Chapter 2445: Xiao Hei's Restored Cultivation
Ice King Star was enormous, so vast it didn't seem like a planet at all. Being on it felt boundless, much like Kunlun Realm. Zhang Ruochen had never reached its edges, and still didn't know how vast the desolate wilds were or how deep the seas stretched.
Ice King Star, a planet covered in ice and snow, gave him the same feeling.
Only when alone did one contemplate the size of heaven and earth, and thus realize how insignificant they truly were.
When a man pondered the size of heaven and earth and the vastness of the universe, he was clearly lonely.
Deeply lonely inside.
Zhang Ruochen had been in Hell Realm for quite some time now, and had met many cultivators. Yet he always felt a sense of loneliness, as if his mouth wasn't his own—the words he spoke were rarely true.
Because there was no one around he could speak the truth to.
Sometimes, it felt as if his body wasn't his own either. Many of the things he did disgusted him, even made him hate his current self. Yet those things had to be done.
Living in Hell Realm, seemingly glorious, he felt oppressed.
However, the moment he learned of Mu Lingxi's whereabouts, that silent, cold, lonely heart of his suddenly became excited. He couldn't wait to see her, to hold her in his arms, to pour out his pain, helplessness, and suffering—even exposing his weakest side without care.
Because that woman was like sunlight in winter, a red plum in the snow, a star in the darkness. She could soothe the wounds in his heart, a harbor for his troubled soul.
Before her, Zhang Ruochen had nothing he couldn't say.
No secret he needed to hide.
Mu Lingxi was surely the person in the world who understood him best, who would support any decision he made without the slightest doubt.
Now, with inner demons growing within him and uncertainty about whether his actions were right or wrong, he needed someone by his side to affirm him, to strengthen his resolve. To tell him he wasn't wrong.
No one was strong forever; they just hid their weakness in places no one could see.
Zhang Ruochen was no longer the bright, kind, and pure youth he once was. Amidst the conflicts of Heavenly Court, Hell Realm, and Kunlun Realm, he had become complicated, unscrupulous, capable of killing his former friends. One day, he might lose his true heart, fall into the evil path, and become a blood-drinking Blood Clan demon.
At that time, perhaps only Mu Lingxi could awaken him, make him remember the summer when he was sixteen, when they trained together in the Western Courtyard, when they were spirited and carefree, when they acted on their passions and grudges.
...
Ice King Star had a total of seventeen domains, four each in the east, south, west, and north.
Plus the central "Ice Emperor Domain."
Each domain ranged from millions to tens of millions of miles in length and width.
Because he needed to hide his identity and suppress his aura, he couldn't travel at full speed. From the Second Eastern Domain to the First Western Domain, Zhang Ruochen walked for three full days and nights.
By the time he reached the foot of Wutong Holy Mountain, it was the dusk of the fourth day.
Ice King Star did have a sun—two, in fact—but they were too far away, their heat too weak, and the planet was perpetually shrouded in cold mist, making sunlight rare.
But today, the sunset was exceptionally beautiful, dyeing a large stretch of the sky red.
Zhang Ruochen silently passed through the mountain's formations and infiltrated inside.
Beneath the holy mountain, sacred veins flowed.
The mountain was rich with heaven and earth sacred qi, exotic flowers and plants everywhere, their petals and leaves sealed in ice crystals, appearing especially crystalline and beautiful.
Zhang Ruochen's heart grew restless, worried that Yu Huang's information might be wrong. He also feared that his overconfidence and his actions in Hell Realm might have already disgusted Mu Lingxi.
Passing through a pine forest, a cluster of ancient buildings resembling Kunlun Realm's style appeared ahead.
On a pavilion tower, he saw Mu Lingxi's graceful and moving figure. A red phoenix mark was between her brows, her skin white as porcelain, sacred mist swirling around her like a beautiful painting hung between the snow and the ancient building.
Still so beautiful, like a phoenix fairy, a snow spirit.
She paced back and forth on the pavilion tower, as if deep in thought.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen's heart suddenly calmed, calmer than ever before, as if there were no more conflicts in the world, no need to face enemies like Ni Xuan Shi and Bai Qinger.
Zhang Ruochen's figure emerged from the air, standing on the snow, and called out affectionately, "Lingxi!"
On the pavilion tower, Mu Lingxi immediately looked at him, her eyes filled with surprise and joy. Before she could speak, Zhang Ruochen appeared before her, spread his broad arms, and pulled her tightly into his embrace, as if wanting to crush her and merge her into his own body.
Feeling her warmth and softness, Zhang Ruochen's heart was momentarily greedy. He felt there was no need to struggle anymore, no need to do dangerous things. He just wanted to take Mu Lingxi and leave Hell Realm, not return to Heavenly Court or Kunlun Realm, but board a sacred ship and drift to the edge of the universe.
The two could sit at the bow, watching the wonders of the universe, the brilliance of the starry sea—wouldn't that be a divine life?
Unfortunately, he still had many things to do, many people he couldn't let go of. He couldn't just walk away, couldn't escape. Otherwise, wouldn't Man Jian Great Saint have died in vain? He had promised the Empress to help rescue Yunshen Daozhu, and that hadn't been done yet.
And Chi Yao and Bore—they would probably despise him even more, thinking him a coward who only ran away.
Even if only to save face, he had to wait until he defeated Chi Yao before withdrawing from this detestable web of grudges.
Mu Lingxi's delicate face pressed against Zhang Ruochen's chest. At first, she struggled a little, but seeing how tightly he held her and hearing his whispered words of longing, she stopped resisting.
However, her snow-white face turned crimson.
"Zhang Ruochen, you beast, let that girl go!"
A large bird flew over in a rage, stirring up palm-sized snowflakes as it charged at Zhang Ruochen on the pavilion tower, looking like it wanted to tear him apart.
"Go away, don't disturb us."
Zhang Ruochen held Mu Lingxi with one hand, not even looking at it, and waved his sleeve, sending out a spatial shockwave.
Unexpectedly, the large owl-like bird didn't dodge. With one claw, it tore through the spatial shockwave. Its other claw reached for his right shoulder.
Its round eyes were full of fury.
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen hadn't expected Xiao Hei to have grown so powerful. Holding Mu Lingxi, he performed a spatial displacement and vanished from the pavilion tower.
The two reappeared in a cave on a snowy cliff.
Zhang Ruochen gazed deeply at Mu Lingxi, holding her snow-white, crystalline face in both hands, his eyes tender. "Ignore it. Today, I just want to be with you. No one can disturb us."
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to kiss her, staring into her fluttering eyes, he suddenly sensed something wrong.
Those eyes...
"Zhang Ruochen, come out here! Let Xue'er go!"
"Boom."
The cave shook, rocks tumbling down.
Xiao Hei's massive body squeezed inside. Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had already released Mu Lingxi, it let out a long sigh of relief. With a flap of its wings, a powerful surge of spiritual power rushed toward Mu Lingxi.
Instantly, Mu Lingxi's form and appearance changed drastically.
Before them stood another graceful, stunningly beautiful woman, looking very young, with a pure and fresh girlish quality, like the clearest spring in the world, untouched by mortal dust.
It was Zhang Ruochen's only disciple, Han Xue.
Zhang Ruochen had already noticed something was off when he was about to kiss her, so he wasn't surprised. But he was very embarrassed and somewhat confused.
"Impressive, Xiao Hei. Your spiritual power has grown strong enough to fool my perception," Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei stood guard in front of Han Xue like a hen protecting her chick, glaring at Zhang Ruochen with hostility and a hint of smugness. "You lecher, don't you know yet? This emperor was always a top-tier powerhouse, capable of slaughtering heaven and earth. I was just hit by the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower, and the residual divine power left in my body couldn't be dissolved, so I couldn't unleash my strength."
"When I came to Hell Realm, the Empress personally helped me dissolve that residual divine power. Now, this emperor can beat anyone below the divine realm. Want to try?"
Zhang Ruochen said coldly, "First, explain why you turned Han Xue into Lingxi's likeness. Where is Lingxi?"
Xiao Hei's eyes widened, full of authority. "You still care about Mu girl? This emperor thought you were having too much fun as a divine son in Hell Realm, with fairies from the 'Nine Beauties Beauty Chart' serving you, the most beautiful woman of the Blood Heaven Tribe accompanying you, and a proud daughter of the Yama Clan carrying your child. A divine venerable even arranged a marriage for you with a Rakshasa princess. You're deep in a warm bed now, aren't you? A divine son can do whatever he wants. If I were Mu girl, I wouldn't come looking for you."
Han Xue tugged at his wing.
"Don't pull me. This emperor hasn't finished scolding him."
Xiao Hei continued, "Look at yourself now. Are you human or Undying Blood Clan? If it weren't for the trace of your old self still on you, I wouldn't dare recognize you standing before me. Such a heavy stench of blood. In Hell Realm, have you killed many humans? Eaten any?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't defend himself, silently staring at him.
If Mu Lingxi was the woman he cared about most now, then Xiao Hei was surely his closest friend. They had been through too much together, more than any other cultivator could compare.
It was precisely because Xiao Hei knew how deep their friendship was that it dared to scold him so recklessly.
Perhaps it was waiting for Zhang Ruochen to explain, to scold back, to refute it.
After Xiao Hei had scolded until it was out of breath, it finally stopped. "Speak. Have I wronged you?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't explain but asked, "Is the Empress on Ice King Star? I want to see her."
"You still want to see the Empress? If she saw you, she'd slap you to death. Do you think every cultivator is as easygoing as this emperor, giving you a chance to explain? To tell you the truth, you've been rated as the number one great traitor of this eon. Those who want to kill you could line up around Ice King Star," Xiao Hei said angrily.
Han Xue finally stepped past Xiao Hei's wing and walked forward. "Master, I changed into Lingxi's appearance to meet you as soon as possible. After all, going to the Blood Heaven Tribe's Wing World and Fate Divine Domain was too dangerous, so we could only wait for you here."
Zhang Ruochen instantly understood what was happening. Whether it was Xiao Hei attacking Blood Absolute Family's assets or Han Xue disguising herself as Mu Lingxi, the purpose was to lure him to Ice King Star.
Otherwise, how could the cultivators Xia Yu sent have so easily discovered "Mu Lingxi's" figure on Wutong Holy Mountain?
Zhang Ruochen said, "Where exactly is Lingxi?"
Han Xue said, "After Lingxi disappeared from Kunlun Realm, Xiao Hei asserted that she must have gone to Hell Realm to find you. But she knew nothing about Hell Realm, and going to find you would be extremely dangerous. So after arriving in Hell Realm, I mobilized the power of the Wujian Pavilion to search for her."
"Any results?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Han Xue shook her head. "Lingxi must have changed her appearance, or even transformed into a Corpse Clan or Death Clan member. Based on various clues, Wujian Pavilion only found one cultivator suspected to be her. The last place she appeared was Hundred Clans Royal City."
"I'm in Hundred Clans Royal City now," Zhang Ruochen said.
Han Xue quickly added, "It's useless to go now."
"Why?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Han Xue said, "Because that cultivator suspected to be Lingxi has already been taken away by the royal clan of Tianluo Divine Kingdom."
"Tianluo Divine Kingdom's royal clan."
Zhang Ruochen's mind instantly conjured Luo Sha's figure.
That's right.
It must be Luo Sha.
Very few cultivators knew Mu Lingxi had come to Hell Realm, and Luo Sha happened to be one of them.
With Tianluo Divine Kingdom's resources, finding a cultivator in Hell Realm was no difficult task.
Even if Mu Lingxi had concealed her aura and changed her appearance, some things couldn't be changed. For example, her starting point must have been Kunlun Realm, the Ice Phoenix's aura couldn't be completely hidden, and her cultivation level couldn't change.
As long as Tianluo Divine Kingdom put out a word, those dark forces would have to show face.
Once Mu Lingxi tried to sneak through, her trail would be exposed.
"Luo Sha, what are you trying to do?"
Zhang Ruochen was very uneasy. After all, Luo Sha was also a woman.
A woman's heart wasn't big. How could she tolerate another woman?
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to head to Tianluo Divine Kingdom, a message light talisman flew in from beyond the sky and hovered before him.
On Ice King Star, someone was sending him a message?
To send a message, without a spatial coordinate, one had to at least have a wisp of the recipient's aura infused into the light talisman to accurately deliver it to him.
Opening the light talisman, the signature was—Yan Hanyi.
The teacher who taught Luo Sha and Luo Sheng Tian the flowing light path.
He had also come to Ice King Star.
The talisman's content read: "On behalf of the princess, I inform you that Lingxi is safe and well in Tianluo Divine Palace. Husband, do not worry. When you come to Tianluo Divine Kingdom to marry me, you will naturally see her."
Reading the message, Zhang Ruochen's emotions were complicated and curious. How did Luo Sha, who was clearly in Tianluo Divine Kingdom and apparently in seclusion, guess that he had come to Ice King Star?
He had made many arrangements to come here quietly.
Now it seemed that everything he did was too deliberate in the eyes of some exceptionally intelligent cultivators, exposing his trail instead.
At first, Zhang Ruochen only feared gods, worried they knew everything.
Now it seemed gods weren't the scariest. After all, no god would bother to meticulously study the movements of a Great Saint.
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