Chapter 2848: Encounter with Wuma Jiuxing Again
Zhang Ruochen sat on the threshold of the inn and said, "Alright, tell me. What exactly is it that you're fighting over?"
"Actually, we don't know the specifics either. We only know it's stored in a skull-shaped space ring. And that ring ended up in Meng Sheng's hands," Ye Manman said.
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes. When the Yaksha clan Great Saint Meng Sheng had first arrived at the small town, he had indeed been wearing a skull-shaped space ring on his finger.
"This item is of immense use to Divine Maiden First City," Lu Yi said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "What use?"
Ye Manman and Lu Yi exchanged glances.
"Forgive me, senior, but this is a major secret of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions. I cannot disclose it," Lu Yi said.
Zhang Ruochen did not press them, but he understood that he had underestimated the value of this item. At the same time, he gained a deeper understanding of the trouble he was about to face.
Since he couldn't die even after decades, continuing to wait here for death seemed pointless.
Instead, he might as well take this opportunity to use the last moments of his life to settle that ill-fated connection with the Goddess Twelve Pavilions.
Ye Manman and Lu Yi began discussing among themselves.
"It seems we have to go find that Thieving Heaven and buy information from him."
"I wonder how high a price Thieving Heaven will demand this time."
"What I'm more worried about is our master's side. Failing to seize the ring and letting Meng Sheng escape without a trace—we'll definitely be punished."
The other two women gathered over, preparing to leave.
"Actually, finding Meng Sheng isn't that difficult."
Zhang Ruochen opened his wrinkled right palm, and the drop of blood clinging to him turned into wisps of blood energy, floating up to hover over his palm.
It was the blood left behind by Meng Sheng.
The gazes of the four pavilion masters all locked onto Zhang Ruochen.
Could he track down Meng Sheng with just a drop of blood that had no saintly power?
A moment later, the blood energy in Zhang Ruochen's hand dissipated. He stood up and looked toward the sky beyond, saying, "He has already fled this planet."
"Shua!"
His powerful spiritual power surged outward.
Zhang Ruochen transformed into a beam of light, vanishing from his spot. In an instant, he broke through the atmosphere, arriving in the pitch-black, frozen void of space, appearing right beside Meng Sheng.
Not only was the skull ring gone, but even Meng Sheng's entire arm had disappeared.
And as for Meng Sheng...
He had become dead Meng Sheng.
Zhang Ruochen examined Meng Sheng's floating corpse. Aside from the missing arm, there were no other wounds. But when he probed internally with his spiritual power, he found that Meng Sheng's meridians, blood vessels, Qi Sea, and Saint Source had all turned to stone.
It was only then that the four pavilion masters of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions flew over, overjoyed.
Lu Yi said, "In the end, Meng Sheng couldn't escape from senior's grasp."
"I didn't kill him," Zhang Ruochen said.
"How is that possible?"
The four pavilion masters of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions found it hard to believe.
Although Zhang Ruochen had done them a favor, the facts were right before their eyes. How could they believe that Meng Sheng had died at someone else's hands?
Ye Manman said, "Meng Sheng hasn't been gone from this planet for long. If another cultivator killed him, they should still be nearby. Senior, with your powerful spiritual power, can you find them?"
"I can't find them," Zhang Ruochen said.
Ye Manman was puzzled, her brows furrowed. "Why?"
"Because the trouble has already arrived."
Zhang Ruochen had a rough idea of who had taken the ring, but he wasn't certain yet. He cast his gaze toward a certain direction in the cosmos, where two black flood dragons, as massive as mountain ranges, were pulling a coffin-like carriage, slowly advancing through the starry sky.
It appeared slow, but in reality, it was extremely fast.
It was only because the starry sky was so vast that even great speed seemed slow.
The aura emanating from just the two black flood dragons alone pressed down on the four pavilion masters, making it hard for them to breathe. They had to release their Dao domains to withstand the two waves of might.
Zhang Ruochen recognized them as two flood-type aberrant beasts.
The one-eyed gray-robed old man stood atop one of the flood-type aberrant beasts and, from a distance, laughed, "Old senior, Meng Sheng's corpse is right in front of you. What explanation do you have now?"
The two flood-type aberrant beasts came to a halt. Their two heads, each as massive as ten great mountains, hung on either side of Zhang Ruochen. Every breath they took condensed into black divine clouds.
The four pavilion masters of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions looked at the coffin-shaped carriage behind the two flood-type aberrant beasts and gasped. How could they not guess who was inside?
"We pay our respects to Qingxuan Divine Spirit."
They all bowed in salute.
Facing a deity of Qingxuan Divine Spirit's level, any Saint-realm cultivator had to pay their respects. Not every deity was as easygoing as Zhang Ruochen.
Qingxuan Divine Spirit's voice was youthful but aggressive. "That item is not something you can possess. Hand it over to me, and spare yourself a deadly calamity."
Zhang Ruochen didn't like his tone, nor did he like the deity of the Darkness Temple, so he didn't bother to explain.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Why would it bring me a deadly calamity if it's in my hands, but not in yours?"
"Because no cultivator in this world dares to oppose the Darkness Temple," Qingxuan Divine Spirit said.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Is that so?"
"Hua!"
Qingxuan Divine Spirit leaped out from the coffin-shaped carriage. With green hair and black skin, he had the appearance of a human man. Setting aside his skin color, his temperament and features were exceptionally majestic and heroic.
Qingxuan Divine Spirit stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen and said, "I didn't expect your spiritual power to be so formidable."
He said this because, after Zhang Ruochen's reminder, he had only then sensed another deity hidden nearby.
The twelve divine spirits of the Darkness Temple were all powerful spiritual-power deities.
Yet today, he had lost a step to an unknown old man.
"Come out."
Qingxuan Divine Spirit let out a cold shout. From his pupils, two beams of green light shot out, striking a rock several dozen meters in size in the void.
Before the green beams reached it, the rock leaped up first, transforming into a black stone giant clad in stone armor, wielding a dragon-sparrow heavy sword at the supreme sacred artifact level.
The stone giant laughed heartily. "The Heavenly Venerable Gauze—such a treasure, who wouldn't want it? Qingxuan, let me have it, how about it?"
"Shi Ying, you dare to contend with me?" Qingxuan Divine Spirit's tone was hostile.
Shi Ying Shangjun said, "We all know the immense significance of seizing the Heavenly Venerable Gauze. I'd even dare to kill you for it."
"With just you, you think you can kill me?" Qingxuan Divine Spirit said.
"Killing you now is meaningless. Seizing the Heavenly Venerable Gauze is my goal."
Shi Ying Shangjun's gaze fell on Zhang Ruochen and the four Great Saints of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions. "Four pavilion masters, you'd better stay away from this old man. Otherwise, when the fight starts, if I accidentally injure you, it won't be easy to explain to Miss Bai."
Lu Yi grew worried. Both Shi Ying Shangjun and Qingxuan Divine Spirit were renowned deities with immense backing from their respective forces. She wanted to persuade Zhang Ruochen to hand over the skull ring.
But as a Great Saint, what right did she have to speak in the presence of gods?
"You all head east. Once deities start fighting, you won't even be able to intervene—the residual waves alone could kill you," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Senior..."
Lu Yi called out those two words but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say more. She and Ye Manman and the others flew eastward.
After flying ten thousand miles, they saw a blue-haired beauty, who looked about twenty years old, standing on a leaf-shaped small boat. The blue-haired beauty wore a crystal long dress, her chest full, with a strange divine mark on her brow. Her skin was as delicate and white as immortal jade, and her aura was extremely ethereal.
They finally understood why Zhang Ruochen had told them to head east.
"Master."
The four pavilion masters all bowed to the blue-haired beauty.
This woman was none other than a top-tier figure of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions—the Snow Domain Pavilion Master, Liu Qingcheng.
Liu Qingcheng stared at the white-haired old man in the distance, her gaze dazed as she murmured to herself, "Who is this person? Such incredible perception. The concealment formation on my Green Leaf Divine Boat was crafted by Divine Master Yuyao, and we're this far away, yet he still detected us."
Lu Yi boarded the Green Leaf Divine Boat and quickly said, "He's an old senior who lives in seclusion on Yunfan Star. His mastery of music is extremely high, and he also said he has ties to our Goddess Twelve Pavilions."
Liu Qingcheng fell into thought.
Shi Ying Shangjun glanced at Liu Qingcheng before withdrawing his gaze and said, "Old man, you can choose to hand over what you took from Meng Sheng to me. After all, you can't hold onto it, and there's no need to throw your life away for it."
Zhang Ruochen didn't want to take the blame anymore and said, "Didn't you kill Meng Sheng?"
"Killed by me?" Shi Ying Shangjun was both angry and furious, feeling that the other party was trying to frame him.
Zhang Ruochen waved his sleeve, sending Meng Sheng's corpse flying toward Qingxuan Divine Spirit, and said, "Meng Sheng's body is filled with powerful stone energy, petrifying his meridians, blood vessels, Qi Sea, and Saint Source. In this nearby starry sky, besides you, what other Stone Clan deity is there?"
Qingxuan Divine Spirit caught Meng Sheng's corpse and examined it.
Zhang Ruochen immediately added, "You're really the one crying thief."
Qingxuan Divine Spirit's expression shifted between uncertainty and coldness as he stared at Shi Ying Shangjun, then laughed. "I was wondering why an old man with his life fire nearly extinguished would want the Heavenly Venerable Gauze. So it turns out you took it!"
"I didn't."
Shi Ying Shangjun immediately struck out, trying to seize Meng Sheng's corpse to examine it himself.
Just then, the starry sky was torn apart by an overwhelmingly domineering blade light. The blade energy spread for ten thousand miles, like a bright green river, slashing straight at Shi Ying Shangjun.
"Who?"
Shi Ying Shangjun swung his supreme sacred artifact, the Dragon-Sparrow Heavy Sword, but couldn't block it. His body flew back hundreds of miles, chunks of stone sheared off by the blade light, spilling stone blood.
Every piece of stone was part of his divine body.
Liu Qingcheng and Qingxuan Divine Spirit both changed expressions, each deploying defensive measures.
Shi Ying Shangjun was a notoriously domineering and powerful deity, yet he had been wounded by a single slash.
The one who struck was clearly even stronger than Shi Ying Shangjun.
The moment the blade light appeared, Zhang Ruochen's gaze deepened, and he looked toward the direction from which it had come. There, silver radiance, like a nebula, enveloped hundreds of thousands of miles of cosmic space.
A yinglong pulled a war chariot as it emerged from the silver radiance.
It was Wuma Jiuxing's Silver Cloud Radiant War Chariot.