Chapter 1195: Heavenly Net Sect
Soldiers to soldiers, generals to generals.
Since the Sect Leader’s Wife had sent Gu Linfeng to negotiate with the Yellow Heaven Tribe, the Yellow Heaven Tribe dispatched a Princess to discuss matters with him. Both were pivotal figures of the younger generation, wielding significant influence within their respective camps.
Of course, for this very reason, Zhang Ruochen was unable to meet that Prince Xia, which left him somewhat regretful.
That Prince Xia was the truly formidable figure.
Even so, through a series of interactions, Zhang Ruochen gained a general understanding of the forces the Yellow Heaven Tribe had deployed to Tiantai Prefecture.
According to the Yellow Heaven Princess, they had not only brought some top-tier experts from the Northern Domain but also summoned several Undying Blood Clan Saints who had long been lying low in Tiantai Prefecture. They possessed ample strength to cooperate with the Sect Leader’s Wife in seizing control of the Blood God Sect.
Most of the infiltrators who had escaped from the Blood God Sect had also reverted to their true forms and gathered in the Star Cloud Mansion.
The concentration of power within the Star Cloud Mansion was indeed terrifying—annihilating a sect or destroying a faction would be a trivial matter.
From start to finish, Zhang Ruochen remained extremely cautious, not daring to show the slightest flaw.
Once the negotiations concluded, Zhang Ruochen immediately took his leave from the Yellow Heaven Princess and departed the Star Cloud Mansion.
He had achieved his goal in visiting the Star Cloud Mansion: he could confirm that a large number of high-ranking figures from the Yellow Heaven Tribe were indeed gathered there. He had seen at least seven Undying Blood Clan Saints, and who knew how many more had not revealed themselves?
The voice of Shi Shenghua rang out in Zhang Ruochen’s mind: “So much nourishment. I truly look forward to devouring all those Undying Blood Clan Saints. That way, my cultivation will surely take a great leap forward.”
“There will be an opportunity,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
The region where the Black Market’s main altar was located was steeped in evil energy, with yin and baleful forces nurtured within the soil, making the Heavenly and Earthly Rules somewhat peculiar. The sky was perpetually shrouded in thick dark clouds, making sunlight a rare sight, as if the place existed in eternal darkness.
On the streets, green ghost lamps floated, casting dim, flickering light and hazy shadows.
Walking alone on the broad street, Zhang Ruochen pondered his next move. “Even if the Imperial Court and the Confucian Path rush to the Black Market’s main altar to deal with the Yellow Heaven Tribe’s cultivators, they probably won’t be able to mobilize an army. At most, they’ll dispatch a few powerful Saint-level experts to surround and kill Prince Xia. It seems I’ll have to rely on the Black Market’s power to have any chance of wiping out the Yellow Heaven Tribe’s cultivators in one fell swoop.”
After all, the Black Market’s main altar was a sensitive area. If the Imperial Court truly moved a large army there, the Black Market and the Imperial Court would likely clash first, making it impossible to deal with the Undying Blood Clan.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was considering how to relay information to the Black Market’s higher-ups, he suddenly sensed something and stopped in his tracks, looking around.
“Illusion art.”
A mirage lay on the street, and Zhang Ruochen had inadvertently stepped into it.
However, this illusion was poorly constructed; Zhang Ruochen saw through it at a glance with his spiritual power.
Within the illusion, two men and two women stood at four corners, each holding a crystal in their hands, fully operating the illusion array in an attempt to kill Zhang Ruochen with its power.
“What’s their background? Four illusionists with less than the fortieth level of spiritual power, and they want to take me on?”
Zhang Ruochen found it somewhat amusing. After all, he was now a Spiritual Power Saint, a figure at the top of the pyramid. Shouldn’t the masses kneel in reverence wherever he went?
Clearly, the four illusionists, seeing Zhang Ruochen as young and dressed like a wealthy scion, had taken him for easy prey, intending to kill him and seize his treasures.
The Black Market’s main altar was a gathering place for evil-path experts. The headquarters of the thirty-six prefectures’ various evil-path forces in Tiantai Prefecture were mostly established here.
There was no law and order here, only the raw law of the jungle. Killings occurred daily, and countless self-righteous aristocratic youths and sect prodigies who came to see the sights of the Black Market’s main altar ended up as bones without a trace.
The four controlling the illusion were disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect, a top evil-path force in the Black Market. They cultivated not only martial arts but also spiritual power and illusion arts, earning some renown in Tiantai Prefecture as the “Heavenly Net Four Evils.”
The leader of the Heavenly Net Four Evils, named Lu Yi, had reached the third-order Half-Saint realm and possessed considerable skill in spiritual power and illusion arts.
From the northeastern corner, Lu Yi, holding a hallucinatory crystal and controlling the illusion array, instructed Chen Shunan, who stood in the northwestern corner, “Third Brother, that kid is lost in the illusion array. Go finish him off.”
Chen Shunan, small and wiry, flashed a sinister smile, drew a two-foot short sword, and darted swiftly toward Zhang Ruochen.
“What an unlucky fool, daring to enter the Black Market’s main altar alone. He’s practically asking for death.”
Chen Shunan twisted his wrist, and the short sword shot toward Zhang Ruochen’s spine like a streak of green light.
“Bang.”
Unexpectedly for the Heavenly Net Four Evils, the sharp short sword struck Zhang Ruochen’s body with a crisp sound of metal against stone.
Chen Shunan felt his fingers go numb, as if all five phalanges were about to break.
That strike felt less like hitting a person and more like striking a bronze wall or iron barrier.
Zhang Ruochen sighed softly, spread his arms, and unleashed a surge of immense energy from his back, rippling outward like waves.
“Crack.”
The two-foot short sword snapped into six pieces in an instant.
“Boom.”
Chen Shunan’s right arm exploded into a cloud of blood mist, the bones reduced to powder. He collapsed to the ground, howling in agony, a pitiful sight.
The other three Evils were also shocked, realizing they had encountered a formidable opponent. They immediately activated their movement techniques, fleeing in three directions.
“Trying to escape? Get down.”
Zhang Ruochen infused his voice with spiritual power, sending it outward in all directions.
Lu Yi, Wang Qianfang, and Hua Xue had barely taken a step when Zhang Ruochen’s voice struck them like a thunderbolt, causing their bodies to tremble.
“Thud, thud, thud.”
All three Evils fell to the ground, blood streaming from their seven orifices, staring in terror at the young man standing in the middle of the street.
They were all Half-Saint-level figures, holding some status, yet before this young man, they were utterly powerless to resist.
Such overwhelming force made them too afraid to even entertain the thought of resistance.
“This person must be a Saint-level titan, but with such profound cultivation that he can maintain eternal youth, making him appear young,” Lu Yi thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen had not gone for the kill; otherwise, all four would be dead.
He spared their lives because he wanted to extract some information.
Lu Yi scrambled to his feet, shedding all the pride of a Half-Saint, and knelt before Zhang Ruochen, kowtowing. “Greetings, Saint Senior. We failed to recognize your greatness and offended you. Please, for the sake of our Heavenly Net Sect’s Sect Leader, spare us this once.”
Chen Shunan, Wang Qianfang, and Hua Xue also hurriedly got up, enduring their injuries, and knelt before Zhang Ruochen, begging for forgiveness.
In the presence of a Saint, all beings are but ants.
Only a Saint can converse with another Saint on equal terms.
“Heavenly Net Sect.”
Zhang Ruochen murmured the name to himself, feeling as though he had heard it somewhere before.
Soon, he remembered.
Back then, Ling Feiyu’s heart had been wounded, turning her into a stone beauty. To take her away, Zhang Ruochen had clashed with the Demon Sect’s experts.
In that battle, evil-path Saints from the Black Market had joined in, seeking to seize Zhang Ruochen’s treasures. Among them was Yao Ji, the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Net Sect.
A faint smile curled at the corner of Zhang Ruochen’s mouth, revealing an odd expression. “Your Sect Leader should be a Fox Half-Human, named Yao Ji, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
So this Saint Senior knew the Sect Leader. The Heavenly Net Four Evils all breathed a sigh of relief.
Since he knew the Sect Leader, he would surely do her a favor and not hold this against them.
“I was just planning to visit Sect Leader Yao. Lead the way,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“This…”
The Four Evils hesitated, reluctant to rashly bring a Saint-level titan back to the sect. What if this person was an enemy of the Heavenly Net Sect?
Lu Yi asked, “A Saint’s visit to the Heavenly Net Sect is a matter of utmost importance. Perhaps, Senior, you could leave your name first? We will report to the Sect Leader, prepare a welcoming ceremony, and then you can grace the Heavenly Net Sect with your presence.”
“Yes, yes. With your status and cultivation, a grand welcoming ceremony is only fitting for your visit to the Heavenly Net Sect,” Wang Qianfang added cautiously.
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew what they were thinking. He snorted coldly. “I am a close friend of Sect Leader Yao, bound by life-and-death ties. If you don’t lead the way now, don’t blame me for being harsh.”
A thick Saintly Might emanated from Zhang Ruochen, pressing down on the Heavenly Net Four Evils until their legs trembled, nearly forcing them to their knees.
Only then did they realize the truth: the young man before them was an exalted Saint, with no room for negotiation.
Lu Yi, Wang Qianfang, Chen Shunan, and Hua Xue led the way, while Zhang Ruochen followed unhurriedly with his eyes closed.
As he walked, he continued to comprehend the Saint Path, solidifying his realm as a Second Calamity Quasi-Saint.
The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Net Sect, Yao Ji, was a seductive beauty with three snow-white fox tails and skin like jade, resembling a peerless fox fairy.
“A close friend bound by life-and-death ties?”
Upon receiving the message from Lu Yi, Yao Ji’s enchanting face showed a peculiar expression as several figures flashed through her mind. All of them had life-and-death bonds with her, but which one was coming?
“Eh?”
Suddenly, Yao Ji sensed a vast and mighty Saintly Might surging in from outside the hall.
With a loud “bang,” the copper doors of the hall burst open, and a fierce wind howled in, swirling around the beams.
The next moment, Yao Ji saw a young figure standing in the center of the hall.
The young figure stood straight, hands clasped behind his back, exuding vigor and vitality, his entire body shrouded in layers of misty blood energy. Even with her cultivation, she could not discern his true form.
…