# Chapter 1329: Apologize to Me
Leaving the forest, Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power, conducted an investigation, and found the battle traces left behind by Wine Madman and Ye Xiaoxiang.
"Wine Madman and Gu Songzi didn't escape from Xianji Mountain, but instead went deeper into Xianji Mountain."
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised, finding it difficult to understand.
Then, after repeated confirmation, he ultimately reached the same conclusion.
Both the black figure who claimed to be from the "Death Clan" and the section of bone finger that rushed out from the bottom of the Daoist temple had gone deep into Xianji Mountain. From this, it could be seen that there must be great danger there.
Why go there?
"It seems that Shi Qianjue's Saint Appearance Talisman caused huge trouble for Wine Madman and Gu Songzi, forcing them to flee deep into Xianji Mountain and use external forces to resist Ye Xiaoxiang." Zhang Ruochen guessed in his heart.
"No one knows how terrifying the power of those Death Clan members truly is. This path is probably a life-and-death gamble for them as well."
Qing Mo pursed her lips, as if thinking of something, and gently sighed: "Young Master, Wine Madman told me about what happened back then."
"Oh? Tell me about it." Zhang Ruochen said.
Qing Mo said: "Six hundred years ago, Wine Madman received a message from Gu Songzi and indeed immediately rushed back to the Demon Sect's headquarters, planning to stop Shi Qianjue and save Gu Songzi's family. However, he was very unlucky. On the way, he was intercepted by Her Majesty the Empress. To survive and return, he could only kneel and beg the Empress, and even swore a poisonous oath to never kill, never do evil, and withdraw from the Demon Sect. But he was still one step too late and couldn't save the people."
"So it seems, Wine Madman endured humiliation and burden, not as cowardly and afraid of death as Gu Songzi said." Zhang Ruochen said.
So many grievances, truly sigh-worthy.
Fate is full of twists and turns, yet there is nothing to be done.
Qing Mo frowned, her willow-leaf brows furrowing: "But I just don't understand, why didn't he tell Gu Songzi the truth?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head: "For a Saint, making him kneel is harder than making him die. What's more, he knelt to his master's killer. If he told the truth, then the one who would feel guilty for life would be Gu Songzi."
"So, Wine Madman paid a price greater than life itself?" Qing Mo asked, half-understanding.
"That's right." Zhang Ruochen said.
A battle at the Saint King level was something Zhang Ruochen and Qing Mo, with their current cultivation, couldn't interfere with. The depths of Xianji Mountain were also not a place they could explore.
The most important thing to do now was to find a safe hiding place and nurture the three meridians to their optimal state.
Xianji Mountain was indeed dangerous, but it was also an excellent hiding place.
Zhang Ruochen looked up and saw a majestic spiritual mountain, shaped like a stone elephant. It was the same mountain they had first climbed when entering Xianji Mountain.
At the top of the spiritual mountain, a large area of ancient buildings was constructed. Sacred light radiated from within, making one wonder if it was a dwelling place for gods.
"Let's go, that's the place." Zhang Ruochen led Qing Mo up the mountain again.
The Golden Bat Giant Python shrank its body to only three feet long, flapped its bat wings, and flew above Qing Mo's head.
Approaching the mountaintop, they saw the broken Daoist temple. The temple ruins were split in two, with a ground fissure in the middle extending deep underground.
That section of bone finger had rushed out from below this ground fissure.
"The bone finger was once sealed here, suppressed by a Daoist temple. What astonishing origin does the bone finger have? Who sealed it here? Could there be other bone fragments in Xianji Mountain?"
Full of doubts, Zhang Ruochen instructed Qing Mo to wait for him on the ground, then jumped down the ground fissure alone to search for clues.
Underground the Daoist temple was a twelve-zhang-tall black stone altar, covered with ancient writing.
However, the black altar was already broken. Zhang Ruochen found no useful clues from the writing either and had to return to the surface.
"What did you find?"
Qing Mo widened her bright eyes, extremely curious, clearly very interested in the origin of that bone finger.
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head: "Let's go."
The ancient buildings on the mountaintop, even after enduring wind and rain for a hundred thousand years, remained magnificent and awe-inspiring.
One must know that even that section of bone finger dared not enter, which was enough to show that this place was quite extraordinary.
Outside the cyan palace, Zhang Ruochen set up a Space Confusion Formation to prevent experts from the Moon Worship Demon Sect, Undying Blood Clan, and Death Clan from breaking in.
Entering the cyan palace, Qing Mo's eyes rolled: "Young Master, your cultivation has recovered. You can tear space and should be able to break through the formations deep in the palace. Should we go in and explore? Perhaps we'll find an incredible treasure."
"Let's go."
Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Walking along the stone path overgrown with weeds, passing through ancient halls, they finally stopped under a silver maple tree.
Zhang Ruochen gently pressed his palm forward.
"Whoosh."
A semi-transparent barrier like a water curtain appeared, blocking his hand. White electric patterns flowed on the water curtain barrier, converging at Zhang Ruochen's palm and forming a counterforce.
Zhang Ruochen was already prepared. In an instant, he withdrew his palm, his body floating backward, landing three zhang away.
The formation here was quite formidable, impossible to break with brute force.
"Let's try using a space rift."
Zhang Ruochen circulated his Saint Qi, simultaneously releasing his Space Saint Appearance, fully mobilizing the Space Rules, and condensing them into the index finger of his right hand.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to tear space, he suddenly detected an unusual fluctuation of Saint Qi above his head.
"There's a top-tier Saint Realm expert standing on top of the palace."
Zhang Ruochen glanced diagonally upward from the corner of his eye, immediately changing the trajectory of his finger, slashing upward toward the position where the Saint Qi fluctuation had come from.
At that moment, a crimson figure, with uncanny speed, swooped down from the palace roof, changing positions seven times in a row to dodge the space rift, leaving seven afterimages in midair.
Qing Mo sensed the heat wave and energy coming from above and, with the fastest reaction speed, reached for the silver kitchen knife.
However, the opponent was faster, first grabbing Qing Mo's wrist, while the other hand reached for Zhu Qingyi, who was held in Qing Mo's arms.
Just as the crimson figure was about to succeed, Zhang Ruochen turned into an afterimage and appeared behind her, striking a finger sword at the back of her neck.
The crimson figure had no choice but to send Qing Mo flying with a palm strike, then extended two slender index and middle fingers, forming a finger sword that collided with Zhang Ruochen's finger sword.
"Bang, bang."
Both used finger swords, exchanging thirteen moves in a row.
The two finger swords clashed violently, sending countless sword energies flying, leaving holes in the palace walls on both sides of the stone path.
Then, the two quickly separated.
By the time Zhang Ruochen steadied his steps, the crimson figure had already retreated to the end of the stone path, standing more than twenty zhang away.
The entire process happened in the blink of an eye, taking less than a breath's time. But Zhu Qingyi had already been taken.
Immediately after, six White Feather Female Saints rushed out from the nearby palace, standing behind the crimson figure.
Zhang Ruochen finally saw the crimson figure's face clearly. He didn't get angry but said calmly: "Is this how Canglan Martial Saint repays a favor?"
Canglan Martial Saint held Zhu Qingyi, a triumphant look in her phoenix eyes as she smiled charmingly: "I was hiding in the cyan palace, yet you didn't find me. That means I could have struck and assassinated you at any time, but I didn't. Isn't that repaying the favor?"
Arguing reason with a woman is clearly not something a smart person would do.
Zhang Ruochen didn't bother arguing with Canglan Martial Saint. He could only blame himself for being too careless and should have been more cautious.
There was a mysterious power in the cyan palace that suppressed cultivators' spiritual power and perception. Otherwise, Zhang Ruochen would definitely have detected Canglan Martial Saint in advance.
"You entered this cyan palace area long ago?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Canglan Martial Saint was in an excellent mood: "Do you think you're the only one who discovered this place is extraordinary? This palace area can block the evil shadow of that bone finger from entering, which means there must be treasures here that can restrain the bone finger and the Death Clan."
"But you couldn't break the formations here and were blocked outside." Zhang Ruochen said.
"That's right."
Canglan Martial Saint put away her smile, feeling somewhat displeased, clearly having suffered a setback.
"Perhaps I can break the formations here."
Zhang Ruochen gently waved his hand, and the space not far away split open, creating a half-foot-long rift. "If you want me to take you in, you'll have to return Zhu Qingyi to me first and apologize to me."
"Are you crazy? Do you actually think that Canglan Martial Saint, the head of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, would lower her head and apologize to a court criminal?"
Canglan Martial Saint raised her snow-white chin, revealing a long, slender, and sexy neck, clearly unwilling to compromise.
Zhang Ruochen said: "The head of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, Canglan Martial Saint, attacked two cultivators of lower cultivation from behind. If this gets out, wouldn't it also make you a laughingstock among the world's cultivators?"
Canglan Martial Saint frowned, her dark brows furrowing seriously: "The Death Clan comes from outside the realm. Their threat to humanity might be even greater than that of the Undying Blood Clan. The treasures deep in the cyan palace can restrain them, so they must be controlled by the imperial court to be used to their fullest effect. Zhang Ruochen, for the greater good, we should set aside our differences and enter together to retrieve them. In the future, I will definitely report your merits to Her Majesty the Empress. Perhaps..."
Hearing the words "Her Majesty the Empress," Zhang Ruochen's eyes darkened, and he interrupted her: "For the greater good, you should first return the person to me and then apologize to me."
Canglan Martial Saint ground her teeth in anger. She had actually had a very good impression of Zhang Ruochen. If Zhang Ruochen would cooperate with her to retrieve the treasures deep in the cyan palace, then in the future, even at the risk of angering the Empress, she would report this merit to offset the crimes Zhang Ruochen had committed.
But Zhang Ruochen was completely uncooperative, even demanding that she lower her head and apologize, admitting she was wrong.
Who was she? She was the head of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, the lofty Canglan Martial Saint. She wasn't some little girl like Qing Mo. She had her dignity too, alright?
The six female saints were also somewhat stunned, feeling that Zhang Ruochen had eaten a bear's heart and leopard's gall.
But strangely, they didn't feel aversion or hostility toward Zhang Ruochen in their hearts. Instead, they secretly laughed, feeling that the Martial Saint would suffer a loss this time.
At the same time, they were also curious: between the two of them, who would ultimately compromise?