After constant persuasions and with Granny Begonia’s testimony, Blackie’s doubts were finally dispelled. He confirmed that Zhang Ruochen was not someone else.
The Arrow of Deva Path did not manage to kill him.
Blackie laughed and confessed that he was overjoyed to see Zhang Ruochen still alive. He had forgotten entirely about what he had said earlier: “It looks like a dog from afar, but it’s actually Zhang Ruochen up close” and the self-proclaimed “Idiot.”
Hearing that the Xue Lingxian and Bai Qing’er had entered the void space for a decisive battle, Blackie was delighted. It was the first to break through the space and enter, prepared to watch the show.
Zhang Ruochen held up the Spatial Domain to resist the erosion of the power in the void space.
Back then, he had entered the void space when he had just attained Saint Kinghood. With the Spatial Domain, he could barely resist it for a moment. Now, his cultivation is more than 100 times that of back then. Even in the void space, he could now move with ease.
Of course, he couldn’t stay for too long. Half a day was his limit, and he could only do it without encountering any storms in the void.
There were endless dangers in the void space. Even deities would not dare to stay for too long. If they were careless, they would be swallowed by the void space.
Zhang Ruochen pushed the Path of Truth to the limit. Only then could he clearly see the battle between Xue Lingxian and Bai Qing’er.
It was a shocking battle. Although there were only two of them, the impact was comparable to the battle between the top ten forces of Darkness and dozens of Paramount Realm Supreme Saints from the Fane of Destiny previously on Hoth.
Bai Qing’er was forced to reveal her true strength by Xue Lingxian. She couldn’t maintain her “Ji Fanxin” appearance and had to revert to her original appearance.
Her alluring appearance, which could cause chaos among all living things, was enough to make any man who fought with her feel unbearable, and he would not be able to display his full strength. However, Xue Lingxian was not affected at all. The stone sword in his hand, the ‘Wordless Sword Manual,’ was bristling with power as if it was ready to tear Bai Qing’er into pieces.
Xue Lingxian stood in the center of the void. Countless Sword Qi flew together like tens of thousands of swords, transforming into a vortex-shaped sword nest.
Bai Qing’er ignored the Sword Qi in the sky. Using the Path of Flowing Light, she turned into streaks of shooting stars and flew quickly through the sword nest while firing off earth-shattering attacks.
Even the power of Oblivion couldn’t dispel the aftermath of their battle. It spread nearby to Zhang Ruochen and was blocked by Granny Begonia’s spiritual power.
Blackie kept muttering, “I knew that demoness Bai was powerful. But I didn’t expect her to be so powerful. Unfortunately, there’s still a big gap between her and the former Empress.”
“Back then, Xue Lingxian wanted to challenge the Empress by practicing the Neverwither physique of the Undying Blood Silkworm. Instead, he was beaten to the ground by the Empress in seven moves.”
“However, the Xue Lingxian now seems to be a little stronger than before.”
…
Although Zhang Ruochen had help from the Path of Truth, his cultivation was still too low. He couldn’t see how many Precepts Xue Lingxian and Bai Qing’er had practiced. He could only see that the Precepts had turned into a sea of Precepts which forcefully opened up a small world in the void.
The battle continued for an hour but didn’t end and became more intense. The two in the Sea of Precepts have nearly used all of their skills.
What higher knowledge that other Supreme Saints of the Paramount Realm wouldn’t be able to cultivate successfully in their entire lives was used with ease by them both. As for how far they had cultivated their skills, it was unknown.
Xue Lingxian had once entered divinity and peered into the mysteries contained within. It was understandable that he could cultivate the higher knowledge.
As for Bai Qing’er, she was young but proficient in all kinds of divine abilities and higher knowledge. It had to be said that she was indeed overwhelmingly talented. Perhaps there was still a gap between her and a genius of a Yuanhui Tribulation. Still, compared with this Yuanhui-level figure, she would definitely be at the forefront in the future.
In the beginning, Blackie could still comment jokingly, but the two of them used all kinds of trump cards and tricks and fully displayed the world’s mysteries. Both could use Swordsmanship, the Path of Flowing Light, and the Path of Origin to perfection and beyond, and Blackie’s expression became increasingly unsightly.
After Bai Qing’er summoned the bronze chime and formed the “Echoes of Heaven Formation,” Blackie was even more struck speechless.
Blackie had always boasted that it was invincible in the world, that it could sweep everything under divinity, and that it couldn’t be surpassed in the Path of Array. But now, it was being outdone everywhere.
It only felt that the heavens were unfair and only loved the Bai family’s daughter.
Zhang Ruochen could not help but look at Blackie.
“What’s there to look at? The Grand Formation of Armageddon I refined may not even be weaker than her Array. But…” Blackie seemed to speak without confidence, “Her set of bronze chimes is a little strange. It doesn’t seem like an ordinary item. That thing is similar to a legendary world-destroying artifact.”
Granny Begonia said, “The moment the bell rings, the world will fall into chaos. If the bell rings nine times, then the gods will fall. At ninety-nine chimes from the bell, the world will be destroyed. During the Hadean period, there was an elite who had the power to suppress the heavens. He held a set of bronze chimes and played a world-destroying composition that destroyed a long-standing eternal macroworld. Although I don’t know if that is true, the legend of the Doomsday bell has been passed down to this day.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Her set of bronze chimes should not be the doomsday weapon in the legend.”
To be able to destroy an eternal macroworld, the set of bronze chimes was definitely a Divine Artifact. It should be one of the top Divine Artifacts on the Record of Taibai Divine Artifact.
However, Zhang Ruochen was able to break a corner of the Array formed by the bronze chime and save Xing Luo and the others. From this, could it be inferred that Bai Qing’er’s set could not be a Divine Artifact?
Blackie clenched its claws and grinned, saying, “Xue Lingxian was too careless. He was trapped in the Array by Witch Bai and is doomed to lose. Now, it’s our turn to act. After we suppress Witch Bai, the bronze chime will be returned to me. Let them take the Tensho Compass, and the person belongs to you, Zhang Ruochen, since you’ll like it.”
Before they even began to fight, they had already started to divide the spoils.
“There’s no need to rush! Xue Lingxian took the initiative to fight with Bai Qing’er. If we attack halfway, he will blame us for being meddlesome,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Blackie snorted and said, “Xue Lingxian’s character is indeed like this. When he was beaten down by the Empress, someone went to help him but was punched by him while he claimed that he could stand up by himself. He was just pretending to be strong. Instead of getting up, I don’t know how long he had lied on the ground for.”
After looking at it for a while, Blackie stared at the sixty-five bronze chimes. His eyes were rolling rapidly, and he was highly anxious. “Witch Bai is already an Archsaint Array Master. Once you are trapped in her array, it is impossible to break out of it. Only attacks from the outside can we break the array. If we don’t act now, Xue Lingxian will be refined to death in the array. What should we do?”
“Wait a little longer,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“Her array is indeed powerful. Almost no one under divinity can break it from the inside,” said Granny Begonia. “However, to control such a big array on your own consumes a lot of spiritual power and Saint Qi. Once she is weakened by Xue Lingxian’s constant resistance, it’s time to counterattack.”
“In other words, let’s see if Bai Qing’er can kill Xue Lingxian in the array before her spiritual power and Saint Qi runs out,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Granny Begonia said, “She doesn’t need to be exhausted. As long as she is weakened to a certain extent, she won’t be able to control the operation of the array anymore—”
Granny Begonia unconsciously looked in a specific direction of the void space as if she had sensed something.
…
Surrounded by sixty-five bronze chimes, Xue Lingxian was greatly suppressed in the array.
Deafening earth-shaking sounds continuously bombarded his body.
The stone sword in his hand, the Wordless Sword Manual, rapidly transformed into the size of a mountain’s peak. Dense golden characters appeared all over it. Following that, the golden characters fell off and turned into small golden swords, forming an impregnable Sword Domain that resisted against the array.
The Wordless Sword Manual wasn’t a Divine Artifact, but it had some mysteries to which even a Divine Artifact couldn’t compare.
It was both a book and a sword.
It was the origin of Swordsmanship in Kunlun and had influenced countless macroworlds.
…
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly, “Even if Xue Lingxian has never entered divinity, he can still be called a figure at the Yuanhui Tribulation. After achieving divinity, his experience and comprehension are enough to make him stronger than any Yuanhui-level figure. No wonder he was able to kill the former Scioness of the Fane of Destiny with one strike.”
After falling into the Echoes of Heaven Formation, Xing Luo had no way to fight back. He could only choose to self-detonate his Sainthood Source and hope for mutual destruction.
However, Xue Lingxian, who wielded the Wordless Sword Manual, was able to use it against the Echoes of Heaven Formation.
The difference between the two was evident.
Of course, the Wordless Sword Manual was also stronger than the Ominous Blade and the Divine Ghost Mask.
Granny Begonia said, “Ruochen, come to my side. If anything happens later, you must not stand out. Leave everything to Granny.”
“Why does Granny look so grave?”
Zhang Ruochen had been attracted by the skills shown in the battle between Xue Lingxian and Bai Qing’er. At this moment, he followed Granny Begonia’s gaze and looked into the endless void.
But he didn’t notice anything. The void was entirely calm.
Something was wrong.
Zhang Ruochen’s Heart of Truth had a bad feeling. There was great danger lurking in the empty void. It was like staring into the abyss and being stared back at without any way to escape.
Zhang Ruochen’s back was wet with cold sweat. He quickly looked away and transmitted his voice to Granny Begonia. “Someone is hiding in the dark. I don’t know if it’s an enemy or a friend.”
“It must be an enemy! A friend would have already shown themselves,” Granny Granny Begonia replied.
Zhang Ruochen said, “It must be a top elite. Otherwise, there is no way it can hide from my senses.”
“No need to guess; it is a deity. There is a rotten and cold aura around it, so it must be a deity from the Infernal Court.”
Granny Begonia’s spiritual power was much stronger than Zhang Ruochen’s, so her perception was naturally stronger.
“This is bad. Things are not looking so good.”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart sank.
If the deities from the Infernal Court discovered that he was close to Kunlun’s cultivators. It will be like he had been caught red-handed.
Who would have thought that Bai Qing’er had caused so much trouble that even the deities had been provoked?
Granny Begonia said, “Since I could sense it, that means that it’s not a TrueGod, but a pseudo god instead. He didn’t attack immediately, which means that he’s waiting for Bai Qing’er and Xue Lingxian to exhaust each other. It would be best if both sides were heavily injured and then killed in one fell swoop.”
Zhang Ruochen had seen a pseudo god attack. It was exceptionally strong and not something a Saint-level cultivator could fight against.
Not every cultivator was the Empress of Thousand Bones, who could kill saint-level gods. The ones she killed were, of course, pseudo gods.
It was impossible for any cultivator to kill a saint-level TrueGod. Even the weakest TrueGod was at least ten times when stronger compared to a pseudo god.
At the saint level, only representatives of the Yuanhui Tribulation could fight hand to hand with pseudo gods. Of course, they could only spar and exchange blows. They would have to run for their lives if they really met them in battle.
This was because even representatives of the Yuanhui Tribulation who had power comparable to a star couldn’t continuously burst out that power. Their Paramount physiques couldn’t withstand such a powerful force.
If they fought for a long time, they would definitely die.
Only the divine physiques of pseudo gods could withstand it.
Moreover, there were also differences in strength between the pseudo gods.
If they encountered the strong among the pseudo god, even Xue Jue, Huang Tian, and the Empress of Thousand Bones would choose to retreat.
The elites among the pseudo gods could fight against several pseudo gods.
It was like how mortals with similar strength could fight against several or even ten others after they mastered combat techniques.
“Once the pseudo god makes his move, Ruochen, leave the void space immediately. Run as far as you can and leave it to us,” Granny Begonia said with concern.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Is there a way to kill the pseudo god?”
Granny Begonia was shocked. She didn’t expect Zhang Ruochen to have such a crazy idea and said, “The pseudo god is not worth comparing to a TrueGod. But to us, it’s as unshakable as Mount Gushen. Perhaps only Xue Lingxian could fight against it. It’s impossible to kill a pseudo god.”
“Didn’t the Empress once kill a pseudo god?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Granny Begonia said, “The Empress’s grandfather is the Supreme Array Master. He has so many trump cards. Who in the world can compete with him? Even so, the Empress killed the pseudo god but lost her Void Sword. Besides, the Empress was able to defeat Xue Lingxian in seven moves. Her combat strength is exceedingly powerful. Which of us here can compare to that?”
Zhang Ruochen was silent and thought hard about countermeasures to deal with the situation.
The Wargod Belt obviously couldn’t be used, so must he just be resigned to his fate?
No!
There must be a way.
Although the Empress was strong, she was only one person. It was difficult for her to fight alone.
Bai Qing’er and the Xue Lingxian, who were still fighting, obviously noticed something was amiss. They didn’t fight as fiercely as before. Instead, they took out Godstones to recover a large amount of their lost Saint Qi.
“Haha!”
A peal of gloomy laughter came from within the void space.
The laughter seemed to come from directly inside their minds.
A divine cloud of death Qi appeared in the void space and flew in the direction of the sixty-five bronze chimes.
Within the cloud stood a gaunt figure with a white bone crown on top of his head and two big flags on his back. His face was malevolent and terrible, and he smiled, “I’m only here to take the superior-grade Divine Crystal of Origin. I didn’t expect to find it by accident. Who would have thought that a little girl from the Enchanteur Chamber could have such cultivation and combat strength? Also, who would have guessed the grandson of Wargod Bloodximius was still so close to the cultivators of Kunlun?”
Granny Begonia signaled Zhang Ruochen to run away immediately.
Zhang Ruochen did not run away. Instead, he showed incredible courage and flew toward the pseudo god, saying, “The pseudo god of the Fane of Death, Mo Yunduan. As a deity, aren’t you afraid of getting yourself killed if you interfere with the secular world?”
He wanted to buy time for the Xue Lingxian and Bai Qing’er to recover their Saint Qi.
After all, they were now all in the same boat. Bai Qing’er should know how serious the consequences would be if her identity was exposed. Only by joining hands with Bai Qing’er could they possibly have a chance to slay the god.
“Zhang Ruochen, you’re the one who should be worried about getting killed.”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen dared to take the initiative to go ahead, Mo Yunduan was slightly shocked. He thought secretly about whatever trump card the enemy might have. Suddenly, he thought of the Intergold Tiger and felt uneasy.
How mighty could the Intergold Tiger be that it could let a Hundred-Shackle Realm Supreme Saint like Zhang Ruochen dare to challenge a god?
…
