Chapter 2623: Entering the Heavenly Court Again
From Kunlun Realm to the Heavenly Court, there was an ancient sacred road.
In recent years, Kunlun Realm had grown and developed, with saints emerging in large numbers, and the ancient sacred road gradually became bustling. Any living being that reached the Half-Saint realm would travel through the ancient sacred road to cultivate in the Heavenly Court.
The Heavenly Court was the "Saint Realm," while Kunlun Realm was the "Mortal Realm."
Going to the Heavenly Court not only meant a better cultivation environment, but also the opportunity to broaden one's horizons, exchange with cultivators from various worlds, and purchase elixirs, sacred artifacts, and materials that were unavailable in Kunlun Realm.
Furthermore, to enter special cultivation grounds such as the Five Elements Temple, Truth Temple, Time Temple, and Space Temple, one had to go to the Heavenly Court.
In short, for Kunlun Realm to develop, grow, and rise again, it had to step out and withstand the suppression of the Heavenly Realm Faction, establishing a firm foothold in the Heavenly Court.
If they could not withstand the pressure and fled back to Kunlun Realm, then not only would the cultivators of Kunlun Realm lose all face, but they would also forever lose the opportunity to rise. This was the result most desired by the gods of the Heavenly Realm Faction.
Many saint-realm cultivators of Kunlun Realm had heard of the upheaval that had occurred in the Heavenly Court, but it did not intimidate them.
On the long ancient sacred road, groups of saint-realm cultivators from Kunlun Realm could be seen everywhere, heading to the Heavenly Court. They were all rebels, unafraid of powerful enemies. Even if they could not participate in Great Saint-level battles, they would still bolster Kunlun Realm's prestige.
On this day, the ancient sacred road was in an uproar.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, who had not gathered together for centuries, appeared simultaneously. Each of them possessed breathtaking beauty—some pure and ethereal, some drifting like immortals, some passionate and fiery, some overbearing and proud...
Legend had it that each of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens had extraordinary opportunities and top-tier talent, having been raised and trained by Empress Chi Yao since childhood.
When the nine united, their combat power was unparalleled.
"The Sword God Realm is too aggressive. Even the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens have come forth. It seems that this time, many Great Saint-level experts from Kunlun Realm will rush to Jinsha Holy Domain."
"If I could marry one of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, I would give up my sacred path willingly. Unfortunately, their standards are higher than the sky, and very few men can catch their eyes," a Saint King realm cultivator said from afar, sighing.
A cultivator beside him whispered, "Among the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, my favorite is Canglan Martial Saint. Look at her legs—long and fair. I wouldn't get tired of them even after a thousand years! Of course, the main thing is her fiery personality. In bed, she must be quite something."
"Keep your voice down. If she hears you, she might cut you down with a single sword strike."
...
This group of cultivators, all dressed in black robes, were heretical figures from the Black Market First Class Hall.
They were merely followers. Ahead of them, two sacred chariots shrouded in icy, evil aura were moving.
One chariot was blood-red, with wisps of illusory light flowing around its frame. The other was forged from black metal, windowless, like an iron box.
Suddenly, this group of heretical figures erupted in commotion. They spotted a male figure beside the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens.
That man's spiritual power was extremely high, and they could not make out his appearance.
"He's actually walking alongside the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens. Who is he?"
"I want to strike him with a sword and take his place."
"Give it up. That person must be a Great Saint-level expert. Drawing a sword against him—are you asking for death?"
...
The man walking with the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens was, of course, Zhang Ruochen.
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had left the ancient sacred road, gone into the starry sky, and secretly released the Great Senluo Emperor, who had been cultivating in the Qiankun Realm, sending him back to Hell Realm to deliver a letter.
Nalan Danqing approached him, communicating through spiritual power, "I thought you had returned to Hell Realm."
"I definitely have to go to the Heavenly Court. Luo Xu is my friend, and Jin Yu is my senior brother. They almost died at the hands of a Sword God Realm Great Saint. How could I stand by and do nothing?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"It's still too dangerous," Nalan Danqing said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "The Heavenly Court isn't a dragon's pool or a tiger's den. Why can't I go?"
In the past, Luo Sha, merely a Saint King, had dared to infiltrate the Heavenly Court alone.
Zhang Ruochen, now a Great Saint with a completely transformed aura, would be hard for even gods to recognize his true identity.
The Divine Maiden of Fate, Xian Feizi, wore a white veil, with sacred glow swirling around her. She watched Nalan Danqing and Zhang Ruochen communicating and asked, "Among the nine of us, Danqing has the highest standards. Who is that person, to have won her favor?"
Wan Canglan snorted coldly. "A smooth-talking, arrogant fool. Danqing has probably been deceived by him."
All that talk about "repaying in kind" and "borrowing the sharpest blade in the mortal world"—it was all empty words, flashy and impractical, nothing but boasting.
Thinking back to how Zhang Ruochen had bragged shamelessly at the North Cliff of the Book Sect, Wan Canglan felt disgusted.
With a bit of cultivation, he thought he was above everyone else, arrogant and conceited to the extreme.
She had seen too many men like that.
If not for the fact that he did have some skill, she would have already warned him privately to stay away from Nalan Danqing.
Xian Feizi said, "Danqing is meticulous and understands human nature. There should be no man in the world who can deceive her."
"But she has been in seclusion for centuries, and that boastful fellow is indeed not weak in cultivation. It's truly worrying." Wan Canglan was already scheming, looking for an opportunity to warn Zhang Ruochen.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens were one in body and fate. If Nalan Danqing truly chose a Dao companion, they had the right to oppose it.
Zhang Ruochen walked side by side with Nalan Danqing, joining the other eight Mysterious Maidens as they advanced toward the Heavenly Court.
As they passed by the group of heretical cultivators from the Black Market First Class Hall, Zhang Ruochen clearly felt pairs of envious and jealous eyes fixed on him.
"Walking with the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens was probably a mistake. It's impossible not to attract attention," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Before entering the ancient sacred road, Zhang Ruochen had sent a message to Kong Lanyou, who was still in the Ming Sect. He had only come ahead. If he had known, he would have waited to travel with the Ming Sect's cultivators.
Crossing the ancient sacred road, they arrived once again at the banks of the Heavenly River.
Zhang Ruochen looked toward the Merit Star and saw that Kunlun Realm's ranking on the Myriad Worlds Merit Ranking had risen to 725th place.
He remembered that when he and the Moon God first came to the Heavenly River, Kunlun Realm was at the very bottom of the Merit Star, ranked dead last.
Later, Chi Yao killed a god from Hell Realm, causing Kunlun Realm's merit value to skyrocket, raising its world ranking to over two thousand.
The further ahead one went, the harder it was to improve the world ranking.
Guanghan Realm was currently ranked only 6,740th. Clearly, the Moon God had not killed any Hell Realm gods in the past millennium to boost the world ranking.
If a great world's saint-realm cultivators could not keep up, forcibly raising the world ranking through gods would only backfire, making it impossible to hold onto their interests in the Heavenly Court.
Zhang Ruochen, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, and the heretical cultivators of the Black Market First Class Hall all boarded the same celestial boat to cross the Heavenly River.
The two heretical Great Saints, who had been sitting in their sacred chariots, finally stepped out.
They were both old acquaintances. One was the Jiuyou Sword Saint, who had once been as famous as Xuanji Sword Saint, known as one of the three great sword saints of the Eastern Domain.
Zhang Ruochen had a deep impression of Jiuyou. Back then, he had helped Zhang Ruochen take the blame for many things.
He was a... good old man!
Now, Jiuyou Sword Saint should be called Jiuyou Great Saint. He still looked old and decrepit, with disheveled hair, wearing simple straw sandals, his sword intent concealed within. He had not changed much in a thousand years.
The other was a stunningly beautiful woman in a red dress, with a curvaceous figure and a face that rivaled any of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens. She was the Hall Master of the Black Market First Class Hall, Ye Honglei.
She was also the Red Desire Star Envoy, who had crossed paths with Zhang Ruochen many times.
Zhang Ruochen had a deep impression of this woman as well. She was a ruthless and resourceful character.
In her youth, she had been a subordinate of Di Yi, the young master of the Black Market First Class Hall. To seize the position of young master, she had secretly allied with Zhang Ruochen to kill Di Yi, then gradually climbed to the position of Hall Master. Now, she held great power and had become a prominent figure in Kunlun Realm.
The journey was silent.
After crossing the Heavenly River, they flew straight toward one of the four major continents of the Heavenly Court, West Ox Continent.
The territories of Great Saints from various worlds of the Western Universe were all located in West Ox Continent.
The rules of the Heavenly Court were:
Only Great Saints could own a holy domain as their territory in the Heavenly Court; gods could not own territory.
Any holy domain was thirty thousand li in length and width.
The more Great Saints a great world had, the more territory it could possess in the Heavenly Court, and the more cultivation resources it could utilize.
The struggle for holy domains was the greatest competition among the worlds of the Heavenly Court, even surpassing the world ranking competition.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen and his group were heading straight for Jinsha Holy Domain.
A month ago, Jinsha Holy Domain had been the territory of Ling Xiu Great Saint of the Moon Worship Demon Sect.
The Sword God Realm Great Saint, Xu Xu, had challenged Ling Xiu Great Saint for the territory and defeated him. Jinsha Holy Domain changed hands, and its new owner became Xu Xu.
Later, Ling Feiyu defeated Xu Xu and reclaimed Jinsha Holy Domain, only to lose it again to Canghai Yishu.
The center of the conflict between Kunlun Realm and the Sword God Realm was Jinsha Holy Domain.
By now, it was no longer just a struggle over a holy domain territory. It had become a battle for dignity, a place for revenge, and a clash of Great Saint-level power between the two great worlds.
Jinsha Holy Domain was located within the Wuji Heaven Domain of West Ox Continent.
A heaven domain could contain anywhere from hundreds to thousands of holy domains.
Wuji Heaven Domain was a high-level heaven domain, rich in resources, with divine veins flowing beneath the earth, capable of producing divine stones, eon-level sacred medicines, and all kinds of rare treasures of heaven and earth.
Only great worlds ranked in the top thousand were qualified to settle in a high-level heaven domain.
As soon as he entered Wuji Heaven Domain, Zhang Ruochen felt an extremely rich concentration of sacred qi. The rules of heaven and earth were incredibly active. The cultivation environment here was so excellent that even Wang Shan fell short.
As for the Shatuo Heaven Domain where Zhang Ruochen had once stayed, it was far inferior.
They did not go directly to Jinsha Holy Domain but instead headed to Jinshu Holy Domain, located to the north of Jinsha Holy Domain.
This was because Jinsha Holy Domain was still in the hands of the Sword God Realm. If Kunlun Realm cultivators entered, the Sword God Realm Great Saints could kill them on the grounds of trespassing.
Currently, a large number of saint-realm cultivators from Kunlun Realm had gathered in Jinshu Holy Domain.
The Sword God Realm Great Saints, including Shang Zihong and Michael of the Heavenly Realm Faction, were stationed in Jinsha Holy Domain.
The conflict between Jinsha Holy Domain and Jinshu Holy Domain had stirred up the entire Wuji Heaven Domain, attracting countless cultivators from all over the Heavenly Court. Many had come to watch the excitement.
After all, the Red Dust Convention was approaching, and they had no need to be in seclusion for cultivation, leaving them with plenty of free time.