The male Golden Armoured Imperial Guard, rugged in appearance and remarkably composed, didn’t bother with excuses, clasping his fists, “It was indeed us who shattered your mental power clone, my lord, we’re willing to offer twenty saint herbs as compensation, hoping you’ll spare us this once for the sake of the Emperor Ancestor Crown Prince.”
Zhang Ruochen approached, his gaze flicking to the stone cliff behind them, “Twenty saint herbs—what a joke, this cliff alone has more than twenty.”
The male guard, unhurried, replied, “My lord, you may not know, but saint herbs are scattered thinly across this planet, the cliff before you is actually a rare treasure trove, gathering twenty saint herbs isn’t easy for us.”
With that, he produced a wooden box, presenting it to Zhang Ruochen.
The box opened, releasing a misty saintly glow accompanied by a rich herbal scent.
Admittedly, they were clever, knowing they were cornered by Zhang Ruochen with no escape, they immediately offered the herbs, leveraging the Crown Prince’s name to pressure him.
Zhang Ruochen took the box, directly using Purifying Divine Fire to refine the herbs into droplets of liquid, swallowing and absorbing them.
The two guards, male and female, stood before him, not daring to act rashly.
They knew this cripple’s strength was formidable—neither a sneak attack nor a sudden flee offered much chance of success.
Half an hour later, Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes, saintly light bursting from him.
“Seven thousand more saintly rules—very nice.”
Satisfied, he nodded, then said, “Go harvest all the saint herbs on that cliff for me.”
The female guard, visibly displeased, snapped, “We’re saint guards of the Emperor Ancestor Divine Dynasty—why should we work for you? Kill us if you must, but enslave us? Never.”
“I might not even care about the Crown Prince, let alone you lot, since you’re courting death, I’ll oblige,” Zhang Ruochen said brusquely.
The female guard gritted her teeth, ready to fight, but the male guard stopped her.
He bowed to Zhang Ruochen, “We’ll harvest them for you, my lord.”
“Quite the tolerance.”
Zhang Ruochen watched their backs, a glint of amusement in his eyes, adding, “Don’t damage the roots—those could grow new herbs later.”
Once the two guards had collected all the herbs from the cliff, Zhang Ruochen resumed refining them as if no one else were there, another half hour passed, and his qi sea’s saintly rules surged by over ten thousand.
“Truly delightful.”
Zhang Ruochen felt an extraordinary comfort in his limbs and bones, his saint qi brimming, every drop of blood boiling.
He then turned to the two guards again, “You’ve been in Luoshui a while, haven’t you? No wonder your cultivation’s risen so fast with these herbs.”
Their expressions shifted slightly.
“Our cultivation is nothing before you, my lord,” the male guard said.
Zhang Ruochen chuckled, striking like lightning, a finger aimed at the man’s heart.
The male guard’s reflexes were sharp, retreating the instant Zhang Ruochen moved.
Simultaneously, he deployed a golden shield, hovering before him.
Unlike the dynasty’s other guards, who couldn’t even summon a shield before Zhang Ruochen’s blows sent them flying, this one was leagues ahead.
But the golden shield couldn’t stop Zhang Ruochen’s finger strike, the force sent it crashing back, “boom,” striking the guard’s chest, hurling him away.
The heart was a key weakness for the Undying Blood Clan.
A heavy blow there could undo their transformation arts.
The male guard knelt, his form and face morphing—young, handsome, with sharp, chiselled features—none other than Prince Qitian, Qi Sheng.
Nearby, the Undying Goddess Ying Huo, knowing she could no longer hide, reverted to her true form, unleashing a flurry of hair-thin blood needles.
“Bang, bang.”
Zhang Ruochen raised his text armour, deflecting all the needles.
Hands behind his back, he approached, “Prince Qitian, Qi Sheng, and the Undying Goddess, Ying Huo.”
“Zhang Ruochen,” Qi Sheng glared.
Zhang Ruochen raised an eyebrow, “You guessed it’s me?”
Qi Sheng eyed his limp, “Not hard to guess, who doesn’t know a spatial dao cultivating cripple has appeared near Luoshui?”
“Sharp indeed.”
Zhang Ruochen flickered, appearing beside Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng’s expression shifted, forming a blood seal to strike, but hit only air.
In the next instant, Zhang Ruochen was beside Ying Huo.
As she prepared to attack, he was back where he started.
The whole sequence unfolded in a flash, as if he’d never moved, now holding a storage bracelet and ring.
Qi Sheng and Ying Huo’s faces darkened further.
Zhang Ruochen inspected the bracelet and ring, retrieving wooden boxes of saint herbs—over three hundred in total.
But about half were types he’d already consumed.
Further doses wouldn’t add more saintly rules.
Ying Huo drew the Myriad Beasts Mirror, barking, “Zhang Ruochen, return our herbs.”
He glanced at her, then pulled cauldrons of blood from the bracelet and ring.
Human blood.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression grew colder, “The mortals living by Luoshui—did you kill them all?”
Sensing his killing intent, Ying Huo and Qi Sheng struck decisively.
“Swish.”
Inscriptions flared on the Myriad Beasts Mirror, emitting bloodlight, countless blood bats surged out, swarming towards Zhang Ruochen.
“Still resisting?”
Zhang Ruochen spat Purifying Divine Fire, forming a fire cloud, incinerating all bats below Saint King realm to ash, the rest fled from the fire’s touch.
As Ying Huo prepared to summon more beasts, Zhang Ruochen appeared beside her, striking her right shoulder.
“Boom.”
She hit the ground, half her bones shattered.
“God-Suppressing Sea.”
Qi Sheng, at Fifth-Step Saint King, raised the God-Suppressing Cross Shield, slamming it towards Zhang Ruochen.
The shield grew over a hundred zhang tall, radiating divine primal force, turning the sky blood-red for hundreds of li.
Even a Seventh-Step Saint King might not withstand this blow.
Qi Sheng, a prodigy wielding the God-Suppressing Cross Shield—a divine relic that once slew a true god—could fight two realms above, outclassing many Heaven Realm prodigies.
Yet Zhang Ruochen caught the shield barehanded, neutralising all Qi Sheng’s force.
“How can he be this strong?” Qi Sheng couldn’t accept it.
“Boom.”
Zhang Ruochen swung the shield sideways, smashing Qi Sheng into the cliff.
Qi Sheng was gravely wounded, his combat strength gone.
“Crackle.”
Zhang Ruochen used Purifying Divine Fire to refine the Myriad Beasts Mirror and God-Suppressing Cross Shield.
Moments later, his expression shifted, he quickly withdrew the fire,不敢 (不敢: “not daring”) not daring to continue, he’d just sensed the shield’s spirit.
Its aura was overwhelming, making Zhang Ruochen’s power seem puny.
But the spirit slept, undisturbed by him, sparing him its wrath.
The Myriad Beasts Mirror was odder still, sealing numerous powerful saint beasts within, including a Greater Saint-level Beast Emperor’s aura.
Both items were untouchable.
Zhang Ruochen wondered why Ying Huo hadn’t summoned a Ninth-Step Saint King beast or the Greater Saint Emperor—perhaps her cultivation couldn’t unseal them?
“No wonder Little Black called the Myriad Beasts Mirror an extraordinary treasure, desperate to steal it,” Zhang Ruochen mused.
He stored both in the Qiankun Realm, calming his racing emotions, forming two sword dao mysteries to kill Qi Sheng and Ying Huo, ending future threats.
“Wait… wait…”
Qi Sheng crawled from the rubble, “Zhang Ruochen, spare Ying Huo… a way out… I killed those mortals…”
Zhang Ruochen said, “You’ve no right to bargain with me, all Undying Blood Clan deserve death.”
Qi Sheng laughed, “Don’t you know your mother was Undying Blood Clan? You carry their blood too.”
Zhang Ruochen flashed forward, seizing Qi Sheng by the throat, “Who told you that?”
Ying Huo rose, “The Undying Temple held Kunlun Realm’s forbidden secrets, when the court destroyed it, I found a sealed scroll, it recorded that 800 years ago, Emperor Ming of the Saint Brightness Central Empire and the Blood Clan’s Blood Queen were lovers, their son is you.”
Qi Sheng added, “Zhang Ruochen, 800 years ago, the woman you loved most betrayed and killed you because of your Blood Clan lineage, 800 years later, she’s an empress, a god revered by billions, while you? Family ruined, fleeing Kunlun like a stray dog to Heaven Realm.”
“So, all humanity is your enemy, you’re one of us, return to the Blood Clan—with your talent, you’d be nurtured as a priority.”
Zhang Ruochen’s resolve held firm, “In my past life, I may have had Blood Clan blood, but in this life, I’m human—a true human, I’m not like you.”
Knowing persuasion was futile, Qi Sheng frowned, “Ying Huo and I are just others’ tools, kill us, and the Blood Clan figure behind us will keep slaughtering Kunlun’s humans, collecting blood to refine a pill for breaking into the Dao Domain realm.”
