Chapter 2584: Heavenly Dao Flute and Earth Demon Sparrow
“Evil Sword.”
In Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea, one of his soul swords flew out from between his eyebrows.
“Whoosh!”
The sword aura was fierce and sharp, its light tearing through the darkness, forcing Bai Qinger’s finger away from his forehead. Regaining his freedom, Zhang Ruochen immediately flashed away, putting distance between himself and this demonic woman.
At the same time, a thunderous tiger roar echoed.
Golden light flickered behind Zhang Ruochen as Zangjin Baihu materialized. Divine power surged from it like seawater, transforming into countless threads that poured into Zhang Ruochen’s body, merging with him.
Now, Zhang Ruochen’s might surged dramatically. He exhaled divine mist, his skin burned with divine flames, and the power he radiated was no weaker than a Demigod.
Facing a formidable enemy like Bai Qinger, Zhang Ruochen had to go all out. Zangjin Baihu lent him its divine power to the fullest extent.
However, Bai Qinger’s injuries were more severe than Zhang Ruochen had imagined.
After being struck by the Evil Sword, she collapsed to the ground, her delicate body sprawled out. Her long hair was disheveled, her clothes in disarray, and she lacked even the strength to stand.
Bai Qinger looked at her bloodied finger and said, “What a formidable sword, what a bizarre sword path power. What kind of power is this?”
Zhang Ruochen remained silent, simply staring at her.
He had to determine whether she was truly this severely injured or just feigning weakness to lure him into attacking.
This demonic woman was full of tricks, and Zhang Ruochen had to be cautious.
The space within the stone building was extremely dark, cold, and deep. Ancient divine Qi permeated the air, and countless Dao locks were scattered throughout the atmosphere.
The Heaven and Earth Rules here were different from elsewhere. With Zhang Ruochen’s eyesight, he could only see a few dozen zhang ahead.
In such a harsh and eerie environment, combined with the loss of contact with his Feizhong puppet body, Zhang Ruochen felt uneasy, sensing danger lurking everywhere.
“Abyssal.”
Zhang Ruochen made a grasping motion with his hand, calling out.
His hand was empty; the Abyssal Ancient Sword was nowhere to be seen.
“Hmm?”
A strange look appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. He called out again, “Abyssal, come out.”
Still, no sword appeared in his hand.
Bai Qinger sat against the wall, coughing lightly, like a fading immortal flower. She watched Zhang Ruochen with a puzzled expression, unsure what he was up to.
Zhang Ruochen searched himself thoroughly but found nothing.
His heart sank.
Damn it.
The sword was lost.
When had it been lost?
Zhang Ruochen thought back carefully, leaving no detail unexamined. Finally, his gaze fell on Bai Qinger. Yes, only this demonic woman had been in close contact with him.
Only someone of her cultivation could have taken the Abyssal Ancient Sword without him noticing.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Return my sword.”
Bai Qinger sneered disdainfully, finding Zhang Ruochen utterly ridiculous. A Great Saint had lost his own battle weapon and didn’t even know where he had dropped it.
Unable to sense the Abyssal Ancient Sword’s aura, Zhang Ruochen was certain Bai Qinger had suppressed it. He took out the Black Gold War Heaven Pillar and said solemnly, “Why steal my Abyssal? Do you think a single sword can make me compromise?”
Bai Qinger couldn’t be bothered to explain. She said, “You are now my servant. As your master, why would I need to steal your sword? What’s yours is mine.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “The three-month deadline has long passed. Shouldn’t you admit that you lost our bet?”
Bai Qinger’s face was pale, and the light of Origin on her body had long dimmed. She looked like a frail mortal woman, smiling bitterly, “What’s the point of arguing over who wins or loses here? Wuma Jiuxing has already become a god. This stone building may not be able to stop him. Once he breaks through the entrance and comes in, we’ll all die.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Return the sword first.”
Bai Qinger was speechless. Her strikingly defined chest heaved violently as she said, “I have no interest in your Monarch Sacred Artifact. Why would I take your sword?”
Zhang Ruochen fell into deep thought and nodded slightly, believing Bai Qinger’s words.
Had the Abyssal Ancient Sword really been lost just like that?
Zhang Ruochen had never encountered such an absurd situation and found it hard to accept. He said, “Open the entrance to the stone building. I want to go out.”
“Are you going out to die?” Bai Qinger said coldly.
Zhang Ruochen was very worried about the safety of Granny Haitang and A Le. He said, “I have my own way to deal with Wuma Jiuxing.”
A glimmer of light appeared in Bai Qinger’s beautiful apricot eyes, more radiant than stars. Although she didn’t know what trump card Zhang Ruochen had, seeing how serious he was, she believed him somewhat.
However, in her current weakened state, going out would mean death, whether at Wuma Jiuxing’s hands or Zhang Ruochen’s.
“The entrance to this stone building is inscribed with many ancient divine patterns. In my current weakened state, I cannot activate those patterns to open it,” Bai Qinger said, her voice as faint as a thread, as if she were about to run out of energy.
Zhang Ruochen walked to the completely sealed stone wall and carefully observed and studied the divine patterns on it.
Besides the divine patterns, the stone wall was also carved with many ancient images: birds and beasts, gods holding war swords, dragons coiled around mountains…
Complex and profound.
Even with Zhang Ruochen’s Spiritual Power at the sixty-eighth level and his Heart of Truth, it would take a long time to fully decipher them.
He had to admit, Bai Qinger’s talent was astonishing. In such a short time, she had managed to decode such complex ancient secret patterns.
If Huangtian were willing to acknowledge her as his daughter and take her into the Stone Clan, Bai Qinger would have long been famous across the world, becoming the most sought-after proud daughter of heaven, driving countless cultivators from the Hell Realm crazy.
Zhang Ruochen was anxious but dared not easily trust Bai Qinger. He was about to seek help from the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree in the Qiankun Realm when a faint flute sound came from the endless darkness.
The flute sound approached rapidly, growing louder.
“Gu Shejing didn’t deceive me.”
Zhang Ruochen was both surprised and delighted, looking toward the direction of the flute sound.
“Whoosh!”
Sacred Qi carrying the fragrance of hundreds of flowers surged from the depths of darkness, churning violently.
A stunningly beautiful woman, identical to Bai Qinger, flew within the Sacred Qi, surrounded by countless drifting petals. She appeared before Zhang Ruochen and Bai Qinger at incredible speed.
It seemed something was chasing her.
Bai Qinger stared at the suddenly appearing woman, her eyes momentarily stunned, then a thoughtful expression crossed her face.
Ji Fanxin looked at Bai Qinger sitting on the ground, who looked exactly like her, and was also stunned for a moment.
Ji Fanxin and Bai Qinger were two unrelated women who had transformed into each other’s appearances. Now, meeting like this, the scene was strange not only for them but even for Zhang Ruochen, who stood nearby with an odd expression.
Whether it was Bai Qinger or Ji Fanxin, both were top-tier beauties.
Zhang Ruochen showed a delighted expression and asked, “Fairy, what happened? Why are you so flustered?”
Above Ji Fanxin’s head floated a foot-long white jade flute.
No one was playing the flute, yet its sound was continuous.
As the flute sounded, Heaven and Earth Rules continuously gathered, transforming into attack power that flew behind her, striking into the deep, hollow darkness.
Ji Fanxin looked back in the direction she had come from, fear in her eyes. She said, “We need to flee quickly. It’s about to catch up!”
Without time to explain, Ji Fanxin reached out her fair, delicate hand, grabbed Zhang Ruochen’s wrist, and used her speed to dash forward.
She had Supreme Realm cultivation and believed Zhang Ruochen needed her protection.
In an instant, they had flown over ten li.
The space inside the stone building seemed infinitely vast.
Being able to hold hands with the Hundred Flowers Fairy was a dream for cultivators across the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms. But in this life-or-death escape, Zhang Ruochen had no time to savor the beauty of it. He felt it was perfectly normal, not intimate or romantic.
Of course, if cultivators from the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms knew of this, they would surely curse him as arrogant and shameless, and grieve that the fairy had been defiled by a great villain.
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the jade flute hovering above Ji Fanxin’s head, sensing its powerful energy fluctuations. Each fluctuation contained divine power, like giant waves in a divine sea capable of destroying entire continents.
Ji Fanxin saw the confusion in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes and didn’t hide the truth. She said, “This is an ancient divine artifact called the Heavenly Dao Flute. Its artifact spirit has acknowledged me as its master. Unfortunately, the artifact spirit is very weak, and the power it can unleash is limited, barely enough to hold off the demon creature chasing us.”
Was this the charm of the Ancient Illumination Lotus?
A divine artifact voluntarily acknowledging its master?
Truly enviable.
Zhang Ruochen was deeply moved.
Even trapped inside this stone building, Ji Fanxin still kept her promise to him, maintaining the appearance of “Bai Qinger.” And now, she had even revealed the secret of the divine artifact to him—this was the greatest trust.
“Demon creature? What demon creature?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Jiji!”
Strange cries came from behind.
The sound wasn’t loud, but it carried a terrifying demonic nature that could affect a cultivator’s mind and emotions.
Just hearing it from a distance made Zhang Ruochen restless, with all kinds of negative emotions surging.
Fortunately, he had refined quite a bit of divine star souls, strengthening his Sacred Soul. Combined with his profound state of mind—“embracing all rivers and encompassing all things”—he quickly cleared his thoughts and returned to clarity.
“Follow me. My friend is faster.”
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Ji Fanxin’s slender wrist and pulled her along as they floated up. Their robes fluttered gracefully, like a celestial couple, landing on Zangjin Baihu’s back.
Only then did Zhang Ruochen notice with surprise that a delicate, moving figure was already sitting on Zangjin Baihu’s back—none other than Bai Qinger.
Earlier, they had been too busy fleeing to pay her any attention.
When had she climbed onto Zangjin Baihu’s back?
And so, the three of them rode together, fleeing at top speed.
Zhang Ruochen was sandwiched between the two women, surrounded by fragrance and warmth. Strangely, they had each transformed into the other’s appearance. In such a dangerous situation, Zhang Ruochen felt a sense of unreality.
Zhang Ruochen struck first, channeling all his power into a palm strike aimed at Bai Qinger’s back.
“Whoosh!”
Bai Qinger’s long hair flew back as Chaos Qi emerged on her back, making her body seem to become ethereal.
Zhang Ruochen’s powerful palm strike hit as if into a vortex, pulled by the Chaos Qi.
In the end, his hand landed softly on Bai Qinger’s back.
His palm seemed stuck to her back. Pushing forward felt like throwing a stone into the sea—all his power was absorbed into her body. Trying to pull back, he couldn’t move his arm.
Bai Qinger didn’t turn around. She said, “It’s the aura of the Earth Demon Sparrow. The power it’s unleashing is far stronger than the False God Moyun Duan. Only by working together can we have a chance to survive. Are you sure you want to fight among ourselves now?”
“You were pretending all along. Your injuries aren’t that severe,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly. In a confrontation with a demonic woman like Bai Qinger, he couldn’t afford even a moment’s carelessness, or he would fall into her trap.
But he should have realized it earlier. If Bai Qinger were truly too injured to stand, how could she maintain her transformation technique? She would have reverted to her original form long ago.
Of course, at this moment, both women had dropped their transformation techniques and returned to their own appearances.
“Withdraw your technique. Let’s face the enemy together.”
Zhang Ruochen sensed the strange sounds behind them growing closer. The Heavenly Dao Flute’s sound waves were becoming less effective at suppressing it. Continuing this stalemate with Bai Qinger would benefit no one.
…
There will be another chapter tonight.
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