Zhang Ruochen completely ignored her gaze, staring intently at the battlefield, and in an aged voice, humbly remarked: “This old man is no great master, I have merely cultivated for a sufficiently long time.”
The pinnacle of bewitchment techniques were almost all executed through the eyes, thereby confusing the mind, captivating the soul, and bewitching desires.
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox’s mental power was extremely high, at least at the peak of the sixty-ninth rank, or possibly halfway into the seventieth; although Zhang Ruochen was unafraid of her, he had no desire to provoke such a troublesome powerhouse.
Whoosh!
A brilliant crimson light flashed through the Guihai Pavilion.
It was sword light.
Shang Zian gripped the Crimson Child Sword and with one strike shattered Xu Sheng’s Dao domain, sending him flying. Xu Sheng blocked the sword light with his Purple Gold Hammer, and with Zhang Ruochen deploying his mental power to help dissipate the residual force, he finally steadied his footing on the corridor.
Blood streamed from his right arm that clutched the Purple Gold Hammer.
Shang Zian was exceedingly graceful and refrained from pursuing the kill, instead saying in a refined and courteous manner: “Uncle Emperor, having suffered the loss of your beloved son and acted in such extremity, Zian can understand. However, Zian must still clarify that the Merit Divine Hall has always been fair and impartial, and would never commit acts to harm the Heavenly Court’s allies.”
Xu Sheng wished to strike again but was restrained by Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen advised: “Young Master Shang speaks with reason, Your Royal Highness, you should first compose your emotions and avoid being misled by rumours.”
Xu Sheng gritted his teeth and ultimately endured it, saying coldly: “I never imagined that you, Shang Zian, at such a tender age, have already attained such a terrifying realm of cultivation. You are indeed formidable, but regarding Cai Lin’s death, this seat shall investigate to the very end.”
Xu Sheng stowed the Purple Gold Hammer and stormed back to the Qian Character Chamber in a huff.
Zhang Ruochen smiled warmly, cupped his fists in salute towards Shang Zian, the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox, and the Primordial Bronze Lion, then followed Yan Shenfei and Yan Xiaoli inside.
As Zhang Ruochen and the others entered the chamber, the smile in Shang Zian’s eyes vanished.
When he stepped into the Li Character Chamber, his handsome face was utterly frosted over.
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox, walking slightly behind, said with a beaming smile: “I never expected Xu Sheng to be such an impulsive and rash individual. For Zian to let him off so readily demonstrates such magnanimity, it truly impresses this slave.”
Shang Zian shook his head and said: “Xu Sheng is no impulsive sort, his strike against me was merely to probe the depths of my cultivation.”
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox withdrew her smile and said: “Why does Zian believe so?”
“An impulsive and rash person would inevitably reveal countless flaws in combat, yet when Xu Sheng attacked me, each move grew more ruthless than the last, without a single flaw,” Shang Zian said.
A puzzled look surfaced in the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox’s pair of spirited eyes, and she said: “This grows intriguing! Could the Giant Deer Divine Dynasty truly be entangled in tonight’s strife? What advantage would that yield them?”
In Shang Zian’s mind, the silhouette of an elderly figure emerged, and he asked: “Did you notice that white-haired elder from the Giant Deer Divine Dynasty? Have you encountered him before?”
The Primordial Bronze Lion shook his head.
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox said: “That elder is far from ordinary, my bewitchment technique held no sway over him at all, his mental power is likely no weaker than mine. His state of mind is even more profound and inscrutable.”
“It appears he is indeed a formidable character.”
Shang Zian stroked his chin, adopting a pensive expression.
In the chamber, only Chu Jian sat alone upon a chair.
He possessed a pair of ox ears and emitted a scornful chuckle: “Formidable, how formidable could he possibly be?”
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox swayed her slender waist, her fragrance wafting everywhere, as she approached and lightly settled onto his lap.
Chu Jian encircled her waist with one arm, pressed his other hand to her snow-white jade leg, and with his tigerish eyes fixed on her limpid gaze, said: “Your bewitchment technique seems ineffective on me as well. Tell me, am I the stronger, or is the old man?”
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox’s vermilion lips burned like fire, her jade arms encircling his neck as she laughed: “In this world, no matter how formidable a powerhouse, upon facing you, they can only serve as a foil. That old man, even after another ten thousand years of cultivation, could never match you with a single hand.”
…
In the Qian Character Chamber.
Xu Sheng’s expression was grave as he said: “Shang Zian is far too powerful, were he to strike with full force, he could likely slay me within ten moves. The Paradise Realm has birthed another extraordinary figure, the youth of today are truly to be feared.”
Yan Shenfei said: “Shang Zian forged his body with the Five-Coloured Merit Stele, rendering him the incarnation of merit itself, allowing him to directly absorb merit power to bolster his cultivation, his pace of progress is thus incomparable. The might of his fleshly body merits the title of semi-divine form. For such a figure, future accomplishments know no bounds.”
Yan Wushen asked: “Well then? Zhang Ruochen, do you still intend to act?”
“Of course, my intent to kill Shang Zian has never wavered,” Zhang Ruochen said, his gaze resolute.
Yan Shenfei, Xu Sheng, and Yan Xiaoli all drew sharp intakes of breath, deeming Zhang Ruochen far too brazen. With Shang Zian so overwhelmingly strong, he still dared to move against him?
Moreover, with the lord of the Red Dust Peerless Tower and the assembled divine generals overseeing, Zhang Ruochen’s identity could absolutely not be revealed.
Under such conditions, to still slay Shang Zian would truly demand heaven-shattering prowess.
Yan Shenfei said: “Far too perilous! Would it not be preferable to eliminate him on the battlefield hereafter?”
“A man like Shang Zian cannot be permitted another day of life, lest I suffer grievous consequences,” Zhang Ruochen said. He still could not forget the severed heads dangling outside the Yin Yang Hall in those days, a profound agony etched in his heart.
Yan Wushen said: “Do you plan to strike within Guihai Pavilion itself? Guihai Pavilion is riddled with divine patterns, an ideal spot to conceal one’s deeds. When Ao Yi and Chu Jian clash in decisive combat and all eyes are drawn thither, that shall be the prime moment to act.”
“No!”
Zhang Ruochen rejected the scheme and said: “Better to draw him to me than seek him out myself.”
“What do you mean?”
Yan Wushen deemed himself supremely astute, yet even he struggled to grasp Zhang Ruochen’s intent.
“Shang Zian is innately suspicious and devious of mind, one must deliberately expose a vulnerability to reel him in,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“And where lies this vulnerability?” Yan Wushen asked.
Zhang Ruochen said: “Uncle Xu’s earlier strike has already laid bare a flaw. Add to that me, this abruptly emerged stranger of potent mental power, and he must already harbour doubts, brimming with curiosity towards me.”
Xu Sheng started in alarm and said: “Did I truly expose a flaw just now?”
Yan Wushen had already pieced it together and said: “The absence of flaws is the grandest flaw of all. A cultivator freshly bereft of his cherished son stands at the zenith of sorrow and fury, how then could battle reveal no flaws whatsoever?”
“In truth, the greater flaw resides in Uncle Xu’s pretext being so contrived. A matter from five centuries past, hounded only now; anyone could surmise it was a contrived quarrel,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xu Sheng smiled and said: “Thus, so long as I elected to strike, regardless of the excuse, it was inherently a flaw.”
“Now, we lack merely the final lure.”
“How to lure him?”
Zhang Ruochen rose to his feet and said: “The cultivators gathered at Guihai Pavilion tonight have all come to behold with their own eyes the supreme clash between Ao Yi and Chu Jian. If I alone depart prematurely by myself, would that not appear unduly peculiar?”
“Were I Shang Zian, I would assuredly tail him,” Yan Wushen said.
Zhang Ruochen had already flung open the door, descended the stairs, and departed Guihai Pavilion.
Tonight’s Red Dust Sea Market brimmed with crowds, all great saint powerhouses drawn to witness the spectacle.
Under such throngs, for a single cultivator to mask their aura was exceedingly simple. Just so, Zhang Ruochen made no deliberate probe to discern if any followed him.
Upon quitting the Red Dust Sea Market, Zhang Ruochen intentionally employed mental power to etherealise his form, striding atop the waves as he hastened towards the island housing Qing Li Garden.
Across this desolate seascape, Zhang Ruochen at last sensed a faint ripple trailing behind him; the corners of his mouth quirked faintly upwards, and he halted abruptly.
Mental power surged outward, manifesting as an enclosed minor realm.
Zhang Ruochen struck forth indeed, his body morphing into a ray of sword light that hurtled away, unleashing peerless velocity as it slammed into a certain invisible, intangible spot upon the waves.
This sword wove in the tenets of the sword path.
Boom.
Lian Xi, arrayed in the Radiant Holy Armour, interposed her sword to parry.
Yet she could not withstand Zhang Ruochen’s consummate strike; the Sword of Judgement in her grasp recoiled against her bosom, her form rocketing away like a spent shell.
Lian Xi poised upon the sea, billows roiling beneath her feet; her palms rent asunder, blood trickling forth.
Her heart quaked with profound shock, for she had never anticipated the elder Shang Zian bid her shadow to be such a redoubtable personage. Had the foe not hastily reined in a portion of that sword’s might moments ago, she might well have sustained grave wounds.
How had the Heavenly Court abruptly spawned such an unfamiliar titan?
Moreover, why had the foe just then abruptly tempered some of his power?
Zhang Ruochen betrayed astonishment and said: “How is it you? Where is Shang Zian?”
Lian Xi, for all that she had attained the semi-divine pinnacle, swiftly regained composure and said: “You actually foresaw that someone would shadow you? Out with it, who precisely are you?”
Upon the Sword of Judgement she wielded, myriad supreme inscriptions materialised, radiating ever-intensifying surges of power.
Now, she stood unlike her prior unpreparedness, caught utterly unawares. She held confidence that with her semi-divine apical cultivation wedded to the Sword of Judgement, even in defeat she could withdraw intact.
Gazing upon Lian Xi’s countenance, fair as an immortal nymph, Zhang Ruochen felt profound dejection, having squandered a prime chance to slay Shang Zian.
Yan Wushen stepped into Zhang Ruochen’s mental domain and materialised behind Lian Xi, chuckling: “A mere handmaiden, confronted by her onetime lord, dares yet to unsheathe her blade. Fail to kneel and prostrate at once, and this night spells your doom.”
Zhang Ruochen shot Yan Wushen a frigid glance; how could he utter such words?
It laid bare his identity.
Lian Xi’s heart jolted; she whirled about fiercely, her twin orbs of starlight, starkly black and white, fixing upon Yan Wushen as she said: “Who are you, to prattle such drivel?”
Yan Wushen ignored their stares entirely, shrugged, and said: “I prattle nothing! Is not Zhang Ruochen your erstwhile lord? Or perchance, upon your return to the Heavenly Court, your recollections were effaced?”
“You… what say you? He is…”
Lian Xi’s memories remained untouched, she merely found Yan Wushen’s declaration incredulous.
She gazed squarely at Zhang Ruochen, hands clasped behind him some paces distant; the lustre from her Sword of Judgement wavered fitfully, as though echoing the tumult and disarray within her soul.
With matters thus advanced, Zhang Ruochen saw no cause to persist in concealment; he resumed his true visage and levelled a reproachful glare at Yan Wushen.
Was this not wilfully courting him calamity?
