# Chapter 1217: Zhang Ruochen is Gu Linfeng
The Death Knight arrived quite suddenly. Before the city-protecting grand formation in Taiyin Ancient City could even activate, he had already charged inside, his blood-colored energy rippling outward in all directions.
In an instant, large numbers of cultivators fell, losing their life force and turning into corpses.
"Bang, bang."
The Death Knight took a deep breath. All the corpses on the ground exploded, turning into wisps of blood energy that converged toward him and entered his abdomen.
As he absorbed a large amount of blood energy, the injuries within his body also recovered somewhat.
"Gu Linfeng, thinking you could flee to the Eastern Domain is nothing but wishful thinking."
Yao Sheng stepped on a vast expanse of blood clouds, flying over from afar and landing on the city wall. A pair of light beams surged from his male body's blood-red pupils as he looked down at Taiyin Ancient City below.
His female body, however, emitted a sinister laugh that sent chills down the spines of the human cultivators in Taiyin Ancient City.
Following that, Silver Robe Elder Ya She Saint, along with three other Undying Blood Clan saints, arrived one after another at Taiyin Ancient City, each guarding a direction to prevent Gu Linfeng from escaping.
The saintly might emitted by saints was enough to force beings below the Saint realm to kneel prostrate, let alone the simultaneous appearance of six powerful saints.
Under the intimidation of the six great saints, among the hundreds of thousands of cultivators in Taiyin Ancient City, some knelt, some fainted, and only those at the Half-Saint level could maintain a standing posture.
"Why would Undying Blood Clan blood saints appear in Taiyin Ancient City?"
"Gu Linfeng? What's going on... Are they here to hunt down Blood God Sect Leader Gu Linfeng? Is Gu Linfeng in Taiyin Ancient City?"
"Six Undying Blood Clan saints arriving at the same time—all the cultivators in Taiyin Ancient City will probably be slaughtered by them."
...
All the human cultivators were extremely terrified.
In their eyes, any single saint possessed heaven-shaking, earth-shattering means. Before a saint, ordinary cultivators were no different from mortals, without even the power to fight back.
"Hua—"
From the city lord's mansion in Taiyin Ancient City, a ripple of saintly energy spread out, emitting a brilliant radiance.
At the center of that saintly energy ripple, an old man in a Daoist robe appeared. This man was the guardian of Taiyin Ancient City and also a saint of the Liangyi Sect, named Qingfeng Saint.
Qingfeng Saint had already cultivated to the Upper Realm Saint realm. His entire body exuded a powerful saintly might as he said: "Taiyin Ancient City is an important location of the Liangyi Sect. I have just sent a message to the sect. Soon, important figures will arrive. It would be best for you all to withdraw immediately. Otherwise, when the time comes, you won't be able to leave even if you want to."
Qingfeng Saint was not trying to intimidate the Undying Blood Clan saints; he had truly sent a message back to the Liangyi Sect.
The Death Knight's voice was ice-cold: "It won't take much time. Once we kill Gu Linfeng, we will naturally withdraw."
Qingfeng Saint knew the Death Knight was extremely formidable. Before the important figures of the Liangyi Sect arrived, he dared not engage him head-on. Still, he said one more thing: "Gu Linfeng is not in Taiyin Ancient City."
"Your words don't count."
The Death Knight's gaze shifted toward Silver Robe Elder Ya She Saint, giving him an inquiring look.
Ya She Saint held a bronze circular plate in his hand. Using his spiritual power, he communicated with the bronze plate and quickly located Gu Linfeng's position.
The Undying Blood Clan saints surrounded the direction Ya She Saint indicated, step by step approaching the center of Taiyin Ancient City.
The blood energy emanating from the Death Knight was extremely intense, carrying a death attribute. Wherever he passed, within dozens of zhang, all human cultivators died instantly.
The blood energy within those human cultivators' bodies flew out, continuously burrowing into his body, repairing his injuries.
It must be known that the vast majority in Taiyin Ancient City were disciples of the Liangyi Sect. Just moments ago, over a thousand Liangyi Sect disciples had already died, turning into blood energy.
A look of anger appeared on Qingfeng Saint's face as he said: "Activate the city-protecting grand formation and suppress the Undying Blood Clan saints."
In Taiyin Ancient City, the formation towers at eight directions all activated, shooting out eight thick beams of light that turned into eight white light rings, spreading outward in all directions.
"Thinking of activating the city-protecting grand formation now—isn't it a bit too late?"
The Undying Divine Temple's Silver Robe Elder Ya She Saint let out a cold laugh, bit the tip of his right index finger, and pressed it against the center of the bronze circular plate.
The bronze circular plate spun rapidly, then flew out eight blood-red streams of light that charged toward the eight formation towers.
All eight blood-red streams of light possessed powerful spiritual attack power. As they rushed into the formation towers, screams came from within.
All the formation masters suffered severe spiritual damage. Some spat blood and fainted; some had their spiritual will shattered and became dazed and confused; others had their saint souls broken and fell dead to the ground.
Among the formation masters of Taiyin Ancient City, there was no spiritual power saint. Naturally, when they were attacked by a spiritual power saint, they had no power to resist.
Qingfeng Saint sucked in a breath of cold air, realizing something was wrong.
This group of Undying Blood Clan saints was far too strong. Probably any one of them was not weaker than him.
The Death Knight warned Qingfeng Saint: "It's best not to meddle in other people's business, or else I'll destroy you first."
Yao Sheng, Ya She Saint, and the other three Undying Blood Clan saints all revealed cold smiles.
Qingfeng Saint had never felt so stifled. He could only watch helplessly as the Liangyi Sect disciples were devoured by the Death Knight, suppressing the anger in his heart, not daring to act.
Because he knew very well that if he let his hotheadedness rush him into battle with the Undying Blood Clan saints, today would very likely be his death day.
In the city, a group of Liangyi Sect disciples knelt on the ground, watching the Death Knight approach step by step, all revealing terrified expressions.
They cast pleading looks toward Qingfeng Saint.
A more timid disciple had already begun to beg and weep: "No... don't devour my blood..."
Qingfeng Saint gritted his teeth, trying hard to restrain himself, not daring to act rashly, still waiting for the important figures of the Liangyi Sect to arrive.
A sinister smile appeared on the Death Knight's face. The blood energy spreading from his body coiled around the Liangyi Sect disciples, as if invisible ropes were tied around their necks.
The Liangyi Sect disciples tightly clutched their necks, struggling desperately, their eyes filled with despair.
Seeing this scene, Qingfeng Saint was also extremely ashamed, sighing in his heart: "Don't blame me for not saving you—I truly am powerless..."
"Boom."
Suddenly, a violent force erupted from beneath Taiyin Ancient City, breaking through the earth and charging into midair.
"What powerful energy fluctuation! There's actually such a formidable expert hidden in Taiyin Ancient City?"
Qingfeng Saint's eyes widened as he looked toward that figure.
He saw a young man wearing the Daoist robe of an outer sect disciple of the Liangyi Sect. He was quite handsome, with sharply defined features, long black hair hanging down on both sides of his cheeks, his entire body reeking of alcohol, appearing exceptionally unrestrained.
It was Zhang Ruochen.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen had not transformed into another appearance; this was his own face.
"As expected of Dragon Spirit Mad Bull Wine—truly fine wine."
Zhang Ruochen was half-drunk, half-awake, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. Seeing more than a dozen Liangyi Sect disciples not far away entangled by blood energy, a sharp, cold gleam flashed in his pupils.
"Dragon Soars the Nine Heavens."
Zhang Ruochen's body tilted. His feet pushed off the ground, and like a swimming dragon, he soared into the air, striking out a palm imprint.
"Ao."
As the palm imprint was unleashed, a dragon shadow flew out, emitting a deep, resonant dragon roar. It shattered layer after layer of blood energy, charging straight toward the Death Knight standing in the middle of the street.
The dozen or so Liangyi Sect disciples escaped from the blood energy, falling to the ground, then scrambling and crawling as they fled into the distance.
As they rushed past Zhang Ruochen, they all revealed strange expressions, finding it hard to understand how such a young outer sect disciple could possess such powerful strength, daring to challenge the Death Knight.
The Death Knight's arm shook as he thrust out his long spear, clashing with the descending dragon shadow.
"Zila."
At the point of collision between the spear and the dragon shadow, a large expanse of brilliant saintly radiance surged forth, making it impossible for nearby human cultivators to even open their eyes.
Taiyin Ancient City had been reinforced countless times, its city structure extremely stable. Even a collision at the saint level did not cause too much damage.
The Death Knight had seen portraits of both Zhang Ruochen and Gu Linfeng, so he recognized Zhang Ruochen.
Originally pursuing Gu Linfeng, he had instead encountered Zhang Ruochen.
The identity of the two was naturally self-evident.
"Zhang Ruochen, so you really are Blood God Sect Leader Gu Linfeng. Today, I will surely take your life."
The saintly energy within the Death Knight's meridians circulated rapidly, producing a rumbling sound like rivers surging, releasing increasingly powerful energy fluctuations.
Qingfeng Saint was extremely shocked in his heart. Was the man below the Heir of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen?
No.
How could Zhang Ruochen also be Gu Linfeng?
Not only Qingfeng Saint was shocked. The cultivators in Taiyin Ancient City, upon hearing the Death Knight's voice, all felt their minds tremble, as if they had heard a shocking secret.
A Half-Saint of the Liangyi Sect said: "I have seen Zhang Ruochen's portrait before. That young man is indeed Zhang Ruochen, no doubt about it."
"The Death Knight claims Zhang Ruochen is Blood God Sect Leader Gu Linfeng—he shouldn't be saying that casually, right?"
"The Death Knight is a saint. How could a saint talk nonsense? It's very possible that Zhang Ruochen really is Gu Linfeng."
"It's said that our Liangyi Sect's unparalleled sword path prodigy, Lin Yue, might also be the Heir of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen."
A fourteen or fifteen-year-old young disciple of the Liangyi Sect opened his mouth wide, exclaiming in amazement: "Could it really be like the legends say—that Zhang Ruochen has three heads and six arms, seventy-two incarnations, can fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, and is omnipotent?"
In the Kunlun Realm, many legends circulated about Zhang Ruochen, some of which had become quite absurd. Of course, it was precisely because of those legends that Zhang Ruochen had become an idol and goal to strive for in the eyes of countless young cultivators.
Now, seeing Zhang Ruochen's true form, those young disciples completely forgot they were in mortal danger, all extremely excited, looking forward to the fierce battle between Zhang Ruochen and the Undying Blood Clan saints.
According to legend, Zhang Ruochen was undefeated in a hundred battles. Was that really true?
...
(There will be another chapter later, quite late.)
(Chapter End)