“Come back, what are you afraid of?” Zhang Ruochen called out.
Zhen Miao the Taoist peeked out from behind the door with one eye, glaring fiercely, “This humble Taoist is now at the eighth-step Saint King realm. If you really want to eat my head, a fight would destroy the entire Moon Goddess Dojo.”
Zhang Ruochen frowned and asked the little black cat, “Why is it so sensitive? Have you been eyeing it all this time?”
“No, of course not. I treat it like a brother. How could I have any ill intentions?” the little black cat immediately denied.
Zhen Miao snorted, “Nonsense! How many times have you secretly followed me? Every time I turn around suddenly, I see you wiping drool.”
The little black cat’s expression darkened, “That’s a lie, I haven’t…”
Zhang Ruochen quickly scolded the little black cat and then said, “How about I cut off your head and then help you regenerate it?”
“No, absolutely not.”
The little black cat quickly backed away, “This emperor has a Great Saint’s body. If my head is cut off, it would take a lot of blood energy to reattach it. Even after reattachment, it would take a long time to recover to peak condition.”
Zhang Ruochen stood up, holding the lotus seed in his hand, “Don’t worry, this seed contains an immense amount of life energy. It won’t drain your blood energy, and it can still help you regenerate your head.”
The little black cat shook its head vigorously, “Didn’t you just say you wanted to test its power? How do you know it can really help me regenerate my head? What if something goes wrong?”
Even if the lotus seed could truly help a cultivator regenerate a severed head, the little black cat would never try cutting off its own head.
Severing the head was not only excruciatingly painful but would also damage the meridians and saint veins.
All the meridians and saint veins in the body connect to the dantian in the head through the neck.
Even if the head could be reattached, the meridians and saint veins would be difficult to fully reconnect, inevitably leaving hidden injuries that would affect cultivation.
The little black cat’s eyes gleamed with an idea, “If you really want to test its power, I have someone you can use for the test.”
“Who?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Follow me.”
The little black cat led Zhang Ruochen to the underground palace built by the Yin-Yang Palace.
Deep in the underground palace stood twelve tower-like structures.
Once, the evil cultivators of the Yin-Yang Palace called them “Purgatory Towers.”
The Yin-Yang Palace would capture female Saint Kings and imprison them in the Purgatory Towers, subjecting them to torturous conditions to break their will, turning them into obedient slaves.
“Ah… spare me… please…”
Screams and pleas for mercy echoed from one of the Purgatory Towers.
Zhang Ruochen looked through the window into the tower.
Inside, a short, thin man was chained with red-hot chains that released lightning and fire, tormenting his body.
“The leader of the Ten Thousand Evils Realm, Xie Chengzi,” Zhang Ruochen was quite surprised.
The Ten Thousand Evils Realm was a powerful realm ranked 1,450th and one of the three evil realms that once formed the Yin-Yang Palace.
Xie Chengzi was undoubtedly a notorious figure in the evil path, with strength no less than Lian Hou and Yan Wang.
Who would have thought that such a fearsome evil cultivator would end up imprisoned in the Purgatory Towers he helped build, screaming and begging for mercy?
Two female saints stood guard below the Purgatory Tower.
Seeing Xie Chengzi tortured to the brink of death, they clenched their teeth, their eyes filled with the joy of vengeance.
This was retribution!
The little black cat chuckled, “Half a year ago, when the Guanghan Realm established a saint shop in the Moon Goddess Dojo and opened the dojo’s formations to welcome cultivators from various realms for trade, Xie Chengzi and some others tried to take the opportunity to destroy the Moon Goddess Dojo.”
“Unfortunately, with this emperor guarding the dojo, how could they succeed? Besides Xie Chengzi, all the other cultivators were slain by this emperor. It was this emperor’s iron-fisted approach that deterred those with ill intentions. Look how peaceful the Moon Goddess Dojo is now. Who dares to cause trouble?”
Zhen Miao the Taoist gritted its teeth, “Do you have no shame? It was this humble Taoist who used the Purple-Gold Eight Trigrams Mirror to suppress them, allowing you to easily kill them. Otherwise, if they had self-destructed their saint sources, the Moon Goddess Dojo would have been destroyed long ago, and countless cultivators would have died.”
“Do you think the formations this emperor set up are for show? Even if they self-destructed their saint sources, they wouldn’t have caused much damage,” the little black cat said arrogantly.
Seeing the two about to start bickering, Zhang Ruochen quickly intervened, “Stop arguing. First, bring Xie Chengzi out.”
“Forget it, this emperor is a Great Saint. Why bother arguing with a mere saint herb?”
The little black cat entered the Purgatory Tower, unlocked the chains, and dragged Xie Chengzi out by one leg, dropping him in front of Zhang Ruochen.
Xie Chengzi’s body was charred black, like a piece of charcoal. He looked up at Zhang Ruochen, his eyes filled with fear.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t say much. With a wave of his hand, a sword energy flew out.
“Pfft.”
Xie Chengzi’s left arm was severed, and saint blood gushed out.
Perhaps because his will had been broken, Xie Chengzi’s tolerance for pain had weakened. He let out a shrill scream, his body convulsing.
Zhang Ruochen immediately channeled a wisp of saint energy into the green lotus seed.
“Whoosh—”
A green light emanated, and soon, the wound on Xie Chengzi’s shoulder stopped bleeding. Instead, flesh began to regenerate. In about ten breaths, a completely new arm grew back.
Zhang Ruochen quickly crouched down to check Xie Chengzi’s blood energy and life energy.
The blood energy had weakened slightly but was still quite robust, not in a state of weakness.
The life energy had not diminished.
The slight reduction in blood energy was normal since his left arm had indeed been severed and separated from his body.
Zhang Ruochen’s face lit up with joy, and he continued testing.
For the second test, he severed one of Xie Chengzi’s legs.
For the third test, he removed Xie Chengzi’s heart.
For the fourth test, he cut Xie Chengzi in half at the waist.
For the fifth test, Zhang Ruochen beheaded Xie Chengzi.
…
After dozens of tests, the ground was littered with limbs—arms, torsos, hearts—while Xie Chengzi trembled in fear.
Xie Chengzi’s life energy remained intact, but his blood energy had been severely depleted, leaving him extremely weak.
Zhang Ruochen stopped the tests, holding the green lotus seed between his fingers, and praised, “What a treasure, truly a treasure. It could be of great use on the battlefield.”
Xie Chengzi crawled up from the ground, kneeling and trembling, “Lord Ruochen… spare me… I will never dare to oppose the Guanghan Realm or you again…”
The leader of a powerful realm, kneeling and begging for mercy from a cultivator weaker than himself—even if this were spread, no one would believe it.
Zhang Ruochen had already examined Xie Chengzi’s physique. He possessed a supreme perfect body and cultivated an extremely powerful technique.
Although Xie Chengzi’s mental state was ruined, making it impossible for him to become a Great Saint, he still had the potential to become one of the top experts below the Great Saint level. Zhang Ruochen was somewhat reluctant to kill him.
At least for now, Xie Chengzi was still useful.
“Get up. First, absorb the blood energy from those limbs on the ground and recover to your peak condition,” Zhang Ruochen said expressionlessly.
Xie Chengzi stood up and began circulating his technique. A gray mist of evil energy spread from his body, enveloping the severed limbs on the ground. He absorbed the blood energy and saint energy from them.
Zhang Ruochen considered sending Xie Chengzi back to the Ten Thousand Evils Realm to secretly work for him using his status as a world leader.
However, he quickly dismissed the idea.
Xie Chengzi’s status was extraordinary, and he would inevitably come into contact with the Great Saints of the Ten Thousand Evils Realm.
With the keen eyes of a Great Saint, how could they not see through the ruse?
Controlling an ordinary cultivator, or even a saint, was feasible.
But controlling the leader of a major realm? Absolutely impossible.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen decided to keep Xie Chengzi by his side as a high-level enforcer.
The severed limbs on the ground turned to dust.
Xie Chengzi’s power returned to its peak, and an icy, bone-chilling evil energy emanated from his body.
Zhang Ruochen said to the little black cat, “Return his storage artifacts and weapons to him.”
“This…” The little black cat was reluctant.
Knowing that Xie Chengzi likely possessed many treasures, and the little black cat was probably unwilling to part with them, Zhang Ruochen said, “I’ll give you a hundred drops of divine spring to help you recover your cultivation.”
“Say no more! This emperor is not a stingy bird!”
The little black cat’s spirits lifted. It handed a dark green storage bracelet to Xie Chengzi and then extended its paws, eagerly awaiting the divine spring.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, handed over a hundred drops of divine spring to the little black cat, and then left the Moon Goddess Dojo with Xie Chengzi, riding a saint carriage.
The saint carriage headed toward the Hundred Flowers Palace, driven by Xie Chengzi.
Xie Chengzi wore a set of ten-thousand-pattern saint armor that covered his entire body, making him look like a black iron man. The saint aura emanating from him intimidated the cultivators on the street.
Many cultivators speculated about the identity of the important figure in the saint carriage, who could command such a powerful expert as a driver.
Zhang Ruochen was heading to the Hundred Flowers Palace to redeem the Golden Step Dragon Chariot and purchase some rare materials to help the sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword solidify its physical form.
Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Ruochen held the Yihuang Bone Staff, a smile playing on his lips. “Qing Jin, as the former top-ranked on the *Saint King Merit List*, is indeed formidable. The evil spirit only absorbed one percent of his saint soul, yet it has reached the peak of the seven-step Saint King level. If it fully absorbs Qing Jin’s saint soul, how powerful will it become?”
Zhang Ruochen was filled with anticipation.
To be safe, Zhang Ruochen took another portion of the evil spirit’s soul, causing its power to drop to the mid-to-late seven-step Saint King level.
No matter what, Zhang Ruochen had to firmly control half of the evil spirit’s soul.
…
The annual meeting is over, and some readers have left messages asking why other authors have posted photos, but not Flying Fish. Fine, I’ll post some! Search for “Flying Fish” on WeChat, follow the account, and check the historical messages or reply with “爆照” to see the photos!
