“Old sir!”
Joy flashed across the beautiful face of the Master of the Netherflower Workshop. She had never expected to encounter Zhang Ruochen in the midst of this reddish-yellow Gobi.
But the delight quickly turned to worry. With deep apprehension she cried, “Flee at once! That man is Caoyi Shen, Lord of the Yin-Yang Realm. We are no match for him!”
“Caoyi Shen… I have heard a little of him.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and set her soft, fragrant body gently on the ground.
The Master of the Netherflower Workshop sensed that, compared to before, the old gentleman had changed.
He was no longer shrouded in sorrow and desolation. Though still aged, though the flame of his life still burned low, the smile in his eyes now brimmed with boundless vitality, confidence, and fighting spirit.
It touched her deeply. She thought to herself, “Even with only a wisp of life-flame left, the old sir can be like this. I am merely sixty thousand years old, with long ages yet ahead of me. Why then have I decided I can never break through to High God? Why did Caoyi Shen shatter my heart and will so easily?”
Her gaze sharpened. She released the mighty aura befitting a god and stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Ruochen, looking toward Caoyi Shen. “There is nowhere left for us to run. Even fleeing to the Yuchen Divine Temple would likely be a dead end. Since that is so, we fight to the death.”
Black divine flames flared across her gorgeous body.
She burned her divine blood and lifespan, her aura rising until it rivalled the peak of Median God.
Caoyi Shen studied Zhang Ruochen for a long moment, then bared a ferocious grin. “This seat knows who you are. You are the old man who killed Wuma Jiuxing, are you not?”
“You are mistaken,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
Caoyi Shen laughed. “Impossible. Deny it all you like. How many gods in the universe possess precisely seventy-fourth-order spiritual strength?”
“I meant that not only Wuma Jiuxing died by my hand, but Motong and the Fourth Armoured Blood Ancestor as well.”
Though the Master of the Netherflower Workshop had prepared herself to die here, Zhang Ruochen’s words still startled her. Yet inwardly she admired him. She knew he spoke thus to burn all bridges behind them.
Either they died here, or they killed Caoyi Shen.
She said, “Old sir, the Caoyi Shen before us is merely an avatar. He cannot fight for long. If we can delay him until his power begins to wane, victory will be ours.”
“Stop burning your divine blood and soul. Your cultivation is too weak; even staking your life will not let you oppose him. Retreat. I will deal with him.”
With a flick of his sleeve, Zhang Ruochen struck her chest. A gust of wind sent her flying far away.
The next instant, he rose upon the wind and soared into the sky.
“Good, you come to me!”
Caoyi Shen spread his arms. The sound of rushing water filled the region; the air turned into an ocean, waves crashing and flowing.
The Master of the Netherflower Workshop felt the surroundings grow deathly cold.
She knew that, with the old gentleman’s spiritual strength, he could never be Caoyi Shen’s match. She tried to rush forward and fight beside him, only to be forced back by invisible waves of water.
“This power is…”
Before her startled doubt could form fully, Caoyi Shen roared, “Three Thousand Li of Weak Water!”
A vast river of Weak Water appeared above his head, broad and majestic, carrying the same mysterious aura as Heaven’s Celestial River. It surged straight toward Zhang Ruochen.
Wherever the Weak Water flowed, even the divine runes left by Immortal Jade Dragon a hundred thousand years ago, and some of Master Fangcun’s spatial techniques, were washed away.
The laws of heaven and earth fell into disorder. Under such conditions, it became exceedingly difficult for a spiritual-strength god to mobilise the power of heaven and earth.
“Worthy of the lord of a mighty realm. To cultivate such a divine ability is no small matter.”
Zhang Ruochen sighed in admiration, then vanished just before the Weak Water struck.
Caoyi Shen’s attack hit nothing. His expression changed; he whirled around at once.
He found Zhang Ruochen now floating behind him in the sky, white hair flying, utterly unconcerned with the lord of an entire realm.
Only at this moment did the Master of the Netherflower Workshop realise she had underestimated the old gentleman.
On closer inspection, she finally saw that the spatial divine arrays of the Yuchen Divine Temple had long since enveloped this place. The old sir had been standing inside the arrays all along.
“No wonder he was so confident. He has the spatial arrays to aid him. Wonderful! No matter how strong Caoyi Shen is, he cannot be the old sir’s opponent.”
She knew full well how terrifying the spatial arrays of the Yuchen Divine Temple were; even the City Lord himself could not force his way in. If Caoyi Shen’s true body had come, she might still have worried.
But a mere avatar would never prevail against the old sir.
“So the old gentleman is also a master of arrays. Perhaps I truly should take him as my teacher and learn far more.”
Her heart now held not only gratitude toward him, but admiration.
Whoosh!
The might of the Weak Water river was indeed formidable. Ordinary High Gods would struggle against it.
Yet within the spatial divine arrays, Zhang Ruochen dealt with it effortlessly. No matter how fierce the Weak Water, it could not touch even the hem of his robe.
Caoyi Shen knew his opponent was draining his divine power. He growled, “What meaning is there in hiding and dodging like this? Since you claim to have slain Wuma Jiuxing, Motong, and the Fourth Armoured Blood Ancestor, show your true ability and fight me honourably!”
“You cannot even break the array, and you wish to fight me?” Zhang Ruochen replied.
Caoyi Shen nearly went mad with rage. A mere seventy-fourth-order spiritual-strength god dared speak to him in such a tone.
Outrageous!
“You only dare act mighty because you borrow the arrays Master Fangcun laid down long ago! If this seat’s true body were here, breaking these arrays would be child’s play.”
Zhang Ruochen hovered a hundred zhang above the ground, divine radiance blazing above his head, his entire being ethereal and transcendent like a god. “Very well. I shall grant your wish and defeat you with true power right now.”
Caoyi Shen was overjoyed, believing his provocation had worked. With a wave, he unleashed the Weak Water river once more.
This time, the old man in mid-air did not dodge.
“He courts death!”
A triumphant sneer had only just begun to form on Caoyi Shen’s lips when…
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion. The surging Weak Water river was shattered by a jet-black metal staff as thick as a mountain peak. Water droplets became a torrential rain that poured down upon Caoyi Shen and the Master of the Netherflower Workshop.
“Obsidian War-Heaven Pillar!”
The Master of the Netherflower Workshop recognised this supreme sacred artefact instantly and was already stunned. But when she saw the silver-haired young girl wielding it, barefoot and bearing delicate dragon horns, her shock reached an indescribable level.
Given Caoyi Shen’s cultivation and status, a Heaven-Suppressing supreme sacred artefact would not move him greatly.
Nor would he know which saint-realm cultivator had owned it before.
Yet when he saw the girl standing beside Zhang Ruochen, silver hair flowing, delicate snow-white feet bare, tiny dragon horns upon her brow, his face abruptly changed. He cried out in horror, “Immortal Jade Dragon! You are not dead?”
Whoosh!
Immortal Jade Dragon, grasping the Obsidian War-Heaven Pillar, moved like light itself. In an instant she was before Caoyi Shen and swept the pillar horizontally.
Supreme power condensed into a curtain of light-waves that tore a long gash through space.
Her strength was that of a humanoid divine dragon.
BOOM!
Caoyi Shen could not withstand it. His abdomen caved inward; he was hurled backward, smashing an entire hill to rubble.
Immortal Jade Dragon soared upward, gripping the pillar with both hands, and brought it straight down.
“Divine light, protect me!”
Caoyi Shen swiftly regained his composure. He poured all his divine qi into his multicoloured robes.
These robes were his greatest treasure, forged from seven different divine materials, each containing a distinct power.
Protective divine arrays were woven into the fabric, source lightning hid in every thread, annihilation heavenly fire was stored in the sleeves…
Ever since becoming a god, Caoyi Shen had continually refined these robes, investing vast resources.
Now they had become a top-tier Primordial Chaos supreme sacred artefact, almost qualifying as a sub-divine supreme sacred artefact.
Whoosh!
Countless rays of divine light burst from the robes like a divine lamp igniting.
Were it not for the spatial divine arrays, that light could have illuminated all of Xinghuan Heaven, turning millions of li into an ocean of divine radiance.
When the Obsidian War-Heaven Pillar collided with the power of the robes, the earth shuddered violently and sank downward.
Immortal Jade Dragon and Caoyi Shen plunged into the ground, fighting until hills collapsed across the reddish-yellow Gobi, the earth cracked, and dust filled the sky.
Zhang Ruochen hovered in mid-air, the Myriad Curse Heavenly Pearl in hand, chanting the Military Dao Nether Law Curse to control Immortal Jade Dragon.
The Military Dao Nether Law Curse was the core spell of the Nether Soldiers Volume.
Whether due to his Boundless Sacred Will or the aid of the Heart of Truth, Zhang Ruochen’s learning and comprehension speed was astonishing.
In an extremely short time, he had mastered the method of refining divine corpses from the Nether Soldiers Volume.
Yet the Military Dao Nether Law Curse for controlling divine corpses in battle was exceedingly difficult. He had grasped only the basics and still required the Myriad Curse Heavenly Pearl to cast it.
Moreover, unlike other divine corpses, Immortal Jade Dragon had awakened in a strange “living” state from the very beginning, filled with ferocious malice and terrifying battle power. Even with seventy-fourth-order spiritual strength, Zhang Ruochen had to exert himself fully to control her.
For the near future, he would be unable to refine any other divine corpses.
BOOM!
A vast expanse of the reddish-yellow Gobi collapsed. Immortal Jade Dragon shot out of the dust as a pillar of silver light, appearing beside Zhang Ruochen. One hand held the Obsidian War-Heaven Pillar; the other snow-white little hand clutched blood-soaked multicoloured robes.
Clearly, Caoyi Shen’s avatar had been destroyed by her.
Zhang Ruochen took the robes from her, feeling the powerful killing aura radiating from her body. His throat bobbed. He truly feared he might lose control of her.
One strike from her would shatter even him.
“When this seat’s true body arrives, all of you will die.”
A venomous, hoarse voice rose from underground.
From the sunken earth, strands of divine light flew out, fleeing toward the edge of the reddish-yellow Gobi. Each strand was one of Caoyi Shen’s divine thoughts.
Of thirty million divine thoughts, fewer than three thousand remained.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile and released the twelve Soul-Devouring Bells, gathering all the remaining divine thoughts of Caoyi Shen into the bells.
On the ground, the Master of the Netherflower Workshop stared blankly at the old man and Immortal Jade Dragon in the sky, her mind utterly empty. Though she had never met Immortal Jade Dragon in life, she had seen her divine statues and portraits.
…
Heavenly Divine Maiden City.
Queen Bai, Caoyi Shen, Lord Blackheart Demon, Shang Hong, and Bai Qing’er were still inside the Divine Queen Hall.
Pfft!
Suddenly Caoyi Shen spat blood and collapsed backward. Half his hair turned white in an instant, wrinkles spreading visibly across his face.
Lord Blackheart Demon and Shang Hong both paled and hurriedly helped him up.
Divine fire blazed in Caoyi Shen’s eyes. He roared, “Who? Who exactly destroyed this seat’s avatar?”
Bang!
He flung out his arms, sending Lord Blackheart Demon and Shang Hong flying, then transformed into a streak of divine light that shot out of the Heavenly Divine Maiden Tower toward the Yuhong Mountains.
The loss of one avatar and thirty million divine thoughts was minor; with pills he could recover.
But if the Seven-Source Multicoloured Robes were lost, he would truly go mad.
Lord Blackheart Demon turned coldly to Bai Qing’er. “What exactly is going on? Why is the Yuhong Mountain Range so deadly? Caoyi Shen’s avatar wore the Seven-Source Multicoloured Robes. How could anything happen to him?”
Bai Qing’er was unmoved by his great-god aura. Calmly she replied, “Why does the Demon Lord question this junior? I already said earlier that the Yuchen Divine Temple is extremely dangerous.”
“Indeed. The spatial divine arrays left by Master Fangcun are there. Even this City Lord must proceed with utmost caution,” Queen Bai added.
“Let us go and see just how formidable this so-called Yuchen Divine Temple is, that even a great god cannot enter.”
Suspicious by nature, Lord Blackheart Demon did not trust Bai Qing’er or Queen Bai. He seized Shang Hong and strode outward.
With only Caoyi Shen involved, Bai Qing’er was already worried Zhang Ruochen might not hold. How could she let them go as well?
She said, “The resting place of a Tianzun is unfathomably strange. Even great gods must approach with reverence. A hundred thousand years ago, the previous master of the Twelve Divine Maiden Workshops, Immortal Jade Dragon, perished inside.”
Lord Blackheart Demon and Shang Hong halted abruptly, their faces changing dramatically.
“Why did you not say so sooner?” Lord Blackheart Demon growled, his eyes like twin abyssal pools.
If even Immortal Jade Dragon had fallen in the Yuchen Divine Temple, neither he nor Shang Hong dared go lightly. They had no wish to throw away their lives for Caoyi Shen.
Bai Qing’er met his gaze. “Which words does the Demon Lord mean? From the very beginning I said the Yuchen Divine Temple was the dojo of Xinghuan Tianzun’s second disciple and extremely dangerous. Oh, by all means hurry to the Yuchen Divine Temple. If anything happens to Caoyi Shen, the Twelve Divine Maiden Workshops would find it hard to explain to Heaven.”
As she spoke these words, her graceful and exquisite figure slowly walked out of the Divine Queen Hall.
“So she had already guessed the identities of Lord Blackheart Demon and Caoyi Shen long ago! Bai Qing’er, oh Bai Qing’er, have you been scheming against Caoyi Shen from the start?”
Watching the doors of the Divine Queen Hall and Bai Qing’er’s departing figure, Shang Hong’s estimation of this woman rose to new heights. At the same time, his interest in her grew ever deeper.
He knew this flower was breathtakingly beautiful yet covered in venomous thorns, but he still wanted to pluck it.
The greater the danger, the greater the thrill.
