“Is there a place for you to talk here?”
The Wind Bird glanced towards Ri Min, and two cold lights flew out from its pupils.
Zhang Ruochen performed a Spatial Shift and moved out horizontally, appearing in front of Lai Min’s body, and pressed his palm forward, shattering the two chilly lights that flew out.
Immediately after, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his palm, revealing a disgusted expression as he said, “If you have something to do, come at me, why do you need to lay such a cruel hand on a tender little girl?”
Just now, if Zhang Ruochen hadn’t made a move, I’m afraid that the wind fowl’s two gazes would have already pierced through Ri Min’s body and killed her.
“Good, in that case, this king will clean you up first.”
Wind Bird clenched his fists with both hands and stamped his foot forward, causing the ground in the middle of the bamboo forest to sink downwards. At the same time, dense wind blades appeared in all directions, emitting a swish-swish sound.
“Stop.”
A deep and cold voice rang out.
Shi Ren and a group of elders from the Prison Suppressor Ancient Clan hurriedly rushed up from the bottom of the mountain, appearing between the wind fowl and Zhang Ruochen, stopping the two.
Facing the elders of the Prison Zhen Ancient Clan, Wind Bird frowned tightly as he let out a cold snort, and also had to put away his power.
However, the battle intent on his body did not diminish.
Wind Bird had met Shi Ren, so naturally, he was aware of his identity, and said, “Young Patriarch, this king is going to capture a court felon, and in this matter, do you, the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan, want to intervene as well?”
Shi Ren’s gaze, stared towards the wind fowl and said, “The court has the rules of the court, the Prison Zhen Ancient Clan has the rules of the Prison Zhen Ancient Clan. Zhang Ruochen is a valued guest of the Prison Zhen Ancient Clan, and as long as he is still in the Underworld Sword Mound, it is also absolutely impossible to let the court take him away.”
Wind Bird still had some understanding of the internal situation of the Ancient Clan of Zhen Prison, so he didn’t take Shi Ren’s words to heart and snorted coldly, “Zhang Ruochen is the person that the Empress has personally ordered to be captured, Young Patriarch, should you know what that means? Don’t ever invite trouble to the Prison Zhen Ancient Clan, or else, I’m afraid that your position as the Young Patriarch will be untenable.”
“Is that so? I really don’t believe it.”
Shi Ren did not have a trace of fear and appeared determined…?Right at this moment, within the white clouds, there were a dozen silhouettes that walked out and ascended to the top of Bamboo Festival Mountain.
The three people walking at the forefront were Wan Zhaoyi, Sacred Book Talent, and Wang Jie.
Behind the three, there were also some Half-Saint level powerhouses from the Ministry of War and the Prison Suppression Ancient Race. All of these people, all of them were great figures that shook the party, with powerful auras, thick blood qi, and full spirits, coalescing into a powerful deterrent.
With the arrival of the saints, the atmosphere of the entire Bamboo Festival Mountain became austere.
An ordinary Fish Dragon Realm cultivator, seeing such a formation, would probably have already knelt on the ground.
Of course, Wang Jie knew that Zhang Ruochen lived at Bamboo Festival Mountain, and it was precisely for this reason that he had arranged for all the powerful people from the Ministry of Military Affairs to also temporarily reside at Bamboo Festival Mountain.
Unexpectedly, the people from the Ministry of Military Affairs, indeed, still encountered Zhang Ruochen.
The corner of Wang Jie’s mouth hooked, revealing a smug smile, then he quickly stepped out a few feet and walked over, saying, “Young Patriarch, this matter is best for us, the Ancient Clan of the Zhen Prison, not to intervene, after all, Zhang Ruochen is originally a felon of the imperial court, and also colluded with the Undying Blood Clan, staying in the Ancient Clan of the Zhen Prison, will only be a scourge.”?Shi Ren’s gaze, fixed on Wan Zhaobian and the Sacred Book Talented Lady, moved back to Wang Jie’s body and said in a cold voice, “Who said that Zhang Ruochen colluded with the Immortal Blood Race? Do you have any evidence?”
Wang Jie sighed and put on a very helpless look, saying, “Young Patriarch, the facts are all quite obvious, why do you continue to favour Zhang Ruochen? In the future, if Zhang Ruochen causes an irreparable catastrophe for the Ancient Prison Zhen Clan because of Zhang Ruochen, who can be held responsible? The Queen’s order to capture Zhang Ruochen must have some reasoning, could it be that you even dare to disobey the Queen’s order?”
Shi Ren wasn’t a person without reason, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to survive until now.
He said, “Outside of the Underworld Sword Mound, if the imperial court wanted to capture Zhang Ruochen, I definitely wouldn’t have any opinions. However, Zhang Ruochen is my friend, and even more so, he is a valued guest of the Ancient Clan of Prison Zhen, if the court wants to take him away, it will not be able to do so unless it first steps over my body.”
Shi Ren knew very well that he had the status of a Young Patriarch, and even if the imperial court wanted to capture Zhang Ruochen as desperately as possible, they wouldn’t dare to be too reckless.
His attitude, if he wasn’t tough enough, then Zhang Ruochen would definitely be captured by the court today, with unpredictable consequences.
If it really came to that, it would only chill the hearts of all the sword bearers.
In the future, if the Ancient Prison Zhen Clan encountered danger again, would all of you sword-wielders still rush back to help?
Therefore, whether it was for public or private reasons, Shi Ren absolutely could not back down.
The dozen or so elders behind Shi Ren also stood out, standing behind Shi Ren. They were all old men who were loyal to the Shi family, some of them had even followed the old ancestor, so they naturally worked together with Shi Ren.
Wang Jie, however, was delighted in his heart, since Shi Ren had taken the initiative to stand up in favour of Zhang Ruochen, it was possible to make use of this opportunity to clean him up together.
He turned around and gave a slight arch to Wan Zhaoyi, saying, “Your Highness, as you can see, the Young Patriarch is simply unreasonable. Now that the great enemy is at hand, yet he is still thinking about the little personal relationship he has with Zhang Ruochen, I’m afraid that he will miss the big event.”?Wan Zhaoyi was wearing the Green Dragon Treasure Armour, his eyes burning with a slight hint of a smile as he stared over in the direction of Zhang Ruochen and Shi Ren, saying, “On the contrary, this king thinks that the Young Clan Chief is a person who is very reasonable to the end.”
Wang Jie was slightly stunned, and he was somewhat puzzled as to what exactly Wan Zhaoyi wanted to do. Could it be that he didn’t want to capture Zhang Ruochen?
Wan Zhaoyi added, “When the Qing Emperor was on the throne, he had indeed issued an imperial decree for the Prison Zhen Ancient Race. Thus, even if one is a member of the imperial court and enters the Underworld Sword Mound, they still have to follow the rules of the Prison Suppressing Ancient Race.”
Shi Ren carried his hands behind his back as he locked eyes with Wan Zhaoyi and said, “The Little Sacred Heavenly King is indeed worthy of being the number one person in the past hundred years, and he indeed acts in a much brighter and more upright manner than some people.”
Wan Zhaoyi’s words turned and added, “The court can temporarily spare Zhang Ruochen, but some personal grudges, even the Young Patriarch can’t control them, right?”
Shi Ren’s eyes narrowed as he said, “What private grudge?”
Wan Zhaoyi’s voice rose, appearing breathless as he said, “In Qingli County, Wind Bird’s four comrades, all of them died under Zhang Ruochen’s sword, this blood feud cannot be bypassed no matter what.”
Wind Bird violently stomped on the ground, shattering the earth into pieces, and let out a low roar, “Zhang Ruochen, if you’re still a man, immediately stand out and fight me to the death. Today, either you die or I die.”
It had to be said that Wan Zhaoyi’s tactics were far too superior to Wang Jie’s.
In this way, even Shi Ren could not continue to stop him. After all, Zhang Ruochen had indeed killed the four Kings of the Ministry of Soldiers. Perhaps one of them was a close friend of the Wind Bird.
Who could prove that there wasn’t?
“Zhang Ruochen, when you broke through the Ziyong Pass, you killed my compatriot brother. Today, no matter what, I will avenge his death.”
Another Half-Saint from the Military Ministry also claimed to have a personal grudge against Zhang Ruochen.
“The Wanxiang King was my sworn brother, yet he was killed by you. Even if the entire Prison Zhen Ancient Clan has to shelter you, today, I will take your life.”
“Kill Zhang Ruochen and take revenge.”
……
A large portion of the Soldier Division Half-Saints present, among them, claimed to have a grudge against Zhang Ruochen. Of course, the vast majority of them just wanted to find an excuse to take the opportunity to fight Zhang Ruochen to the death.
After all, whoever killed Zhang Ruochen would also surely become famous in one fell swoop, and would also receive a huge amount of merit value, and might even be rewarded by the Queen.
With such a rare opportunity, naturally, everyone was fighting for it.
In their eyes, Zhang Ruochen was a fragrant bun, and everyone wanted to swallow him in one bite.
The Sacred Book Talent Maiden, on the contrary, appeared exceptionally quiet, her pair of black and white eyes staring at Xiao Hei’s body, revealing a heartfelt smile.
Since this cat, who liked to spout out wild words, appeared by Zhang Ruochen’s side. Then, she would also be able to be certain that Zhang Ruochen must be that Sword Dao wizard of the Two Element Sect, Lin Yue.
At this moment, she figured out all of her previous doubts.
“No wonder he doesn’t want to be a Boundary Son ……”
The Sacred Book Talented Lady’s heart sighed as her mind became a little messy and conflicted. What to do when the man who had once made her most appreciative had become her enemy?
If it was another official in the court who wanted to apprehend Zhang Ruochen, she could use some means to help him.
However, Zhang Ruochen was the one that the Empress had decreed to be apprehended, so even she felt helpless.
Xiao Hei glanced towards the Sacred Book Talented Maiden, sensing that it was not good, and secretly transmitted a voice to Zhang Ruochen, reminding him, “Zhang Ruochen, your identity has been exposed!”
Zhang Ruochen, on the contrary, appeared to be quite calm and didn’t mess up himself, slightly glancing sideways to stare at the Sacred Book Talented Maiden.
The eyes of the two men, collided for a moment, meeting each other in all directions.
Only, the Holy Book Talented Maiden’s eyes were tinged with a light smile, and there was no intention of striking out against him.
There was no doubt that the Sacred Book Talented Lady was loyal to the Empress. Even though, Zhang Ruochen had saved her twice before, she did not feel optimistic in the slightest and did not let her guard down.
When Shi Ren saw Zhang Ruochen walk out, he immediately stopped him and said, “Brother Zhang, let me resolve this matter ……”
Zhang Ruochen interrupted him and shook his head, saying, “No, this matter must be resolved by me personally.”
It was then that Zhang Ruochen stared back towards the Half-Saints of the Ministry of Military Affairs and said, “Since all of you have a grudge against me, then I will agree to your life and death duel. Let’s just see if today, it will be your deaths or mine.”
Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to accept the battle, otherwise, he would definitely involve Shi Ren.
When Wang Jie heard that Zhang Ruochen had answered the battle, he was both a bit delighted but also quite sad.
Instead, he hoped that Zhang Ruochen would continue to remain silent, allowing Shi Ren to confront the Half-Saints of the Ministry of War.
In this way, he would have some backstabbing moves to use, thus bringing Shi Ren down and taking the position of the Young Patriarch himself.
However, to be able to make it this far was already pretty good.
As long as he got rid of Zhang Ruochen, it would also be the same as breaking Shi Ren’s arm, and in the future, there would naturally be many more opportunities to deal with Shi Ren.?
……
…………
Above the central altar of the Ancient Clan of Prison Suppression, a hundred feet long and wide gladiatorial stage was suspended.
At this moment, below the gladiatorial stage, people were in shadow, gathering countless clansmen of the Zhen Prison Ancient Clan.
“Zhang Ruochen is definitely an infiltrator of the Immortal Blood Clan,咋们镇狱古族不方便出手对付他，但是，他却不能逃逃兵部的制裁。”
“Only by killing Zhang Ruochen will the Underworld Sword Mound restore peace.”
“If I were Zhang Ruochen, I should have obediently tied my hands. The Empress is merciful and will probably spare his life.”
When the crowd learnt, that Zhang Ruochen was going to have a life and death duel with all the Half-Saints of the Ministry of Military Affairs, they rushed over, eager to see, the scene of him splattered in blood.
