# Chapter 1860: The Trail of Blood Bee Shura King
Xian Gongming's expression shifted repeatedly, extremely unwilling as he said: "I... lost!"
There was no way around it. With countless eyes watching, if Xian Gongming couldn accept defeat and launched an attack with his true body, it wouldn't just be a loss of face—it would severely damage his reputation.
"To think you've actually cultivated four great sacred manifestations. Not to mention me, even Qu Shan Old Mother might not be your match."
Then, Xian Gongming added: "However, if this were a life-and-death battle, you and I are still far apart."
Zhang Ruochen knew Xian Gongming was very unwilling to admit defeat, and smiled: "Senior speaks truly. If we were to go all out, this junior is far inferior to senior."
Xian Gongming said: "I would only need to use fifty percent of my power, and I should be able to defeat you."
Zhang Ruochen had given him a way to save face, yet he was pushing his luck.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his smile and said solemnly: "According to our agreement before the fight, senior has lost to this junior. So, when the Blood Bee Shura King appears, senior must be the first to charge forward and take the lead."
Who would want to be the first to challenge the Blood Bee Shura King?
But there was no choice. Xian Gongming could only swallow his pride and said coldly: "I, Gongming, will naturally fulfill my promise. No need for you to remind me."
Withdrawing his Heaven and Earth sacred manifestations, Xian Gongming returned to the side of the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince, and said angrily: "Li Ruohan is a very deep person, not an easy opponent to deal with. Your Highness must be careful to guard against him."
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince nodded and said: "Brother Xian, would you like to find an excuse to temporarily leave Luo Water? That way, when the Blood Bee Shura King appears, it won't be too disadvantageous for you."
Xian Gongming, being able to become one of the Twelve Gongming of the Heavenly Participation Sect, was naturally not an impulsive or foolish person. He said: "For now, I can only avoid the storm."
"A true man can bend and stretch. Keeping one's life is more important than anything else."
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince was just thinking of an excuse to let Xian Gongming leave Nine Bends Heavenly Star, when at that moment, a patch of blood clouds rushed into the atmosphere and heavily crashed to the ground.
"Boom."
Where the blood clouds fell, dust flew everywhere.
"It's Junior Brother Yun's aura."
Xian Gongming stared into the distance, a look of surprise on his face.
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince's expression changed, and he said: "Yun Gongming was stationed at War Soul Star. Why would he come to Nine Bends Heavenly Star, and it seems he's severely injured."
"Let's go take a look."
Worried, the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince and Xian Gongming led a group of cultivators from the Imperial Ancestor Divine Dynasty and immediately flew out toward where the blood clouds had fallen.
Zhang Ruochen, Li Miaohan, and the others also went over.
Yun Gongming was Xian Gongming's junior brother, but his combat power was slightly higher than Xian Gongming's. He was a renowned genius in the Imperial Way Great World. Even the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince, with his transcendent status, had to be somewhat wary of him.
But at this moment, Yun Gongming was lying at the bottom of a hundred-zhang-wide crater, unable to stand.
On his body were dozens of blood holes.
One of the blood holes was as large as a plate opening, piercing through his abdomen and breaking his spine. The sacred blood inside his body continuously flowed outward, turning into a patch of blood clouds.
The moment Zhang Ruochen saw Yun Gongming, he immediately concluded that he had been severely wounded by the Blood Bee Shura King.
Because his injuries were exactly the same as the Fool's.
Moreover, Shura Battle Qi was also emanating from within his body.
It was precisely the Shura Battle Qi causing mischief that prevented his wounds from healing, and his sacred blood kept flowing outward.
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince took out a healing sacred pill and fed it to Yun Gongming.
Yun Gongming's injuries improved slightly, but soon worsened again as the Shura Battle Qi rampaged through his body, destroying his tissues, meridians, and blood vessels.
"Whoosh—"
The Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden descended from the sky, appearing at the edge of the bloody crater. She struck out a talisman, which floated above Yun Gongming's body.
The talisman bloomed with white light.
The Shura Battle Qi inside Yun Gongming slowly dispersed, flowing into the talisman.
After the Shura Battle Qi was completely expelled, the wounds on Yun Gongming's body began to slowly heal, and he regained consciousness.
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself: "The Heavenly Beginning Civilization has been at war with the Shura Clan for a long time. It seems they've developed quite a few methods to deal with the Shura Clan."
A smile appeared on the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince's face, and he said: "Thank you, Celestial Maiden, for saving him. I will repay this favor in the future."
After waking up, Yun Gongming said urgently: "Your Highness... the Blood Bee Shura King has gone to War Soul Star..."
War Soul Star was also a planet floating on the surface of Luo Water, occupied by the Imperial Ancestor Divine Dynasty.
On that planet were many precious resources such as sacred medicines, sacred stones, and sacred-grade metals. It could be considered the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince's headquarters in the Kunlun Realm.
Li Miaohan smiled and transmitted to Zhang Ruochen: "The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince is probably going to be furious. He came to Nine Bends Heavenly Star to seize supreme opportunities, but his own nest has been attacked."
Zhang Ruochen couldn't smile. His expression was solemn as he said: "At the extreme pole of War Soul Star, there is a lake formed by the convergence of divine blood, and also a divine corpse. If the Blood Bee Shura King seizes all of this to feed the Blood Emperor Bees, how far will the Blood Emperor Bees grow?"
"Exactly."
Li Miaohan drew in a cold breath, realizing the severity of the situation.
The cultivators on Nine Bends Heavenly Star began heated discussions.
Some advocated staying at Nine Bends Heavenly Star to set up formations and deal with the Blood Bee Shura King's attack, with the main representative being Lion Green God Son.
Others advocated rushing to War Soul Star to take the initiative and attack the Blood Bee Shura King, with the main representatives being the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince and the Fourteenth Prince. In their view, all the resources on War Soul Star belonged to the Imperial Ancestor Divine Dynasty.
On this point, the two of them surprisingly reached an agreement.
There were also some cultivators who, seeing that even Yun Gongming had been severely wounded to the point of near death, developed fear and prepared to flee Luo Water.
The debate went on for a long time without any result.
Finally, all the cultivators turned their gazes to the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden, hoping she would make the decision.
Staying at Nine Bends Heavenly Star had its advantages.
Because the Heavenly Beginning Civilization had deployed many measures on Nine Bends Heavenly Star, they could calmly deal with the Blood Bee Shura King. If they added the top-grade eighth-rank formations set up by Lion Green God Son and Deer Elder, at least they could remain undefeated.
But if they went to War Soul Star to attack the Blood Bee Shura King, the arrangements on Nine Bends Heavenly Star would become useless.
Moreover, the advantage would shift to the Blood Bee Shura King, putting them at a disadvantage.
A single decision could affect the lives of many cultivators, so the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden had to be cautious.
"With so many of us cultivators, even if the Blood Bee Shura King had three heads and six arms, he would probably be dead." The Butcher said.
Clearly, the Butcher was on the war faction.
Zhang Ruochen rubbed his chin with his fingers, then raised his head to look around, as if searching for something.
The Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden noticed Zhang Ruochen and asked: "Ruohan, what do you think?"
Actually, the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden had arrived at the scene of Zhang Ruochen and Xian Gongming's fight earlier, so she knew that Zhang Ruochen was now using the alias "Li Ruohan." However, she had confidence in Zhang Ruochen's strength, so she hadn't stopped him from fighting Xian Gongming.
"Master is asking you." Li Miaohan said softly.
Zhang Ruochen snapped back to reality, pondered for a moment, and smiled: "Everything is up to the Celestial Maiden to decide."
"You are one of the top experts of our Heavenly Beginning Civilization. I want to hear your opinion." The Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden said.
The cultivators present all fixed their gazes on Zhang Ruochen, thinking to themselves: "This Li Ruohan carries considerable weight in the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden's heart. At such a critical moment, the Celestial Maiden is actually asking for his opinion."
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment, then his tone became firm: "I advocate attacking War Soul Star."
"Why?" The Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden asked.
Zhang Ruochen said: "Because the divine blood pool and divine corpse on War Soul Star might help the Blood Bee Shura King evolve all his Blood Emperor Bees to the Nine-Step Saint King level. By then, no matter how strong the defenses of Nine Bends Heavenly Star are, they probably won't be able to stop him. Staying at Nine Bends Heavenly Star is undoubtedly waiting for death."
Lion Green God Son sneered: "Do you think it's easy for Blood Emperor Bees to evolve to the Nine-Step Saint King realm? Even if they could succeed, it would take a very long time."
Zhang Ruochen said: "They don't need to evolve to the Nine-Step Saint King realm. Just evolving to the Four-Step Saint King realm would allow the Blood Bee Shura King to seal off the entire Luo Water. By then, we won't be able to leave Nine Bends Heavenly Star at all. Leaving would mean death."
Lion Green God Son wanted to refute, but had to admit that what Zhang Ruochen said was true.
"I say now is the best time to escape Luo Water. If we wait any longer, we won't even be able to escape." A Saint realm cultivator said.
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince snorted coldly: "Escape? With so many of us cultivators gathered together, we're still going to escape, and then hand over all the cultivation resources of Luo Water to the Blood Bee Shura King? Aren't you afraid that if this gets out, cultivators from all realms of the Heavenly Court will laugh at us?"
The Fourteenth Prince stepped forward and said: "This battle is unavoidable. Celestial Maiden, in besieging and killing the Blood Bee Shura King, we will follow your lead."
"Not so fast."
Zhang Ruochen said: "I think we should go invite Qu Shan Old Mother. If she is willing to make a move, even if she can't kill the Blood Bee Shura King, driving him back is almost certain."
"Qu Shan Old Mother isn't afraid of the Blood Bee Shura King at all. She only wants to cultivate to the Great Saint realm as quickly as possible. How could she possibly wade into this muddy water?"
"Inviting Qu Shan Old Mother is easier said than done. Say one wrong word, and you might lose your life."
"It's said that Qu Shan Old Mother has cultivated the Way of the Mind. As long as you exchange a few words with her, she can see through your heart. If you are evil, she will kill you on the spot."
...
Murmurs arose.
Although the cultivators present all hoped Qu Shan Old Mother would join the battle.
They knew, however, that the risk of inviting Qu Shan Old Mother was great. If they accidentally angered her, the consequences would be dire. And who hadn't done something they regretted? If Qu Shan Old Mother saw through them, wouldn't they lose their lives?
Who would dare to invite her?
The Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden wanted to eliminate the Blood Bee Shura King, but she also didn't want the Heavenly Beginning Civilization to suffer too heavy losses. So she said: "I will go invite Qu Shan Old Mother."
Li Miaohan wanted to follow, but Zhang Ruochen stopped her and said: "Keep an eye on Xian Gongming for me. Don't let him slip away!"
Then, Zhang Ruochen caught up with the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden and said: "I'll go with you."
The two walked almost side by side, disappearing from everyone's sight.
The Fool revealed a silly smile and said to the Butcher: "I told you, he's really good. See, besides him, who would dare to go with the Celestial Maiden to face danger?"
"I never said he wasn't good. I've always thought that the Celestial Maiden's side was missing someone like him." The Butcher said with wide eyes.