# Chapter 1012: Descendant of the Zhang Clan
The closer they got to Saint Ming City, the more familiar the surrounding scenery became. Even though eight hundred years had passed, some famous landmarks and historic sites had not been destroyed.
"Saint Ming City, I have finally returned!"
Zhang Ruochen stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the banks of the great river.
Not far away, atop Kongle Mountain, stood a seventy-four-story tall tower, a tower built by an ancient saint. Eight hundred years ago, Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao had climbed it together to view the magnificent rivers and mountains of the Holy Bright Central Empire.
At the city gate stood two sixty-nine-zhang-tall bronze-cast golden lions, symbols of the Holy Bright Central Empire's totem. The flames of war had not destroyed them.
The towering city walls resembled a row of black, majestic mountain ranges. The city gate was extremely magnificent, like a sacred gate leading to the Heavenly Palace.
Arriving at the dock outside the city, Zhang Ruochen's thoughts were tumultuous. He surveyed everything around him, recalling some past events, and ripples stirred in his calm heart.
On the dock, many nobles and high officials had gathered, forming a long line. There were at least several hundred of them, as if they were welcoming some important person.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Chu Siyuan and said, "Senior Chu, your reputation is indeed great. So many people have come to welcome you."
"Is that so?"
Chu Siyuan was somewhat surprised. His eyes rolled as he thought to himself, *I came to Saint Ming City this time very discreetly. I didn't notify any Confucian students in advance. Why would anyone come to welcome me?*
Chu Siyuan straightened his robes and hat, stepped forward, and looked toward the dock. But he saw that those people were not there to welcome him; they were looking in another direction.
In that direction, a metal ship over a hundred meters long was slowly docking. A group of distinguished and noble figures walked down and, surrounded by the crowd, entered Saint Ming City.
Zhang Ruochen said lightly, "It turns out they weren't here to welcome you, Senior. It seems you don't have much influence in Saint Ming City."
He said this deliberately, mainly to annoy Chu Siyuan.
Chu Siyuan was immediately displeased and snorted, "If this old man had given advance notice, the Confucian students and court officials who would come to welcome me would be ten times, even a hundred times, this number. But this old man is low-key and doesn't want to make such a big fuss."
"Perhaps," Zhang Ruochen said with a faint smile. "There is no banquet that doesn't end. Since we've arrived at Saint Ming City, let's each go about our own business."
With that, Zhang Ruochen immediately activated his movement technique and, with uncanny speed, entered Saint Ming City ahead of everyone else.
Chu Siyuan stroked his beard, his eyes narrowing into slits. "This kid is in such a hurry to shake me off. What exactly is he going to do? There must be some secret he doesn't want me to know."
If it were an ordinary person, Chu Siyuan wouldn't be interested at all. But the problem was that Zhang Ruochen was no ordinary person. This kid had done many earth-shaking things.
Chu Siyuan shook his wide sleeves and followed.
"That old man Chu has indeed followed me. Is the master of the Painting Sect really this idle?" Zhang Ruochen said, somewhat speechless.
He did not immediately head to the Imperial Mausoleum. Instead, he used a leisurely pace to wander around the city.
Just as Zhang Ruochen entered Saint Ming Imperial City, experts from the Bright Hall had already spotted him and were following him in the shadows, monitoring his every move.
Saint Ming City had an ancient history, existing since the ancient era. It was not only the imperial city of the Holy Bright Central Empire but, in even more distant ages, some ancient civilizations had also established their capitals here.
After millions of years of prosperity and development, the urban area of Saint Ming City had continuously expanded. By now, it covered thousands of miles of land, and at least a billion humans lived within the city.
Calling it a city-state within a city was not an exaggeration.
After wandering through the outer city for most of the day, Zhang Ruochen headed toward the inner city. The streets and alleys were even more bustling, and one could see human cultivators of considerable strength everywhere.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen caught a faint scent of blood emanating from a mansion on the left.
Outside the mansion was a squad of soldiers clad in black armor.
They rode on the backs of barbarian beasts, exuding a cold, murderous aura, and had completely surrounded the mansion.
Among the troops, four formation masters were setting up a grand Zhou Tian formation that enveloped the entire mansion, preventing anyone from escaping.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed a martial artist at the Heavenly Extreme Realm and asked him what was going on.
That martial artist said, "That's the Azure Dragon Army of the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion. They are arresting remnants of the former dynasty."
"Remnants of the former dynasty... the Bright Hall?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Not the Bright Hall. It is said that this mansion is inhabited by a branch of the imperial Zhang Clan's descendants. They have been hiding in Saint Ming City and were only recently discovered," the martial artist said in a low voice.
Hearing this, a strange light flickered in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. Then, he dismissed the martial artist.
Circling the mansion once, Zhang Ruochen found a weak point in the defense. Using his spatial power, he opened a gap in the formation and slipped in silently.
Zhang Ruochen had never had any news of the imperial Zhang Clan. Now that he finally had a lead, he naturally had to go in and investigate.
Entering the mansion, the smell of blood grew even stronger.
The ground was covered with corpses. They were not only martial artists who had cultivated martial arts but also many ordinary people, including the bodies of children and the elderly.
Blood was everywhere on the corridors.
Some houses were emitting flames, and people inside were screaming. Soon, it became quiet again, and all sound ceased.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and arrived outside the main hall.
On either side of the main hall's entrance stood a squad of cold-faced Azure Dragon soldiers, guarding the place.
A general of the Azure Dragon Army sat in the highest seat. He looked about thirty years old, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and his eyes emitted a chilling coldness.
This man was named Xie Kui.
Below him, thirteen cultivators in splendid clothes knelt. They were not ordinary people.
Besides them, dozens of others lay on the ground, all with their necks severed.
Xie Kui said in a deep voice, "You'd better confess honestly. Where are the other remnants of the former dynasty hiding? Whoever speaks first, this general will spare his life."
Then, Xie Kui pointed his finger at an eleven or twelve-year-old boy. "You speak."
A soldier, two meters tall, carrying a broad heavy sword, walked over to the boy. A cold smile on his face, he held the heavy sword suspended above the boy's head.
It was clear that if the boy didn't say something valuable, he would lose his head immediately.
The boy was still very young and extremely frightened, but a determined look appeared in his eyes. Trembling, he said, "You... you will all die a horrible death... When the Great Emperor returns, we will surely reclaim everything we once had."
Xie Kui shook his head and waved his hand lightly.
The burly, two-meter-tall soldier chuckled darkly, raised his heavy sword, and swung it downward with force.
The thirteen cultivators kneeling on the ground all tightly closed their eyes. One woman among them even began to sob softly.
"Snap!"
A crisp sound of breaking rang out.
That broad heavy sword had broken into two pieces in mid-air.
Half of it fell to the ground with a clang.
"Who is it?"
All the Azure Dragon soldiers present drew their weapons in an instant, releasing a shocking murderous aura.
Xie Kui remained seated steadily in his chair, his gaze sweeping in all directions. He laughed and said, "So the Zhang Clan's experts have finally arrived? This general thought we wouldn't be able to force you out."
"Swoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen, wearing the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, stood beside the boy, his body appearing semi-transparent. "Are you people from the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion?"
Xie Kui knew the other party was an expert and didn't dare to underestimate him. He immediately stood up and said, "The Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion is stationed in Saint Ming City precisely to clean up the remnants of the former dynasty and establish a peaceful and prosperous era. You people of the Zhang Clan are too stubborn. Eight hundred years have passed, and you still think about restoring the kingdom."
Zhang Ruochen confirmed their identity and nodded. His voice turned cold. "You have killed so many innocent people. Shouldn't you pay some price?"
"If you want us to pay a price, it depends on whether you have the ability," Xie Kui said.
He gave the order: "Attack!"
The two-meter-tall burly soldier closest to Zhang Ruochen swung his broken blade, slashing at Zhang Ruochen's neck.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen pressed his palm outward, striking the soldier's chest.
Instantly, all the bones in that soldier's body turned to powder, and he collapsed to the ground like a lump of soft flesh.
Then, Zhang Ruochen formed a sword seal with his fingers. Above the entire mansion, a thousand sword qi condensed and flew out simultaneously.
"Pfft!"
With the sword qi dancing, the Azure Dragon soldiers fell one after another.
Xie Kui was greatly alarmed. He hadn't expected the expert who had arrived to be so formidable. He immediately took out a light talisman, inscribed a message, and tried to send the information out.
But before he could send the light talisman, Zhang Ruochen's palm print had already landed on him.
The palm print carried a ball of blazing flame, burning Xie Kui's body until it turned red-hot and finally completely reduced to ashes.
The entire mansion became very quiet.
In just a few moments, all the Azure Dragon soldiers had been killed.
"Thank you, benefactor, for saving our lives."
"May I ask for the benefactor's esteemed name?"
...
The thirteen descendants of the Zhang Clan on the ground stood up one after another, thanking Zhang Ruochen.
"I am also a descendant of the Zhang Clan."
Zhang Ruochen, wearing his Phantom Gold Mask, fixed his gaze on the man with the highest cultivation among them and asked, "Can you take me to meet the other Zhang Clan members?"
That man was the owner of this mansion, named Zhang Fengxing, and his cultivation had reached the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
A look of hesitation appeared on Zhang Fengxing's face.
Clearly, he wasn't completely at ease with Zhang Ruochen and had his concerns.
But the eleven or twelve-year-old boy greatly admired Zhang Ruochen. The combat power Zhang Ruochen had just displayed was like a war god descending to the mortal world, with an unbeatable momentum, even killing an expert like Xie Kui with a single palm strike.
Seeing such a powerful figure made the boy very excited, and he wished he could possess strength as great as Zhang Ruochen's.
So he immediately said, "Father, this big brother killed hundreds of Azure Dragon soldiers in one go. He definitely can't be someone from the imperial court."
Zhang Fengxing was an experienced man, not as naive as his son. He didn't trust Zhang Ruochen easily and said, "I must first report this matter to my superiors before I can make a decision. I hope you can understand."
"It doesn't matter. There are still some people following me that I haven't shaken off yet. Waiting a little longer won't hurt," Zhang Ruochen said. (To be continued.)