# Chapter 2491: Righteous and Noble
"Zhang Ruochen?"
Yan Zhexian clenched her fists, her delicate, jade-like pretty face sinking considerably as her teeth gently ground together.
Yan Huangtu looked the Rakshasa clan Great Saint up and down, his face full of shock.
Before they could press for answers and confirmation, Zhang Ruochen pulled Gong Nanfeng and flew into the distance, calling back, "You two wait a moment. I have something to discuss with him alone."
Yan Zhexian and Yan Huangtu clearly didn't know how to face the fact that Zhang Ruochen was their savior, so they didn't pursue.
"Brother Ruochen, we're open and aboveboard. What can't be said directly?" Gong Nanfeng asked, puzzled.
Zhang Ruochen pulled Gong Nanfeng a hundred miles away, releasing a Space True Domain to envelop them, and said solemnly, "Yunhuan Iron Blood King is already dead!"
"I know that. I've already calculated it. Did you kill him?" Gong Nanfeng asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "It was a Great Saint from Paradise Realm."
"I didn't calculate that."
"Paradise Realm Great Saints came to Hell Realm to seize the Celestial Pivot Needle. There must be major figures covering their heavenly secrets, so of course you couldn't calculate it."
Gong Nanfeng said seriously, "From what I know, Paradise Realm came to Hell Realm to kill you."
Zhang Ruochen's mouth twitched. He felt that chatting and discussing matters with Gong Nanfeng was not a pleasant experience. "Killing me is secondary. My life is nothing compared to the Celestial Pivot Needle."
Gong Nanfeng nodded while asking in confusion, "Why did the Paradise Realm Great Saint kill Yunhuan Iron Blood King?"
"Because Paradise Realm and the Goddess Twelve Pavilions had a cooperation, and now they've fallen out. Yunhuan Iron Blood King was one of Goddess Twelve Pavilions' people. Do you understand now?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Gong Nanfeng was shocked. "Paradise Realm and Goddess Twelve Pavilions had a cooperation? How did Yunhuan Iron Blood King become one of Goddess Twelve Pavilions' people? Why didn't I, as Minister of Works, know about this? And I didn't calculate it either."
"None of that matters. What matters is that Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian cannot know that the Celestial Pivot Needle is on me."
Zhang Ruochen finally got to the point, looking toward Yan Zhexian and Yan Huangtu in the distance. The two were also talking quietly about something.
"Why?" Gong Nanfeng asked.
"First, the Yama Clan and our Destiny Temple are not of one mind. What if they take this opportunity to seize the Celestial Pivot Needle?" Zhang Ruochen said.
He deliberately emphasized the words "our Destiny Temple."
Gong Nanfeng said, "But their cultivation levels don't seem to threaten you."
Zhang Ruochen ignored him and continued, "Second, the situation on Ice King Star is very chaotic right now. Bai Qinger of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions has control over many top-tier Great Saints. You should know this—they all participated in seizing the divine artifact. What if Yan Huangtu or Yan Zhexian have long been controlled by Bai Qinger?"
Gong Nanfeng was horrified. "Impossible! Would Bai Qinger dare to control Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian?"
"Why wouldn't she dare? To tell you the truth, Duan Lingfeng and the others seizing the Celestial Pivot Needle was orchestrated by Bai Qinger behind the scenes. If this woman dares to seize the Celestial Pivot Needle, what wouldn't she do?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Gong Nanfeng's expression turned much colder. "Destiny Temple will thoroughly investigate this matter. If it's true, the Goddess Twelve Pavilions and Bai Qinger will pay a heavy price."
Zhang Ruochen nodded in satisfaction and patted his shoulder. "The current situation is chaotic. No cultivator can be trusted. Staying alive carefully is the most important thing we should do."
Gong Nanfeng was pained and sighed, "I claim to know everything under heaven, yet coming to Ice King Star, I can't see through anything and am being used without knowing it."
Zhang Ruochen's face darkened, feeling that Gong Nanfeng was insinuating something about him.
He pretended not to care. "The cultivators from Paradise Realm, Kunlun Realm, including Bai Qinger, are no simple characters. They have heaven-defying level figures backing them, making them hard to calculate. That's very normal. You're actually already very impressive—you've caught up to me again."
Gong Nanfeng looked at Zhang Ruochen and lowered his voice. "Brother Ruochen, I was just about to talk to you about this."
Zhang Ruochen immediately pricked up his ears, ready to listen carefully.
Gong Nanfeng said, "This secret is only known to the most core members of Destiny Temple."
"I hold the Destiny Heavenly Token, so I count as a core member," Zhang Ruochen said.
Gong Nanfeng said, "Actually, the reason I could track you here is because the Celestial Pivot Needle is on you. And I... am the artifact spirit of the Celestial Pivot Needle."
Now that was truly an astonishing secret.
Even though Zhang Ruochen had been mentally prepared, he was still shocked by these words.
"Artifact spirit of a divine artifact? No, I clearly saw with my own eyes that the Celestial Pivot Needle's artifact spirit was suppressed by Duan Lingfeng using the Black Tortoise Swallowing Heaven Formation," Zhang Ruochen said, not believing it. He still felt Gong Nanfeng was deep and calculating, deliberately setting a trap for him.
Gong Nanfeng was hard for him to calculate.
And when Zhang Ruochen used his Heart of Truth to perceive Gong Nanfeng, he could only get a rough sense.
Gong Nanfeng said, "Actually, I am the artifact spirit's physical body."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Gong Nanfeng said, "Brother Ruochen should know that all beings under heaven undergo an Eon Calamity every one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years, and the Eon Calamity grows stronger each time, eventually killing them. Artifact spirits are also among all beings and must undergo the Eon Calamity."
Zhang Ruochen showed a contemplative expression.
Gong Nanfeng continued, "Different spirits have different difficulties in undergoing the tribulation. The closer a spirit is to heaven and earth's nature, the easier the tribulation—for example, plant-type beings. Conversely, the more ferocious and heaven-defying rule-breaking a spirit is, the harder the tribulation. This is true for humans, the Undying Blood Clan, and artifact spirits alike."
"The difficulty of a divine artifact spirit's tribulation is no lower than that of an Undying Blood Clan cultivator, yet many divine artifact spirits can exist for ten Eons, dozens of Eons, or even longer."
"This is because a divine artifact's spirit can split off more than ninety percent of its spirit to cultivate a physical body, which undergoes the Eon Calamity in its place. Meanwhile, the remaining part of the spirit falls below the God Realm and sleeps inside the divine artifact, thus avoiding the Eon Calamity's perception. Once the Eon Calamity passes, it cultivates back to the God Realm."
Zhang Ruochen questioned, "If the Eon Calamity were so easy to deceive, wouldn't all beings under heaven use this method of substitution to survive one Eon Calamity after another?"
Gong Nanfeng shook his head. "If you were asked to split off more than ninety percent of your sacred soul to cultivate a physical body, becoming another you, could you accept that?"
Zhang Ruochen thought carefully, then shook his head.
Losing more than ninety percent of one's sacred soul, no matter how powerful a human cultivator, would likely turn them into an idiot.
Moreover, the loss of sacred soul would severely impact cultivation, likely causing a major drop in cultivation level or making future progress impossible. For any deity, as long as there was even a slight chance of surviving the Eon Calamity, they wouldn't choose this method.
Back then, when Gu Shejing absorbed Zhang Ruochen's power, it was only soul power, not the sacred soul itself.
Cultivating a being identical to oneself was terrifying to even think about.
Then Gong Nanfeng added, "The vast majority of deities wouldn't do this. Because deities and divine artifacts are different—deities rely on themselves, and their divine souls absolutely cannot be lost. Divine artifacts are different; the artifact spirit is both important and unimportant. Because a divine artifact's power comes from its master."
Zhang Ruochen was already quite convinced. "Has no deity ever done this?"
"There have been."
Gong Nanfeng said, "The Buddhist path found a secret method that can deceive the Eon Calamity. But it cannot preserve one's divine-level physical body, at most preserving less than ten percent of the divine soul. With less than ten percent of the divine soul, one needs to absorb more than ninety percent new soul, and in truth, one is no longer the same person—it's a new life. Therefore, this is called reincarnation and re-cultivation."
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly. "Yes, even if one escapes the Eon Calamity, it's no different from death. One becomes a completely new person."
"Let me tell you a secret. In Destiny Temple, some deities once speculated that you might be the reincarnation of Xumi Saint Monk," Gong Nanfeng said.
"What?"
Zhang Ruochen was stunned. "Nonsense. If I were Xumi Saint Monk's reincarnation, even with less than ten percent of the divine soul, I should be a powerful figure roaming freely between heaven and earth by now."
"Don't worry, you're definitely not Xumi Saint Monk's reincarnation, otherwise you wouldn't have left Fate Divine Mountain," Gong Nanfeng said with a smile.
Zhang Ruochen said, "So, you can find me not because you can truly find me, but because you can find the Celestial Pivot Needle?"
Gong Nanfeng folded his arms and nodded. "That's right. Just like your sacred soul, even if it's millions of miles away, it will automatically fly back near your physical body. Even Duan Lingfeng's black cloth bag couldn't block my perception of the Celestial Pivot Needle."
Zhang Ruochen believed quite a bit of Gong Nanfeng's words, which gave him a headache. "So, what cultivation level are you at now?"
"I've only just cultivated this physical body not long ago. I'm very weak."
"Are you lying to me? If you're really weak, how can you walk through the universe? How can your speed catch up to mine?" Zhang Ruochen probed.
Gong Nanfeng said, "Brother Ruochen, I'm really not lying to you. I'm truly very weak. It's just that my physical body is special, stronger than an ordinary person's, allowing me to adapt to various harsh environments. As for speed, it's entirely because the divine artifact spirit within my body attracts the Celestial Pivot Needle. I can't freely control the power of the divine artifact spirit myself."
Zhang Ruochen stood with his hands behind his back, his mind in turmoil. For a moment, he didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, he hadn't claimed that the Celestial Pivot Needle had been taken by a Paradise Realm Great Saint, or he would have been exposed.
What should he do now?
Kill Gong Nanfeng to eliminate the hidden danger?
He felt he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen didn't fully believe Gong Nanfeng. It was possible that Gong Nanfeng was a deeply hidden strong cultivator who had fabricated a story to lull him into complacency.
Destiny Temple needed a sufficient reason to kill Zhang Ruochen.
Gong Nanfeng could very well have come for this purpose, as part of a trap targeting Zhang Ruochen.
But if he let Gong Nanfeng live, how could he hide the Celestial Pivot Needle?
When Blood Spirit Immortal and Begonia Granny appeared on Ice King Star, Zhang Ruochen realized that the plan to rescue Yunshen Daozhu had already been set in motion. Their seizure of the Celestial Pivot Needle was likely related to the rescue plan.
Otherwise, Kunlun Realm wouldn't have exposed the secret that Blood Spirit Immortal was still alive.
Such a great price must have been paid for a great reason.
In Zhang Ruochen's subconscious, he wanted to help Kunlun Realm rescue Yunshen Daozhu, and even more, he wanted the countless beings of Kunlun Realm to be spared from war.
The reason he had been delaying not handing the Celestial Pivot Needle to Gong Nanfeng was precisely this.
To put it bluntly, he was the Eastern Domain King, the Blood God Sect's Sect Leader, and the Crown Prince of the Sacred Bright Central Empire. Protecting the beings of the Eastern Domain, the disciples of the Blood God Sect, and the descendants of Sacred Bright was his responsibility.
Gong Nanfeng said, "Brother Ruochen, you should believe me now, right?"
"Mm!"
Zhang Ruochen subconsciously responded.
Gong Nanfeng said happily, "Then can you return the Celestial Pivot Needle to me?"
"Mm?"
Zhang Ruochen gave a dry laugh and shook his head. "No."
"Why?"
Gong Nanfeng couldn't understand.
"You're too weak. The Celestial Pivot Needle is safer with me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Gong Nanfeng looked like an eggplant wilted by frost, sighing, "Yes, I'm too weak. The Celestial Pivot Needle would indeed be easily lost on me."
"It's fine. You have me," Zhang Ruochen said.
...
Yan Zhexian's pretty face showed both annoyance and helplessness. Recalling her various encounters with Zhang Ruochen, she felt they were fated to be adversaries.
Why did it have to be this annoying guy who saved them?
Yan Huangtu looked at her awkward expression and laughed. "Actually, Zhang Ruochen isn't bad. Even Great Grandfather praises him highly."
"Great Grandfather only values his Eon-level genius talent, but he hasn't seen this person's character," Yan Zhexian said.
Yan Huangtu said, "I think his character is pretty good too! At least toward you, he's definitely sincere. In the Divine Maiden Tower of Fate Divine Domain, he transformed into the Emperor Who Slays Heaven and Earth to help you out of trouble. Otherwise, how many divine stones would you have lost in that bet?"
Yan Huangtu already knew the secret of the child in Yan Zhexian's womb, so he no longer had hostility toward Zhang Ruochen.
The life-and-death battles on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield were merely competitions for the interests of their respective factions—fair and just contests, not mortal enmity or personal grudges.
Yan Huangtu continued, "Given Zhang Ruochen's personality, since he had already faked his death and hidden in the shadows, he definitely wouldn't easily meddle in others' affairs. Yet he specifically stepped in to save us, thus courting trouble and exposing his identity. I think it definitely wasn't for my sake."
Yan Zhexian's eyes finally showed some change, but she still pouted stubbornly, "So what? I won't accept his favor."
"He never intended for you to accept his favor. Earlier, if Gong Nanfeng hadn't suddenly appeared, he would have already concealed his identity and left. And that time in the Divine Maiden Tower, he used the alias Emperor Who Slays Heaven and Earth to help you, not wanting you to know his identity," Yan Huangtu said.
Yan Zhexian's eyes showed a pleading expression. "Fifth Uncle, why are you helping an outsider? You don't want me to marry him, do you? He's already engaged to Princess Luo Sha, with the marriage blessed by a God Venerable. If I marry him, what would I be? His concubine?"
"Of course not," Yan Huangtu said.
Yan Zhexian said, "So Fifth Uncle is on my side? I don't have to listen to Great Grandfather? I don't have to marry Zhang Ruochen?"
"What I mean is, you are the Yama Clan's pearl. If you marry him, you should at least be on equal footing with Luo Sha." Yan Huangtu's eyes were sharp and serious.
"Fifth Uncle, stop joking. They're coming over. What should I say? Ah! Why does it have to be Zhang Ruochen? Should I thank him, or glare at him twice and tell him to stop pestering me and give up?" Yan Zhexian was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, feeling that fate was playing tricks on her, so she quietly asked for advice.
"I'm badly injured. I need to heal first."
With that, Yan Huangtu sat down cross-legged and began to heal.
Zhang Ruochen had restored his original appearance and walked over with Gong Nanfeng.
He glanced at Yan Huangtu, who was sitting with his back to them, then shifted his gaze to Yan Zhexian, landing on her slightly protruding lower abdomen. "You should have stayed in the Yama Clan to properly nurture the child."
Yan Zhexian had wanted to arrogantly reply, "That's none of your business," but since Zhang Ruochen had just saved her, doing so would be too cold-hearted. After all, Zhang Ruochen's heart wasn't bad, and he wasn't utterly evil.
She said flatly, "I came out to train and see the world. I didn't expect to encounter danger."
"Since it's training, danger is inevitable. I know you don't like me. That's fine—I don't like you either. But for the sake of the child in your womb, I can escort you back to Ice King Star. You should return to the Yama Clan as soon as possible. With your cultivation level, it's best not to get involved in matters here," Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Zhexian had originally wanted to speak properly with Zhang Ruochen, but his words made her very displeased. Her face puffed up angrily as she let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"If you don't need my escort, just say so. I don't want to court this trouble either," Zhang Ruochen said directly.
Gong Nanfeng said, "I'm afraid that won't work."
"What are you butting in for?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Gong Nanfeng's expression was grave. "I mean, Fei Zhong is already on his way here. At most half an hour, he'll reach this place."
"You calculated that?" Zhang Ruochen's expression changed.
"Mm!"
"His true body or a puppet clone?"
Gong Nanfeng smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid... his true body."
Zhang Ruochen immediately mobilized Truth Rules, injecting them into his eyes, and looked in the direction Gong Nanfeng had indicated.
Yan Huangtu no longer had the mood to heal. He stood up abruptly.
Gong Nanfeng showed no tension or panic at all. He was very calm, even soothing Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian's emotions. "With Young Master Ruochen here, you two need not worry. Don't panic."
"Fei Zhong is coming in person. Let's flee in different directions—we might have a chance to escape," Yan Huangtu said, looking at Zhang Ruochen, hoping to entrust Yan Zhexian to him.
Gong Nanfeng said, "You two really don't need to panic. Young Master Ruochen is righteous and noble. He will definitely go alone to lure Fei Zhong away. Earlier, when encountering Yunhuan Iron Blood King, he showed such great righteousness, moving me deeply."
A hint of surprise appeared in Yan Zhexian's eyes. If this hadn't come from the Minister of Works of the Heavenly Fate Department, she wouldn't have believed that Zhang Ruochen was such a righteous and noble person.
Could it be that she had misunderstood him all along?
Zhang Ruochen almost spat out blood and really wanted to punch Gong Nanfeng to death.
Gong Nanfeng said, "Let's go first. Brother Ruochen will definitely stay here to hold off Fei Zhong, buying us time to escape."
"Escape? What escape? Fei Zhong is such a figure. Leaving him here alone is too dangerous. He's just a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint. If we go, we go together. If we fight, we fight together."
Zhang Ruochen turned his head in surprise, not expecting Yan Zhexian to say such words.
"What are you looking at? I do find you annoying, but when disaster strikes, I won't leave you alone to save myself," Yan Zhexian glared at him and snorted.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "In that case, I have a plan that might break this dangerous situation."