After a long while, the myriad sword qi dissipated, failing to shatter the layered space or harm Zhang Ruochen.
He closed the Secret Tome of Time and Space, the spatial layers vanishing, and calm returned.
But Luo Ji was long gone, she was nowhere to be seen.
As a spatial controller, her escape was nearly impossible to thwart.
Since the Ancestral Spirit Realm’s merit battlefield, Zhang Ruochen had clashed with Luo Ji thrice. The first two times, he held the upper hand, but this time, she seemed to have outmaneuvered him.
“That sword hilt she acquired is extraordinary. If she breaches the Nether Dungeon, she might free the Nether King. I must warn True Wonder and the old clan leader to stay vigilant.”
Worried, Zhang Ruochen swiftly inscribed a communication light talisman and sent it off.
Luo Ji’s visit to the Sword Tomb, possibly unraveling its secrets, made her a grave threat.
Fortunately, True Wonder Little Taoist and Shi Mingyuan guarded the tomb. Entering it would be no easy feat.
With precautions, Luo Ji shouldn’t stir trouble there.
“What about Fairy Yuan? I’d better check.”
Refocusing, Zhang Ruochen flashed toward where Fairy Yuan had retreated.
The Rakshasa powerhouse pursuing her was formidable, likely rivaling Black Flame General.
Soon, he reached a great river where Fairy Yuan battled the Rakshasa.
Arriving, he saw her wield a delicate jade saber, severing the Rakshasa’s arm.
“Seems I worried too much. Her strength exceeds my expectations. Truly, the nine fairies of the *Nine Fairies Portrait* are exceptional—not just in beauty, but in peerless power,” Zhang Ruochen marveled.
The Rakshasa retreated swiftly, his severed arm dissolving into nothingness.
No—into billions of invisible origin particles. The Way of Origin was terrifying.
“He’s cutting off half his shoulder.”
The Rakshasa slashed away part of his shoulder.
He had to—the wound bore residual origin power, decomposing his body. Without excision, he’d soon dissolve entirely.
Glancing at Zhang Ruochen three hundred zhang away, the Rakshasa frowned.
Fairy Yuan alone was tough, wounding him gravely.
Now Zhang Ruochen’s arrival worsened his odds.
Retreat stirred in his mind—lingering could cost his life.
“Bang.”
He plunged from midair into the river.
“Too late to flee now,” Zhang Ruochen said.
With a spatial technique, a vast rift appeared, cleaving the river.
Though the Rakshasa reacted fast, a deep gash opened at his waist, nearly bisecting him, blood gushing.
As he turned to flee, Fairy Yuan flashed in, her jade saber dissolving into invisible origin particles, surging through his wound into his body.
“Ah!”
He screamed in agony.
His body collapsed, evaporating.
Then, Fairy Yuan’s origin art reformed his body, flawless but lifeless—his soul obliterated, leaving a husk.
“Thank you for your aid, Young Master Zhang,” she smiled.
“With your strength, Fairy, he’d never have escaped even without me. Your Way of Origin is remarkable—truly eye-opening,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
Her eyes flickered. “I didn’t expect you to recognize the Way of Origin. But I’m just an Origin cultivator—hardly impressive.”
“I’ve some knowledge of it and guessed from your extraordinary methods.”
He offered a vague excuse, not mentioning Thousand-Star Maiden’s Origin Controller status.
Fairy Yuan didn’t press, asking instead, “Do you know Luo Yi’s true identity?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “Luo Yi is Luo Ji, the Rakshasa Princess. Pity I couldn’t detain her.”
“So it’s her. Luo Ji’s cunning—dealing with her is no simple task,” Fairy Yuan said, enlightened.
Luo Ji ranked seven on the *Hell’s Ten Clans’ Myriad Evils List*—already high—but her threat level had likely risen.
“Hm?”
Zhang Ruochen tensed, alert.
“Whoosh.”
He shifted a zhang aside.
“Swish.”
A war halberd pierced his afterimage.
Turning, he locked onto two figures approaching from downstream.
A man and woman, both extraordinary, radiating immense power.
The man recalled his halberd with a gesture.
“Death Clan, evolved from the Corpse Clan.”
Using his Divine Seal Eye, Zhang Ruochen discerned their nature.
Their physiques were as robust as his, their cultivation at Heaven-Connecting Realm’s peak, surpassing the Rakshasa—clearly formidable.
From their appearance, their gazes fixed on him, sinking his heart. Their presence wasn’t chance—they sought him.
Was it because he infiltrated Immortal Machine Mountain’s underground?
“Zhang Ruochen, come with us,” the male Death Clan member said coldly.
“Why should I? Where to?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Less talk. Our lady wishes to see you. Comply, or we’ll use force,” the man said, brandishing his halberd domineeringly.
Zhang Ruochen pressed, “Who’s your lady? Source Demon Divine Son?”
Curiosity burned—such a figure, sending two elite warriors, was surely a Death Clan titan, possibly tied to the Fate Temple.
“Too many questions. Will you come or not?” the female Death Clan member snapped, impatient.
A black bell appeared in her hand, etched with intricate patterns, exuding eerie power—clearly no ordinary artifact.
Gripping the Abyss Ancient Sword, Zhang Ruochen said coolly, “I despise threats—especially from Hell Realm cultivators.”
“Then you’ll taste pain,” the man growled, charging.
A colossal elephant phantom loomed behind him, its aura beyond Saint King Realm.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes gleamed. “He’s fused a Great Saint-level elephant soul. He mustn’t escape.”
To master the twelfth Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, he needed Great Saint dragon and elephant souls in his arms.
Such souls were rare, unpurchasable even with ample saint stones.
This man’s elephant soul was a godsend—Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t let it slip.
Swinging the Abyss Ancient Sword, condensed sword qi slashed out.
The man brandished his halberd, empowered by the elephant soul, unleashing unimaginable force, nearly tearing space.
All sword qi was blocked, and he countered, torrents of deathly evil qi bombarding Zhang Ruochen.
“Roar.”
The elephant soul bellowed, soundwaves rippling outward.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze sharpened, taking it seriously.
A Heaven-Connecting Realm warrior with a Great Saint elephant soul was no trifling foe.
“Sword Nine.”
He wielded the Abyss Ancient Sword, unleashing a profound technique from the *Wordless Sword Manual*.
“Boom.”
Sword qi clashed with deathly evil qi and soundwaves, unleashing a shockwave that sundered the river and cracked the earth.
The man closed in, hacking with his halberd.
Relishing close combat, his robust physique shone.
Zhang Ruochen raised his left arm, orifices opening, saint qi flooding the Fire God Bracer, igniting flames that met the halberd.
Simultaneously, his right hand swung the Abyss Ancient Sword with raw physical might.
The purple divine stone in the hilt glowed, making the sword immensely heavy.
“Bang.”
The sword struck the man solidly, its force like a meteor’s fall.
Unconcerned at first, the man thought it no threat.
But as it landed, his face twisted.
Unable to withstand the sword’s terrifying weight, he plummeted.
“Boom.”
The earth quaked, plates fracturing, a thousand-zhang pit forming, dust obscuring all within.
