Chapter 1599: Cause and Effect
Half an hour ago.
Due to the arrival of a major figure, the various evil cultivators in the Yin-Yang Hall either ceased their contemplation of the Truth Dao engravings or immediately set aside their current tasks, hurrying toward the most magnificent and imposing Senwei Hall.
In Senwei Hall, the number of gathered evil path experts reached several hundred.
They were at least at the Supreme Saint realm in cultivation, and some were even powerful Saint Kings, representing the top evil path prodigies of the three worlds, all unruly and arrogant individuals.
However, at this moment, they all sat obediently in their seats, none daring to show any hint of arrogance.
The leaders of the Yin-Yang Realm, "Lian Hou" and "Yan Wang," the leader of the Black Demon Realm, "Qiong Lin," and the leader of the Ten Thousand Evil Realm, "Xie Chengzi," sat on four main seats. Above them, at the very center of Senwei Hall, sat a silver-haired man clad in three-colored precious armor.
This man appeared to be around twenty years old, wearing a vermilion three-feather crown. His demeanor was quite elegant, forming a stark contrast with the murderous aura of the evil figures in the hall.
If Zhang Ruochen were here, he would recognize this man as the leader of the current generation of the Merit Divine Hall, Shang Zihong.
Behind Shang Zihong stood the "Fire Soul Maiden," "Wood Soul Maiden," and "Earth Soul Maiden" of the Five Elements Maidens, all with outstanding temperaments and graceful figures, like three stunningly beautiful maidservants who had stepped out of a painting.
In addition, Wang Xu, ranked seventh on the *Sacred Merit Ranking*, sat not far from Shang Zihong with a grin, savoring a sacred brew called "Tian Jue."
Qiong Lin, the leader of the Black Demon Realm, was the first to stand up. His Heavenly Demon eyes swept across the assembled evil cultivators, and he said coldly, "Zihong's visit to the Yin-Yang Hall is a matter of utmost secrecy. If anyone dares to leak even half a word, I will make sure they beg for death but cannot attain it."
Qiong Lin was undoubtedly a notorious and ruthless figure. Just this one statement immediately silenced even those evil figures who had killed countless people, making them tremble in fear.
Shang Zihong, however, wore a smile and said, "Qiong Lin, don't be so stern. I was the one who wanted to meet them. Even if the news leaks out, it's because I wasn't careful enough, not their fault."
The evil figures present were no fools. They understood clearly that although Shang Zihong was taking the blame upon himself, if anyone truly leaked the information, their fate would be extremely grim.
Shang Zihong continued, "Actually, the reason I came to the Yin-Yang Hall is because I heard that you are all about to face a great calamity. So, accepting Qiong Lin's invitation, I came to lend you a hand in dealing with this major disaster."
"Boom!"
The Senwei Hall immediately erupted in chaos.
"A great calamity? What does that mean? I don't know anything about it!"
"The Yin-Yang Hall has stood in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market for tens of thousands of years. Every so often, some enemies come to attack, but they all leave defeated. Even when we faced several major crises, we managed to pull through."
"The Yin-Yang Hall's power is now immense, with countless experts and the protection of the Warp and Weft Heavenly Net Formation. How could it possibly encounter a great calamity?"
...
The evil cultivators were all discussing among themselves, but only major figures like Lian Hou, Yan Wang, and Xie Chengzi remained calm and composed, clearly having already guessed what great calamity Shang Zihong was referring to.
Qiong Lin stood up and said, "About twenty days ago, I received a message from an agent in the Black Demon Realm: Zhang Ruochen has already arrived in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market."
"Zhang Ruochen? That number one on the *Sacred Merit Ranking* cultivated by the Guanghan Realm?" asked an evil cultivator with a crocodile head, who was a Half-Saint King.
"That's right."
Upon hearing Qiong Lin's affirmative answer, the evil cultivators who hadn't yet received the news began to feel uneasy.
After all, Zhang Ruochen's reputation was now considerable. As soon as he arrived in the Truth Heaven Domain, he attacked the Jingxiangya Dao Field, killing dozens of strong cultivators from the Yun Realm without leaving a single survivor. Among them were Bai Ran, who possessed a perfect physique, and Yi Wang, a Fourth-Step Saint King.
With Zhang Ruochen so bloodthirsty, who wouldn't be afraid?
Since Zhang Ruochen had come to the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market, as the divine envoy of the Moon God, how could he not attack the Yin-Yang Realm?
Some of the evil experts had long known that Zhang Ruochen had arrived in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market, and they showed no fear on their faces.
Qing Liaoya, ranked seventy-third on the *Sacred Merit Ranking*, let out a cold laugh: "Brother Zihong is being too alarmist, isn't he? Zhang Ruochen's strength is formidable, that's true, but can he alone bring a great calamity to the Yin-Yang Hall?"
An evil expert at the Saint King realm chimed in, "Even if Zhang Ruochen borrows the Moon God's divine power to activate 'Equality for All Living Beings,' there are plenty of strong cultivators in the Yin-Yang Hall who can suppress him in one-on-one combat."
"Moreover, the Yin-Yang Hall has a killing formation like the Warp and Weft Heavenly Net Formation. Even if a Seventh-Step Saint King barges in, they would be trapped and killed."
The powerful evil cultivators present all nodded in agreement.
If they were still at the Half-Saint King realm, they might indeed fear Zhang Ruochen.
But now they were Saint Kings, having cultivated for much longer than Zhang Ruochen. Even if their cultivation was suppressed to the Half-Saint King realm, their mastery of sacred arts and Truth Rules would far surpass Zhang Ruochen's, so they had no fear of him.
A Scorpion Clan creature at the Fourth-Step Saint King realm let out a dry laugh: "I heard that a month ago, Zhang Ruochen only managed to kill Yi Wang of the Yun Realm with the help of a powerful sword cultivator. So, after activating 'Equality for All Living Beings,' Zhang Ruochen's strength is probably on par with Yi Wang's. I should be able to suppress him."
"If he really comes to the Yin-Yang Hall, don't all of you act. Leave him to me," another voice laughed.
After the evil cultivators had spoken their fill, Shang Zihong said unhurriedly, "It seems you truly don't understand how terrifying a Time and Space Controller can be."
As Shang Zihong spoke, the Senwei Hall immediately fell silent.
Shang Zihong continued, "You think only a little over a month has passed since Zhang Ruochen's last battle. But for Zhang Ruochen, who has mastered the power of time, it's very possible that he has already cultivated for several months, or even years. What level his combat power has reached now, even I find it hard to judge."
At the mention of the identity of "Time and Space Controller," the evil cultivators who had been fearless earlier all put away their smiles and wore solemn expressions.
Shang Zihong added, "Zhang Ruochen attacking the Yin-Yang Hall is only a matter of time. Perhaps with his current strength, he can't take down the Yin-Yang Hall yet, but what about the future? Let him cultivate in the Truth Heaven Domain for three to five more years, and not only you, but even I might not be able to suppress him. Can you still laugh then?"
"Zhang Ruochen's methods are extremely bloody. In the Zuling Realm, he killed countless saints from the Shatuo Seven Realms. At the Jingxiangya Dao Field, he slaughtered all the cultivators from the Yun Realm. According to what I know, to become the leader of the current generation of the Guanghan Realm, Zhang Ruochen even killed Wu Hao, the former realm son of the Guanghan Realm."
"With such a ruthless and merciless person, once he decides to deal with you, he will definitely wipe you all out without leaving a single one."
Hearing Shang Zihong's words, the evil cultivators present broke out in cold sweat, finally feeling a tremendous pressure.
That pressure was Zhang Ruochen.
The most powerful among them, Lian Hou, Yan Wang, and Xie Chengzi, remained very calm, seeing the situation clearly. They knew that Shang Zihong wanted to use the power of the Yin-Yang Hall to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
Of course, this also aligned with their interests, so they continued to stay silent, wanting to see what method Shang Zihong would propose to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
"We must kill Zhang Ruochen as soon as possible and not let him continue to grow stronger."
"But the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market is so vast; finding Zhang Ruochen won't be easy."
"Zhang Ruochen is proficient in transformation techniques and masters the Great Space Teleportation. Catching him is harder than dealing with a Seventh-Step Saint King."
Qiong Lin said, "The agent from the Black Demon Realm has lost contact. It's very likely that his identity was exposed and he was eliminated. Otherwise, he could have told us Zhang Ruochen's whereabouts."
Shang Zihong smiled faintly, "If he doesn't show himself, we can force him to appear."
"Brother Zihong, do you have a clever plan?" Qiong Lin asked.
"Whoosh—"
Shang Zihong lightly brushed his sleeve over the table. As a burst of sacred light scattered, a dozen or so bloody human heads were laid out on it.
"I came to the Yin-Yang Hall to bring some gifts for Zhang Ruochen. Let's see if he dares to come and collect them."
Shang Zihong gently touched the tip of his nose with his finger, clearly unable to stand the bloody smell emanating from the heads, but a look of eager anticipation shone in his eyes.
In the Shatuo Heaven Domain, Shang Zihong had expended great effort to ambush Zhang Ruochen, but not only did he fail, Zhang Ruochen killed Hun Wang, Jin Po Nu, and Shui Po Nu, causing him to suffer a major loss.
At that time, he had spent a heavy price to hire the most famous assassin organization in the Heavenly Court, "Tian Sha," to assassinate all cultivators connected to Zhang Ruochen.
Although those cultivators were in the Shatuo Heaven Domain and protected by Great Saints from the Kunlun Realm, the Tian Sha organization was pervasive, with such a vast influence that even gods couldn't eradicate them.
In the early stages, the high-level figures of the Kunlun Realm were unprepared, and the Tian Sha organization easily succeeded, killing several Saint realm cultivators in a row. Even Saint Kings and Great Saints were targeted, with some suffering severe injuries.
This incident alarmed Empress Chi Yao, who flew into a thunderous rage.
She personally took action. In a single day, she infiltrated the various sacred domains of the Kunlun Realm and killed over fifty Tian Sha assassins, including one at the Great Saint realm.
A god, within the sacred domain of their mother realm, was not bound by the Heavenly Laws when dealing with the Tian Sha organization.
Of course, once outside the sacred domain of the mother realm, the god could no longer intervene.
This bloody counterattack served as a deterrent, suppressing the arrogant momentum of the Tian Sha organization.
However, the Tian Sha organization, a terrifying force that had once assassinated a god, did not stop there. They only became more cautious, no longer sending Great Saint or Saint King-level assassins. Instead, they dispatched Half-Saint and Saint realm assassins to infiltrate the Shatuo Heaven Domain and continue their assassination missions. Their weak auras would not attract the attention of gods.
This large-scale assassination campaign then shifted from open killing to covert assassination.
The cultivators of the Kunlun Realm had become cautious, making it much harder for the Tian Sha organization to succeed.
These cause-and-effect events were told to Zhang Ruochen three days later at the Jingxiangya Dao Field by Xiao Hei, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, and Qing Xiao.
Three days ago, at the entrance of the Yin-Yang Hall, when Zhang Ruochen saw the dozen or so human heads hanging on the gate, the anger in his heart blazed up, nearly causing him to lose his reason.
Before Zhang Ruochen could take any action, Xiao Hei ambushed him from behind, sealing the meridians throughout his body, and brought him back to the Jingxiangya Dao Field.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground, bound by the Saint-Binding Lock. He tried to speak in the calmest tone possible: "Release me."
Xiao Hei vigorously shook his large cat head and said, "No way. The side effects of the Joy and Anger Pill in your body haven't completely worn off. If I let you go, who knows what reckless thing you might do?"
"Senior Brother, won't you help me undo the Saint-Binding Lock?" Zhang Ruochen looked at Qing Xiao.
"The dozen or so heads hanging outside the Yin-Yang Hall are whipped every day, and the sacred souls inside them are still wailing." This matter had already spread throughout the Truth Heaven Domain.
Knowing that Zhang Ruochen might lose control, Qing Xiao and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden had immediately rushed to the Jingxiangya Dao Field, partly to dissuade him.
Even Ling Feiyu, who was out on a mission, had returned in the shortest possible time.
At this moment, Ling Feiyu sat coldly in the distance, wiping the Burial Heaven Sword. The anger in her heart was no less than Zhang Ruochen's.
Because she had received news that her father, Ling Xiu, had also been ambushed and severely injured.