“The big figure from the Undying Blood Clan behind you—is it Qi Xiaotian?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Qi Sheng replied, “Yes.”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression turned thoughtful, “What kind of blood pill is he refining?”
Qi Sheng said, “The Thousand-Life Blood Pill, it requires the blood of 33.33 million humans, combined with a vast amount of saint herbs, to refine.”
“Once the pill is complete, Qi Xiaotian breaking through to the Dao Domain realm will be effortless, by then, in the region around Yunwu Commandery and Qianshui Commandery, who could stand against him? He’d likely start refining the even more potent Ten-Thousand-Life Blood Pill next.”
“The Ten-Thousand-Life Blood Pill needs ten times the blood of the Thousand-Life Blood Pill.”
“So, Zhang Ruochen, your real enemy is him, not us, if you want to kill Qi Xiaotian and seize the half-finished Thousand-Life Blood Pill, we can lead you to him, we only ask that you spare us a way out.”
Ying Huo understood Qi Sheng’s intent—this was a ploy to lure Zhang Ruochen to his death.
Zhang Ruochen was indeed strong now, but compared to Qi Xiaotian, the gap was vast.
Zhang Ruochen saw through Qi Sheng’s scheme, casting him a cold glance, “The Thousand-Life Blood Pill is priceless to your Undying Blood Clan, but to me, it’s a source of pure evil, even if I took it, I’d destroy it.”
Having refined Greater Saint and divine blood before, Zhang Ruochen found the idea of a pill made from millions of innocent lives revolting, he’d only want to obliterate it, not consume it.
Zhang Ruochen added, “Shi Kai should be with Qi Xiaotian too, right?”
Seeing Zhang Ruochen wasn’t rushing to kill them, a fleeting, unnoticed glint of joy flashed in Qi Sheng’s eyes, “Yes, Qi Xiaotian found Shi Kai a mysterious ancient mineral vein to heal and push for Ninth-Step Saint King.”
“Where’s this ancient vein?” Zhang Ruochen’s interest piqued.
Qi Sheng said, “In the Xuanhuang Territory, east of Luoshui.”
Nearly every cultivator in Yunwu Commandery knew of the Xuanhuang Territory—a vast, desolate plain in the far east of the Eastern Region, rarely visited, said to connect to the East Sea on its far side.
If the Xuanhuang Territory held an ancient vein, Zhang Ruochen had to investigate.
For now, sparing Qi Sheng and Ying Huo, he sealed their meridians and bloodlines, imprisoning them in the Qiankun Realm, then hurried towards the polar region to rendezvous with Ji Fanxin.
As he neared the pole, his view was dominated by the stone pillar embedded in the ground.
The pillar loomed like a wall holding up the heavens, awe-inspiringly grand.
The massive beast corpse coiled around it radiated terrifying divine might, Zhang Ruochen felt an invisible force pressing down, reducing his full strength to barely a tenth.
Space grew denser.
Unable to use spatial shifts, Zhang Ruochen rode the Golden-Stepped Dragon Carriage forward.
Seated in the carriage, he studied the pillar’s patterns, they resembled the god-carved diagrams of the Truth Heavenly Domain, containing some profoundly intricate dao.
But he was certain it wasn’t the Dao of Truth.
At 500 li from the pillar, the black muddy earth suddenly sprouted vibrant flowers—green leaves, dazzling petals—like a dreamscape.
Ji Fanxin, in flawless white robes, stepped gracefully from the flower sea, boarding the carriage.
Zhang Ruochen, surprised, asked, “Why has Fairy reverted to her true appearance?”
Ji Fanxin’s almond eyes smiled with a misty charm, an allure that rippled through Zhang Ruochen’s heart, he couldn’t look away.
In Heaven Realm, countless prodigies of far higher status than Zhang Ruochen vied for a smile from the Hundred Flowers Fairy, all failing, any man seeing her smile at him would feel an inexplicable triumph.
As Ji Fanxin drew closer, her hair brushed his face, a faint floral scent filled his nose, tension gripped him, “Fairy… what are you…”
“Shh, don’t speak.”
Her soft voice hushed him, her delicate frame leaned into his embrace, one snowy hand caressed his cheek, the other gently circled his waist.
Zhang Ruochen’s body stiffened, “Fairy, you… didn’t you fully refine that old man’s drug?”
“Yes, it’s so potent, help me…”
Her red lips neared his ear, her breath warm and fragrant, tingling his nerves.
Unknowingly, her hands turned to petals, spreading from his face and waist, enveloping him.
Realising he couldn’t move, Zhang Ruochen snapped awake.
“No, she’s not Ji Fanxin—who’s using mental tricks on me?”
“Boom.”
Blazing Purifying Divine Fire erupted from him, shattering the petals, burning them to ash.
He leapt skyward, escaping dozens of zhang away.
Landing, he saw Ji Fanxin standing nearby.
But this Ji Fanxin looked different, less stunning—her altered appearance.
“Who are you?”
Dragon roars echoed from Zhang Ruochen’s arm as he struck with a palm.
Confusion flashed in Ji Fanxin’s eyes, she countered with two jade fingers, clashing with his palm.
“Rumble.”
A powerful energy storm erupted between them, shaking the surroundings.
They pulled apart, Ji Fanxin asked, “Why attack me?”
“Is she really Ji Fanxin?”
Zhang Ruochen frowned deeply, activating his brow’s Heavenly Eye to probe her true form.
But Ji Fanxin, annoyed, pressed a hand forward, a mental vortex forming to block his gaze.
Using the Heavenly Eye could see through her saintly robes.
She was genuinely irked, raising her voice, “Zhang Ruochen, you’ve gone too far!”
Realising the Heavenly Eye was inappropriate, he guarded himself, “Who are you really?”
A dawning look crossed Ji Fanxin’s eyes, guessing what he’d encountered, she glanced at the distant Golden-Stepped Dragon Carriage.
Atop it grew a Tuberose Demon Incense, its pollen shrouding the frame.
Zhang Ruochen looked too, seeing a white-robed Ji Fanxin sitting there, smiling seductively, utterly enchanting.
Though he knew it was a trap, his heart couldn’t calm.
The carriage Ji Fanxin was the polar opposite of the pure, aloof one he knew—irresistibly tempting.
“Break.”
Ji Fanxin pressed a finger to the void, a mental storm sweeping out.
Instantly, the illusions vanished.
The carriage Ji Fanxin dissolved into the Tuberose Demon Incense.
Zhang Ruochen’s face showed exasperation, he shook his head with a wry smile.
“No need to feel down, this Tuberose Demon Incense has fifty-ninth-tier mental strength, it’s normal you couldn’t see through it,” Ji Fanxin said.
She added, “Earlier, you looked tense yet expectant—what illusion did it show you?”
Embarrassed, Zhang Ruochen said, “I inhaled its scent, my judgement and control slipped… anyway, let’s deal with it first.”
This Tuberose Demon Incense wasn’t the one he’d encountered in Luoshui before, not a 100,000-year ancient saint herb.
With her formidable mental power, Ji Fanxin easily subdued it.
In martial cultivation, Zhang Ruochen might not match her but could escape confidently, yet her mental strength was unfathomable—fifty-ninth-tier mental cultivators seemed powerless before her.
Her mastery of the Dao of Truth, surpassing his own, marked her as extraordinary.
Ji Fanxin handed him the Tuberose Demon Incense, “I visited the polar region earlier, beneath the pillar, I found a blood lake—more precisely, a divine blood lake.”
“Divine blood lake?”
Ji Fanxin turned, staring at the beast corpse chained to the pillar, her gaze heavy, “Yes, it’s blood flowing from that creature, forming the lake, it resembles a legendary sub-divine beast, but… it’s baffling, truly baffling.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Did you collect the lake’s divine blood, Fairy?”
She shook her head, “I retreated before getting close.”
“Why?”
“Beast-shaped saint herbs grow by the lake, they can attack a cultivator’s saint soul and mental power, some are 100,000-year ancient saint herbs, their mental attacks are terrifying.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “With your saint soul and mental strength, you shouldn’t fear them.”
Ji Fanxin shook her head, “Beyond that, corpse soldiers and bone generals patrol the lake, including Greater Saint remains, controlled by the soul and mental power of those beast-shaped herbs.”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression grew grave—this was too bizarre!
Mere saint herbs controlling Greater Saint corpses? And how did those corpses end up here—who killed them?
“Zhang Ruochen, have you considered this: why can these herbs attack saint souls and mental power? Why are they beast-shaped?” Ji Fanxin asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Fairy suspects the beast corpse’s divine soul lingers, and the herbs absorbed it, making them so fearsome?”
“Whatever the reason, we shouldn’t provoke them for now, this planet has plenty of saint herbs—gather enough, and you’ll soon reach Seventh-Step Saint King,” Ji Fanxin said.
“Even you’re wary, Fairy—I won’t rush in recklessly.”
Then he added, “Could you accompany me somewhere first, Fairy?”
Stopping Qi Xiaotian’s Thousand-Life Blood Pill or seeking divine stones in the ancient vein were urgent, with Ji Fanxin’s aid, it’d be far easier.
