Chapter 1761: Giving You the Swallow Pendant
In the Xumi Dojo, the saints of the Kunlun Realm, gazing at Zhang Ruochen who appeared like a deity, felt an impulse to prostrate themselves in worship.
Such an impulse had only ever arisen when they were granted an audience with Empress Chi Yao.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was the embodiment of invincibility.
Holding the lotus, he swept away all powerful enemies with a flick of his fingers.
Shang Zihong's three corpses had merged into one. Looking at the corpses of saint kings scattered across the ground, his gaze extended all the way to Zhang Ruochen. Immediately, flames surged from one of his eyes, and cold air emanated from the other.
Since birth, he had been a top-tier proud son of heaven, excelling at everything he did, surpassing his peers in every way. He had only ever known success—how could he have ever suffered such a crushing defeat?
Resentment, humiliation, hatred... all kinds of emotions intertwined within his heart.
In the end, Shang Zihong's reason triumphed over his emotions. He shouted, "Retreat."
The defeated remnants of the Heavenly Realm retreated like a receding tide.
Zhang Ruochen descended from the top of the Buddha statue.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden raised the Burning Heaven Sword and declared, "Now is the perfect time to press the attack. Everyone, follow me and annihilate them completely."
"Hold on," Zhang Ruochen said.
The cultivators of the Kunlun Realm present did not rashly charge out of the Xumi Dojo. Instead, they turned their gazes toward Zhang Ruochen.
Clearly, Zhang Ruochen's influence among them had now surpassed that of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Although the kings of the Heavenly Realm have fled, their strength still far exceeds yours. Without the environment of equality for all living beings, you would stand no chance against them. That is the first point."
"Second, after this battle, the Kunlun Realm has already suffered heavy casualties, and everyone is injured. Stay here and recover properly. Let there be no more sacrifices."
"Third, in this battle, several hundred saint king-level prodigies of the Heavenly Realm have fallen. Each of them has a significant background, and each has the potential to become a great saint. This will undoubtedly cause a massive earthquake, stirring up waves of shock."
"Although it won't cause a generational gap in the cultivation world of the Heavenly Realm, after suffering such a defeat, Shang Zihong will certainly have no easy days ahead when he returns."
"For now, everyone's top priority should be to immediately set up the defensive formations of the Xumi Dojo. The Heavenly Realm's influence in the Truth Heaven Domain is extremely vast, and they could launch a counterattack at any moment."
After hearing Zhang Ruochen's words, the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm fell into silence as they looked at the corpses scattered across the ground.
There were not only the bodies of the Heavenly Realm kings but also those of the Kunlun Realm cultivators.
In this battle, nearly half of the saints and saint kings of the Kunlun Realm had been killed. It was a tragic and brutal affair, and they truly needed to rest and recuperate.
If the kings of the Heavenly Realm hadn't wanted to force the Kunlun Realm cultivators to reveal their techniques and sacred arts, the Kunlun Realm cultivators would likely have been completely wiped out.
If the green lotus seed left by Xumi Saint Monk hadn't been able to rapidly heal injuries, the casualties among the Kunlun Realm cultivators would have been even greater.
Seeing that everyone had lost their fighting spirit, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden could only slowly lower the Burning Heaven Sword.
In truth, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden also felt that Zhang Ruochen's words made a lot of sense. The Kunlun Realm had already suffered severe damage, and continuing the fight would likely drain them of their last reserves.
However, seeing Wan Zhaoyi burn his lifespan and die in battle before her eyes, and watching Kunlun Realm cultivators fall one by one into pools of blood, the flames of hatred and rage in her heart could not be extinguished.
In the end, the Kunlun Realm was still far from being able to contend with the Heavenly Realm. Even with every advantage of time, place, and unity, it was still not enough.
The gap in strength was simply too vast.
Zhang Ruochen walked over to Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongle. Looking at the sword wounds on their abdomens, his brow furrowed deeply. Then, he turned his gaze to the Buddha statue's forehead and, with a wave of his hand, retrieved the lotus seed.
The lotus seed had completely lost its luster, now a withered yellow.
With just a slight squeeze, "crack," the lotus seed shattered into fragments, devoid of any spiritual energy, scattering to the ground.
"The life essence of the lotus seed has all been transformed into the lotus. Does this lotus have the power to heal injuries?"
Thinking this, Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, pressed his palm against the lotus, and channeled the remaining sacred qi within him into it. Immediately, a surge of life essence flowed from the lotus into Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongle's bodies.
After a moment, the sword wounds on their abdomens healed, and the sinister power left behind by the Red Son Sword was expelled.
Luo Xu approached Zhang Ruochen, his expression grave. "Zhang Ruochen, over a dozen saints of the Kunlun Realm are severely injured. Even taking healing sacred pills hasn't helped. Could you also save them... What's wrong?"
Zhang Ruochen's body pitched forward.
At that moment, Chi Kongle, who had just awakened and stood up, was right in front of Zhang Ruochen. She quickly stepped forward to support him, extremely anxious. "Zhang... Zhang... What's wrong with you?"
The cultivators of the Kunlun Realm were all startled.
Zhang Ruochen's brows were tightly furrowed, his face deathly pale, and he didn't even have the strength to stand.
How could Zhang Ruochen, who had just been slaughtering enemies and terrifying the Heavenly Realm kings into fleeing, suddenly become so weak?
Where in the world did power come from without a price?
In truth, controlling the lotus and activating the spatial inscriptions left by Xumi Saint Monk to unleash spatial power was no easy task. It consumed an enormous amount of sacred qi.
Even more draining was his spiritual power.
How could the inscriptions left by a god be so easy to control?
Although he had only activated the spatial inscriptions for the span of a single breath, it had overdrawn Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power. He had only been holding on by sheer willpower, which had scared off the Heavenly Realm kings.
To save Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongle, Zhang Ruochen had forcibly activated the lotus once more.
This time, he could no longer hold on.
Shi Shenghua, Xiao Hei, Xie Chengzi, and Zhen Miao immediately rushed over, afraid that Chi Kongle might kill Zhang Ruochen. They took him from her hands and carried him into an ancient temple.
Standing outside the temple, Shi Shenghua looked down at the Kunlun Realm cultivators and said, "From now on, this temple is forbidden ground. Anyone who dares to step inside will be killed without mercy."
Inside the temple.
Xiao Hei extended a claw and pressed it against Zhang Ruochen's wrist, examining him. "It's just spiritual power depletion. Fortunately, it's not serious."
"Sss."
Xiao Hei's spiritual power was extremely strong. He channeled a portion of it into Zhang Ruochen's chest, injecting it into his sacred heart.
Zhen Miao stared at the lotus in Zhang Ruochen's hand, licking his lips repeatedly. After hesitating for a long time, he quietly reached out a small hand, intending to steal it.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's fingers tightened, and he raised his arm, glaring at Zhen Miao. "What are you trying to do?"
Zhen Miao's hand froze in midair. He was momentarily stunned, then said, "Nothing at all. I just wanted to take a closer look at this extraordinary treasure of heaven and earth. I have no other intentions. How could a Daoist cultivator covet such worldly things? So vulgar, so unbearably vulgar."
Having said this, Zhen Miao immediately turned around and muttered under his breath, "How did he wake up so quickly? I was still a bit too slow."
Zhang Ruochen's head throbbed with intense pain, his vision was dim, and his body was extremely weak. However, he had to force himself to stay conscious. There were still important matters he needed to delegate.
"In this battle, a large number of Heavenly Realm saint kings have fallen, and they must have left behind many valuable treasures. Xie Chengzi, you and Mo Yin go and collect them immediately. Remember, try not to clash with the Kunlun Realm cultivators while doing so."
Then, Zhang Ruochen took out a black soul orb and handed it to Xiao Hei. "The Evil Spirit of Emperor Yi absorbed Gongzi Yan's sacred soul and has grown significantly stronger. It can now contend with a nine-step saint king. The soul orb I hold now contains only about one-fifth of its total soul power. At most, I can use it to restrain it, but I can no longer kill it."
"Xiao Hei, you and Zhen Miao take this soul orb and go suppress it. If it tries to escape, kill it directly. Only bring it back if it willingly splits half its soul power."
Xiao Hei asked, "If we all leave, what about you? You're in this state..."
"Don't worry. Although some Kunlun Realm cultivators might want to take the lotus from me, or even take my life, Senior Brother and Princess Bai Li are here. They will surely protect me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei, Zhen Miao, Xie Chengzi, and Shi Shenghua rushed out of the ancient temple one after another, disappearing into the night.
Left alone in the temple, Zhang Ruochen lowered his head and was silent for a long time before finally speaking. "Have you come to kill me?"
A small figure leaped down from the temple's ceiling and appeared before Zhang Ruochen, somewhat surprised. "How did you notice me? Isn't your spiritual power... depleted..."
This small figure was Chi Kongle, who bore a striking resemblance to Zhang Ruochen.
Under the bronze lamp, her shadow stretched long, her delicate face glowing with a layer of white light. She held a sacred sword, looking like a little sword immortal carved from sacred jade.
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly. "You must be wearing the Buddha Emperor's prayer beads, right? The beads can conceal all your aura, even fooling Xiao Hei and the others. But the Buddha Emperor's prayer beads resonate with each other."
Zhang Ruochen raised his arm, revealing a string of ten prayer beads.
Around Chi Kongle's neck hung a silver thread. Lifting the thread, she revealed five smooth, white prayer beads hidden beneath her sacred robe.
Zhang Ruochen said, "My sacred qi is almost completely depleted, and even my spiritual power is nearly exhausted. I am extremely weak right now. With just one sword strike, you could kill... me..."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened, fixed on the five prayer beads hanging around Chi Kongle's neck.
More precisely, on the jade pendant between the five beads—a swallow-shaped pendant.
"The Swallow Pendant!"
That jade pendant was like a magnet, drawing Zhang Ruochen's gaze.
Zhang Ruochen's expression became incredibly complex. Leaning on his weak body, he slowly stood up.
Chi Kongle was taken aback. "How do you know it's called the Swallow Pendant?"
"Not only do I know it's called the Swallow Pendant, but I also know that the Swallow Pendant originally came in a pair."
Zhang Ruochen walked up to Chi Kongle, pinching the Swallow Pendant between his fingers. He let out a bitter laugh, his eyes growing moist, as if lost in memory.
In his mind, the voice of a young man from eight hundred years ago echoed with a teasing tone: "Giving you the Swallow Pendant, never to part until our hair turns white. Yaoyao, don't lose it. This pair of pendants is extraordinary—they come as a pair, a token of our love."
Then, a young girl's voice followed: "Giving you the Creation Sword, bound together in life and death. Chen Ge, catch it! The sword in your hand and the sword in mine are both forged from Creation Divine Iron, a natural pair. Let's continue practicing swordsmanship. Using these two swords might allow the Two Forms Yin-Yang Sword Formation to unleash even greater power."