Chapter 1050: Great Change
The five Ninth-Rank Half-Saints, each a top-tier expert in their own right, should have been able to suppress the Blood God Sect’s Divine Son with the force of a thunderbolt.
Now, however, they knelt in a row, some severely injured, others unconscious, without a trace of the noble bearing befitting Ninth-Rank Half-Saints.
Within Yingsha City, waves of clamor rose and fell.
All the cultivators realized that the Blood God Sect’s Divine Son was not to be trifled with—he was undoubtedly a ruthless character.
“The Blood God Sect’s Divine Son has two great experts by his side. No wonder he’s so arrogant. If I had such formidable strength, I wouldn’t take the five commanders of the Azure Dragon Army seriously either.”
“A lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Even if Gu Linfeng has left the Blood God Sect, he remains a king in his own right, more than capable of contending with a behemoth like the Lingxiao Heavenly King Manor.”
Of course, some wore disdainful expressions, saying, “The power Gu Linfeng commands is indeed formidable, but he shouldn’t have provoked the Lingxiao Heavenly King Manor.”
“It’s said that the Lingxiao Heavenly King Manor’s Taisui King, Chi Wansui, is about to arrive at Yingsha City Base. With his strength alone, he can suppress the three great experts, including the Blood God Sect’s Divine Son.”
This news caused quite a stir.
Chi Wansui, one of the Nine Realm Sons, ranked ninth on the *Half-Saint Ranking*, and the third strongest among humans below the Saint realm.
Such a formidable figure, upon reaching Yingsha City, would immediately become the backbone of the entire base.
The leaders of various sects and alliances were all greatly energized, showing expressions of joy.
Now that all human cultivators were trapped in Yingsha City, unable to break out and compete for heavenly treasures, Chi Wansui’s arrival would surely change this situation.
“In front of Chi Wansui, I wonder if that Blood God Sect’s Divine Son will still dare to be so arrogant?”
Some cultivators wore gloating expressions, believing that Gu Linfeng was about to face a great calamity.
Zhang Ruochen, however, appeared fearless. He put away Yan Tong’s “Blood-Quenching Divine Blade” and Bai Xinglou’s “Starry Sea Dust and Sand,” holding them in his hands as he summoned two flames to begin refining them.
The Blood-Quenching Divine Blade and the Starry Sea Dust and Sand were both Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts, extremely precious and immensely powerful. Since Yan Tong and Bai Xinglou had delivered them to his doorstep, why not take them?
The leaders of the Lingxiao Heavenly King Manor fell into collective silence, taking no further action. Perhaps they were wary of Zhang Ruochen’s aggressive methods. Or maybe they were waiting for Chi Wansui’s arrival.
Half an hour later, two sounds of wind-breaking came from outside the courtyard.
Soon after, a man in a black robe and a woman in a blood-colored robe wrapped in blood qi passed through a semi-transparent light barrier and entered.
They were none other than Haiming Dharma King’s tenth disciple, “Ji Shui,” and his thirteenth disciple, “Lan Ye.”
Zhang Ruochen looked up, revealing a smile. “Uncle Ji, Uncle Lan, so you’ve come to the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm as well.”
Lan Ye’s face was stern, devoid of any smile. Standing seven zhang away, he said, “We are envoys of the Saintess, sent to deliver a message to you.”
“What message?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Chi Wansui is about to reach Yingsha City. Pitting your strength against him head-on would be like throwing an egg against a rock. The Saintess hopes you can set aside past grievances and return to the Blood God Sect. With the alliance’s strength, it will be enough to shield you from Chi Wansui’s wrath.”
Zhang Ruochen glanced in a certain direction of Yingsha City, faintly catching a glimpse of Shangguan Xianyan’s graceful figure. He smiled slightly. “Return to the Blood God Sect? Once I’m back, does the Saintess intend to kill me or protect me?”
Ji Shui, standing at the center of a mass of blood mist, spoke in an ethereal voice, “Divine Son, many disciples within the sect sincerely hope you will return. The Blood God Sect should not be divided. Only by uniting can we grow stronger. Our enemy should be the various barbarian beast clans, not continued internal strife.”
Zhang Ruochen’s face took on a playful expression as he stared at Ji Shui’s alluring figure, laughing, “Uncle Ji, what others think doesn’t matter to me. I just want to know—do you hope I return?”
Ji Shui gritted her teeth in anger. At such a critical juncture, that brat still dared to tease her. She really wanted to slap him.
But now, Gu Linfeng’s combat power surpassed her own, and with his status as Divine Son, Ji Shui was powerless to deal with him.
Suppressing her urge to punch Gu Linfeng, Ji Shui said, “Of course I hope the Divine Son will return.”
“Fine, since Uncle Ji has personally come to ask me, I naturally have to give you face,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ji Shui was surprised, never expecting that troublesome brat to agree so readily.
Zhang Ruochen immediately added, “But I have one condition.”
“What condition?” Lan Ye asked.
A cold gleam flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. “I want Shangguan Xianyan to personally cut off Wei Longxing’s head and deliver it to me. If she can do that, this Divine Son will set aside past grievances, return to the Blood God Sect, and take her as a concubine.”
Ji Shui and Lan Ye returned to the alliance and relayed Gu Linfeng’s words verbatim to Shangguan Xianyan.
Shangguan Xianyan was naturally quite furious, but a smile appeared on her snow-white, crystalline face instead.
Wei Longxing sneered, “At death’s door, and still so arrogant. When Chi Wansui reaches Yingsha City, I wonder if he’ll come crawling to beg us to take him in?”
“Don’t bother with him anymore. Since he wants to play with fire, let him court his own destruction,” Shangguan Xianyan said casually, lightly pursing her red lips.
This was the first time she had encountered someone so oblivious to the situation.
In truth, from the very beginning, Shangguan Xianyan had never intended to kill Gu Linfeng. Whether using seductive means or stripping him of his authority, her goal was merely to control him.
Now it seemed that Gu Linfeng was not someone she could control, so she could only let him walk to his own doom.
“Boom!”
Before Chi Wansui arrived, a earth-shattering roar came from the northern city of Yingsha. A massive cloud of black smoke shot into the sky.
Immediately after, a section of the city wall, dozens of meters long, collapsed with a thunderous crash, creating a huge breach.
“Roar!”
Dense roars of barbarian beasts echoed into Yingsha City.
On the ground, a horde of Black Scorpion Beasts surged through the breach in the wall, charging into the city. In an instant, they swept through a large area of buildings.
Hundreds of human elites were devoured as blood food.
“Run! Barbarian beasts have broken into Yingsha City! Run for your lives!”
Panic engulfed the entire northern city. The vast majority of human cultivators fled for their lives. Only a few powerful cultivators stayed behind to resist the beasts.
But the number of barbarian beasts was overwhelming, and they were quickly overwhelmed.
“Caw!”
In the sky, a swarm of fiery red barbarian birds appeared, their bodies spanning several meters, even dozens of meters.
They were the Fire Golden Crows, one of the twelve barbarian beast clans, classified as fifth-rank barbarian beasts.
Among them, some powerful Fire Golden Crows could evolve into sixth-rank or seventh-rank beasts.
The Fire Golden Crows’ bodies were completely enveloped in flames, radiating scorching light. They hung in the sky like tens of thousands of suns.
In an instant, the temperature in Yingsha City rose severalfold.
Before long, the northern part of Yingsha City had turned into a sea of fire.
A handsome man with crimson feathered wings stood in midair, a flame mark on his brow. He spat out sound waves and issued a command: “Charge into Yingsha City and devour all human cultivators alive!”
The upheaval in the northern city filled countless humans with terror, unsure of what had happened.
Previously, the city-protecting grand formation had held the barbarian beasts at bay.
Now that the formation was damaged, the barbarian clans could charge straight in, with disastrous consequences.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression turned grave as he gazed toward the northern city. The sky there seemed to be burning, completely crimson.
A Fire Golden Crow, dozens of meters long, pierced through layers of formations and broke into the central area of Yingsha City.
It let out a piercing screech, dove rapidly, and extended its two sharp claws, snatching a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator into the air.
“Save me… help…”
The Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator, gripped by terror, let out screams.
Zhang Ruochen used his sword-controlling technique to launch the Blood-Quenching Divine Blade.
The blade, turning into a streak of blood light, struck the Fire Golden Crow.
“Pfft.”
The Fire Golden Crow was cleaved in two by the blade, spattering a large pool of blood.
The two halves of its massive corpse crashed heavily to the ground.
But in its dying moment, it still tore the Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator apart, making him its sacrifice.
Zhang Ruochen recalled the Blood-Quenching Divine Blade, holding it in his hand, and said, “Old Sun, go find out what’s happening. The city-protecting grand formation of Yingsha City couldn’t have been breached for no reason.”
Sun Dadi activated his movement technique and immediately rushed toward the northern city.
Meanwhile, several major alliances within Yingsha City mobilized, charging toward the northern city to confront the invading barbarian beasts.
Before long, Sun Dadi returned.
At this moment, Sun Dadi was covered in black scorch marks, his hair standing on end, emitting black smoke. Even with his cultivation, he had sustained some injuries.
This showed how brutal the battle in the northern city was.
“The northern city has been completely reduced to rubble. At least three thousand human elites have died. Some of the barbarian beasts are extremely powerful—definitely beings from the *Half-Saint Ranking* and the *Half-Saint Outer Ranking*,” Sun Dadi said.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Did you find out what happened?”
Sun Dadi nodded. “It’s said that the beast king of the Fire Golden Crow clan transformed into human form, infiltrated Yingsha City, and destroyed part of the northern city’s protective formation inscriptions, causing a large section of the wall to collapse and create a breach. Moreover…”
“Moreover, a cultivator saw several border realm warriors accompanying the Fire Golden Crow beast king while it destroyed the formation inscriptions.”
Zhao Shiqi’s face twisted with anger. “There are humans secretly helping the barbarian beasts? Once we find out who, we’ll chop them into pieces!”
“It might not be human cultivators. Those border realm warriors could very well be infiltrators from the Undying Blood Clan,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed drastically. “Not good! The Undying Blood Clan infiltrators might go to destroy the city-protecting formations in the other three districts.”
The human elites had almost all rushed to the northern city.
The southern, eastern, and western districts were completely undefended. If the protective formations in another direction were destroyed, the human cultivators would be caught in a pincer attack.
At that point, all the human cultivators in Yingsha City might die.