The cosmic rock was massive, hurtling rapidly towards the Oyin Asteroid Belt.
Gong Nanfeng extended his hand, his eyes filled with anticipation and waiting, fixed on Zhang Ruochen. He said again, “Thank you, Great Saint Ruochen, for helping the Temple of Destiny reclaim the Tianshu Needle. I will definitely report this to the Venerable of the Division of Destiny. This favour is owed by me, the Division of Destiny, and the entire Temple of Destiny.”
“Is Lord Sikong trying to pressure me with the Temple of Destiny?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Gong Nanfeng was taken aback and said, “Not at all! Great Saint Ruochen, how could you have such a misunderstanding?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, “I cannot give you the Tianshu Needle.”
“Why? Does Great Saint Ruochen intend to keep the Tianshu Needle for himself?”
Gong Nanfeng’s face showed great alarm, and he quickly retreated, as if fearing Zhang Ruochen might silence him.
The more he acted this way, the more wary Zhang Ruochen became.
Zhang Ruochen remained calm, his expression steady, and said, “You are too suspicious!”
“Where am I suspicious? I am Sikong of the Division of Destiny, the genuine article.” Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had no intention of silencing him, Gong Nanfeng finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have never met Sikong of the Division of Destiny. You say you are, and I should just believe you? Do you take me, Zhang Ruochen, for a fool?”
“That makes sense.”
Gong Nanfeng rummaged in his robes, pulled out a token, and said with a grin, “This is the Sikong token of the Division of Destiny, bearing the spiritual mark of the Venerable of the Division. It cannot be faked.”
Zhang Ruochen examined the token, feeling a sense of distaste, and tossed it back to Gong Nanfeng with a stern face, saying, “Just a token. It could still be fake. You speak nonsense, claiming to be weak yet capable of bursting with unparalleled speed. How can I trust you?”
Gong Nanfeng’s expression resembled constipation, as if he had something difficult to say, and he stammered, “I…”
Before he could continue, Zhang Ruochen said, “Thirdly, when Duan Lingfeng and the others took the Tianshu Needle and suppressed its spirit, why didn’t you act? I went to great lengths, nearly sacrificing my life, to help the Temple of Destiny reclaim the Tianshu Needle, and now you show up. Hmph! Are you a mole for the Twelve Houses of the Goddess?”
“No way! I am Sikong of the Temple of Destiny. How could I be a mole for the Twelve Houses of the Goddess? This is a huge misunderstanding!” Gong Nanfeng’s face flushed with anxiety as he desperately explained, “I told you, I wanted to play the long game to catch the big fish.”
Zhang Ruochen said righteously, “Do you think I’d believe you? You’re so weak, yet you dare to fish for big prey? Aren’t you afraid of being eaten by the fish?”
“I can secretly follow them and find an opportunity to send a message to the Temple of Destiny’s powerhouses,” Gong Nanfeng said.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart skipped a few beats, and he asked, “You’ve already sent a message back?”
Gong Nanfeng shook his head and sighed, “I’m too weak! The communication talisman I sent couldn’t reach Ice King Star.”
Though Zhang Ruochen wasn’t sure if this was true or false, he secretly felt relieved.
Gong Nanfeng suddenly thought of something and said joyfully, “Why don’t you send a message to the three High Priests of the Temple of Destiny, or to Zhuo Yunnong, Wuyue Minghuang, or Xingluo Shenzi? When they arrive, they can verify my identity.”
Zhang Ruochen was barely restraining himself, strongly tempted to silence him.
For a divine artifact, killing one person was nothing, even slaughtering an entire star or realm wouldn’t be a big deal.
But Gong Nanfeng’s harmless and friendly demeanour made it difficult for Zhang Ruochen to act.
Of course, the biggest reason was the lack of certainty.
If he made a move, it would mean breaking all ties.
If he failed to kill him, where could Zhang Ruochen stand in the Hell Realm?
Zhang Ruochen asked the Burial Gold White Tiger, “This oddball, what’s his deal? Is he strong or weak?”
The Burial Gold White Tiger did not respond.
Gong Nanfeng said, “Great Saint Ruochen, hurry and send the message. The powerhouses of the ten dark forces are surely on their way. With just the two of us, how can we stand against them?”
Zhang Ruochen felt as if he were being pushed to the edge of a cliff. Pretending to be unfazed, he was inwardly scrambling for a plan.
After a long pause, he said, “We will definitely send a message, but how to send it, to whom, and who can be trusted requires careful consideration. Not everyone in the Temple of Destiny is trustworthy.”
“Think about it. The Temple of Destiny’s powerhouses are far away, at least several days’ journey. But Duan Lingfeng, Yunhuan Ironblood King, and Yuelin Blood Emperor are much closer.”
“If we send a message to the Temple of Destiny’s powerhouses, and one of them immediately informs Duan Lingfeng and the others, revealing our whereabouts, wouldn’t we be digging our own graves?”
Gong Nanfeng’s face lit up with realisation, and he said admiringly, “Great Saint Ruochen is indeed meticulous. No wonder… heh heh.”
He wanted to say, “No wonder you’ve survived this long,” but felt it inappropriate, so he gave an awkward yet friendly smile.
Gong Nanfeng humbly asked, “In Great Saint Ruochen’s opinion, what should we do now?”
“The vast universe is our best hiding place,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Gong Nanfeng pinched his fingers and said, “Are we heading to the Oyin Asteroid Belt?”
“Exactly.”
“The Oyin Asteroid Belt was once a seventh-level planet. There must be spatial wormholes nearby.”
“You know that?”
“I calculated it!”
Gong Nanfeng chuckled, somewhat smugly, and said, “To be honest, there’s little under the divine realm that I can’t calculate.”
Zhang Ruochen, standing behind him, looked slightly grim, worried that Gong Nanfeng had already calculated all his secrets.
Gong Nanfeng suddenly turned around.
Zhang Ruochen quickly composed himself, flashing a smile.
Gong Nanfeng stared at him earnestly and said, “You’re special. Apart from deducing your identity from the scent on your clothes, I can’t calculate anything else about you. Was it Blood Absolute War God or Fortune God Venerable who concealed your fate?”
Zhang Ruochen’s smile became more genuine, and he said, “Let’s not talk about that. I have fine wine and sacred food in my spatial ring. Want to try some?”
Gong Nanfeng’s eyes lit up with interest, but he said, “Is that appropriate? The enemy could catch up any moment.”
“Relax. Since I started cultivating, I’ve always been pursued. Even in worse situations, I eat when I need to eat and drink when I need to drink.”
Zhang Ruochen took out two jugs of wine, a variety of ten-thousand-year sacred fruits, and two hundred pounds of cooked Saint King beast meat, saying, “Don’t be shy. Help yourself. After all, I’m half a disciple of the Temple of Destiny, one of us.”
Gong Nanfeng’s admiration grew. Truly a genius of the Yuanhui level, valued even by the Fortune God Venerable. Even in dire circumstances, chased by countless powerhouses, he remained calm and unaffected.
How many in the world could do that?
Impressive!
Truly impressive!
Gong Nanfeng sat on the ground, picked up a ten-thousand-year sacred fruit, and laughed, “To be honest, I haven’t eaten in days. I’m starving. I can’t compare to you Great Saints! Those High Priests, Goddesses, and Minghuang of the Temple of Destiny only care about their own powerful cultivation, not needing food. They never consider a weakling like me.”
“No more talk. All bonds are in this cup. Bottoms up.”
Zhang Ruochen poured a full cup for Gong Nanfeng, raised his own, and drank it in one gulp.
Gong Nanfeng took a sip, and his face immediately changed. His body turned red, as if burning, and he said, “This wine… this wine is… strong…”
With that, he collapsed.
Of course it was strong. It was Dragon Flame Wine.
For Saint Kings and Great Saints, it was fine. But for a truly weak cultivator, one sip would be too much.
Zhang Ruochen set down his cup and called, “Brother Gong, Brother Gong, drunk already?”
Zhang Ruochen kept watching Gong Nanfeng, using the Heart of Truth to sense, then poured and drank another cup, his eyes full of doubt and hesitation.
“Forget it. Killing him is too risky, and it might leave a knot in my heart.”
Zhang Ruochen stood, activated the Flowing Light Merit Armour, and burst out at ten thousand times the speed of sound, disappearing into the dark cosmic void.
On the cosmic rock, only Gong Nanfeng remained, snoring.
Zhang Ruochen deliberately used the rules of truth and the Heart of Truth to sense, flying over a million miles without detecting Gong Nanfeng following. He thought to himself, “It seems he’s not pretending to be drunk. Who is this guy? Is the Temple of Destiny’s Sikong really so weak?”
The more Zhang Ruochen thought about it, the more extraordinary it seemed, hard to believe.
What a pity he hadn’t dared to probe Gong Nanfeng’s physical constitution earlier.
…
Two days later.
While Zhang Ruochen was cultivating inside a cosmic rock, he suddenly felt alarmed. He rolled up the Sundial with his sleeve, turned into a beam of light, broke through the rock layer, and soared out.
“Boom.”
The cosmic rock, dozens of miles long, shattered. All the mud and stone melted, then vaporised.
The powerful energy wave sent Zhang Ruochen flying back a hundred miles.
Three thousand miles away, a black sacred ship emerged from invisibility, revealing its massive hull.冥 flags fluttered, and array inscriptions flickered, emitting an aura that seemed to devour the heavens and earth.
In an instant, the sacred ship reached Zhang Ruochen, its冥气 like a surging sea of ink.
Yunhuan Ironblood King’s towering figure, holding a bone spear, stood at the ship’s bow, exuding a star-swallowing momentum. His voice resounded through the cosmos, shaking the space, “You’re trapped by my ship’s array. Where can you escape this time?”
“You caught up quickly.”
Zhang Ruochen saw the extraordinary nature of Yunhuan Ironblood King’s sacred ship and gently pressed his palm forward. Countless array inscriptions appeared before his palm, like spider webs and chains, locking him in space.
Zhang Ruochen said, “You’re alone. Why would I fear you?”
Yunhuan Ironblood King sneered, “That day, you only escaped using the Flowing Light Merit Armour and a supreme sacred artifact. This sacred ship, forged with my life’s wealth and powered by divine stones borrowed from Old Duan, is fully activated and at its strongest. Do you think you can escape today?”
“Just a sacred ship. I’ll smash it,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Yunhuan Ironblood King replied, “Try it.”
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Black Gold War Heaven Pillar, powered it with sacred energy, turning it into a hundreds-of-miles-long divine pillar. Its black gold radiance spread tens of thousands of miles, and the supreme power ripples shattered the surrounding array inscriptions.
“Boom.”
The Black Gold War Heaven Pillar struck down, energy erupting, hitting the sacred ship’s defensive array.
The first layer of the defensive array broke instantly, and the ship sank sharply.
Yunhuan Ironblood King, initially calm, showed a trace of shock. Seeing the second layer of the defensive array hold the Black Gold War Heaven Pillar, he relaxed.
He had lured Zhang Ruochen to attack, so how could he miss this perfect opportunity?
“Foolish. I told you to attack, and you did. Striking with full force using a supreme sacred artifact, your defence and strength must be at their weakest. Killing you means that supreme sacred artifact is mine!”
Yunhuan Ironblood King flew from the ship, thrusting his bone spear.
Divine patterns emerged on the spear, its light growing brighter, about to pierce Zhang Ruochen’s heart.
But time slowed slightly.
Zhang Ruochen dodged.
Yunhuan Ironblood King was shocked, thinking, “The power of time?”
Zhang Ruochen’s left hand formed a fist, with dragon roars and water sounds resonating, like a divine dragon roaring or a celestial river crashing, its overwhelming momentum shaking the opponent’s soul.
Yunhuan Ironblood King was fearless, striking with a palm, unleashing thick deathly power.
Fist and palm collided.
Time seemed to slow further.
“Boom.”
Zhang Ruochen flew back like a cannonball, landing a hundred miles away, stabilising himself. He thought, “A Great Saint at the peak of the Life-Death Realm, one palm’s power is far stronger than I imagined.”
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t discouraged; his fighting spirit grew stronger.
Back in Goddess City, Yunhuan Ironblood King, with nine-tenths of his cultivation sealed, had pushed Zhang Ruochen to his limits. Only by using every trick, including the Dark Prison Realm Talisman and tenfold attack power from the Path of Truth, did he win by cunning.
Now, he could face Yunhuan Ironblood King at full strength head-on.
Such progress was beyond remarkable.
Yunhuan Ironblood King’s body only swayed slightly, dispersing Zhang Ruochen’s fist force. He looked at the old man opposite with an odd expression. After taking his palm and being thrown so far, the old man was unharmed.
Moreover, that fist force felt familiar.
It resembled Zhang Ruochen.
But he couldn’t believe the old man was Zhang Ruochen. Not long ago, with just one-tenth of his power, he had pushed Zhang Ruochen to the brink. Zhang Ruochen’s strength was far inferior to this old man’s.
Yunhuan Ironblood King bluffed, “Zhang Ruochen, you took the Tianshu Needle and didn’t return to Ice King Star, but went to the Oyin Asteroid Belt. What are you planning? To keep the divine artifact for yourself?”
Zhang Ruochen knew Yunhuan Ironblood King was testing him.
Admitting or denying was secondary now.
Since he was suspicious, he had to die.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Sundial, placed two divine stones in its grooves, and sighed, “I didn’t want to kill you, but you had to call my name. What’s more regrettable is that someone like you isn’t even worth capturing alive.”
Yunhuan Ironblood King was shocked, “You really are Zhang Ruochen? Impossible, that’s impossible.”
“I’ve revealed my identity, and you say it’s impossible. Are you toying with me? Do you think that will make me spare you?” Zhang Ruochen was in a foul mood, feeling like everyone he met recently was playing him.
