Bursts of formidable saintly power erupted, filling the Lin Residence, only halting at its edges, blocked by a faint shimmering membrane.
Over half the people in the residence were struck by the overwhelming force, blood streaming from their orifices as they collapsed.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen, Lin Jingye first trembled with excitement, then sighed, “Chen’er… you… you shouldn’t have come back…”
To him, these black-robed cultivators were like demon kings or divine generals—Zhang Ruochen’s return was like walking into a trap.
“I had to come see for myself.”
Saintly qi rings emanated from Zhang Ruochen, enveloping Lin Jingye and the others, shielding them from the saints’ pressure, he tossed a low-grade healing saint pill to Lin Ningshan, instructing her to give it to Lin Jingye.
“Swish.”
Ripples formed in midair.
A lean black-robed man emerged from their centre, sneering, “Zhang Ruochen, you’ve finally shown yourself!”
Zhang Ruochen replied coolly, “With your cultivation, you shouldn’t be eager for me to appear.”
“My realm has three Nine-Step Saint Kings and over ten above Seven-Step Saint Kings in Yunwu Commandery, I’ve sent word—they’ll be here soon,” the man said.
Zhang Ruochen remarked, “Ruiya Realm sent so many powerhouses just for me.”
Sensing a familiar aura akin to Wang Xu and Wang Tian, he pegged them as Ruiya Realm cultivators.
“If you’ve any sense, and don’t want to doom the mortals here, you’d best surrender,” the man warned.
“Swish.”
Zhang Ruochen ignored him, his saintly qi rings expanding outward, one after another, totaling a hundred and eight, engulfing the entire Lin Residence.
Such immense saintly might roused every martial artist and saint cultivator in Yunwu Royal City.
The hovering man’s face twisted, “Zhang Ruochen, do you really mean to fight? Even if we’re no match, a battle’s fallout would wipe out every human in this city.”
He’d appeared to confront Zhang Ruochen precisely because he knew the latter wouldn’t dare strike here.
“Dealing with you takes but a flick of my finger,” Zhang Ruochen said indifferently.
The Saint Devourer Flower burst from his back, lightning-fast vines piercing the dozen black-robed figures, draining them.
“Hehe.”
Moyin’s enchanting laughter echoed through the residence.
The airborne man, breaking free of a vine with all his might, paled in terror—Zhang Ruochen’s strength far exceeded his guesses, he fled towards the residence’s edge.
Knowing escape was slim, he threatened, “Zhang Ruochen, don’t push me, or I’ll bury this whole city with me!”
“Boom.”
A dragon’s roar thundered, clouds swirled above Yunwu Royal City, a massive dragon claw descended, smashing the man into a bloody mist.
In the residence, Zhang Ruochen lowered his hand, a saint source in his palm, saying lightly, “I don’t believe you.”
He then strode into the ancestral hall.
“A Third-Step Saint King at least, can’t let it go to waste!”
The Saint Devourer Flower emerged again, transforming into Moyin’s female form, a vine sprouting countless leaves to gather the man’s lingering blood qi and saint soul shards.
After the Xumi Dojo battle, devouring many Heavenly Realm Saint Kings, her cultivation had peaked at Sixth-Step Saint King, a mere step from Seventh-Step.
Now, she craved more nourishment to break through.
Zhang Ruochen approached the charred spiritual female Saint King, hands behind his back, “No need to play dead, tell me, is it You God who wants me dead? Who’s leading you? Did you take the palace’s people?”
She raised her head slowly, grinning wickedly, “Zhang Ruochen, you won’t live long, once word spreads you’re here, killers will swarm.”
“If you won’t talk, I’ll use special means to get what I want,” he paused, adding, “You’re not the only one who knows soul searching.”
Her face shifted, she tried to detonate her saint heart with spiritual power.
“Think you can self-destruct before me?”
Zhang Ruochen unleashed his fifty-eighth-tier peak spiritual power, crushing her will, preventing even that.
His palm pressed her head.
A quarter-hour later, he ended her, limping out of the hall, tossing her corpse to the Saint Devourer Flower.
His expression was grave, lost in thought.
Her memories held no trace of his mother, fourth brother, or ninth sister—relief or worry, he couldn’t tell.
But he gleaned useful details—they were indeed from You God Palace.
The black-robed man spoke truth: over ten Saint King-tier elites from You God Palace had come to Yunwu Commandery, targeting him.
Recently, they’d found a treasure site here, rushing there, leaving lesser cultivators to capture his associates, hoping to lure him out.
They likely hadn’t expected his swift return.
“Target me if you must, but harm those around me, and I’ll make your deaths ugly,” his eyes glinted coldly.
After taking the healing pill, Lin Jingye’s severed legs regrew.
A mere Heaven Extreme Realm martial artist, one saint pill sufficed for regeneration, unlike a Saint’s injury.
He marvelled as his cultivation soared to Heaven Extreme Realm perfection.
Undigested pill energy lingered in him.
Was this really just a healing pill?
The Lin clan and servants remained kneeling, awed by Zhang Ruochen as if he were a god,不敢 harboring disrespect.
When he and Lin Fei first visited, they’d faced nothing but disdain.
Power!
His mastery over life and death had forged his current status.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Stand up! Soon, Yunwu Royal City might face a devastating attack, I can take you to another world, are you willing?”
Lin Ningshan whispered, “Leaving the Kunlun Realm?”
“Sort of,” he replied.
The Lin clan hesitated, their wealth and influence rooted here, kin scattered nationwide—leaving wasn’t simple.
Patriarch Lin Fengxian clasped his fists, “They say Heavenly Realm rules forbid saint-level battles in human cities, patrol envoys would unleash divine punishment if caught.”
The Kunlun battlefield differed from the Ancestral Spirit Realm’s, co-managed by the Merit God Palace, Heavenly Palace, and Kunlun Realm, with strict rules barring saint realm fights in human cities.
Zhang Ruochen said, “The Heavenly Realm’s inter-world dynamics are more complex than you think, if patrol envoys don’t catch it, razing a city is effortless for them, besides, even if Heavenly Realm worlds can’t act freely, what about the Hell Realm?”
“Hell Realm cultivators come to destroy.”
Finally, Lin Jingye spoke, “Lin clan, heed my command: pack essentials, prepare to leave the Kunlun Realm.”
As most retreated, Zhang Ruochen asked Lin Jingye about Lin Fei.
Lin Fei valued family deeply, despite the Lin clan’s past treatment, she’d surely stayed connected these years in Yunwu Commandery.
“She was taken by a woman long ago?”
Surprised, he pressed, “When?”
“About four months ago,” Lin Jingye said.
Describing the woman’s figure and face, Zhang Ruochen smiled, “Lingxi knows me well, she got Mother and the others out first.”
With them safe, his worries eased, his mood lifting.
You God Palace, fixated on killing him instead of the Hell Realm, stoked his anger—he’d linger in Yunwu Commandery, giving them a game to play.
…
Though brief, the earlier clash—marked by the black-robed man’s shout—spread word: Yunwu Commandery’s Ninth Prince was back!
In a tavern in Yunwu Royal City.
A chubby, dim-witted man clutched a wine bowl, staring towards the Lin Residence, “That fiend Zhang Ruochen actually returned, what do we do? What do we do?”
Across from him sat a burly man, bare-chested, a red turban on his head, a broad cleaver on his back, looking every bit a butcher.
His rugged face exuded menace, “Why so nervous? Sure, trouble follows Zhang Ruochen, but it’s not our business, if he and You God Palace tear each other apart, we’ll just watch, more players would make it livelier.”
The plump fool fretted, “Her Highness is still meditating by Luoshui, with this uproar, shouldn’t we report back?”
“They’re just useless old-timers, some over two thousand years cultivated, but weak, it’s not like Canglong or Ruan Ling are here… ugh, fine, since you’re so scared, we’ll head back after shopping.”
The butcher found the fool dull, his face sour with reluctance.
