Chapter 1559: Battle with White Python
Every place in the Heavenly Court Realm has its own inherent rules.
The Truth Temple also has rules:
Gods cannot interfere in any way with the conflicts within the Truth Heaven Domain. The Truth Temple is a place to cultivate the strong, not to eliminate them.
Clearly, if gods were to meddle in the struggles of the Truth Heaven Domain, many exceptionally talented prodigies might be snuffed out in the cradle due to divine unfairness.
It is precisely for this reason that, even though Tree God's divine power could reach the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo, it could not personally act to help the cultivators of Guanghan Realm. It could only watch helplessly as the dojo it had established was occupied by insect clan cultivators from Cloud Realm.
This was something even the gods could not change!
Although Tree God had once nurtured several peerless prodigies who came to the Truth Heaven Domain seeking to reclaim the dojo, all of them ended in failure. Some died, some were crushed in spirit, and some were even captured by Cloud Realm and imprisoned until death.
As Zhang Ruochen's voice rang out, strands of divine light rose from beneath the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo, surging toward the osmanthus tree growing on the cliff face halfway up the mountain.
"Swoosh——"
The petals on the osmanthus tree bloomed with increasingly brilliant radiance, vast and dazzling, illuminating the world beneath Mirror Fragrance Cliff as if it had become a land of immortals.
"Boom."
A surge of divine power spread through the dojo.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel that the surrounding rules of heaven and earth had become somewhat different.
The black skeleton standing behind him was suppressed, shrinking continuously until it reverted into a White Bone Saint Staff.
"Is this what they call 'equality for all beings'?" Zhang Ruochen murmured to himself.
Ascending the steps and arriving at the base of Mirror Fragrance Cliff, he found himself before a forest of osmanthus trees, with dozens of pavilions, terraces, towers, and chambers scattered among the grove, appearing and disappearing from view.
Walking into the forest, Zhang Ruochen saw a towering altar built ahead. On the altar stood a large bronze cauldron, still burning incense and candles inside.
Mu Lingxi, Su Qingling, Ling Mi, Wen Shusheng, and Ling Feiyu followed behind Zhang Ruochen and also saw the altar.
Su Qingling showed a surprised expression: "They're actually offering sacrifices to Tree God here?"
"Haha." A thunderous laugh echoed through the osmanthus grove, approaching from afar, and in an instant, it reached the side of the altar.
"Boom."
A white python as thick as a water barrel burst through the ground, raising a ferocious head.
With a flash of white light, the white python transformed into a handsome young man in white robes, holding an ancient mirror. He examined his own reflection in the mirror, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth: "The Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo was established by Tree God. Since we cultivate here, of course we must pay homage to the elder."
The white python tilted the bronze mirror in his hand slightly.
Zhang Ruochen immediately saw that on the mirror's surface was actually a ferocious python head, its face devoid of any smile, filled instead with killing intent.
The white python in the mirror was its true form.
"Swish, swish."
Sounds of breaking wind rang out continuously.
One after another, powerful saintly auras emerged from the osmanthus grove—over thirty figures in total. Some were human-shaped; some were in insect clan forms; some concealed their aura, hiding underground; others directly turned invisible, without shadow or form.
Su Qingling, Wen Shusheng, and Ling Mi all felt immense pressure, finally understanding why the proud sons of Guanghan Realm had been unable to reclaim the dojo.
After all, every ten years, Guanghan Realm only had three slots to enter the Truth Temple for cultivation.
Yet the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo housed dozens of Cloud Realm experts. This was not a one-on-one battle but a one-against-ten fight.
Every cultivator who could come to the Truth Heaven Domain was the most outstanding prodigy of a major world. Trying to fight ten at once was nearly impossible. Even the divine sons and divine daughters on the Sacred Merit Ranking would likely be defeated.
Zhang Ruochen, however, remained calm and composed, as if even if the enemies before him were ten times more numerous, he would not show the slightest fear.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so steady, Su Qingling, Wen Shusheng, Ling Mi, and the others also calmed down, regaining their confidence.
In this battle, if they could not win, they would die.
Two alluring women with butterfly wings on their backs flew up from below the steps, carrying the corpses of Dragon Whisker and Cold Furnace.
"Thud, thud."
The bodies of Dragon Whisker and Cold Furnace were thrown to the ground, bloody and mangled, with not a single intact piece of flesh.
The white python looked at the two mutilated corpses, still smiling on his face, but the eyes of the python head in the mirror had turned blood-red, with two sharp fangs exposed from its mouth. "You killed them. You're quite ruthless."
Zhang Ruochen stood opposite the white python and said, "They trespassed into a dojo belonging to Guanghan Realm. Shouldn't they be killed? I must advise you: if you don't want to die, get out of Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo immediately. Remember, get out."
The white python said, "As expected of Zhang Ruochen, number one on the Sacred Merit Ranking. Truly full of confidence. But I've heard that your number one spot is rather inflated—many of your merit points were obtained by selling your looks and tricking them out of the Rakshasa Princess."
"Nonsense! Do you have a dog's mouth?" Mu Lingxi shouted in reprimand.
Mu Lingxi knew Zhang Ruochen best. No matter how great the slander or defamation, he would not bother to argue. But she could not tolerate it. In her heart, Zhang Ruochen was the most outstanding, the most perfect, and she would not allow anyone to defile him.
The white python stared at Mu Lingxi's slender, moon-like figure, a flash of astonishment in his eyes. He grinned and said, "Zhang Ruochen truly has good fortune with women, having tamed such a beautiful woman. Compared to the nine fairies on the Nine Immortal Beauties Chart, she should be no less."
An icy, bone-piercing aura surged from Mu Lingxi, turning the ground beneath their feet into frozen earth. She said, "Since you want to die, I'll grant your wish."
Anyone could see that the white python was the strongest among the Cloud Realm cultivators. Mu Lingxi had no chance of winning against him.
Su Qingling and Ling Mi wanted to dissuade her, but Zhang Ruochen stopped them instead, saying, "I think Lingxi can still fight him."
Mu Lingxi had inherited the legacy of the Ice Fire Phoenix, cultivated a sub-perfect physique, and received guidance from Moon God. Her strength was certainly not weak.
However, Mu Lingxi had always lacked experience in fighting top-tier opponents.
Zhang Ruochen felt she should face true experts. Only then would she know her weaknesses and be able to improve in the future.
"Zhang Ruochen, you're letting a woman fight me? Are you looking down on me that much?" the white python said darkly.
Mu Lingxi said, "If you can't even defeat me, what right do you have to fight Zhang Ruochen?"
"Such arrogance! Let me see what you're really made of."
A butterfly-winged woman shot forward, flame patterns appearing on her body. Her arms trembled in the air, and two fire vortices materialized, with dragon shadows coiling within them.
"Fire Saint Spirit, Chi Dragon Roars to the Heavens."
The butterfly-winged woman controlled the two fire vortices and charged forward.
Mu Lingxi's saint qi surged rapidly, and a brilliant saintly light appeared on her back. A pair of phoenix wings unfurled, releasing the ancient aura of the phoenix.
"Swoosh——"
As Mu Lingxi's body moved, the phoenix wings spun along with her, bringing a freezing wind that sliced through the two fire vortices, forcing the butterfly-winged woman to retreat continuously.
"Pfft."
After more than a dozen exchanges, Mu Lingxi broke through the butterfly-winged woman's defenses. One phoenix wing struck her chest, leaving a foot-long bloody gash.
The butterfly-winged woman spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward.
"In just thirteen moves, she defeated Butterfly Jade. Those phoenix wings seem indestructible and incredibly powerful." At this moment, the white python finally shed his contempt. The woman before him was clearly no easy opponent.
The Ice Fire Phoenix's legacy resided within Mu Lingxi's phoenix wings. In fact, those wings were a Great Saint ancient artifact, and the power they unleashed was likely not inferior to the Buddha Emperor Relic.
"Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power."
Mu Lingxi spread her hands, and Nether Ice power surged from her palms, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet sharply.
The hot saint blood flowing from the butterfly-winged woman's chest wound was frozen by the cold, turning into blood-red ice crystals.
Moreover, strands of Nether Ice Qi, like clinging parasites, invaded her meridians, blood vessels, and saint channels through the wound. The intense pain made the butterfly-winged woman scream in agony.
Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power was on the same level as Purifying Divine Flame.
The difference was that Purifying Divine Flame was extremely domineering, destroying everything in the world. Once touched, one would be reduced to ashes, and few cultivators could withstand it.
Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power, on the other hand, was extremely cold. Once touched, cultivators would freeze into ice blocks. Additionally, the Extreme Yin Nether Ice Qi was incredibly yin and gentle, and once it invaded a wound, it would spread throughout the body, almost impossible to expel.
It could be said that if an injured cultivator's wound did not heal immediately, encountering Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power meant certain death.
"Hiss, hiss."
The butterfly-winged woman's meridians, blood vessels, and saint channels were all frozen, bulging beneath her skin. Her entire body became stiff, and she fell heavily to the ground, losing all signs of life.
The Cloud Realm cultivators all drew in a cold breath, their eyes filled with wariness.
"No wonder you dared to fight me—you've mastered Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power."
The white python laughed and shouted, "No one make a move until I capture her!"
With a "swish," the white python turned into a streak of white light, moving as fast as lightning toward Mu Lingxi. A sharp sword extended from the ancient mirror in his hand, aimed at Mu Lingxi's heart.
The white python wanted to use his ultra-fast speed to end the battle quickly, but he did not know that the phoenix clan was renowned throughout the world for its speed.
Mu Lingxi was even slightly faster than the white python. She circled behind him and struck his back with her palm, unleashing a massive amount of Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power.
The white python's strength was no less than Wu Hao's. He stepped into a mysterious and exquisite footwork, shifting his body to dodge Mu Lingxi's attack, and slashed his sword diagonally downward.
Mu Lingxi's experience in fighting top-tier opponents was clearly inferior to the white python's.
After missing her strike, she had no time to change her move. With no other choice, she closed her wings behind her back, forming a rapidly spinning sphere to protect her entire body, relying on the defensive power of the phoenix wings to block the sword.
...
(Finally finished three chapters. A bit late. Well, I'll strive for three more tomorrow.
Many people advise me not to make empty promises. Hah, I'm not making promises—I'm just saying "strive," giving myself motivation, a psychological hint. So, if I only update two chapters tomorrow, that's perfectly normal.)