# Chapter 1350: Chaotic Space-Time
Deep within the Immortal Machine Mountain was a sealed zone, filled with chaotic heaven and earth rules, including disordered space and time.
Clearly walking forward, yet Zhang Ruochen's body uncontrollably moved backward.
"Inverted space."
Zhang Ruochen rubbed his chin with his fingers, stopped walking, and headed in another direction.
"Boom!"
Just one step, and his body experienced a strong sense of weightlessness, falling into a space bubble.
Inside that space bubble, bolts of lightning shot through in all directions, densely packed and countless, very much like a small thunder world, extremely dangerous.
Next, Zhang Ruochen encountered other strange spatial zones. Fortunately, as an Heir of Time and Space, he had a certain degree of understanding of various spatial environments, allowing him to handle them calmly.
If it were an ordinary Saint realm being, they would likely have already become lost inside.
"What kind of place is Immortal Machine Mountain? Why is its spatial structure so variable and unstable? Could it be a bridge between the Kunlun Realm and another world?"
Zhang Ruochen stopped and did not continue deeper. He felt that even greater danger lay ahead.
With his current cultivation, reaching this point was already somewhat forced. Going further, he might not be able to return to the Kunlun Realm.
Zhang Ruochen retraced his steps, walked out of that chaotic spatial zone, and reappeared on Immortal Machine Mountain.
"Both space rules and time rules are very active. It's a good place for cultivation, but still too dangerous. If I encounter cultivators from the Death Clan, it will be quite troublesome."
Zhang Ruochen did not stay long and returned to Fate Lake.
White Li Princess stood at the edge of Wuyuan Island, her delicate body seemingly weightless, floating above a patch of green water plants. A long white cat tail gently swayed, creating ripples in the water.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen walking on the water toward her, she asked, "Any discoveries?"
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head. "I can't get in at all. It seems to be a path leading to another world, but it's cut off by chaotic space and time forces. I found dozens of space bubbles alone, each one a small world full of danger. How about your side? Any progress? Did those two gather any sacred medicine?"
White Li Princess said, "That rabbit gathered forty-two sacred medicines, and the demon ape gathered forty."
"So fast?" Zhang Ruochen was surprised.
The Divine Soil Medicine Garden was full of dangers, especially near sacred medicines, which were guarded by Great Saint remnant formations. Even picking just one would require tremendous effort.
Zhang Ruochen had only been in the depths of Immortal Machine Mountain for half a day.
Half a day, and they had gathered that many sacred medicines?
White Li Princess was somewhat dissatisfied, a look of disdain in her eyes. "It took them over half a month to gather this little bit. You call that fast?"
"Over half a month has passed?"
Zhang Ruochen's expression froze, and he thought carefully before muttering to himself, "No wonder I felt something was off with the time flow."
White Li Princess did not ask what Zhang Ruochen had encountered. Her two snow-white ears twitched slightly as she looked toward the forest. "They're back."
Guoguo and the demon ape rushed out of the forest.
Guoguo held a sacred flower in his hands, with four flat petals showing red, blue, white, and green colors, emitting light like four sacred clouds.
The demon ape clutched a silver sacred grass with thick roots, emitting silver specks of light.
Both beasts bore wounds—some areas charred black, some scarred, some still bleeding. Clearly, they had suffered quite a bit in the Divine Soil Medicine Garden.
"Master Chen, you're finally back! That cat abused us, forced us to gather medicine in the Divine Soil Medicine Garden. If we didn't go, she beat us. Half my injuries are from her."
Guoguo dropped the sacred flower, hugged Zhang Ruochen's thigh, and cried with snot and tears.
White Li Princess just snorted lightly without saying a word, her lively eyes fixed on the shimmering lake surface, as if she had discovered something.
The demon ape shrank to three meters tall, limped over to Zhang Ruochen, and showed a pleading expression. "Master, we've already gathered most of the sacred medicines in the Divine Soil Medicine Garden. The remaining ones are all in the core area of the Great Saint remnant formations, impossible to approach. If you send us again, we'll likely die inside."
Guoguo knew Zhang Ruochen was the real mastermind and understood the reason, so he said, "Master Chen, we know we were wrong. We won't dare to steal sacred medicines anymore. Really, we won't!"
The demon ape added, "Master, with my current cultivation, I can take down a large sect or a saintly clan. I'll go rob them and make up for the sacred medicines and divine medicines we stole."
"I'll go rob too," Guoguo said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Forget it. I'll spare you this time. Don't go robbing sacred medicines from other forces. For the next while, we need to keep a low profile."
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen wasn't pursuing the matter, Guoguo and the demon ape both sighed in relief and nodded vigorously. "Master Chen, you're the boss."
White Li Princess stared at a certain direction on Fate Lake. "Zhang Ruochen, someone is spying on us. Their cultivation isn't weak."
Zhang Ruochen had already sensed it and nodded. "They're hiding well, their aura suppressed to the extreme. But when I appeared, they had some emotional fluctuation. It should be an expert who knows me."
Hearing the conversation between White Li Princess and Zhang Ruochen, Guoguo put on an indignant expression, stood by the water, and roared, "Who? Who dares to spy on White Li Princess? What a shameless scoundrel, worse than a beast. Do you dare to roll out and take a move from Master Rabbit?"
White Li Princess's forehead sprouted black lines.
What did he mean by spying?
How did that rabbit twist the meaning?
A faint fluctuation of sacred qi appeared on the lake surface. The person hidden in the shadows knew they had been discovered by Zhang Ruochen and the others, so they quickly fled into the distance.
"Stupid thief, where do you think you're going?"
Guoguo let out a dragon roar, his body transforming into a demon dragon, charging out along the safe route to catch up with the fleeing semi-transparent figure, striking out with a dragon claw hundreds of meters long.
"Boom."
The semi-transparent figure let out a muffled sound, blocked the attack, but was sent flying, crashing into a nearby mountain.
His form fully revealed—it was Zhao Qilin, the leader of the Dark Night Envoys from the Moon Worship Demon Sect's Dark Night Palace.
Zhao Qilin's cultivation had reached the Heaven-Connecting Realm, making him a top-tier expert. Yet he was sent flying by a single claw strike. How could he not be shocked?
"Stupid thief, you dared to spy on White Li Princess. You must pay the price."
Guoguo charged again, striking out another dragon claw that pressed down on Zhao Qilin's head, driving half his body into the ground.
Zhao Qilin was both angry and furious. He was a leader of Dark Night Envoys, yet he was being called a stupid thief by a barbarian beast. How could he not be angry?
And... spying?
A dignified saint, how could he be so despicable?
But that barbarian beast's cultivation was heaven-defying, suppressing Zhao Qilin so that his whole body couldn't move, his bones feeling like they were about to fall apart.
Zhao Qilin pushed upward with both hands to block the dragon claw, hurriedly saying, "Zhang Ruochen, we can talk..."
"Talk? Fine. I do have some questions for you."
Zhang Ruochen walked over, arriving beside Zhao Qilin. "Where are Night Palace Master Ye Xiaoxiang and Formation King Palace Master Xiao Mie?"
"If I tell you, will you let me go?" Zhao Qilin asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "No. One question isn't enough to save your life. You need to answer at least three questions."
"Will you keep your word?" Zhao Qilin asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "As long as you answer honestly, I'll let you go. What do you think?"
"Fine."
Zhao Qilin replied, "Both palace masters received a message from the High Priestess telling them to leave Immortal Machine Mountain immediately. I don't know where they went."
Half a month ago, Immortal Machine Mountain was indeed a place of trouble, at the center of the storm. Perhaps the High Priestess was worried about Ye Xiaoxiang and Xiao Mie's safety and told them to leave.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and asked, "Then why are you still at Immortal Machine Mountain?"
"Both palace masters ordered me to stay here and investigate the whereabouts of Feng Zuizheng and Ku Gongzi. Once I have news, I'm to inform them immediately," Zhao Qilin said.
Hearing this, the heavy stone in Zhang Ruochen's heart finally fell. Those two old fellows had indeed escaped the pursuit.
Zhao Qilin stared intently at Zhang Ruochen. "What's your third question?"
"There is no third question," Zhang Ruochen said.
"You..."
Zhao Qilin knew he had been tricked by Zhang Ruochen and trembled with anger.
Zhang Ruochen turned and walked away, saying to Guoguo, "Give him a quick death. After killing him, bury him and set up a grave marker."
"Got it."
Guoguo unleashed his full power, sending a large mass of demonic mist surging from his dragon claw, completely enveloping Zhao Qilin's body. He forcibly drove it into Zhao Qilin's body, suppressing his sacred qi to prevent him from self-destructing his sacred source.
From within the demonic mist, Zhao Qilin roared, "Zhang Ruochen... wait... one more thing... something very important... about your mother..."
Zhang Ruochen suddenly stopped, sending out a stream of sacred qi to dispel the demonic mist.
"Shua."
With a flicker of his form, Zhang Ruochen arrived before Zhao Qilin, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him from the ground, holding him in midair. "What did you just say?"
"You have to promise to let me go before I tell you," Zhao Qilin said.
With a bang, Zhang Ruochen threw Zhao Qilin to the ground. "Speak! I'll count this as your third question."
Zhao Qilin lay on the ground gasping for breath. When his breathing steadied, he said, "About a month ago, news spread across the five domains of the human race that your three meridians were crippled. Some people coveted the treasures on you, so they stirred up the emotions of cultivators across the world, searching for your whereabouts to harm you. Some even wanted to capture your mother to force you to show yourself."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze grew colder and colder, a sense of sorrow filling him. No matter how much he did for the human race, when he fell on hard times, a large number of greedy individuals jumped out to kick him while he was down.
These people were more hateful than the Undying Blood Clan.
Originally, he had planned to disappear for a while and focus on cultivation. But now, Zhang Ruochen's heart couldn't calm down. He wanted to rush to the Central Imperial City immediately.
Zhang Ruochen's ten fingers clenched tightly. "Tell me, who are they?"
(Chapter End)