# Chapter 1996: Reunion of Senior and Junior Brothers
After eight hundred years, Kong Lanyou had finally managed to reunite with the reborn Zhang Ruochen. How could she ever allow anyone to harm Zhang Ruochen again?
Even if it were an ordinary person, let alone a god, Kong Lanyou would fight to the end against them.
Just like back then, when she knew Empress Chi Yao had already become a god, yet for Zhang Ruochen's sake, Kong Lanyou still recklessly went to find Chi Yao, wanting to seek justice for Zhang Ruochen.
"Arrogant! You think you can destroy all of us? Let me tell you the truth—Sacred Bright City has already fallen. Zhang Ruochen walked right into the trap himself. He's probably been captured by now. Just wait, you'll see him soon enough," Si Han sneered.
Although his strength was far inferior to Kong Lanyou's, with so many top-tier experts from the Heavenly Realm Faction present, he had nothing to fear.
Hearing this, Kong Lanyou's expression changed again, the cold light in her eyes growing even sharper. She knew very well what Sacred Bright City meant to Zhang Ruochen. If the Heavenly Realm Faction had set a trap using Sacred Bright City, Zhang Ruochen truly couldn't avoid it.
"Who gave you the guts to lay hands on our junior brother?"
Just then, an extremely fiery voice rang out.
As the voice sounded, several figures flew out from the depths of Peacock Manor and arrived beside Kong Lanyou.
The one who had spoken was a man with an extremely burly build. Nebula swirled around his body, and a vertical eye sat in the middle of his forehead, deep and profound, as if it contained a vast starry sky within.
He was none other than the fifth disciple of the Ming Emperor, Bao Lie—the famous Bao Lie Army King of the former Holy Bright Central Empire.
Beside Bao Lie stood two others. One had long golden hair, each strand seeming forged from divine metal, emitting a dazzling metallic luster.
It wasn't just his hair—this man's pupils were also golden, his gaze extremely sharp, making others afraid to meet his eyes.
Although he appeared very thin, the aura emanating from his body was terrifyingly powerful.
As for the other person, he had an ordinary appearance and a normal build, with almost no distinguishing features.
But if one observed carefully, they would notice that lightning occasionally flashed in this man's eyes, as if he concealed a sea of thunder within, ready to erupt at any moment.
The golden-haired man was the Ming Emperor's third disciple, named Jin Yu. He was not human; his original form was a Golden Winged Peng Bird, a primordial relic, with speed beyond imagination.
The ordinary-looking man was the Ming Emperor's fourth disciple, named Luo Chen. Among the Ming Emperor's six disciples, he was considered the most low-key.
Earlier, Bao Lie had parted ways with Zhang Ruochen at the Sword Grave to search for clues and find his senior brothers. Unexpectedly, he had actually managed to find the third and fourth senior brothers.
The reason Jin Yu and Luo Chen had disappeared all these years was that they had entered a special spatial canyon.
That spatial canyon was extremely hidden, existing neither within the Kunlun Realm nor in the Void Space. Ordinary people simply couldn't find it, let alone enter it.
Back then, when the Ming Emperor disappeared and the Sacred Bright internal strife erupted, the Chi Qing Central Empire took the opportunity to attack. The Ming Emperor's several disciples led their armies to resist.
In the Yin Burial Mountain Range of the Eastern Domain, the Ming Emperor's first disciple Hong Ya, third disciple Jin Yu, and fourth disciple Luo Chen led their armies in a life-and-death battle against the Chi Qing Central Empire.
In the end, Sacred Bright was defeated. Hong Ya was killed by the Chi Qing Central Empire's number one war god, Xue Wang. Jin Yu and Luo Chen were also severely wounded but managed to escape by luck.
Seeing that the situation was already decided—the Ming Emperor missing, the Crown Prince dead—no one could turn the tide.
Jin Yu and Luo Chen were both disheartened. For the safety of their clans, the two of them took all their people and hid in that hidden spatial canyon, living a reclusive life away from worldly affairs.
The cultivation environment inside that spatial canyon was excellent, nurturing many heavenly treasures and earthly rarities. This allowed Jin Yu and Luo Chen's cultivation to rise steadily. Over several hundred years, they cultivated to the Nine-Step Saint King realm.
In truth, Jin Yu and Luo Chen had also thought about emerging from seclusion, but they discovered that the spatial canyon wasn't easy to enter or leave at will.
It wasn't until recently that Jin Yu and Luo Chen managed to leave the spatial canyon. By a stroke of luck, they encountered Bao Lie.
Regarding the old matters from eight hundred years ago, Jin Yu and Luo Chen also had many doubts. That was why they came to Peacock Manor with Bao Lie.
In their view, Kong Lanyou surely knew many secrets.
They had wanted to send a message to Zhang Ruochen, asking him to come to Peacock Manor for a reunion, but they hadn't expected this to happen first.
Seeing the three who had appeared, Shang Zi revealed a hint of surprise, his expression somewhat dark. "I didn't expect little Peacock Manor to be hiding dragons and crouching tigers. It seems you're all connected to Zhang Ruochen. That's fine—I'll capture you all together and save myself a lot of trouble."
Even if ten Nine-Step Saint Kings appeared instead of three, Shang Zi wouldn't panic.
"Shang Zi, you dare destroy Sacred Bright City and plot against our junior brother? I want your life!" Bao Lie growled, intense killing intent surging from his body.
His form flickered, and Bao Lie charged straight out of Peacock Manor. Vast nebula surged from within him, transforming into a massive nebula leopard that pounced toward Shang Zi with murderous intent.
Shang Zi's eyes flashed with cold light. "You think you're worthy?"
As he spoke, Shang Zi summoned the Five-Colored Merit Stele and suppressed it toward the charging nebula leopard.
The Five-Colored Merit Divine Stele was a supreme treasure condensed from merit power, immensely powerful. It now became as majestic and imposing as a primordial divine mountain.
"Roar!"
The nebula leopard let out a sky-shaking roar, its sharp claws slamming heavily against the Five-Colored Merit Divine Stele.
"Boom!"
The Five-Colored Merit Divine Stele pressed down from above. No matter how the nebula leopard struggled, it was useless. Its body exploded, transforming back into a patch of nebula that merged into Bao Lie's body.
"How is this possible?" Bao Lie's eyes widened in disbelief.
After all, he himself was a Lin Dao realm powerhouse. He had used almost all his strength in that attack, yet he couldn't even defeat a junior who hadn't even condensed a Dao Domain.
Bao Lie stared intently at Shang Zi, thinking to himself, "Could this Shang Zi really be comparable to our junior brother?"
Although he had recently focused his energy on finding his senior brothers, he had also paid close attention to Zhang Ruochen's situation. He knew that when Zhang Ruochen was in the Northern Domain, he already possessed strength matching Lin Dao realm experts. After arriving in the Central Domain, he had even defeated the Azure Dragon of the Nether God Hall.
But in his view, Zhang Ruochen was a special case. It should be difficult to find anyone else in the world who could match Zhang Ruochen.
Yet now, he had encountered one.
Shang Zi was strong in every aspect and possessed many trump cards. Ordinary Lin Dao realm experts simply couldn't be his match.
"Capture Shang Zi and exchange him for our junior brother."
Golden light flickered in Jin Yu's eyes. He transformed into a beam of golden light, flashing out of Peacock Manor at extreme speed.
His speed was so fast that many of the Heavenly Realm Faction's experts couldn't react at all.
However, just as Jin Yu's claw was about to touch Shang Zi, Shang Zi instantly shifted sideways, evading Jin Yu's grasp with exquisite precision.
One of the three supreme sacred paths that Shang Zi primarily cultivated was the Path of Flowing Light, and speed was his greatest specialty.
While shifting sideways, Shang Zi produced the Red Child Sword in his hand and slashed toward Jin Yu's claw.
Dense golden light patterns emerged on the blade of the Red Child Sword, releasing a majestic, heavy power.
Before the sword arrived, a sky-high wave of flames had already swept toward Jin Yu.
Jin Yu's expression changed slightly. His body trembled, and a pair of dazzling golden wings appeared on his back. Each feather was like a sharp short sword.
The golden wings flapped, releasing a brilliant, eye-catching golden light that collided with the sky-high flames released by the Red Child Sword.
"Boom!"
The golden light cut through the flames, dispersing the vast power released by the Red Child Sword, and then slashed toward Shang Zi.
Clearly, compared to Bao Lie, Jin Yu's strength was much greater.
"How dare you!"
Accompanied by a deep voice, a middle-aged man wearing three-colored merit armor appeared in front of Shang Zi.
The middle-aged man punched out with extreme simplicity, and a wave of flame surged forth.
"Bang!"
The slashing golden light shattered, instantly dissipating into nothingness.
Seeing this, Jin Yu didn't continue attacking but retreated back to Bao Lie's side at top speed.
The middle-aged man standing in front of Shang Zi wore a jasper crown on his head. His gaze was sharp and profound, and a terrifying majesty naturally emanated from him.
Anyone could clearly see tens of millions of sacred dao rules flowing on the surface of the middle-aged man's body. Many of these sacred dao rules were extremely thick, belonging to the Three Thousand Great Daos, or even the Seventy-Two Supreme Sacred Daos.
His name was Xing Yuan. He came from the Merit Divine Hall and was also a disciple of the Yan God. Even Shang Zi had to respectfully call him senior brother.
Xing Yuan had been cultivating for over eleven hundred years and was one of the top experts below the Great Saint realm in the Merit Divine Hall.
Shang Zi had also expended considerable effort to persuade Xing Yuan to take action.
The main reason was that Shang Zi was deeply favored by the Yan God, so his senior brothers had to give him some face.
"Thank you, senior brother," Shang Zi said with a smile.
Xing Yuan's face was stern, his tone deep. "Don't waste any more time. Finish this quickly. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy."
Hearing Xing Yuan give the order, a flicker of displeasure passed through Shang Zi's eyes, but he didn't show it.
"Tap, tap."
Clear footsteps sounded, causing many people to turn their heads.
Under everyone's gaze, a man walked out from the cabin. He wore pure white clothes without a trace of other colors, held a jade fan in his hand, and exuded an ethereal, transcendent aura.
The man's features were feminine, extremely delicate, making him look more beautiful than many women.
Shang Zi stepped forward to greet him, smiling. "Brother Di, there's no need for you to take action against these few people from Peacock Manor."
"Since I'm here, I naturally have to contribute something. Leave Kong Lanyou to me." Di's gaze fell on Kong Lanyou, a hint of strange, sinister smile appearing on his face.
Hearing this, Shang Zi immediately understood Di's purpose.
Like Yan Ba, Di came from the Yin-Yang Realm, but his strength was far greater than Yan Ba's. He was truly one of the top experts below the Great Saint realm in the Yin-Yang Realm.
Shang Zi said, "With Brother Di taking action, capturing Kong Lanyou will be as easy as reaching into a pocket."
Xing Yuan glanced coldly at Di, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes.
Even though they were on the same side, Xing Yuan clearly disliked Di.
"Fall back."
Kong Lanyou frowned slightly.
Hearing this, Bao Lie and Jin Yu didn't hesitate. They immediately retreated into Peacock Manor at top speed.
The Heavenly Realm Faction had numerical superiority and many formidable characters among them. If they really fought head-on, they would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage.
"Hmm?" Kong Lanyou suddenly sensed something, and a look of joy appeared in her eyes.
Immediately, Kong Lanyou took control of the formation protecting Peacock Manor and cleverly opened a gap.
The space rippled slightly, and Zhang Ruochen's figure appeared out of nowhere inside Peacock Manor.
"Cousin!"
"Junior brother!"
Kong Lanyou, Bao Lie, Jin Yu, and Luo Chen all showed excited expressions, flashing over to Zhang Ruochen's side.
Earlier, they had been extremely worried, afraid that Zhang Ruochen had truly been ambushed.
Now that they saw Zhang Ruochen, the suspended heart in their chests could finally settle.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze swept over the four people beside him. He was naturally very familiar with Kong Lanyou and Bao Lie, but he didn't recognize Jin Yu and Luo Chen. They just looked somewhat familiar.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something, and his heart stirred. He exclaimed in surprise, "Third senior brother, fourth senior brother, how are you here?"
Zhang Ruochen recognized Jin Yu and Luo Chen and was extremely surprised. After all, Jin Yu and Luo Chen had disappeared for several hundred years without any news. He had even thought they were dead.
He never expected to meet them unexpectedly at Peacock Manor.
Jin Yu and Luo Chen were also extremely excited, but there was also guilt in their eyes. They had emerged from seclusion too late, so there were many things they hadn't been able to help Zhang Ruochen with.
"Junior brother, you've suffered all these years," Jin Yu said, his voice filled with guilt.
Zhang Ruochen quickly shook his head. "Not at all. All of this was my own choice. Third senior brother, fourth senior brother, it's really good that you've returned."
"Yes, we won't choose to run away this time. Whatever you want to do, we will definitely support you," Luo Chen said with extreme seriousness.
Zhang Ruochen nodded heavily, tightly gripping Jin Yu and Luo Chen's hands.
He had come for Kong Lanyou and Chi Kunlun, but unexpectedly, he had found Bao Lie, as well as the third and fourth senior brothers who had been missing for many years. This truly surprised and delighted him.
Zhang Ruochen didn't rush to catch up with Kong Lanyou and the others. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Shang Zi and said coldly, "Shang Zi, hand over Chi Kunlun."