Chapter 1565: The Greed of the Dark Forces
"Guanghan Realm has recaptured the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field."
"On the first day of his arrival in Truth Heaven Domain, Zhang Ruochen, ranked first on the Sacred Merit Ranking, slaughtered the strong ones of the Golden Wing King Insect Clan, including the Alien King."
"The Cloud Realm has been bloodwashed, with over thirty Saint realm prodigies all killed."
...
One shocking piece of news after another spread across Truth Heaven Domain, stirring all the proud sons and daughters of heaven from the myriad worlds. They sent out message light talismans, exchanging information and analyzing the subsequent developments.
Ultimately, they reached one conclusion:
This was merely the beginning of the upheaval in Truth Heaven Domain—the wind was rising before the storm.
In the Void Heaven Domain, there was a Dao field called "Sacred Universe," built atop a ten-thousand-zhang sacred mountain. The mountain was surrounded by sheer cliffs, and its summit was covered in white snow.
Amid the snow stood a majestic palace, its emitted light seeming to illuminate the heavens and earth for ten thousand miles around.
At this moment, Shang Zihong sat within the Sacred Universe Dao Field. On the table before him lay two jade message light talismans.
The one on the left recorded the news of Zhang Ruochen capturing the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field.
The one on the right contained information about Ling Xiu and Ling Feiyu.
It could be said that the power behind Shang Zihong was indeed immense. In just a few short days, they had thoroughly investigated Ling Xiu and Ling Feiyu.
"Zhang Ruochen hasn't even begun cultivating Truth Rules, yet he can kill the Alien King. That's somewhat beyond my expectations," Shang Zihong said, his fingers pinching the jade message talisman as a graceful smile curled at the corner of his lips.
Dozens of figures sat below Shang Zihong in the Dao field.
Any one of them possessed earth-shattering identities. Some represented a powerful realm, some an ancient civilization, and others had countless ties to the gods.
However, most of them used special means to conceal their faces and auras, gathering like mysterious, unfathomable phantoms.
"Whoosh—"
The palace doors opened, and icy wind and snow poured in from outside, howling mournfully.
Amid the wind and snow, a young figure in dark robes strode into the palace and declared loudly, "The Alien King did not die by Zhang Ruochen's hand alone."
Shang Zihong fixed his gaze on the young figure. "Xiao Xu, you're late."
The doors closed again, and the snowflakes fell to the ground like white petals.
Wang Xu walked in, found an empty seat, and sat down. He added, "I went to the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field. Before the Alien King died, he shouted the words 'Sword Soul.'"
"If I haven't analyzed it wrong, it should be that Saint King-level sword cultivator from Kunlun Realm who first used Sword Nine to severely wound the Alien King's Sacred Soul. Only then did Zhang Ruochen kill him."
From a mass of black-and-white light, a blurry voice emerged: "At the Saint King realm, he has already mastered Sword Nine. What exactly is the origin of that Kunlun Realm sword cultivator?"
Shang Zihong enlightened the group, saying, "She is named Ling Feiyu. She cultivates one of the engraved diagrams from the 'Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription' on the 'Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking.' At the same time, she has inherited the legacy of the Lightning Mother. Even when Kunlun Realm's Sacred Dao rules were extremely incomplete, she could still reach the Saint King realm. She is a figure of boundless potential."
The voice from the black-and-white light spoke again: "A hundred thousand years ago, Kunlun Realm's Sacred Dao rules shattered and became incomplete, no longer suitable for cultivation. In such harsh conditions, any living being who could reach the Saint realm was a peerless genius. Those who could break through to the Saint King realm are undoubtedly destined to challenge the Great Saint realm."
In a corner of the hall, a mass of black demonic energy floated, and a cold voice came from it: "The thirty-six engraved diagrams of the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription are the supreme cultivation scriptures of the demonic path. Each one is profound and unfathomable. Once cultivated to a certain level, one can cultivate Extinction Demonic Qi within the body."
Shang Zihong smiled. "Qiong Lin, you seem very interested in the 'Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription'?"
The voice from the black demonic energy replied, "The thirty-six supreme demonic techniques passed down by our Black Demon Realm are actually just traced copies of the 'Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.' Many of the essences are missing. At best, they can only cultivate Blood Sea Demonic Qi, not the top-tier Extinction Demonic Qi."
"Even so, with these thirty-six demonic techniques, the Black Demon Realm can rank among the top thousand in the myriad worlds. If we could obtain the thirty-six true originals of the 'Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription,' the overall strength of the Black Demon Realm would increase by who knows how many times."
Another voice chimed in: "A major reason Kunlun Realm has risen from the ashes is that they possess six divine skill secret texts from the 'Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking.' It's infuriating."
"Kunlun Realm monopolizes six spots on the 'Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking' and occupies ten seats on the 'Taibai Divine Artifact Chapter.' To suppress them again, we must plunder everything and cut off their path."
...
Shang Zihong watched all this calmly, fully aware of what these people were thinking. Though they came from powerful realms with intimidating identities, some of them couldn't even cultivate the divine skill treasures on the 'Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking.' How could they not harbor greed?
After all, there were only eighty-one techniques on the 'Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking.' Only the most top-tier great realms of the Heavenly Court might possess one of them.
Shang Zihong raised his voice: "Everyone, rest assured. Even at the peak of Kunlun Realm's glory, they were no match for us. Now that they've fallen from grace, their strength is less than one ten-thousandth of what it was. The divine skill treasures and even divine artifacts they possess will surely be ours for the taking."
"Of course, our immediate priority should be to eliminate Zhang Ruochen. His emergence poses an even greater threat than Empress Chi Yao and the Moon God. Those two gods are bound by heavenly laws and can only be spectators outside the chessboard. It's the pieces stirring up trouble on the board that we need to crush."
One of the beings laughed: "The Cloud Realm's power in Truth Heaven Domain is formidable. Whether Zhang Ruochen can hold the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field remains uncertain."
"According to the information I've gathered, the Alien King's strength only ranks in the top ten of the Cloud Realm."
Shang Zihong said, "Saint King-level figures are constrained in dealing with Zhang Ruochen in Truth Heaven Domain. If they go too far, the Truth Divine Temple will surely intervene. The few most powerful Saint Kings of the Cloud Realm probably won't dare to openly assassinate Zhang Ruochen. When will the Great Xi King arrive in Truth Heaven Domain?"
The Mu Po Woman replied, "The Great Xi King has already emerged from seclusion and is on her way to Truth Heaven Domain."
"Very well, then we'll wait for her a little longer. For now, we'll hold our positions and let the Cloud Realm deal with Zhang Ruochen. Next, I want to see Zhang Ruochen's methods—to know if he's even worthy of being my opponent."
Shang Zihong raised his wine glass, signaling to everyone: "Let's have a drink first. This wine is something even many Great Saints from weaker realms can't obtain. Each sip can greatly elevate one's cultivation realm, like swallowing Sacred Dao rules."
...
...
At the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field.
The treasures from the dozens of Cloud Realm strongmen were gathered together, including over twenty Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts. This showed just how extraordinary these cultivators' identities were.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the treasures on the ground but found none worth his attention. He said, "You all choose first."
Aside from Ling Feiyu, the others present were not the least bit polite. They all began selecting their preferred Sacred Artifacts, Sacred Robes, and Sacred Pills.
Of course, they understood that the main credit for today's battle belonged to Zhang Ruochen and Ling Feiyu, so they only picked a few items they particularly liked.
A large pile of treasures still remained.
"Aren't you choosing?" Zhang Ruochen looked at Ling Feiyu.
Ling Feiyu glanced at the treasures, then reached out and grabbed half of them with a single gesture. Though she also looked down on these items, the Moon Worship Demon Sect needed them.
Zhang Ruochen stored the remaining treasures in his Space Ring, leaving only a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact-level Sacred Cauldron for the Abyssal Ancient Sword to refine.
After refining and absorbing that Sacred Cauldron, the inscriptions within the Abyssal Ancient Sword increased, and its quality improved slightly. However, it entered a saturated state and could no longer absorb more.
With over twenty thousand inscriptions inside the Abyssal Ancient Sword, it could no longer endlessly refine other Sacred Artifacts as before. Its improvement rate slowed, allowing it to absorb only a few Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts or one Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact per day.
Zhang Ruochen communicated with the sword spirit and received this answer: "The sword spirit needs to comprehend the Dao."
Just like Zhang Ruochen, even though he had obtained a Rule Emperor Artifact, he first needed to comprehend the Sacred Dao rules within it before he could transform them into his own Sacred Dao rules. Directly refining a Rule Emperor Artifact wouldn't instantly grant him a Great Saint-level cultivation.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword's sword spirit had also entered this stage.
Su Jing entered the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field, looking at the bloodied corpses on the ground and the Truth Dao pattern left by the Tree God in the distance. He was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
"How many years has it been? A cultivator from Guanghan Realm has once again set foot in this Dao field, which originally belonged to Guanghan Realm. Tree God... you must feel gratified too, right?" Su Jing's voice trembled.
As if truly hearing Su Jing's words, the osmanthus tree growing on the half-cliff scattered a rain of light particles.
The light rain fell to the ground.
Instantly, the battle cracks in the Dao field all healed.
Moreover, tiny green sprouts grew from the ground, rapidly maturing into a forest of osmanthus trees, blooming with lush flowers. The entire Dao field became more vibrant than before, once again transforming into a beautiful immortal realm.
Su Jing's eyes reddened. He had never imagined that at his age and with his experience, he would lose composure like this, unable to control his emotions.
Looking at Ling Feiyu again, Su Jing no longer felt any resentment. Instead, he felt that Zhang Ruochen had been far-sighted, bringing such a powerful ally to Guanghan Realm.
Without her, Guanghan Realm might not have been able to reclaim the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field.
Su Qingling, Ling Mi, and Wen Shusheng rarely left the Sha Tuo Heaven Domain and had never been to Truth Heaven Domain before. Aside from being extremely excited, they didn't share Su Jing's deep feelings.
That feeling represented the regained self-respect of cultivators from a weak realm that had long been bullied.
"I'll go set up the protective formation. We can't let another great world take the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field away again." Su Jing suppressed his emotions and walked out of the Dao field.
Though Su Jing was only a temporary cultivator in Truth Heaven Domain, he was a member of Guanghan Realm and could naturally set up formations in Guanghan Realm's Dao field.
Conversely, the Cloud Realm's temporary cultivators could only stay in their own great world's Dao field and couldn't come to the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field to set up formations. Thus, the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field's protective formation wasn't particularly strong, and Zhang Ruochen had broken through it by controlling the Yi Emperor Bone Staff.
In the end, the occupied Dao field wasn't the Cloud Realm cultivators' main base, so its defenses were weak. Moreover, they never believed Guanghan Realm could take it back.
"I'll go too."
A thoughtful look appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes as he caught up with Su Jing.
...
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