Zhang Ruochen returned to the home star via the teleportation array.
The moment he stepped out, his brows furrowed deeply, and he looked up. The sky was pitch black, filled with chaotic energy fluctuations.
“Am I too late?” he muttered to himself.
Xue Ningxiao, stationed by the teleportation array, saw Zhang Ruochen and immediately beamed, “Cousin, you’re back early. Has the battle on the Seventh Dark Star already ended?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, releasing his spiritual power to envelop the entire planet.
“Huh!”
The planet was covered with numerous illusion array inscriptions, spread across every continent.
He could discern the illusion array not because his spiritual power surpassed Yan Zhexian’s, but because his Heart of Truth allowed him to see through illusions and perceive reality, even without eyes or spiritual power.
“All the clansmen have been hidden. It seems Empress Feng and Emperor Yu are smarter than I thought.”
Despite some damage to the continents, no clansmen had perished.
This outcome greatly satisfied Zhang Ruochen.
Dealing with Yan Wushen or Yan Huangtu was no easy feat. Avoiding losses was already remarkable.
Sensing spatial fluctuations, Emperor Yu descended beside the teleportation array, probing Zhang Ruochen with her spiritual power, asking, “What is my deepest desire?”
She needed to confirm if this was the real Zhang Ruochen.
“Your brother died because of you,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
Emperor Yu retracted her spiritual power and the Seven-Star Ghost Lotus, relieved, “You’re finally back!”
She then recounted the detailed events of Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian’s arrival at the Immortal Vampires’ home star.
After listening, Zhang Ruochen looked at Emperor Yu in surprise.
He had placed his trust in Empress Feng to guard the home star. After all, Emperor Yu’s personality flaws made her vulnerable.
Yet, she overcame her weaknesses, making both Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian suffer significant setbacks.
Yan Huangtu’s ruse of self-injury failed— wasn’t that a major loss?
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Where are the clansmen on the home star?”
Emperor Yu said, “The home star has 240 million clansmen. Empress Feng and I arranged for twenty-four Great Sages, each taking one million clansmen.”
“Of course, Empress Feng and I are two of those twenty-four.”
With a Great Sage’s cultivation and divine abilities, carrying one million clansmen was relatively easy.
Zhang Ruochen nodded, “Don’t put all eggs in one basket. Your approach is correct. How are these twenty-four Great Sages deployed?”
Emperor Yu explained, “Most remain on the home star, hidden in various secret locations. Some transformed into stones, slumbering underground; others hid inside bloodfish in the seas. A few were sent via teleportation arrays to various points in the starry sky. Unless the Yama Clan finds every Great Sage, they cannot wipe out our clansmen.”
As long as the clansmen weren’t completely eradicated, points wouldn’t be halved.
Killing ten clansmen deducted one point.
Even if the Yama Clan killed ninety-nine percent of the Immortal Vampires’ clansmen, they’d lose at most 24 million points, within the clan’s tolerance.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Stay cautious. Those skilled in the Path of Destiny can deduce many things. No matter how well they hide, they could still be found.”
“Even if the other Great Sages are found, I’ll protect the last million clansmen with my life,” Emperor Yu vowed.
Zhang Ruochen trusted her resolve, saying, “Give me one clansman with strong cultivation.”
With the Immortal Vampires’ current advantage, as long as the clan wasn’t entirely wiped out, they’d be fine.
Even if only one survived, it wouldn’t count as total annihilation.
With Emperor Yu and Empress Feng’s arrangements, it was nearly impossible for the Yama Clan to exterminate all clansmen.
Zhang Ruochen’s request for a clansman was merely a precaution.
Emperor Yu released an elder from the Seven-Star Ghost Lotus, whose cultivation was roughly at the Ninth Transformation of Fish-Dragon, a powerhouse on this planet, capable of surviving months without food or water.
Zhang Ruochen plucked a hair and blew on it.
The hair turned white, forming a small internal space.
With his current Great Sage cultivation, even a single hair was a treasure for refining artifacts to ordinary monks.
He placed the elder into the space within the hair, then took out Yan Zhexian’s emerald-green brush, cut the hair, and inserted it deep among the brush’s bristles.
Zhang Ruochen examined the brush, then channelled Truth Rules, his fingertips glowing like stars, cleansing each bristle and harmonising their aura.
“You said Yan Zhexian fled underground?” he asked casually.
Emperor Yu replied, “Yan Zhexian is more formidable than I expected. The array had her trapped, but she used a forbidden technique, Thousand-Head Thousand-Body Yama Art, manifesting a thousand avatars.”
“The array destroyed 935 of her avatars, but her true body tore through and escaped.”
“I chased her, injuring her several times, but she always slipped away. Finally, she fled underground. I didn’t dare follow rashly and am now troubled by this.”
Emperor Yu wasn’t afraid to pursue but feared other Yama Clan powerhouses might be lurking outside, seizing the chance to breach the array.
“I’ll handle her. You guard the home star,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Emperor Yu added, “Empress Feng chased Yan Huangtu and hasn’t returned for a long time.”
“Yan Huangtu was gravely injured by the array. Empress Feng is strong, with high Destiny cultivation and keen alertness. She can protect herself unless Yan Huangtu brought more powerhouses,” Zhang Ruochen said.
The point gap between the Yama Clan and Immortal Vampires was vast. The Yama Clan was likely mobilising all forces to hunt Heavenly Slaves, racing against time. For Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian to come to the Immortal Vampires’ home star simultaneously was already unexpected.
More powerhouses…
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of the Middle Three Clans.
After the Ghost Clan’s home star fell, the Middle Three Clans became unusually quiet, eerily so.
“Yan Huangtu couldn’t rally Yama Clan elites. Could he have enlisted the Middle Three Clans? But they’re competing for the ten-clan ranking; they wouldn’t do something so harmful to themselves, would they?” Zhang Ruochen mused.
Currently, besides the Immortal Vampires and Yama Clan leading, the other eight clans’ points didn’t exceed 40 million.
The Nether Clan, third-ranked, had 38 million points.
The Rakshasa Clan, fourth, was close with 35 million.
Except for the Ghost Clan, which lagged far behind, the other clans were within a few million points of each other. A stroke of luck, like encountering dozens of Great Sage Heavenly Slaves, could propel one ahead.
Why would the Middle Three Clans stay low-key now?
Even if they weren’t, they’d be desperately hunting Heavenly Slaves, not targeting the Immortal Vampires. Even if they crushed the Immortal Vampires, could their points surpass them?
“No, Empress Feng is in danger,” Zhang Ruochen’s expression shifted slightly.
Emperor Yu said, “Yan Huangtu is gravely injured; it can’t be fake.”
“It’s not Yan Huangtu or other Yama Clan elites, but Pink Skeleton. No Middle Three Clan would attack our monks at this time. They’d set aside grudges to focus on hunting Heavenly Slaves for points. But Pink Skeleton would—she’d kill Empress Feng,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Emperor Yu trusted his judgment, “What now?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, “This is the contest for Destiny Goddess. Empress Feng must face it herself. Even if I could reach her in time and save her, she’d lose this crucial trial. Even if we secure first among the ten clans, she might not become the Destiny Goddess.”
“Prajna, with her Gate of True Self, is the gods’ top choice in the Destiny Temple.”
“But if Empress Feng overcomes this crisis, even just escaping Yan Huangtu and Pink Skeleton, the Destiny Goddess position will surely be hers.”
Empress Feng chasing the injured Yan Huangtu wasn’t reckless in Zhang Ruochen’s view—it was the right move.
If you don’t strike when the enemy is wounded, when do you? Wait for Yan Huangtu to recover and return with the Yama Clan’s Great Sage army?
Of course, Emperor Yu’s approach wasn’t wrong either.
Each had their mission, leading to different decisions.
Zhang Ruochen’s only concern was that Empress Feng’s eagerness for victory might cloud her judgment, leading her into Yan Huangtu and Pink Skeleton’s trap. If Pink Skeleton ambushed her, the first strike could kill or severely injure her.
Her survival was uncertain.
Emperor Yu, deeply worried, said, “Empress Feng becoming Destiny Goddess represents the Lower Three Clans and our interests. Can we really do nothing? Her death would be a heavy blow to us.”
“If you truly want to save her, tell Yan Huangtu that Yan Zhexian is in your hands. It might help,” Zhang Ruochen said.
He wasn’t overly concerned about Empress Feng’s life or death, but he’d invested in her. If she died, wouldn’t it be a total loss?
Do what’s possible and leave the rest to fate.
“How do I tell Yan Huangtu?” Emperor Yu asked.
“Figure it out.”
Zhang Ruochen teleported to the entrance where Yan Zhexian had fled underground.
Only by following her traces could he find her.
“I hope you haven’t died to the Blood Shadow Ghost Seed,” he muttered, entering the underground.
A living Yan Zhexian was far more valuable.
Emperor Yu pondered briefly, then a charming smile appeared on her stunning face, “It’s the only way!”
She soared to the upper atmosphere, releasing her spiritual power, stirring the blood-red clouds. The clouds formed rivers, shaping three massive characters—Yan Zhexian.
Each character was a third the size of the home star.
Visible to Great Sages even from millions or tens of millions of li away. (The Earth-Moon distance is roughly 300,000–400,000 li.)
These three characters should make Yan Huangtu understand their meaning.
If he dared kill Empress Feng, Yan Zhexian would die.
Tracking Yan Zhexian’s aura, Zhang Ruochen headed toward the planet’s core.
The deeper he went, the more alarmed he became.
Though he had captured many Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds underground, plenty remained. For a gravely injured Yan Zhexian to reach such depths was impressive.
Soon, Zhang Ruochen arrived at the planet’s core, a spherical space 500 li in diameter.
Blood-red waterfalls cascaded from all sides, blood mist filled the air, and the sound roared ceaselessly.
“For Yan Zhexian to reach here, her skills are remarkable.”
On the ground, Zhang Ruochen found bloodstained footprints. Following them, his eyes narrowed. The footprints led up stone steps to a stone coffin, over ten zhang long, at the centre of the spherical space.
A tree grew on the coffin.
The tree, snow-white and jade-like, resembled a graceful maiden, its white branches like hair piercing into the soil and rock, spreading across the planet.
Zhang Ruochen had seen it before on his last visit.
This time, he noticed subtle changes in the “maiden.” Her heart had turned blood-red, with blood vessels spreading from it across the trunk.
More astonishingly, he heard a drumming heartbeat.
Zhang Ruochen knew this “maiden” was the true Blood Shadow Ghost Seed. Decisively, he stepped back, intending to leave immediately.
Then, he noticed the stone coffin, 200 li away, was slightly ajar.
Yellow light emanated from within, pure as if derived from the Mysterious Yellow.
Simultaneously, his Five Elements Chaotic Immortal Holy Body fluctuated beyond his control. The five elemental forces cycled endlessly, with the earth attribute growing especially fast.
“Could the legendary Baicang Blood Soil really be in the stone coffin?”
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth and, with resolve, stepped onto the stone steps toward the coffin and the “maiden.”
He had no choice. To cultivate the Yin-Yang Five Elements Holy Intent, comprising seven holy intents, the usual path was impossible. No matter how great his talent or willpower, it wouldn’t suffice.
The universe never lacked monks with high talent and strong will.
To become a legend, one needed not only personal strength but also legendary treasures.
Quasi-Emperor and Emperor Holy Intent Pills, though legendary for cultivating and fusing holy intents, laying the foundation for a First-Grade Holy Intent, weren’t enough.
Baicang Blood Soil was.
If he could fuse the sixth Earth Holy Intent, he’d likely touch the edge of a First-Grade Holy Intent or even reach it directly. That would shock all monks, including gods.
This risk was worth taking.
