Chapter 1600: Acting Alone
Qingxiao’s tall figure stood at the foot of Mirror Fragrance Cliff, his expression incomparably cold and grim.
Perhaps because he had spent years in military camps and had grown accustomed to life and death, he was able to maintain his rationality and composure even after learning that his junior brothers and sisters had been beheaded.
Qingxiao believed that Zhang Ruochen was not someone who would be blinded by hatred, but the current situation was special…
“Once the side effects of the Joy-Anger Pill have completely faded, I will remove the Saint-Binding Lock for you,” Qingxiao said.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “The side effects of the Joy-Anger Pill only affect my emotions; they do not hinder my ability to think. Do you all have so little faith in me?”
Qingxiao, Xiao Hei, and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden all hesitated to release Zhang Ruochen easily. If he insisted on going to the Yin-Yang Hall, none of them could stop him.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen laughed. “Do you truly believe that a mere Saint-Binding Lock can restrain me?”
The power of the Saint-Binding Lock lay mainly in sealing the sacred qi within a cultivator’s body, preventing it from flowing through the meridians and sacred channels. It also suppressed spiritual power, keeping it from escaping the body.
Thus, once a cultivator was bound, they lost all ability to resist.
To bring Zhang Ruochen back, Xiao Hei had not only used the Saint-Binding Lock but also employed a secret technique to seal all one hundred and forty-four acupoints across Zhang Ruochen’s body.
This reduced Zhang Ruochen’s physical strength to its absolute minimum.
“Hiss—”
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes, and his skin began to shift between green and red. The one hundred and forty-four sealed acupoints flickered faintly.
“Not good—he’s secretly using the Purifying Divine Flame to refine the seals I placed on those one hundred and forty-four acupoints!”
Xiao Hei immediately rushed forward, intending to reinforce the seals.
“Too late!”
Zhang Ruochen roared, and the seals on all one hundred and forty-four acupoints shattered. Wisps of green Purifying Divine Flame burst forth, forming a cloud of fire that enveloped his entire body.
Then, Zhang Ruochen’s body expanded to several dozen zhang in height, then shrank to the size of a marble, repeating this three times in succession. With a thunderous “boom,” the Saint-Binding Lock wrapped around him snapped into dozens of pieces.
Xiao Hei, Qingxiao, and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden were all forced back by the wave of fiery energy.
When the flames dissipated, the crowd in the Mirror Fragrance Cliff training ground wore worried expressions, staring at the man standing at the center. No one could guess what he would do next.
Clearly, their concerns were unnecessary.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was not acting like a madman, charging recklessly toward the Yin-Yang Hall. Instead, he stood still, as if deep in thought.
After a long pause, Zhang Ruochen spoke. “Xiao Hei, you will come with me to the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market. Everyone else will remain at the Mirror Fragrance Cliff training ground.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Ling Feiyu put away her Sky-Burying Sword and stood up abruptly.
“I’m going too.”
Mu Lingxi stepped forward, her gaze resolute.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden flickered and appeared before Zhang Ruochen. “Zhang Ruochen, the Yin-Yang Hall must have set up a Heaven Net Earth Trap. Don’t act rashly. This isn’t just your matter—it concerns all the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm. Wait until everyone gathers, and we can discuss it further.”
Qingxiao added, “Junior Brother, don’t forget that behind you stand the billions of people of the Holy Bright Central Empire. They would never want you to take such a reckless risk. That would only bring grief to your loved ones and joy to your enemies.”
Zhang Ruochen looked at each of them in turn. “Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Sister, and those dozen or so saints of the Holy Bright Central Empire—their sacred souls are still sealed within their severed heads. They haven’t completely died yet. If we can reclaim those heads, it may be possible for them to regrow their bodies.”
“But if we keep waiting, Shang Zihong will lose patience. His next move will surely be to destroy their sacred souls as bait to force me to show myself.”
“By then, I will have no retreat and must fight them.”
“So why should we stay here and wait? We must go to the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market immediately, set up in advance, and if we prepare thoroughly enough, we might turn the tide and strike them a heavy blow.”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen’s thoughts were clear and he was not blinded by hatred, the others finally relaxed, pondering his words.
Then, Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden and Qingxiao. “This is my affair. You cultivators of the Kunlun Realm do not need to get involved. Go back to where you came from.”
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden frowned slightly. “Zhang Ruochen, they are not just your subordinates—they are cultivators of the Kunlun Realm. Having their heads hung on the gates of the Yin-Yang Hall and whipped is an insult to the Kunlun Realm itself. How can we stand by and do nothing?”
Qingxiao said, “They are my junior brothers and sisters, suffering inhuman torment right now. And you tell me not to interfere? Do you think that’s possible?”
“If you can walk out of the Mirror Fragrance Cliff training ground, then say that again.”
Zhang Ruochen shot forward like the wind, and with a thunderous crash, he stomped the space teleportation array in the training ground to pieces.
Then, dragging Xiao Hei, he rushed out of the training ground at full speed.
“Not good—he doesn’t want us to follow him into danger. He’s trying to trap us here and act alone.”
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden reacted first. Her slender left hand shot out, transforming into a green-black sacred vine, trying to intercept Zhang Ruochen.
“Shua—”
Zhang Ruochen used a spatial displacement, flickering to dodge the vine, and charged out of the training ground. He passed through the Nine-Spirit Blood Sea Formation, the Space Maze Formation, and the Time Formation, reaching a spot dozens of miles away from Mirror Fragrance Cliff.
He looked back and let out a soft sigh.
He had been to the Yin-Yang Hall and knew full well how dangerous it was. If Qingxiao, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, Ling Feiyu, and Mu Lingxi followed him, they would most likely never return.
So Zhang Ruochen had destroyed the teleportation array inside, trapping them in the Mirror Fragrance Cliff training ground.
Xiao Hei, being shrewd, naturally understood Zhang Ruochen’s intent and said solemnly, “Actually, I’m just an owl sacred beast, not some immortal bird. I’m no different from them—I could die easily. The Yin-Yang Hall is too dangerous; I absolutely cannot go…”
Zhang Ruochen glared at him, and Xiao Hei felt his scalp go numb, unable to finish his sentence.
It was the first time Xiao Hei had seen such a terrifying look in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes.
“Legend has it that there was once a bird who studied the Dao under the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree and created the ‘Nine Cycles of Life and Death Art,’ earning the title of Immortal Bird. You should know about that, right?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei immediately shook his head, speaking firmly. “No, I really am just an owl sacred beast.”
“Heh. Should I kill you myself to confirm it?” Zhang Ruochen said coldly.
Xiao Hei shrank back in fear and quickly said, “I was just joking with you. That immortal bird was indeed my ancestor.”
“Are you sure it’s not you?” Zhang Ruochen asked suspiciously.
“How could it be? Do you think I could create a divine technique like the ‘Nine Cycles of Life and Death Art’?”
Xiao Hei clearly didn’t want to continue this topic and immediately said, “What exactly are you planning? The Yin-Yang Hall must be on high alert now, ready for you to strike at any moment. In this situation, I can’t sneak in and destroy their formations. If we can’t break their formations, going to the Yin-Yang Hall is no different from walking to our deaths.”
“Follow me.”
Zhang Ruochen set up a space teleportation array thousands of miles away from Mirror Fragrance Cliff and, with Xiao Hei, teleported to a remote primeval forest.
Zhang Ruochen crossed his arms, standing beneath an ancient tree, leaning against its trunk. “First, set up a concealment formation here.”
Xiao Hei didn’t know what Zhang Ruochen was up to, but he obediently began to arrange the formation.
With his mastery of formations, it didn’t take long before a profound concealment formation was complete, covering both of them and the space teleportation array on the ground.
Zhang Ruochen walked to the center of the concealment formation and struck out the twelve Buddhist beads he wore on his hand, fixing them in twelve directions.
Xiao Hei grew even more puzzled. “Do we really need to be this cautious?”
“There’s something of great importance that I need you to examine.”
A thunderous roar echoed from within the concealment formation, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Xiao Hei coughed from the dust and then looked toward the center. There stood a six-zhang-tall broken stele.
At first, Xiao Hei didn’t think much of it, considering Zhang Ruochen to be making a mountain out of a molehill.
But when he saw the ancient characters on the stele, his entire body trembled. He lunged forward, his eyes wide as copper bells. “Zhang… Zhang Ruochen, where… where did you get this thing?”
Seeing Xiao Hei so shaken, Zhang Ruochen knew that this fellow must know the origin of the God-Defying Stele. “Don’t ask that. Just tell me—what exactly is the God-Defying Stele?”
Xiao Hei’s eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Are you planning to use this broken God-Defying Stele to deal with the evil forces in the Yin-Yang Hall?”
In the Ancestral Spirit Realm, Zhang Ruochen had activated the power of the God-Defying Stele, altering the laws of heaven and earth. As a result, the “Blazing Fire Copper City” that Qiu Yu had summoned instantly became a useless artifact, its inscriptions vanishing completely.
At that time, Zhang Ruochen had been shocked, realizing that the God-Defying Stele was an incredibly fearsome treasure. After arriving in the Heavenly Court Realm, he dared not use it.
With so many powerful beings in the Heavenly Court Realm, if a Great Saint or a god were to detect the God-Defying Stele, it would surely invite a deadly calamity.
So, before using the God-Defying Stele, Zhang Ruochen had to understand just how massive a commotion its exposure would cause.
Zhang Ruochen said, “If I use the God-Defying Stele, the formation inscriptions in the Yin-Yang Hall will vanish completely, won’t they? And the sacred artifacts in the hands of those evil cultivators in the Yin-Yang Hall will all become useless, right?”
Xiao Hei paced around the God-Defying Stele. “I can only tell you this: in the past, more than one god fell in the struggle for this God-Defying Stele.”
Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself, “It seems the God-Defying Stele is even more extraordinary than I imagined.”
Xiao Hei added, “There are no Great Saint-level beings in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market, so no one should be able to recognize it. As long as you kill every last evil cultivator in the Yin-Yang Hall and leave no trace, this secret shouldn’t be exposed. I can also set up some measures to try to conceal the God-Defying Stele’s aura.”
“But you have to understand—no matter how thorough a plan is, there’s always a chance of a slip. If the God-Defying Stele is exposed, have you thought of a way out?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “A way out? I have no way out now. I can only move forward.”
“If we could take the Heaven-Sealing Glass Cover from Ling Feiyu and seal the Yin-Yang Hall with it, we could completely hide the God-Defying Stele’s aura. But the key is—there are so many evil experts in the Yin-Yang Hall. Can you handle them alone? You’ll have to kill them all, leaving not a single one, to ensure absolute safety.” Xiao Hei’s expression turned fierce.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes reddened. “They’ve been pushing me to go to the Yin-Yang Hall all along. How could I disappoint them? Let’s fight with our backs to the wall and turn heaven and earth upside down.”