Chapter 1655: Reality and Nothingness Coexist
“Whoosh”
Mu Lingxi flew out from the darkness, turning into a fragrant breeze as she landed beside Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Lansibai and asked, “Are you really Shang Zi’s cousin?”
Lansibai seemed to see a glimmer of hope in despair, saying, “This is absolutely true. You must have a pretty good relationship with my cousin, right?”
The green-robed scholar opposite him possessed the Merit Divine Seal, so Lansibai naturally thought this way.
“Our relationship is indeed quite good.” Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly.
Lansibai breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his posture, and cupped his hands, saying, “Everything before was a misunderstanding. I didn’t know my place. For my cousin’s sake, please let me off this once…”
“Pfft.”
The heavy sword in Zhang Ruochen’s hand pierced through Lansibai’s head.
Even in death, Lansibai couldn’t understand why Zhang Ruochen would kill him. His eyes were dazed as he fell heavily to the ground, sacred blood continuously flowing from the massive sword wound on his face.
Zhang Ruochen searched their storage vessels. These people, worthy of being the proud sons standing at the pinnacle of a great world, possessed wealth far exceeding those half-step Saint Kings.
Over twenty Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts, a large amount of sacred stones, dozens of sacred pill bottles… besides these, there were also many rare ten-thousand-year sacred medicines and sacred fruits. Because they were so uncommon, Zhang Ruochen guessed these were picked by them at the God-Sealing Platform.
While Zhang Ruochen was counting the treasures, Mu Lingxi was destroying the bodies and erasing traces.
These cultivators had very unusual identities. Falling during the God-Sealing Platform Assembly would cause a massive uproar, and they absolutely couldn’t let the Truth Temple trace it back to them.
“Gaga.”
A strange sound echoed in the darkness, like a ferocious beast grinding its teeth.
But in this forbidden zone, there absolutely couldn’t be any ferocious beasts. Could it be a legendary ancient creature?
Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed drastically. He swept up all the treasures on the ground, stored them into his space ring, and used Space Displacement to appear beside Mu Lingxi.
Mu Lingxi also heard that sound. Her pretty face was somewhat pale as she gripped the Phoenix Feather in her hand, ready to fight at any moment.
“It must be the battle sounds from earlier that attracted the unknown lifeforms in the forbidden zone,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Mu Lingxi asked, “What do we do now? Retreat from the cave, or fight?”
Actually, Zhang Ruochen was still somewhat worried about Xiang Chunan. Although that guy had a pair of thousand-mile eyes, he was a bit lacking in brains and might not be able to walk out of this extremely dangerous forbidden zone alive. So, Zhang Ruochen certainly wouldn’t retreat alone.
Zhang Ruochen very much wanted to send Mu Lingxi out first, then go find Xiang Chunan, but he knew Mu Lingxi wouldn’t be willing. Forcing her to leave would only hurt her feelings.
Zhang Ruochen said cautiously, “Since we don’t know the opponent’s strength, it’s better not to act rashly.”
“Gaga.”
The strange sounds in the darkness grew more and more dense (mìjí).
A chilling yin qi surged from all directions. At the same time, clusters of cyan flames lit up—more precisely, they should be pairs of flaming eyes.
Unfortunately, in this forbidden zone, Zhang Ruochen could only see things within ten zhang. He couldn’t see at all what the owners of those cyan flame eyes dozens of zhang away looked like.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Mu Lingxi’s wrist and rushed toward the direction where Xiang Chunan and the many Heaven Realm experts had left their footprints. Ahead of them, there were also two pairs of cyan flame eyes.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to see their forms clearly, so he didn’t use Space Displacement.
Closer and closer—thirty zhang, twenty zhang, fifteen zhang, fourteen zhang…
Entering within ten zhang, Zhang Ruochen stared intently ahead and was astonished to find that the two pairs of cyan flame eyes had disappeared. This made the hairs all over his body stand on end.
“Where did they go?”
Mu Lingxi clenched her teeth tightly. The Phoenix Feather in her hand released a deep blue cold light.
“No spatial fluctuations—they aren’t using space power… not good…” Zhang Ruochen’s heart trembled as he sensed an extremely dangerous premonition. He quickly swung the heavy sword in his hand.
“Chi”
In front of him and Mu Lingxi, the tip of a sacred bone spear suddenly appeared, less than three inches from Zhang Ruochen’s heart, emitting a chilling yin qi.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen had swung his sword in advance, hitting the sacred bone spear and deflecting it.
If he had waited until the sacred bone spear appeared before striking, he wouldn’t have been able to block it and would have been pierced through the heart.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to use Space Displacement to quickly escape this place, another sacred bone spear stabbed down from above, also less than three inches from Zhang Ruochen’s head.
“Bang.”
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword again, shaking the sacred bone spear back.
After retracting, it disappeared without a trace.
Based on the angle of the sacred bone spear thrusts, Mu Lingxi pinpointed their positions. Then, she swung the Phoenix Feather, releasing the power of Extreme Yin Nether Ice, unleashing dozens of attacks in succession.
Strangely, all these attacks landed on the ground.
“They don’t seem to be using invisibility techniques—they simply have no bodies, no essence souls. Otherwise, even if they were ghosts, touching the Extreme Yin Nether Ice power would freeze them into soul annihilation,” Mu Lingxi said.
“I’m not so sure,” Zhang Ruochen said thoughtfully.
Behind Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi, a large number of footsteps sounded. Dozens of pairs of cyan flame eyes moved rapidly, rushing toward them.
“Let’s go.”
Zhang Ruochen used Space Displacement, taking Mu Lingxi and vanishing from the spot.
Each displacement could cross dozens of zhang.
Even so, several pairs of cyan flame eyes still caught up, getting closer and closer.
Mu Lingxi took out four Heavenly Sword Talismans, pinched them between her fingers, and with a wave of her arm, sent them flying. The talismans exploded, transforming into four immensely powerful white heavenly swords, striking at the four closest pairs of cyan flame eyes.
Just as the four heavenly swords were about to hit them.
Suddenly, the four pairs of cyan flame eyes disappeared. The four heavenly swords flew into the distance, vanishing into the darkness. Moments later, the four pairs of cyan flame eyes reappeared, already within ten zhang behind the two of them.
Mu Lingxi finally saw their forms clearly, and her face showed a terrified expression.
The owners of the four pairs of cyan flame eyes were actually her father, Demon Sect Leader Shi Qianjue. The other two were also people she knew, all of whom she feared, revered, and dreaded as powerful figures.
However, the bodies of these four were already rotting, their faces decayed to the point of exposing white bones, looking eerily sinister.
Zhang Ruochen also looked back. What he saw was Chi Yao, the Flame God of the Merit Divine Temple, and the other two were actually Qing Emperor and Ming Emperor.
These four were also in the form of rotting corpses.
“No, this isn’t their true appearance. The yin qi emanating from their bodies is affecting my sacred soul, trying to stir up the fear buried deep in my heart.”
Zhang Ruochen’s inner strength was formidable. Although the four behind him had indeed made him feel fear, terror, or awe at some stage of his life, he had now grown up with a firm state of mind. Even if the true bodies of these four descended, they couldn’t scare him.
“I don’t believe you’re truly immune to all attacks.”
Zhang Ruochen suddenly stopped. He mobilized time power, his body rapidly retreating as he executed a Time Sword Art.
In that instant, time stopped.
“Chi Yao,” “Flame God,” “Qing Emperor,” and “Ming Emperor” all became frozen. Zhang Ruochen’s sword pierced through Chi Yao’s brow, and her body shattered like ceramic.
“Crack.”
The cyan flame eyes went out, leaving only a humanoid rotting corpse with a broken skull, falling to the ground, motionless.
Cyan yin qi seeped from the rotting corpse’s head, causing the black soil beneath to hiss.
Next, Zhang Ruochen executed three more Time Sword Arts, killing “Flame God,” “Qing Emperor,” and “Ming Emperor” one by one, leaving three more humanoid rotting corpses on the ground.
When these four humanoid rotting corpses were alive, they must have been Saint King realm experts, but their bodies had rotted to this state. This showed they had died at least tens of thousands of years ago, perhaps even over a hundred thousand years.
The cyan yin qi seeping from the rotting corpses was extremely dangerous. Zhang Ruochen didn’t dare touch it, so he took Mu Lingxi and continued fleeing forward.
He didn’t know how long he fled before finally shaking off those cyan flame eyes completely.
Because he had continuously used Space Displacement, the sacred qi in Zhang Ruochen’s body was almost completely depleted, his face covered in sweat.
From then on, Mu Lingxi took over, leading him forward to pursue Xiang Chunan and the others, while he took a sacred pill, circulated his technique, and recovered the sacred qi consumed in his body.
After recovering about sixty percent of his sacred qi, Mu Lingxi suddenly stopped, saying, “They’re gone!”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What’s gone?”
“The footprints are gone!”
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and looked at the ground.
Indeed, whether it was Xiang Chunan’s footprints or those of the Heaven Realm experts, they suddenly disappeared here, as if there was an invisible door ahead that had swallowed them.
Mu Lingxi walked forward but was stopped by Zhang Ruochen: “Don’t go forward.”
“Why?” Mu Lingxi asked, puzzled.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t explain to her. Instead, he observed the surrounding environment and found this place to be the ruins of a palace complex. However, after millions of years, even the tiles couldn’t be found, leaving only some broken walls. Most of these walls had sunk into the ground, as if about to be completely buried by time.
Mu Lingxi also noticed this and became even more confused, saying, “This forbidden zone should have been very prosperous and flourishing once. How did it become shrouded in darkness? If these palaces were still standing, they would surely be majestic, comparable to some divine temples.”
Zhang Ruochen seemed to have already guessed something. He pointed ahead and said, “Perhaps the answer lies ahead.”
“Ahead?” Mu Lingxi said.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Mu Lingxi’s wrist and took a step forward.
The next moment, blinding white light made the two, who had been in darkness for so long, unable to open their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, Mu Lingxi was directly stunned. Before her was a world with a clear, cloudless sky.
Right in front of her was a group of palaces radiating divine light, towering and majestic. Each one was over ten thousand zhang tall, as if true gods lived inside.
“The palace complex that had turned to ruins has appeared again. Is all this an illusion?” Mu Lingxi couldn’t help but reach out a small hand to touch the purple-gold gate before her.
What came back was a solid, real touch.
“It’s actually real.”
Mu Lingxi felt like she was going crazy. She quickly stepped back. This step seemed to cross some boundary, and she immediately returned to the pitch-black, boundless world, with the same dilapidated ruins before her.
“How can this be? Which is the real world? Which is the illusion?” Mu Lingxi muttered to herself.
Zhang Ruochen also stepped back, a thoughtful look in his eyes, saying, “This should be a region where reality and nothingness coexist. If I’m not mistaken, a god who cultivated the Way of Truth once fought a god who cultivated the Way of Nothingness here. I can’t imagine how terrifying that great battle was. It’s possible that gods who cultivated other powers also participated. For example, the power of fear and ancient yin qi—these residual forces should all be left over from the ancient god battle.”
Mu Lingxi asked, “Then the magnificent palace complex we saw earlier—does it truly exist, or was it already destroyed, just an illusion?”
“This is a relic left from the battle of the gods. How could our current cultivation see through it? But I feel… they should truly exist… reality and nothingness coexist.” Zhang Ruochen said.