Chapter 1810: Beneath Wanwu Mountain
After the thunder and lightning gradually subsided, Shi Kai crawled out.
His stone body had become charred black and was still smoking.
If not for the protection of the Great Saint patterns, Shi Kai would have likely died within the sea of lightning.
Watching the cripple walk toward him step by step, Shi Kai said, "You truly are a peerless prodigy cultivated by the Heavenly Court Realm, having even cultivated the Way of Truth to such a level. However, if not for the enhancement of Truth Rules, purely in terms of combat power, you would be no match for me."
"The Way of Truth is also part of my strength," Zhang Ruochen said.
Defeated by a Six-Step Saint King, Shi Kai felt aggrieved and deeply unwilling to accept it. "If you have the guts, leave your name. Once I break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm, I will surely pay you a visit."
"You won't have another chance."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and on its blade, Sword Dao Profound Force condensed.
"Defeating me is your skill. But wanting to kill me, you're still far from it."
Shi Kai's body sank into the ground, merging with the earth, his form and aura vanishing without a trace.
All Stone Clan beings were proficient in the Earth Escape Sacred Art, blending with the soil, causing all their aura to disappear into nothingness, allowing them to flee hundreds of miles in an instant.
For this reason, killing a Stone Clan being on land was extremely difficult.
"Blazing Heaven Refining Earth Grand Formation."
Zhang Ruochen cast out all eighteen formation flags, planting them into the ground across three hundred miles, forming a formation.
Instantly, this region of heaven and earth was sealed off.
Following that, Zhang Ruochen released his Space Domain to search for traces of Shi Kai.
The Stone Clan's Earth Escape Sacred Art could evade spiritual power and Heavenly Eyes, but it was still within space, and there would always be clues to be found.
"Boom."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand flew out, transforming into a black pillar of light that plunged into the ground.
Immediately, a scream came from underground.
Shi Kai burst out of the ground, his body somewhat battered. Ignoring his injuries, he fled toward the edge of the formation.
Zhang Ruochen retrieved the Abyssal Ancient Sword and said, "It's yours. Don't let it escape."
"Yes, Master."
The Devouring Saint Flower surged out from Zhang Ruochen's back, condensing into Mo Yin's seductive figure, quickly catching up to Shi Kai.
From the palms of Mo Yin's hands, dozens of lightning-wreathed vines shot out, wrapping around Shi Kai and binding him. Then, sharp roots pierced into his body, using him as nourishment.
Zhang Ruochen entered the mine shaft, carefully avoiding the Ancient Profound Inscriptions within, and proceeded deep underground.
Inside the mine, misty vapors rose, and Saint Qi was abundant.
On the ancient stone walls, crystalline specks gleamed, containing various ores, with the most numerous being Spirit Crystals.
The mine was enormous, truly like an underground vein. Zhang Ruochen walked for hundreds of miles without reaching the end. This vein had indeed been mined before, long ago divided into dozens of mining areas, with a highly complex internal structure. Even with Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power, he nearly got lost.
Within the vein, there was one mining area entirely composed of Sacred Jade ore.
In the Sacred Jade ore, Zhang Ruochen detected life aura—Sacred Jade Spirits.
Zhang Ruochen did not disturb them and simply detoured around.
Several more hours passed before Zhang Ruochen finally arrived at the convergence point of a thousand veins in the heart of the mining area. Streams of various elemental attributes converged, intertwining to form a nest dozens of miles in size.
Each stream was like a great river, flowing into and out of the nest.
At the edge of the thousand-vein convergence nest, Zhang Ruochen discovered a large amount of Saint Qi crystallization—Sacred Stones, the dream of countless Saint Dao cultivators.
Some Sacred Stones had condensed into stalactite-like pillars, towering high; others were embedded in the ore, forming a shimmering crystal wall.
Zhang Ruochen had never seen such a vast quantity of natural Sacred Stones before.
However, he did not immediately start mining. His attention was focused on the thousand-vein convergence nest, and he performed a Spatial Displacement to rush inside.
Entering the nest, Zhang Ruochen sensed traces of Heavenly Divine Qi, and his mood lifted greatly as he quickly charged toward the center.
Indeed, at the center of the nest, the air was thick with Heavenly Divine Qi. Dozens of light points flickered within the Divine Qi, each containing an immensely powerful fluctuation.
They were Divine Stones.
Zhang Ruochen's hand trembled involuntarily as he reached out to collect them.
But he found that most of the Divine Stones had not yet formed, existing mostly in a gaseous state. Within a dozen or so light clusters, liquid Divine Stones had condensed.
Only one light cluster contained a solid Divine Stone.
He took the sole solid Divine Stone, held it in his palm, examined it closely, and stored it away.
Then, with a mix of excitement and slight disappointment, he left the mine and rejoined Ji Fanxin and the Devouring Saint Flower.
Ji Fanxin asked, "How did it go? Any gains?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded and turned his gaze to Mo Yin.
Mo Yin had absorbed Shi Kai, slightly increasing her cultivation. Meeting Zhang Ruochen's gaze, she quickly asked, "Does Master have any orders?"
"Stay here and guard this vein. Do not allow any Saint-level beings to approach."
Then, Zhang Ruochen summoned a group of Heavenly Extreme Realm and Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators from the Qiankun Realm, ordering them to follow Mo Yin's commands and mine the ore.
The Heavenly Saint Qi within the vein was extremely dense, which would greatly aid their cultivation.
This Ancient Profound vein held astonishing value. By keeping it under his control, Zhang Ruochen could obtain a steady stream of cultivation resources and wealth.
More importantly, the vein could nurture Divine Stones.
Divine Stones were what Zhang Ruochen needed most at the moment.
Leaving the Ancient Profound vein, Zhang Ruochen had Qi Sheng and Yinghuo lead the way to Qi Xiaotian's hiding place.
In Zhang Ruochen's subconscious, he had already marked the region of Yunwu Commandery and the Xuanhuang Wasteland as his territory. Qi Xiaotian's existence posed a significant threat.
Qi Xiaotian wanted to refine Thousand-Year Blood Pills, or even Ten-Thousand-Year Blood Pills, which would require slaughtering many innocent humans. How could Zhang Ruochen allow him to continue living?
East of the Luo River, mountains rose in succession.
As the morning sun rose, the Golden Step Dragon Carriage stopped at the foot of a mountain covered in white mist. The scenery within the mountain was beautiful, with clear winds and pure waters. Apart from the roars of barbarian beasts, there was no sign that this was a dangerous lair of the Undying Blood Clan.
Qi Sheng and Yinghuo exchanged glances, revealing a subtle, hidden smile.
Qi Xiaotian was no Shi Kai. He was an Imperial Son, and his cultivation had reached the Nine-Step Saint King Rule Grand Heaven realm, far more formidable than Shi Kai.
Moreover, this mountain was protected by over a dozen grand formations.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, trying to deal with Qi Xiaotian was like throwing an egg against a rock. The only variable now was likely the woman traveling with Zhang Ruochen.
Would she be a match for Qi Xiaotian?
Ji Fanxin stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up, and discerned some clues. "There should be a Formation Saint Master in the mountain," she said.
Zhang Ruochen used his Heavenly Eye to see traces of formation inscriptions. "There are three Eighth-Rank formations and as many as fourteen Seventh-Rank formations. This is indeed the work of a Formation Saint Master—and a very powerful one at that."
"Can you break through?" Ji Fanxin asked.
"I can try."
Zhang Ruochen first cast out the eighteen formation flags, planting them in eighteen directions around the mountain to seal the area, preventing any Undying Blood Clan members from escaping.
Then, he channeled all his power into the Flame God Armor's fist gauntlets. Instantly, the sky shifted, layers of black clouds rolling in, and fierce winds swept across the ground.
Zhang Ruochen seemed possessed by the Flame God, his body radiating a crimson glow.
A powerful divine might was released from the Flame God Armor.
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen struck out with his palm, and a fiery handprint over three hundred meters long shattered the white mist shrouding the mountain, slamming into the mountain itself.
"Bang, bang."
Three layers of formation light barriers were shattered by Zhang Ruochen's palm force.
From within the mountain, twelve blood eyes flew out, each as huge as a blood pool, suspended in the air and connecting into one. Tens of thousands of formation inscriptions wove together on them, blocking the fiery handprint.
Brilliant flames illuminated heaven and earth.
Undying Blood Clan members hidden in the mountain's core flew out, flapping their blood wings, hovering in the air, and gazing outward.
Their eyes fixed on Qi Sheng and Yinghuo.
An Eighth-Step Saint King of the Undying Blood Clan barked, "Qi Sheng, you dare to lead Heavenly Court Realm cultivators here? Are you betraying Lord Imperial Son Qi Xiaotian?"
Yinghuo said, "Lord Qi Zeng, we were forced into this. We had no choice."
The Undying Blood Clan member named Qi Zeng ignored Qi Sheng and Yinghuo, snorting coldly, "Just two Heavenly Court Realm cultivators dare to attack Wanwu Mountain? Perfect timing—we'll kill you and take your Saint Blood to refine the Thousand-Year Blood Pill for Lord Imperial Son."
All the formations within the mountain activated.
From one Eighth-Rank attack formation, massive ice crystal mountains flew out, hurtling toward Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin's position, cratering the ground.
The ground for dozens of miles around the craters instantly turned to ice.
...
Five hundred miles away, the Fool and the Butcher stood by a small lake, gazing toward Wanwu Mountain.
"Heavenly Lady, it seems we won't need to act. Someone else has already gone to deal with Qi Xiaotian," the Fool said with a grin.
The Butcher noticed the formation flags planted around Wanwu Mountain, rubbed his chin, and said, "That cripple is too reckless, daring to challenge Qi Xiaotian. The gap in their cultivation is far from small."
The Fool said, "The cripple did bring a helper."
The Butcher shook his head. "Qi Xiaotian's cultivation is considered strong even among Nine-Step Saint Kings in the Rule Grand Heaven realm. If the cripple misjudges his strength, he's in for a world of trouble."
A woman stood by the lake, her body wrapped in rings of Saint Qi halos, a veil covering her face, making her features unclear. Only a vertical eye on her forehead was visible.
"Who is this cripple?" she asked.
"Just a meddlesome cripple. But he's unusual—an extremely rare Space cultivator."
Then, the Butcher recounted their encounter with the cripple, the Black Phoenix, and the White Vermilion Bird to the Heavenly Lady.