Chapter 3974: Dawn Is About to Arrive
The starry sky was resplendent and colorful, with stars occasionally exploding, releasing radiance that could spread for billions of miles.
Zhang Ruochen and Void Heaven used the Heaven Cauldron and Earth Cauldron to set up a grand heaven-earth formation. It resembled a millstone capable of containing an entire world, spinning at extreme speed, colliding head-on with the Dark Hand.
The Earth Cauldron manifested a primeval world, using the origin as its foundation to bear the power of all cultivators within the formation.
Pan Yuan Ancient God stood at the center of the primeval world, axe in hand, like a towering divine mountain. Behind him, his divine realm world appeared dark red, possessing a grandeur no less than the primeval world.
On the Wuding Divine Sea, many cultivators watched this scene, feeling an unprecedented shock.
This was an active strike against the Immortal by the current generation of cultivators—a manifestation of strength, courage, and resolve. Regardless of victory or defeat, it could bring immense encouragement to everyone.
"Boom!"
The Thunder God Hammer clashed with the Heaven Cauldron.
Lightning penetrated the Heaven Cauldron, entered the heaven-earth formation, and struck every cultivator within it.
Void Heaven stood beneath the Sword Source Divine Tree, his body illuminated brilliantly by the lightning. He let out a loud shout: "Just one hand—let's see how strong you can be!"
"Light of Fate, Radiance of Heaven. Cauldron formation strikes back, defying the invincible."
Void Heaven raised his hands, and his Gate of Destiny manifested, with Heavenly Venerable-level divine qi continuously overflowing outward.
A Fuya stood tall and graceful at the edge of the Heaven Cauldron's mouth, jade light and divine radiance beneath her feet, her Ancestor Qi mysterious and pure, activating the Heaven Cauldron's power of fate.
Void Heaven and the Wuwo Lamp, both deeply accomplished in the Way of Fate, drove the "Heaven Formation," unleashing the Heaven Cauldron's power to a greater extent.
The Heaven Formation and Earth Formation combined.
The Heaven Cauldron and Earth Cauldron constructed an unbreakable formation world.
The heaven-earth formation withstood this strike from the Dark Hand, spinning backward before redirecting the lightning power into the boundless starry sky.
This direct clash invigorated everyone's spirits.
Even someone like Pan Yuan Ancient God felt a tremendous psychological shock.
With his cultivation and experience, he had a very profound understanding of Half-Ancestor-level power. In his view, the combat strength the Dark Hand displayed with the Thunder God Hammer in the Wuding Divine Sea's starry sky surpassed Hao Tian before he entered the Nether Prison.
Hao Tian was an invincible existence at the same cultivation level. Even though he had only recently become a Half-Ancestor, Pan Yuan Ancient God firmly believed he could stand among the foremost of all Half-Ancestors throughout history.
The fact that the Dark Hand could give Pan Yuan Ancient God such a feeling showed that its power was at the pinnacle below the Ancestor level.
Yet the heaven-earth formation formed by the Heaven Cauldron and Earth Cauldron could withstand its strike—this was the true reason for Pan Yuan Ancient God's inner shock.
No other combined attack formation could achieve such a feat.
Pan Yuan Ancient God could keenly sense that the Heaven Cauldron continuously weakened the impact force and lightning power entering the formation, making them gentler.
The Earth Cauldron, meanwhile, absorbed a significant portion of this power, some decomposed into origin particles, some transformed within the formation. Instead, it made the formation stronger!
It was precisely because of these two cauldrons that those within the formation could remain unscathed.
...
After flying millions of miles, the heaven-earth formation halted its retreat and once again flew toward the Dark Hand like a millstone.
The sturdiness of the Wuding Divine Sea formation and the might of the heaven-earth formation both exceeded the Dark Hand's expectations.
But it did not retreat just yet.
Because neither the Wuding Divine Sea formation nor the heaven-earth formation could do more than resist it—they were far from threatening it.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
The Thunder God Hammer struck down several more times in succession, landing on the Bronze Divine Tree.
Lightning and Half-Ancestor-level dark divine power spread along the bronze branches, leaves, trunk, and roots. In the Wuding Divine Sea, many spatial cracks appeared, and the defensive formation showed signs of collapse.
Zhang Ruochen stared fixedly at that Dark Hand, sensing order spreading and space showing signs of Myriad Forms Formless.
It was like a hand of the heavens, dominating the life and death of all beings in the universe.
"There's no choice but to go all out."
Zhang Ruochen stood atop the Earth Cauldron, his gaze growing increasingly resolute.
He stomped heavily, and the yang attribute power within his Xuan Tai surged forth, exceeding his body's limit, increasing the might unleashed by the Heaven and Earth Cauldrons by another fraction.
The two cauldrons spun rapidly, manifesting a Taiji pattern, forming an overwhelming offensive momentum.
Faced with this attack power, even the Dark Hand hesitated. Instead of continuing to strike the Bronze Divine Tree, it chose to evade, disappearing from before the Heaven and Earth Cauldrons.
"Whoosh!"
A moment later, the Dark Hand appeared above the Guixu, swinging its hammer again.
"Roar!"
Pan Yuan Ancient God let out a long roar, and a Space Teleportation Array appeared beneath his feet.
Zhang Ruochen held his hands as if embracing emptiness, his spiritual power and space rules condensing, then pushing out violently. Pan Yuan Ancient God was instantly teleported, appearing opposite the Dark Hand.
Facing the Dark Hand alone, Pan Yuan Ancient God truly felt that oppressive, destructive aura, as if all the darkness in the universe had converged here.
"The master of the Way of Darkness is probably no more than this!"
This thought flashed through Pan Yuan Ancient God's mind as he swung his axe with all his accumulated strength, colliding head-on with the incoming Thunder God Hammer.
"Boom!"
This strike was even more dazzling than the radiance of an exploding star.
"This big fellow... actually dares to clash head-on with Half-Ancestor-level power..." Void Heaven clicked his tongue, his eyes narrowing into slits.
The heaven-earth formation flew over to catch the retreating Pan Yuan Ancient God.
Pan Yuan Ancient God crashed into the primeval world, shattering countless mountains. Lightning coursed over his body, and many patches of skin and muscle turned charred black.
But he let out a wild laugh from his mouth, as if he hadn't had enough.
"Boom!"
The second strike of the Thunder God Hammer landed heavily above the Guixu, unstoppable. Large swaths of space collapsed, and the formation's light curtain swayed precariously.
Already, much lightning power and dark, eerie qi, like countless waterfalls, poured into the Wuding Divine Sea.
Many sea regions boiled.
"Is it really the incarnation of the Calamity of Quantities? It wants to destroy the world, and no one can stop it?" Countless cultivators looked at the shattered sky, their spirits sinking into despair.
They had already fought with all their might, gathering the power of thousands of realms' living beings, but they could only delay the calamity, not stop it.
The Starry Sea Angler stood on his dilapidated wooden boat, watching the black waterfalls falling from the sky, his expression growing calmer and calmer. Finally, he withdrew all his spiritual power into his body, no longer activating the formation.
"Grandmaster!"
On the boat, Xu Wenzhi showed a puzzled expression.
"It can't be held."
The Starry Sea Angler smiled bitterly and shook his head. He glanced at the fishing rod hanging on the black sail and said, "Leave this boat and that rod to your master. The path ahead must be walked by yourselves."
"No matter how strong the Dark Hand is, I don't believe a ninety-two-step Tianyuan Wuque self-destructing divine heart can leave it unscathed."
"Whoosh!"
The Starry Sea Angler clasped his hands behind his back, shot into the air like a meteor, pierced through the formation's light curtain, and headed straight for the Dark Hand.
Many cultivators saw this.
Zhang Ruochen was deeply moved and pained, but he understood that facing an existence of the Dark Hand's level, without a Half-Ancestor appearing, self-destructing divine source and divine heart was the only effective countermeasure.
Void Heaven said, "Yu Linsheng does have guts, but the Dark Hand's divine soul is extremely powerful; it won't give him the chance to self-destruct his divine heart. Let's go, clear the way for him."
The heaven-earth formation spun, catching up to the Starry Sea Angler, heading toward the Dark Hand above the Guixu.
The Dark Hand clearly knew their intention and naturally wouldn't give them a chance for a one-for-one trade. Even if it was confident it could withstand the power of the Starry Sea Angler's self-destructing divine heart, it didn't want to take any risks.
Space trembled, and it vanished.
It reappeared above the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
The spatial coordinates of the Heavenly Dragon Realm were a crucial hub for all formations in the Wuding Divine Sea. If it could uproot the Heavenly Dragon Realm, all formations above the divine sea would collapse, leaving no power to stop it.
Five Dragon God Emperor, clad in divine armor, stood atop a golden divine hall, his eyes like torches. "The Dragon Clan is the king of all spirits, fearing no enemy. Fight!"
Thunder and rain raged in the Heavenly Dragon Realm, with ten thousand dragons galloping.
They all spat out beams of light simultaneously, converging into a light curtain that surged upward.
"Boom!"
The Thunder God Hammer descended, shattering all the light beams.
The dragons fell like rain.
Some turned into bloody mud, some fell into deep pits wailing, some burned with rage and charged upward again.
The Heavenly Dragon Realm was an eternal, undying great world with a sufficiently strong world body. The rule divine patterns left by successive divine dragons withstood this wave of attack.
Just as the Dark Hand was about to strike a second time, from deep within the continent of the Heavenly Dragon Realm, amidst dense forests, a Primordial Dragon Roar sounded.
The Primordial Dragon Roar contained a Dao resonance that shattered all worldly rules, instantly spreading across the Heavenly Court Universe and the Hell Realm. Cultivators as far away as the Eastern Universe and the Abyss of Darkness could faintly hear the dragon roar.
It was as if a gate of time and space had opened, overlapping two eras, with the Primordial Dragon about to descend.
Pan Yuan Ancient God knew many deep secrets. His giant eyes, like divine pools, showed a smile: "It's the power left by the Primordial Dragon. Now we're saved! The Dark Hand should never have attacked the Heavenly Dragon Realm."
...
"It came from the Dragon Nest."
The Dragon Lord stood valiantly outside the Darkness Temple, originally tasked with guarding the six stone figures.
Just as the Primordial Dragon Roar sounded, his arm trembled.
His palm grew hot. He opened it to see the Primordial Dragon Scale in his palm flickering with strange colors, releasing an ancient and heavy Ancestor Qi.
"Whoosh!"
The Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower flew out from his sleeve on its own, rushing out of the Sword Realm and the Guixu, heading for the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
"What is this? A means left by the Primordial Dragon for later generations?"
A special connection existed between the Primordial Dragon Scale and the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower, pulling the Dragon Lord to follow it to the sky above the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
The Dragon Lord's long golden hair swayed in the wind. Feeling a certain power deep within his bloodline being awakened, he looked at his palm again.
He saw that around the Primordial Dragon Scale, similar scales had appeared, covering his entire palm, spreading to his wrist, arm, neck... covering his whole body.
"Whoosh!"
From the Dragon Nest, a thick beam of chaotic rosy light shot out, enveloping the Dragon Lord and the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower.
"It's Primordial Dragon Qi!"
In the Heavenly Dragon Realm, many dragon cultivators who had taken human form stood by the sea, overjoyed.
Even more aquatic cultivators knelt and kowtowed.
The Dragon Lord felt the Primordial Dragon Qi surging from the Dragon Nest most profoundly. The Primordial Dragon Scale in his palm burned as if it would melt his body.
As he absorbed more and more Primordial Dragon Qi, scales covered his entire body.
"Primordial Dragon Armor!"
These three words surfaced in his mind.
Above, an oppressive wave of destruction emanated.
The Thunder God Hammer, the size of a star, compressed space as it rapidly descended.
"Boom!"
Within the chaotic rosy light, the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower manifested a sun and a moon, steadily blocking the Thunder God Hammer.
The Dragon Lord sensed the ancient power from the Primordial Dragon Armor on his body. His blood boiled, and he raised one hand.
A massive, golden dragon claw appeared above the Dragon Nest, clashing with the Dark Hand in the starry sky.
"Boom!"
An even more terrifying wave of energy erupted, tearing the space above the Wuding Divine Sea into shreds. Large swaths of the starry sky collapsed.
It was as if the Primordial Dragon had crossed time and space to descend, battling the dark anomaly.
"All dragons, hear my command: spew dragon breath into the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower to aid the Dragon Lord in facing the enemy!" Five Dragon God Emperor issued another decree.
War drums sounded across the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
The entire dragon race of the Heavenly Dragon Realm formed a mighty army, charging into the sky, spewing dragon breath. Under the illumination of that sun and moon, it was magnificent and shocking.
Faced with such a change, the Starry Sea Angler naturally no longer needed to self-destruct his divine heart. For now, he couldn't return to the Wuding Divine Sea, so he entered the heaven-earth formation to jointly control the formation with Zhang Ruochen and Void Heaven.
Thus, above the Wuding Divine Sea, three forces capable of resisting the Dark Hand emerged.
The four sides contended, the world turned upside down, and fierce battles raged.
The weakest force was the already shattered defensive formation. Lacking the activation of a ninety-step spiritual power cultivator, it was extremely dangerous.
...
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Xiao Hei, Luo Ji, and Kong Lanyou turned into three streaks of light, flying over the sea surface. They finally crossed an unknown billions of miles of sea to arrive beneath the Bronze Divine Tree.
"Master's situation is a bit off."
Xiao Hei's spiritual power had reached eighty-five steps, and he keenly sensed something. Therefore, he stopped Luo Ji and Kong Lanyou from continuing forward and walked alone on the seawater toward the tree.
Yunshen Daozhu's spiritual power was clearly exhausted, yet the lightning power released by the Thunder God Hammer through the Bronze Divine Tree earlier couldn't harm him at all.
It was all blocked by his spiritual power field.
Beneath Yunshen Daozhu, flowing light paths appeared in the seawater.
These light paths seemed to be formed by gathering specks of light, continuously spreading into the distance, slowly rotating.
Just as Xiao Hei was tiptoeing and about to reach Yunshen Daozhu, the latter suddenly opened his eyes.
"Master... are you... alright... The situation is very critical now. We're about to lose. Please, think of something..." Xiao Hei was both worried and anxious.
"Something has changed in the Darkness Temple!"
Yunshen Daozhu's originally lusterless pupils suddenly burst forth with brilliant rosy light. His figure rapidly soared into the air.
The light paths that had been hidden underwater manifested in the void, spinning at extreme speed, transforming into trillion-mile-long ribbons spanning the entire Wuding Divine Sea.
In this starry region, all gods sensed that a spiritual consciousness of extreme power had been born.
Like the rising sun at dawn, bringing infinite hope to everyone.
(Chapter End)