Chapter 1387: The Royal Prince Sleeping Beneath the Earth
Zhang Ruochen, A Le, Blood Moon Ghost King, White Li Princess, Demon Ape, and Guo Guo were all extremely powerful. They charged straight through the Lingxiao Heavenly Prince Mansion, unstoppable, shattering palaces and reducing countless spirit mountains and gardens to ruins, leaving behind a trail of bloody corpses.
They stepped into a region where dozens of spirit mountains stood, getting closer and closer to the Ancestral Shrine of the Emperors.
"Boom."
Above the dozens of spirit mountains, a white cloud condensed.
Within the cloud, the formation inscriptions of the ancient palace-guarding formation emerged, converging into a white beam of light that blasted toward them.
The Buddha Emperor Relic was a Great Saint ancient artifact, but with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, he could not continuously unleash its original power.
The consumption of Saint Qi was too great; it served more as a deterrent to enemies than a weapon for battle.
A Le and White Li Princess simultaneously struck out with a pillar of Saint Qi, injecting it into the Buddha Emperor Relic. Combining the strength of the three of them, they channeled an even greater original power from the relic, once again blocking the attack wave from the palace-guarding formation.
"Do you really think the Lingxiao Heavenly Prince Mansion has no one left? A bunch of juniors dare to break in?"
From within those dozens of spirit mountains, ripples of Saint Qi surged, and an old man with white hair flew out.
He wore a tattered holy robe, covered in dirt, as if he had crawled out from underground. His body radiated a terrifying and oppressive saintly might. As he circulated the Saint Qi within him, it produced a deafening roar.
"We pay our respects to the Seventh Prince."
"Seventh Grandfather is still alive? Excellent! Please, Seventh Grandfather, take action to suppress Zhang Ruochen and the Sacred Bright rebels."
The royal clan descendants within the Lingxiao Heavenly Prince Mansion knelt and kowtowed, showing great respect to the old man.
"Sacred Bright rebels have actually broken into the Lingxiao Heavenly Prince Mansion? Who gave them the courage?"
Immediately after, from another spirit mountain, two withered old men emerged from beneath a deep abyss crack.
"We pay our respects to the Nineteenth Prince. So the Nineteenth Prince is still alive as well."
"We pay our respects to the Forty-Sixth Prince."
...
Within the First Central Empire, any member of the royal clan who reached the Saint Realm could be enfeoffed as a "Prince."
The Chi Clan was already a super-large family, far surpassing those medieval aristocratic clans. After the establishment of the First Central Empire, the Chi Clan descendants could enjoy the best resources for cultivation, naturally producing many Saint Realm powerhouses.
The three old men who emerged from underground were all ancient relics of the royal clan, of the same generation as Empress Chi Yao. Even the royal clan descendants thought they had died of old age, never expecting them to be sleeping beneath the spirit mountains outside the Ancestral Shrine of the Emperors.
It must be known that for Saints, 720 years was a life-and-death threshold. Even the strongest Supreme Saint found it difficult to live past this mark.
Grandmother Bai Su managed to live over 800 years only by relying on life-extending sacred medicines; otherwise, she would have died long ago.
The three ancient relics of the royal clan chose to sleep underground for two reasons.
First, by falling into a deep sleep, they could slow the rate of their lifespan depletion.
In other words, when they reached 700 years old and felt they could not break through to the Saint King Realm, they chose to sleep underground. With only 20 years of lifespan remaining, the slowed depletion from sleep might allow them to slumber for 200 years without fully dying.
Thus, at a critical moment, they could play a huge role.
Not only Saints, but even some Saint Kings, when their lifespan was nearly exhausted, would choose to enter a deep sleep to continue guarding their clan. As long as a Saint King did not die, they served as a protective talisman and a deterrent.
Second, the Ancestral Shrine of the Emperors was an extraordinary and peculiar place. By sleeping underground, they could absorb the residual saintly power of the emperors and the remaining fortune of the Sacred Bright Central Empire, which could both extend their lifespan and enhance their cultivation.
The Seventh Prince, Nineteenth Prince, and Forty-Sixth Prince, calculated by birth, were all over 800 years old. Yet they had not died; instead, they were full of vitality, with blood energy like dragons.
Clearly, they had gained tremendous benefits from sleeping here.
"You actually dare to absorb the saintly power left by the successive ancestors of my Zhang Clan underground. Today, I will slay you all, bury your bones here, and turn them completely to dust."
Zhang Ruochen charged forward, swinging his arm to create a spatial rift, attacking all three old men at once.
The three princes sensed the spatial fluctuation and immediately used extraordinary speed to dodge.
Then, they launched an even faster counterattack, unleashing three sacred arts simultaneously, crushing down toward Zhang Ruochen.
A Le and White Li Princess acted again, striking out with Saint Qi to inject into the Buddha Emperor Relic, joining forces with Zhang Ruochen to activate the relic's original power.
"Whoosh."
A golden dragon and thousands of golden Buddhist characters flew out, piercing through the three sacred arts, forcing the three princes to retreat.
"The Buddha Emperor Relic! It is the Buddha Emperor Relic!"
The Nineteenth Prince's eyes blazed with fiery light, burning with desire to obtain the relic in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
If he could get the Buddha Emperor Relic, he would surely be able to break through to the Saint King Realm, greatly increasing his lifespan. Why would he need to sleep here waiting for death?
"Azure Heaven Seal, Extinction Universe Technique."
A ancient azure mark appeared on the Nineteenth Prince's forehead. From the palm of his right hand, dense sacred dao rules surged, spreading outward until they covered a distance of three miles.
Those sacred dao rules formed a seal technique, pressing down toward Zhang Ruochen.
The Nineteenth Prince's cultivation had reached the Supreme Saint realm. A sacred art unleashed with full force naturally carried extraordinary destructive power.
"Give me the Yin Kong Pagoda," Blood Moon Ghost King said coldly.
White Li Princess took out the Yin Kong Pagoda and handed it to Blood Moon Ghost King.
Blood Moon Ghost King's two snow-white palms erupted with two streams of yin-cold ghostly qi, continuously pouring into the Yin Kong Pagoda. All the inscriptions within the pagoda emerged, transforming it into a several-hundred-zhang-tall metal ghost pagoda, smashing toward the Nineteenth Prince.
The Yin Kong Pagoda collided with the three-mile-long Azure Heaven Seal technique, shattering many sacred dao rules and tearing the seal apart.
"Semi-Perfect Power."
The Nineteenth Prince recognized the Yin Kong Pagoda and knew its might. Especially when its semi-perfect power was activated, the resulting force forced even him to retreat.
"Nineteenth Grandfather has been forced back. What is the origin of that ghost king?"
"What a powerful ghost king. She must have already passed her third ghost tribulation... Not good! The ghostly qi radiating from the Yin Kong Pagoda is growing stronger, spreading this way. Is she trying to activate the pagoda's perfect power..."
Struck by the ghostly qi, dozens of royal clan descendants within the Lingxiao Heavenly Prince Mansion fell to the ground. Their bodies turned into black pus, and their sacred souls were drawn out, transforming into wisps of ghostly qi.
Looking from afar, Blood Moon Ghost King and the Yin Kong Pagoda were both shrouded in black ghostly qi, forming a ghostly cloud. Only a strange blood moon could be seen, appearing and disappearing.
The Nineteenth Prince showed a horrified expression and said, "She is actually going to activate the perfect power of the Yin Kong Pagoda! Everyone, join forces and resist with all your strength."
True Saints and Supreme Saints all knew how terrifying the perfect power of a ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact could be. It was enough to destroy everything, and without another ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact, it could not be blocked.
The three princes mobilized their Saint Qi with all their might, unleashing three sacred arts of boundless power.
At the same time, the Yin Kong Pagoda flew out from the ghostly cloud, crushing down toward the Nineteenth Prince.
"Pfft."
Half of the Nineteenth Prince's body was shattered, with a large amount of sacred blood spilling out. His right hand and right leg were reduced to bloody pulp. Even a Supreme Saint could not withstand the perfect power of the Yin Kong Pagoda.
Blood Moon Ghost King descended from the sky and struck down with another palm, breaking the Nineteenth Prince's remaining body into three pieces. She then extracted his sacred soul and refined it into a ghost pill.
"Nineteenth Grandfather... Grandfather... was killed..."
"How terrifying! How can the strength of the Sacred Bright rebels be so great?"
...
The royal clan descendants in the Lingxiao Heavenly Prince Mansion were all stunned, filled with horror. A Supreme Saint-level ancestor had been killed. This battle was far too brutal.
Blood Moon Ghost King paid a heavy price to kill the Nineteenth Prince. The sacred arts struck by the Seventh Prince and Forty-Sixth Prince hit her ghostly body, dispersing it twice.
Blood Moon Ghost King quickly consumed the ghost pill to heal her injuries and make up for the massive consumption of her ghostly body, preparing to activate the Yin Kong Pagoda's perfect power again.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed a force that shook his sacred soul. Just a trace of its aura seemed about to shatter his sacred soul.
"Everyone be careful! A king among saints is awakening," Zhang Ruochen shouted.
Blood Moon Ghost King immediately stopped in her tracks, sensing danger, and quickly retreated.
In the distance, a spirit lake shrouded in mist and clouds suddenly formed a massive whirlpool, producing a splashing sound.
"Boom."
A bright light sphere flew out from the whirlpool, rising into the air and hovering dozens of zhang above the ground, like a green full moon.
Inside the light sphere stood an old woman in silver treasure robes. Every strand of her silver hair radiated terrifying power fluctuations.
Her eyes emitted dazzling green sacred light, and the saintly might she unleashed shook the entire region.
"Green Moon Luo Ancestor! It is Green Moon Luo Ancestor! Now those Sacred Bright rebels are doomed. The dignity of the royal clan is not something they can offend."
"Green Moon Luo Ancestor is a figure from the same era as Green Emperor. She should be Green Emperor's cousin. It is unbelievable that such an ancient monster is still alive."
"She slept underground and absorbed a vast amount of saintly power from the successive emperors of the Sacred Bright Central Empire. She is a truly terrifying figure."
A strand of Green Moon Luo Ancestor's silver hair stirred, with dense sacred dao rules swirling around it. It then transformed into a silver heavenly blade dozens of miles long, slashing toward Blood Moon Ghost King.
From her mouth came a hoarse voice: "Killing a royal prince comes with a price."
Though it was just a strand of hair, it carried terrifying destructive power, piercing through the defensive measures of Zhang Ruochen, A Le, and White Li Princess. Even the original power of the Buddha Emperor Relic could not resist it.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was desperately mobilizing the power of the Qiankun Realm, a wave of righteous qi flew over from the distance, blowing away Green Moon Luo Ancestor's silver hair.
All the destructive power vanished in an instant.
Green Moon Luo Ancestor's eyes narrowed, and she said in a deep voice, "Among the Sacred Bright rebels, there is actually a Confucian Saint King. Sir, why not show yourself?"
Within the cloud of righteous qi, a figure in a white sacred robe wearing a starry sky mask appeared. Even though he was completely covered, he still exuded an elegant aura, with the temperament of a great Confucian scholar.