After entering the Gate of Destiny, Zhang Ruochen had Moyin transform into a Saint Devourer Flower and return to his body. Now, only Lan Xi was by his side.
During the feast, Great Sage-level attendees could keep one maid or servant to serve them at all times.
The Hunting Heaven Feast was grand and majestic, gathering five thousand Great Sages and five thousand top Saint Kings, all under a thousand years old. Such a spectacular event was extremely rare in the Heavenly Realm.
There were ghostly emperors shrouded in阴气, bone clan Great Sages with ghastly white bones, and Death Clan powerhouses wrapped in deathly aura. Even though Lan Xi knew she was in the Hell Realm, she was still overwhelmed, unable to express her awe.
She couldn’t imagine what fate would befall her without Zhang Ruochen’s protection.
“The Hell Realm is too powerful. The Heavenly Realm’s ten thousand worlds have not produced this many Great Sages in the last millennium. And the Hell Realm’s Great Sages under a thousand years old are surely more than those present here,” Lan Xi thought, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.
She finally understood why, for a hundred thousand years, the Heavenly Realm had been at a disadvantage in the Merit Battlefield, reduced to a passive, beaten state.
“I wonder if the Heavenly Realm cultivators watching the Hunting Heaven Feast feel the same? If this continues, the gap between the Heavenly Realm and Hell will only widen, perhaps…”
Lan Xi dared not think further, her heart filled with uncertainty.
At that moment.
“Lan Xi, stay here and guard. I’ll be back soon.”
Zhang Ruochen stood and walked toward the upstream of Mingxi.
Lan Xi stared at his tall figure, a puzzled expression crossing her face. What was he up to?
The thought flashed briefly before her mind returned to its earlier track. She mused, “The Hell Realm is teeming with Great Sage powerhouses. Can Zhang Ruochen, an outsider, truly make a mark at the Hunting Heaven Feast?”
Though she had become a Mental Power Great Sage, facing the formidable figures of the feast, she felt utterly insignificant.
It was as if she were a frail, defenceless girl surrounded by thousands of burly men, filled with despair, helplessness, humility, and fear.
Yet Zhang Ruochen, single-handedly, stood before her, keeping those burly men at bay, preventing them from acting rashly.
This planted a subtle seed in her heart.
As Zhang Ruochen walked upstream, it was precisely when Gun Huang, Mu Yang Tianjun, and the others turned their attention to him. They were all surprised, speculating: had Zhang Ruochen regretted his choice and now aimed to seize a chief seat?
But going now, even with his incredible analysis speed, was too late.
The seat contest was nearing its end.
By the fourth chief seat on the left, Xi and Yu Huang were less than a zhang from the seat, tantalisingly close, just five or six steps away.
“Enough, no need to keep stringing her along.”
Xi’s lips curled into a sneer, no longer holding back.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Xi took three strides, pulling ahead of Yu Huang.
“What? How… how is this possible…”
Yu Huang stared at Xi in disbelief, desperately stepping forward. But as the inscriptions within that step weren’t fully analysed, she was struck by a spatial prohibition, a spatial rift hitting her arm.
Bright red saint blood dripped from her arm.
She dared not advance further.
“Xia Yu, your strength is already impressive, but you shouldn’t have challenged me. Why humiliate yourself?” Xi said.
Yu Huang realised she had been toyed with by Xi. Her starry eyes blazed with fury, barely restraining herself from attacking him.
“Can’t take it? You’d better hold back. The Blood Heaven Tribe only has you as a decent opponent. If you’re expelled from the Hunting Heaven Feast, what fun would there be for the Earth Fiend Ghost City hunting your tribe this year?” Xi laughed mockingly.
He relished seeing others hate him to the core yet be powerless against him.
Yu Huang, unwilling to break the feast’s rules, restrained herself and looked downstream toward Mingxi.
“Don’t bother looking. Hurry downstream. You’ve definitely missed your chance for chief or chairman seats. Maybe try for a secondary seat,” Xi said.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen appeared beside Yu Huang, extending a hand. “Give me your hand.”
“Why are you here?”
Yu Huang was astonished but knew of Zhang Ruochen’s terrifying analysis speed. Without hesitation, she extended her snowy-white hand, grasping his tightly.
The next moment, Yu Huang noticed countless time marks appearing around them, slowing the flow of time.
Simultaneously, she felt the Rules of Truth flow from Zhang Ruochen’s palm into her body, converging in her eyes. Her gaze transformed into a pair of Truth Eyes, swiftly discerning the distribution of prohibition inscriptions.
Though Zhang Ruochen’s arrival surprised Xi, he didn’t take it seriously.
He was only two steps from the seat.
Claiming it was a foregone conclusion.
Taking another step, Xi looked at the chief seat before him, a satisfied smile on his face.
But the smile froze as he glanced left, seeing Yu Huang and Zhang Ruochen standing beside him, also just one step from the seat.
How could they be so fast?
Xi’s shock was beyond measure.
At that moment, whether at the Hunting Heaven Feast venue or among those watching the projections, everyone was in an uproar.
Such an event had never occurred at the Hunting Heaven Feast. Helping another cultivator seize a seat?
The higher the seat—chief, secondary, or end—the harder the inscriptions were to crack. Thus, despite vast cultivation gaps, the time to claim seats didn’t differ greatly.
Helping another cultivator seize a seat was nearly impossible.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen could only assist Yu Huang because he wielded both time and truth powers at a profound level.
Even powerhouses like Lan Ying or Yan Huangtu could offer limited help to their clanmates in seat contests.
Above Mingxi, in the divine bone jade tower, a Thousand-Question Realm Great Sage from the Earth Fiend Ghost City said, “Cheating, this is cheating. Zhang Ruochen has broken the Hunting Heaven Feast’s rules and must be expelled.”
Zhi Yuan Xue Di snorted, “The feast has no rule against helping clanmates seize seats. How is this breaking the rules?”
“The gods are watching the feast, and they haven’t spoken, meaning Zhang Ruochen hasn’t broken any rules,” Gun Huang said.
The Blood Heaven Tribe’s Great Sages were elated. If Zhang Ruochen could help Yu Huang secure a chief seat, it would be a resounding slap to the Earth Fiend Ghost City.
Without suspense, Yu Huang took the final step first, sitting on the fourth chief seat on the left.
A brilliant light burst from the white jade platform, enveloping her, with “Xia Yu” appearing on the stone.
Xi, one step short, stared in disbelief, unable to accept the outcome.
He had meant to toy with Yu Huang and suppress the Blood Heaven Tribe, yet it ended like this.
Yu Huang exhaled in relief, quickly pulling her hand from Zhang Ruochen’s grasp. She shot him a glance, not truly angry, as if just for show.
Moments ago, Zhang Ruochen had, in front of the entire Hell Realm, done something she would have never tolerated before. Though it was to help her claim the seat, it was too intimate, easily sparking rumours.
Like Prajna or Feng Hou, no male cultivator would dare hold their hands. As goddess candidates, such an act would tarnish their image.
Xi’s composure nearly collapsed, glaring at the seemingly flirtatious Zhang Ruochen and Yu Huang. Clasping his fists, he bowed toward the Destiny Temple atop Destiny Mountain, shouting, “Zhang Ruochen and Xia Yu have broken the feast’s rules. I beseech the gods to expel them.”
During the feast, the gods of all clans gathered at the Destiny Temple.
The gods had their own feast.
After a long silence, no response came from the temple.
Yu Huang sneered, “Stop shouting. Hurry downstream. You’ve definitely lost your chance for chief or chairman seats. If you’re not quick, even secondary seats will be gone.”
Xi’s lips trembled with rage, spitting out, “Don’t get too smug. We’ll see.”
Xi rushed downstream.
Yu Huang looked at Zhang Ruochen again, only to find he had silently returned downstream. She muttered, “I only glared at you. Did you get upset? With so many cultivators watching, I couldn’t act too cooperative. Others might think we’re something. Regardless, thank you this time!”
Whether he heard or not, she said it anyway.
Recalling how Xi had humiliated her to the point of despair, and how Zhang Ruochen appeared, saving her and turning defeat into victory, Yu Huang’s face broke into a captivating smile, like a spring breeze.
At the Mingxi venue, Prajna and Luo Ji’s gazes inadvertently fell on her, catching that smile.
Prajna quickly looked away, lowering her eyes in silence, her thoughts unreadable.
Luo Ji, however, puffed up her cheeks, muttering under her breath.
Holding hands publicly at the feast was indeed too intimate. Coupled with Yu Huang’s beauty rivalling the Nine Immortals, it naturally sparked all sorts of speculation.
In Wang Mountain, Xiao Hei clicked its tongue, pointing at the projection above and saying to Han Xue, “Beast, see that? You said he had no choice, that he had unavoidable reasons. In my view, he’s defected, reveling in the Hell Realm, forgetting Kunlun. He’s suffered losses with women before, and now in the Hell Realm, he’s out for revenge, completely letting loose. I must go to the Hell Realm to stop his fall.”
In Central Imperial City, Ziwei Palace.
Canglan Martial Saint slammed the stone platform, scoffing, “Seems I worried too much. That scoundrel Zhang Ruochen isn’t in any danger. He’s thriving in the Hell Realm, even finding time to flirt.”
The Saint Book Talent stared at Yu Huang, her black-and-white eyes showing a mix of envy and depth, murmuring, “I didn’t expect the Undying Blood Clan to have such a stunning beauty. To claim a chief seat, she must be formidable.”
Suddenly, Canglan Martial Saint grew serious, asking, “Do you think Zhang Ruochen has truly defected to the Hell Realm?”
The Saint Book Talent shook her head gently, offering no answer.
