# Chapter 4135: Not Leaving Anymore
On the back of the Divine Listening Beast, figures stood one after another.
Zhang Ruochen, Shang Tian, Huang Tian, Meng Naihe, Tantuo Dizang, Baozhu Dizang, and the Nine Spirit Buddha Child.
After leaving the Gray Sea, they arrived at the River of Forgetfulness.
Everyone's mood was complex, the atmosphere heavy.
No one wanted to be a deserter. They did not fear death.
After Yan Huanyu's death, Meng Naihe felt a sense of utter despair, his gaze dark and terrifying. Seeing that they were about to leave the River of Forgetfulness, he finally exploded: "Are we really just going to flee like this? If the Minor Calamity erupts, everyone will die anyway. What meaning is there in running away now?"
Except for Zhang Ruochen, the others' gazes all fell upon him.
"That's right, the Nether Ancestor is indeed terrifying, but back then, the Twenty Heavens dared to fight Him and managed to severely wound Him. Why can't we?"
Meng Naihe flew up from the Divine Listening Beast's back and landed on the shore of the Skeleton Bone Plain, saying: "This old man is not leaving anymore. You all and Saint Si Daoist escort the *Book of Life and Death* to the Hell Realm! Whether one leaves or stays, all are heroes. But this anger in my heart, I cannot swallow it down."
Thinking of the deceased Meng Family First Master, Meng Huangni, and the cursed Meng Family Third Master, along with Meng Huang'e who would most likely follow Meng Huangni's fate, how could Meng Naihe not feel aggrieved?
He was the head of the Meng Family, bearing the most important responsibilities of the clan.
Now, with the clan's gods dying one after another in brutal fashion, what face did he have to flee back?
No wonder Gandharva mocked him. He truly deserved it.
Under his leadership, the Meng Clan members had fallen to such a state. He was utterly ashamed before the ancestors. He could not swallow it. This anger, he absolutely could not swallow it.
Shang Tian was very blunt: "What can you accomplish by going back? Becoming the Nether Ancestor's next puppet? You're just dragging down the Ancestor and the Heavenly Venerable. You'll be the next Meng Huangni and Meng Huang'e!"
"Shang Big Beard, stop spouting nonsense. This old man has fought countless battles, large and small, in his life. I admit my combat strength is slightly inferior to yours, but when it comes to spiritual will, I yield to no one under heaven! The Nether Ancestor can kill me, but He can forget about dominating my consciousness."
Meng Naihe was like an angry rooster, his eyes bulging like copper bells.
No one doubted Meng Naihe's spiritual will. He was absolutely an iron-boned senior hero. But among those who had cultivated to the Heavenly Venerable level, who was a coward?
Why had Meng Huang'e's spiritual consciousness been occupied by the Nether Ancestor?
Was she truly inferior to Meng Naihe?
Her cultivation talent was probably even above Meng Naihe's.
Zhang Ruochen realized this critical issue and said: "If the Nether Ancestor was just a clone projection, I can understand Him possessing Meng Huangni. After all, Meng Huangni was only at the Qiankun Infinite realm."
"But all of us started from nothing and cultivated step by step to our current heights. Those who have reached the Indestructible Infinite level have tempered their spiritual will through countless trials. Can a mere clone projection of the Nether Ancestor really possess them so easily?"
"If it were that easy, given the Nether Ancestor's cultivation level, He could transform into billions of incarnations and possess all gods below the Half-Ancestor level in the universe with a single thought. Why would He need to scheme so much and launch the Minor Calamity at the Biluo Pass?"
Huang Tian seemed to be pondering something, saying: "You mean Meng Huang'e's body had already been tampered with by the Nether Ancestor long ago?"
Meng Naihe said in a deep voice: "That must be the case! If the Nether Ancestor could truly control all cultivators in the universe at the level of spiritual will, then there would be no need to resist, and no need to flee!"
Zhang Ruochen said: "Meng Huang'e claimed to be the Nether Ancestor's disciple. For the Nether Ancestor to leave some means inside her body would be an easy task."
Thinking about how the Nether Ancestor had used the "Withering Death Art" to scheme against Kong Yinxue and Ling Yanzi in order to deal with the Great Venerable, one could see His insidiousness.
How could the Nether Ancestor not guard against the possibility that among His disciples, one might...
Such breadth of mind and bearing did not match the Nether Ancestor in Zhang Ruochen's mind, and was even inferior to most Ancestors. Perhaps it was precisely for this reason that the Nether Ancestor could live for billions of years and become an Immortal, while those great and sacred Witch Ancestors could not.
Suddenly.
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed drastically as he looked at Tantuo Dizang.
Tantuo Dizang wielded the "Human Head Staff," and most likely had some connection with the Nether Ancestor.
Tantuo Dizang's brow flickered, and a lotus flower imprint emerged. Then, Nether Light enveloped his entire body, and a soul-shaking Ancestral Might was released.
Shang Tian and Huang Tian reacted the fastest, flying out in two different directions to create distance.
Baozhu Dizang used Buddhist Qi to wrap around the Nine Spirit Buddha Child, moving a beat slower as she threw them toward Meng Naihe on the shore.
That one beat of slowness meant she was destined to bear the Nether Ancestor's most swift and terrifying attack.
Tantuo Dizang's hands formed claws, his ten fingers wrapped in Nether Flame, his expression extremely ferocious as he clawed at Baozhu Dizang's back.
Everyone had already witnessed the combat power of the Nether Ancestor's projection. Even Half-Ancestors could hardly contend with it. Baozhu Dizang was only at the Indestructible Infinite middle stage. How could she block it?
Everyone could imagine her heart being torn out from behind by Tantuo Dizang.
But no one was in time to save her.
Baozhu Dizang's protective divine light and protective rule divine patterns were pierced through like bubbles under Tantuo Dizang's claw print.
"My life is over!"
Just as this thought emerged in her mind, her wrist was suddenly grabbed. Before she could see who it was, her entire body was flung away.
Who else could it be?
Naturally, it was "Saint Si Daoist"!
Zhang Ruochen struck out with one palm. In the Dao Light within his palm, Corpse Poison and Sickness Curse burst forth, clashing with Tantuo Dizang's Nether Fire Claw Print.
"Boom!"
Energy ripples exploded on the Santu River, sweeping through the entire River of Forgetfulness.
Zhang Ruochen fell straight down into the Santu River.
Tantuo Dizang's body swayed slightly, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes. It wasn't that Saint Si Daoist's combat power was so terrifying, but rather his reaction speed was too fast.
So fast that even the Nether Ancestor found it surprising.
This shouldn't be an ability that a Heavenly Venerable-level cultivator possessed!
"Using time infinitely close to zero, crossing space, to block a strike from the Nether Ancestor's clone. This Daoist is very unusual!" Shang Tian suddenly understood somewhat why Hao Tian had entrusted the *Book of Life and Death* to Saint Si Daoist.
There must be something on this Daoist that he couldn't understand.
Baozhu Dizang and the Nine Spirit Buddha Child fell on the shore, continuously retreating backward, carving out ditches.
Tantuo Dizang's power came from the Nether Ancestor. She had actually been hit by the force, but fortunately, she was wearing the Anma Kasaya. Otherwise, even if she hadn't been directly struck, her physical body would most likely have been torn apart.
"Is he not afraid of death? Is the effect of the Love Decoction really this terrifying?"
Baozhu Dizang found it difficult to understand Saint Si Daoist's behavior, attributing it to the Love Decoction. Otherwise, how could she explain why Shang Tian and Huang Tian had both...
"Splash!"
Zhang Ruochen flew out of the river surface, blood flowing from his arm, and said: "No need to fear him. The Nether Ancestor is locked in a dharma battle with Dizang King, so the power falling on Tantuo Dizang is extremely limited. This isn't the Gray Sea, and there's no Nether Sea here. There isn't that much heaven-earth power for him to mobilize."
Meng Naihe, Shang Tian, and Huang Tian had long been carefully observing Tantuo Dizang, repeatedly deducing and analyzing.
Each of the Nether Ancestor's clones was different.
Meng Huangni was tranquil and elegant, Meng Huang'e was sharp and domineering.
Tantuo Dizang at this moment was gloomy and ferocious.
It was like completely different personalities! Clearly, the legends were true. The Nether Ancestor had ten thousand dharmas and ten thousand forms, each form different, with different personalities and shapes. Therefore, no one knew what His true body actually looked like.
Huang Tian summoned his companion battle axe from within his body and said: "Daoist, you go first. We'll hold him here."
No matter how weak this clone of the Nether Ancestor was, judging from the clash with Saint Si Daoist just now, it was at the Half-Ancestor level.
Victory was impossible.
They could only delay.
"Go? Where can you still go? The sacrifice has already begun. By then, all living beings in the universe will become this seat's supplementary medicine, providing an endless stream of energy. I will grow stronger and stronger, while you will have your blood qi, souls, and lifespans drained dry, turning into skeletons in the Santu River."
Tantuo Dizang hovered above the Santu River, not in a hurry to strike.
Sensing something, everyone's gazes followed the Santu River toward the entrance of the Gray Sea.
"Whoosh!"
Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light burst forth.
The Death Divine Light was especially intense. When it fell on Zhang Ruochen, he felt the life energy and lifespan within his body rapidly draining away.
One must know that with his cultivation level, this was already happening. For those living beings in the universe with lower cultivation or no cultivation at all, wouldn't they instantly age, decay, and die?
The Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light merged with the waters of the Santu River, using this as a medium to rush out of the River of Forgetfulness at the speed of light.
Once out of the River of Forgetfulness, the Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light propagated even faster through the Santu River, continuously stacking, reaching twice the speed of light, three times the speed of light...
The Life Divine Light was very faint, only a thread. The Death Divine Light was extremely bright.
To balance the two kinds of light, the Santu River had to continuously absorb the life energy, souls, lifespans, blood qi... of the places it passed through.
In the starry sky outside the River of Forgetfulness, the Eight Divisions Followers and Meng Family cultivators who were completely unaware and still transporting sacrifices, the moment the Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light fell on them, fell in droves, each becoming withered and thin, with white hair.
Those who had reached the Divine Realm only resisted for a moment before falling unwillingly, their divine souls extracted and merged into the Santu River.
As for the "sacrifices" on those planets, they died even faster.
A life-bearing planet, as the light swept over it, lost all signs of life, even the vegetation withered.
The tributaries of the Santu River connected to all planets, ruins realms, great worlds, and secret realms in the universe.
With the River of Forgetfulness as the center, the Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light continuously spread outward, the propagation speed already exceeding ten times the speed of light.
It was still increasing.
Life energy, souls, lifespans, blood qi... all kinds of energy flowed back into the River of Forgetfulness along the Santu River.
Tantuo Dizang, standing above the Santu River, was the first to absorb them. Strands of energy turned into Nether Mist, continuously burrowing into his body.
Every cultivator present had powerful divine souls. How could they not sense the tragedy unfolding in the Heavenly Desolate Universe?
"Fight! Stop him at all costs. His power is growing stronger by the moment."
"Even a clone can absorb the various supplements coming through the Santu River. One can imagine that the Nether Ancestor's true body must also be able to do so. The stronger the Nether Ancestor's true body becomes, the more Dizang King will be no match for Him."
"This is the light of the Life-Death Lamp! The Life-Death Realm should not have been fully refined yet. The Nether Ancestor's true body definitely hasn't reached the Life-Death Realm. He's been intercepted by Dizang King! Currently, the brilliance emitted by the Life-Death Lamp is limited and can hardly threaten cultivators at our level. The propagation speed is also limited. It will take a very long time to cover the entire Heavenly Desolate Universe."——
Ten times the speed of light, even a hundred times the speed of light, was not terrifying. It would take thousands or tens of thousands of years to spread outside the Heavenly Desolate Universe.
But if the Nether Ancestor's true body broke through Dizang King's interception and reached the Biluo Pass, with Him personally activating it, the propagation speed of the Life Light and Death Light would reach a level they couldn't imagine.
Only then would everything truly be over!
"Boom!"
The stone axe grew to the size of a mountain, striking down heavily, as Huang Tian tried to cut off the Santu River.
The moment the axe blade touched the river surface, the Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light erupted violently, forming a mountain-toppling force that rebounded onto him.
Huang Tian was sent flying tens of thousands of miles.
But not only was he not discouraged, he instead showed a joyful expression.
Because with that axe strike, the Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light on the entire Santu River had dimmed slightly. This showed that without the Nether Ancestor's true body controlling the Life-Death Realm, the Santu River could indeed be cut off.
"Life and Death, separate! Stone Clan cultivators, follow this hall master in battling the Nether Ancestor."
Huang Tian's body split into two, both a hundred thousand feet tall.
Life Huang Tian was like a Buddha, his entire body glowing with white light. Thick life energy condensed into a Life Divine Tree behind him, its branches lush and leaves abundant, as if it could support the entire starry sky.
Death Huang Tian was like a world-covering Demon God, holding a stone axe, his entire body petrified, with an ocean of death beneath his feet.
"I cultivate both life and death. Coinciding with the Life Divine Light and Death Divine Light sweeping across the universe to forge the Life-Death Tribulation, today is destined to be my battle of fate."
Both Huang Tians simultaneously mobilized their rule divine patterns, summoning their Divine Realm World, suspending it between their life and death bodies.
This Divine Realm World merged with a Stone God Star of the Stone Clan.
The volume of the Stone God Star was many times larger than a great world. The Stone Clan living on it numbered in the trillions, accounting for one-tenth of the entire Stone Clan.
Huang Tian had always kept his Divine Realm World and divine sea deeply hidden, never summoning them, worried that the Stone Clan cultivators on the Stone God Star would die in the divine battle.
But now was the most critical moment. He couldn't care about that anymore.
Even if all the Stone Clan on the Stone God Star perished here, making him a sinner of the Stone Clan, it would be worth it.
Death Huang Tian raised his axe again.
All the Stone Clan cultivators on the Stone God Star struck out with their power, transmitting the power of all living beings to Huang Tian.
The might of this axe far surpassed the previous one.
Tantuo Dizang naturally could not allow Huang Tian to cut the Santu River again.
He moved his finger, drawing the Ancestral Divine Patterns and Nether Ancestor Order from the Skeleton Bone Plain of the River of Forgetfulness, surging like tidal waves toward Huang Tian.
The Ancestral Divine Patterns were like lines.
The Nether Ancestor Order condensed into Nether Flower vines, all seemingly alive, coiling around Huang Tian.
"Heavenly Desolate Chaos Tribulation!"
Shang Tian had light in one eye and demonic aura in the other, both hands clenched into fists.
Every fingerprint turned into a tribulation thunder.
"Rumble!"
Countless tribulation thunders fell like rain, splitting apart the Ancestral Divine Patterns and Nether Ancestor Order that had trapped Huang Tian.
Death Huang Tian was the first to break free, raising his axe with both hands and striking down with the force of splitting heaven and earth.
This time, he wasn't striking the Santu River, but Tantuo Dizang.
His body was a hundred thousand feet tall, and his axe was also a hundred thousand feet.
Tantuo Dizang swung his arm, sending out a waterfall of Nether Fire, clashing with the stone axe. The entire sky was set ablaze.
The boundary walls of the River of Forgetfulness showed many cracks and fractures.
"Twilight of the Gods!"
Shang Tian executed the strongest divine ability of the Radiant Divine Temple, condensing with the Light Esoterica, striking a palm at Tantuo Dizang.
"Boom!"
A hundred-thousand-foot-tall Nether Ancestor soul shadow burst forth from Tantuo Dizang's body, sending Death Huang Tian and Shang Tian flying, both injured.
In the distance.
The boundary walls of the River of Forgetfulness, unable to withstand such powerful destructive energy, completely shattered.
Divine light, demonic qi, Ancestral Might, tribulation thunder... all kinds of chaotic forces transmitted into the starry sky of the real universe, more intense than the explosion of a hundred thousand suns.
If the heavenly mechanisms and aura of the Heavenly Desolate Universe had not been concealed, even if the Heavenly Court Universe and Hell Realm were extremely far away, top-tier gods would definitely have sensed something.
Just as Death Huang Tian and Shang Tian were sent flying, Meng Naihe had already executed the Ten Thousand Heads Ten Thousand Bodies Yama Great Art. Ten thousand figures surrounded Tantuo Dizang, striking out with ten thousand divine abilities to drown him.
A Nether Light Curse Sound roared from Tantuo Dizang's mouth.
The sound waves and curse methods spread outward together, exploding all of Meng Naihe's clones.
The next moment, Tantuo Dizang broke through Meng Naihe's protective order, grabbing his neck and snapping his cervical vertebrae. He raised his other hand to strike at Meng Naihe's head.
"Bang!"
Behind him, the Forgetfulness-Subduing Demon Staff struck first, heavily landing on Tantuo Dizang's head.
Tantuo Dizang's body trembled violently, his entire being stiffening, his fingers loosening.
The energy ripples from the Forgetfulness-Subduing Demon Staff and Tantuo Dizang's head sent Meng Naihe flying.
Strange familiar memories assaulted him. The Nether Ancestor slowly turned around, looking at the Saint Si Daoist opposite him, killing intent thick.
"Pfft!"
Saint Si Daoist was struck and spat blood, flying backward, heavily crashing onto the Skeleton Bone Plain.
Baozhu Dizang flew over, looking at Saint Si Daoist who had just stood up, and said: "Daoist, why aren't you leaving yet? Don't you know that you are the most important one?"
On the Santu River, Shang Tian, Huang Tian, and Meng Naihe had already attacked from three different directions, fighting fiercely with Tantuo Dizang.
All three Heavenly Venerable-level cultivators were injured, but they fought more and more bravely, striking out with various divine abilities, techniques, and palm prints. For a moment, they actually surrounded Tantuo Dizang, leaving him no time to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
Baozhu Dizang said: "Now is the best opportunity!"
"Do you think we can still escape?" Zhang Ruochen pointed at the starry sky outside the boundary wall breach in the distance.
All the tributaries of the Santu River were glowing, including the planets, ruins realms, and great worlds on those tributaries. These halos were as bright as nebulae, forming Nether Ancestor light shadows.
These Nether Ancestor light shadows had enormous bodies, occupying their starry field of vision.
The entire universe had been surrounded!
"The Nether Ancestor has sealed off the entire Heavenly Desolate Universe. No one can escape."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Thousand Armies War Banner, holding it in his other hand, and walked toward the Santu River, saying: "Since we can't leave, then let's fight to the death! Huang Tian said this is a battle destined in his fate. Isn't this also a battle destined in this poor Daoist's fate?"
The direction Zhang Ruochen was heading was not toward Tantuo Dizang, but toward the Gray Sea.
At the entrance of the Gray Sea, clusters of gray mist surged out, condensing into the Nether Ancestor's figure, millions of miles tall, releasing Ancestral Might, extremely intimidating.
Zhang Ruochen went to meet it alone, the banner surface of the war banner in his hand flapping "pop pop" in the wind.
The Nether Ancestor's combat power was continuously increasing. Only his Wuji Circle could intercept the energy absorbed by the Santu River before the Nether Ancestor, not giving the Nether Ancestor a chance to recover from his injuries.
He had to go to the Biluo Pass!
Zhang Ruochen sensed that Bore was in mortal danger.
He had to go to the Biluo Pass!
Zhang Ruochen was very clear that the *Book of Life and Death* absolutely could not fall into the Nether Ancestor's hands. Therefore, going back this time meant a fight to the death. Either defeat the Nether Ancestor or die in the Gray Sea.
He could not escape this battle. This was his fate. He had to go to the Biluo Pass, even if his blood ran dry.
Watching Saint Si Daoist's back as he walked alone toward the Gray Sea, Shang Tian, Huang Tian, and Meng Naihe did not stop him, nor did they say anything.
They could all feel the determined will on Saint Si Daoist.
Likewise, the three of them were not leaving today either!