Chapter 2311: Zuo Mu Shengjun
Even if a Heaven Slave is extremely powerful, they have no spiritual power and cannot sense danger approaching.
Zhang Ruochen and Yu Huang advanced rapidly on the third Dark Star.
After spending nearly half an hour, Zhang Ruochen suddenly stopped, crouched down, and gently brushed the ground with his hand. "It's nearby. The ground is covered with Great Saint inscriptions. I'll break them all."
"Wait."
Yu Huang grabbed Zhang Ruochen's wrist, stopping him. "You can track that Thousand Questions realm Heaven Slave, but he can't sense that we're already here, right?"
Zhang Ruochen's gaze dropped, glancing at Yu Huang's delicate jade hand. "Correct."
Yu Huang said, "In that case, why must we fight him head-on? Let's ambush him instead. Catch him off guard and strike with a single fatal blow."
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his hand from between her fingers and smiled. "Here, it's not just the ground that has Great Saint inscriptions. The underground and the sky are also covered, crisscrossing in a dense network. Unless one is a god, it's nearly impossible for any cultivator to sneak in undetected."
The unique power of the third Dark Star made space extremely stable, making it very difficult to perform "Spatial Displacement" or "Space Wormhole Mirror." Moreover, with the obstruction of Great Saint inscriptions, the difficulty of using space power increased even further.
With Zhang Ruochen's mastery of space, he could give it a try.
But it was easy to make a mistake, and a slight misstep could trap him in the Void World.
That was why Zhang Ruochen decided to play it safe and attack directly.
With his and Yu Huang's combat power, plus two Supreme Sacred Artifacts, they could at least remain undefeated.
The opponent was a strong figure among Thousand Questions realm Great Saints. Even a Ten-Thousand Deaths, One Life realm Great Saint would find it no easy task to kill him. From the start, Zhang Ruochen had prepared for a prolonged battle, planning to wear him down slowly by exploiting his weakness of lacking spiritual power.
Yu Huang clasped her hands behind her blood-red robe, her chest's round peaks rising high, her red lips curling upward as she lifted her snow-white chin. Her voice carried a smile. "Don't forget, there's a Rune Earth Master and a Formation Earth Master here. How could mere Great Saint inscriptions trouble her?"
Zhang Ruochen glanced at her sideways with a strange expression. "When did you, this Ice Empress, become so narcissistic and arrogant?"
The first time he met Yu Huang, she was cold as ice, keeping people at a distance, and full of hostility toward Zhang Ruochen. But now, the former empress had changed completely in front of him, becoming shameless and boastful, her former aloofness gone without a trace.
It could only be said that she had completely let down her guard and resistance toward him.
Perhaps this was the real her.
Yu Huang seemed to realize she was acting differently than before and quickly put away her smile, saying coldly, "When one cultivates rune and formation arts to the Earth Master level, dissolving Great Saint inscriptions is as easy as snapping fingers. Watch closely."
Yu Huang brought her slender jade finger to her lips and bit it.
A drop of Great Saint blood flew out, emitting an enchanting glow.
Her finger moved like a swimming dragon, drawing a complex and profound blood rune in the void.
"Whoosh——"
The blood rune, like a piece of paper, floated lightly and landed on the ground over ten zhang away. Instantly, the Great Saint inscriptions interwoven between heaven and earth began to melt rapidly.
Yu Huang looked rather proud, glancing at Zhang Ruochen with an expression that said, "I'm impressive, aren't I?"
Then she continued drawing runes, clearing the path ahead.
Zhang Ruochen knew he was far inferior to Yu Huang in rune and formation arts, so he nodded and praised, "Very impressive. No wonder you dare to call yourself an empress. You do have some skills."
"The title 'Yu Huang' wasn't self-proclaimed; it was bestowed by the three hundred and forty billion Undying Blood Clan of the Xia Clan," Yu Huang said.
The Great Saint inscriptions covered an area of over two hundred li. At the very center stood a pitch-black mountain. The mountain was entirely rock, with cliffs on all sides, as if it had been slashed and chopped by a peerless strongman.
Beneath the southern cliff of the mountain, two copper furnaces floated, emitting cyan and red light.
The two furnaces were identical, each with six legs and two ears. One was entwined with a cyan dragon, the other with a red flood dragon, radiating powerful energy fluctuations.
They were called the Six Yang Furnace and the Six Yin Furnace.
These were two heavy artifacts of the Falling Star Divine Temple, one of the twenty-four divine temples of the Shura Clan, reaching the level of two-element Monarch Sacred Artifacts. When combined, they could unleash power equivalent to a three-element Monarch Sacred Artifact.
Yu Huang broke the Great Saint inscriptions and, together with Zhang Ruochen, stealthily reached the edge where the light of the Six Yang Furnace and Six Yin Furnace could not reach.
The two stood within the Seven Star Ghost Lotus, perfectly concealing their auras.
Zuo Mu Shengjun stood beneath the two furnaces, using the Six Yang Fire and Six Yin Fire from within to refine one Monarch Sacred Artifact after another.
Zhang Ruochen and Yu Huang did not act rashly, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Yu Huang whispered, "The Six Yang Furnace and Six Yin Furnace are the war tools of the Yan Cuo Two Saints of the Falling Star Divine Temple. I didn't expect Zuo Mu Shengjun to have taken them too."
"Sixteen pieces in total," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yu Huang knew what Zhang Ruochen meant. Zuo Mu Shengjun had seized a total of sixteen Monarch Sacred Artifacts. That meant he had killed sixteen Great Saints.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed, focusing on a dark area at the base of the cliff. "Make that seventeen."
In that dark area, a chain resembling a black centipede bound seventeen figures. The spikes of the centipede chain pierced into the rock and their bodies, rendering them completely immobile.
They were not dead; they were all still alive.
Yu Huang also noticed and said in surprise, "The leader of the Falling Star Divine Temple, Fang Mofeng. The Yan Cuo Two Saints, Yan Hanyu and Mo Cuo. The other fourteen are all Ghost Clan Great Saints."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Zuo Mu Shengjun certainly knows how to take advantage of chaos. The Ghost Clan's top experts either self-destructed or were severely injured, and he ended up reaping the benefits."
On the Ghost Clan's home planet, Zhang Ruochen had only taken Xu's Seven Star Ghost Lotus and Yi Gui Huang's Ghost Head Whip.
Just two war tools.
But Zuo Mu Shengjun had monopolized seventeen Monarch Sacred Artifacts.
"Zuo Mu Shengjun's grudge against the Falling Star Divine Temple runs deep. He's clearly targeting them," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yu Huang said, "It's said that the Destiny Temple was able to capture Zuo Mu Shengjun largely thanks to the Falling Star Divine Temple's efforts. Now that the leader and the Yan Cuo Two Saints are captured, the Falling Star Divine Temple has lost not only face but also its position within the Shura Clan for the next thousand years."
He captured them without killing them, mainly because Zuo Mu Shengjun still dared not kill them for now.
Because once a Heaven Slave killed a Great Saint of the Hell Realm, the Myriad Realms Divine Eye would track him and send his location to every Hell Realm Great Saint's diamond mirror.
So, even if he wanted to kill these captives, Zuo Mu Shengjun would surely wait until the end of the Heaven Hunting Feast.
Yu Huang was about to act when Zhang Ruochen patted her shoulder and said, "A Thousand Questions realm Great Saint's reaction speed is incredibly fast. To ambush him, we need to wait for a better opportunity."
At that moment, Zuo Mu Shengjun let out a cold, mocking laugh. "You Ghost Clan Great Saints are too poor. At the Heaven Hunting Feast, most of you use two-element Monarch Sacred Artifacts. You can't even compare to the war tools of my three junior brothers and sisters. How disappointing."
The sealed Ghost Clan Great Saints all hung their heads in silence.
There was no point in arguing now that they had fallen to this state.
Now, they could only hope that the top-ranked experts of the Hundred Shackles realm would arrive and kill Zuo Mu Shengjun, giving them a chance to survive.
However, there were no more than five Hell Realm Great Saints capable of killing Zuo Mu Shengjun. The hope was slim.
Zuo Mu Shengjun said, "Do you know why, on the Dark Star, even if you wanted to leave the Heaven Hunting battlefield, the Myriad Realms Divine Eye didn't send you away?"
He paused and then answered himself, "That's because the Dark Star is the planet the Destiny Temple assigned to the Heaven Slaves. Here, the Heaven Slaves have the final say."
"The meaning of the Heaven Hunting Battle is to temper you. The weak are eliminated; the strong survive."
"You are all the weak, so you all must die. Ha!"
Mo Cuo, pinned to the cliff wall by the centipede-shaped chain, gritted his teeth and said, "If you kill too many Hell Realm Great Saints, do you really think the Destiny Temple will let you go?"
Mo Cuo appeared to be a young man in his twenties. Even covered in wounds, one could still see his handsome features and outstanding bearing. He was a peerless beauty.
He was the most outstanding genius of the Falling Star Divine Temple after Zuo Mu Shengjun.
Zuo Mu Shengjun walked over, staring closely at Mo Cuo, and laughed. "Do you think your life matters that much to the Destiny Temple and the gods? No, you're not even worthy of entering their sight. At most, that old man from the Falling Star Divine Temple might value you a little."
"You..."
Mo Cuo glared at Zuo Mu Shengjun, his eyes blazing with fury.
Zuo Mu Shengjun picked up a two-foot short sword he had just refined and placed it against Mo Cuo's cheek. "Don't think that just because the Heaven Hunting Battle has gathered all the proud sons of heaven from the Hell Realm in the last thousand years, the gods are only watching a few, or a dozen. You are definitely not one of them."
"Senior Brother Zuo Mu, it was your fault back then. You can't keep making mistakes," a soft female voice said.
The speaker was Yan Hanyu, known as the most beautiful woman of the Falling Star Divine Temple.
This woman had skin like solidified fat, red lips, and white teeth. Even wearing only a simple white robe, she was stunningly beautiful. Her delicate and moving temperament made her seem like a sentimental, fragile woman.
Judging by her appearance alone, who would have thought she was a strong cultivator who had stepped into the Great Saint realm?
Zuo Mu Shengjun's gaze shifted to her, landing on her breathtakingly beautiful face. "You say I'm wrong, but aren't you also walking further down the wrong path? You betrayed the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. Have you ever thought about turning back?"
A bitter expression appeared on Yan Hanyu's face, but when her gaze fell on Mo Cuo, her eyes immediately regained their determination.
Inside the Seven Star Ghost Lotus.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Is Yan Hanyu a Great Saint from the Heavenly Beginning Civilization?"
He asked this because he saw a trace of Luo Ji's shadow in Yan Hanyu.
"Her status in the Heavenly Beginning Civilization is extraordinary. She is a direct descendant of the Heavenly Lord, and her mother is a demigod," Yu Huang said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since her status is so noble, why did she betray the Heavenly Beginning Civilization and become a member of the Shura Clan?"
"No one knows the specifics. But the Heavenly Beginning Civilization and the Shura Star Pillar Realm are very close, and they have been at war for years. Yan Hanyu and Mo Cuo might have evolved from enemies to lovers. For example, you and Lian Xi Fairy. Or you and Princess Luo Sha. Or... you and me. Anything is possible!" Yu Huang said.
"Stop with the examples. The opportunity is coming."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed, sharp as a hawk's.
"Rip."
Zuo Mu Shengjun grabbed Yan Hanyu's chest and tore off her white robe, revealing a flawless, perfect body.
His eyes smiled, greedily scanning her inch by inch. "What a pity. If the Myriad Realms Divine Eye could project this scene and spread it across the Hell Realm, that old man from the Falling Star Divine Temple would probably be furious, right?"
After all, Yan Hanyu was a Great Saint, and her mind was much stronger than an ordinary woman's. Under the sudden attack, she only bit her lip and trembled slightly, not showing too much weakness.
But Mo Cuo's heart was bleeding. He roared, "Zuo Mu, if you have the guts, come at me. Bullying a woman, you are unworthy of being a Great Saint."
The Falling Star Divine Temple's leader, Fang Mofeng, said, "If you humiliate the Falling Star Divine Temple like this, even if you leave the Heaven Hunting battlefield alive, the master will hunt you to the ends of the earth. Can you escape?"
"Why can't I escape? At worst, I'll take your heads and defect to the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. Can that old man break into the Heavenly Beginning Civilization to kill me?"
Zuo Mu Shengjun laughed wildly, then grabbed Yan Hanyu's nape roughly, lifting her body slightly. Her snow-white face was almost pressed against his lips. "Junior Brother Mo Cuo, when you helped the Destiny Temple hunt me down back then, did you ever think this day would come? As a Shura, instead of diligently cultivating the killing path, you fall for a woman. Your life is destined to be mediocre."
"Boom."
Mo Cuo let out a long roar, and blood-red light burst from his body. He was burning his sacred blood, trying to break the seal within him.
The centipede-shaped chain rattled with a "ding-ding" sound.
The centipede's leg spikes slowly pulled out from his body. Just as he was about to break free, two beams of light shot from Zuo Mu Shengjun's pupils, striking Mo Cuo's chest.
"Pfft."
Mo Cuo's body was blasted inward, scattering a large amount of blood mist.
"Junior Brother Mo Cuo, Senior Brother will teach you a lesson today. The weak can only be slaughtered, enduring helpless pain."
Zuo Mu Shengjun's gaze fell on Yan Hanyu. He was about to humiliate her in front of Mo Cuo to vent his resentment and boundless hatred.
Suddenly, Zuo Mu Shengjun sensed danger and looked up.
A cloud of fire containing divine power descended from the sky, reaching his head in an instant.
"Blazing God Leg."
Zhang Ruochen stood atop the fire cloud, like a supreme evil god. Divine power surged in his left leg, dense divine patterns interwoven. The dazzling flame light briefly illuminated the Dark Star.
"Boom."
Half of Zuo Mu Shengjun's body was stomped into the ground. Even though his arms blocked Zhang Ruochen's left leg, he still spat out a mouthful of purple blood, his entire body suppressed and unable to move.
"Great Kun Tun Finger."
Yu Huang moved like a startled swan, turning into a lightning-like afterimage. She rushed behind Zuo Mu Shengjun and pointed her finger.
This finger struck the center of his skull.
"Crack, crack."
Zuo Mu Shengjun's skull, centered on Yu Huang's fingertip, developed cracks and collapsed inward.
No matter how hard a Great Saint's bones were, they would crack under such a sharp, heavy blow.