Chapter 2363: Stone City
On the seventh dark star, over seven hundred Great Saint-level slave laborers had gathered.
In this star domain, the number of slave laborers below the Great Saint level was unimaginably vast. The Rakshasa Clan and the Upper Three Clans had never been able to locate their traces, making them a massive variable.
Just now, they had finally revealed a clue.
The million stone swords that attacked the cultivators of the Upper Three Clans were not individually powerful. However, each stone sword emitted a different aura.
If it weren't for those slave laborers below the Great Saint level making a move, Zhang Ruochen couldn't think of another possibility.
Zhang Ruochen spread his ten golden wings, about to unleash his extreme speed to pursue the traces of the slave laborers.
"Hey, are you trying to hog all the spoils alone? Aren't you afraid of ending up like the Underworld Clan? Do we still want to continue cooperating?" Luo Sha's voice was clear and beautiful, calling out to him.
Zhang Ruochen turned around and asked, "What does the princess mean by this?"
Luo Sha pursed her lips, let out a light snort, and extended a small hand as fair as frost and snow, saying, "Take this princess along."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze dropped to her flawless jade-like hand.
This was a hand that countless cultivators in the Hell Realm dreamed of holding—her arm was crystalline, her fingers slender and long, and her skin emitted a faint fluorescent glow. It didn't look like a hand at all, but rather a divine artwork carved from sacred jade by a god.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Luo Sha's slightly cool wrist, her skin delicate and smooth. He spread his ten golden wings, unleashing his ultimate speed, and transformed into a beam of golden light, charging toward the direction from which the stone swords had come.
His speed was so fast that even countless Thousand Questions Realm Great Saints couldn't hope to catch up.
Luo Sha didn't seem to take the search for the slave laborers seriously at all. Being pulled along by Zhang Ruochen, her beautiful eyes shimmered like water, staring intently at his sharply defined profile. Whether it was his cold, frost-like eyes, his straight, mountain-like nose bridge, or his tightly pressed lips, all of it made her heart tremble.
"What a troublesome fate—how did I end up meeting you in this life? This princess is so noble, so beautiful, so peerlessly talented, so free and unrestrained—how could I, like those pretentious women, fall into an inescapable web of love?" she sighed softly in her heart.
Zhang Ruochen could naturally feel the burning passion in Luo Sha's eyes and said in an almost emotionless tone, "Princess, you are an exceptionally intelligent person. You should understand how absurd it is to decide your feelings based on a vague prophecy."
"Who said it's just because of a prophecy? This princess truly has taken a liking to you, from the bottom of my heart." Luo Sha argued.
Zhang Ruochen didn't know whether Luo Sha's words were true or false. After a moment of silence, he said, "Then you'd better control your heart, because we are destined not to be on the same path."
Luo Sha's eyes dimmed slightly, and she could no longer argue.
Yes.
They were destined never to be together.
Both she and Zhang Ruochen had identities that were too special.
She could be willful and act according to her own wishes in any matter. But in this matter, her father would never agree, and the royal family of the Tianluo Divine Kingdom would strongly oppose it.
That also included Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Luo Sha understood Zhang Ruochen better than the gods of the Hell Realm. He was too hostile toward the Hell Realm—or rather, the ideals he held in his heart were fundamentally incompatible with the Hell Realm.
What he hated was the Hell Realm's principle of mindless killing and destruction.
What he hoped for was for all things in the universe to awaken, thrive, and coexist peacefully. He wanted life to be more vibrant, civilization more brilliant, and the world more prosperous.
Since they had known each other, every battle Zhang Ruochen had fought, every killing he had committed, was for the sake of saving people—not killing for the sake of killing, nor destroying for the sake of destruction.
But what the Ten Clans of Hell did went against the ideals he held in his heart.
This meant that Zhang Ruochen could never integrate into the Hell Realm. Everything he was doing now could not possibly be his true intention.
For some reason, the more Luo Sha thought about it, the more her heart ached. All sense of joy vanished, and she felt an urge to pull her hand away from Zhang Ruochen's grasp.
Finally, Luo Sha asked, "Have you ever killed innocent people indiscriminately?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't understand why Luo Sha suddenly asked such a question. Expressionless, he replied, "Yes."
"Have you ever killed for the sake of killing?"
"I haven't reached the Thousand Questions Realm yet, so why does everyone keep asking me all kinds of questions?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Luo Sha said, "Answer me first."
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a long time, recalling all kinds of past events, and said, "Yes."
Luo Sha's face showed surprise and shock. "Why? For a goody-two-shoes like you, doing so many things against your will—can you pass the Thousand Questions and Ten Thousand Deaths One Life barriers?"
"Do you know what my true intention is?"
Zhang Ruochen stared into her eyes and lowered his voice, adding, "Sometimes, even I am very confused."
For a while afterward, Zhang Ruochen fell into deep thought. He had to admit that things he rarely paid attention to before had now been dug up by Luo Sha, causing him great distress.
His mind was filled with distracting thoughts.
Luo Sha watched him. Although he appeared calm on the surface, he would occasionally frown or look lost. Unable to bear seeing him suffer like this, she said, "I don't know what you've experienced before. But the Zhang Ruochen I know has always been an incredibly determined person with a strong heart. I believe you have already found the path you want to take next and won't be as confused as before."
These were simple and straightforward words, but they caused a huge stir in Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Such a statement, coming from Luo Sha—a woman he had hurt many times—was especially rare and warm. Since childhood, what he had lacked most was encouragement and recognition.
It was something a child needed, yet it moved Zhang Ruochen deeply.
Because no one had ever treated him like a child.
They only told him to be stronger and more powerful.
"Instead of spending so much time studying me, you should think more about your own true intention. Words like 'destined person'... saying them all the time only makes you look as ridiculous as a child."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were cold. He quickly composed himself, released his spiritual power, and scanned the area they had flown over, not missing any trace.
"Putting on airs," Luo Sha muttered to herself.
The dark star exerted immense suppression on spiritual power.
Even with Zhang Ruochen and Luo Sha's spiritual power at the sixty-fifth level, they could only probe an extremely small area. Therefore, it took them most of a day to find traces left by the slave laborers in the empty cosmic space.
Luo Sha mobilized her evil energy, drew a strip-shaped boulder to her side, and sensed the aura on it. "They've already left and hidden again."
Zhang Ruochen said, "We can only probe an area of a hundred miles at a time. The area where the slave laborers can hide spans millions of miles. Without more than ten years, it's almost impossible to find them."
Luo Sha nodded. "Moreover, if they are constantly moving, the difficulty of finding them will only increase."
Zhang Ruochen pressed his hands to his temples, fully mobilizing his Truth Rules and channeling them into his eyes.
"Whoosh—"
His eyes opened, emitting a bright light like stars.
Even though the space was filled with dark power, with his Truth Eye, he could see ten thousand miles away. Concealment formations and barriers couldn't escape his gaze either.
After observing in six directions, Zhang Ruochen closed his aching eyes and said, "They've already left this area."
"This is troublesome. No one knows which direction they've gone. If we chase in the wrong direction, we'll only get farther and farther away." Saying this, Luo Sha shook her head gently.
Zhang Ruochen and Luo Sha both knew that compared to the dark star guarded by Chi Di, that batch of slave laborers below the Great Saint level was easier to eliminate.
Moreover, because the number of slave laborers below the Great Saint level was enormous, they were worth tens of millions of merit points.
In terms of merit points, they weren't less than the seven hundred-plus Great Saint slave laborers on the dark star.
Finding them would mean winning most of this merit battle.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was sharp. "Find them. We must find them."
He had to secure first place in the Heaven Hunting Battle no matter what.
"Whoosh—"
Zhang Ruochen released tens of thousands of spiritual thought clones, which condensed into doppelgangers and flew in all directions like a swarm of bees leaving their nest.
"Given the special environment here, once your spiritual thought clones fly beyond a hundred miles, your main body will lose perception and control over them. Even if someone destroys them, you won't know who did it." Luo Sha reminded him.
Because she had to control the death army in the Yin Shen Lotus, she didn't release any spiritual thought clones.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "I understand what you mean, but I will periodically recall the clones. Whichever direction's clones don't return indicates a problem in that direction. At least then we'll know which way to chase."
This was a long pursuit and search, testing Zhang Ruochen's endurance and perseverance.
Three full days passed. Zhang Ruochen lost two hundred spiritual thought clones but still hadn't caught up to the slave laborers.
When he recalled his spiritual thought clones again, one of them actually brought back Dao Yu Huang and a Saint King-level slave laborer.
They had met on the way.
Zhang Ruochen had some impression of that Saint King-level slave laborer—he was a cultivator from the Jian Nan Realm.
Dao Yu Huang smiled. "Lord Ruochen is probably looking for those slave laborers below the Great Saint level hiding on the seventh dark star, right?"
"It seems you have good news to bring," Zhang Ruochen said.
Dao Yu Huang glanced at Luo Sha warily. "The princess is here too."
Zhang Ruochen said, "The slave laborer forces on the seventh dark star are vast, and the Upper Three Clans are involved. So, I've already formed an alliance with the princess. The Undying Blood Clan and the Rakshasa Clan will clear out the slave laborers together. We're all on the same side—no need to hide anything."
Dao Yu Huang laughed heartily. "Originally, I was worried that only the Undying Blood Clan would take on the risk of clearing out the slave laborers. Since the princess is leading the Rakshasa Clan to join, our chances are much better!"
Dao Yu Huang gestured to the emaciated Saint King-level slave laborer.
The Saint King-level slave laborer was intimidated by the saintly might of Zhang Ruochen and Luo Sha, not daring to look up. Trembling, he said, "The gathering place of the slave laborers has been found. I beg Lord Ruochen not to forget his original promise."
Between slave laborers, aside from both being prisoners, there was no real camaraderie.
In their eyes, other slave laborers weren't much different from cultivators of the Hell Realm.
Thus, it was normal for the slave laborers of the Jian Nan Realm to betray others in exchange for a chance for their home realm's billions of living beings.
The Saint King-level slave laborer led Zhang Ruochen, Dao Yu Huang, and Luo Sha, flying for about a hundred thousand miles before slowing down and stopping.
Zhang Ruochen looked around. "Are we there?"
"We're near the area," the Saint King-level slave laborer said.
Luo Sha laughed. "It seems the direction we've been chasing is correct. We're already this close to them."
Dao Yu Huang activated his blood evil energy, his golden hair becoming even more dazzling, his pupils turning blood-red. His gaze locked onto a pitch-black cosmic rock a thousand miles away.
That cosmic rock was a hundred miles long, extremely dark in color, and shaped like a crouching turtle.
The Saint King-level slave laborer kept his head down, pointing at the cosmic rock. "They are hiding there. Very profound concealment formation patterns have been arranged on the cosmic rock."
"The slave laborers' spiritual power is sealed. How can they set up formations?" Dao Yu Huang asked.
The Saint King-level slave laborer said, "They used their sacred blood to carve the formation patterns."
Zhang Ruochen looked at Luo Sha. "Where are the Rakshasa Clan cultivators?"
"I've already sent them a message. They're on their way," Luo Sha said.
The cosmic rock, which had been motionless, suddenly began to move slowly.
It picked up speed.
Dao Yu Huang's expression changed. "What's going on? Have they sensed something? Are they trying to escape?"
In just a few breaths, the hundred-mile-long cosmic rock reached the speed of sound.
It continued to accelerate.
The Saint King-level slave laborer panicked. "Once that cosmic rock is fully activated by the saints on it, it can reach a hundred times the speed of sound, covering a thousand miles in an instant. By then, even I won't be able to find it again."
"A hundred times the speed of sound, even in the dark star region," Dao Yu Huang said.
Zhang Ruochen spread his ten golden wings, his body radiating dazzling light, about to give chase.
"Wait."
Luo Sha stopped him, but her gaze was fixed on the bowing Saint King-level slave laborer. "Be careful of a trap. Don't fall into the slave laborers' scheme."
"Princess, as the strategist of this generation of the Tianluo Divine Kingdom, you're right to be cautious. I almost overlooked that the slave laborers hate the Hell Realm cultivators to the bone and might not wholeheartedly work for us."
Dao Yu Huang walked up to the Saint King-level slave laborer, pointed at his brow, and injected a strand of spiritual power to search his memories.
"It's useless. If it really is a trap, the stronger slave laborers would have cut away part of his memories, leaving no such flaw for us," Luo Sha said.
Sure enough, after Dao Yu Huang's investigation, he found nothing unusual. "Maybe we're being too sensitive. Those lowly slave laborers wouldn't dare play tricks in front of us."
"We can't wait any longer. Even if it's a trap, we have to keep them here."
To be safe, Zhang Ruochen had Dao Yu Huang and Luo Sha stay put and act according to the situation. Then, he alone chased after the hundred-mile-long cosmic rock.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen caught up and took out a battle sword of the Second-Rank Monarch Sacred Artifact level.
The battle sword spun rapidly between his hands. Dense King-level inscriptions emerged on the blade, emitting a blinding blue light.
"Shua!"
The battle sword flew out, separating into hundreds of sword shadows on its body.
"Boom!"
About five hundred meters from the cosmic rock, the battle sword struck a blood-red formation light membrane. As the formation light membrane appeared, the true scene inside was revealed to Zhang Ruochen.
What he had thought was a cosmic rock turned out to be a magnificent stone city a hundred miles long.
The stone city was pure white, as if covered in a layer of wind and snow, exuding an ancient and weathered charm.
"The Snow Stone Ancient City—that's Lei Di's true body. Lei Di has been refined into a nest for the slave laborers..."
In the distance, Luo Sha and Dao Yu Huang both gasped.
Lei Di's true body was an ancient stone city.
...
Let me remind everyone again, dear readers, be very careful online. Don't easily lend money, and don't give scammers any opportunity. Protect your personal property.
Because of this matter, I've felt guilty all day today.
Also, many people on QQ and in the book review section who claim to be me and give spoilers are mostly scammers. You need to use your own intelligence to discern, don't just follow the crowd.