Chapter 1730: Elder Qi
As the sacred Qi within his body circulated according to the eighth level of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, to Zhang Ruochen’s surprise, it actually suppressed the spread of the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison within him.
With each level of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, the grade of the sacred Qi increased.
Clearly, the eighth level of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* had reached a level where it was immune to all poisons.
However, the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison was too potent, which was why it had still managed to erode Zhang Ruochen’s body.
A flicker of joy arose in Zhang Ruochen’s heart. He secretly mobilized the Purifying Divine Flame at the Chen Yan level within his Qi Sea, channeling it into his meridians and sacred meridians to begin refining the toxins.
Elder Qi was very confident in the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison. He simply didn’t believe that any being below the Great Saint realm could suppress the toxin.
Moreover, Elder Qi was a cautious man. He had long received intelligence that Zhang Ruochen’s strength was not weak and that he could even manipulate time and space.
Therefore, he did not approach Zhang Ruochen. Instead, he stood ten zhang away, calmly waiting for the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison to fully erupt.
At that point, he wouldn’t even need to make a move; Zhang Ruochen would lose consciousness and awareness.
“Why? Why… do you want to kill me?”
Zhang Ruochen pretended to be sinking deeper into the poison’s grip, using his hand to support the wall as his arm trembled more and more violently. In reality, he was buying time.
The smile on Elder Qi’s face grew even more smug. “The targets you ordered are too obvious. You clearly intend to deal with the most outstanding prodigies of the younger generation from the Heavenly Realm Faction. How could I, an old man, let you succeed?”
“Are you a core assassin of the Death God Temple, or a cultivator of the Heavenly Realm Faction?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Both.”
Elder Qi chuckled. “Is there a conflict? Haha! Young man, in the end, you still lack experience. You should learn to hide yourself. The more conspicuous you are, the faster you die. The more you conceal yourself, the more you can catch others off guard.”
Zhang Ruochen said in a deep voice, “As far as I know, the Death God Temple does not belong to any realm. It is a completely independent force. I am a honored guest of the Death God Temple. If you kill me, will the higher-ups of the Death God Temple let you off?”
Elder Qi stared at Zhang Ruochen as if he were an idiot. “I have operated within the Death God Temple for hundreds of years. With my current status and position, I can easily find an excuse to cover this up. For example, you couldn’t afford the sixteen billion sacred stones and tried to escape, forcing me to intercept you. In the chaos, I accidentally killed you. That’s a perfectly normal occurrence, don’t you think?”
Gradually, Elder Qi sensed something was wrong. A sharp glint shot from his eyes. “So much time has passed. The Mirror Flower Water Moon poison should have spread throughout your body by now. How can you still be speaking?”
“Shua!”
Fearing an unexpected turn, Elder Qi used his flying sword technique to send the Water Moon Sword shooting out.
The sword was like a silver serpent.
As the blade spun, countless sword Qi converged, forming a circle of sword Qi.
“This old fellow is too decisive. I haven’t fully refined the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison in my body yet. What should I do?”
The moment Zhang Ruochen’s focus wavered, the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison surged back, numbing half of his body.
“Damn it, why is this poison so hard to refine? Mo Yin, hold him off first.”
Zhang Ruochen called out.
From Zhang Ruochen’s back, a figure of enchanting allure flew out, coalescing into a peerless beauty.
She wielded the Endless Blade, which resembled a blood moon, and slashed forward.
“Bang!”
All the sword Qi shattered.
The Water Moon Sword and the Endless Blade clashed solidly. The silver and blood-red light collided, like two massive metal mountains crashing together. The entire space within the artifact-refining pavilion trembled violently.
Mo Yin took two steps back. A smile appeared on her crystal-clear face. “Old man, your cultivation is quite profound. No wonder you dared to set your sights on my master.”
Elder Qi hadn’t expected such a turn of events.
When his gaze fell on Zhang Ruochen, who was sitting cross-legged in the corner, his expression changed again.
He saw that Zhang Ruochen’s arm, which had become semi-transparent, was slowly recovering.
Could it be… that he could refine and purify the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison?
Elder Qi had cultivated for over a thousand years and was rich in experience. He quickly calmed down, preparing to finish this quickly. From within his body surged pitch-black demonic mist. His aura multiplied several times, making him resemble a world-dominating evil demon. His voice was icy: “Girl, the blade in your hand is the Endless Blade of Wang Tian, isn’t it?”
“You have good eyesight, hehe!”
Mo Yin showed no fear. Her jet-black hair transformed into lightning-wreathed vines, like flood dragons and pythons, extending outward to fill the entire artifact-refining pavilion.
“Wang Tian was such a formidable young prodigy, and he died at your hands. It seems everyone has underestimated you, Zhang Ruochen. Today, I, this old man, must kill you all the more.”
Elder Qi held the Water Moon Sword and drew a circle.
The sword light was blinding, like a brilliant full moon.
“Shua!”
The full moon condensed into a single point, instantly reaching Mo Yin.
Mo Yin had already activated the four-layer perfect power of the Endless Blade. She slashed out, and the blade edge collided with the point of light. An overwhelming force erupted, nearly sending the blade in Mo Yin’s hand flying.
“What a formidable old man. His cultivation must be at the seventh-step Saint King realm.”
Mo Yin prepared to mobilize the Truth Rules to fight Elder Qi.
But before she could, the point of light clashing with the Endless Blade veered sideways, charging toward Zhang Ruochen, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
That point of light was the tip of the Water Moon Sword.
“So fast?”
Mo Yin knew that the opponent was an assassin, and speed was his forte. It was too late to intercept now, so she had to mobilize a dense mass of vines to attack Elder Qi, preventing him from getting close to Zhang Ruochen.
“The Devouring Demon Flower is formidable, but you’re only at the fifth-step Saint King realm. You can’t stop me, old man.”
Elder Qi severed all the vines, charging through the gaps between the broken vines, and thrust his sword at Zhang Ruochen.
As the sword tip drew closer to Zhang Ruochen’s head, the smile on Elder Qi’s lips grew wider. “Zhang Ruochen, your life is quite valuable. Now, all the bounty belongs to me, old man. Haha!”
“Bang.”
A black bone hand reached out, slapping the Water Moon Sword and Elder Qi together, sending them flying backward.
“This is…”
Elder Qi flew through the air, his aged eyes wide with shock.
He saw a massive black skeleton standing before Zhang Ruochen. The power emanating from it was in no way inferior to his own.
Was this an undead at the seventh-step Saint King realm?
“It’s the Yi Emperor Bone Staff. How has the Yi Emperor Bone Staff become so powerful?”
Elder Qi was full of questions, but he had no time to ponder. Mo Yin mobilized the Truth Rules, unleashing a threefold attack power, and slashed at him with her blade.
Elder Qi quickly channeled all his sacred Qi, using the sword Qi of the Water Moon Sword to condense a mirror several zhang long.
“Boom.”
Elder Qi crashed heavily to the ground, shattering the Xuan Bing Sacred Jade bed into pieces.
Elder Qi knelt on one knee, his white hair disheveled, his pupils blood-red as he laughed. “Impressive! Even after being poisoned by Mirror Flower Water Moon, you’re still this hard to deal with. No wonder Young Master Ziheng has failed so many times. Fortunately, you’re trapped in my artifact-refining pavilion. Otherwise, you might have escaped again today.”
Mo Yin toyed with the Endless Blade, swaying her seductive and charming waist as she walked to the black skeleton’s side. She smiled coquettishly, “With me and Yi Emperor here, it won’t be so easy for you to deal with my master.”
Elder Qi sneered, raising both palms to channel demonic Qi continuously into the artifact-refining pavilion.
“Chi chi!”
The floor, walls, and ceiling all revealed dense killing patterns, unleashing powerful attack waves that landed on Mo Yin, the Yi Emperor Bone Staff, and Zhang Ruochen.
The attacks aimed at Zhang Ruochen were blocked by Mo Yin.
The attack power erupting from the artifact-refining pavilion grew stronger, continuously blasting Mo Yin’s released vines into powder, forcing her into a constant state of passive defense.
The Yi Emperor Bone Staff took the initiative to attack Elder Qi, but the sixteen bronze lamps floating in midair formed a formation, firmly suppressing it.
“Boom, rumble.”
Inside the artifact-refining pavilion, lightning flashed and thunder roared, with dense killing light shuttling rapidly.
But outside the pavilion, all was calm. Ji Fanxin and Xie Chengzi had no idea that Zhang Ruochen was in danger, still waiting quietly.
Elder Qi carried the Water Moon Sword, striding quickly toward Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin. “Refining this artifact-refining pavilion nearly drained all my savings. The formations arranged within it are enough to deal with an eighth-step Saint King and can even trap a ninth-step Saint King for a short time. Here, you can only be slaughtered by me.”
On the Water Moon Sword, four layers of sacred power light waves appeared one after another, unleashing the four-layer perfect power.
The dazzling sword light turned this space into a silver world.
Mo Yin grew anxious, wanting to charge forward and fight Elder Qi, but the attack power erupting from the artifact-refining pavilion suppressed her tightly. The moment she took a step, a light thread pierced through her body with a “puchi” sound.
“Ah…”
Mo Yin quickly retreated. From beneath her feet, a surge of Purifying Divine Flame rushed toward Elder Qi.
But before the Purifying Divine Flame could reach Elder Qi, it was extinguished by the power emanating from the pavilion’s formations. Instead, a bone-chilling coldness surged back toward Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin.
“I’m tired of playing with you. Let’s end this here.”
On Elder Qi’s Water Moon Sword, a fifth layer of sacred power light wave surged, unleashing the five-layer perfect power. He slashed out.
The sword Qi was incredibly fierce, like a silver waterfall crossing the sky. The airflow within the entire artifact-refining pavilion became extremely chaotic.
It seemed that Mo Yin and Zhang Ruochen were about to die under Elder Qi’s sword.
But at that moment, Zhang Ruochen, still sitting cross-legged, had somehow opened a silver book. Instantly, the space within the artifact-refining pavilion was divided into multiple worlds.
At the same time, the space was twisted to an extreme degree, becoming reversed.
The sword Qi waterfall flying toward Zhang Ruochen suddenly changed direction, heading straight for Elder Qi.
“Puchi.”
Elder Qi never expected such a turn of events. His reaction was a fraction too slow. The sword Qi waterfall struck him, cutting his body in half at the waist.
In an instant, fresh red blood splattered everywhere, accompanied by a scream of agony from Elder Qi.
Zhang Ruochen’s face was still pale, like a frail scholar. Supported by Mo Yin, he slowly stood up, speaking weakly, “Hand over… the antidote for the Mirror Flower Water Moon poison… and I’ll let you die… a painless death…”
(End of this chapter)