Chapter 1459: Reaping the Spoils Without Lifting a Finger
The great battle between the three major worlds and the Rakshasa clan shook the Saint realm beings across the entire Giant Whale River region.
The Saints from the other four worlds of the Shatuo Heavenly Domain were all astonished and deeply curious. They wondered how Fang Yi, Dongliu Sword Venerable, Wan Zhaoyi, and the others had managed to cross the Rakshasa blockade and reach the foot of the sacred mountain where the Merit Record Wall was located.
"There must be another path."
"Find that path. We have to compete for it too. There's no way we're letting them take the Merit Record Wall."
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The two thousand or so Saints of the Kunlun Realm were all hidden on the eastern bank of the Giant Whale River, temporarily commanded by the ten great Saint realm experts, including Qingxiao Heavenly King, Eastern Domain King Chen Yin, and White Li Prince. Although they came from different races, their strength was formidable.
Qingxiao Heavenly King received a message light talisman from Shengshu Cainü. He then led the Saint army, charging out of the concealment formation, and marched toward the ninety-nine sacred mountains with great momentum.
"By order of the two Realm Sons, all Saints are to proceed to the thirty-fifth sacred mountain, slay the Rakshasa Marquises, and seize the Merit Record Wall."
Eight thousand Saints from the Blade Prison Realm and the Purple Mansion Realm appeared on the horizon. Each Saint was shrouded in a layer of holy light, emitting waves of awe-inspiring Sacred Dao fluctuations, as if heavenly soldiers and generals had descended to the mortal world.
However, just as the Saint armies of the Kunlun Realm, Blade Prison Realm, and Purple Mansion Realm charged to the base of the ninth sacred mountain, the earth split open, forming a rift hundreds of miles long, as if a giant had opened its mouth.
Dense evil Rakshasa Qi surged out from the crack, a dark crimson color, plunging the surrounding thousands of miles into darkness.
A massive Rakshasa army burst forth from underground, roaring as they attacked the Saint armies of the three worlds.
"Not good, it's an ambush."
"A large number of Rakshasa Marquises were hidden underground, and we didn't detect them at all."
The Saint-level battle erupted instantly. In the blink of an eye, the two torrents collided. Ear-splitting booms rang out, and soon, crimson holy blood soaked the ground, the stench of blood spreading through the air.
The battle was extremely brutal.
Saints were top-tier experts in any major world, but here, they were instantly torn apart, their flesh flying and holy bones crushed into fragments.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly stood up, gazing at the battlefield outside the sacred mountain. His brows furrowed slightly. "Just how many Rakshasa Marquis armies are hidden underground?"
Su Qingling's pretty face was completely tense. "The Rakshasa clan is naturally skilled at concealment and is born with mastery of earth escape techniques. So, they often march underground to avoid detection."
Zhang Ruochen had a bad feeling. He felt that the Phoenix Nest was just bait, and the Rakshasa clan seemed intent on annihilating all the Saints of the Shatuo Seven Realms.
Su Qingling asked, "Should we notify the Saints of the Guanghan Realm to come here?"
"What for? The time imprints and space inscriptions in the sacred mountain haven't been broken yet. No matter how many Saints come, they'll only die. Send them a message to hide and not act rashly, so the Rakshasa don't discover them. When they're truly needed, I, the Divine Envoy, will notify them."
For now, Zhang Ruochen hadn't fully grasped the situation. Rather than act recklessly, it was better to hold his position and adapt to changes.
Although the Saint armies of the three worlds were intercepted, some Saints still broke through the encirclement and reached the foot of the sacred mountain where the Merit Record Wall was located, joining Fang Yi, Dongliu Sword Venerable, Wan Zhaoyi, and the others.
As the number of Saints from the three worlds grew, they finally managed to withstand the Rakshasa Marquis army's assault. They were no longer just retreating and defending but could also organize wave after wave of counterattacks.
Zhang Ruochen stood within the space maze, reaching out with both hands to grab a pile of corpses from the ground, pulling them into the formation.
There were over thirty corpses in total, some Rakshasa Marquises and some Saints from the three worlds.
First, Zhang Ruochen extracted a drop of blood from each Rakshasa Marquis corpse. Then, he took all their storage bags, collecting a large amount of treasure.
"Shi Shenghua, keep absorbing nutrients to strengthen your cultivation."
"Thank you, Master."
Shi Shenghua was extremely excited. It immediately rushed out of Zhang Ruochen's body, extending countless roots that pierced the brows of the thirty-plus Saint corpses, beginning to absorb.
Its cultivation had already reached the early stage of the Ultimate Saint. By continuing to absorb the holy power and blood from the Saint corpses, it could grow even stronger.
Breaking through to the Saint King realm was not impossible.
The Saint armies of the three worlds and the Rakshasa Marquises were locked in a fierce battle, with no time to collect residual souls and blood. Naturally, this benefited Zhang Ruochen.
After Zhang Ruochen collected the blood, he handed the Rakshasa Marquis corpses to Shi Shenghua to absorb.
After Zhang Ruochen collected a wisp of residual soul, he shattered the other residual souls of the Rakshasa Marquises, leaving them no chance to continue collecting.
Additionally, Zhang Ruochen collected a large number of bottles containing Rakshasa blood and residual souls from the corpses of the three worlds' Saints, along with sacred artifacts, elixirs, talismans, and so on.
Gradually, the Saints of the three worlds noticed this.
They were fighting tooth and nail against the Rakshasa Marquis army, suffering countless casualties, only to have a bystander reap the benefits. Many Saints were so furious they spat blood, cursing Zhang Ruochen for his despicable behavior.
What made them even more speechless was that the Rakshasa Marquis army only targeted them, completely ignoring Zhang Ruochen.
"Want to sit back and watch the tigers fight? It won't be that easy."
A thirty-something-year-old Daoist-robed woman from the Purple Mansion Realm, who was quite attractive and had reached the Ultimate Saint realm, turned pale with anger. She led a group of Rakshasa Marquises charging toward Zhang Ruochen's position.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I warn you, it's best not to come closer. I don't want to get involved in your battle. I just want to cultivate in peace."
"Cultivate my ass."
Many Saints cursed Zhang Ruochen inwardly, finding him utterly shameless. He was clearly reaping the spoils without lifting a finger, yet he claimed he didn't want to participate in the battle.
Someone like him deserved to be beaten up.
"How can you hog all the good fortune? There's no way you're staying out of this." The Daoist-robed woman said coldly.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Azure Sky Bow and the Daylight Arrow, drawing the longbow to its full crescent, aiming at the Daoist-robed woman. "Don't push me. I really don't want to join your slaughter with the Rakshasa. If you keep coming, I'll assume you're trying to rob me of my treasures, and I'll have no choice but to shoot you."
The Azure Sky Bow and the Daylight Arrow were formidable weapons. Once aimed at the Daoist-robed woman, her expression changed. She felt as if she were enveloped in deathly Qi.
Just as the Daoist-robed woman was about to retreat, Dongliu Sword Venerable rushed up from behind, shouting, "Don't fear him. Keep attacking."
Seeing Dongliu Sword Venerable charge forward, the Daoist-robed woman's confidence surged. She pressed both hands forward, and a circular light seal dozens of feet in diameter appeared, with various Dao patterns flowing across its surface.
"Whoosh, whoosh."
Sharp ice pillars shot out from the circular light seal, raining down on Zhang Ruochen.
"Since you insist on crossing me, I won't hold back anymore."
"Bang."
Zhang Ruochen fired an arrow. The Daylight Arrow broke the sound barrier a hundred times over, shattering the circular light seal and hurtling toward the Daoist-robed woman's brow.
Seventeen protective talismans on the Daoist-robed woman's body activated, emitting seventeen layers of bright light.
"Boom, boom."
All seventeen protective talismans exploded, and the Daoist-robed woman was sent flying backward like a scarecrow.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed a Destruction Golden Arrow and, in an instant, fired a second shot.
"Pfft."
The golden arrow pierced through the Daoist-robed woman's holy body, leaving a bowl-sized bloody hole in her abdomen.
A faint golden light covered the wound, preventing it from healing. Holy blood gushed out like a fountain.
Soon, the Daoist-robed woman fell to the ground, completely lifeless.
The ice pillars flying toward Zhang Ruochen entered the range of the space maze, their flight paths immediately deviating and crashing to the ground.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Dongliu Sword Venerable, who was charging forward, and said to the Rakshasa Princess, "This is a formidable opponent. He's yours."
"This man, named Ning Dongliu, is the Realm Son of the Purple Mansion Realm. His strength is not to be underestimated. Why should I, the Princess, deal with him? What will you do?"
The Rakshasa Princess was displeased, feeling that Zhang Ruochen was using her.
"Me? I'll continue collecting the corpses on the battlefield, gathering Rakshasa blood and residual souls, and the treasures on the bodies. These dirty, tiring tasks—would a noble Princess like you stoop to doing them?" Zhang Ruochen said.
The Rakshasa Princess naturally wouldn't do such things. Princess Luosha was too proud, too noble, too elegant to collect blood and residual souls from Rakshasa Marquis corpses. If the noble ladies of the Rakshasa clan saw her doing this on the battlefield mirror, they'd laugh themselves to death.
It was too shameful.
But if she didn't collect the Rakshasa blood and residual souls, it would surely arouse Zhang Ruochen's suspicion.
"Fine, I'll deal with Ning Dongliu. The Rakshasa blood and residual souls you collect—we split them half and half. Deal?" the Rakshasa Princess said.
"Of course." Zhang Ruochen said.
The Rakshasa Princess rushed out of the space maze and met Dongliu Sword Venerable.
Both were top-tier experts in the Saint realm. The moment they clashed, earth-shattering booms erupted, and countless sword Qi flew out, filling the space between heaven and earth.
Zhang Ruochen secretly observed the battle between Dongliu Sword Venerable and the Rakshasa Princess, nodding slightly. "Such profound Sword Dao mastery. He's almost perfected Sword Eight, isn't he?"
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his gaze and continued using his space-grabbing technique, pulling corpses from the battlefield into the space maze.
He collected a large pile of Rakshasa blood, Rakshasa residual souls, condensed true holy liquid, sacred artifacts, sacred elixirs, and other strange treasures.
The Saints fighting for their lives were all green with envy.
They were the ones risking their lives, so why was Zhang Ruochen getting all the benefits?
Was there no justice?
The strong experts of the Heavenly Court realm watched this through the battlefield mirror and were all stunned, unsure how to judge Zhang Ruochen.
This was blatant plundering—shameless, utterly shameless.
"Fighting the Rakshasa clan is everyone's duty in the Heavenly Court realm. Does that Divine Envoy of the Guanghan Realm have no shame? How can he focus on collecting merit while others are fighting to the death?"
Some Great Saints from the Blade Prison Realm and the Purple Mansion Realm were so angry smoke was coming out of their heads.
"Zhang Ruochen had better not return to the Heavenly Court realm alive, or I'll break every bone in his body."
"I can't watch this Saint Merit War anymore. Even a Great Saint would die of anger."
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