Chapter 1864: The Ninth Son of Ghost Lord
Zhang Ruochen dragged out the Great Saint corpse and noticed strands of divine power seeping from it, especially from the corroded areas.
A thoughtful expression appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face as he speculated silently, "This Great Saint, while alive, must have been swallowed into the belly of that sub-divine beast. His body wasn't naturally corroded but was eroded by the sub-divine beast's power."
Then, Zhang Ruochen grabbed the long blade in the Great Saint corpse's hand. A flame surged from his palm, refining the blade.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
The rust on the long blade vanished, leaving it bright and dazzling, its edge gleaming with cold light.
Truly worthy of being a battle weapon used by a Great Saint—the long blade contained a dense amount of Great Saint power within.
Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power, intending to probe the number of inscriptions inside the blade to determine its rank. However, as soon as his spiritual power invaded, a sharp, piercing sound emerged from the blade.
The long blade trembled violently, breaking free from Zhang Ruochen's fingers, transforming into an ice dragon, and charging toward the polar region of War Soul Star.
Zhang Ruochen rubbed his sore wrist, feeling surprised. "The artifact spirit of this blade is so powerful. Could it be a sacred artifact above the Ten-Shining Ten-Thousand-Pattern level?"
The evil spirit within the Yi Emperor Bone Staff said, "Who cares what it is? Suppress it first. If I can wield this blade, my combat power will increase significantly."
During the eight years of seclusion in the Eastern Domain Sacred City, the Yi Emperor Bone Staff had absorbed a large amount of Qing Jin's soul mist, already possessing the strength to contend with Dao Domain realm experts.
Coupled with the corpse qi it had just absorbed from the Great Saint Corpse King, its power had increased further.
Other cultivators also recognized that the long blade was an extraordinary battle weapon. They turned into beams of light, chasing after it toward the polar region, hoping to claim it.
"These guys are hesitant to fight enemies but eager to snatch treasures."
Zhang Ruochen wasted no more time. He put away the Great Saint corpse and burst forward at top speed in pursuit.
As he approached the polar region, the ground turned blood-red, and blood-red mist appeared in the air, obstructing the cultivators' vision.
The cultivators chasing the long blade all vanished from sight. Zhang Ruochen couldn't see anyone around him. Moreover, his spiritual power was suppressed by the sub-divine beast's divine might, allowing him to probe only a few miles at most.
"Not good. This makes it easy for the Blood Bee Shura King to pick us off one by one."
A bad feeling arose in Zhang Ruochen. He wanted to retreat and regroup with Tianchu Xianzi and the others.
"Clatter, clatter."
At that moment, a cacophony of footsteps sounded.
Zhang Ruochen tensed up, dodging behind a large boulder, and activated the power of the Buddha Emperor Relic to conceal his aura.
The footsteps grew closer.
An icy, bone-chilling ghost qi surged from afar, like dark red dust.
The footsteps came from within that dust.
A troop of ghost soldiers and ghost generals emerged from the dark red dust. There were nearly a hundred ghost kings who had condensed real bodies, each looking like an emissary from the underworld.
Among those ghost kings were handsome men, beautiful women, and even the elderly and children.
Additionally, some ghost kings rode Corpse King-level war beasts, wielding blood-dripping war halberds.
Zhang Ruochen sucked in a breath of cold air. If he weren't sure this was Luo Water, he would have suspected he had arrived in the underworld.
Even in the underworld, seeing so many ghost kings at once was no easy feat.
Four ghost kings, each three zhang tall, carried a white jade sedan chair at the center of the formation.
The sedan chair's curtain was strung together with bone beads, colliding with each other and producing a pleasant sound.
Through the bone bead curtain, Zhang Ruochen vaguely saw a thin, dark figure. He couldn't discern its gender or appearance, let alone whether it was human or ghost.
A sacred flower was entwined around the white jade sedan chair.
Zhang Ruochen recognized that sacred flower—it was the Tulip Demon Incense, a hundred-thousand-year-old ancient sacred medicine he had encountered on his first trip to Luo Water.
The Tulip Demon Incense possessed powerful spiritual strength and was a highly dangerous, aggressive plant.
What intrigued Zhang Ruochen was whether the Tulip Demon Incense was driving the ghost soldiers and generals before him, or if the dark figure in the sedan chair had tamed the Tulip Demon Incense.
Suddenly, the blood mist in the air trembled violently. A tall, thin figure crashed down with a loud "boom."
It was Yun Gongming, one of the Twelve Bright Officials of the Can Tian Sect.
In Yun Gongming's hand was the long blade from the Great Saint Corpse King.
However, he seemed unable to suppress the blade. The artifact spirit had forcibly dragged him here.
The man and the blade were locked in a struggle.
"I, Gongming, refuse to believe I can't suppress even a blade spirit... hold..."
Yun Gongming sensed the chilling aura around him. His peripheral vision caught sight of the distant ghost troop, and his pupils sharply contracted.
"Clang."
The long blade let out a ringing sound, flew out of Yun Gongming's hand, and escaped his control.
Yun Gongming dared not continue trying to suppress the blade. He burst away at top speed, fleeing in terror. "How can there be so many ghost kings? Could it be that besides the Blood Bee Shura King, some major figure from the Ghost Clan has also come to Luo Water?"
From the white jade sedan chair, an aged voice rang out: "Leave him. I want his sacred soul."
"Whoosh, whoosh."
A large group of ghost kings turned into a cloud of ghost qi and charged at Yun Gongming.
Among them, thirteen ghost kings riding Corpse King war beasts were the fastest, leading the charge.
Yun Gongming's cultivation was formidable. One-on-one, none of the thirteen ghost king riders could match him. His speed was like flowing light, leaving the ghost kings far behind.
"He's a master comparable to a Dao Domain realm cultivator. His sacred soul should be quite delicious."
From the sedan chair, the sound of a flute arose.
The sound waves from the flute formed whirlpools, shooting out at a thousand times the speed of sound and quickly catching up to Yun Gongming.
The sound wave whirlpools, each several zhang in diameter, connected to form a single whirlpool dozens of zhang wide, trapping Yun Gongming. Wherever the whirlpool passed, the ground shattered continuously.
"Sound wave attacks can reach such a terrifying level." Zhang Ruochen was secretly shocked.
The thirteen ghost king riders charged to the edge of the whirlpool, thrusting their war halberds and mercilessly striking Yun Gongming.
"Get lost!"
Yun Gongming roared, unleashing a vast amount of sacred dao rules from his body, forming a hand seal that struck a ghost king rider, shattering its ghost body into ghost mist.
Just as Yun Gongming tried to escape the sound wave whirlpool, the other ghost kings swarmed in, surrounding him.
Ghost kings were continuously shattered by Yun Gongming's sacred dao power, but his own injuries grew heavier. Sacred blood flowed freely, turning him into a blood-soaked figure.
"Thud."
The battle ended quickly. Yun Gongming was pierced to death by the ghost king riders' war halberds.
Nine war halberds penetrated Yun Gongming's body, pinning him to the ground. He knelt on both knees, blood streaming from his mouth, chest, abdomen, and back—a scene of indescribable misery.
At the moment of death, Yun Gongming roared up at the sky, trying to force himself to stand, but another ghost king rider struck his head with a war halberd.
Yun Gongming's strength was slightly greater than Xian Gongming's, yet he died so humiliatingly, sending a chill down the spine of Zhang Ruochen, who was hiding nearby.
A ghost king rider extracted Yun Gongming's sacred soul from his body, held it in his hands, and walked toward the white jade sedan chair.
From the sedan chair, the thin, dark figure took the sacred soul light orb from a distance and swallowed it.
A powerful wave of ghost qi surged from the white jade sedan chair, sweeping in all directions, causing sand and stones to fly in the area. Moments later, the dark figure's aura grew even stronger.
The dark figure seemed to sense something and said in a deep voice, "Where did that sacred blade go? There must be a Heavenly Court cultivator hiding nearby. Find him."
Just as the ghost kings were about to move, a red sun and a divine river appeared in the distance, clearing the way as a large group of sacred dao cultivators rushed toward this direction.
The dark figure in the sedan chair seemed somewhat wary, not continuing the search for the sacred blade. It led the ghost soldiers and generals away quickly, disappearing into the vast blood mist.
After the ghost troop had gone far, Zhang Ruochen emerged from behind the boulder, holding the Azure Heaven Floating Pagoda in his hand.
Earlier, while all the ghost kings were focused on killing Yun Gongming, Zhang Ruochen had used the Azure Heaven Floating Pagoda to stealthily collect the Great Saint Corpse King's long blade into the tower.
Tianchu Xianzi and the four elders of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization arrived, holding the "Red Sun Divine River Diagram."
The "Red Sun Divine River Diagram" was indeed powerful, dispersing the blood mist in the air. They saw Zhang Ruochen and also Yun Gongming lying in a pool of blood.
The Di Zu Crown Prince, traveling with Tianchu Xianzi, immediately rushed to Yun Gongming's corpse. After checking his aura, he let out a furious roar, his handsome face twisting in rage.
He glared at Zhang Ruochen and demanded, "Did you kill Yun Gongming?"
Xian Gongming and several other sacred realm cultivators from the Di Zu Divine Dynasty appeared beside the Di Zu Crown Prince, all drawing their sacred artifacts and glaring angrily at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen had already put away the Azure Heaven Floating Pagoda. He said calmly, "You all know Yun Gongming's cultivation. How could I possibly kill him with my strength?"
Tianchu Xianzi stopped the Di Zu Divine Dynasty cultivators and asked, "What happened?"
Having just arrived at the polar region, the loss of a powerful expert like Yun Gongming was a heavy blow to their morale.
Zhang Ruochen patiently recounted everything he had witnessed.
The expressions of the cultivators present shifted repeatedly.
If Zhang Ruochen was telling the truth, didn't that mean there was another Hell Realm powerhouse in the polar region of War Soul Star?
The ghost soldiers and generals had just left, and the air still carried strong ghost qi, definitely left by multiple ghost kings.
After calming down, the Di Zu Divine Dynasty cultivators put away their sacred artifacts.
The Di Zu Crown Prince said coldly, "Since you were hiding nearby, why didn't you help Yun Gongming? Standing by and watching him die—is that what an ally does?"
Zhang Ruochen found it amusing. When he was attacked by the Great Saint Corpse King earlier, the Di Zu Divine Dynasty cultivators hadn't lifted a finger to help him either.
Zhang Ruochen was no saint; he couldn't risk his life to save someone who wanted him dead.
The Black Phoenix walked over to Zhang Ruochen and sneered, "Di Zu Crown Prince, we rushed over as soon as we heard the battle sounds, but Yun Gongming was killed by the enemy in a very short time. That shows how terrifying the enemy is. If Ruo Han Gongzi had revealed himself, wouldn't he have been dragged into it too?"
The Di Zu Crown Prince knew the Black Phoenix was a junior disciple of Qu Shan Lao Mu, so he didn't argue with her. He said, "The situation is very unfavorable for us now. We can't afford any more mistakes."
Yun Gongming's tragic death weighed heavily on everyone's minds.
They continued advancing toward the polar region.
The Black Phoenix appeared beside Zhang Ruochen and transmitted a message: "My master said that the person you encountered is likely the Ghost Lord's ninth son, Chang."
"The Ghost Lord is a titan of the Ghost Clan in Hell Realm. He has survived twelve ghost tribulations and cultivated a Mixed Yuan Ghost Body. Even the gods of the Heavenly Court are wary of him. Only a powerhouse of Moon God's caliber would dare to challenge him."
"Chang is the Ghost Lord's youngest offspring, wielding a demonic flute. When the flute sounds, it can summon souls from thousands of miles away."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "How does Chang's strength compare to the Blood Bee Shura King?"
The Black Phoenix said, "In terms of personal strength, the Blood Bee Shura King and Chang are probably evenly matched. Additionally, the Blood Bee Shura King keeps a swarm of Blood Emperor Bees, each comparable to a Saint King. Chang, on the other hand, has a large retinue of ghost kings. If the two fought, it's hard to say who would win. Perhaps the Blood Bee Shura King has a slight edge."
Zhang Ruochen hadn't witnessed the Blood Bee Shura King's methods, but Chang was undoubtedly a formidable figure. The fact that he could tame the Tulip Demon Incense alone was remarkable.
Tianchu Xianzi, wearing a white veil, occasionally glanced at the Black Phoenix and Zhang Ruochen, curious about what they were discussing.
This curiosity itched at her, but she restrained herself and didn't ask.
Along the way, they saw the remains of several sacred realm cultivators—those who had chased the Great Saint Corpse King's long blade but were killed by unknown beings.
They also encountered some beast-shaped sacred medicines. The Di Zu Crown Prince, Lion Qing Shenzi, and the Fourteenth Prince all took action, suppressing and collecting them.
Their group gained five more cultivators: Que Gonggong, Yue Gongming, and three Nine-Step Saint Kings. They had been sent by the Di Zu Crown Prince to seal off Luo Water but returned upon learning of the changes on War Soul Star.
With increased strength, the Di Zu Crown Prince's confidence grew, and he took the lead in clearing the path.
Of course, when they encountered beast-shaped sacred medicines, he was the first to claim them.
Zhang Ruochen didn't compete for the sacred medicines. Instead, he pondered whether Shen Ya Xian Sheng might have also come to War Soul Star.
The answer was obvious—he definitely would.
Before long, a blood lake appeared before them.
A lake formed from divine blood.
The millions-of-meters-long stone pillar stood at the center of the lake, its body like a stone wall propping up the sky, massive enough to completely block their view.
The divine blood in the lake was a terrifying red, exuding a vast, awe-inspiring aura.
...
(Sorry for the late update today, but this chapter has four thousand words, so it should still show some sincerity! The next chapter should be around noon tomorrow.)
(End of chapter)