Chapter 4157: Heavenly Will
The Santu River Basin was vast, with a sea of bones and corpse territories spanning countless billions of miles.
On this boundless land, all undead raised their heads, peering at the increasingly bright starry sky.
Rune patterns, dense as stars, blazed with intense brilliance.
Murong Dui Ji's move transformed the power of stars, using the rules of heaven and earth to draw runes, reaching a level of mastery that was profound and extraordinary. His spiritual power enveloped a star region spanning at least one light-year, his methods shocking the heavens, stunning countless cultivators hidden in the shadows.
"His spiritual power is definitely not just at the early stage of the ninety-fourth rank!"
"As expected of the sole direct disciple of the Second Confucian Ancestor, borrowing the power of heaven and earth to evolve endlessly, able to unleash an inexhaustible combat power."
"A spiritual half-ancestor is far rarer than a martial half-ancestor."
"Look quickly, the footprints in the starry sky are walking straight into the sea of runes. Is He so contemptuous of Murong Dui Ji?"
...
Zhang Ruochen's footprints formed a chain in the starry sky, each step separated by one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred miles.
As he passed, the footprints did not disperse.
This represented both his unfathomably profound Dao realm and his indestructible will and mental fortitude.
"Clang!"
The third bell tolled, louder than the previous two.
The star sea flickered with alternating brightness and darkness, and the rules of heaven and earth resonated together.
Murong Dui Ji manipulated tens of thousands of stars, evolving a sea of runes that clashed with the sound waves. Half of the rune sea was annihilated, while the remainder, following the sound waves, surged back in the opposite direction.
Yin Yuanchen drove the donkey cart through the starry sky, watching the sea of rune patterns surging back, blotting out his entire field of vision. His thoughts froze for an instant.
What kind of terrifying existence was on the other side?
"What a formidable opponent! You should leave quickly. This battlefield is between him and me." Murong Dui Ji's expression was unprecedentedly grave.
Yin Yuanchen understood clearly that Murong Dui Ji's words meant that even with his spiritual power mastery, he was not confident he could protect Yin Yuanchen.
Thus, without any hesitation, he summoned a ten-foot-long lightning talisman, stepped onto it, and transformed into a bolt of lightning, shooting backward through the air.
Yin Yuanchen had followed Murong Dui Ji specifically to study the way of runes.
His martial arts mastery was at the forefront of his generation. His spiritual power and rune mastery were also outstanding.
Among the top prodigies of the same era, he and Bai Qinger were very similar, both cultivating divine and martial arts. Zhang Ruochen, Yan Wushen, Que, and Chi Yao were more pure, though they also dabbled in spiritual power, martial arts was their absolute main focus.
Murong Dui Ji swung his arm like a whip, and the bamboo slip in his hand flew out.
"Slap! Slap!"
The bamboo slip's binding broke, splitting into dozens of bamboo swords.
Each bamboo sword was covered in a layer of green spiritual power light, with ancient characters flowing with golden radiance.
The bamboo swords collided with the surging rune sea, instantly creating dozens of huge spatial holes.
The rune sea shattered, and the bamboo swords disappeared into space.
The next moment, the bamboo swords pierced through space, appearing before the chain of footprints in the starry sky, blocked by an invisible force.
The dozens of bamboo swords froze there, then exploded into dust.
On the other side, the shattered rune sea was dispersed by Murong Dui Ji's feather fan.
Murong Dui Ji stood up from the donkey cart, his eyes fixed on the chain of footprints in the starry sky. But even with his spiritual power height, he could not see the true form of the opponent.
It was utterly bizarre.
"Who are you? An Ancestor?"
Regardless of whether the opponent was an Ancestor, Murong Dui Ji knew he was no match.
Retreat!
He had to retreat, while there was still a vast space between him and the opponent.
The donkey pulling the cart erupted with light thousands of times brighter than a star, breaking through the real world and charging toward Lihentian.
Lihentian was the territory of the Eternal Heavenly Kingdom. Murong Dui Ji did not believe the unknown opponent would dare to continue the chase.
"Since you're here, don't leave!"
A vast, ethereal divine sound spread across the starry sky.
Zhang Ruochen tossed the bronze chime bells into the air, swinging the Human Head Scepter heavily, striking the bronze chime bells toward Lihentian. They flew fast, crossing one layer of heaven in an instant.
The bell tolls came one after another...
After the ninth toll, the bronze chime bells caught up to Murong Dui Ji.
Murong Dui Ji knew the opponent's terror well and had prepared thoroughly. He poured all his spiritual power into the feather fan in his hand.
"Whoosh!"
All the feathers fell off, transforming into a divine corpse rune army with wings.
This was a true divine army, refined from divine corpses and rune patterns, capable of elevating Murong Dui Ji's combat power to a level comparable to a peak half-ancestor.
But this divine corpse rune army could not stop the bronze chime bells.
Under the impact of the bells, the divine corpses exploded in clusters.
Finally, the bronze chime bells crashed into the donkey cart, shattering the donkey and the cart into pieces.
The donkey was not a real donkey.
The cart was not a real cart.
After they shattered, they transformed into dense rune patterns, revealing a grand great world that enveloped Murong Dui Ji.
The light curtain at the edge of the great world blocked the bronze chime bells outside the world.
This was a rune world!
Within this entire great world, there were no fewer than a quadrillion talismans, with over a hundred million possessing intelligence. Some took human form, some became flowers, grass, fish, and insects, and others turned into continents and mountains...
This was a great world created by Murong Dui Ji. All the talismans within were refined by him alone, representing his entire accumulation since he began cultivation.
Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes, watching the rune world growing farther away. His right finger traced over the gray eyes of the Human Head Scepter.
The gray eyes lit up.
Murong Dui Ji, who had already fled into Lihentian, immediately withered, rapidly shriveling, his skin becoming like tree bark.
"This is... the Withering Death Art! I understand, he infused the Withering Death Art curse into the sound waves. Each previous bell toll was a curse landing on me."
Murong Dui Ji bit his finger, drawing rune patterns on his skin to suppress the curse within his body.
"Not bad."
Zhang Ruochen extended his right hand, unleashing the space power of Myriad Forms Formless.
Instantly, a terrifying hand, over a hundred million miles in diameter, manifested in Lihentian, like the hand of the heavens, the hand of the universe.
This terrifying hand crossed a distance of countless light-years, the entire rune world within its palm.
As the five fingers contracted, the rune world began to collapse.
Within the world, tens of millions of talismans exploded every breath.
Suddenly, from the highest layer of Lihentian, the "Formless Realm," a white divine light cascaded down like a waterfall, severing the space between Zhang Ruochen and Murong Dui Ji.
Zhang Ruochen lost control of that terrifying hand.
Soon, Murong Dui Ji shattered the hand, steered the rune world, and disappeared into the colorful Lihentian, but did not return to the Formless Realm where the Eternal Heavenly Kingdom was located.
"This is Heavenly Will. He has made his move after all."
Zhang Ruochen looked up toward the Formless Realm.
The Second Confucian Ancestor's spiritual power Ancestor path was called "Heavenly Will."
It meant that his will was the will of the heavens, determining the fate of all things in the world.
"Whoosh!"
A pair of eyes opened in the Formless Realm.
The eyeballs were one black and one white, like two chess pieces, radiating boundless Dao charm, peering at the void where Zhang Ruochen had just been.
But Zhang Ruochen had already left, vanishing without a trace.
These chess-like eyes then looked toward the land where the Bone God Temple was located, but the battle had already ended. All the Doomsday Priests had been killed by the Black and White Daoist.
Only ruins remained there.
The aura and heavenly secrets of the Black and White Daoist and Xuanyuan the Second were concealed by a transcendent power, disappearing into time and space.
...
A hundred-zhang-long bone divine ship sailed on the Santu River, heading toward the Heavenly Court Universe.
Xuanyuan the Second and the Black and White Daoist stared at those chess-like eyes deep in the shattered space, unable to breathe, not even daring to move. Only after the eyes disappeared did they recover.
"What are you afraid of? The Heavenly Venerable has erased all traces, auras, and heavenly secrets of you in space. Even if that person's true body descended, he might not be able to find you, let alone just a pair of eyes?" Lian Xi said.
The Black and White Daoist said solemnly, "That person is the Eternal True Ruler, a spiritual power Ancestor."
"So what?" Lian Xi said.
The Black and White Daoist completely relaxed, smiling, "Isn't this because we don't know the adoptive father's strength? The facts prove that the adoptive father's Dao is profound, manipulating the rules of heaven and earth with ease. Even if the Eternal True Ruler truly descended, the outcome is uncertain."
Mingye God Venerable and Heqing God Venerable were both extremely excited, their eyes filled with reverence.
The master before them was definitely an Ancestor-level existence.
They were now considered disciples and grand-disciples of an Ancestor.
They truly didn't know how their master had latched onto such a thick thigh.
Zhang Ruochen stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze deep: "The Eternal True Ruler has lived for nearly ten million years, far from an ordinary Ancestor. After the Nether Ancestor's death, among the few Ancestors of this era, he should be the strongest. Perhaps..."
Perhaps, the Dark Lord could contend with him.
Because Zhang Ruochen's deal with the Dark Lord was that he would help the Dark Lord recondense the Cauldron of Origin and hand it over to the Lamp Elder.
The Lamp Elder, in turn, would give him the other dark hand.
By fusing one dark hand, the Dark Lord's combat power had recovered to the Ancestor level. After fusing the second dark hand, what level had the Dark Lord's power reached?
After all, the Dark Lord was an Immortal, once able to rival the Nether Ancestor. Given time, he might become unimaginably powerful.
In comparison, "Shiyan," who had reached the Ancestor realm for a short time, and "Hongmeng Black Dragon," who had lost a great deal of essence, would certainly be weaker.
Back then, Shiyan had tried to seize Tianmu's Houtu wedding dress to enhance his power and close the gap.
Of course, even if the Eternal True Ruler was the strongest among all Ancestors, he probably hadn't reached the ninety-sixth rank like Murong Buhuo.
If he had truly reached the ninety-sixth rank, how could Shiyan have dared to cooperate with him to hunt the Hongmeng Black Dragon in the Abyss of Darkness?
Xuanyuan the Second said, "Yes, the Second Confucian Ancestor has lived for nearly ten million years, practically half an Immortal. His spiritual power is likely at the peak of the ninety-fifth rank. Otherwise, why would only he and the cultivators of the Eternal Heavenly Kingdom walk through the universe, doing whatever they please?"
"In contrast, other Ancestors only dare to hide in the shadows, completely unable to compare with the Second Confucian Ancestor."
The Black and White Daoist said, "Hiding in the shadows has its benefits. You can wait for the right moment and avoid being a target. Look at the Eternal True Ruler—though powerful, does he dare to easily leave the Eternal Heavenly Kingdom? The moment he leaves, wouldn't other Ancestors attack the Eternal Heavenly Kingdom?"
"Even if he leaves, he only dares to do so secretly, without letting any cultivator know."
Suddenly, Heqing God Venerable said, "Doesn't this indirectly prove that the unknown existence who used the Seventy-Two Layer Tower to suppress the Nether Ancestor is the Immortal behind the God Realm? Because the fundamental reason Ancestors hide is not fear of the Eternal True Ruler, but fear of that unknown existence who could suppress the Nether Ancestor."
"The Eternal True Ruler, no matter how strong, cannot kill an Ancestor, but that unknown existence can."
"Why wouldn't the Eternal True Ruler be afraid? Is he stronger than the Nether Ancestor? The answer is undoubtedly one."
Everyone's gaze turned to Heqing God Venerable, including Zhang Ruochen.
"Come with me!"
Zhang Ruochen said this, opened a bone door, and walked toward the interior space of the divine ship.
Heqing God Venerable secretly regretted, glancing at the Black and White Daoist.
The Black and White Daoist didn't know what the problem was, but the Life-and-Death Heavenly Venerable was someone they absolutely could not offend. He said coldly, "The adoptive father told you to go, so go quickly! In the future, be careful with your words. When we discuss the great affairs of the world, how dare you interrupt?"
Inside the bone ship, ghostly lamps flickered, the light dim.
Heqing, dressed in white, was tall and slender, with a curvaceous and exquisite figure—undoubtedly a rare beauty.
She glanced at Zhang Ruochen, who had his back to her, and carefully bowed, "Master!"
"Who taught you those words just now?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Heqing was terrified inside, but her eyes showed no flaw. "It was just my random speculation..."
"Gaimie, aren't you coming out?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Heqing's scalp tingled, the fear on her face no longer concealable. Her whole body trembled, and she knelt before Zhang Ruochen, unable to speak.
The space behind her trembled slightly.
Threads of demonic qi surged from the space cracks.
Gaimie's tall, robust figure emerged from the demonic qi, his bright eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen. Then he laughed, "Your perception is terrifying! I transmitted a sound to her in the divine realm world, and you still detected it. Is this the ability of an Ancestor?"
"As a Supreme Pillar, now a demonic path half-ancestor, hiding in a ghost clan god's divine realm world. You sure know how to pick a place!"
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew that Gaimie and Heqing had an "old acquaintance." He snorted and continued, "Speak. Why do you think the unknown strongman who controlled the Seventy-Two Layer Tower is the Immortal behind the God Realm?"
Though Gaimie was bold, he knew who he could provoke and who he couldn't. He said calmly, "Because on the day the Seventy-Two Layer Tower was forcibly taken, I happened to be there. I sensed that the God Realm's passage was briefly opened, and an indescribable unknown force surged into it."
"After that, I fled the Sword Realm and hid."
Zhang Ruochen said, "You think that existence controlling the Seventy-Two Layer Tower would kill you? Perhaps he doesn't even know you discovered the secret of the God Realm's brief opening. By fleeing, you instead exposed that you might know something."
Gaimie said, "That existence could even suppress the Nether Ancestor. He might not care about a small fry like me. But the Seventy-Two Layer Tower had always been placed in the Sword Realm without being moved, yet someone silently refined it successfully. This shows that within the Sword Realm, there is a great terror! If I stayed there, I would eventually die."
Zhang Ruochen turned around, staring at Gaimie with eyes sharp as swords. "Do you want to hide forever in a woman's divine realm world? Or do you want to advance your combat power further before the Great Calamity of Quantities arrives?"
How could there be so many good things in the world?
Gaimie saw the world clearly.
He said, "Do I have another choice?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head.
...
Wishing everyone a happy 2024 New Year!
(Chapter End)