Qu Shan Old Mother agreed to Zhang Ruochen’s proposal, joining them to head to War Soul Star.
Walking side by side with Tianchu Fairy, she couldn’t help but ask, “Qu Shan Old Mother’s temperament is bizarre—gaining her trust is near impossible. How did you convince her?”
“A secret,” Zhang Ruochen replied with a smile.
Tianchu Fairy’s delicate brows furrowed, but she didn’t press further. Then, in a low voice, she said, “Thank you.”
“Why thank me out of the blue?”
Zhang Ruochen was genuinely puzzled. Hearing “thank you” from Tianchu Fairy felt oddly out of place.
“Playing dumb.”
She shot him a glance before transforming into a streak of white light, vanishing from his sight.
Zhang Ruochen was truly bewildered. To him, seeking Qu Shan Old Mother’s aid was a logical step, not a favor to anyone. After all, he couldn’t tolerate Hell Realm cultivators dominating Luo River.
Of the Tianchu Civilization’s eight elders, four stayed to guard Nine-Bend Celestial Star, while the other four joined Tianchu Fairy. They boarded the Fourteenth Prince’s white jade saint ship, speeding towards War Soul Star.
The ship brimmed with powerhouses—over twenty Nine-Step Saint Kings alone, each a dominant figure in their own right.
…
Far across the sea, three figures stood within a concealment array, blending seamlessly with the water and air.
Master Shenya, Laiwang Ren, and Qu Xingzhe.
Laiwang Ren and Qu Xingzhe’s injuries had healed, their cultivation surging after consuming Merit Transformation Pills. Their auras now resembled towering divine mountains or fathomless ancient seas.
They silently watched the white jade saint ship sailing towards War Soul Star.
Master Shenya, his face pale, said, “You’ve both taken the Merit Transformation Pills, reaching the Dao Domain realm. With such strength, capturing the Tianchu Fairy shouldn’t be difficult.”
Laiwang Ren chuckled, “Thanks to you, Master Shenya. Otherwise, we’d have died in the Eastern Domain Holy City.”
“The Merit Transformation Pill is priceless—only you could procure two. We owe you a tremendous debt,” Qu Xingzhe added, then shifted, “But the Tianchu Fairy has four Tianchu elders with her, none pushovers. Capturing her won’t be easy.”
“Cough, cough.”
Master Shenya coughed, his saint heart still injured, slowing his recovery compared to the other two.
“Don’t worry. We’re not clashing head-on—we’ll wait for the perfect moment. They’re heading to War Soul Star to encircle the Blood Bee Asura King, which will spark a fierce battle. When both sides are weakened, we’ll step in to clean up,” he said.
Tianchu Fairy, the Crown Prince, the Fourteenth Prince, Shi Qing Godson, and a host of elites landed on War Soul Star.
The planet was dotted with massive craters, each cradling a corpse—the fallen forces of the Crown Prince and Fourteenth Prince, nearly wiped out.
The Crown Prince’s golden-armored imperial guards, over a hundred Saint Kings, lay dead without a single survivor. Such losses left even him trembling with rage, eyes bloodshot.
How would he explain this to the Emperor and Empress back in the Emperor Ancestor Divine Dynasty?
The Fourteenth Prince found Ling Tong, one of his top lieutenants, nearly at Dao Domain level. Now a shriveled corpse, face twisted, riddled with holes—his death had been agonizing.
“I’ll kill the Blood Bee Asura King. He’s a massive threat to the Heavenly Court,” the Fourteenth Prince vowed, his usual warmth replaced by cold fury.
The Blood Bee Asura King’s terror was undeniable—one being annihilating their forces. Even Dao Domain cultivators shivered, yet their numbers kept them from fleeing as they pressed towards the polar region.
The most frustrated was Xian Gongming.
On Nine-Bend Celestial Star, he’d sought every chance to slip away, but Zhang Ruochen and Li Miaohan shadowed him relentlessly.
Now, on War Soul Star, surrounded by corpses, his dread deepened.
He said, “These were brave warriors of the Emperor Ancestor Divine Dynasty—they can’t be left exposed. I’ll collect their bodies.”
Zhang Ruochen approached with a smile, “Right now, we should focus all efforts on slaying the Blood Bee Asura King. Once he’s dead, Senior Xian will have plenty of time to tend to them—no rush.”
Xian Gongming opened his mouth to argue—
“Kill the Blood Bee Asura King first. Everything else comes later,” the Crown Prince snapped coldly.
Fuming over his losses, he wouldn’t let Xian Gongming leave now.
Xian Gongming felt helpless. He wasn’t bound to obey the Crown Prince, but fleeing would make him a laughingstock across the Heavenly Court.
Worse, that pest Li Ruohan stuck to him like a shadow—escape was impossible unnoticed.
At War Soul Star’s pole stood a millions-of-meters-tall stone pillar, rugged and towering like a divine weapon or a peak holding up the heavens.
Laid flat, it’d stretch thousands of li.
Chained to it was a bizarre beast, half the planet’s size. Though dead, its lingering aura was suffocating.
The closer they got, the more oppressive the beast and pillar’s presence became.
Seeing the beast, Qu Shan Old Mother’s gaze grew heavy, lost in thought.
“Martial Aunt, what’s wrong?” White Vermilion Bird asked.
Her tone softened with her nieces, “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a sub-divine beast—the Starry Sky Giant Crocodile.”
Black Phoenix gasped, “Starry Sky Giant Crocodile? Legend says it roams the cosmic sea, feeding on spiritually rich planets, belonging to neither Heavenly Court nor Hell Realm. How did it die in Kunlun Realm?”
“Die in Kunlun Realm?”
Qu Shan Old Mother shook her head, “It’s been dead only a few centuries. Hundreds of years ago, Kunlun Realm had no gods—who could’ve killed it?”
White Vermilion Bird ventured, “So it was killed elsewhere and fell here?”
Qu Shan Old Mother snorted, “Even so, who chained it to the pillar? Luo River hides many secrets.”
Five hundred li from the pole, an invisible force suppressed their cultivation, reducing their strength to a fraction.
Zhang Ruochen grew uneasy—the space thickened, making spatial tears or shifts exceedingly difficult.
“Look—a sea of flowers!”
“My heavens, those are Sea Wither Saint Herbs, all over thirty thousand years old—some reaching seventy or eighty thousand!”
“Harvest them quick! Consuming War Soul Star’s saint herbs boosts saintly precepts directly—cultivation will soar!”
A group of cultivators charged towards the flower sea.
Zhang Ruochen warned, “Careful—War Soul Star’s saint herbs are aggressive.”
No one heeded him.
These were seasoned powerhouses—none believed they couldn’t handle herbs of mere tens of thousands of years.
A Six-Step Saint King rushed in first, eyes gleaming at an eighty-thousand-year Sea Wither Herb, “With this, I’ll break through to Seven-Step Saint King in one go.”
Slash.
A rusty longsword burst from the soil, cleaving him in two. His severed body flew skyward.
The hand gripping the blade was decayed, thumb and index finger exposing bone.
A corpse in tattered armor emerged from the flower sea’s depths, wielding the rusted sword to bisect another intruder.
Thick death qi wafted from it, mingled with a nauseating stench of rot.
“A corpse king!”
“It’s a trap—run!”
…
Terrified by the corpse’s aura, the cultivators retreated frantically.
More corpses rose from the flower sea—each a corpse king, exuding dense corpse qi, reaping lives relentlessly.
Zhang Ruochen hadn’t been to War Soul Star’s pole, but Ji Fanxin had, warning him of aggressive saint herbs controlling corpse soldiers and ghost generals.
These corpse kings were likely puppets of a saint herb.
Xian Gongming, under the Crown Prince, and a Dao Domain elder under Shi Qing Godson rushed in, jointly suppressing dozens of emerging corpse kings.
“Roar!”
The longsword-wielding corpse king bellowed, unleashing an icy blast with Great Saint might.
The Dao Domain elder under Shi Qing Godson was flung back by a single slash, a long gash bleeding from his right shoulder.
“Trouble—that’s a corpse king formed from an Immortal Realm Great Saint.”
The Immortal Realm, the first stage of Great Sainthood, signified an immortal saint body.
A corpse king with such a body, retaining Great Saint remnants, was a fearsome entity—ordinary Dao Domain cultivators would flee it.
Oddly, despite its immortal body, why was it so decayed?
“No need to panic. It was a Great Saint once, but it’s dead now—not necessarily our match,” Tianchu Fairy said calmly, unfazed by its might.
Leading her four Tianchu elders, she charged the flower sea, each wielding a saint artifact against the Great Saint corpse king.
Whoosh—
Her Rain Silk Divine Sword coiled like chains, binding the corpse king from above.
Yet its sharp threads couldn’t pierce its skin—even Qu Shan Old Mother wouldn’t dare face it bare-bodied.
