Zhang Ruochen knew Fairy Tianchu meant Ji Fanxin.
Unfortunately, Ji Fanxin had ventured alone into the Luo River seeking a breakthrough and wasn’t in the Eastern Domain Holy City.
The Luo River was mysterious, shrouded in strange forces. Even if Zhang Ruochen sent a message to Ji Fanxin, she likely wouldn’t receive it—distant aid couldn’t quench a nearby fire.
Zhang Ruochen rubbed his chin lightly, “It seems our only hope lies with the Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion.”
The Eastern Domain Saint King Mansion had operated in the city for ages, its foundations deep, bolstered by geographic and human advantages. With myriad methods at its disposal, toppling it was no simple task.
Like an old tortoise hunkered on the ground, its attack might pale beside a lion’s, but cracking its shell and devouring it was equally daunting for the predator.
Fairy Tianchu produced a box containing the tortoise shell fragment, holding it in her delicate, alabaster hand, and offered it to Zhang Ruochen, “I know it’s of great value to you. It’s not worth ten thousand drops of divine spring water, but… don’t refuse my kindness.”
“As expected, she’s guessed I’m Lin Yue. Truly astute.”
Zhang Ruochen gave an awkward smile, took the box, weighed it in his hand, then stowed it in his spatial ring, “Leave the Eastern Domain Holy City quickly. This matter doesn’t concern you. As the Heavenly Maiden of the Tianchu Civilisation, they wouldn’t dare touch you openly.”
“Since you know I’m the Heavenly Maiden of the Tianchu Civilisation, you should understand a maiden like me isn’t easily trifled with. If I choose to leave, even an Earth Master couldn’t stop me. Anyone who dares act against me will pay a steep price.”
Fairy Tianchu leaned against a candle, its light bathing her face in a soft white glow, her skin like jade and ice, breathtakingly beautiful.
She was refined and gentle, seemingly delicate, yet when resolute, no one could sway her will.
As the heir to an ancient civilisation, her mental fortitude and hidden cards far surpassed those of her peers.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t press her further, leaving the room and returning straight to the fifth floor of the Heavenly Absolute Pavilion.
“Brother, did you get the tortoise shell fragment?” Xiang Chunan asked eagerly.
“Yes.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t conceal it, nodding slightly.
Xiang Chunan burst into hearty laughter, “I knew once you stepped in, it’d be a done deal!”
Luo Yi looked surprised, “You guessed that?”
Xiang Chunan thumped his chest, acting as if he’d seen through everything, “My brother’s handsome and dashing, while that Fairy Tianchu—how ugly she must be! With my brother’s charm, she’d fall in line easily. His appeal isn’t ordinary!”
“A honey trap? I didn’t expect Brother Ruochen to have such tactics,” Luo Yi chuckled.
Zhang Ruochen felt a headache coming on. Xiang Chunan’s warped sense of beauty was bad enough, but to think so little of his own brother?
He’d always relied on strength to conquer the world—when had he ever leaned on his looks?
Besides, winning over a remarkable woman like Fairy Tianchu with a honey trap was laughable.
With her composure, their fateful encounter at the God-Sealing Platform—born of misunderstanding—might weigh less in her heart than the favour of the ten thousand drops of divine spring water “Lin Yue” had given her.
Those ten thousand drops were earned through “Lin Yue’s” life-and-death struggle.
And “Lin Yue” had kept his promise, personally delivering them before vanishing from the world with flair.
Not just Fairy Tianchu—any woman with such an experience would find it hard to forget.
Luo Yi’s expression turned serious, “Since the tortoise shell fragment is secured, should we activate the spatial teleportation array and leave now?”
“No, we can’t use it unless absolutely necessary.”
Zhang Ruochen recounted Lord Shenya’s identity.
After hearing it, everyone’s spirits sank to rock bottom.
“What now? Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?” Luo Yi asked.
Zhang Ruochen gave Luo Yi a deep look, “Brother Luo, as a disciple of the Upper Origin Sect with a noble status, they shouldn’t dare touch you if you don’t associate too closely with us. Why not leave first?”
Luo Yi’s eyelid twitched. Angrily, he slapped the table, “Brother Ruochen, do you take me for a coward? Since Chunan considers me a brother, we share blessings and burdens together.”
“Good brother! I didn’t misjudge you,” Xiang Chunan said.
“Don’t be upset, Brother Luo. I meant no offence. The situation in the Heavenly Absolute Pavilion is too precarious—no one knows what might happen. I only said that to avoid dragging you into this.”
With that, Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes, pondering a way out.
Outside, the auction neared its end.
Four burly saint-level cultivators carried the final item onto the suspended jade platform. Its immense weight pressed the platform down three feet.
The item, several yards tall, was draped in a black cloth that blocked spiritual probing, exuding mystery.
“We’ve already seen plenty of rare treasures. This final headliner must be extraordinary.”
“Could it be a complete supreme saintly weapon?”
“No way. Even a god wouldn’t auction off a supreme saintly weapon. But a peerless material for crafting one? That’s possible.”
…
As the item was brought up, Zi Lan’s emotions wavered, her voice trembling, “The final auction item is the legendary… Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.”
“Swish.”
The black cloth was pulled away, revealing a black stone stele several yards high.
The stele radiated a staggering demonic aura, its vast demonic energy spreading through the air. Above Heavenly Absolute Island, dark clouds of demonic mist formed, blotting out the stars and moon.
In that moment, cultivators across the island and much of the Golden Rainbow Continent felt the tremor.
An unsealed Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription’s aura was overwhelming. It wasn’t just a stele or a cultivation diagram—it was a formidable weapon.
The Heavenly Absolute Pavilion erupted as if a bomb had gone off, every cultivator gripped by frenzy, unable to contain their excitement.
In an instant, over a dozen cultivators, overcome by greed, leapt towards the stele, intent on seizing it.
Among them was a Saint King elder.
“Mine! The Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription is mine!”
The elder unleashed a powerful saintly might, shattering the pavilion’s windowpanes.
The pavilion master, Jiang Yunchong, stepped forward, raising a hand and pressing it downward from afar.
“Bang, bang.”
The dozen airborne cultivators exploded into clouds of blood mist.
The gruesome scene jolted the charging cultivators below back to their senses, trembling as they retreated.
Jiang Yunchong’s form blurred, reappearing on the suspended jade platform.
Hands behind his back, he stood as if at the universe’s centre, sweeping his gaze over the crowd, “In the Heavenly Absolute Pavilion, you follow its rules. Break them, and you make an enemy of me.”
In the fifth-floor private room, Lord Shenya praised, “I’d heard the pavilion master was formidable—truly, seeing is believing.”
“That move was no small feat. Everyone thought he struck a palm, but he merely lifted his hand,” Jie Canghai said solemnly.
A Six-Step Saint King in the room, puzzled, remarked, “He just killed a handful of lesser saints. Is it that profound? If I went all out, I could turn them to blood mist with a palm too.”
Jueyan Hu laughed, “Jiang Yunchong didn’t strike. The moment he raised his hand, the laws of heaven and earth shifted. It wasn’t palm force that killed them—it was the laws themselves.”
The Six-Step Saint King gasped, “How’s that possible? They say only Great Saints can manipulate the laws of heaven and earth, wielding means beyond a Saint King’s imagination. Is Jiang Yunchong a Great Saint?”
Jueyan Hu snorted, “Who says you need to be a Great Saint to influence the laws? Cultivating a Domain of the Dao lets you tap into them, albeit within its range.”
Lord Shenya turned to Jie Canghai, “Brother Jie, you’ve cultivated a Domain of the Dao too. How do you compare to Jiang Yunchong?”
“I’m no match for him,” Jie Canghai admitted.
Jiang Yunchong stood calmly on the platform, yet his presence subdued every cultivator in the pavilion, like a god descended, inspiring awe and fear.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze locked onto the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
The stele depicted a dishevelled demon king wielding a blood axe, cleaving a starry river. The stars before him glittered like gems.
The scene was majestic, soul-shaking, making one wonder if such a world-shattering figure once existed, the stele merely capturing their likeness.
One axe sundered a starry river, annihilating all life—a peerless Heavenly Demon.
“How did the *Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram* fall into the Heavenly Absolute Pavilion’s hands? This is bad—Kunlun Realm’s supreme legacy might be bought by foreign cultivators,” Murong Yue clenched her fists, furious.
The Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription wasn’t just a divine technique on the *Taiyi Divine Technique Ranking*—it was one of Kunlun Realm’s six wondrous books, embodying the wisdom of its ancestors and the hope of its resurgence.
To become a supreme powerhouse, cultivation techniques were paramount.
Take Zhang Ruochen: he practised the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*. Each level refined his holy energy’s quality far beyond his peers, enabling him to fight across realms and face Nine-Step Saint Kings without fear.
Had he cultivated an ordinary technique, achieving a supreme perfected physique or battling across realms would’ve been impossible.
Every technique and saintly art was the crystallised wisdom of countless forebears, a precious inheritance for posterity.
Failing to protect this wealth meant inevitable decline.
If Kunlun Realm’s divine techniques were all plundered by other great worlds, its path would be severed—like a lineage extinguished—its chances of reclaiming glory growing ever slimmer.
