Chapter 1110: Arrival at Azure Dragon Dynasty
The blood-red Gobi Desert, under the sunlight, appeared exceptionally magnificent, every stone resembling a translucent red agate.
However, all of this was now being destroyed.
"Crackle."
Space fissures deep within the Gobi gradually expanded and extended outward, forming chaotic zones one after another, as massive land plates continuously collapsed into the interior of the void space.
Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yanchen, Qing Mo, White Li Princess, and the Two Sikongs stood at the outer edge of the Gobi, gazing at the scene before them, their hearts filled with a myriad of emotions.
"The spatial structure is accelerating its collapse. Centered here, soon the entire Yinggema Desert will turn into shattered chaos," Huang Yanchen said.
As the space further collapsed, more Space Sacred Jade was produced. Zhang Ruochen collected it all, storing it in his Space Ring.
"Rumble."
To the northwest, dust flew into the air.
A group of powerful barbarian beasts charged out from the blood-red dust, releasing a wild, blood-tinged aura.
These were over a dozen Konglu Barbarian Beasts, all of the sixth-rank upper level. Their defensive power rivaled that of a seventh-step Half-Saint among humans, their attack power matched an eighth-step Half-Saint, and their speed was most formidable, comparable to a ninth-step Half-Saint.
Xiao Hei, Sun Dadi, Da Sikong, and Zhao Shiqi each rode on the back of a Konglu Barbarian Beast, rushing over at top speed.
From a distance, Sun Dadi was already shouting, "A huge haul, an absolute huge haul! The Konglu Beast Clan collected a massive amount of treasures—not only Spirit Springs, Sacred Stones, and Sacred Jade, but we also found four Sacred Medicines and two Sacred Trees!"
Xiao Hei, standing on the back of the Konglu Beast King, tossed the Cosmic Divine Wood Map to Zhang Ruochen and said, "I've already transplanted all the Sacred Medicines and Sacred Trees into the Divine Soil Medicine Garden."
Originally, Zhang Ruochen had decided to set off immediately for Azure Dragon Dynasty.
But Xiao Hei had learned from the Konglu Beast King about the Konglu Beast Clan's treasure vault.
Sun Dadi, Da Sikong, and Zhao Shiqi were all excited, feeling that before leaving, they had to pull off one big heist and take all the treasures the Konglu Beast Clan had gathered.
It was a beast clan's collection, exceeding the total wealth of a Saintly Clan.
So, the few of them, kindred spirits, followed Xiao Hei and the Konglu Beast King to loot the Konglu Beast Clan's treasure vault clean. Everyone's Space Ring and Space Bracelet were stuffed to the brim.
Not only that, Xiao Hei and Zhao Shiqi used beast-taming techniques to control the sixth-rank upper-level Konglu Barbarian Beasts, refining them into war beast pets and bringing them all back.
Their success was mainly due to Xiao Hei.
If Xiao Hei hadn't used an ancient beast-taming inscription pattern to control the Konglu Beast King, they would never have found the treasure vault.
Zhang Ruochen caught the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and sent a strand of spiritual power into the Scroll World. Sure enough, he saw the four Sacred Medicines and two Sacred Trees in the Divine Soil Medicine Garden.
In the Kunlun Realm, finding even a single Sacred Medicine was as difficult as reaching the heavens. Some Saintly Clans with weaker foundations only had one or two Sacred Medicines.
But now, in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, a large number of Sacred Medicines and Sacred Trees were being born. Finding one and consuming it could greatly boost one's cultivation.
Of course, whether Sacred Medicine or Sacred Tree, the older they were, the stronger their medicinal effects.
That was why Xiao Hei had planted the found Sacred Medicines and Sacred Trees into the Divine Soil Medicine Garden for continued cultivation. In the future, they could pick some leaves to refine into Sacred Pills, which would have even better effects.
Having obtained the Sacred Medicines and Sacred Trees, Zhang Ruochen didn't bring up the ownership of other treasures. Since they had seized them with their own abilities, they belonged to them.
"Let's set off now. Head to Azure Dragon Dynasty."
Zhang Ruochen led the group into the Space Teleportation Array.
The dozen or so Konglu Beasts shrank their bodies and formed a circle around the edge of the teleportation array.
Zhang Ruochen stood at the center of the array, locked onto the direction of Azure Dragon Dynasty, and fully activated the formation. The Space Teleportation Array slowly began to operate, emitting an increasingly intense purple light.
"Whoosh—"
The light trembled violently.
In an instant, all the people and barbarian beasts vanished without a trace.
Not long after, deep within the blood-red Gobi, space fissures spread out, producing a piercing tearing sound. They shredded this Space Teleportation Array into pieces, annihilating it along with the surrounding land plates.
About three hundred thousand miles away, a turquoise lake lay as calm as a mirror. A flock of white egrets flew over the lake's surface, weaving through misty water vapor, forming a moving picture.
This place was completely different from the desolate Yinggema Desert. The scenery was beautiful, like a poem or a painting.
"Whoosh—"
Above the lake, a ripple of energy emerged, rapidly spreading outward. It startled the white egrets below, causing them to tremble, lose their flying ability, and fall into the lake with a series of splashes.
Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yanchen, and the others, along with the dozen or so Konglu Beasts, appeared at the center of the energy ripple. They flew down to the ground and gathered at the lake's edge.
Sun Dadi still hadn't recovered from the shock of what had just happened. "The Space Teleportation Array is truly miraculous! We must be tens of thousands of miles away by now, in some oasis, right?"
"We're now over three hundred thousand miles away. If my positioning isn't too far off, we should have already entered the territory of Azure Dragon Dynasty," Zhang Ruochen said.
Everyone present was secretly astonished, finding it hard to believe.
Through a formation, they could instantly travel hundreds of thousands of miles—this was practically a legendary technique.
"Seven hundred miles away, there's a human city. A great battle is taking place there," Zhao Shiqi said.
Zhao Shiqi's spiritual power had reached the forty-ninth level, making him a top-tier spiritual power Half-Saint.
Just now, he had released his spiritual power and detected very intense fluctuations of spiritual energy. Eventually, he saw the scene of war seven hundred miles away, where a large number of beings were slaughtering each other, fighting until the sky and earth turned dark.
"Let's go. Let's take a look."
Zhang Ruochen leaped up, landing on the back of the Konglu Beast King, using the beast king as a mount and rushing out at top speed.
The Konglu Beast King's body gradually grew larger, eventually becoming a giant beast dozens of zhang tall. It radiated a cyan sacred light, like an ancient divine beast, easily crossing mountains and rivers.
Huang Yanchen, Qing Mo, White Li Princess, Da Sikong, Er Sikong, Zhao Shiqi, Sun Dadi, and Xiao Hei each rode on the back of a Konglu Beast, following closely behind.
This was an ancient city, majestic in scale, with towering city walls that exuded a grand aura, like a stone giant beast lying between two mountain ranges.
Because demonic beings from outside the realm had entered the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm on a large scale, causing one massacre after another, the surrounding indigenous humans had all flooded into the city for refuge. This caused the ancient city's population to surge, exceeding five million.
By the time Zhang Ruochen arrived, the city had already been breached.
Outside the city, corpses lay everywhere, blood flowing like rivers. The battlefield was exceptionally tragic. Many poor people who hadn't even cultivated martial arts had also been slaughtered.
The dead were mostly indigenous humans of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm.
Clearly, the slaughter before them was perpetrated by beings from the Kunlun Realm. It was just unknown which faction it was.
"Amitabha!"
Da Sikong and Er Sikong flew down from the backs of the Konglu Beasts, standing at the foot of a mountain of corpses. They closed their eyes and began chanting scriptures for the departed.
"How tragic!"
Sun Dadi's expression was solemn and grave, his heart heavy.
The slaughter here surpassed that of Yingsha City back then, mainly because there were corpses of children and women, which was extremely hard to bear.
White Li Princess and Qing Mo walked over to the body of a little girl, looking at the blood-soaked, small frame. Tears involuntarily streamed down their faces.
Perhaps only Huang Yanchen remained very indifferent, with no trace of emotional fluctuation on her face.
She said, "This is the law of nature, a perfectly normal thing. In the future, if the Kunlun Realm is invaded by another world and similarly slaughtered, no one will pity us either."
"How can you be even more cold-hearted than that guy Zhang Ruochen?" White Li Princess said angrily.
Huang Yanchen couldn't be bothered with her and said flatly, "Soon, the entire Azure Dragon Ruins Realm will be destroyed. They will still die; they're just dying a little earlier now. If you want to survive, you'd better put away your weakness immediately. Don't let unnecessary sympathy cloud your reason."
With that, Huang Yanchen rode her Konglu Beast and entered the ancient city first.
The ancient city had just been breached, and fighting was still ongoing inside. The sounds of battle, screams, wails, and cries for help intertwined, composing a dirge.
White Li Princess put her hands on her hips, grinding her teeth incessantly. "Zhang Ruochen, your fiancée is a selfish wretch. This princess advises you to divorce her as soon as possible."
Zhang Ruochen remained seated on the back of the Konglu Beast King, ignoring White Li Princess. Instead, he was gazing at the ink-black clouds above the ancient city.
That was a patch of ghost clouds, extremely heavy with yin energy.
"So it's the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan."
Zhang Ruochen sensed several familiar auras in the city, including that of Feng Yinchang, the princess of the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan, and Yin Xuanji, the heir of the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan.
The ones who had gathered the most heavenly materials and earthly treasures were not outsiders like Zhang Ruochen's group, but the indigenous humans of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm.
By conquering a single city, one could obtain endless wealth and resources.
The Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan had spent over half a month, after a series of fierce battles and paying no small price, to shatter the city's protective grand formation and break in.
Now, they were carrying out a massacre while plundering the city's treasures.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Abyssal Ancient Sword, releasing a powerful sword intent that surged outward. "Everyone, wipe away your tears. Now we'll go into the city and make them hand over all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures they've plundered. Since it's ill-gotten wealth, rather than letting the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan have it, it's better to give it to my Bright Sect."
Sun Dadi, Da Sikong, Er Sikong, and Zhao Shiqi were all stunned. They thought to themselves, since when did Zhang Ruochen also like this kind of robbing and plundering?
"He wants to pull a black-on-black heist!" Xiao Hei said, squinting with a smile.
White Li Princess stomped her foot and snorted coldly, "Birds of a feather flock together. None of you are any good."
In her view, the indigenous humans were already so pitiful. Zhang Ruochen should help them repel the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan and return all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures to them. That would be the mark of a true gentleman and hero.
Zhang Ruochen's performance disappointed her. He was no different from a bandit.