Chapter 1498: The Rakshasa Princess's Methods
"Fall back!"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Chu Siyuan by the back of his robe with one hand, erupting with his fastest speed as he dragged him backward.
The *Golden Cavalry Iron Horse Diagram* might not be able to block the Locust Python King Talisman. Even if just a single strand of sacred power leaked out, Chu Siyuan's frail body would be dead without a doubt.
Retreating to a safe distance, Zhang Ruochen set Chu Siyuan down and turned his gaze toward the Rakshasa Princess.
He saw the Rakshasa Princess transform into a shadowy figure, charging straight for the Merit Record Wall.
"She wants to seize the Merit Record Wall?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened. He activated Spatial Displacement, crossing several hundred zhang in an instant to appear behind the Rakshasa Princess, slashing diagonally with his sword.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword erupted with its full power.
A wave of sacred light surged from the blade, splitting into hundreds of fierce sword qi.
The Rakshasa Princess glanced at the waterfall of sword qi behind her from the corner of her eye, a smile curling at her lips. "What a cold-blooded man. No regard for old ties at all."
"And do you care about old ties?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have just used the Locust Python King Talisman. I have far worse methods, hehe."
The Rakshasa Princess spread her arms wide. On her back, the Ten Thousand Saint Plain Garment shimmered with golden runes, their light coalescing into a pair of golden wings. These wings blocked Zhang Ruochen's full-powered strike.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword clashed against the golden wings, sending golden sparks flying in all directions.
Zhang Ruochen frowned. The Rakshasa Princess possessed far too many treasures; even revealing one or two of them was a headache. The golden wings on her back were undoubtedly another top-tier treasure.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
A series of deafening explosions echoed from afar.
The thousands of cavalry projections formed by the *Golden Cavalry Iron Horse Diagram* shattered one after another, dissolving into wisps of green smoke.
Yet the power unleashed by the Locust Python King Talisman had not fully dissipated. Some of the locust python projections slammed into A Le, White Li Princess, and Han Qiu, sending them flying backward.
Just as the three were about to fall into the Winter Abyss Cold Sea, three vines shot out from Zhang Ruochen's back, wrapping around them and pulling them back.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Rakshasa Princess had already reached the base of the Merit Record Wall. She pressed one palm against its surface.
"Space Distortion."
Zhang Ruochen grabbed at the air with both hands, altering the spatial structure around the Merit Record Wall in an attempt to pull it toward him.
"Tear apart!"
The Rakshasa Princess clawed forward with five fingers, and five spatial rifts appeared, forming a massive black claw that flew straight at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to withdraw his spatial power. He unleashed a Space Collapse technique, shattering the five spatial rifts the Rakshasa Princess had created.
Then, Zhang Ruochen used Spatial Displacement again, charging directly at the Merit Record Wall. He controlled the Abyssal Ancient Sword while forming two hand seals, slamming them down toward the Rakshasa Princess's head.
"Roar!"
"Bellow!"
The projections of a dragon and an elephant appeared beneath Zhang Ruochen's palms, their fierce yang energy blazing like two suns as they pressed downward.
A strange smile crept onto the Rakshasa Princess's lips as she uttered two words: "Autumn Rain."
Zhang Ruochen sensed something was wrong, but he had already unleashed his full power in those two strikes. There was no time to pull back.
Below, the Parasol Tree Divine Tree floating on the Winter Abyss Cold Sea trembled violently. Then, it transformed back into human form—Autumn Rain.
The Merit Record Wall and the Rakshasa Princess, which had been standing atop the tree, vanished along with it.
Zhang Ruochen's two hand seals missed their target, slamming into the surface of the Winter Abyss Cold Sea instead, sending waves of millennium-old winter water dozens of meters high.
Zhang Ruochen's reaction speed in a crisis was incredibly fast. Just as he was about to fall into the cold sea, he used Spatial Displacement again, teleporting himself, A Le, White Li Princess, Han Qiu, and Chu Siyuan to the shore of the cold sea.
Now, the Rakshasa Princess stood a hundred zhang away, facing Zhang Ruochen.
The Merit Record Wall stood beside her, and in her hand, she held a half-foot-long silver dagger, tapping it lightly against the wall.
Han Qiu's face darkened. "Using such underhanded tricks to seize the Merit Record Wall—does that count as skill? Dare to fight me one-on-one?"
The Rakshasa Princess didn't even bother to look at Han Qiu, sneering dismissively. "You? You're no match for this princess."
"You—!"
Dark power surged from Han Qiu's body, turning her into a black hole from which sinister energies emanated.
White Li Princess stopped Han Qiu from attacking, saying, "The silver dagger in the Rakshasa Princess's hand is a divine weapon. If she channels its divine power, she can destroy the Merit Record Wall."
At that moment, the Great Demon Ten Directions Realm still ranked first, leading the Guanghan Realm by ten million merit points.
If the Merit Record Wall were destroyed, all of Zhang Ruochen's previous efforts would be in vain.
The Rakshasa Princess's eyes sparkled with amusement as she looked at White Li Princess. "Not bad. You're someone who understands the situation."
Zhang Ruochen had secretly revealed the Rakshasa Princess's true identity to his companions, except for Chu Siyuan.
Given Chu Siyuan's righteous and vengeful nature, if he knew the Rakshasa Princess's true identity, he wouldn't be able to hold back. He would have attacked her long ago.
Though Chu Siyuan was pedantic, he wasn't stupid. Hearing the Rakshasa Princess refer to herself as "this princess," he roughly guessed her identity.
Chu Siyuan glared at Autumn Rain, who stood behind the Rakshasa Princess, his anger burning hotter. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Autumn Rain! You've colluded with the Rakshasa Princess. Aren't you afraid of facing the Empress's punishment when you return to the Kunlun Realm?"
Autumn Rain acted indifferent, sneering coldly. "If I hadn't pledged allegiance to Her Highness the Princess, I probably wouldn't have had a chance to return to the Kunlun Realm at all. You lot only work with Zhang Ruochen, scheming together. When did you ever care about my life or death?"
Hearing the words "scheming together," Chu Siyuan trembled with rage, his eyes bloodshot. A powerful spiritual force surged from his body, condensing into a massive crimson mountain in the air, which he hurled down at Autumn Rain.
The Rakshasa Princess raised a finger and pointed upward. The crimson mountain exploded into pieces.
Autumn Rain breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands in gratitude. "Thank you, Your Highness, for your protection. From now on, Autumn Rain will be utterly loyal to the Rakshasa Clan, serving you with all my heart, even unto death."
Seeing Autumn Rain's groveling demeanor, Chu Siyuan felt as if flames were about to burst from his head. Killing intent radiated from his body.
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, still calm and composed. "The Merit Record Wall is of no value to you. You seized it to negotiate with me, didn't you?"
"This princess enjoys talking to intelligent people."
The Rakshasa Princess produced a precious bottle and tossed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen caught it and examined it with his spiritual power. Inside the bottle were three thousand strands of Rakshasa remnant souls, worth at least twenty million merit points.
Earlier, when the Rakshasa Princess activated the Locust Python King Talisman, most of the Rakshasa blood and remnant souls had been destroyed. Only this small portion remained.
The Rakshasa Princess said, "These merit points—this time, I'm truly giving them to you. Sincere enough, don't you think?"
Zhang Ruochen carefully inspected the bottle to ensure the Rakshasa Princess hadn't tampered with it, then put it away. "If you were truly sincere, you'd hand over the Merit Record Wall as well."
The Rakshasa Princess laughed. "You are my destined one. This princess will eventually give you the Merit Record Wall. But first, you must do something for me."
"What?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The Rakshasa Princess's gaze shifted to the Phoenix Nest deep within the Winter Abyss Cold Sea. "You must help me seize the inheritance of the Ice Fire Phoenix."
Zhang Ruochen knew full well that the Rakshasa Princess's true target was the Divine Star Soul.
But since she claimed her goal was the Ice Fire Phoenix's inheritance, Zhang Ruochen didn't expose her.
Zhang Ruochen pretended to ponder, then nodded. "It seems I have no choice but to let you use me this once."
"Don't sound so aggrieved. We're just taking what we need," the Rakshasa Princess said with a smile.
"Fine. I agree."
"Then let's set out now."
The Rakshasa Princess turned her gaze to Autumn Rain. A single look was enough to put immense pressure on him.
Autumn Rain dared not defy the Rakshasa Princess's will. He steeled himself and jumped back into the Winter Abyss Cold Sea, transforming into a Parasol Tree Divine Tree.
Zhang Ruochen looked at A Le, White Li Princess, and Han Qiu. "This journey is dangerous. You don't need to follow."
The three understood Zhang Ruochen's intent. Clearly, he wanted them to leave and rendezvous with Ling Yan Demon Consort to attack the Rakshasa Clan's camp.
"Clan Leader, take care," White Li Princess said.
Chu Siyuan, unaware of the hidden details, insisted on following. He was truly furious with Autumn Rain and had already decided to kill him.
If such a spineless coward became the Kunlun Realm's Heavenly Earth Spiritual Root, it would spell disaster for the realm.
If possible, Chu Siyuan wanted to take this chance to eliminate Autumn Rain.
Zhang Ruochen, the Rakshasa Princess, and Chu Siyuan boarded the Parasol Tree Divine Tree, which then sailed toward the Phoenix Nest.
White Li Princess stood on the shore. "The battle between the Rakshasa Princess and us was surely seen by some Rakshasa. Once the news is reported, the three million marquis army of the Rakshasa Clan will likely launch an attack on the saints of the Shatuo Seven Realms immediately."
A Le said, "So we must hurry to meet up with Ling Yan Demon Consort, Wan Zhaoyi, Wu Hao, Feng Mo, and the others, and strike first to seize the initiative."
"Swish, swish."
The three turned into streaks of light, charging out of the Holy Mountain.
...
At the top of one of the Holy Mountains, a group of Rakshasa marquises had gathered.
The leader was Ling Quan Shaojun.
Ling Quan Shaojun watched the battle on the shore of the Winter Abyss Cold Sea, his face alight with excitement. "Her Highness the Princess has broken ties with Zhang Ruochen. The final battle can finally begin. Tian Xu Hou, return to the Rakshasa Clan camp immediately and tell Yang Qi and Qian Yu to start closing the net. Capture all the saints of the Shatuo Seven Realms in one fell swoop. The rest of the first-class marquises, follow this young lord to the Phoenix Nest to support Her Highness the Princess."