# Chapter 1552: Subduing Liaosang Lord
With King Hun and Wu Hao dead, this assassination attempt had completely ended in failure.
Mu Lingxi, Wen Shusheng, and Su Qingling swallowed healing pills, all sitting cross-legged on the ground, circulating their techniques to heal their injuries.
The purple formation diagram disappeared. Layer upon layer of black clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, revealing blue sky and white clouds, along with the surrounding mountain scenery. Only a single dazzling point of light still hovered in the sky, between two white clouds.
That was the "Merit Divine Seal" that King Hun had mentioned, containing quite profound power that could shatter the Saint Mark Talisman inside a cultivator's body.
Zhang Ruochen was full of curiosity about the Merit Divine Seal. He mobilized his sacred power, extended a right hand, and grabbed at it through the air.
The Merit Divine Seal radiated light in all directions, trembling violently, as if another force was empowering it, struggling against Zhang Ruochen, trying to take it away.
"Space Distortion."
Zhang Ruochen pressed both hands forward simultaneously.
Immediately, the space trembled violently, and the next moment, the Merit Divine Seal fell into Zhang Ruochen's hands. It was a white circular seal, containing a multicolored gaseous mass inside, very much like a brilliant nebula. What kind of power did it contain?
Zhang Ruochen's palm erupted with Purifying Divine Flame, suppressing the Merit Divine Seal while refining it. His gaze, however, looked toward a distant direction, and he said, "I'll take this Merit Divine Seal."
Atop a snow-covered mountain thousands of miles away, Shang Zihong withdrew his arm, clenching his five fingers tightly. The joints emitted cracking sounds, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. "Let's go. Leave Li Ku Sacred Domain immediately."
Fire Soul Woman Tian Yu said, "Young Master, are we just letting this go?"
Shang Zihong tried his best to suppress the negative emotions in his heart, speaking calmly, "This time, I miscalculated. I didn't expect the lord of Li Ku Sacred Domain to be a Spiritual Power Great Saint, and it seems he has some connection with Zhang Ruochen."
A person who could suppress their most furious emotions must be deep and calculating, cold-blooded and ruthless.
Such people were the most terrifying.
"But Wang Xu, Tian Shu, and Tian Miao are still in Zhang Ruochen's hands. Are we abandoning them?" Fire Soul Woman asked.
Shang Zihong said, "I've already sent word to the Rui Ya Realm. Given Xiao Xu's identity and talent, the big shots of the Rui Ya Realm will definitely find a way to rescue him. As for Tian Shu and Tian Miao, as long as they don't expose me, I will do my utmost to save them."
There was another sentence Shang Zihong didn't say out loud: if Tian Shu and Tian Miao dared to expose him, he would spare no expense to kill them first.
This was the first time Shang Zihong had suffered such a major setback. He had lost his wife and soldiers, suffered heavy losses, yet had no choice but to swallow this bitter fruit.
"Zhang Ruochen, I hope next time we cross paths, you'll still have such good luck. We'll meet again at Truth Divine Temple." Shang Zihong took a deep look into the distance, then turned and left with Fire Soul Woman and the others without looking back.
There was no choice. The lord of Li Ku Sacred Domain was a Spiritual Power Great Saint. Even if they carried treasures to conceal their aura, they might still be found.
Abandoning Wang Xu, Tian Shu, Tian Miao, and the others, and immediately withdrawing from Li Ku Sacred Domain was the best course of action.
After leaving Li Ku Sacred Domain, Shang Zihong issued three orders.
"First order, Fire Soul Woman, immediately send people to investigate the lord of Li Ku Sacred Domain and that purple-clothed woman. The more detailed the information, the better."
"Second order, Wood Soul Woman, go to the Soul Realm and inform Great Xi King that King Hun has been killed, and the Yi Emperor Bone Staff has fallen into Zhang Ruochen's hands."
"Third order, Earth Soul Woman, go to Zhi Xu Sacred Market and place a major order with the Heavenly Assassination Organization. Give them all the names of those connected to Zhang Ruochen. Kill as many as they can, pay double the sacred stones for each kill. Zhang Ruochen must pay a painful price for what he's done."
...
...
The Fengtian Glass Cover floated in the sky, invisible, yet covering a region hundreds of miles in radius, forming a completely isolated small world.
Zhang Ruochen was about to ask Ling Feiyu to request Ling Xiu's help in dealing with Liaosang Lord when he suddenly saw a massive sacred hand condensing above the clouds, grabbing the Fengtian Glass Cover and taking it away.
"Cough, cough."
Coughing sounds rang out.
Only then did Zhang Ruochen notice that Ling Xiu was already standing not far away, though he didn't know when he had arrived.
However, Ling Xiu was a Spiritual Power cultivator, with no sacred aura emanating from his body, which was why Zhang Ruochen hadn't noticed him.
Ling Xiu's complexion appeared unusually sickly, his white hair held in place by a wooden hairpin. If a cultivator didn't know him, they would never guess he was a Spiritual Power Great Saint with heaven-reaching abilities.
At this moment, Ling Xiu was holding the Fengtian Glass Cover in his palm, studying it carefully.
On the other side, because the Fengtian Glass Cover had been taken away, the covered area was revealed.
Looking out, the region spanning hundreds of miles had been completely reduced to scorched earth. All the mountain peaks had been flattened, the earth split open with shocking ravines, and blazing flames still burned on the ground.
Su Jing had been beaten back to his original form, a Nine Spirit Divine Bird, lying prostrate on the ground, barely surviving only by relying on his nine life-saving feathers.
Liaosang Lord was mobilizing flames, refining the nine life-saving feathers. He was on the verge of success when, unexpectedly, the Fengtian Glass Cover was suddenly taken away.
Ling Xiu looked at the two of them and said, "Breaking into Li Ku Sacred Domain to kill people—are you ignoring me, the lord here?"
Liaosang Lord swept his gaze over Zhang Ruochen, Mu Lingxi, and the others, then saw King Hun lying in a pool of blood, a look of fear appearing in his eyes. "Damn it. The lord of Li Ku Sacred Domain is actually a Spiritual Power Great Saint. Why didn't Shang Zihong tell me this in advance?"
Facing a Great Saint, Liaosang Lord no longer had his previous domineering arrogance. He had no confidence to fight. Immediately, he activated tens of thousands of sacred rules, wrapping them around his body.
Escape. He could only escape.
"Mist Escape."
Liaosang Lord's massive body turned into demonic mist, breaking apart into over a hundred strands. Some flew into the sky, others drilled into the ground.
Mist Escape was the strongest escape technique Liaosang Lord possessed. As long as half the demonic mist escaped, he was confident he could reform his body. Even if only a single strand escaped, he could spend a hundred years to cultivate back to his current realm.
Even encountering a Great Saint, intercepting all the mist was no easy task.
Ling Xiu looked at the Fengtian Glass Cover in his hand, a smile appearing on his face. Then, he turned his palm, and the Fengtian Glass Cover flew out, covering the entire sky and earth.
This time, the area covered by the Fengtian Glass Cover was even more vast, and the sacred rules descending from it became even denser. In Ling Xiu's hands, the power unleashed by the Fengtian Glass Cover was more than ten times stronger.
Not a single strand of demonic mist escaped. They had no choice but to reform their bodies.
Liaosang Lord hated Shang Zihong to death. If Shang Zihong hadn't given him the Fengtian Glass Cover, how could he have fallen into such a desperate situation today? He felt Shang Zihong had deliberately set him up.
Knowing he couldn't escape, Liaosang Lord decisively knelt down. "I beg the Great Saint to spare my life."
Ling Xiu walked into the Fengtian Glass Cover, arriving before Liaosang Lord. He extended a finger and pointed through the air. Immediately, Liaosang Lord's body grew larger and larger, soon returning to its original form.
A black giant beast, over seventy miles long, resembling a leopard but covered in spikes all over its head, gave off a ferocious and murderous aura.
"Give me a strand of your lifebound sacred soul and become my mount. Do you want this path to survival?" Ling Xiu said.
The voice was very calm, but to Liaosang Lord's ears, it was thunderous. Ling Xiu's body seemed to tower ten thousand zhang high, his head touching the sky and his feet on the ground, radiating a sacred might that shook the sacred soul, not allowing Liaosang Lord to resist.
"I... I am willing."
Liaosang Lord offered a strand of his lifebound sacred soul, which flew into Ling Xiu's hand.
From now on, his life and thoughts were entirely in Ling Xiu's hands.
For a Nine-Step Saint King, this was quite a humiliating thing, but it was the only way to survive. After all, Liaosang Lord was not an earth-shattering figure like the Dead Zen Ancestor. A Great Saint could suppress him with a single finger; he had no power to resist.
After completely refining the Merit Divine Seal, Zhang Ruochen walked toward Tian Shu and Tian Miao. "I know you were both following Shang Zihong's orders to kill me. If you can identify Shang Zihong and let the Heavenly Law punish him, I won't hold your past transgressions against you. What do you say?"
Tian Shu and Tian Miao were both well aware of how terrifying the forces behind Shang Zihong were. If they dared to expose Shang Zihong, they would likely be annihilated in both body and soul before they even saw the Heavenly Law.
Even if they saw the Heavenly Law and Shang Zihong was punished, the forces behind Shang Zihong would make their lives worse than death in the future.
Tian Shu and Tian Miao exchanged glances, a look of determination in their eyes.
Sensing something was wrong, Zhang Ruochen quickly shot out two Saint-Binding Chains, wrapping around them, trying to use the power of the chains to suppress the sacred power in their bodies and prevent them from self-destructing their sacred sources and Qi seas.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Two extremely violent sacred powers erupted from within their bodies.
In the distance, Ling Xiu's gaze slanted in that direction. He didn't intervene, only releasing his Spiritual Power, instantly controlling the energy storm produced by Tian Shu and Tian Miao's self-destruction within a ten-zhang radius.
"Rumble."
Within the narrow range of ten zhang, black and golden sacred powers raged violently, producing deafening sounds.
One could imagine that if Ling Xiu hadn't intervened, the destructive force produced by Tian Shu and Tian Miao's self-destruction would have been enough to kill even a Three-Step Saint King.
"I was careless. I didn't expect them to be so decisive, choosing to self-destruct rather than expose Shang Zihong." Zhang Ruochen shook his head gently.
"You're not the only one who was careless. Even I, a Spiritual Power Great Saint, didn't expect them to self-destruct. After all, they are the Gold Spirit and Water Spirit. They shouldn't have clans or families, so they shouldn't be constrained by outsiders. Why would they choose death? Unless..."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Unless the forces behind Shang Zihong are so vast that they fill them with terror. So terrified that they could only self-destruct their sacred sources, not daring to continue living."
Ling Xiu was a Spiritual Power Great Saint. If he had been on guard in advance, he could have mobilized his Spiritual Power to suppress their spiritual will before they prepared to self-destruct, preventing them from destroying their sacred sources.
In short, they had been careless. Both Zhang Ruochen and Ling Xiu had underestimated Shang Zihong's control over them, and also underestimated the fear they held for Shang Zihong in their hearts.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes lit up, and he stared at Liaosang Lord.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's intention, Liaosang Lord quickly said, "It's useless. Although Shang Zihong hired me to kill you, I had no previous connection with him, and he left no evidence of meeting me. Even if I go to accuse him, given the forces behind Shang Zihong and the influence of the Merit Divine Temple, those who control the Heavenly Law will only believe him, never me."
"It seems the forces behind Shang Zihong fill even you with fear." Zhang Ruochen said.
Liaosang Lord laughed. "If you knew how powerful your enemies are, you would be afraid too."