Chapter 1727: Bounty Ranking List
The cultivators present all remained silent, not speaking to one another, creating a rather eerie atmosphere.
Cultivators continued to arrive one after another, and the crowd gathering here grew larger and larger. Among them, some emitted auras that made even Zhang Ruochen wary, clearly indicating they were top-tier experts.
About half an hour later, a faint energy fluctuation appeared in the deep, dark night.
Zhang Ruochen sensed it and looked toward the direction from which the fluctuation came.
Ji Fanxin, standing beside Zhang Ruochen, said softly, "They're here."
"Buzz, buzz."
In the pitch-black, boundless night, the mist swelled and trembled violently.
A black stone flew out from the night mist, like a stone box rapidly approaching Tianshan Mountain. As the stone box drew closer, the yin-cold aura it emitted grew stronger, and it became larger and larger.
Zhang Ruochen finally saw clearly that it was an ancient stone tablet a hundred zhang long, made of a very special material, resembling diamond black iron. The characters on the tablet were each as large as a millstone, but they were blurry and hard to discern.
Twelve figures stood on the stone tablet, all wearing black robes and holding dark purple sickles. The killing intent released from their bodies gathered above the tablet into a patch of blood-red clouds.
"Ten Saint-level assassins and two Heavenly King-level assassins," Ji Fanxin transmitted to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "How can you tell?"
All twelve black-robed assassins had cultivated profound concealment techniques. Even with Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power, without opening his Heavenly Eye, he could not see through their cultivation levels.
Ji Fanxin said, "Although they all wear Death God black robes and hold Death God sickles, the grades of the robes and sickles are different."
Zhang Ruochen observed carefully and indeed noticed some clues.
Among the twelve black-robed assassins, two had faint ripples on the collars and cuffs of their robes, like scales. The other ten had a layer of faint red fluorescence on their collars and cuffs.
Moreover, the grades of the sickles in the hands of the twelve assassins also seemed somewhat different.
Ji Fanxin said, "They are core assassins of the Death God Temple. The Death God black robes and Death God sickles they wear are sacred artifact treasures refined specifically for assassination."
"The grades of the Death God black robes and Death God sickles can be continuously upgraded. However, to obtain the materials for upgrading, one must exchange enough assassin points."
Zhang Ruochen glanced sideways and said, "Fairy seems to know quite a bit about the Death God Temple."
Ji Fanxin smiled faintly: "These are the most basic common sense! The reason I'm telling you this is that you act too conspicuously. We're about to go to the Death God Temple's temporary contact point. If you encounter assassins wearing high-grade Death God black robes and holding high-grade Death God sickles, you'd better keep a low profile."
"Also, if you want to become a fringe assassin of the Death God Temple, you must understand these things."
Compared to other assassin organizations, the Death God Temple was quite loose. Core assassins made up less than one-tenth of the total, with the majority being fringe assassins.
As long as one's cultivation reached the Half-Saint realm, they could join the Death God Temple and become a fringe assassin.
One of the assassin Heavenly Kings cupped his hands and said, "Everyone, sorry for the wait! Now, present your Death God Temple tokens and board the Yellow Spring Stone Tablet. I, Liu, will take you to the temporary contact point."
The cultivators gathered there walked over one after another.
Ji Fanxin had a Death God Temple token, and Zhang Ruochen accompanied her, so they smoothly boarded the Yellow Spring Stone Tablet.
Just then, a roar came from the direction of Tianshan Mountain.
Zhang Ruochen turned to look and saw one of the assassin Heavenly Kings make a move, striking a goat-headed elder with a palm, sending him flying backward as a large amount of sacred blood sprayed from his mouth.
"Without a Death God Temple token, you dare come here? You're asking for death."
That assassin Heavenly King's movement speed was as fast as teleportation. He struck again, hitting the goat-headed elder on the top of his head. Instantly, the elder's body turned into blood-red crystals.
"Bang."
The blood-red crystals exploded, shattering into ruby fragments.
A Saint King-level expert died on the spot within two breaths, causing even those who had boarded the Yellow Spring Stone Tablet to tremble slightly.
Zhang Ruochen said in a low voice, "Just for not having a token, he was killed. Isn't that a bit too ruthless?"
Ji Fanxin remained very calm and said, "Cultivators without tokens certainly wouldn't know that the Death God Temple would set up a temporary contact point tonight. But that person came here anyway. Don't you think that's unusual?"
Zhang Ruochen showed a thoughtful expression.
Ji Fanxin added, "Besides, they are the Death God Temple, specializing in the business of killing. How could their methods not be ruthless? So, when we go to the temporary contact point, we must be cautious and careful. Don't go in and never come out."
After all the cultivators had boarded the Yellow Spring Stone Tablet, dense array patterns appeared at its base, forming a circular formation.
"Swoosh."
The Yellow Spring Stone Tablet flew away rapidly, charging into the vast night.
On the tablet, black beams of light rose up, obstructing the cultivators' vision, making it impossible for them to see the scenery outside the tablet.
Moreover, the tablet contained a very peculiar power that actually suppressed the cultivators' spiritual power.
Zhang Ruochen tried to use his spiritual power to probe outward but failed.
"The Death God Temple is indeed cautious," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The stone tablet did not fly for long. About a quarter of an hour later, the black beams of light disappeared, and everyone could finally see the outside world.
In midair, a massive tomb several thousand zhang high floated, shaped like a crouching turtle, emitting a dark red glow.
At the top of the tomb sat a three-hundred-meter-tall humanoid skeleton. Various gems were embedded in the skeleton's bones, emitting more than a dozen strange lights, like a nebula.
Zhang Ruochen clearly sensed that the skeleton and the thousands of gems had the power to conceal heavenly secrets and suppress the cultivators' spiritual power, completely hiding this space.
Cultivators who entered this space would be unable to contact the outside world.
Zhang Ruochen transmitted to Ji Fanxin, "This place is too eerie! What if the Death God Temple has ulterior motives? Wouldn't we be walking right into a trap, at their mercy?"
Ji Fanxin said, "The Death God Temple has become one of the top three assassin organizations precisely because of its reputation. As long as we don't provoke trouble, there will be no danger."
The Yellow Spring Stone Tablet carried everyone into the tomb's entrance.
Only after Zhang Ruochen and the others had all leaped down from the stone tablet did the Yellow Spring Stone Tablet fly to the edge of a lake inside the tomb and stand there.
Dozens of other Yellow Spring Stone Tablets were already standing by the lake.
Clearly, cultivators from other places had also been brought into the tomb.
The space inside the tomb was extremely vast, with lakes, covered bridges, pavilions, hills, cliffs, and deep ravines built within. Ancient lamps hung in many places. In midair, a huge bright moon hung.
That moon was a light-attribute sacred jade several dozen zhang in diameter.
"This place is built so beautifully. Is this really the Death God Temple's temporary contact point?"
"This doesn't look like a place for trading lives at all."
...
The cultivators who had come to the Death God Temple's temporary contact point for the first time were all marveling, enjoying the beautiful scenery.
But Zhang Ruochen felt a chill down his spine. After opening his Heavenly Eye, he discovered that danger lurked everywhere here. Some seemingly beautiful garden scenes were actually covered in life-and-death inscription patterns.
If the Death God Temple activated these killing methods, Zhang Ruochen believed he would definitely not be able to escape.
"Let's go to Life and Death Cliff first," Ji Fanxin said.
"What is Life and Death Cliff?"
"It's the place where customers place orders."
Life and Death Cliff was located directly below that bright moon, over three hundred and seventy zhang high.
By the time Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin arrived, a large crowd had already gathered at the foot of Life and Death Cliff. Only a few were there to place orders; most were just there to watch the excitement, wanting to see the changes in the "Bounty Ranking List."
The cliff face was divided into different sections, each containing a name and an introduction to that name.
Zhang Ruochen found his name at the three hundred and sixtieth zhang mark.
"Bounty Ranking List, Number 18, Zhang Ruochen. Originally the Crown Prince of the Sacred Bright Central Empire in the Kunlun Realm, now a Divine Envoy of the Guanghan Realm. Suspected to be at the Four-Step Saint King level, simultaneously cultivating time and space..."
In that section, the introduction to Zhang Ruochen was relatively brief, only about two hundred words.
But on the cliff face, Zhang Ruochen's figure and appearance were carved, vivid and lifelike, clearly the work of a master. Moreover, the carver must have had close contact with Zhang Ruochen.
"Two hundred and seventy million sacred stones. My life is actually that expensive." Zhang Ruochen didn't feel afraid; instead, he smiled.
Ji Fanxin rolled her eyes at him and said, "This is just the Death God Temple's 'Bounty Ranking List.' You're also listed in the Heavenly Kill Organization and the Earth Kill Organization. The total bounty probably exceeds one billion. Fortunately, you're still in the Truth Heaven Domain. If you were elsewhere, even Great Saint-level figures might come to kill you."
Let alone one billion sacred stones; even one hundred million sacred stones would tempt some relatively hard-up Great Saints.
Zhang Ruochen looked up and saw the very top of Life and Death Cliff. The person ranked first on the "Bounty Ranking List" had a bounty of as much as two point six billion sacred stones, ten times Zhang Ruochen's.
"Xin Mo! What did this guy do to incur such wrath that someone would offer two point six billion sacred stones to kill him?" Zhang Ruochen was very curious.
Ji Fanxin's eyes showed a look of caution, and she said, "This is a demon absolutely not to be provoked. It's said he can control people's hearts. If he sets his eyes on you, you'll become his servant, controlled and enslaved by him. Even Nine-Step Saint Kings cannot escape."
"The key is that no one has ever truly seen him, and no one knows what he looks like. All that's known is that he has already enslaved over twenty Nine-Step Saint Kings."
"Xin Mo, like you, has only risen to fame in the last two years, and his reputation is growing. Many Great Saints want to kill him, but they can never find him."
Zhang Ruochen drew in a cold breath. Single-handedly enslaving over twenty Nine-Step Saint Kings. With just one command, he could easily destroy an ancient sect or even plunge an entire major world into chaos.