# Chapter 3039: Scheming
"Why must we still bring up conditions between us?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Feng Yan's voice rose: "We must! In the Heavenly Court, in Hell, you already have so many confidantes and close friends, so why must you provoke my sister?"
Zhang Ruochen was momentarily stunned, a helpless expression on his face. "I did not provoke her. Miss Xi and I are merely fellow cultivators."
Feng Yan said, "Merely fellow cultivators? Who in the Wind Clan doesn't know how close your relationship is? If my sister didn't trust you completely, I wouldn't be the only one suspicious of your identity."
Blood Butcher listened to their conversation, his eyelids drooping as he silently pondered.
Both were considered enemies the Wind Clan must kill, so why was he suffering so miserably while his senior brother was like a fish in water?
It turned out that his senior brother had already won over Feng Yunba's daughter.
Another lesson learned!
"What do you want me to do?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Feng Yan said, "After you take him and leave, Qing Pingzi will no longer exist in this world."
"Fine! As long as I don't encounter a life-and-death crisis, I will never use the identity of Qing Pingzi again. I promise you. But I still think you're overthinking things. My relationship with Miss Xi is as light as water between fellow cultivators," Zhang Ruochen said.
Blood Butcher had recovered somewhat and said, "Please allow this Emperor to say a fair word—since my senior brother is your big brother, why can't he be your brother-in-law? If I had a sister like that... alright, I won't say more..."
Feng Yan put away the Pure Yang Divine Sword.
...
As Zhang Ruochen walked out of the Divine Prison, he immediately sensed a great change in the heavenly and earthly rules. With one step, he entered Shang Hong's Divine Realm World.
The Divine Realm World was completely connected to the Divine Prison gate.
Zhang Ruochen remained calm and composed, looking at the fiery red sky. "What does the Heavenly Grandson mean by this?"
Shang Hong walked out from a patch of light mist, performing the Three Corpses Separation.
Three Shang Hongs simultaneously smiled warmly. "Daoist Ruochen is truly deep in love and righteousness. To risk such great danger just to save a Blood Butcher—admirable, truly admirable."
Zhang Ruochen remained silent, his gaze falling on Lian Xi standing behind the three Shang Hongs.
The middle Shang Hong said, "Great Palace Master Lian Xi, why don't you go forward and kneel to your former master?"
Lian Xi looked at Shang Hong. His eyes were filled with an unyielding will.
She walked forward, directly kneeling on both knees, and bowed to Zhang Ruochen in salute.
Among cultivators, kneeling on one knee was a ritual of respect, but kneeling on both knees was for servants.
One could say that with Lian Xi's current status, performing a double-knee kneeling ceremony was utterly humiliating.
The one forcing her to do this was not Zhang Ruochen, but Shang Hong.
This hatred she could only suppress deep in her heart, not daring to show the slightest hint.
Although Shang Hong was not a god of the Radiant Divine Temple, his influence in the Paradise Realm was enormous. He had countless friends in the Radiant Divine Temple, and with just one word, he could sentence her to death, or even reduce her back to a slave.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Great Palace Master is at least a first-rate leader of the secular world of the Radiant Divine Temple. How can she debase herself like this? Heavenly Grandson, why does this poor Daoist completely fail to understand what you're saying?"
Shang Hong was surprised and asked curiously, "The Ice King's son and that Rakshasa Clan ancestral realm's realm venerable have already taken advantage of the chaos to escape. But Blood Butcher, the disciple of Destiny Temple's Feng Tian, is still locked inside. Daoist Ruochen came to the Divine Prison—could it be that it wasn't to save him?"
"Of course not! By the way, this poor Daoist is called Qing Pingzi. Heavenly Grandson, do you have a memory impairment that prevents you from remembering clearly?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Shang Hong's gaze turned icy cold.
Zhang Ruochen continued, "This poor Daoist only went in to inspect because I discovered that the Divine Prison's divine patterns and formations had been damaged. Blood Butcher is still locked inside!"
"Is that so? Is he really still locked inside, and not hidden in the Daoist's Divine Realm World?"
Although Shang Hong was sixty to seventy percent certain, he ultimately lacked absolute confidence. If he couldn't find solid evidence, no one on the Xufeng Divine Ship would believe him and suspect Qing Pingzi.
Instead, there would be no place for him on the Xufeng Divine Ship.
With Wu Yue not dead and the Human Skin Lantern having escaped, leaving the Xufeng Divine Ship would be extremely dangerous. The Darkness Temple would vent all their anger on him.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Heavenly Grandson wants to inspect this poor Daoist's Divine Realm World? To prove my innocence, I don't mind losing face, and I won't resist. But I'll have to do it in front of all the Wind Clan gods. Whether they will agree to such an offense from the Heavenly Grandson, I wouldn't know. After the offense, if Blood Butcher isn't found, the Heavenly Grandson should know the consequences, right? I wonder if the Heavenly Grandson's combat power can surpass the Clear Sky Sword King?"
Shang Hong's three pairs of eyes all stared at Zhang Ruochen. How could he be intimidated by these threatening words?
The reason he had directly performed the Three Corpses Separation was because he knew Zhang Ruochen's combat power was formidable. But no matter how strong, he couldn't kill all three corpses with one sword.
Moreover, between him and Zhang Ruochen knelt Lian Xi.
Once a great god made a move...
Although Shang Hong didn't think Zhang Ruochen cared about Lian Xi's life or death, it would still be somewhat useful. As long as it made Zhang Ruochen hesitate for just a moment, Shang Hong could seize the initiative.
"Haha! How would this Lord dare to inspect the Daoist's Divine Realm World? Actually, just entering the Divine Prison for a look would also provide an answer." Shang Hong was more than fifty percent certain that Zhang Ruochen had already rescued Blood Butcher and hidden him in his Divine Realm World.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Fine, the Heavenly Grandson, please."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so agreeable, Shang Hong hesitated, worried that there might be a deadly trap set inside.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If the Heavenly Grandson doesn't dare, he can have the Great Palace Master go in and inspect."
"I am willing to go."
Lian Xi was about to rise.
"Kneel!"
Shang Hong shouted lightly, pressing down with his divine might, forcing Lian Xi to kneel heavily again. A pained expression appeared on her beautiful face.
Zhang Ruochen's face showed no fluctuation.
The Shang Hong standing in the center stepped forward and laughed, "No matter how calm a person is, when it comes to the final moment, they will still fight to the death. But there are still a few people on the Xufeng Divine Ship more powerful than the Daoist."
Shang Hong had already walked to Zhang Ruochen's side, glanced at him, and was about to enter the Divine Prison.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen struck Shang Hong's chest with lightning speed.
The two were originally close. Although Shang Hong was on guard, Zhang Ruochen's attack was incredibly swift. His hand was like a dragon's claw, carrying the force of mountains and seas. With just one strike, he caved in Shang Hong's divine body, sending him flying into the air.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen's palm pressed downward, pulling Shang Hong's flying divine body back and slamming it heavily to the ground.
"Rumble!"
The ground of Shang Hong's own Divine Realm World sank violently, splitting apart. Divine rule patterns surged upward, while his divine body exploded, turning into shattered flesh and broken bones.
The two Shang Hongs standing in the distance were not alarmed but delighted. It really was him.
He had finally been unable to hold back and made his move.
The two Shang Hongs each unleashed a divine ability.
One was a seal, the other a finger technique.
The seal technique unleashed divine radiance for ten thousand miles, flames forming a five-fingered giant hand, mobilizing half the power of the Divine Realm World.
The finger technique pointed out, manifesting the shadows of thousands of divine beasts—golden-winged rocs, nine-clawed divine dragons, purple-feathered divine luan... mobilizing the power of the remaining half of the Divine Realm World.
Shang Hong naturally couldn't fight Zhang Ruochen head-on.
Therefore, while unleashing his divine abilities, he dispersed his Divine Realm World, intending to attract the Wind Clan gods and Xuanyuan Qing, exposing Zhang Ruochen's true face.
Lian Xi knelt between Zhang Ruochen and the two Shang Hongs. She was originally a pawn used by Shang Hong to restrain Zhang Ruochen. Now that Shang Hong was unleashing his divine abilities, how could he care about her life?
When a great god makes a move, a single wisp of energy could crush her to death.
Seeing that she was about to die under Shang Hong's divine abilities, her heart was filled with sorrow. This was her fate. What was the Great Palace Master of the Judgment Hall? Before the gods, she was no different from a grain of sand.
If they wanted you to die, you died.
"This poor Daoist is here!"
Just then, she slightly raised her eyelids and saw Qing Pingzi's figure standing beside her, towering like a mountain. He held the Qing Ping Sword and slashed horizontally, with the momentum to swallow mountains and rivers. One sword broke Shang Hong's seal and finger techniques.
"Shang Hong, you go too far. This poor Daoist will slay you today."
Zhang Ruochen sensed that the Wind Clan gods and Xuanyuan Qing had arrived and would be there in an instant, but he did not flee. Instead, like a ferocious demon god, he attacked one of Shang Hong's divine bodies with his sword.
"Bang! Bang!"
He struck three swords with lightning speed, broke through Shang Hong's divine sea, and shattered his divine soul into pieces.
The last Shang Hong was finally terrified. How could he have imagined that Zhang Ruochen was so powerful?
Earlier, when he had broken Zhao Wuyan's divine source with one sword, he had only thought it was because Zhao Wuyan was careless and underestimated his opponent.
Even when Zhang Ruochen had slain the Clear Sky Sword King and extracted his divine source, he had thought it was because the Clear Sky Sword King's spiritual will had been broken and he was already Wu Yue's puppet, not comparable to a true Taiyi peak great god.
Only when he actually fought Zhang Ruochen did he realize how terrifying this child was. He didn't use divine abilities, but every sword's power was no different from a divine ability.
He had already lost two divine bodies. If the third divine body was also destroyed, then even if the Heavenly Court gods arrived in time, he would inevitably suffer severe damage to his vitality, and who knew how many years it would take to recover.
"Stop!" A sharp shout rang out.
Xuanyuan Qing was about to go crazy. What she least wanted to see was these two fighting.
Zhang Ruochen did not stop. He raised his sword with both hands and slashed down. A green lotus condensed from sword qi rushed up into the sky, sending Shang Hong's last divine body flying.
"Shua shua."
The green lotus exploded, turning into tens of millions of sword qi, piercing through Shang Hong's divine body. Divine blood splattered, turning into bones and flesh paste.
Xuanyuan Qing swung the Radiant Divine Sword, blocking Zhang Ruochen's sword aimed at Shang Hong's divine source, and pushed him back. "Qing Pingzi, you've gone too far!"
How could she not be angry?
Zhang Ruochen had dug a pit for her, causing the Wind Clan and Radiant Divine Temple gods to all point their fingers at her.
Although this was within her expectations, Zhang Ruochen's instigation had intensified the conflict between the two sides to the point of being as incompatible as fire and water.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen had appeared at the Divine Prison. Even using a strand of hair to think, she knew what he was doing.
Lawless, utterly lawless.
But even so, she still did not call out Zhang Ruochen's real name.
Zhang Ruochen's hair stood on end with rage. "It's not that this poor Daoist is excessive, but Shang Hong is ambitious and wolf-hearted. He released Blood Butcher, the disciple of Destiny Temple's Death Divine Venerable. No matter who comes today, this poor Daoist must kill this traitor."
"Pfft!"
Shang Hong, who had just condensed his divine body, heard this and directly spat out a mouthful of divine blood, so angry that he almost exploded again.