Chapter 1615: Divine Heir, Yuwen Jing
The Yin-Yang Hall had been destroyed, leaving behind a vast treasure trove of artifacts and wealth from the three major worlds. Who could remain unmoved by such a sight?
Zhang Ruochen assumed that Ji Fanxin had come to take advantage of the chaos and plunder, which was a perfectly reasonable assumption.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen's Golden Step Dragon Chariot was still mortgaged with Ji Fanxin. If Ji Fanxin killed Zhang Ruochen, she could simply keep this Nine Radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact for herself.
Under such circumstances, how could Zhang Ruochen not be wary of her?
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's on-edge demeanor, Ji Fanxin felt a strange impulse—she genuinely wanted to fight him. She wondered if, at the same cultivation level, she could defeat him.
"If I truly intended to reap the final spoils, do you think you could stop me in your current state?" Ji Fanxin said, her swan-like neck held high and her chin slightly raised, exuding an air of pride.
"Sharp perception. It seems she has seen through my condition."
Zhang Ruochen cursed inwardly and immediately used his spiritual power to send a telepathic message to Xiao Hei, urging him to hurry to the underground space.
The few talismans Zhang Ruochen had left were all purchased from Ji Fanxin. Using them against her would be nothing short of wishful thinking.
If it came down to it, he would have to resort to the Time Sword Art. With the residual sacred qi in his body, he could barely execute one strike of the Time Sword Art. But it would only be a single blow—if it failed to kill Ji Fanxin, he would be at her mercy.
Ji Fanxin noticed Zhang Ruochen's gaze growing sharper and his hostility intensifying. She abandoned the idea of sparring with him for now, lest it lead to greater misunderstandings and earn her an unnecessary enemy.
Then, Ji Fanxin said, "The treasures and wealth in the Yin-Yang Hall do tempt me. Your Golden Step Dragon Chariot is indeed a priceless treasure. However, you helped me rescue my senior sister after all. I am not the type to repay kindness with enmity."
Zhang Ruochen fell into thought, pondering the truth of Ji Fanxin's words.
A sound of wind breaking came from the passage.
"Zhang Ruochen, what kind of great enemy have you encountered? This emperor is here to lend you a hand."
Xiao Hei, resembling a fat black penguin, wobbled into the underground space, his eyes wide and his expression fierce.
When he saw Ji Fanxin standing opposite Zhang Ruochen, he paused briefly. "Oh, it's her. Your luck really is terrible. Every time you get close to a woman, you end up betrayed. It seems the more beautiful a woman is, the less trustworthy she is. Enough talk—let's join forces and activate the eighteen Blazing Heaven Refining Earth Formation Banners to suppress her. Using a Divine Illumination Lotus to refine a furnace of sacred pills would be extraordinary."
Hearing this, Ji Fanxin's gaze darkened. With a flick of her sleeve, a burst of sacred light shot from her jade-white palm, sending Xiao Hei tumbling backward like a rubber ball.
"Zhang Ruochen, this owl you keep actually wants to use this fairy for alchemy. He's just as arrogant as you. Originally, you could redeem the Golden Step Dragon Chariot for 135 million sacred stones. Now, it will cost you 200 million."
Ji Fanxin seemed genuinely angered. She shot a fierce glare at Xiao Hei before turning and leaving the underground space.
"What does she mean? Does she really think this emperor can't take her on? Believe me, I'll suppress her right now—"
Xiao Hei scrambled to his feet, extending a claw toward Ji Fanxin's retreating figure, ready to hurl another insult. But Zhang Ruochen stopped him.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was extremely weak and only wanted Ji Fanxin to leave as soon as possible.
If she were provoked into returning, no one knew what the consequences would be.
"Don't stop me. With the eighteen Blazing Heaven Refining Earth Formation Banners, we can still take her... What's wrong with you?"
Xiao Hei saw Zhang Ruochen's face suddenly turn pale and fell silent, no longer cursing.
"You still have the nerve to complain. The eighteen formation banners you refined consume far too much sacred qi. Just activating them once nearly drained me dry."
Zhang Ruochen took out a sacred pill that could quickly restore sacred qi and swallowed it, asking, "What's the situation outside?"
Realizing Zhang Ruochen was in a weakened state, Xiao Hei glanced around warily and said, "Don't worry. The Yin-Yang Hall has more enemies than you think. This time, they're doomed."
"I need to recover some sacred qi as soon as possible, or else the treasures and wealth left behind by the three major worlds in the Yin-Yang Hall might be snatched up by opportunists."
With that thought, Zhang Ruochen immediately took out the Time-Space Crystal and entered its inner space.
A quarter of an hour later.
Zhang Ruochen emerged from the Time-Space Crystal, his spiritual power fully restored. Though his sacred qi had not completely recovered, it was enough to sustain a fierce battle.
Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei left the underground space and headed back to the surface.
As they passed through the Extreme Pleasure Underground Palace, Zhang Ruochen noticed that the cages holding the proud daughters of the Thousand Pistil Realm had all been opened and were empty.
Clearly, Ji Fanxin had taken them away.
The other imprisoned women from various clans, sensing the upheaval in the Yin-Yang Hall, saw Zhang Ruochen's figure and showed expressions of joy, desperately hoping he would set them free.
But Zhang Ruochen had more pressing matters to attend to. He had no time to release them now. Together with Xiao Hei, he quickly exited the Extreme Pleasure Underground Palace and returned to the surface.
The battle within the Yin-Yang Hall was nearing its end.
The Yin-Yang Hall had indeed made many enemies. Using his spiritual power to probe, Zhang Ruochen detected over four hundred powerful sacred auras.
Except for a few evil path cultivators who had fled, the rest had all been subdued. Some were bound by Saint-Binding Chains, unable to escape; others were severely injured and pinned beneath sacred artifacts.
A spherical spiritual power sacred artifact hovered above the subdued evil path cultivators, suppressing their spiritual power and preventing them from self-destructing their sacred sources.
These outside cultivators, fearing punishment from the Truth Divine Temple, dared not kill anyone within the Moon God's dojo. They were all waiting for Zhang Ruochen.
As soon as Zhang Ruochen appeared, a woman wearing a flower-patterned mask approached him. "Young Master Ruochen, we have been waiting for you. You are the divine envoy of Lady Moon God. In her dojo, only you have the authority to judge these evil path cultivators."
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the masked woman. Her cultivation was extremely profound—definitely a Saint King-level expert, and not just a one-step or two-step Saint King.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen felt a faint sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her before.
She was likely a formidable expert who had altered her appearance and figure, making her unrecognizable.
Another male Saint King stepped forward, cupping his hands in salute. "These evil path cultivators have strong vengeful tendencies. If we let them live, the consequences will be dire."
Zhang Ruochen understood the psychology of these cultivators. None of them dared to offend the Yin-Yang Hall or the forces behind it, fearing retaliation later. So, they wanted him to be the one to take the blame.
There were over 150 subdued evil path cultivators present. If all were killed, it would surely enrage the Yin-Yang Realm, the Dark Demon Realm, and the Ten-Thousand Evil Realm, offending a large number of Great Saints and even gods.
Of course, that was secondary. Even if the Great Saints and gods of those three worlds were furious, could they come to the Truth Heaven Domain to kill Zhang Ruochen?
The immediate problem was more pressing.
If Zhang Ruochen killed all the evil path cultivators, there would be no external force to restrain the hundreds of avengers from various worlds. They would inevitably turn their attention to the treasures and wealth within the Yin-Yang Hall.
At that point, Zhang Ruochen would be powerless to stop them.
He had spent nearly everything to attack the Yin-Yang Hall, even mortgaging the Golden Dragon Chariot. If these people took the spoils, wouldn't he be left spitting blood?
As Zhang Ruochen was carefully considering his strategy, a commotion arose from outside.
"It's Yuwen Jing."
"Yuwen Jing has come to the Yin-Yang Hall. This is trouble."
...
The masked avengers all seemed to fear the newcomer. They lowered their heads and stepped back, clearing a path.
Even the flower-masked female Saint King showed fear in her eyes, quickly retreating to a distance, as if afraid Yuwen Jing would recognize her.
"Who has come to the Yin-Yang Hall that makes these cultivators so afraid?"
Zhang Ruochen looked ahead and saw a tall, thin man in a crane-and-blue-sky robe walking in from outside.
Around his waist were coiled eight golden flood dragons, each a primordial mutant beast that had reached the Saint King realm. Their auras were even more terrifying than eight true dragons.
Yuwen Jing's presence was immense, putting even Zhang Ruochen under tremendous pressure.
The crane-and-blue-sky robe could only be worn by a divine heir of the Truth Divine Temple. This man's identity was immediately clear.
Yuwen Jing stared at Zhang Ruochen from across the distance. "Zhang Ruochen, the Truth Divine Temple should not interfere in the dojo disputes of various worlds. But today, you have already killed many cultivators, your hands stained with blood. Shouldn't you stop now?"
Zhang Ruochen's expression remained impassive. "What do you mean, sir? Do you want me to release these evil path cultivators from the Yin-Yang Hall?"
Yuwen Jing said, "They have indeed committed many wrongs. But on the Merit Battlefield, when fighting against the creatures of the Hell Realm, they did not hold back. Killing them would only weaken the Heavenly Court's fighting strength, which would please the Hell Realm."
"How about this: give them a chance to atone for their crimes. Send them to the Merit Divine Temple to fight against the Hell Realm on the Merit Battlefield. What do you think?"
The flower-masked female Saint King sent a telepathic message to Zhang Ruochen. "Yuwen Jing is a cultivator from the Yin-Yang Realm and has an extraordinary relationship with Empress Lian. Don't listen to him. Sending these evil path cultivators to the Merit Divine Temple is like delivering them to Shang Zi's hands. Would Shang Zi truly punish them severely?"