Chapter 2432: Puzzling and Confusing
Zhang Ruochen had led the Undying Blood Clan to seize first place in the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, shining brilliantly. After his return, he was granted a marriage by a God Venerable and then killed Yan Wushen. His reputation, while perhaps not enough to intimidate top-tier Great Saints like Cang Baizi, was an overwhelming shock to a Saint King like Cang Jie, who saw him as a celestial being.
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen’s figure blurred as he reverted to his original appearance.
Seeing his true form, Cang Jie was so excited he nearly fainted. He knelt on one knee and said, “Cang Jie is willing to follow Big Brother for life, ready to die for you without regret.”
Zhang Ruochen plucked a fresh leaf from the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree in the Qiankun Realm and took out a white jade box.
He placed the leaf into the box and sealed it with spatial power.
Zhang Ruochen handed the box to Cang Jie and said, “Go to the Kunlun Realm Merit Battlefield and give this to Ji Fanxin of the Thousand Stamen Realm. Tell her that someone wishes to see her very much. If she still cherishes old ties and trusts an old friend, she should come to the Hundred Clans Royal City at the edge of the Hell Realm within three months, to share a cup of Hundred Flower Brew.”
“If Ji Fanxin is no longer in the Kunlun Realm, go to the Endless Abyss and find a woman named Kong Lanyou. Relay my words to her. Leave the rest to her.”
“Understood.”
Cang Jie secretly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that Big Brother only wanted a secret rendezvous with an old flame.
He carefully took the box and said, “Big Brother, rest assured, I will deliver it to the Hundred Flower Fairy as fast as possible.”
The news of the Origin Divine Temple’s emergence was too significant. Zhang Ruochen couldn’t reveal a single word to Cang Jie, nor did he want to drag too many people into it. In the Kunlun Realm, there were very few cultivators Zhang Ruochen absolutely trusted and who were powerful enough.
Kong Lanyou was the most suitable candidate.
Even if the whole world didn’t believe him, Lanyou would be the one who trusted him the most.
After Cang Jie left, Zhang Ruochen fell into thought, considering how to handle the upcoming situation.
As for the matter of Sword South Realm, there was no need to rush.
In the Phoenix Cry Pavilion, he had deliberately shown a determination to seize Sword South Realm by force, but in truth, it was only to stabilize the situation, making others think they could use Sword South Realm as a trap against him.
This way, the lives in Sword South Realm would be temporarily safe.
As for the Origin Divine Temple, though Zhang Ruochen was interested, deep down he still felt it was elusive. Right now, only five pieces of top-grade Origin Divine Crystals had appeared. Even gods might not dare to confirm whether the Origin Divine Temple had truly emerged.
Finding Mu Lingxi and the Heaven-Slaying Earth-Destroying Emperor on Ice King Star were Zhang Ruochen’s current top concerns.
However, before going to Ice King Star, Zhang Ruochen decided to do something to strike the mountain and shake the tiger.
He didn’t want just anyone to dare provoke him.
…
In the Hell Realm, the number of forces with gods sitting in them was comparable to the over eight thousand realms of the Heavenly Court.
But only about a dozen forces knew of the top-grade Origin Divine Crystals’ news.
The Longevity Hall was not among them, so after the plan against Zhang Ruochen failed, Cang Baizi left the Divine Maiden Tower. As a Great Saint of the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm, he was a top-tier existence himself, so naturally, he didn’t bring any guards.
Zhang Ruochen had thought Cang Baizi would go to the space teleportation array near the Divine Maiden Tower to leave.
But contrary to his expectations, Cang Baizi didn’t head for the teleportation array. Instead, he concealed his aura and hurried along a tributary of the Jinsheng River, as if he had something urgent to do.
It was worth noting that the Destiny Temple was vast, and the Huasheng City region was relatively remote, sparsely populated, with only the Divine Maiden Tower having a large-scale space teleportation array. Once he left the Divine Maiden Tower, traveling on foot would take a long time to reach another city region.
What was Cang Baizi going to do?
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t in a hurry to act and quietly followed him.
Following the river downstream, the channel grew wider and wider.
After traveling about thirty thousand li, the area became very desolate, with signs of battle. The river was frozen, the blood-colored mountains on both banks had collapsed, and a thousand li of land had turned into a blazing fire plain…
Such a terrifying scene was chilling.
What was most chilling was that before entering this area, Zhang Ruochen hadn’t sensed any battle fluctuations at all. Without a doubt, someone with powerful spiritual power had masked the battle fluctuations to prevent detection by the Destiny Temple’s enforcers.
“The battle must have erupted within the last half hour. What kind of powerful beings clashed to cause such destruction?”
“Why would they disregard the Destiny Temple’s prohibition and fight so fiercely in the Divine Domain?”
“How did Cang Baizi know a battle had broken out here?”
Full of questions, Zhang Ruochen suddenly saw Cang Baizi stop on the frozen river surface and slap his palm downward.
“Bang!”
A large section of the ice shattered, and a blood-red water column shot up.
At the top of the water column was a corpse.
Zhang Ruochen was shocked when he saw the corpse’s face.
It was Xing Qian, a Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint of the Shura Divine Temple.
In the Gambling Device City of the Divine Maiden Tower, Xing Qian had offended the Gambling God, Seven Hands Old Man, and willingly became his servant for a thousand years. Even so, he was still a Great Saint of the Shura Divine Temple and a disciple of a god. Who would dare kill him in the Destiny Divine Domain?
More importantly, why kill him?
Cang Baizi grabbed the corpse by the collar, a sinister smile spreading across his face. “What a pitiful fellow, to suffer such an undeserved calamity.”
Zhang Ruochen realized that Cang Baizi must know what had happened here, so he stopped waiting. He took out the Purple Gold Gourd and quietly activated it.
Cang Baizi sensed the danger and his expression changed drastically.
“Whoosh!”
The Purple Gold Gourd floated above his head, and from its mouth surged seventy-two million spatial array inscriptions, forming an eight-hundred-li-wide spatial grand formation that lit up the night sky like daylight.
“Zhang Ruochen…” Cang Baizi looked up.
“Boom.”
The spatial grand formation collapsed, and Cang Baizi was instantly sucked into the gourd.
With his current cultivation, without using the power of the Qiankun Realm, Zhang Ruochen might not be a match for a Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm Great Saint. But this battle wasn’t a direct confrontation; he had used a Supreme Sacred Artifact to ambush.
Naturally, he succeeded in one move.
Just as Zhang Ruochen grabbed the Purple Gold Gourd, a deafening roar came from inside, shaking his arm with pain.
“Zhang Ruochen, you brat! You’re only in the Hundred Shackles Realm, yet you dare to imprison me? Are you looking for death?”
Cang Baizi roared from inside the gourd.
He must have used some sacred art, causing the Purple Gold Gourd to swell larger and larger, from a foot high to the size of a person, then to the size of a house…
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t afraid of Cang Baizi breaking the Purple Gold Gourd. He snorted lightly, pressed his palm against the gourd’s wall, and spun it rapidly.
After just over a dozen spins, Cang Baizi couldn’t hold on and let out a strange cry: “What kind of gourd is this? Why is time flowing so fast? Stop! Stop right now!”
Each spin of the Purple Gold Gourd could cut off a hundred years of lifespan.
Cang Baizi was severely weakened and could no longer resist, so the Purple Gold Gourd shrank back down.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t stop and spun it dozens more times.
At first, Cang Baizi was stubborn, cursing inside the gourd, but as his lifespan drained away, fear set in, and his tone softened: “The matter at the Divine Maiden Tower has nothing to do with me. It was all his idea. Why are you taking revenge on me?”
“Stop spinning! Although corpse cultivators have died once, they still have a lifespan. My corpse body is almost rotting away! Zhang Ruochen, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Zhang Ruochen hadn’t expected a Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm Great Saint like Cang Baizi to be so weak-willed, yielding so quickly. He was about to take the opportunity to ask about his doubts.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed a terrifying aura rapidly approaching.
His expression changed. He quickly sealed the Purple Gold Gourd, performed a Great Space Teleportation, and fled at top speed. He didn’t head for the Divine Maiden Tower but instead went to the nearest densely populated city district.
Shortly after Zhang Ruochen fled, a black-robed cultivator descended to the riverbank like a bolt of lightning.
Although Turtle Lord was an emerald stone turtle, he was incredibly fast, running on two legs like a duck, and appeared at the other end of the frozen river.
His two eyes rolled, and he stammered, “Sp… Sp… Sp… ace…”
“It’s residual spatial power, and it’s Zhang Ruochen’s aura.” The black-robed cultivator’s voice was as pleasant as an oriole’s, but her tone carried a hint of coldness.
Turtle Lord’s eyes widened as he pointed at the broken ice river, “Co… Co…”
“Xing Qian’s corpse is gone! But Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t use such powerful spatial force for just a corpse. If I’m not mistaken, Cang Baizi recklessly followed, causing Zhang Ruochen to stumble upon this matter.” The black-robed cultivator said.
Turtle Lord said, “Wh…”
“Why? Because among those who know about this, only Cang Baizi has a connection to Zhang Ruochen.” The black-robed cultivator said.
Turtle Lord said nothing more, just shot her a look that said, “What do we do now?”
“Don’t worry. My spiritual power doppelganger has already gone to silence him. Let’s see if this Heir of Time and Space lives up to his reputation.”
The black robe on the cultivator dissipated, and a jade-white light coalesced into a sacred cloud, shrouding her hazy, graceful figure. Every inch of her skin shone like immortal jade or divine stone, and her jet-black hair swayed like a waterfall.
Her aura was ethereal, like a rosy moon in the clouds or a bright pearl in water, and no one could see her true face.
“Rustle.”
Sacred qi containing the Five Elements and Origin flowed from beneath her feet, spreading in all directions.
In her mind, the terrain and landscape before the destruction re-emerged. As the sacred qi surged, the frozen river melted, the collapsed mountains rose again, and the fire plain extinguished.
From the soil, countless Five Elements Origin particles surged out, condensing into various plants.
In moments, everything that had been destroyed was restored, as if no battle had ever occurred.
If Zhang Ruochen hadn’t fled and seen this, he would have been utterly shocked. Back then, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had demonstrated the wonders of the Way of Origin before him.
All matter could be turned into Origin particles and condensed into another form.
But her mastery of Origin was like a firefly compared to the sun when set against Bai Qinger’s.
When Origin and the Five Elements combined, they could even instantly create plant life.
Pillar General returned. Though his body was massive, his speed was much slower than Turtle Lord’s. He asked, “Miss, we still haven’t found Seven Hands Old Man. That old fellow, you didn’t kill him with a single palm strike, did you?”
Bai Qinger shook her head. “As the Gambling God, if he didn’t have that much survival ability, he would have died long ago.”
“But Miss, your spiritual power isn’t much weaker than his. If he were still in this area, how could we not find him?” Pillar General asked.
Suddenly, Bai Qinger frowned and muttered to herself, “He actually escaped!”
“Who escaped?” Pillar General asked curiously.
Turtle Lord looked smug, finally something you didn’t know, and said arrogantly, “Zh… Zh…”
“It’s Zhang Ruochen. That kid really has some skill. At just the Hundred Shackles Realm, he already has the ability to escape from my spiritual power doppelganger.” Bai Qinger said.
Pillar General’s tone was dismissive. “Even if he condensed a second-rank Sacred Intent, he’s only considered excellent. True Eon-level figures are only Lord Huangtian and that old thief Xue Jue.”
“Shut up.”
Bai Qinger didn’t want to hear him mention that name.
“Yes.” Pillar General quickly shut up.
“Heh heh.”
Turtle Lord snickered.
Bai Qinger closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. Suddenly, she thought of something and said, “I understand! Earlier, we all went after Seven Hands Old Man’s puppet doppelganger, but we overlooked Xing Qian’s corpse.”
“Miss means Seven Hands Old Man was hiding inside Xing Qian’s corpse?” Pillar General asked in surprise.
Bai Qinger said, “That’s the only possibility!”
“Xing Qian’s corpse… was taken by Zhang Ruochen?” Pillar General said.
Bai Qinger was very decisive. “Pillar General, go to the Judgment Department immediately… no, go to the Death God Palace. Tell the Death High Priest that Zhang Ruochen killed Xing Qian, a Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint of the Shura Divine Temple, and captured Cang Baizi of the Longevity Hall.”
“Can the Death God Palace get involved in this?” Pillar General asked.
Bai Qinger said, “The Death High Priest can restrain the Fortune High Priest, and he can also use his connections in the Judgment Department to capture Zhang Ruochen.”
“But I’m afraid the Death High Priest won’t want to get involved, since Xing Qian’s true cause of death isn’t hard to investigate.” Pillar General said.
Bai Qinger said, “So you need to go back to the Divine Maiden Tower and have the Tower Lord go with you. The Death High Priest can’t refuse that favor.”
“Miss, what about you?” Pillar General asked.
Bai Qinger said, “Zhang Ruochen has a big background. To deal with him, we need to add more charges to his crimes. The big show at the Divine Maiden Tower tonight can be put to good use.”