Chapter 1293: Bei Yutian
The Undying Blood Clan did not always slaughter everyone. When encountering Saint-level cultivators from the human race, they would try to subdue them whenever possible.
Imagine this: a human Saint defects to the Undying Blood Clan, while the human race remains unaware of it. How immense would that human Saint's value be to the Undying Blood Clan?
Zhu Qingyi intended to subdue Zhang Ruochen and make him serve her.
Using the power of his spiritual energy, Zhang Ruochen could not see through Zhu Qingyi's cultivation level either. He only knew that she was extremely powerful, no weaker than the Undying Divine Maiden Yinghuo, and perhaps even stronger.
"Launch a full-force strike, then immediately retreat northward."
Zhang Ruochen sent a telepathic message to Huang Yanchen and Qing Mo, forming hand seals to release his spiritual power and condense the sacred technique "Hammer of the Thunder God," attacking the three Undying Blood Clan experts led by Zhu Qingyi.
At the same time, Huang Yanchen unleashed a sacred sword, condensing thousands of sword qi into a river of swords. It emitted a rustling sound, stirring up sand and rocks across the area and leaving behind shocking sword scars.
"I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it."
Watching the attacks from Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen, Zhu Qingyi gently shook her head, revealing a disappointed expression. She pointed a finger forward, and a layer of blood mist like a water curtain condensed at her fingertip.
"Boom, boom."
The Hammer of the Thunder God and the sacred sword struck the water curtain, only creating two ripples without penetrating it.
Just as Zhu Qingyi was about to launch a counterattack to completely annihilate Zhang Ruochen and his group, a silver streak of light shot rapidly from behind the water curtain, tearing it apart instantly.
Zhu Qingyi showed a surprised expression, retracting her finger. Then, both of her snow-white palms struck forward simultaneously, unleashing two patches of crimson fire clouds.
The silver streak of light made contact with the fire clouds, gradually slowing down. Zhu Qingyi finally saw clearly that the silver light was wrapped around a kitchen knife.
"Boom."
Zhu Qingyi flew backward several hundred zhang before neutralizing the force of the silver kitchen knife and regaining her footing. She stared ahead, but the three human Saints had already fled to the horizon.
"Among the three, there's actually such an expert. Chase them!"
Zhu Qingyi's expression grew more serious. Her curvaceous and graceful body dissolved into dozens of strands of black mist, pursuing them at high speed.
"So formidable."
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was also deeply shocked.
He knew that Qing Mo's kitchen knife was no ordinary sacred artifact; it was likely a Divine Relic Ancient Artifact. Every time it was used, it was unstoppable and always drew blood. Yet, Zhu Qingyi, caught off guard, had managed to block the attack of the silver kitchen knife.
Zhang Ruochen suspected that even if Qing Mo unleashed the full power of the silver kitchen knife, it probably wouldn't be able to harm her.
All three of them felt an urgent sense of mortal threat. Zhu Qingyi's cultivation was too powerful, seemingly invincible.
Huang Yanchen looked behind her and saw Zhu Qingyi rapidly closing in. "She's too fast. She's already caught up. We have no choice but to use an escape secret technique."
Zhang Ruochen stopped Huang Yanchen and said solemnly, "Using an escape secret technique can indeed multiply speed several times, but it also has severe side effects. After using it, you'll fall into a long period of weakness. If you use it for too long, your cultivation level might even regress."
"It's a last resort. Only by using such a self-damaging secret technique can we hope to escape," Huang Yanchen said urgently. "Let go of me quickly. If Zhu Qingyi catches up, we'll all die."
"Let me handle it," Zhang Ruochen said.
Huang Yanchen showed a puzzled expression. Zhang Ruochen's three main meridians were already severed. Could he still perform an escape secret technique?
A resolute look appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. He took out the Buddha Emperor Relic and held it in his palm.
The relic was about the size of a peanut, golden in color, emitting light so intense that it stung the eyes of Huang Yanchen and Qing Mo.
"Slap!"
Zhang Ruochen gathered his spiritual power into his right hand, then clenched his fingers, shattering the fourth layer of the relic's seal.
He swallowed the relic directly. Moments later, his body turned radiant gold, and the sound of ten thousand Buddhas chanting sutras echoed from within him. Buddhist characters floated and sank on his skin, and countless Buddha shadows surged out of his body.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power had just broken through to the fifty-second level, but now it was rapidly increasing, seemingly about to reach the fifty-third level.
The relic contained the sacred power of two Buddhist Great Saints, the Buddha Emperor and the Golden Dragon, making it a priceless treasure.
Both the Buddha Emperor and the Golden Dragon had not only cultivated martial arts but also spiritual power, so the relic contained an immensely vast amount of spiritual energy.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen had always been reluctant to directly swallow the relic to achieve rapid breakthroughs in cultivation, much like other cultivators who refined sacred sources to become Saints. It had many drawbacks, limiting future potential. Once a certain realm was reached, cultivation would stagnate, effectively cutting off one's potential.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen had only planned to slowly absorb the power within the relic, never intending to swallow it outright.
Of course, the relic was far more precious than ordinary sacred sources. Even if there were drawbacks, they would only manifest at the Great Saint realm.
For most cultivators, the greatest dream was to reach the Great Saint realm, so they wouldn't care about the potential drawbacks of swallowing the relic.
"Swoosh—"
The immense power of the relic rampaged through Zhang Ruochen's body, drastically increasing his speed. Grabbing Huang Yanchen with one hand and Qing Mo with the other, he transformed into a golden streak of light and vanished into the clouds.
"Such powerful Buddhist aura. Could they be experts from the Ten Thousand Buddha Path in the Western Region, rather than sent by the Earth Temple?"
Zhu Qingyi pursued for another several hundred li but ultimately failed to catch Zhang Ruochen and his group. She stopped and landed on the ground.
Her eyes were filled with cold killing intent. Having acted personally and still failed to capture three human Saints, if word got out, many Saints within the Undying Blood Clan would surely mock her.
Soon, two Death God Knights caught up, standing on either side of Zhu Qingyi.
The Death God Knight on the left asked, "What cultivation level did those three human Saints reach? How could you not even stop them?"
Zhu Qingyi said, "That human spiritual power Saint must have swallowed a relic, causing a massive burst of spiritual power in an instant, allowing him to multiply his speed several times. Such a burst can't last forever. His speed will soon return to normal, and when we catch him again, it will be his death."
Then, Zhu Qingyi and the two Death God Knights followed the residual aura in the air, continuing their pursuit. They were even more determined to kill Zhang Ruochen and his group, believing them to be a significant threat to the Undying Blood Clan.
"Swoosh—"
A bright blade light, like a cold moon, connected the sky and earth, flying out from a mountain hollow and slashing toward Zhu Qingyi.
The moment the blade light emerged, the entire world trembled, as if the very rules of heaven and earth were being severed.
Zhu Qingyi's expression changed drastically. She stretched out both snow-white jade hands and grabbed at the void, pulling the two Death God Knights into her grasp like shields, blocking the attack.
"Boom."
Zhu Qingyi and the two Death God Knights flew backward simultaneously, crashing through a mountain peak and falling to the ground, cracking the earth with wide fissures.
Within the Ten Saints Blood Armor, the two Death God Knights were shattered into bloody mud by the blade qi, their sacred bones reduced to powder.
Zhu Qingyi was also in a miserable state, bleeding from all seven orifices, her arms broken and shattered, severely wounded. She had never expected to encounter such a terrifying expert.
Who had struck with that blade?
A Saint capable of cultivating blade techniques to such a level numbered no more than ten in the entire Northern Domain.
"Could it be him?"
A name surfaced in Zhu Qingyi's mind, one that ranked quite high on the Undying Blood Clan's "Must-Kill List."
Just then, a gray figure appeared in her vision, holding a stone blade, walking step by step out of the darkness.
The stone blade was extremely rough, like a piece of stone flake. Who would have thought such a blade could kill two Death God Knights and severely wound Zhu Qingyi?
Seeing that stone blade, Zhu Qingyi was even more certain of her guess. She took a deep breath and uttered a name: "Pei Yutian."
"You managed to survive one of my strikes, so you must be a major figure in the Undying Blood Clan. Cutting off your head should earn me quite a few top-tier cultivation resources from the Ministry of War," the gray figure said indifferently.
Zhu Qingyi knew the prowess of the man before her. There was no way she could escape today, but she still remained calm. "An expert like you, if you join the Azure Heaven Tribe, I can promise you an endless supply of cultivation resources. Gathering resources on your own will only waste a lot of time. At this rate, your cultivation will surely fall behind the other four on the 'Heroes' Ode.'"
The gray figure was none other than one of the five top experts on the "Heroes' Ode," Bei Yutian. He was the only one among the five without any background or backing, relying solely on his own efforts and life-and-death struggles to rise as a top human expert.
"Are you trying to persuade me to surrender?" Pei Yutian said coldly.
"That's right. A strong man like you shouldn't be buried. If you join the Undying Blood Clan, you will soon surpass the other four and become the number one expert on the 'Heroes' Ode,'" Zhu Qingyi said.
The corner of Pei Yutian's mouth lifted slightly. The stone blade in his hand emitted a cold aura, and a layer of ice spread from beneath his feet toward Zhu Qingyi.
Just as Zhu Qingyi was about to be consumed by the cold, a tall, upright figure rushed out from the void, standing beside her. A dense blood mist surged from his body, blocking the incoming cold.
Seeing the figure standing before her, Zhu Qingyi finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Senior Brother, you've finally arrived."
...
(There have been some matters these past few days, so only one chapter per day. No update yesterday, but there will be another chapter this afternoon. Updates should resume around the 25th, and I'll try to clear all distractions and focus entirely on writing.)
(Chapter End)