Chapter 1685: Kirin Supreme Perfection Fruit
In the clouds, the half-corpse of a Great Saint let out a roar, like a thunderclap exploding in the sky.
His left hand, radiating a chilling yin energy, reached toward the half-section of broken bronze spear, breaking through the Supreme Power to seize it.
Below, the Great Venerable, Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden, and Witch God Heavenly Son all changed expression. They had not expected that even half a Great Saint corpse could be so terrifying, able to casually seize a Supreme Sacred Artifact with its bare hands. That kind of power far exceeded their own.
"Chi!"
The Great Venerable cut his wrist, spattering his golden, radiant sacred blood onto the broken bronze spear.
Immediately, the sound of a flood dragon roaring echoed from within the spear.
More inscription patterns emerged on the spear shaft, and the Supreme Power it erupted with doubled in strength.
Now, the half-corpse Great Saint's arm trembled slightly. Even with its power, suppressing a Supreme Sacred Artifact was no easy task.
The half-corpse Great Saint's arm swung, joints cracking with explosive sounds.
The broken bronze spear slipped from its fingers and flew toward the ground, like a blazing sun crashing into the earth.
"Boom!"
The ground within dozens of zhang sank.
A storm of energy, containing ancient yin qi and Supreme Power, spread outward, kicking up dust and impacting more than half of the cultivators and ancient beasts present.
The Heavenly Sons, Heavenly Daughters, Divine Sons, and Divine Daughters all activated their most powerful talismans and sacred artifacts to protect those around them.
"Bang."
A four-step Saint King realm, elegant Divine Maiden saw the talisman in her hand form a bowl-shaped light barrier, but it was pierced by a strand of ancient yin qi within the energy storm.
Her beautiful body fell into a pool of blood.
The ancient beasts, struck by the energy storm, crumbled like sand sculptures, their bodies turning to dust.
...
Scene after scene of carnage unfolded.
A casual strike from a Great Saint-level corpse was not something a Saint King could withstand.
Zhang Ruochen activated the Seven-Level Pagoda Talisman, forming a seven-story Buddhist pagoda shadow to block the energy storm. Even so, his body was pushed back over twenty zhang.
"Bang."
The Seven-Level Pagoda Talisman shattered, turning to paper powder.
This talisman, worth forty million sacred stones, had shielded Zhang Ruochen from several destructive forces and finally exhausted all its energy.
"Boom."
From the direction of the space barrier, a loud crash echoed, sinking the hearts of the Ancient Civilization faction cultivators.
The impact from the half-corpse Great Saint's strike was too powerful, spreading all the way to the space barrier and destroying the space-splitting inscriptions on the ground.
The passage opened by the space-splitting inscriptions shattered, vanishing before the cultivators' eyes.
Everyone's gaze turned to Zhang Ruochen.
Now, only he could reopen the escape route.
Carving space-splitting inscriptions was no easy task and required a lot of time. Given the current crisis, even if Zhang Ruochen could withstand the pressure and successfully open a path, by then, the Ancient Civilization faction cultivators would likely have been slaughtered by the ancient beasts.
Thousand Star Celestial Maiden shouted, "Everyone, scatter and flee this place! As long as you're not targeted by the half-corpse Great Saint, there might still be a chance for survival."
The Great Venerable, Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden, and Witch God Heavenly Son strained with all their might to control the broken bronze spear, holding back the half-corpse Great Saint.
The other cultivators, led by Divine Sons and Divine Daughters, retreated into the distance.
But just as they fled several hundred zhang, ancient inscriptions surfaced on the ground. When stepped on, cultivators vanished instantly.
"Not good... there are ancient divine inscriptions of the space category here..."
Mo Xiaogu cried out, and her petite figure disappeared, teleported somewhere unknown.
With her vanished Gu Feng, Li Qinghai, Pu Shan, and Chou Gu, among others.
Thousand Star Celestial Maiden searched for Zhang Ruochen but found he had already fled several hundred zhang away, leaving only a faint silhouette.
Whether it was to retrieve the divine spring or leave this deadly danger zone, they needed Zhang Ruochen's space power. How could they let him escape?
Thousand Star Celestial Maiden, along with Blind Man, Big Beard, and the four Star Battle Generals, chased after Zhang Ruochen.
"Rustle."
Zhang Ruochen also stepped on a patch of ancient divine inscriptions. Space fluctuations surged, and his feet sank.
"Damn it..."
Zhang Ruochen cursed inwardly as his body vanished from the spot.
The teleportation was extremely brief; in the blink of an eye, Zhang Ruochen's form reappeared.
He arrived on a blood-red plain. The ground was barren, the soil seeming soaked in blood, emitting a nauseating stench.
"Why are there space-category ancient divine inscriptions on the ground? Where have I been teleported to?"
Zhang Ruochen tensed his nerves, looking around.
He couldn't see the towering, majestic Divine Mountain of the Gods. Beyond a thousand zhang, everything was a grayish-red blur. The blood-soaked plain was deathly silent, as if no living being had set foot there for tens of thousands of years.
Zhenmiao Little Daoist jumped out from Zhang Ruochen's clothes, also observing the surroundings, and finally concluded, "We should be not far from the Divine Mountain of the Gods."
"How is that possible? There's not even a shadow of a mountain on this plain." Zhang Ruochen was skeptical.
Zhenmiao Little Daoist said seriously, "The Divine Mountain of the Gods is not a mountain but a world shaped like a mountain. Even if we stand inside it, we might see a vast sea, a grassland, a desert... because the Divine Mountain of the Gods is too immense, and we are too small."
"The closer we get to the Divine Mountain of the Gods, the more dangerous it is. This place seems calm, but there might be deadly traps."
Zhang Ruochen took out a heavy sword and summoned two assassin puppets to guard his left and right before examining the ground.
There were no ancient divine inscriptions beneath his feet.
He had been teleported here unidirectionally.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to set up a space formation and teleport away immediately, but he worried about encountering that divine hand floating in the void space during the teleportation.
Last time, he had nearly perished in the void space, and the memory still haunted him.
"Clop, clop."
Hoofbeats echoed across the blood-soaked plain, breaking the silence.
Zhang Ruochen looked up and saw a five-colored kirin running a thousand zhang away. It was about one zhang tall, and as it ran, a five-colored sacred cloud formed beneath its feet.
However, the kirin emitted no blood qi but a captivating, exotic fragrance.
"It's the scent of a sacred fruit."
Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with sharp light: "A Kirin Supreme Perfection Fruit?"
Zhenmiao Little Daoist nodded, "That should be it. The fruit has ripened and developed spirit and soul, able to leave the sacred tree and roam the heavens and earth."
"Since we've encountered it, let's take it."
Zhang Ruochen took out a jar made from Sky-Connecting Divine Wood, activated the power of the twelve Buddha Emperor relics, concealed his aura, and cautiously approached.
The five-colored kirin was highly alert. It suddenly stopped, sniffed the air, and looked around with suspicion. Sensing something, it immediately turned and fled into the distance.
Zhang Ruochen stopped hiding. A phantom of a luan and a phoenix appeared beneath his feet, and he burst into his top speed, chasing the kirin.
Zhang Ruochen was much faster than the kirin and quickly closed the distance.
Just as he was about to catch up, the kirin leaped and plunged into an abandoned manor.
Zhang Ruochen stopped, not rashly entering.
This blood-soaked plain was lifeless and barren, yet suddenly an abandoned manor appeared—too eerie.
The manor was large, like a ruined, weed-choked small city, with broken walls and collapsed buildings, destroyed countless years ago.
What was astonishing was that the soil beneath the manor was five-colored.
Zhang Ruochen was shocked, "Five Elements Earth."
Five Elements Earth was the first type of soil formed at the dawn of creation. All things were born from it, earning it the title "Mother of All Things."
It contained rich five elements qi. Planting weeds in it could turn them into spirit herbs.
It could also turn spirit herbs into sacred medicines and sacred medicines into divine medicines.
Now, such soil was nearly impossible to find in the entire universe.
Legend had it that the Daoist lineage's sacred land, "Five Elements Temple," still preserved some.
"Zhenmiao!"
Zhenmiao Little Daoist howled with excitement and rushed toward the abandoned manor, "Five Elements Earth is incredibly useful for Daoist cultivators. It can be used to refine special sacred pills and enhance the power of five elements Dao techniques."
"Boom."
At the manor's edge, the blood-red soil on the ground coalesced into a hand one meter long, slapping Zhenmiao Little Daoist and sending him flying backward.
Zhang Ruochen extended his left hand to catch the falling Zhenmiao Little Daoist, staring sharply ahead.
"Rustle."
From the ground, a giant formed of blood-soaked earth crawled out, wielding a massive hammer, blocking Zhang Ruochen's path.
Zhang Ruochen observed carefully, "This abandoned manor still has some residual spiritual will. This mud giant is formed from that will, guarding this place to stop us from entering."
Zhenmiao Little Daoist wasn't injured. Landing on the ground, he said, "Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents. I'm determined to have this Five Elements Earth. Just some lingering thoughts—I'll smash them."
Zhenmiao Little Daoist radiated dazzling purple sacred light, turning into a purple streak charging at the blood-soil giant. A small handprint formed, striking toward the giant's forehead, tearing the air with a rumbling sound.
Tens of thousands of palm Dao rules converged into the handprint.
"Roar!"
The blood-soil giant roared, swinging its hammer at Zhenmiao Little Daoist, stirring up a bloody gale.
"Bang."
The hammer collided with Zhenmiao Little Daoist's handprint and was instantly pierced, shattering into clods of blood-soil.
The giant's head was also pierced by the handprint, and its body fell heavily backward.
Zhenmiao Little Daoist landed, straightened his back, stroked his long beard, and said smugly, "Zhenmiao, Zhenmiao, utterly fragile."
"The blood-soil giant's aura was quite formidable. How could Zhenmiao Little Daoist shatter it with one blow?"
Zhang Ruochen was puzzled, about to attribute it to Zhenmiao Little Daoist's profound cultivation, when a dull rumbling sound came from underground. The earth shook violently, and dozens of quicksand vortices appeared.