# Chapter 1244: The Third Ghost Ship
A Saint King level dragon pearl was absolutely a priceless treasure, rarely seen in the world.
Yet, to save Zhang Ruochen, Ao Xinyan had unhesitatingly spat out her dragon pearl and attacked with it, holding back Xue Zhen Yao Ji's advance.
This was a debt Zhang Ruochen now owed.
After swallowing the dragon pearl again, Ao Xinyan's face took on a rosy glow, and crystalline light points overflowed from her skin.
She activated her cultivation technique, and streams of dragon qi began to travel through her meridians, healing the injuries within her body.
Zhang Ruochen, meanwhile, transformed into an afterimage and arrived outside the Tiantou Fire God Formation, one hand behind his back and the other holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Inside the formation, the Xuanwei Sacred Beast, having witnessed Xue Zhen Yao Ji's death, was terrified and had long wanted to retreat.
However, thirty-six flame chains had condensed within the formation, locking down the earth for three hundred zhang in every direction, giving it no chance to escape.
Xiao Hei stood up, looking quite smug, and laughed: "Weren't you just acting all arrogant, daring to challenge this Emperor? Why are you in such a hurry to flee now? Stay and fight—this Emperor will give you a fair duel."
A flicker of joy passed through the depths of the Xuanwei Sacred Beast's pupils. "You said it yourself—a fair duel, with no outsiders interfering."
"Of course. This Emperor's word is as good as gold," Xiao Hei said.
If Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei joined forces, the Xuanwei Sacred Beast would surely die today, with no chance of survival. At best, it could self-destruct its Sacred Heart and take them down with it.
But against a fat cat, the Xuanwei Sacred Beast was quite confident.
As long as it could eliminate the fat cat first, it could deal with Zhang Ruochen more easily afterward.
"Roar!"
The Xuanwei Sacred Beast let out a long howl. Its humanoid form burst apart, transforming into a black hedgehog twelve zhang tall and thirty-four zhang long, covered in sharp spines.
Those spines looked very much like sharp spears.
"Divine Hedgehog Spines." The Xuanwei Sacred Beast released all its spiritual power, concentrating it on the eighteen thousand spines covering its body.
The next moment, three thousand spines detached and flew out, forming a black cloud that shot toward Xiao Hei.
Just as the Xuanwei Sacred Beast launched its attack, Zhang Ruochen performed a Space Displacement and charged into the Tiantou Fire God Formation, appearing above the beast.
"Noon Sword." Zhang Ruochen's hands formed a circle, and the Abyssal Ancient Sword flew above them, radiating dazzling light like a blazing sun at noon.
"Whoosh."
A hundred-zhang-long sword qi projection appeared on the surface of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, resembling a towering giant sword. Together with the ancient sword, it plunged downward.
"Thud."
The hundred-zhang-long sword qi projection pierced through the Xuanwei Sacred Beast's body, pinning it to the ground.
A large amount of sacred blood flowed from the wound on the beast's abdomen, dyeing the entire area of the Tiantou Fire God Formation blood-red.
"Fair... duel... Is there no... integrity..."
The Xuanwei Sacred Beast was furious, mobilizing its spiritual power in an attempt to control the Abyssal Ancient Sword, pull it out, and escape.
Zhang Ruochen pointed a finger, and a sword shadow condensed from sword intent flew from his fingertip, piercing the Xuanwei Sacred Beast's Sacred Heart.
In an instant, the spiritual power within the Xuanwei Sacred Beast became chaotic, and it could no longer gather strength.
The outcome was decided.
Xiao Hei stopped activating the Tiantou Fire God Formation, walked lazily up to the Xuanwei Sacred Beast, and chuckled: "This Emperor promised you a fair duel, and a fair duel it was. But Zhang Ruochen insisted on killing you—this Emperor couldn't do anything about that."
"Roar—"
The Xuanwei Sacred Beast roared again, but its life force gradually drained away, and it became a corpse.
"Wasn't this Emperor clever? First, I used the promise of a fair duel to lull it into complacency, so it wouldn't self-destruct its Sacred Heart and take us down with it. Then, you struck unexpectedly and caught it off guard. Haha."
Xiao Hei felt quite pleased with himself, believing he had outsmarted his opponent with pure intellect.
Zhang Ruochen spread his five fingers and reached forward.
The massive sword projection on the surface of the Abyssal Ancient Sword retracted into the blade, which then flew back into his hand.
Zhang Ruochen said calmly: "Do you really think the Xuanwei Sacred Beast was fooled by you? That it had no defenses at all? The reason it died was that the Time Sword Art altered the flow of time, slowing its counterattack to a crawl, so it couldn't block the Abyssal Ancient Sword."
Xiao Hei dropped his smile and widened his eyes. "You're just jealous that this Emperor is smarter than you."
Zhang Ruochen couldn't be bothered to argue. He closed his eyes, recalling the battle just now, analyzing his mistakes, and resolving not to repeat them in the next fight.
Every evenly matched battle was a growth experience.
Currently, Zhang Ruochen's most powerful attack wasn't Sword Seven, nor the Seven-Orifice Blood Nether Palm or the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.
It was the combination of Space Displacement and Time Sword Art.
First, use Space Displacement to close in on the opponent.
Then, use the Time Sword Art to strike the opponent down in one blow.
In short, it all came down to one word: "speed."
In the martial world, only speed cannot be broken.
Both Space Displacement and Time Sword Art made Zhang Ruochen's attacks incredibly fast and unpredictable.
In the Xuanhuang Realm, very few beings could withstand this move of Zhang Ruochen's.
As for Chendi Realm saints, there was no need to even think about it—Zhang Ruochen definitely couldn't defeat them. The gap in cultivation was too great, and speed alone couldn't secure victory.
"From now on, without a guaranteed killing blow, I shouldn't use this move too lightly. Using it too often will surely allow enemies to develop countermeasures. After all, every being that reaches the Saint Realm is exceptionally clever," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
In another direction, Shi Shenghua had already absorbed all the blood qi, sacred qi, and sacred source from the giant serpent. Its vines had grown thicker, and the patterns on each leaf resembled bolts of lightning.
The flower at the top of Shi Shenghua had grown as large as a millstone, radiating a crimson light. Its petals looked as if they were carved from blood-crystal sacred jade—both beautiful and dangerously alluring.
At the center of the flower stood a beautiful figure with long black hair, dark eyebrows, red lips, and white teeth. Her pupils carried a seductive, haunting gleam that was indescribably charming.
However, it was only a phantom, not a true flesh-and-blood body.
After Shi Shenghua bloomed for the first time, the fruit it bore was its phantom body.
Only after blooming a second time would the fruit it bore be its true physical body.
Thus, for Shi Shenghua to truly condense a flesh-and-blood body, it would have to wait until it bore a second fruit.
At its current level of cultivation, the flower hadn't even fully opened yet. Bearing fruit was still a very distant prospect.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly sense that after absorbing Xue Zhen Yao Ji, Shi Shenghua's cultivation had improved significantly, as if it were about to break through an important barrier.
"Could it be about to break through to the Upper Realm Saint level?" Zhang Ruochen wondered.
"Sss."
Shi Shenghua's roots spread out, piercing into the Xuanwei Sacred Beast's body, absorbing it as nourishment, seemingly truly trying to break through its realm.
Zhang Ruochen didn't stop it.
Given Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, even if Shi Shenghua reached the Upper Realm Saint level, he was confident he could suppress it.
On the contrary, if Shi Shenghua reached the Upper Realm Saint level, its combat power would be formidable, making it a great asset to Zhang Ruochen.
The Devouring Demon Dragon was surrounded by powerful experts. Relying solely on Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei would be difficult to handle. If Shi Shenghua, having broken through to the Upper Realm Saint level, joined the fray, Zhang Ruochen would have a much better chance in the coming battle.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed something and furrowed his brow.
"Whoosh—" Zhang Ruochen transformed into a white light and flew to the peak of a mountain over three thousand meters high, looking south.
In the southern sea, golden light radiated, dyeing both the sky and the sea gold.
A golden ghost ship emerged from the golden clouds, resembling a five-clawed golden dragon floating on the water. It was hundreds of li long, as massive as a mountain range.
Gradually, the golden ghost ship came to a stop south of Dragon Fire Island.
Twenty or thirty blood-red specks of light flew down from the ship and landed on the outskirts of Dragon Fire Island. Each speck was a humanoid creature with blood wings, exuding a thick sacred aura.
Zhang Ruochen's expression grew serious, and he muttered to himself: "Why have so many Saint Realm experts from the Undying Blood Clan also come to Yin-Yang Sea?"
Those humanoid creatures with blood wings were saints of the Undying Blood Clan.
Among them, some emitted an aura very similar to Death Knights. It was very likely that several more Death Knights had arrived at Yin-Yang Sea.
Xiao Hei and Ao Xinyan also came to the mountain peak. "The Undying Divine Temple could deduce that you came to Yin-Yang Sea, so they could also deduce that the Devouring Demon Dragon came here too. The most powerful young human and the most powerful young beast of the current Kunlun Realm entering Yin-Yang Sea at the same time can't be a coincidence. They're bound to be suspicious."
"In other words, the Undying Divine Temple has sent a large number of saints into Yin-Yang Sea to search for the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Ao Xinyan, standing nearby, was secretly startled. She finally understood Zhang Ruochen's purpose for entering Yin-Yang Sea—to find the Divine Dragon clan's clan-suppressing divine artifact.
The Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower.
The emergence of a divine artifact would surely change the entire power structure of the Kunlun Realm.
Had the Devouring Demon Dragon entered Yin-Yang Sea with the same purpose?
Xiao Hei said, "They might not know you're looking for the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower. But they definitely know there's an extraordinary treasure in Yin-Yang Sea, or else you and the Devouring Demon Dragon wouldn't risk so much to come here."
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly: "Every move I make stirs the world. Have I really reached such heights?"
...
(The other chapter tonight will be late. Dear readers, don't wait up—read it tomorrow morning!
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(Chapter End)