Chapter 1544: Liao Sang Jun
"Senior, how should I address you?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
A smile appeared on the middle-aged man's stern face. "Jiu Ling Divine Bird Clan, Su Jing."
"The Jiu Ling Divine Bird Clan again."
Zhang Ruochen couldn't help but mutter this, his gaze involuntarily shifting toward Su Qingling. He suddenly noticed that Su Qingling and the middle-aged man named Su Jing actually bore some resemblance.
Could it be...
Su Jing clearly saw what Zhang Ruochen was thinking and laughed heartily. "That's right, I am Qingling's father. Since you and Qingling are close friends, there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Uncle Jing."
So he really was Su Qingling's father. That meant Su Jing was the son of Jiu Ling Great Saint?
Su Jing's status was extraordinary. In the Kunlun Realm, he would hold even more weight and power than Zhang Ruochen, the Crown Prince of the Holy Bright Central Empire. After all, the Jiu Ling Divine Bird Clan ruled over more than half of the avian races in the Guanghan Realm, with countless experts under their command. Even at its peak, the Holy Bright Central Empire never had such dominance in the Kunlun Realm.
Everyone present could tell that Su Jing's gaze as he examined Zhang Ruochen was unusual—it was exactly the look of a father sizing up a future son-in-law.
Su Qingling knew about certain arrangements within her clan, so she felt quite shy. She stood behind Su Jing, silent, occasionally stealing a glance at Zhang Ruochen before quickly looking away.
Zhang Ruochen, however, felt no pressure at all. Instead, he asked, "Uncle Jing, is the Guanghan Realm's situation in the Heavenly Court really that dire? With your powerful cultivation, do you still need to carry a Concealment Lamp to hide your tracks when leaving the Shatuo Heaven Domain?"
Zhang Ruochen had heard from the Moon God that the dark forces of the Heavenly Court had been suppressing the Guanghan Realm. Whenever cultivators from the Guanghan Realm left the Shatuo Heaven Domain, they would face oppression and assassination.
At the time, Zhang Ruochen thought it was an exaggeration. He didn't believe the Heavenly Court's environment could be so cruel and dark.
Hearing Zhang Ruochen's question, even the proud sons of heaven present showed gloomy expressions.
The Heavenly Court was vast and boundless, yet the Guanghan Realm couldn't even leave the Shatuo Heaven Domain. How miserable and suffocating was that?
A cold, sharp light flashed in Su Jing's eyes. "With my level of cultivation, I naturally have ways to protect myself. I'm not so oppressed that I can't leave the Shatuo Heaven Domain. However, I heard that some strong experts from the Soul Realm want to kill you, so I decided to be cautious and bring the Concealment Lamp to avoid any accidents."
At this moment, Wu Hao said, "With the Concealment Lamp's light masking our auras and Uncle Jing personally escorting us, we definitely won't encounter any danger on this journey."
"Let's hope so."
Su Jing took out a silver metal piece and infused it with Sacred Dao power. With a series of "clanking" sounds, a Refining Device Earth Dragon over a hundred feet long appeared before everyone.
"Let's go."
Su Jing was the first to leap onto the back of the Refining Device Earth Dragon. Zhang Ruochen, Wu Hao, and the others followed suit.
The Truth Divine Temple was located in the Truth Heaven Domain of West Ox Continent, an unimaginable distance from the Shatuo Heaven Domain. Without using a Space Teleportation Array, it would take Zhang Ruochen and the others at least three to five years to reach it.
Fortunately, every Heaven Domain in the Heavenly Court had a Space Teleportation Array. In some prosperous Heaven Domains, even every Sacred Domain had one.
The Space Teleportation Array of the Shatuo Heaven Domain was located in the An Bing Sacred Domain, separated from the Red Dragon Sacred Domain by eleven Sacred Domains, a distance of over three hundred thousand miles. Even at the speed of the Refining Device Earth Dragon, traveling day and night without rest would take five or six days.
Mu Lingxi sat cross-legged beside Zhang Ruochen, her beautiful eyes closed as if she were meditating on the Sacred Dao. In reality, she was communicating with Zhang Ruochen through her spiritual power. "I heard that the Jiu Ling Divine Bird Clan really wants to befriend you, and they might even use marriage to do it."
Zhang Ruochen understood Mu Lingxi's thoughts. She was definitely feeling a sense of crisis. So he said, "Don't overthink it. Focus on your cultivation and try to digest the Ice Fire Phoenix's inheritance as soon as possible. Break through to the Saint King realm."
Mu Lingxi unconsciously gritted her teeth, feeling that Zhang Ruochen's answer was evasive and didn't directly address the answer she wanted.
Then, Zhang Ruochen's voice reached her ears again. "I hate arranged marriages."
Mu Lingxi sensed something off in Zhang Ruochen's emotions and immediately looked at him. She saw that his eyes were cold and somewhat vacant, as if he were recalling something.
"That's right. Whether it was the arranged marriage with Chi Yao or the one with Chen Jie, both caused him significant harm. And wasn't I myself a victim of an arranged marriage?"
Mu Lingxi reached out a small hand, found Zhang Ruochen's, and tightly grasped it. The faint warmth from her hand flowed into him like a warm current, healing the wounds in his heart.
Zhang Ruochen turned his head to meet her gaze. The coldness in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a smile. He was about to say something.
Suddenly...
"Boom!"
The ground shook violently.
Two fierce storms of Sacred Power surged from the front and back of the Refining Device Earth Dragon, roaring like mountains collapsing and seas overturning.
On the back of the Refining Device Earth Dragon, a strange smile flickered across Wu Hao's face.
The others were all shocked, not understanding what was happening.
Su Jing's expression was cold and composed. He put away the Concealment Lamp, and a pair of massive wings sprouted from his back as he soared upward.
At the same time, his left hand reached down, and six streams of Sacred Qi surged from his palm.
The six streams of Sacred Qi, like six threads, wrapped around Zhang Ruochen, Wu Hao, Mu Lingxi, and the others, lifting them into the air.
"Bang!"
On the ground, the Refining Device Earth Dragon was crushed by the two forces of Sacred Power, deformed, and then exploded into pieces of scrap metal.
Seeing this, even Zhang Ruochen gasped.
That Refining Device Earth Dragon was no ordinary thing. It could rival a Saint King in combat and was harder than most Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts. Yet it was shattered like tofu.
Even more shocking, as they soared upward, the ground all around them rose up, forming jagged peaks that surrounded them.
Zhang Ruochen looked up and his eyes narrowed sharply. Above the dark peaks, a massive, ferocious head appeared, covered in dense spikes.
It was like a giant monster as tall as the heavens, looking down at them as if they were mere crickets in a bowl.
An immense Sacred Might surged from the owner of that head, covering the entire area. The weakest among them—Wen Shusheng, Ling Mi, and Su Qingling—immediately turned pale.
Su Jing's expression changed drastically as he roared, "Liao Sang Jun!"
A thunderous voice came from above. "Su Jing, two hundred years ago, you killed my son Yin Ji. Today, I will devour you alive to avenge this blood feud!"
Su Jing felt that today's events were too suspicious. Liao Sang Jun didn't seem to be here specifically for revenge.
Why choose today for a two-hundred-year-old blood feud?
Moreover, they were still in the Shatuo Heaven Domain. For Liao Sang Jun to attack him here was extremely risky and not worth it.
Su Jing said, "My movements were secret, and I used a Concealment Lamp to mask my aura. How did you find me?"
"To a dead man, I don't need to explain much."
A black giant hand emerged from the top of the peaks, like a Five Finger Mountain pressing down.
Below, everything went dark. Except for Su Jing, the other six were crushed by the Sacred Dao power contained in the hand, unable to move or even breathe.
"How infuriating. Shang Zihong promised me he would only kill Zhang Ruochen, but this Liao Sang Jun intends to kill all of us here."
Wu Hao had long known that Shang Zihong was no good and his words couldn't be trusted, but he never expected Shang Zihong to be this ruthless.
"Boom!"
Su Jing's body expanded, transforming into a Jiu Ling Divine Bird radiating nine kinds of Sacred Light. He charged toward the peaks in the northwest. With a violent tremor, they broke through the thick mountain walls and escaped.
"We finally made it out." Su Qingling let out a long breath. The pressure just now had been suffocating.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Zhang Ruochen stood on the back of the Jiu Ling Divine Bird, looking up at the sky with an extremely serious expression.
The entire sky was covered in thick dark clouds. Above the clouds, at an altitude of ten thousand zhang, a golden-glowing liuli cover floated, emitting streams of rule patterns that fell down, covering an area of hundreds of miles.
From the outside, that area still looked the same—sunny, with green mountains and clear waters, nothing unusual.
But inside the liuli cover, mountains were collapsing and the earth was splitting, with Sacred Power churning.
The massive Jiu Ling Divine Bird couldn't escape the area covered by the liuli cover. When it reached the edge, it crashed into an invisible light barrier.
"Boom!"
The light barrier was covered in dense Sacred Dao rules, spreading upward from the ground and connecting with the liuli cover above.
The Jiu Ling Divine Bird's body rapidly shrank, returning to its human form. Su Jing stared solemnly at the light barrier of Sacred Dao rules ahead and spat out five words: "Sky-Sealing Liuli Cover."
Then, Su Jing turned and roared at Liao Sang Jun, "There's no way you could possess a treasure like the Sky-Sealing Liuli Cover. Who sent you to ambush us? Aren't you afraid of violating the Heavenly Laws and dying without a burial place by committing such blatant slaughter in the Heavenly Court?"
Liao Sang Jun was covered in a thick layer of evil clouds and had already caught up. His voice carried a mocking tone. "First, I'm here to avenge my son. The Heavenly Laws can't interfere with that."
"Second, with the Sky-Sealing Liuli Cover sealing off this area, who would know that I killed you?"