Chapter 1375: Taking an Oath
One after another, powerful sacred aura radiated from Saint Wood Peak, causing the surrounding space to tremble lightly. Among them, the two most fierce auras rushed out from the peak, transforming into two sacred clouds that floated above Zhang Ruochen's head.
In addition, the core figures of the Mu Clan also descended the mountain one after another, staring at Zhang Ruochen opposite them as if facing a great enemy. Even the weakest cultivators of the Mu Clan had reached the Half-Saint realm.
From this, one could see how astonishing the foundation of a medieval aristocratic clan truly was.
Zhang Ruochen held A Le's corpse, calmly gazing at the many strong experts of the Mu Clan, his gaze locking onto Yun Zheng. "Senior Yun Zheng, long time no see?"
Yun Zheng stepped out from the crowd, layers of sacred light surging around him, exuding a powerful aura. He said coldly, "Zhang Ruochen, don't try to claim a connection with this Saint. I don't know you well."
Zhang Ruochen's expression remained unchanged. "I wish to see Senior Sister Duanmu."
"Lingxi is now the fiancée of Young Master Qiuyu of the Fire Clan. They will be married on the seventh day of next month. Youngster, Saint Wood Peak is not a place you should come to, and Young Master Qiuyu is not someone you can afford to offend. Stay away from Lingxi from now on," Yun Zheng said.
"I understand. You don't have the authority to decide," Zhang Ruochen said.
"You..."
Hearing this, Yun Zheng's face turned extremely ugly. He clenched his teeth, a surge of anger flashing in his eyes.
Zhang Ruochen raised his head, staring at the two sacred clouds flying in the sky. "Ouyang Heng, won't you come down and see an old friend?"
A silver sacred carriage flew out from the sacred cloud, radiating dazzling light, and landed on the ground.
Ouyang Heng sat in the Silver Luan Sacred Carriage, dressed in a spotless white sacred robe, his jet-black hair neatly tied atop his head. He still looked quite young, handsome, and elegant, like a peerless exiled immortal.
The Half-Saints of the Mu Clan, and even the Saint realm patriarch-level figures, all bowed in salute. "Greetings, Vice Sect Leader."
Ouyang Heng stared at Zhang Ruochen, smiling. "In just one short year, you've fallen to such a state of decline."
"Isn't it all thanks to you?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Ouyang Heng shook his head. "Do you know why, a year ago, the nine of us, fellow disciples, fought desperately to stop you? It wasn't to kill you, but to save you. If you had crossed the gate of Ziwei Palace that day, you would have died for sure. How could you still be standing here?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Li Di, Xue Wuye, Gai Tianjiao, Beigong Lan, Suihan, and even Chi Wansui, might all have been trying to save me. But that absolutely does not include you. That palm strike of yours was meant to kill me, and you wanted me to die at the hands of a woman who was once mine. Your intentions were truly ruthless."
Ouyang Heng fell silent, then said, "You are still quite clever, but unfortunately, you act too impulsively. Coming to Wuding Mountain today is just as foolish as storming Ziwei Palace back then."
"How I act is none of your concern to judge."
Zhang Ruochen asked again, "Where is Qiuyu?"
"Qiuyu is not on Wuding Mountain. If you can voluntarily return the Realm Son Seal to me, I can invite you to the wedding banquet on the seventh day of next month. Then, you will naturally be able to see him," Ouyang Heng said.
"The seventh day of next month, is it? I will definitely arrive on time for the gathering."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze once again fixed on the towering Saint Wood Peak. He released a sound wave and said, "Senior Sister Duanmu, you must cherish your own life and not give up easily. Zhang Ruochen hereby swears an oath: on the seventh day of next month, I will definitely come to take you away. No one can force you to do what you do not wish to do."
Every word Zhang Ruochen spoke was resounding, carrying all the way to a thousand miles away, startling all the cultivators of the Demon Sect.
Zhang Ruochen had come to Saint Wood Peak just to say this one sentence. He had to give Mu Lingxi a hope; otherwise, given her personality, she would likely not wait until the seventh day of next month and would take her own life.
Inside a Black Iron Hall on Saint Wood Peak, Mu Lingxi lay on the ground. Hearing Zhang Ruochen's oath, she was deeply moved. Just hearing this one sentence was enough; even if she died, she would have no regrets.
At the same time, Mu Lingxi was extremely worried about Zhang Ruochen's safety, afraid that he would storm Wuding Mountain for her sake and do something foolish, like striking a rock with an egg.
"Enough, just this one sentence is enough... Zhang Ruochen, don't come. You don't need to fulfill the promise from back then. It's enough..."
Mu Lingxi murmured to herself, tears streaming from her eyes, yet a hint of happy smile appeared on her face.
Unfortunately, no one was there to relay Mu Lingxi's words, and Zhang Ruochen could not hear her voice.
Lin Suxian stood atop a spirit mountain not far from Saint Wood Peak, a white veil covering her face. Gazing at the streaks of sacred light at the foot of Saint Wood Peak, a complex and sorrowful expression appeared in her beautiful eyes. "See that? Another reckless young man, so much like Luo Xu back then. Unfortunately, reality is not something human strength can contend with. In the end, it will be another tragedy."
Lin Feiyu stood behind Lin Suxian and said, "Mother has always said that meeting a man like Senior Luo Xu, who would fight to the death for you, is all you could ask for. Mu Lingxi meeting Zhang Ruochen is also something to be envied."
Zhang Ruochen held A Le's corpse, preparing to leave.
Yun Zheng's expression changed. He quickly transmitted a message to the Mu Clan's Saint Lord, saying, "Zhang Ruochen is Lingxi's heart ailment. If he doesn't die, Lingxi will never give up."
Immediately, a voice that shook the heavens and earth came from one of the sacred clouds above: "Do you think Saint Wood Peak is a place you can come and go as you please?"
Zhang Ruochen glanced upward and saw a man in his fifties standing at the center of the sacred cloud, giving off an awe-inspiring presence, definitely a top-tier expert.
From his body, tens of thousands of sacred light chains descended from the sky, each woven from sacred dao rules.
"The Mu Clan's Saint Lord, a sacred dao overlord famous for centuries, yet he strikes at a junior. Aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by the world?" A bright sword light flew in from afar, dragging a long trail of light, and landed on the ground, condensing into Ling Feiyu's figure.
Seeing Ling Feiyu appear, all the Demon Sect cultivators present knelt in salute.
The Mu Clan's Saint Lord snorted coldly. "Palace Master Ling, is the Mu Clan's family affairs something you want to meddle in?"
Ling Feiyu's eyes were cold and sharp as swords. "This Palace Master once owed Zhang Ruochen a favor. Today, no matter what, I will ensure he leaves Wuding Mountain safely."
A Saint King personally appeared, and the sacred might emanating from her suppressed the entire scene. Even a Saint like Yun Zheng found his entire body unable to move, as if ten heavy mountains were pressing down on him.
A Saint King is the king of the sacred path. A single casual strike can annihilate a Saint.
With a king of the sacred path appearing, who would dare to defy?
But just then, another sacred might, no weaker than Ling Feiyu's, emanated from Saint Wood Peak. The two sacred mights collided, instantly stirring up a hurricane across this stretch of heaven and earth.
Ling Feiyu's eyes narrowed as she looked into the distance. She saw a slender figure in a black robe, like a ghost, standing at the center of the hurricane, like a black hole, devouring all the surrounding light.
"Ye Xiaoxiang, do you intend to interfere in this matter?" Ling Feiyu said.
That black figure was Ye Xiaoxiang, the Palace Master of the Dark Night Palace, one of the nine palaces of the Demon Sect.
Ye Xiaoxiang let out a light laugh. "This Palace Master merely thinks your actions are too unfair to the Mu Clan and wishes to say a word of justice."
"Unfair in what way?" Ling Feiyu said.
Ye Xiaoxiang said, "Zhang Ruochen is not a disciple of the Divine Sect, yet he dares to barge into Saint Wood Peak, shouting about disrupting the marriage of a junior of the Mu Clan. This is undoubtedly a provocation to the Mu Clan. If the Mu Clan lets him leave like this, how can they hold their heads up in the sect in the future? Palace Master Ling, you can't repay your favor at the expense of the Mu Clan suffering such humiliation, can you?"
The Saints of the Mu Clan spoke up one after another. "That's right, the Mu Clan absolutely cannot swallow this insult."
"Palace Master Ling, the Mu Clan is also a medieval aristocratic clan. We hope you can show us some face, lest outsiders think the Mu Clan is easy to bully."
...
A hint of smile appeared in Ye Xiaoxiang's eyes. "Palace Master Ling's cultivation is profound, and you have been crowned a king in the sacred path. But you cannot go too far. After all, the Mu Clan's old ancestor is also a king in the sacred path. When he returns, how will you explain this to him?"
Ling Feiyu said, "Stop with your insinuations. Tell me, in your opinion, what would be fair?"
"If Zhang Ruochen can withstand three moves from the Mu Clan's Saint Lord without dying, this Palace Master will join you in protecting his life and personally escort him down the mountain. How about that?" Ye Xiaoxiang said.
"No way. Mu Qingtian's cultivation has already reached the late stage of True Saint. His power is profound. After three moves, how could Zhang Ruochen still be alive?" Ling Feiyu said.
Ling Feiyu could see that even though Zhang Ruochen drank every day, his cultivation had not been neglected. Over the past year, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the peak of the Xuanhuang realm.
Back then, it had taken Ling Feiyu a full five years to go from the initial stage of the Xuanhuang realm to the peak.
Zhang Ruochen's rate of improvement, compared to Ouyang Heng, who had consumed countless elixirs, was not slow at all.
But the True Saint realm was no small matter. From the initial stage to the middle stage, and from the middle stage to the late stage, each minor realm was a world of difference.
A Saint at the Xuanhuang realm, no matter how heaven-defying his constitution or how powerful his talent, it was unrealistic to think he could withstand three strikes from a late-stage True Saint.
Zhang Ruochen naturally did not want to put Ling Feiyu in a difficult position, knowing her situation in the Demon Sect was also precarious. So he stepped forward and said, "Three moves, right? I'll take them."
"As expected of the Heir of Time and Space, such boldness," Ye Xiaoxiang said with a silvery laugh.
Ouyang Heng saw through Ye Xiaoxiang's scheme, a slight curl at the corner of his mouth. He muttered to himself, "Zhang Ruochen is too arrogant. A late-stage True Saint is not something an initial-stage True Saint can compare to."
In the distance, Lin Suxian gently shook her head. "I was hoping to see how he would turn the world upside down on the seventh day of next month and change Mu Lingxi's fate. But it seems he won't even survive tonight."