Zhang Ruochen led the Undead Blood Clan to seize first place in the Hunting Heaven Battlefield, shining brilliantly. Upon his return, he was granted a divine marriage by the God Venerable and killed Yan Wu Shen. His fame might not be enough to intimidate top Great Saints like Mio and Pale Son, but for a Saint King like Cang Jie, the impact was overwhelming, like seeing a celestial being.
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen’s figure flickered, returning to his true appearance.
Seeing his real form, Cang Jie was so excited he nearly fainted. He immediately knelt on one knee and said: “Cang Jie is willing to follow Boss for life, to serve with utmost loyalty, even unto death.”
Zhang Ruochen took a new leaf from the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree in the Qiankun Realm and retrieved a white jade box.
He placed the leaf in the box and sealed it with spatial power.
Handing the box to Cang Jie, Zhang Ruochen said: “Go to the Merit Battlefield of Kunlun Realm. Give this to Ji Fanxin of Thousand Pistil Realm. Tell her someone wishes to see her. If she still cherishes old feelings and trusts an old friend, she should go to Hundred Clans Royal City at the edge of Hell Realm within three months to share a cup of Hundred Flowers Brew.”
“If Ji Fanxin is no longer in Kunlun Realm, go to the Endless Abyss and find a woman named Kong Lanyou. Relay my words to her. Leave the rest to her.”
“Understood.”
Cang Jie secretly breathed a sigh of relief. So, Boss just wanted a secret meeting with an old lover.
Carefully taking the box, he said: “Boss, rest assured, I will deliver it to Fairy Hundred Flowers as quickly as possible.”
The news of the Source Temple’s emergence was too significant. Zhang Ruochen could not reveal a single word to Cang Jie, nor did he want to involve too many people. In Kunlun Realm, there were few cultivators Zhang Ruochen absolutely trusted who also had strong cultivation.
Kong Lanyou was the most suitable choice.
Even if the whole world doubted him, Lanyou would surely be the one who believed in him most.
After Cang Jie left, Zhang Ruochen fell into thought about how to handle the upcoming situation.
The matter of Sword South Realm was not urgent.
In Phoenix Cry Pavilion, he deliberately showed a determination to forcibly seize Sword South Realm, but it was only to stabilise Mio, making Mio think he could use Sword South Realm as a trap against him.
This way, the beings of Sword South Realm were temporarily safe.
As for the Source Temple, although Zhang Ruochen was interested, deep down, he still felt it was elusive. Only five top-grade source divine crystals had appeared so far. Whether the Source Temple had truly emerged, even gods likely could not confirm.
Finding Mu Lingxi and investigating the Emperor of Slaughtering Heaven and Earth who appeared on Ice King Star were Zhang Ruochen’s current priorities.
However, before going to Ice King Star, Zhang Ruochen decided to do something to shake the mountain and intimidate the tiger.
To prevent just anyone from daring to provoke him.
…
Hell Realm had numerous forces with gods presiding, comparable to the over eight thousand realms of Heavenly Court.
However, only a dozen or so forces knew about the top-grade source divine crystals.
Longevity Hall was not one of them. Thus, after the plan against Zhang Ruochen failed, Pale Son left Goddess Tower. As a Great Saint of the Ten Thousand Deaths and One Life Realm, he was a top-tier existence and naturally did not bring guards.
Zhang Ruochen had thought Pale Son would head to the spatial teleportation array near Goddess Tower to leave.
But, to his surprise, Pale Son did not go to the teleportation array. Instead, he concealed his aura and hurriedly traveled along a tributary of the River of Life, as if he had urgent business.
Destiny Temple was quite vast, and Huasheng City Domain was relatively remote, with sparse population. Only Goddess Tower had a large-scale spatial teleportation array. Once leaving Goddess Tower, traveling on foot would take a long time to reach another city domain.
What was Pale Son going to do?
Zhang Ruochen was not in a hurry to act and quietly followed.
Down the river, the waterway grew wider.
After traveling about thirty thousand miles, it became extremely desolate, with traces of battle. The river was frozen, blood-red mountains on both banks had collapsed, and a thousand miles of land had turned into a red fire plain…
Such a terrifying scene was chilling.
Most shocking was that before entering this area, Zhang Ruochen had not sensed any battle fluctuations. Undoubtedly, a powerful mental force had concealed the battle fluctuations to avoid detection by Destiny Temple’s enforcers.
“The battle likely erupted within the last half hour. What kind of powerful beings clashed to cause such destruction?”
“Why did they disregard Destiny Temple’s prohibition and fight in the divine domain?”
“How did Pale Son know a battle broke out here?”
Zhang Ruochen was full of questions. Suddenly, he saw Pale Son stop on the frozen river and slap downward with his palm.
“Bang!”
A large piece of ice shattered, and a blood-red water column surged up.
At the top of the water column was a corpse.
After seeing the corpse’s appearance, Zhang Ruochen was astonished.
It was actually Xing Qian, a Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint of Shura Temple.
In Goddess Tower’s gambling artifact city, Xing Qian had offended the Gambling God Seven-Handed Elder and willingly became his servant for a thousand years. Even so, he was still a Great Saint of Shura Temple and a disciple of a god. Who dared to kill him in Destiny Divine Domain?
More importantly, why kill him?
Pale Son grabbed the corpse’s collar, a sinister smile on his face. He said: “What a pitiful fellow, suffering such an undeserved calamity.”
Zhang Ruochen saw that Pale Son definitely knew what had happened here. Thus, he no longer waited, took out the Purple Gold Gourd, and secretly activated it.
Pale Son sensed danger, his face changing drastically.
“Whoosh—”
The Purple Gold Gourd floated above his head. From its mouth surged seventy-two million spatial array inscriptions, forming an eight-hundred-mile-diameter spatial array, illuminating the night sky as bright as day.
“Zhang Ruochen…” Pale Son looked up.
“Rumble.”
The spatial array collapsed, and Pale Son was instantly sucked into the gourd.
With Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation, without using the power of Qiankun Realm, he might not be a match for a Great Saint of the Ten Thousand Deaths and One Life Realm. But this battle was not a direct confrontation; it was a sneak attack with a supreme sacred artifact.
Naturally, it succeeded in one strike.
Just as Zhang Ruochen grabbed the Purple Gold Gourd, a heaven-shaking roar came from within, causing his arm to ache.
“Ruochen, you mere Hundred Shackles Realm, dare to imprison me? Are you seeking death?”
Pale Son roared in the gourd.
Unknown what saint technique he used, the Purple Gold Gourd was stretched larger and larger, from one foot tall to human height, to the size of a house…
Zhang Ruochen was not afraid of Pale Son breaking the Purple Gold Gourd. With a light hum, he pressed his palm on the gourd’s wall and began spinning it rapidly.
After just over ten spins, Pale Son could not hold on, letting out strange cries: “What kind of gourd is this? Why is the time flow so fast? Stop! Stop quickly!”
Each spin of the Purple Gold Gourd could reduce lifespan by a hundred years.
Pale Son was severely weakened and could no longer resist. The Purple Gold Gourd shrank back.
Zhang Ruochen did not stop, spinning it dozens more times.
Pale Son was initially defiant, cursing in the gourd, but as his lifespan drained heavily, fear crept in, and his tone softened: “The Goddess Tower matter has nothing to do with me; it was all Mio’s idea. Why take revenge on me?”
“No more spinning. Though corpse cultivators have died once, we still have lifespans. My corpse body is nearly decayed! Zhang Ruochen, what do you want? I can give you anything.”
Zhang Ruochen did not expect a Great Saint of the Ten Thousand Deaths and One Life Realm to be so weak, yielding so quickly. He was about to seize the chance to ask his doubts.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed a terrifying aura rapidly approaching.
His face changed. He quickly sealed the Purple Gold Gourd, performed a great spatial shift, and fled rapidly. He did not go to Goddess Tower but to the nearest densely populated city area.
Shortly after Zhang Ruochen fled, the black-veiled cultivator landed by the riverbank like a bolt of lightning.
Though Lord Turtle Wang was an emerald stone turtle, his speed was not slow but astonishingly fast. He ran on two legs like a duck, appearing at the other end of the frozen river.
His two eyeballs rolled, stuttering: “Sp-space…”
“It’s residual spatial power, and Zhang Ruochen’s aura,” the black-veiled cultivator said. Her voice was melodious like an oriole, yet carried a chill.
Lord Turtle Wang widened his eyes, pointing at the broken ice river: “Corpse…”
“Xing Qian’s corpse is gone! But Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t use such powerful spatial force for a mere corpse. If I’m not mistaken, it must be Pale Son who recklessly followed and let Zhang Ruochen witness this,” the black-veiled cultivator said.
Lord Turtle Wang said: “Why…”
“Why? Because among those who know about this, only Pale Son is connected to Zhang Ruochen,” the black-veiled cultivator said.
Lord Turtle Wang fell silent, casting a “what to do next” look.
“Rest assured, my mental force clone has gone to pursue and silence him. Let’s see if this Space-Time Successor lives up to his reputation.”
The black veil on the cultivator dissipated. Jade-white radiance formed a holy cloud, enveloping her graceful, delicate figure. Every inch of her skin glowed like immortal jade or divine stone, her black hair swaying like a waterfall.
Her aura was ethereal, like a moon in the clouds or a pearl in water. No one could see her true face.
“Whoosh.”
Holy qi containing the Five Elements and source power spread from her feet in all directions.
In her mind, she envisioned the terrain and landscape before it was destroyed. As the holy qi passed, the frozen river melted, collapsed mountains rose again, and the fire plain extinguished.
From the soil, countless Five Elements source particles surged, condensing into various plants.
In moments, everything destroyed was restored, as if no battle had ever occurred.
If Zhang Ruochen had not fled and saw this, he would have been utterly shocked. Once, Thousand Stars Heavenly Maiden had demonstrated the wonders of the Way of Source before him.
All matter could be transformed into source particles and reshaped into another form.
But her source mastery, compared to Bai Qing’er, was like a firefly to a blazing sun, a difference of vast magnitude.
When source and Five Elements combined, they could even instantly create plant life.
Pillar General hurried back. Though his body was massive, his speed was slower than Lord Turtle Wang’s. He asked: “Miss, still no trace of Seven-Handed Elder. That old guy, couldn’t you have killed him with one palm?”
Bai Qing’er shook her head: “As a Gambling God, if he didn’t have this much life-preserving skill, he’d have died long ago!”
“But Miss, your mental force is not much weaker than his. If he’s still in this area, how could we not find him?” Pillar General said.
Suddenly, Bai Qing’er frowned, muttering to herself: “He escaped!”
“Who escaped?” Pillar General asked curiously.
Lord Turtle Wang showed a smug look—finally, something you don’t know! He said arrogantly: “Zhang… Zhang…”
“It’s Zhang Ruochen. This kid indeed has some skill. At just Hundred Shackles Realm, he has the ability to escape from my mental force clone,” Bai Qing’er said.
Pillar General said disdainfully: “Even if he condensed a second-grade saint intent, he’s only outstanding. True Yuan Hui level figures are only Lord Huang Tian and Blood Absolute Old Thief.”
“Shut up.”
Bai Qing’er did not want to hear that name mentioned.
“Yes.” Pillar General quickly shut his mouth.
“Heh heh.”
Lord Turtle Wang snickered.
Bai Qing’er closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. Suddenly, she realised something and said: “I understand! Just now, we all chased Seven-Handed Elder’s puppet decoy, ignoring Xing Qian’s corpse.”
“Miss, do you mean Seven-Handed Elder was hiding in Xing Qian’s corpse?” Pillar General said in surprise.
Bai Qing’er said: “It’s the only possibility!”
“Xing Qian’s corpse… was taken by Zhang Ruochen?” Pillar General said.
Bai Qing’er was decisive: “Pillar General, go immediately to the Judgment Division… no, to Death God Palace. Tell the Death High Priest that Zhang Ruochen killed Shura Temple’s Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint Xing Qian and captured Longevity Hall’s Pale Son.”
“Can Death God Palace intervene in this matter?” Pillar General said.
Bai Qing’er said: “The Death High Priest can restrain the Fortune and Prosperity High Priest, and he can also mobilise connections in the Judgment Division to apprehend Zhang Ruochen.”
“I’m just afraid the Death High Priest won’t intervene, as Xing Qian’s true cause of death isn’t hard to investigate,” Pillar General said.
Bai Qing’er said: “So you must return to Goddess Tower and have the owner go with you. The Death High Priest cannot refuse this face.”
“Miss, what about you?” Pillar General asked.
Bai Qing’er said: “Zhang Ruochen is, after all, a figure with a significant background. To deal with him, we must add more weight to his crimes. Tonight’s grand play at Goddess Tower can be perfectly utilised.”
