Chapter 3898: Nether Prison Entrance Breaks
Di transformed into a streak of light, entering Zhang Ruochen's Divine Realm World, and also entering the billions-of-miles-wide demon territory manifested by Gai Mie.
Zhang Ruochen, Chan Bing, and Gai Mie all turned their heads, clearly not expecting Di to have such boldness. Once inside the Divine Realm World and demon territory, facing so many Heavenly Venerable-level experts, even as a Half-Ancestor, he might not be able to fight his way back out.
Di walked step by step toward the Xiongxiao Demon Divine Hall, saying, "Emperor Chen, Supreme Pillar, I, as a Half-Ancestor, voluntarily lower my status to resolve past grievances. First, I am indeed wary that Emperor Chen will soon attain the Dao and become an Ancestor. Second, I have pride in my heart and absolutely refuse to be a pawn for the Immortal."
"Capturing the Divine Martial Envoy may have been ill-considered, but I had no intention of sowing discord."
"By releasing the Dark Hand, the Divine Realm is undoubtedly extending an olive branch to the Dark Weirdness. If I had joined the Dark Weirdness, why would I capture the Divine Martial Envoy and damage relations between both sides?"
"If Emperor Chen truly believes the slanderous words of the Nether Ancestor Faction cultivators, I will take the Divine Martial Envoy and leave, bearing all consequences."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Ancestor Di is implying that I fear offending the Divine Realm?"
Di said, "If Emperor Chen feared the Divine Realm, he would have already agreed to the Divine Martial Envoy's demands. In the Wuding Divine Sea, he would not have struck that palm. It is precisely Emperor Chen's fearless courage that makes me admire him even more and confirms that you will surely attain the Ancestor Great Path in the future."
Gai Mie said, "Since everything is a misunderstanding, why don't we all withdraw our divine qi and rules first?"
"A misunderstanding? Wasn't my whereabouts exposed because of your mistake?" Zhang Ruochen's voice was deep and heavy, carrying an unparalleled momentum.
Gai Mie said, "I will capture the Peacock Heavenly Empress and hand her over to Emperor Chen for judgment."
Chan Bing had already understood Zhang Ruochen's intention.
Clearly, he did not truly want to kill Gai Mie, but rather to make Gai Mie understand that he possessed the strength to kill him.
Back in the Luanggu Era, why had Gai Mie submitted to the Great Demon God? Wasn't it because the Great Demon God had the power to kill him?
Thus, when they entered the Nether Prison, if the Great Demon God was strong enough to force Gai Mie back under his command, Gai Mie would have to think twice.
The Great Demon God was terrifying, but was Zhang Ruochen any less so?
Benefits and the threat of death—the former was a sweet date, the latter a heavy club.
Only by combining both could one truly control a rebellious person.
As for Di's words, not only did Zhang Ruochen not believe them, even Gai Mie was skeptical and had become wary of him.
After all, Di was a Half-Ancestor.
With Gai Mie's current cultivation, he was no match for him. Only by joining forces with Zhang Ruochen and the others could they threaten Di.
And this was precisely Zhang Ruochen's goal.
Using Di as a threat, he forced Gai Mie to bind himself more deeply to them. At the same time, binding Gai Mie put greater pressure on Di.
Even if Di had ulterior motives, he would not dare act rashly.
"Haha, a dignified Half-Ancestor actually claims to have been ill-considered. How can we believe you? Unless you come with us into the Nether Prison and quell the Ancestor calamity. From then on, not only Zhang Ruochen and the Sword Realm, but even this old man and the Hell Realm will no longer regard you as an enemy."
With laughter ringing out, the figure of Void Heaven appeared.
Chan Bing said, "If Ancestor Di truly does this, I believe Fengdu Dadi and Haotian will also regard you with new eyes. By then, where in the world would you have enemies?"
Di was equally bold and unrestrained, saying, "I came to the Nether Prison precisely prepared to campaign alongside Emperor Chen. If you all dare to go, I dare to go as well."
Gai Mie came to his senses, understanding Zhang Ruochen's intention in attacking him, and thought to himself, "This kid's methods are becoming more sophisticated and more domineering. But if he were a fool, I wouldn't dare ally with him."
The Divine Martial Envoy was temporarily handed over to Gai Mie for suppression, locked inside the Xiongxiao Demon Divine Hall.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Did you perform a soul search?"
"He is an envoy of the Divine Realm. Would I be able to easily soul-search him? Di is a Half-Ancestor; perhaps he succeeded. Why don't you ask him?" Gai Mie said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I don't believe he would soul-search the Divine Martial Envoy. That would leave traces, and the Divine Realm would know. Would they let him off?"
Gai Mie's mouth twitched, and his brows furrowed. He knew he had indeed been negligent and made a grave mistake.
"If the Divine Realm comes after me, I'll hide in the Sword Realm. You've already offended them anyway." Gai Mie said tentatively, then observed Zhang Ruochen's expression.
Zhang Ruochen said, "How much did you actually find out?"
Gai Mie no longer avoided the question, saying, "Although I failed to soul-search him, I managed to devour part of his divine soul and consciousness. It was his consciousness from after he arrived in this universe!"
"Four Divine Martial Envoys came with him, all with similar cultivation levels. Their names are Wuying, Wuxing, Wuyan, and Wushi."
"He is Wushi."
Although Zhang Ruochen had anticipated this, he was still secretly shocked.
What kind of place was the Divine Realm?
To be able to dispatch four experts like Wushi at once. And above them, there were undoubtedly even more powerful figures.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly asked, "What exactly is the Desolate Moon?"
Gai Mie had once said that the Desolate Moon was left behind by Bai Yuan, one of the Nine Great Witch Ancestors, during the Desolate Ancient Era.
He had refined the Desolate Moon into a demon pill, indicating he had a deep understanding of it.
Gai Mie was slightly surprised, not expecting Zhang Ruochen to bring this up now, and said, "It's just a treasure that can continuously absorb the dark power of the Abyss of Darkness. Its material is quite special, and I haven't fully studied it yet. Especially the deepest part of the Desolate Moon; my divine thoughts cannot penetrate it."
Zhang Ruochen said, "It absorbs dark power but emits light, illuminating the Ancient Desolate Ruins City for endless eons?"
"Very magical, isn't it? Just like in nature, black absorbs light the most. Light and darkness complement each other. Since they can become eternal paths, there must be a reason." Gai Mie said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since you can't fully study it, it means there are hidden dangers inside the Desolate Moon. Hand it over to me, and I'll deal with it."
Gai Mie laughed, "Isn't this too much of a robbery? I've already refined the Desolate Moon into a demon pill. It's like my second life."
Zhang Ruochen said, "But it could also take your life."
Gai Mie stopped laughing.
"Don't misunderstand! I'm trying to tell you that since the Desolate Moon is related to Bai Yuan, the Dark Weirdness will eventually come for you. You can't keep it. I'm not someone who takes by force; I'm just worried that you'll be controlled by the Desolate Moon and stab me in the back."
Then Zhang Ruochen added, "You've refined the Great Demon God's Ancestor Heart and obtained fifty percent of the Devouring Heavenly Dao Profound Meaning. Do you know what that means?"
"What does it mean?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "It means that if we hunt down the Great Demon God, you will be the biggest beneficiary."
Even with Gai Mie's profound state of mind, his eyes burned with intensity.
Zhang Ruochen said, "But there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Why should I help you? If you use this opportunity to successfully break through to the Demon Dao Half-Ancestor realm, what benefit is that to me? Supreme Pillar, you need to show sincerity first."
This time, Gai Mie did not hesitate and spat out the Desolate Moon.
At this moment, the Desolate Moon was only the size of a walnut, but the light it emitted could illuminate billions of miles of starry sky. Floating in Gai Mie's palm, it pressed down, distorting the surrounding space.
Most of the dark power inside the Desolate Moon had been absorbed by Gai Mie to restore his cultivation.
After Zhang Ruochen took the Desolate Moon, he sent a strand of spiritual power inside to investigate. Inside was endless darkness, devoid of space and time, very similar to the Boundless World where Kong Yinxue had been imprisoned.
Although the Desolate Moon absorbed the dark power of the Abyss of Darkness, the dark power inside it contained a breath that was homologous to the Dark Weirdness.
Thus, the rumors were not false. The Desolate Moon was indeed likely related to the Witch Ancestor Bai Yuan.
Zhang Ruochen did not have time to explore the deepest part of the Desolate Moon. Instead, he took it and immediately entered the Chaotian Que.
Yan Wushen would not speak without reason.
Because once Zhang Ruochen proved that the Desolate Moon and the Five-Colored Glazed Cover could not control the Chaotian Que, then everything he had said before would be denied by Zhang Ruochen.
The Chaotian Que had five towers and twelve halls, all submerged in an ocean of divine blood spanning hundreds of thousands of miles.
Zhang Ruochen did not use the Earth Cauldron to refine this ocean-like ancient divine blood.
Because it was simply impossible.
Since the Desolate Ancient Era, many powerful figures from successive generations had left killing patterns, divine patterns, and formations in the divine blood ocean, including the means of Ancestors.
To refine the divine blood ocean, one must first erase these patterns and imprints.
But erasing these patterns and imprints would reduce the Chaotian Que's power by more than half.
Zhang Ruochen arrived at a bluish-gray stone gate hundreds of feet high. Feeling the ancient charm emanating from the stone gate, he took out the Desolate Moon and the Five-Colored Glazed Cover, holding them above his hands.
Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated twenty Dao lights, broken through to the Indestructible Peak, and achieved yin-yang balance within his Mysterious Embryo. He no longer needed the Five-Colored Glazed Cover for protection.
"What should I do?"
Zhang Ruochen tried many methods, but the patterns in the Chaotian Que and the divine blood ocean did not change.
They seemed to have no connection at all.
"Clang, clang!"
Suddenly, the Five-Colored Glazed Cover trembled.
Zhang Ruochen let out a soft exclamation, his eyes flickering with strange light.
Just now, a wisp of dark qi had escaped from the Desolate Moon.
"Could it be that the dark qi in the Desolate Moon can cause some change in the Five-Colored Glazed Cover?"
Zhang Ruochen rotated his fingers, drawing a black stream of dark qi from inside the Desolate Moon, continuously pouring it into the Five-Colored Glazed Cover.
The five-colored light emitted by the Five-Colored Glazed Cover dimmed accordingly.
"Hua!"
As if stimulated, the moment it dimmed, the Five-Colored Glazed Cover burst forth with five-colored light dozens of times brighter than before, illuminating even the pitch-black divine blood ocean with five colors, shimmering and resplendent.
And the five towers and twelve halls shrouded in darkness all appeared before Zhang Ruochen's eyes, arranged in an orderly fashion, golden and magnificent, like immortal pavilions and heavenly palaces.
There were pillars soaring into the sky with coiled dragons, flying eaves with golden phoenixes flipping their tails, and stone carvings of heavenly horses, Suanni, Douniu, and Xingshi arrayed on the rooftops, absorbing the five-colored divine light.
The entire Chaotian Que was lit up!
"So that's it. I understand now! The Five-Colored Glazed Cover was refined using the Burning Lamp Glazed Vessel and the Five-Colored Mending Stone. By using the dark power inside the Desolate Moon, the light of the Burning Lamp Glazed Vessel can be suppressed, allowing the purest power of the Five-Colored Mending Stone to be released."
"And the Five-Colored Mending Stone is considered the number one supreme treasure in the hearts of ancient Qi Refiners. It's no wonder it can have an extraordinary effect on the Chaotian Que."
Having figured all this out, Zhang Ruochen believed that to fully control the various inscriptions, divine patterns, and formations within the Chaotian Que, he would still need to rely on the Heaven and Earth Chess Platform.
At this moment, his confidence had greatly increased.
Void Heaven burst into the Xiongxiao Demon Divine Hall, saying, "Zhang Ruochen, this is bad. The entrance to the Nether Prison is about to shatter!"
Zhang Ruochen put away the Desolate Moon, the Five-Colored Glazed Cover, and the Chaotian Que. Together with Void Heaven and Gai Mie, he walked out of the Xiongxiao Demon Divine Hall.
In the starry sky, the Nether Prison emitted dense demonic qi, like a nebula spreading into the universe.
At the entrance of the prison, the shockwaves became more and more frequent, with continuous booming sounds.
Every quarter of an hour, two or three eruptions occurred.
The demonic cultivators on this seventh-level main planet were already in chaos, frantically piloting various divine ships and sacred boats, fleeing into the starry sky.
"Let's go. Enter the Nether Prison now."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Abyssal Divine Sword and flew toward the starry sky first.
Chan Bing led the Snow Domain Star Sea Divine Army, closely following.
Void Heaven had no intention of fighting an Ancestor head-on. He toyed with the Heavenly Mechanism Brush. In an instant, his body disappeared, and all heavenly mechanisms vanished from the universe.
Gai Mie glanced at Di, then directly piloted the Xiongxiao Demon Divine Hall, following their pace.
Di's eyes flickered uncertainly. The Demon Shrine appeared behind him, and his body was shrouded in a sea of time light and demonic mist, appearing about a hundred thousand miles from the Nether Prison entrance.
He naturally would not be the first to enter the Nether Prison. He would wait for Zhang Ruochen to go in first.
...
Yan Wushen stood bare-chested, his muscles robust, with his hands behind his back on the Naihe Bridge, gazing toward the direction of the Nether Prison. A smile appeared in his tiger-like eyes. "The good show is about to begin! Kunlun, what do you think?"
Standing behind him with the Peacock Heavenly Empress, Chi Kunlun's eyes were firm. "Father will surely suppress the Ancestor calamity."
...
Zhang Ruochen naturally would not hide in the distance like Di. Instead, he took the lead, landing at the entrance of the Nether Prison, beneath the smooth, mirror-like black stone mountain.
As he broke through the Half-Ancestor rules and order blocking his path step by step, the moment his hand touched the black stone mountain, an explosive sense of danger surged forth.
Not good!
"Boom!"
The black stone mountain exploded, and surging, fierce Ancestor demonic qi surged out from within.
In an instant, all the stars in this starfield exploded together, turning into cosmic dust. The Ancestor's power spread at a speed far exceeding light, as if it would tear apart the entire heaven and earth.
Zhang Ruochen sensed the danger a moment in advance. The Five-Colored Glazed Cover, the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal, and the Abyssal Divine Sword all blocked in front of him. His body was blasted millions of miles away before he gradually stabilized his retreat.
Di, Chan Bing, Gai Mie—everyone was fleeing into the distance.
"What are you fleeing? Now is the time. Follow me, fight!"
After stabilizing his form, Zhang Ruochen charged back into the Nether Prison at an even faster speed, turning into a bright sword light.
His firm tone and the spirit of never turning back left an indelible mark on the hearts of Chan Bing, Gai Mie, and the others.
(Recently, Xiaoyu has been reading some new books. One of them is quite good—"Longevity Immortal Cultivation: Starting from Controlling Your Own Essence." It left a deep impression on Xiaoyu. This book isn't particularly stunning, but it can make people unconsciously keep reading, and there's even a bit of aftertaste. It's indeed quite good. If you like this type of longevity and immortal cultivation, you can go check it out.)
(End of Chapter)