Chapter 1928: The Last Leaf
Seeing Zhang Ruochen suppress the female Death clan member in the blink of an eye, a look of surprise appeared in Fairy Yuan's eyes.
Although she had long known that Zhang Ruochen was extraordinary, she had not expected him to possess so many powerful trump cards, each one mysterious and seemingly without a countermeasure.
Zhang Ruochen did not delay. He put away the Space-Time Secret Scripture and continued to attack the male Death clan member.
By now, the male Death clan member was completely suppressed. After taking more than a dozen strikes from the evil spirit, he had almost lost the ability to fight back.
Once again, Zhang Ruochen used the Blazing God Leg, activating more than ten thousand rules within it. His foot stomped heavily onto the back of the black giant elephant.
Using the Blazing God Leg consumed a great deal of Saint Qi. Activating fewer rules made it somewhat easier.
"Boom!"
A large area of the ground collapsed, and the black giant elephant was stomped straight into the earth a thousand zhang deep.
The defense of the Great Saint elephant soul was finally broken. The male Death clan member was severely injured, pinned under Zhang Ruochen's foot, blood gushing from his mouth.
Without giving him a chance to resist further, Zhang Ruochen activated the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, instantly sucking the male Death clan member inside, using the demon mountain within the mirror to suppress him.
Thus, the two top-tier experts sent by Bore were both captured, their lives and deaths entirely in Zhang Ruochen's hands.
It was not that they were weak. Rather, all their methods were countered by Zhang Ruochen. They probably could not even unleash half of their full combat power.
Of course, it was also because they had been careless, failing to join forces from the start.
Otherwise, even if they could not defeat Zhang Ruochen, they would not have ended up in such a state.
"Whoosh."
Zhang Ruochen let out a deep breath. Though somewhat exhausted, a smile lingered on his face, unable to conceal the joy in his heart.
Suppressing two Death clan experts meant that the Great Saint-level dragon soul and elephant soul were now within reach. He had hope of mastering the twelfth stance of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm. Once achieved, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm would evolve into a high-rank Sacred Art.
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen stored the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror and the evil spirit into the Qiankun Realm.
As long as they entered the Qiankun Realm, no one could stir up any trouble.
"Brother Zhang, impressive skills. To suppress two Death clan experts so easily, I admire you," Fairy Yuan said with a smile.
Zhang Ruochen replied, "You flatter me, Fairy. If you had not been watching my back, I am not sure I could have kept them both here."
"Brother Zhang is too modest. Even if the two of them had joined forces, they would have been no match for you. I am rather curious, though—who exactly wants to see you?" Fairy Yuan asked, her expression curious.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly. "I do not know. But finding out is simple. Once we return to the Northern Domain camp, I will ask you and Fairy Bai to help. Everything will come to light. We might even gain more intelligence on the Death clan."
"This is not a good place to linger. Let us return to the Northern Domain camp first," Fairy Yuan said.
No one could be sure if there were other Death clan or Rakshasa clan experts lurking in the shadows. If more appeared, it would be a huge problem.
Without further delay, the two headed back to the Northern Domain camp.
As soon as they entered Zhen Yuan's estate, Xiang Chunan rushed over in a fluster. "Big Brother, Brother Luo Yi is missing! I have searched everywhere but cannot find him. Where did he go?"
Remembering what Luo Sha had said, Zhang Ruochen could not help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. He patted Xiang Chunan on the shoulder and said, "Third Brother, from now on, do not save just anyone on the battlefield. And do not treat everyone as a brother."
Xiang Chunan scratched his head, looking confused. "Big Brother, what do you mean by that? Does it have something to do with Brother Luo Yi?"
"Stop calling him Brother Luo Yi. Luo Yi is not a disciple of the Shangyuan Sect. She is the Rakshasa Princess—Luo Sha. You saved her on the battlefield without even knowing who she was. I do not know whether to scold you or laugh," Zhang Ruochen said helplessly.
Hearing this, Xiang Chunan's eyes went wide with disbelief. "What? The Rakshasa Princess? Big Brother, are you sure you are not mistaken?"
"How could I lie to you about something like this? Fairy Yuan can vouch for it," Zhang Ruochen said.
He knew Xiang Chunan's personality all too well—too straightforward. Once he set his mind on something, it was hard to change it.
Fairy Yuan nodded. "Luo Yi is indeed the Rakshasa Princess. Earlier, when Luo Yi left the Northern Domain camp alone, Brother Zhang and I followed her secretly, which is how we discovered her true identity."
Hearing this, Xiang Chunan finally believed it. He fumed, "She dared to deceive me! How infuriating! I will not let her off!"
"Third Brother, calm down. Learn from this mistake. Do not trust others so easily in the future," Zhang Ruochen consoled him.
Xiang Chunan nodded firmly. "Mm. From now on, I will listen to you, Big Brother."
"Did Luo Sha escape?" Ji Fanxin appeared at some point and interjected.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Yes. Luo Sha is cunning and not easy to deal with. However, I did suppress two Death clan experts. I would like to ask you and Fairy Yuan to interrogate them."
"Leave this to Fairy Bai. She is more skilled at interrogation. I also need to return and make some preparations. If you uncover anything, I hope Brother Ruochen will inform me. Farewell," Fairy Yuan said.
Without waiting for Zhang Ruochen or the others to respond, Fairy Yuan had already drifted away from the estate, appearing quite carefree.
With Fairy Yuan gone, Zhang Ruochen no longer needed to take out the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror or the Space-Time Secret Scripture. He simply had Ji Fanxin enter the Qiankun Realm to conduct the interrogation. This would be much safer.
In truth, even if he trusted Fairy Yuan, she might not dare to enter the Qiankun Realm. After all, their relationship was not that deep.
It did not take long for the interrogation to yield results.
For some unknown reason, both of them died suddenly during the interrogation.
"They came from the most mysterious organization in the Hell Realm—the Destiny Temple. However, they were not Destiny cultivators. They were Death Destiny Saint Guards trained by the Destiny Temple. They serve under Bore, one of the three candidates for the Destiny Temple's Divine Maiden. Bore ordered them to bring you back," Ji Fanxin said.
Zhang Ruochen frowned in confusion. "Bore, the Destiny Temple's Divine Maiden candidate? Why would she send people to capture me?"
"I do not know. When I tried to probe into the secrets of Bore and the Destiny Temple, both of their souls were instantly annihilated. I could not obtain any more information," Ji Fanxin said, shaking her head.
Clearly, a secret technique had been placed on their souls. If certain information was touched upon, it would trigger the technique, causing their souls to be destroyed, preventing secrets from leaking out.
Using such methods to guard secrets was indeed terrifying.
For a moment, Zhang Ruochen fell into deep thought, trying to piece everything together.
He believed that Bore sending people to capture him must have a reason.
Moreover, the fact that Bore had sent these two, who happened to possess Great Saint-level dragon and elephant souls—was it too much of a coincidence? It felt as if they had been prepared specifically for him.
But no matter how hard he thought, he could not come up with an answer. Only if he met Bore face to face might he be able to understand the reason.
Ji Fanxin spoke again. "Oh, there is one more thing. Bore went to the Death Altar. It seems she possesses some means to enhance the Altar's power, allowing the Death clan to create a large number of powerful warriors."
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. "If that is the case, destroying that Death Altar is even more urgent. The longer we delay, the worse it will be for the Kunlun Realm."
"Before that, I must find a way to increase my strength. This is not the Sword Grave. I have no external forces to borrow. With my current strength, I am not enough to contend with the true top-tier experts of the Death clan."
If the Death clan had experts as powerful as Blood Butcher Divine Son, Zhang Ruochen would find it very difficult to fight them without external help. He had to become stronger.
Immediately, Zhang Ruochen decided to activate the Sundial again and use up the Divine Stones he had on hand.
He did not expect to break through to the Rule Great Heaven during this time. As long as he could master the twelfth stance of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, his strength would see a significant boost.
The same went for the fifth layer of the Time Sword Art. Any breakthrough would increase his power.
Once the seclusion ended, the Five Elements Earth should have been delivered from the Five Elements Heaven Domain. Then he could go to the Life-and-Death Cliff to retrieve the remaining eleven Divine Stones.
Beneath the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged. The Abyssal Ancient Sword stood beside him, absorbing and refining various grades of war weapons.
Beside Zhang Ruochen were Ji Fanxin, Xiang Chunan, Feng Yan, Pei Yutian, and many experts from the Sword God Sacred Land and the Ming Sect.
The more people there were, the more value they could extract from the Divine Stones.
As before, Zhang Ruochen released all six of his Sacred Souls. Some comprehended palm techniques, some sword techniques, some the way of time and space, and some the rules of the Sacred Dao. He multitasked—this was the benefit of cultivating multiple Sacred Souls.
"The Great Saint-level dragon soul and elephant soul are both extremely powerful. My physical body is strong, but refining them into my arms will not be easy. Before that, I need to increase my physical strength further. The last leaf of the Seven-Star Divine Ling should come in handy," Zhang Ruochen murmured to himself.
The Seven-Star Divine Ling originally had seven leaves, each with an incredibly miraculous effect. Even gods coveted them.
When he first obtained the Seven-Star Divine Ling, Zhang Ruochen gave the phoenix-shaped leaf to Xuanji Sword Saint, bringing him back from the brink of death.
The qilin leaf was given to Hanxue as a protective charm.
During the birth of the Qiankun Realm, Princess Baili, the Devouring Rabbit, and the Demon Ape had destroyed the azure dragon, white tiger, and black tortoise leaves.
Later, the Moon God took the moon leaf to restore her divine power.
Thus, only one leaf remained of the Seven-Star Divine Ling—the "sun" leaf, hanging in the sky like a blazing sun.
The sun leaf contained immense power, rich in yang energy. Refining it would greatly aid in mastering the twelfth stance of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.
At the same time, the sun leaf's power could temper the flesh, blood, and bones, granting astonishing regenerative abilities—essentially an undying body.
Zhang Ruochen used his techniques to pluck the sun leaf.
Within the Qiankun Realm, he was nearly invincible. No matter how powerful the Seven-Star Divine Ling was, it could not resist.
With the sun leaf gone, the entire Qiankun Realm grew a little dimmer. The Seven-Star Divine Ling became bare, and no one knew how long it would take for the seven divine leaves to grow back.
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