Chapter 2033: The Complete Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror
As soon as Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi left the palace, Xue Hou appeared atop a very tall pavilion, watching their departing figures from afar.
Chi Linyuan’s figure materialized beside Xue Hou, and he said in a low voice, “Master, are we just letting them leave like this?”
“Otherwise, what else can we do? If I were to forcibly detain them, I’m afraid Chen’er would only resist me even more. This is already good enough; at least Lanyou is still here. I believe Chen’er will return again. I only hope this time won’t make me wait too long.” Xue Hou sighed, her eyes filled with deep helplessness.
If she could, she would naturally have wanted Zhang Ruochen to stay longer in the Second Gradient, to listen to her words and merge with his previous life’s body.
But clearly, that wasn’t possible now. These matters could only proceed step by step; rushing would only backfire.
Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi moved extremely fast, and it didn’t take long before they reached the special passage leading to the First Gradient.
No one came to intercept them, which secretly relieved Zhang Ruochen.
Glancing from afar at that steep peak stained with divine blood, Zhang Ruochen took Mu Lingxi’s hand and plunged into the blood-colored vortex.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi flashed out from the ravine spewing blood qi, smoothly leaving the Second Gradient.
“If I hadn’t gone down there myself, I doubt anyone would believe that the Second Gradient of the Endless Abyss could be like that,” Mu Lingxi said with some emotion.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “Yes. Based on our investigations these past days, it seems that no fewer than one or two deities have fallen in the Second Gradient. It’s truly a mysterious and terrifying place.”
From his observations, the most mysterious spots in the Second Gradient were likely all connected to fallen deities, to the extent that even Xue Hou hadn’t yet fully controlled them.
“Um… I have something to give you,” Mu Lingxi said hesitantly.
Zhang Ruochen quickly asked, “What is it?”
With a flip of her hand, Mu Lingxi produced a pitch-black stone, only the size of a chicken egg, utterly unremarkable. If thrown by the roadside, probably no one would notice it.
But upon closer inspection, one could see countless intricate and profound secret patterns on the stone’s surface, crisscrossing in a dizzying array.
The moment this stone appeared, Zhang Ruochen sensed something in his Divine Light Qi Sea stir.
Before he could react, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror flew out from the Divine Light Qi Sea.
Without needing to be activated, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror automatically awakened. A large number of Supreme Inscription Runes surfaced on its surface, and thick demonic qi emanated, condensing into black mountain ranges, like ancient demon mountains capable of suppressing everything.
A powerful suction force was released from the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, instantly drawing in the black stone in Mu Lingxi’s hand.
Subtle ripples appeared on the mirror’s surface, and then the black stone directly sank into the mirror.
“Quickly, use your power to envelop the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror,” Mu Lingxi urged.
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen set aside his thoughts and quickly released powerful Saint Qi, completely enveloping the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, then thoroughly permeated it.
By now, Zhang Ruochen had realized that the black stone Mu Lingxi had taken out was likely the missing core of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror.
If his guess was correct, the artifact spirit of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror was inside that black stone.
Once the two merged, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror would become a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, its power far beyond its current state.
If the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror were intact, Zhang Ruochen, with his current strength, would be unable to control it.
However, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror had clearly suffered severe damage for some reason, and its artifact spirit was likely heavily impaired, no longer at its peak.
But even so, the artifact spirit of a Supreme Sacred Artifact should not be underestimated.
Zhang Ruochen had expected to expend great effort, or even endure some hardship, but to his surprise, the artifact spirit of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror did not resist him, allowing him to easily take control of the complete mirror.
Before long, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror’s power receded and returned to calm.
It was evident that the mirror had undergone some changes. The several cracks on its surface had disappeared, and the Supreme Inscription Runes on the mirror had become denser.
Holding the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly and looked at Mu Lingxi, asking, “How did the core of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror end up in your hands?”
“It was… given to me by Xue Hou,” Mu Lingxi said, lowering her head, not daring to meet Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, her voice very soft.
She knew Zhang Ruochen’s temper. During the twenty days in the Second Gradient, Xue Hou had sent him many treasures, but Zhang Ruochen had refused every single one. Now she had taken something from Xue Hou, which would surely displease him.
Actually, Zhang Ruochen had already guessed the answer without Mu Lingxi’s reply. After all, if the core of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror had always been in Mu Lingxi’s possession, she would have given it to him long ago. Why wait until now?
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen understood Mu Lingxi’s intentions. She simply wanted him to have a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, something that would greatly aid him.
No matter how powerful a Supreme Sacred Artifact was in essence, without an artifact spirit, it couldn’t even compare to newly refined Supreme Sacred Artifacts.
In fact, it might even be inferior to top-tier Monarch War Artifacts.
Because the artifact spirits of top-tier Monarch War Artifacts also possessed power close to the Great Saint level.
Since things had come to this, Zhang Ruochen could no longer extract the core from the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, nor was it likely he would abandon it.
After losing the Azure Heaven Floating Tower, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror was the only Supreme Sacred Artifact he had left.
But Zhang Ruochen truly hadn’t expected that the core of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror would be in Xue Hou’s hands.
From this, it seemed there was indeed a significant connection between the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror and the Blood Sea Demon Mirror, perhaps like the Abyssal Ancient Sword and the Blood-Dripping Sword.
Shaking his head with some helplessness, Zhang Ruochen stored the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror back into his Divine Light Qi Sea and said, “Forget it. Consider it a favor I owe her.”
Mu Lingxi looked up, her lively big eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen, and asked cautiously, “You’re not angry with me?”
“Why would I be angry? Angry that you’re too good to me?” Zhang Ruochen reached out and touched Mu Lingxi’s face, speaking with great affection.
Hearing this, Mu Lingxi couldn’t help but pat her chest and let out a long sigh of relief, then said playfully, “You scared me. Don’t worry, from now on, I’ll listen to you.”
Zhang Ruochen took Mu Lingxi’s delicate hand and smiled. “Come on, let’s head back to the Blood God Sect first. We’ve been away for twenty days. I hope nothing’s gone wrong.”
With that, the two shot into the sky, and in a few flashes, they left the Endless Abyss.
Strangely enough, the blood beasts lurking in the First and Second Gradients were very quiet, treating Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi as if they were invisible, showing no intention of attacking them.
Presumably, this had something to do with Xue Hou.
At the edge of the Endless Abyss, four figures stood, all gazing down into the dark chasm.
Although the four had deliberately restrained their auras, some terrifying phenomena still gathered around them, such as slowly rotating black holes, black stars crushing the void, and so on.
The person with the black hole phenomenon behind him said seriously, “The Endless Abyss is a major forbidden zone of the Kunlun Realm. Legend says it has three gradients, hiding ancient secrets spanning millennia, but those who go down usually never return.”
“Zhang Ruochen entered the Endless Abyss over half a month ago. It seems he likely knows some of its secrets.”
Zhang Ruochen’s entry into the Endless Abyss was originally very secretive. For this person to know about it showed he was quite capable.
“It’s been over half a month. Zhang Ruochen might have already died in the Endless Abyss. What a pity for all the treasures he carried,” another person snorted coldly.
This person also had a terrifying phenomenon behind him—a blood-dripping demon sword, its killing intent soaring to the heavens, as if it had slaughtered countless beings, making souls tremble.
“No, Zhang Ruochen isn’t so easy to kill. His entering the Endless Abyss at this time is likely to retrieve treasures left there by the Blood God in the past. According to intelligence from Divine Son Xue Tu, the Blood God seems to have an extraordinary connection with the Undying Blood Clan, having taken something extremely important from them, probably hidden in the Endless Abyss.”
The person with the black star phenomenon behind him spoke gravely.
Hearing this, the expressions of the other three changed. Involving the Blood God of the past and the Undying Blood Clan, no one dared to be careless.
Among the four, the one with the black star phenomenon was clearly the leader. His cultivation was the deepest, at the peak of the Heaven-Connecting Realm, just one step away from entering the Path-Approaching Realm.
From the aura he emitted, his true strength was likely no weaker than some Path-Approaching Realm experts.
“Hmm? Someone’s coming out?”
Suddenly, the person with the black star phenomenon’s expression shifted.
“Whoosh.”
Two figures flashed out from the Endless Abyss with incredible speed, precisely Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen spotted the four figures standing at the edge of the Endless Abyss. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said icily, “I didn’t go looking for you, yet you dare to appear on Blood God Sect territory. Do you really think the Blood God Sect has no one left?”
…
[Recommendation: Everyone, go check out Little Fish’s new book, “The Legend of the Heavenly Emperor,” and see how the protagonist Lin Ke differs from Zhang Ruochen.]
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