Chapter 1474: Great Plunder, Great Harvest
Robbery?
The saints of the Purple Mansion Realm and the Blade Prison Realm were all stunned.
More than a thousand saints were gathered below the Sacred Spring Waterfall—was any of them weak? Yet a mad, delirious cultivator had suddenly jumped out to rob them.
Was this man truly insane?
A forty-something True Saint in a Daoist robe from the Purple Mansion Realm recognized the Mad Demon, his expression shifting to shock. "He... he is the Half-Saint King of the Eight Divisions Realm, the Mad Demon. Not long ago, in the Chaotic Dense Forest, he robbed me. And now... he's followed me here..."
"Boom!"
Below the Sacred Spring Waterfall, flames of fury surged in the eyes of all the saints, waves of sacred power erupting outward.
"So it's the Mad Demon of the Eight Divisions Realm. No wonder he's so arrogant."
"Even if it's the Mad Demon, coming to the Black Gold Sacred Mountain and daring to rob us is just asking for death."
The Mad Demon's reputation was vast; even in the Purple Mansion and Blade Prison Realms, many saints had heard of him, knowing he possessed the strength of a Battle-Ready Half-Saint King. Of course, with the sheer number of cultivators from both realms, they had no fear of him.
An old man carrying a golden long blade stepped forward, flying down to face the Mad Demon. His eyes were sharp as a hawk's. "The Black Gold Sacred Mountain is the territory of the Purple Mansion and Blade Prison Realms. Over fifty thousand saints are gathered in this sacred mountain. Do you think you can run rampant here alone?"
The golden-blade old man was powerful—a peak Supreme Saint.
"Daring to rob a saint of the Purple Mansion Realm is a capital offense."
By the Sacred Spring, over a hundred saints drew their sacred artifacts, channeling sacred energy into them to activate the inscriptions within, preparing to suppress and kill the Mad Demon.
The air in this stretch of heaven and earth grew tense, a killing aura spreading outward.
Facing such a formation, the Mad Demon showed not a trace of fear, merely letting out a sly chuckle.
"Whoosh."
Zhang Ruochen, clad in a suit of blood armor, stepped out from a series of spatial ripples, as if passing through a curtain of water, hovering in the air above the Sacred Spring Waterfall.
With a wave of his hand, he released twelve Buddhist beads.
The beads floated in twelve directions within this space, like twelve stars, their radiance enveloping all the thousand-plus saints present.
Zhang Ruochen's figure stood like a true god in the air, exerting immense pressure on the saints below.
The saints of the Purple Mansion and Blade Prison Realms were astonished to find their connection to the outside world severed, as if they had entered an independent space.
"That's... the Divine Envoy of the Guanghan Realm."
A saint recognized Zhang Ruochen's identity.
"Has Zhang Ruochen joined forces with the Mad Demon?"
The saints of both realms stirred again. Some of the older figures, sensing something amiss, quickly shouted, "Everyone, attack together! Suppress and kill these two!"
Without further hesitation, over a hundred saints struck simultaneously, hurling their sacred artifacts—swords, blades, pagodas, cauldrons—like a rain of glowing orbs, targeting both Zhang Ruochen and the Mad Demon.
Zhang Ruochen stood calmly at the height, merely channeling his spiritual power to sustain the twelve beads. As dozens of sacred artifacts were about to strike him—
"Whoosh—"
A black vortex appeared before Zhang Ruochen, emitting a powerful suction force that swallowed all the sacred artifacts.
The saints below were horrified, sensing their connection to their artifacts completely severed.
"Heh."
Han Qiu, her long black hair flowing, stepped out of the vortex. In her palm, she held a pile of shattered sacred artifacts, scattering them down toward the saints of the Purple Mansion and Blade Prison Realms. "What a bunch of scrap metal!"
"Bang, bang."
The fragments of the artifacts fell to the ground, smashing large craters below.
On the other side, the Mad Demon, wielding an iron staff, knocked back all the artifacts aimed at him, laughing wildly. "I advise you all to hand over your treasures willingly. Why bother with pointless resistance?"
"Arrogant! Do you really think the Blade Prison and Purple Mansion Realms are soft persimmons for you few to squeeze?"
The golden-blade old man was furious. He grabbed at the air with five fingers, and a sharp blade cry rang out. The golden blade shot from its sheath, dragging a river-like golden blade aura toward the Mad Demon.
But halfway through its swing, the blade's light suddenly dimmed.
The fierce blade aura dissipated.
Because the golden-blade old man was already dead.
A rust-covered iron sword had pierced through his brow, leaving a bloody hole from which wisps of sacred energy continuously leaked.
A Le stood right beside the golden-blade old man, having already withdrawn his sword, leaving a long trail of blood.
"Impressive indeed."
The Mad Demon felt a chill in his heart.
Even with his own cultivation, killing the golden-blade old man would have required some effort. Yet A Le had done it with a single sword stroke.
The sword technique was clean and decisive, a one-hit kill, inspiring fear.
The golden-blade old man likely died without even knowing who killed him.
With four top-tier experts appearing in succession, the saints present grew panicked. Their main problem was that they had no one strong enough to hold the line, no backbone to face such a crisis.
A Supreme Saint mustered his courage and shouted, "Everyone, form a formation immediately to resist the ene... ah..."
Before he could finish, Han Qiu struck from a distance with a dark force, tearing his body apart into black particles.
A black vortex appeared in Han Qiu's palm, absorbing all the Supreme Saint's sacred energy.
"Darkness Rules."
The Mad Demon felt his scalp tingle, finally realizing how terrifying the woman beside Zhang Ruochen was. She cultivated the Way of Darkness, one of the Nine Eternal Paths.
Darkness devours all.
Following the meridian charts from one of the Six Great Scriptures, the *Taiji Primordial Art*, Han Qiu cycled the Supreme Saint's sacred energy through a full circuit, converting it entirely into her own power.
In just a breath, her cultivation made a massive leap.
"Anyone who dares move again dies."
Dark power surged from Han Qiu's body, filling the space between heaven and earth. Instantly, a nameless fear gripped the hearts of all the saints present.
The so-called "Way of Darkness" was the source of all negative forces.
Evil Path, Demonic Path, Ghost Path, Death Path, Curse Path, Devouring Path, Destruction Path—all extended from the Way of Darkness, including the fear within human nature.
"What a terrifying woman, comparable to a Yama of the Hell Realm."
The Mad Demon shuddered, deeply realizing he must never offend Han Qiu, let alone Zhang Ruochen.
Under such intimidation, the saints of the Purple Mansion and Blade Prison Realms truly dared not resist, obediently handing over all their treasures.
Treasures were fine, but life was more important.
With over a thousand saints, there were more than two thousand storage bags. The treasures poured out formed a mountain.
Sacred bottles, sacred stones, sacred jade, pills, talismans, sacred herbs, sacred artifacts—all kinds of treasures gleamed brightly. Staring at the treasure mountain before them, the saints of both realms twitched their mouths, grinding their teeth in hatred, yet none dared to resist.
"What are you waiting for? Let's split the loot! Haha!"
The Mad Demon flew to the base of the treasure mountain, rubbing his hands together in excitement.
Only now did he realize his past exploits were mere child's play. This was the real robbery. Only someone as crazy as him and Zhang Ruochen's group would dare such a thing.
With their home realm's survival at stake, bearing billions of lives on their shoulders, who still cared about morality?
The Purple Mansion and Blade Prison Realms had plundered plenty and killed many participants too.
Han Qiu looked to Zhang Ruochen. "How do we split it?"
"I'll take half. You all divide the rest equally."
Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual power to scan the treasure mountain, tallying the quantities of each item in his mind.
Then, he took out his space ring and directly claimed half.
Neither the Mad Demon, Han Qiu, nor A Le objected to this distribution. They began collecting their shares.
This time, Zhang Ruochen exchanged over six million merit points, propelling the Guanghan Realm past the Eight Divisions Realm to second place on the Merit Wall.
After Han Qiu and A Le exchanged their merit points, the Kunlun Realm rose from last place to sixth.
The bottom became the Heavenly Mother Realm.
Zhang Ruochen walked to the edge of the Sacred Spring, took a deep breath, and felt his sacred energy become active, his limbs and bones incredibly refreshed.
"Truly a remarkable sacred spring."
He took out the Water Star Gourd and absorbed the entire Sacred Spring Waterfall into it.
Before the Sacred Merit War began, Zhang Ruochen had retrieved the Water Star Gourd from the Wine Madman.
Combined with the sacred spring seized from the saints of both realms, he estimated the gourd now held enough spring water to refine over two hundred thousand drops of Condensed True Sacred Dew.
"Rustle."
The spring did not run dry; soon, water flowed down from above again, forming another waterfall.
Han Qiu looked upward. "The Blade Prison Realm's realm son Fang Yi and the Purple Mansion Realm's realm son Dongliu Sword Venerable have led the top elites of both realms along the sacred spring into the mountain's interior. They discovered a sacred mansion. That mansion is likely the hidden treasury of the Black Gold Ancestor."
"A Great Saint's hidden treasury."
Zhang Ruochen repeated, a look of keen interest in his eyes.
The Mad Demon, however, was puzzled and couldn't help asking Han Qiu, "How do you know about Fang Yi and Dongliu Sword Venerable's whereabouts? And about the Black Gold Ancestor's treasury?"
"Earlier, I absorbed not just one Supreme Saint's sacred energy, but also some valuable information from his mind."
Han Qiu frowned slightly, then added, "However, the most important memories of that Supreme Saint were sealed by a very powerful force, impossible to read. They perished along with his physical body."