Chapter 2370: Changes Beneath the Ground
Zhang Ruochen returned to the clan star via the teleportation array.
The moment he stepped out of the array, Zhang Ruochen's brow furrowed deeply as he looked up. The sky was pitch black, filled with chaotic fluctuations of various forces.
"Have I returned too late?" he muttered to himself.
Xue Ningxiao had been guarding the teleportation array. Seeing Zhang Ruochen's figure, she immediately showed a delighted expression and asked, "Cousin, have you returned early? Has the battle at the Seventh Dark Star already concluded?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and instantly released his spiritual power, covering the entire planet.
"Oh!"
On the planet, a large number of illusion array inscriptions had been arranged, spanning every continent.
He could discern the illusion array not because his spiritual power was stronger than Yan Zhexian's, but because he possessed the Heart of Truth. Even without using his eyes or spiritual power, he could see through illusions and perceive reality.
"All the clansmen have been hidden. It seems Feng Hou and Yu Huang are smarter than I imagined."
Although some damage had appeared on the continents of the clan star, there were no casualties among the clansmen.
Zhang Ruochen was quite satisfied with this outcome.
Going head-to-head with Yan Wushen or Yan Huangtu was no easy feat. Being able to avoid losses was already remarkable.
Yu Huang sensed the spatial fluctuations and descended beside the teleportation array. She probed Zhang Ruochen with her spiritual power and asked, "What is my desire?"
She needed to confirm whether the person before her was the real Zhang Ruochen.
"Your elder brother died because of you," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yu Huang withdrew her spiritual power and the Seven-Star Ghost Lotus, letting out a sigh of relief. "You've finally returned."
Immediately after, Yu Huang recounted the detailed process of Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian's visit to the Undying Blood Clan's clan star to Zhang Ruochen.
After listening, Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised and stared at Yu Huang.
In guarding the clan star, Zhang Ruochen had the highest expectations for Feng Hou. After all, Yu Huang's personality flaws were too obvious and easily exploited.
He hadn't expected her to overcome her character weaknesses and make both Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian suffer greatly.
Yan Huangtu's bitter ploy hadn't worked—wasn't that a major loss?
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Where are the clansmen on the clan star?"
Yu Huang said, "There are a total of 240 million clansmen on the clan star. Feng Hou and I arranged for twenty-four Great Saints, each tasked with collecting one million clansmen."
"Of course, Feng Hou and I are also two of those twenty-four Great Saints."
For a Great Saint, with their cultivation and divine abilities, collecting one million clansmen on their person was quite easy.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Not putting all your eggs in one basket—that was the right move. How were these twenty-four Great Saints deployed?"
Yu Huang said, "Most of them remain on the clan star, hiding in various secret places. Some have turned into stone and sleep underground, others have entered the bellies of bloodfish and hide in the sea. Additionally, a few have used teleportation arrays to conceal themselves across the starry sky. Unless the Yama Clan finds all these Great Saints, they absolutely cannot wipe out the Undying Blood Clan's clansmen completely."
As long as the clansmen weren't entirely annihilated, the points wouldn't be halved.
Calculating by deducting one point for every ten clansmen killed, even if the Yama Clan could kill ninety-nine percent of the Undying Blood Clan, it would only deduct at most 24 million points—within the Undying Blood Clan's tolerance.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Still, be cautious. Cultivators strong in the Way of Fate can deduce many things. No matter how well they hide, they might still be found."
"Even if all other Great Saints are found, I will swear to protect the lives of the last million clansmen," Yu Huang said.
Zhang Ruochen trusted Yu Huang's resolve. "Hand over one relatively strong clansman to me."
Given the advantage the Undying Blood Clan currently held, as long as the clansmen weren't completely wiped out, it was fine.
Even if only one survived, that counted as not being annihilated.
With Yu Huang and Feng Hou's arrangements, it was nearly impossible for the Yama Clan to wipe out all the Undying Blood Clan's clansmen.
Zhang Ruochen asked for one clansman merely as a precaution.
Yu Huang released an old man from the Seven-Star Ghost Lotus. His cultivation level was roughly equivalent to the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, making him a strong figure on this planet. At the very least, he could go months without eating or drinking.
Zhang Ruochen plucked a strand of hair and blew on it.
The hair instantly turned white, with a small space forming inside.
With his current Great Saint-level cultivation, even a single strand of hair was a treasure for refining artifacts for ordinary cultivators.
Zhang Ruochen placed the old man into the space inside the hair. Then, he took out Yan Zhexian's jade-green brush, cut the hair, and inserted it into the brush bristles, hiding it deep within.
Zhang Ruochen examined the brush in his hand, then mobilized Truth Rules. The tips of his fingers emitted a bright, starlike radiance, washing each bristle and assimilating their aura.
"You said Yan Zhexian escaped into the ground?" he asked casually.
Yu Huang said, "Yan Zhexian is more formidable than I imagined. The formation had already enveloped her, but she used a forbidden technique—the Thousand Heads, Thousand Bodies Yama Great Art—manifesting a thousand doppelgangers."
"The formation only destroyed 935 of her doppelgangers; her true body tore through the formation and escaped."
"I pursued her and severely wounded her several times, but each time she managed to slip away. In the end, she dove underground. I didn't dare enter recklessly and have been troubled by this."
Yu Huang wasn't afraid to pursue. Rather, she worried that other Yama Clan experts might be hiding outside the clan star, taking the opportunity to break through the formation.
"I'll deal with her. You just guard the clan star," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yu Huang said, "Feng Hou went after Yan Huangtu but hasn't returned for a long time."
"Yan Huangtu was hit by the formation and must be severely injured. Feng Hou's strength is considerable, and her Fate cultivation is very high, with strong vigilance. She should be fine on her own. Unless Yan Huangtu brought more experts with him," Zhang Ruochen said.
The point gap between the Yama Clan and the Undying Blood Clan was huge. They were surely mobilizing their entire clan, racing against time to hunt Heavenly Slaves. With time so precious, the fact that Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian could both come to the Undying Blood Clan's clan star was already beyond Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
More experts…
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of the Middle Three Clans.
After the Ghost Clan's clan star was defeated, the Middle Three Clans had become low-key—suspiciously so.
"Can Yan Huangtu mobilize experts from the Middle Three Clans? But the Middle Three Clans also need to compete for the Ten Clans ranking. They shouldn't do something so self-defeating, right?" Zhang Ruochen mused.
Currently, aside from the Undying Blood Clan and the Yama Clan far ahead, the other eight clans all had points not exceeding 40 million.
The Nether Clan's points were second only to the Undying Blood Clan and the Yama Clan, ranking third at 38 million.
The Rakshasa Clan, ranked fourth, had 35 million points—very close to the Nether Clan.
Except for the Ghost Clan, which had fallen significantly behind, the points of the other clans were only a few million apart from the one ahead. If they got lucky and encountered several dozen Great Saint Heavenly Slaves, they could overtake them instantly.
How could the Middle Three Clans afford to stay low-key at a time like this?
Even if they didn't stay low-key, they should be desperately hunting Heavenly Slaves, not targeting the Undying Blood Clan. Even if they crushed the Undying Blood Clan into dust, could their points surpass them?
"Not good. Feng Hou is in danger." Zhang Ruochen's expression changed slightly.
Yu Huang said, "Yan Huangtu is already severely injured—that can't be fake."
"It's not Yan Huangtu, nor any other Yama Clan expert. It's the Pink Skeleton. No clan among the Middle Three Clans would attack the Undying Blood Clan's cultivators at this time. They would temporarily set aside their grudges and focus on hunting Heavenly Slaves to collect points. But the Pink Skeleton will—she will kill Feng Hou," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yu Huang trusted Zhang Ruochen's judgment. "What do we do now?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "This is a contest for the Fate Goddess. Feng Hou must face it herself. Let's not even talk about whether there's time. Even if I rush over and help her get through this, saving her life, she will have lost this precious test. In the future, even if the Undying Blood Clan achieves first place among the Ten Clans, she may not become the Fate Goddess."
"Bore has cultivated the Gate of True Self, making her the first choice of the gods of the Fate Divine Temple."
"But if Feng Hou can withstand this crisis—even if she just escapes from Yan Huangtu and the Pink Skeleton—then the position of Fate Goddess will surely belong to her."
In Zhang Ruochen's view, Feng Hou pursuing the severely injured Yan Huangtu wasn't reckless; it was the right move.
If you don't strike when the enemy is severely wounded, when do you? Wait for Yan Huangtu to recover fully and return with the Yama Clan's Great Saint army?
Of course, Yu Huang's approach wasn't wrong either.
They each had their own missions, so their decisions naturally differed.
Zhang Ruochen's only concern was that Feng Hou might be too eager for victory, clouding her judgment and causing her to fall into Yan Huangtu and the Pink Skeleton's trap without realizing it. Once the Pink Skeleton ambushed her successfully, the first strike could kill or severely wound her.
It was hard to say whether she would survive.
Yu Huang was very worried. "Feng Hou becoming the Fate Goddess represents the interests of the Lower Three Clans and the Undying Blood Clan. Are we really going to do nothing? If she's killed, it would be a heavy blow to the Undying Blood Clan."
"If you truly want to save her, go tell Yan Huangtu that Yan Zhexian is in your hands. That might be of some use."
Zhang Ruochen wasn't overly concerned about Feng Hou's life or death, but he had already invested some capital in her. If she were killed, wouldn't that be a total loss?
Do what you can, and leave the rest to fate.
"How do I tell Yan Huangtu?" Yu Huang asked.
"Figure it out yourself."
With a spatial shift, Zhang Ruochen arrived at the entrance where Yan Zhexian had gone underground.
Only by following the traces she left behind could he find her.
"I hope you haven't died at the hands of the Blood Shadow Ghost Seed," Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself before entering the ground.
Only a living Yan Zhexian held greater value.
Yu Huang pondered for a moment, then a beautiful smile appeared on her stunning face. "This is the only way."
She soared above the Undying Blood Clan's atmosphere, releasing her spiritual power to stir up blood-red clouds. The clouds turned into rivers, converging into three characters—Yan Zhexian.
Each character was one-third the size of the clan star.
With such massive characters, even a Great Saint's eyesight could see them from millions or tens of millions of miles away. (The Earth-Moon distance is roughly 300,000 to 400,000 miles.)
With just these three characters, Yan Huangtu should understand their meaning.
If he dared to kill Feng Hou, Yan Zhexian would surely die.
Following Yan Zhexian's aura, Zhang Ruochen headed toward the center of the clan star.
The further he went, the more alarmed he became.
Although Zhang Ruochen had captured a large number of Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds underground, there were still many left. How had the severely injured Yan Zhexian managed to penetrate so deep?
Before long, Zhang Ruochen arrived at the planet's core—a spherical space 500 miles in diameter.
The space was surrounded by blood-red waterfalls, with blood energy permeating the air and the sound of rushing water echoing endlessly.
"Yan Zhexian's ability to fight her way here is no small feat."
Zhang Ruochen noticed bloodstained footprints on the ground. Following them, he narrowed his eyes. The bloody footprints led along stone steps toward the center of the spherical space, where a stone coffin over ten zhang long lay.
On the coffin grew a tree.
The tree was pure white, crystalline like jade, but its shape resembled a graceful young girl. Her hair turned into white branches, piercing the soil and rock, spreading across the entire clan star.
He had seen it before on his last visit.
This time, Zhang Ruochen noticed subtle changes in the "girl." The area around her heart had turned blood-red, with many blood vessels spreading outward from that center, covering the trunk.
More shockingly, he heard a heartbeat like the pounding of a drum.
Zhang Ruochen was well aware that this "girl" was the true Blood Shadow Ghost Seed. So, he decisively stepped back, intending to leave immediately.
Just then, he noticed that the stone coffin, over 200 miles away, had been opened at one corner.
A yellow radiance emanated from the coffin.
It was an extremely pure yellow light, as if it had been separated from the Primordial Chaos.
At the same time, his Five Elements Chaos Immortal Sacred Body fluctuated uncontrollably. The five elemental forces within him cycled and transformed automatically, over and over.
Among them, the earth-attribute power grew especially rapidly.
"Could the legendary White Pale Blood Earth really be inside the stone coffin?"
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth. In the end, he decisively stepped onto the stone steps, heading toward the stone coffin and the "girl."
He had no choice. To cultivate the Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent, which required seven types of Sacred Intent, following the conventional path would make fusion impossible. No matter how great his talent, it wouldn't work. No matter how strong his will, it wasn't enough.
The world had never lacked talented and strong-willed cultivators.
To become a legend, one needed not only personal strength but also legendary treasures to support it.
Quasi-Emperor Grade Sacred Intent Pills and Emperor Grade Sacred Intent Pills, though legendary treasures for cultivating and fusing Sacred Intent, could lay the foundation for him to strive for First-Rank Sacred Intent, but they still weren't enough.
White Pale Blood Earth was what truly carried weight.
As long as he could fuse the sixth type of earth-element Sacred Intent, he should be able to touch the edge of First-Rank Sacred Intent, or even directly reach that level. By then, it would surely shock all cultivators, including the gods.
This risk had to be taken.