Chapter 1305: The Tables Have Turned
"The Golden Bat Giant Serpent is a seventh-rank upper-level barbarian beast, quite rare. An adult Golden Bat Giant Serpent can, with its own explosive power alone, contend with a Saint of the Heaven-reaching Realm. Moreover, the Golden Bat Giant Serpent breeds potent poison within its body, and the toxic mist it exhales can cause major trouble even for a True Saint."
Zhang Ruochen stepped on fallen leaves, walking forward while explaining.
Qing Mo was so frightened her pretty face turned pale, her legs weak, and she dared not enter the forest even more.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen stopped in his tracks, letting out a soft exclamation of surprise. He stared in a certain direction within the forest and muttered to himself, "The aura of the Undying Blood Clan."
"Hua—"
Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power, mobilizing the world's spiritual energy, and condensed it into a semi-transparent spherical cocoon that enveloped both him and Qing Mo.
The semi-transparent spherical cocoon rolled swiftly through the forest, blending seamlessly with the surrounding natural environment, heading toward the direction from which the Undying Blood Clan aura emanated.
Before long, Zhang Ruochen and Qing Mo spotted a figure from the Undying Blood Clan by a stream.
"It's him."
Zhang Ruochen recognized that Undying Blood Clan member. He was quite old, hailing from the Azure Heaven Tribe, with a cultivation reaching the Thorough Ground Realm. He had once been trapped in a space maze formation, and later, Zhu Qingyi used two female saints to exchange for his return.
Qing Mo was somewhat curious and asked, "Why is he alone? What about the other Blood Saints of the Undying Blood Clan? Could they all be dead?"
"Follow him. We might find traces of other Blood Saints from the Undying Blood Clan."
Zhang Ruochen did not act immediately. After all, that Thorough Ground Realm Blood Saint was not a core figure of the Undying Blood Clan. Killing him would not hold much significance. Moreover, if the encirclement failed, it would alert the enemy.
This stretch of mountain forest was quite vast, filled with towering ancient trees. Some of them were highly spiritual, having grown for at least ten thousand years. Even the vines entwining the tree trunks were one or two meters thick, like black flood dragons.
Dense white mist filled the forest, capable of affecting a cultivator's vision and spiritual power.
On the ground, Zhang Ruochen discovered traces of ancient formations. The formation inscriptions carved into the stones were extremely complex and profound.
Unfortunately, Zhang Ruochen's attainments in formations were not high, and he could not repair the residual formations here. Otherwise, those residual formations might have proven very useful.
That Thorough Ground Realm Blood Saint was extremely cautious, stopping from time to time to look around, ensuring no cultivator was following him.
Arriving beside an ancient tree with a diameter of six or seven meters, the Thorough Ground Realm Blood Saint came to a complete stop. Then, he took a jade bottle from his sleeve and said, "Lord Blood General, this Saint personally returned to the military camp to retrieve the detoxification sacred pill. It should help you neutralize the Golden Bat Giant Serpent's poison within your body."
"Hua—"
A wisp of black mist flew down from around the tree trunk, landed on the ground, and condensed into a slender figure. She wore a dark black robe and a veil, exuding an aura of evil and mystery.
Zhang Ruochen recognized her at a glance. She was the disciple of King Zhong Ying—Zhu Qingyi.
Even in the loose robe, the rounded curves of her chest were visible, rising upward. Above the veil, her eyes revealed a look of exhaustion.
Seeing a look of fatigue on a Saint's face confirmed that there was definitely a major problem with this Saint's body or saint soul.
Zhu Qingyi's voice was quite cold as she asked, "Does the Vice Commander know the situation at Xianji Mountain? When will he arrive?"
That Thorough Ground Realm Blood Saint replied, "The Vice Commander encountered a rather troublesome opponent and cannot get away for now."
"Very well. There aren't any particularly formidable figures at Xianji Mountain for now. As long as I neutralize the toxins in my body, I should be able to handle things."
Zhu Qingyi extended a delicate hand, grasping forward. A wisp of saintly energy seeped from her fingertips, rolling up the jade bottle in the Thorough Ground Realm Blood Saint's hand.
Just then, an anomaly occurred.
A vortex appeared, and the jade bottle containing the detoxification sacred pill vanished into thin air.
"Who is it?"
Zhu Qingyi let out a cold shout.
Immediately, a powerful wave of saintly energy surged from within her body. Leaves rustled down, but before they could reach the ground, they were shattered into powder by the invisible force.
"Roar."
That Thorough Ground Realm Blood Saint let out a loud roar, spewing a cloud of blood mist from his mouth. Behind him, a blood-red war general phantom, dozens of feet tall, materialized.
"Tap, tap."
Footsteps sounded, neither hurried nor slow.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen, dressed in white, emerged from the mist, playing with the jade bottle in his hand. He opened the lid and took out a white sacred pill.
"Ice Toad Pill. Truly a priceless healing sacred pill."
Zhang Ruochen put the Ice Toad Pill back into the jade bottle, a smile on his face as he stared at Zhu Qingyi standing opposite him. "Miss Zhu, I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon, did you?"
Zhu Qingyi's eyes narrowed, and she said coldly, "You have quite the nerve, daring to snatch this Saint's sacred pill. Do you really think this Saint can't do anything to you?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "If Miss Zhu were still at her peak, I certainly wouldn't be your match and wouldn't dare to be so bold. But as for now, how much of your power can Miss Zhu still unleash?"
Zhu Qingyi let out an eerie smile and said, "With your meager strength, without the aid of formations, you don't even need this Saint to personally take action to suppress you. Burial Heart Blood Saint, seize him. Remember, don't kill him outright—just cut off his hands and feet first."
Zhu Qingyi had fought Zhang Ruochen before and knew his spiritual power was only at the fifty-second rank, at most equivalent to the strength of a Mysterious Yellow Realm Saint.
Burial Heart Blood Saint had once been trapped in the space maze formation and had nearly died. He had long harbored a deep hatred for Zhang Ruochen.
Now that Zhang Ruochen had appeared again, he showed no mercy. He controlled the dozens-of-feet-tall blood-red war general phantom, extending a handprint as large as a house to grab at Zhang Ruochen.
"Hua!"
Qing Mo darted out from behind Zhang Ruochen. Her slender finger pointed forward, and a green vine shot from her fingertip, wrapping around the dozens-of-feet-tall blood-red war general phantom.
With a bang, the blood-red war general could not withstand the vine's power and exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist.
Burial Heart Blood Saint's gaze darkened as he stared at Qing Mo and said, "You're not human?"
Qing Mo, having broken Burial Heart Blood Saint's attack, gained some confidence. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Whether I'm human or not is none of your business. Anyway, if you want to harm my young master, you'll have to get through me first."
"Just you?"
Burial Heart Blood Saint had cultivated for over six hundred years and was a fearsome figure in the Northern Domain. He would not take a little girl seriously.
"Boom."
Burial Heart Blood Saint stomped his foot on the ground, and from the sole of his foot, dozens of blood-red patterns surged out, spreading toward Qing Mo.
Qing Mo also unleashed dozens of vines, colliding with the blood-red patterns unleashed by Burial Heart Blood Saint. The impact produced a rumbling roar, shattering towering ancient trees into wood powder.
Some of the residual formations in the forest were activated, forming defensive barriers that blocked the force of their clash. Otherwise, the destructive power of the battle would have spread even further.
Zhang Ruochen's attention remained fixed on Zhu Qingyi. He moved his lips and said, "Qing Mo, finish this quickly. Miss Zhu here is my main target."
Qing Mo held nothing back. She took out the silver kitchen knife, burst into incredible speed, and swung it in a slash.
Burial Heart Blood Saint took out a sacred artifact to block.
"Rip."
The silver kitchen knife cut through the sacred artifact like tofu, slashing across Burial Heart Blood Saint's body and severing his left arm. Blood gushed out, and his body was sent flying backward by the blade's force.
"How is this possible..."
Burial Heart Blood Saint was unwilling to accept it. With his profound cultivation, how could he not even block a single slash from a little girl?
Zhu Qingyi sensed something was wrong. She realized she had underestimated Qing Mo's strength. So, she stopped waiting. She extended both hands and formed a hand seal.
"Hua—"
A black giant sword materialized in front of her, dragging a waterfall-like blade of light as it slashed down toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen stood still. A lightning orb, three zhang in diameter, automatically formed around his body.
The black giant sword struck the lightning orb with a thunderous roar. Lightning patterns scattered in all directions, melting the soil and leaving golden magma streams on the ground.
"So this is the strength of a Heaven-reaching Blood General?"
Zhang Ruochen chuckled, extended a finger, and tapped the tip of the black giant sword.
"Slap!"
The black giant sword hovering in midair shattered into pieces, turning into wisps of black evil mist that flowed back into Zhu Qingyi's body.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen was even more certain that Zhu Qingyi's body had a major problem, as she could not even unleash one-tenth of her full power.
A golden mist appeared on Zhu Qingyi's forehead, and a flash of pain crossed her eyes. She gritted her teeth and said, "Has your spiritual power reached the fifty-third rank?"
"That's right," Zhang Ruochen said.
"If I weren't heavily poisoned, even with your fifty-third rank spiritual power, suppressing you would be a trivial matter," Zhu Qingyi said.
"Perhaps."
Zhang Ruochen walked toward her step by step and said, "Actually, I am also severely injured. I'm not taking much advantage of you. This can only be considered a fair fight."
"Blood Rain Divine Communication Method."
Burial Heart Blood Saint was severely wounded by Qing Mo. Forced to, he used his own blood to sacrifice to the gods, exchanging it for several times the power.
The white mist above turned into blood mist, and crimson blood rain fell, dyeing the land blood-red.
The aura emanating from Burial Heart Blood Saint grew stronger and stronger, soon surpassing the Thorough Ground Realm and reaching the level of a Heaven-reaching Realm Saint, and it continued to grow.
A hint of joy appeared in Zhu Qingyi's eyes as she said, "Burial Heart Blood Saint, kill the two of them as quickly as possible. No need to keep them alive."
The Divine Communication Method was a desperate move. Once activated, it could unleash several times, even ten times, the combat power.
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly. He was about to send a voice transmission to Qing Mo, telling her to retreat immediately.
However, when he looked at Qing Mo, he was surprised to see an incredibly powerful aura erupting from her body, accompanied by a dazzling silver light.
It was the aura emanating from the silver kitchen knife.
Qing Mo activated the original power of the silver kitchen knife. The energy fluctuation released from the knife was even stronger than the energy fluctuation surging from Burial Heart Blood Saint's body.
...
(Another chapter will follow shortly, slightly delayed, around one o'clock.)
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