Chapter 2308: Each with Their Own Hidden Motives
A purple meteorite over two thousand meters long struck heavily against Huomei Yinji, with rolling and surging purple killing energy rushing into her body, eroding her vitality.
The red spirit flame on Huomei Yinji extinguished, and she let out a scream as she rapidly plummeted downward.
"Boom."
The purple meteorite struck again, slamming into Huomei Yinji, smashing her immortal body into a bloody mess, as if it were about to explode.
Just as the purple meteorite prepared to launch a third strike, the eight thousand characters of the "Scroll of Void and Reality" flew over. In an instant, a laugh came from within the purple meteorite, and it vanished from space without a trace.
"Left Mu Saint Lord is too cunning. He refuses to clash head-on with a supreme sacred artifact, fleeing immediately after each attack."
Yuan Fei Great Saint's state of mind was usually very calm, but in that instant, two Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection Great Saints from their side had been lost in succession. No matter how good one's state of mind, it was completely shattered.
Even when fighting against the Middle Three Clans, they hadn't suffered such losses.
Huomei Yinji's bloody sacred body floated limply in the void like a red leaf. She still had a trace of life, but there was no fluctuation in her spiritual power, and she had fallen into an unconscious state.
"Hurry back and regroup with us."
Bore transmitted her voice to the Great Senluo Emperor.
The Great Senluo Emperor had also been frightened. He fully released his spiritual power, keeping watch on his surroundings as he flew toward the direction of the "Scroll of Void and Reality."
Yuan Fei Great Saint split off two threads of spiritual thought, sending them to Huomei Yinji and the White Jade Mad Lion to check their condition.
"Fortunately, they can still be saved," Yuan Fei Great Saint said.
Bore sighed and waved her hand. "Let the artifact spirit of the Myriad Realms Divine Eye send them out of the battlefield."
Yuan Fei Great Saint looked somewhat helpless but ultimately nodded.
Huomei Yinji and the White Jade Mad Lion were too severely injured to recover during the Heaven Hunting Grand Banquet. Sending them away from the battlefield was the best choice.
After Huomei Yinji and the White Jade Mad Lion were teleported away, Yuan Fei Great Saint sighed. "If we had followed your suggestion earlier and gathered everyone together, even if Left Mu Saint Lord were stronger, he wouldn't have succeeded. Losing two Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saints will be quite disadvantageous for us."
Bore remained calm. "Left Mu Saint Lord is a ascender from the Snow Barbarian Clan, later taken as a disciple by the Meteorite Divine Temple's Hall Master. He has exceptional talent and was called the Great Saint most likely to reach the Divine Realm in the Meteorite Divine Temple. Unfortunately, he was too eager for quick success. To break through his realm faster, he was controlled by inner demons and, over several months, refined the living beings of over a dozen planets from the Shura Clan."
"When Great Saints from the Meteorite Divine Temple went to stop him, they were instead killed."
"He killed seven Great Saints from the Meteorite Divine Temple in a row, then fled all the way to the desolate border starry sky. Eventually, he was captured by the Heavenly Fate Sacred Guards of the Destiny Temple."
"Although Left Mu Saint Lord is only at the mid-stage Thousand Questions Realm, with his talent and his cultivation of the Way of Space, his combat power is definitely not inferior to peak Thousand Questions Realm experts."
"Of course, after entering the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, his spiritual power was sealed, and he only has a Meteorite Armor to use. His attack power shouldn't be that terrifying. But reaching the level of late-stage Thousand Questions Realm should still be possible."
Yuan Fei Great Saint nodded lightly. "It seems that even with the 'Scroll of Void and Reality,' the two of us alone might not be a match for Left Mu Saint Lord. This battle has become difficult."
Bore's gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen and Que Fei, who were still locked in fierce combat. Her eyes narrowed. "Recall Que Fei. Only by combining the strength of the four of us can we intimidate Left Mu Saint Lord. As for Zhang Ruochen..."
The Great Senluo Emperor, protected by the eight thousand void and reality characters, returned to the "Scroll of Void and Reality" and asked with lingering fear, "What exactly happened to the White Jade Mad Lion and Huomei Yinji? Did Chi Di come? Or Luo Sheng Tian?"
Yuan Fei Great Saint briefly explained Bore's speculation to him.
The Great Senluo Emperor slapped his forehead with regret. "It's still Bore who is meticulous. If we had listened to her earlier, how could we have suffered today's defeat?"
"We haven't lost yet today," Bore said.
She continued, "Right now, it's a three-way stalemate. We still have a chance to kill Zhang Ruochen and seize the treasures on him. But before that, we might first cooperate with Zhang Ruochen to eliminate Left Mu Saint Lord."
"Cooperate? How could Zhang Ruochen possibly cooperate with us?" The Great Senluo Emperor sneered and shook his head.
Bore's face showed no expression, her eyes deep. "Left Mu Saint Lord is a common enemy for both of us and a huge threat to Zhang Ruochen. He might not refuse to cooperate. In this world, how can there be eternal enemies?"
Mo Yin had devoured all the Hundred Shackles Realm slave prisoners. Like a seductive enchantress, she arrived at a nearby starry space, landing on a cosmic rock. The aura she emitted had grown even stronger.
Zhang Ruochen and Que Fei had long sensed Left Mu Saint Lord's presence, so they dared not continue fighting and separated.
Dark patterns flowed on Zhang Ruochen's arm, and the icy dark force had eroded a small part of his body.
Que Fei hadn't gained any advantage either. Zhang Ruochen's final sword strike had hit his abdomen, sending a time imprint into his body, cutting three hundred years from his lifespan, and the aura of his energy fluctuations weakened.
Mo Yin walked up to Zhang Ruochen and asked with concern, "Master, your injuries..."
"It's nothing."
Zhang Ruochen stood with a straight back, his eyes bright and his demeanor outstanding. Although there was not a trace of color on his face and three wounds pierced through his chest, his fighting spirit was still strong.
As long as he had this sharp edge about him, no one would dare treat him as a severely injured person.
"Sss."
Mo Yin's snow-white jade-like fingers grabbed Zhang Ruochen's wrist, absorbing the dark force that had invaded his body bit by bit and channeling it into herself.
As a Devouring Sacred Flower, there were very few powers in the world she couldn't absorb.
Bore stared at the intimate scene between Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin, her face showing no fluctuation. "Zhang Ruochen, we are all hunters. Why don't we join forces first to eliminate that prey hiding in the shadows?"
To everyone's surprise, Zhang Ruochen agreed very readily.
"Alright, but I really want to know, how will the points be divided after killing him?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The Great Senluo Emperor snorted coldly. "The points from the twelve Hundred Shackles Realm slave prisoners are enough for your Blood Heaven Tribe to secure a decent rank within the Undying Blood Clan. Do you still want the points from this Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner? If you don't cooperate with us, be careful you don't die at the hands of that Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was indifferent, not even looking at him, but fixed on Bore's clear and beautiful face. "If this is your attitude, then I'll take my leave. Mo Yin, let's go."
"Wait."
Bore's beautiful eyes glared at the Great Senluo Emperor. "Great Saints have strong vitality and are hard to kill. Only by joining forces and using a supreme sacred artifact can we have a chance to kill that Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner. After killing him, we split the points evenly. What do you think?"
Mo Yin's delicate body leaned gently against Zhang Ruochen, whispering in his ear, "Master, don't trust her. After killing that Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner, they will definitely turn on us."
Zhang Ruochen ignored Mo Yin. "I have a better proposal. How about whoever kills him gets all the points?"
Hearing this, the Great Senluo Emperor, Que Fei, and Yuan Fei Great Saint all let out a laugh. Zhang Ruochen's proposal was exactly what they wanted.
"Alright, it's decided then," Bore said.
A Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner this powerful would definitely have points exceeding three million.
No matter what, Zhang Ruochen had to kill him and not let him fall into the hands of other Hell Realm Great Saints.
To lead the Blood Heaven Tribe to first place among the ten tribes, to make the Undying Blood Clan first among the ten clans, and to become first in total points himself—this was something he had to do.
Zhang Ruochen was well aware that whether it was the twelve Hundred Shackles Realm slave prisoners or that Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner, their appearance here must be related to Bore.
Such an opportunity would be hard to come by a second time.
"I'll force him out first."
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the Purple Gold Gourd and continuously infused sacred qi into it. While activating the space inscriptions and supreme inscriptions on the gourd, he secretly transmitted his voice to the Devouring Sacred Flower. "When I attack them, take them out as quickly as possible."
"Them? Master, you mean the cultivators from the Upper Three Clans? Aren't we cooperating with them? Why attack them? Even if we take them out, how will we deal with that Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner?"
Mo Yin was quite shocked. She never expected that Zhang Ruochen, who had just been negotiating cooperation with Bore, was actually planning to deal with them.
Bore and the others probably wouldn't have seen this coming either.
Without giving Mo Yin more explanation, the supreme inscriptions and space inscriptions in the Purple Gold Gourd were activated, emitting a dazzling purple-gold light that turned the entire starry sky into a purple-gold color.
"It's supreme power. So Zhang Ruochen's gourd is actually a supreme sacred artifact. No wonder it's so powerful. This must be his biggest trump card."
Que Fei was secretly alarmed, thinking to himself, if Zhang Ruochen had used the supreme power of the Purple Gold Gourd just now, could he have withstood it?
Yuan Fei Great Saint was blinded by the purple-gold light and shielded his eyes with his hand. When he moved his hand away, he realized that Zhang Ruochen had used a Great Space Teleportation to appear ahead of them, only a hundred miles away.
"Not good, quickly activate the 'Scroll of Void and Reality.'"
Yuan Fei Great Saint reacted the fastest, stomping his foot on the scroll.
"Rustle."
The scroll, which was only a few dozen meters long, rapidly expanded, revealing more characters. It stretched to over ten miles, then over a hundred miles... continuing to grow larger, releasing an increasingly powerful wave of supreme power.
Characters flew out of the scroll, tightly wrapping around the four of them.
"Boom."
The space array at the mouth of the gourd covered the "Scroll of Void and Reality."
Then, the space within the array rapidly collapsed, breaking through the defensive layer formed by tens of thousands of void and reality characters.
"Rustle."
A red-gold supreme power surged out from the gourd's mouth, turning into a pillar of flame dozens of meters in diameter, striking the main body of the "Scroll of Void and Reality."
After holding on for just a moment, the four people standing on the scroll were all blasted off it, sent flying.
"Zhang Ruochen, you treacherous villain, may you die a... miserable death..." The Great Senluo Emperor was hit by the pillar of flame, with the right half of his body burned and melted, grimacing in pain, his curses slurred.
Yuan Fei Great Saint and Que Fei were both top-tier experts, battle-hardened and sharp-witted, but they had been caught off guard by Zhang Ruochen. Even now, they were still dazed, completely unable to understand what was happening.
With a Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner lurking nearby, why was Zhang Ruochen attacking them?
Wasn't he afraid of letting that Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner reap the benefits?
"Zhang Ruochen is too treacherous. From the start, he planned to eliminate us first. Damn it, the Devouring Sacred Flower is coming. Everyone break out separately and leave this star domain first," Bore said.
She wasn't injured because, as the weakest in cultivation, she wasn't Zhang Ruochen's main target.
The Devouring Sacred Flower's lightning vines spread toward them from different directions, clearly intending to trap them inside.
Yuan Fei Great Saint and Que Fei had both been hit by supreme power and suffered varying degrees of injury. Naturally, they dared not continue fighting. Using the "Scroll of Void and Reality" to clear a path, they quickly blasted open an opening and fled.
Bore was even faster, flying out of the lightning vine's coverage area before them.
The Great Senluo Emperor wasn't as lucky. He was wrapped up like a dumpling by the vines, struck by lightning over a thousand times before finally stopping his struggles and passing out, becoming the Devouring Sacred Flower's captive.
"Don't devour him yet. He has a greater use."
After giving this instruction, Zhang Ruochen spread his arms wide, unleashing a powerful and boundless force from his body like a storm, sweeping across the starry sky for thousands of miles.
Wherever the storm passed, space shattered.
Countless fine space cracks tore open, leaving the purple meteorite with no place to hide, forcing it to reveal itself.
The location of the purple meteorite was enveloped by a powerful force, and even the space storm Zhang Ruochen had unleashed couldn't tear the space there.
"Zhang Ruochen, you are indeed a warlord, daring to scheme against the Upper Three Clans' cultivators first and face me alone. If you weren't injured and at your peak, you might have been able to fight me. But now, you're just asking for death."
A deep voice resounded through heaven and earth.
"Whoosh."
Above the purple meteorite, light flashed, and a six-zhang-tall giant figure appeared.
It was in human form.
Left Mu Saint Lord radiated cold energy, causing snow to form spontaneously in the starry sky, an eerie sight.
In moments, the purple meteorite was covered in snow, turning white.
Zhang Ruochen was already at his limit. After first fully activating the Purple Gold Gourd and then unleashing the space storm, he had no strength left to fight.
His consciousness was becoming blurry, and if not for his willpower holding him up, he would have already collapsed.
But he had no other choice just now; he had to do it.
If he had chosen to cooperate with the Upper Three Clans, whether he acted or not, his true state would have been exposed. All the gods were watching. Bore could secretly help him but absolutely could not openly assist him.
If the Great Senluo Emperor and the others found out he could no longer fight, how could he leave alive today?
If he had left directly without cooperating with the Upper Three Clans, it would have exposed his weakness even more, inviting deadly trouble.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen was even more afraid that the Upper Three Clans would cooperate with this Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner to eliminate him first.
So, the only way to survive was to agree to cooperate first, then catch the Upper Three Clans' cultivators off guard and eliminate them. As for this Thousand Questions Realm slave prisoner, although he seemed powerful and invincible, he had a huge weakness.
To Zhang Ruochen, he wasn't a threat at all.
A Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint with sealed spiritual power—Zhang Ruochen wasn't afraid in the slightest.