly Pillar in her other hand loose, sending it flying.
The axe landed on her shoulder, sinking deep, and vast amounts of life qi and particles of light rain gushed from the wound.
"Shua!"
Qishier Pin Lian executed the spatial escape technique inherent to the Qishier Pin Lian itself, shrinking her body into a lotus seed, breaking free from Panyuan Ancient God's axe suppression.
Facing four powerful opponents simultaneously, she was already at risk of falling.
She intended to use her profound spatial mastery to escape, but space turned into nothingness, forcing her out of her escape technique.
Void Heaven, who had been lying in ambush in the void, raised his sword and struck, saying, "This move of mine was originally meant to deal with Xumi's bald donkey's spatial techniques. After Xumi's death, only you are worthy of this move."
Qishier Pin Lian could not avoid this sudden sword strike, and her body was nearly cut in two. More life qi and light rain spilled from the sword wound.
"Zhang Ruochen, Huaying Cangjie has already used All Dharmas Are Empty, and his spiritual power is depleted. How much longer do you think the Wuding Divine Sea can hold out?"
"Are you afraid? Have you finally tasted the flavor of death?"
Zhang Ruochen channeled all the power from the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram toward A Fuya.
A Fuya fired the Hongtian Arrow again. The arrow flew through, leaving a bowl-sized hole in Qishier Pin Lian's body, making it even more tattered, on the verge of reverting to its lotus original form.
Suffering repeated injuries, Qishier Pin Lian had no way out. The lifespan within her body began to burn.
"Sacrificing one hundred thousand years of my life, I exchange for the Time Lock of Heaven and Earth."
Countless time imprint light points emanated from Qishier Pin Lian's body, forming a sea of radiant clouds. The time rules in this star domain boiled.
She had used some forbidden technique, relying on the power of time to forcibly tear open a heavenly Dao crack from the rule divine patterns and order of the four surrounding powerhouses.
The River of Time manifested behind her.
"Not good, she wants to escape into the River of Time and self-exile." Void Heaven exclaimed, immediately slashing with his war sword.
Qishier Pin Lian was extremely weakened, unable to maintain her physical form, with many injured parts turning into lotus roots.
But her gaze remained proud, sweeping over the figures in the starry sky one by one, saying, "If you have the ability, come kill me on the River of Time. Otherwise, when I return one day in the future, today's enmity will be repaid tenfold."
Her gaze finally rested on Zhang Ruochen, then she took a step back, turning into a streak of light and disappearing onto the River of Time.
The power unleashed by Void Heaven, Panyuan Ancient God, and Zhang Ruochen only stirred ripples on the River of Time, and it was unclear if it had further wounded Qishier Pin Lian.
The three stopped at the edge of the River of Time, not pursuing.
It wasn't that they lacked the courage, but that it was unnecessary.
Qishier Pin Lian might have fled to several thousand years later, or tens of thousands of years later, but on the River of Time, only an instant had passed.
An instant to reach tens of thousands of years later meant losing tens of thousands of years of cultivation time.
Falling behind the entire era by tens of thousands of years.
The universe was in turmoil, and none of those present could afford to leave for tens of thousands of years.
The River of Time gradually faded, disappearing into the starry sky.
"When we meet in the future, you will have no chance to escape again."
Zhang Ruochen collected the Heavenly Pillar that had fallen into the void, his gaze turning toward the Wuding Divine Sea and the Dark Hand holding the Thunder God Hammer, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Qishier Pin Lian has been forced to retreat into the future. Today's battle is a great victory. I must return to the Hell Realm immediately." Void Heaven sheathed the Abyssal Divine Sword into his sleeve, preparing to leave.
The Dark Hand, a half-ancestor-level terror, was not something even a Heavenly Venerable-rank would provoke.
"I can use the Earth Cauldron to forge your sword."
"Forging the sword is a trivial matter. I never like owing favors."
"I owe you a favor. In the future, whenever Void Heaven has a request, I will do my utmost to help."
Void Heaven showed a contemplative expression, his gaze falling on A Fuya, who stood in the Shaoyin Divine Sea.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Fine! I'll make the decision. That divine bow of the First Queen will be given to you as compensation."
"What would I do with a divine bow..."
Void Heaven was very indignant, feeling that Zhang Ruochen didn't understand his intentions. Since it was a transaction, everything could be traded.
Facing the Dark Hand meant risking one's life.
He had tried everything in this life, and had long since seen through it all, but he had never tried being an ancestor, and still had considerable interest in it.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The First Queen is my friend. The ancestral divine source within her body cannot be traded. The conditions I can offer are only these. If Void Heaven wants to leave, I won't stop you."
Not having obtained the sword technique left by Sword Ancestor at his death, how could Void Heaven fall out with Zhang Ruochen?
His earlier attitude was merely to extract more benefits.
Void Heaven said, "Fighting the Dark Hand cannot be done with scattered attacks; a formation must be used."
Given Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation level, it was clearly impossible to use the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal to simultaneously bear the power of Void Heaven, Panyuan Ancient God, Qinglu Divine King, and A Fuya. Therefore, Void Heaven didn't even mention this strategy.
"Use the Heaven Cauldron and Earth Cauldron to set up a Heaven and Earth Grand Formation."
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal, leaving only the Heaven Cauldron and Earth Cauldron outside.
Then, everyone flew toward the Wuding Divine Sea.
During the flight, Zhang Ruochen stood on the Earth Cauldron, releasing over a hundred million spiritual power thoughts, rapidly sketching formation patterns.
Void Heaven stood on the Heaven Cauldron, also releasing endless spiritual power thoughts to set up the formation.
Both had spiritual power above the ninety-second level, making formation setup a trivial task for them.
Void Heaven said, "Although the Nine Cauldrons are called the number one divine artifacts of heaven and earth, besides you, only half-ancestors can activate their power. Even if we set up a Heaven and Earth Grand Formation centered on origin and fate, it may not be enough to contend with the Dark Hand."
"I, Xuanyuan the Second, possess half-ancestor divine qi."
A Fuya said, "I will activate the Heaven Cauldron."
Another aged voice sounded: "I can help activate the Earth Cauldron."
Qinglu Divine King's figure appeared before everyone.
...
Meanwhile, above the Wuding Divine Sea, under the leadership of Star Sea Angler, Five Dragon Divine Emperor, Dragon Lord, Thousand Star Divine Ancestor, Star Heaven Cliff Master, and other powerhouses, the gathered power of living beings from a thousand realms had already blocked over a dozen strikes from the Dark Hand.
But with the fatal flaw of the Bronze Divine Tree, the space of the Wuding Divine Sea had already cracked, penetrating into Lihentian and the Void World.
It could be imagined that the defensive formation and the sea's space being breached was only a matter of time.
A spiritual power god let out an unwilling roar: "How hateful! If we had another ten thousand years, the Wuding Divine Sea's defenses could be strengthened several times over, and we would have formation attack power. Even a half-ancestor could be slain by formation!"
This was not just his personal sentiment.
The time since the realms moved to the Wuding Divine Sea was too short, and the defensive formation was only initially formed, not yet layered and impregnable.
Otherwise, with so many divine realm powerhouses, gathering the power of living beings from a thousand realms, how could they lose in a head-on confrontation against a half-ancestor-level opponent?
(End of Chapter)