# Chapter 1493: The Beautiful Prisoner
After Yan Linhou left, Zhang Ruochen immediately activated the power of the twelve Buddhist beads, restrained his aura, and quietly followed behind her.
Inside the ancient castle, there was an entrance leading underground.
At the entrance, extremely profound formation inscription patterns were arranged, and sixteen third-class marquises were stationed there. From the Rakshasa Clan's level of importance, it could be seen that the imprisoned person must be a quite formidable figure.
"Greetings, Yan Linhou."
Two third-class marquises who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground stood up and saluted Yan Linhou.
"No unusual incidents?" Yan Linhou asked.
"No."
Yan Linhou nodded and asked no further questions. Her palm pressed against the void, and instantly, web-like formation inscription patterns appeared in midair.
Her slender jade fingers turned into afterimages as they traced across nine of the formation nodes.
"Whoosh!"
The formation inscription patterns sealing the entrance dispersed, and then Yan Linhou's graceful figure descended into the underground, disappearing into the darkness.
Zhang Ruochen stared at the dark entrance, thought carefully for a moment, then used Spatial Distortion to evade the sight of the sixteen third-class marquises and rushed inside.
Beneath the ancient castle was a pitch-black space.
At the center of this space stood a stone pillar over twenty meters in diameter. Tied to the stone pillar with five Saint-Binding Chains was a beautiful woman wearing purple sacred armor.
Her figure was extremely slender, her chest's peaks especially astonishing, forming two incredibly full curves. Her slender willow waist appeared particularly taut, and the skin beneath the sacred armor was as white as jade. Even as a prisoner, she still exuded an extraordinary aura that ordinary people could hardly match.
"Chi."
Yan Linhou entered the underground space, gracefully extending her left hand. In her palm, she condensed a ball of bright sacred flame, illuminating the dark space.
The woman tied to the stone pillar opened her eyes, fixing them on Yan Linhou, and said, "Why don't you kill me?"
"Because your value alive is greater than your value dead," Yan Linhou said.
The woman said, "Oh? There's still value? Hasn't your princess already transformed into another me?"
Yan Linhou stared at the woman's voluptuous body and smiled, "A genius like you is already extremely rare. Having such beauty is even more precious. As long as I take you back to the Hell Realm, I can definitely sell you for a very good price. Perhaps even more valuable than many Saint Kings."
The woman sneered mockingly, "I've long heard that the Rakshasa Clan raises large numbers of humans as food. I've even heard that after conquering some major worlds, they directly turn them into pastures, raising billions of humans. It seems the rumors aren't false."
Yan Linhou said, "You only know one side of it, not the other. The Rakshasa Clan's nobles actually have a hobby of collecting elite humans, buying them back to train as pets or war slaves. With your capital, there will definitely be many nobles willing to pay a high price for you."
"I see."
The woman's gaze shifted toward the direction behind Yan Linhou, revealing a puzzled expression.
Yan Linhou also sensed something and quickly turned around to look behind her.
In that extremely short moment, Yan Linhou fully mobilized the sacred power within her body. The sacred flame in her hand became scorching hot, transforming into the form of a strange bird.
"Sacred Arrow Marquis."
A hint of surprise appeared in Yan Linhou's eyes, but she didn't let down her guard just because it was Sacred Arrow Marquis.
After all, the place where Flame Spirit Demon Consort was imprisoned wasn't somewhere just anyone could enter.
"How did you get in?" Yan Linhou asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I followed you in."
Yan Linhou didn't believe it, because she understood Sacred Arrow Marquis better than anyone. Sacred Arrow Marquis simply couldn't have the ability to follow her silently.
"You're not Sacred Arrow Marquis at all."
Yan Linhou had discovered some flaws in Zhang Ruochen—or rather, flaws Zhang Ruochen had deliberately exposed. At this point, Zhang Ruochen no longer needed to continue concealing himself, so the aura on his body naturally underwent earth-shattering changes.
Zhang Ruochen walked forward step by step, and with each step, his body's form changed. At the same time, he released his Space Domain, enveloping Yan Linhou within it.
After taking ten consecutive steps, Zhang Ruochen returned to his original appearance.
"Zhang Ruochen."
Yan Linhou recognized him, and her expression immediately changed drastically.
"Shua!"
Yan Linhou swung both arms forward, and two fire strange birds over ten zhang long, carrying two patches of scorching sacred flame, surged toward Zhang Ruochen.
Yan Linhou naturally knew that Zhang Ruochen's strength was formidable and that she was no match for him.
Therefore, after unleashing the sacred flame, she immediately activated her fastest movement technique and flew toward the exit.
"As long as I reach the surface and spread the news, Zhang Ruochen won't be able to escape even if he grows wings."
Defeating Zhang Ruochen was as difficult as ascending to heaven, but Yan Linhou had full confidence in escaping from Zhang Ruochen's hands.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen's figure burst through the sacred flame, unleashing unparalleled speed. In an instant, he had already caught up to behind Yan Linhou.
"How is this possible?"
Yan Linhou looked ahead and saw that she was still twenty zhang away from the exit, yet Zhang Ruochen had already caught up to within three zhang of her.
Too fast!
Forced into a corner, Yan Linhou had to stop, twist her body, and face Zhang Ruochen head-on.
"Xuan Sword."
Yan Linhou spat out a one-foot-long short sword from her mouth, which flew out as a streak of silver light.
The short sword wasn't aimed at Zhang Ruochen but flew toward Flame Spirit Demon Consort's brow.
She believed that Zhang Ruochen's appearance here must be related to Flame Spirit Demon Consort. If she attacked Flame Spirit Demon Consort, Zhang Ruochen would have no choice but to rescue her.
"With such petty tricks, you can't save your life."
Zhang Ruochen's hand grabbed at the void, using Spatial Distortion to change the short sword's flight direction and catch it in his hand.
Just then, Yan Linhou unleashed twelve talismans in succession, neatly arranged in front of Zhang Ruochen, forming a talisman wall.
Yan Linhou smiled eerily, her red lips parting slightly: "Break."
"Boom!"
The twelve talismans simultaneously exploded, releasing twelve bursts of flame power that surged in all directions. Instantly, all the formation inscription patterns on the stone walls of the underground space emerged, emitting a white crystalline light.
Yan Linhou turned and fled, rushing toward the exit.
But her figure suddenly trembled violently, as she saw Zhang Ruochen somehow already standing at the center of the exit, staring at her coldly.
"I already told you, your petty tricks can't save your life."
Zhang Ruochen's figure flickered and disappeared from where he stood.
"Not good..."
Just as Yan Linhou sensed the danger and was about to dodge, Zhang Ruochen's figure had completely filled her pupils.
"Roar!"
A dragon's roar echoed through the underground space.
Then, a Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm strike from Zhang Ruochen heavily landed on Yan Linhou, sending her crashing to the ground, with almost all the bones in her body shattered.
Zhang Ruochen searched Yan Linhou's body, found a storage bag, and collected a drop of her blood. Then he straightened up, and from his fingertip, he shot a spark of Purifying Divine Flame.
"Chi chi."
The spark landed on Yan Linhou's body, and her powerful sacred body began to burn. Soon, only a brilliant sacred source remained.
Zhang Ruochen stored the sacred source into his space ring before walking toward Flame Spirit Demon Consort, who was tied to the stone pillar. He carefully examined her figure and face, muttering to himself, "Similar, too similar. Truly flawless."
Flame Spirit Demon Consort was quite calm, saying, "It seems you've already encountered the fake me."
"Correct," Zhang Ruochen said.
Flame Spirit Demon Consort laughed, her smile extremely seductive, and said, "It's truly a miracle that you managed to survive her."
"Yes, it truly is a miracle."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and with a thought, he swung five consecutive strikes, cutting through all five Saint-Binding Chains on Flame Spirit Demon Consort's body.
Immediately, Flame Spirit Demon Consort's body fell limply to the ground, landing on one knee.
In just one breath's time, all one hundred and forty-four acupoints on Flame Spirit Demon Consort's body opened simultaneously, erupting with azure-blue Spirit Dragon Fire. Demonic qi boiled throughout her body, and even her pupils transformed into the shape of flames.
At this moment, she was completely different from the woman tied to the stone pillar just moments ago.
One was a weak woman at others' mercy, the other a demoness full of murderous intent.
Standing nearby, Zhang Ruochen could naturally feel the anger burning within her and advised, "If you want revenge now, you'll probably end up locked up here again."
Flame Spirit Demon Consort looked sideways at him and said, "Oh? Your strength isn't weak, and with me added, can't we at least turn the place upside down?"
"In this ancient castle, there are nearly a hundred first-class marquises gathered right now. How can we fight them?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Flame Spirit Demon Consort's brows furrowed slightly as she gradually calmed down and asked, "How did so many first-class marquises suddenly appear?"
"That's a long story. I'll tell you after we get out. If you trust me, follow my lead from now on, and I can guarantee that both of us will leave here alive," Zhang Ruochen said.
This was the first time Flame Spirit Demon Consort had met Zhang Ruochen, so they were quite unfamiliar with each other.
Trusting a stranger on the Merit Battlefield was undoubtedly a very unwise decision.
Flame Spirit Demon Consort revealed a smile: "Zhang Ruochen, I've heard of your name. The Divine Envoy of the Guanghan Realm, who also cultivates the ways of time and space simultaneously. Just now, I saw you use space power, so that can't be fake."
"Of course it can't be fake," Zhang Ruochen said.
Flame Spirit Demon Consort walked toward Zhang Ruochen, her full chest gently swaying. Without any warning, her crystal-clear red lips directly kissed Zhang Ruochen's cheek. She smiled seductively, "I never owe anyone favors. Consider this repayment for saving me just now. If you can get me out of here, I'll give you an even greater reward. Are you looking forward to it?"
Zhang Ruochen had risked great danger to rescue Flame Spirit Demon Consort because he had his own plans. However, he hadn't expected that the real Flame Spirit Demon Consort would be even more forward than the fake one, catching him off guard.
"I think it's better not to look forward to it."
With these words, Zhang Ruochen's figure and appearance underwent earth-shattering changes once again, transforming into the likeness of Yan Linhou.