Chapter 3183: Encountering a Quantifier on the Road
After searching for a long time in the Void World, flying hundreds of millions of miles, there was not even a trace of the black seaweed to be found.
Returning to the Real World, he was still on the banks of the Santu River.
The Real World had not changed, but the Void World seemed to have shifted in time and space, and the previously dry riverbed could no longer be found.
"This world truly contains many things I cannot yet understand. The Void World does not seem to be entirely void."
Zhang Ruochen was not worried about Mu Lingxi. At the very least, entering from the Endless Abyss of the Kunlun Realm would be a fixed point.
Not wasting any more time, Zhang Ruochen restrained his aura and used his movement technique to travel downstream. As long as he followed the Santu River, he would surely reach the Hell Realm.
After traveling for three consecutive days, flying who knows how many billions of miles, Zhang Ruochen suddenly sensed a presence.
This presence was very peculiar, not like the corpses and ghosts of the wasteland.
The presence was very faint, yet it carried fluctuations of divine power. If Zhang Ruochen's cultivation were not profound enough and his Wuji Divine Dao not subtle enough, he would never have detected it.
Clearly, it was a god who had restrained their aura!
Driven by curiosity, Zhang Ruochen quietly followed. Before long, on the river surface shrouded in gray deathly aura, he discovered a brightly lit ship.
The ship was a hundred zhang long, gleaming with a purple-bronze luster, and its hull was carved with a picture of ten thousand ghosts.
From the ship came the sounds of song, dance, and laughter, but no living beings or undead could be seen.
Truth radiance appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, penetrating the ship's formations. He finally saw, inside the ship, a gorgeously dressed ghost clan god drinking wine while enjoying a dance performance.
That ghost clan god had a crane's head and was only a mid-rank god.
The dancing women were all young and beautiful, including elves and Rakshasa women.
"Boom!"
A Supreme Sacred Artifact flew out from the wasteland, leaving a trail of blinding light, and struck the ship.
The formation held for only an instant before being pierced through, and the ship exploded into pieces.
The ghost clan cultivators and dancing women on the ship turned into clouds of ghostly mist and blood mist, their souls scattering.
That crane-headed ghost clan god was directly hit by the Supreme Sacred Artifact, his ghostly body shattering into a cloud of black mist.
After all, he was a true god and was not killed.
The black mist quickly recondensed into a crane-headed humanoid form, who angrily shouted, "Who is it? Who dares to attack by surprise? I am the son of Zhouqi Ghost Emperor, Zhou Fang..."
A figure dressed in a black robe rushed out from the depths of the wasteland, his movement technique as fast as an afterimage, appearing instantly on the bank of the Santu River.
Zhou Fang met the black-robed figure's gaze, saw the killing intent in his eyes, felt the powerful divine might emanating from him, and realized something was wrong.
The other party clearly knew his identity and had come specifically to kill him.
Zhou Fang burned his lifespan, his ghostly body enveloped in purple flames, and fled into the distance at great speed, shouting in terror, "This is the Santu River basin. Experts from Fengdu Ghost City will arrive soon. If you dare to kill me..."
"Boom!"
That pagoda-shaped Supreme Sacred Artifact struck again, knocking Zhou Fang to the ground.
His ghostly body exploded, but the ghostly mist was firmly suppressed by the power of the Supreme Sacred Artifact, unable to escape.
After a long while, amidst screams, Zhou Fang's divine soul consciousness was completely obliterated.
The black-robed figure walked over. With a slight movement of his finger, the mountain-sized pagoda-shaped Supreme Sacred Artifact rose into the air, shrank to seven inches tall, and flew into his sleeve.
In the pit blasted out by the Supreme Sacred Artifact, only a Divine Source remained.
After collecting the Divine Source, the black-robed figure took out a bottle of divine blood and poured it beside the pit.
Just as the black-robed figure was about to turn and leave, his body suddenly froze, and he looked at Zhang Ruochen standing opposite him.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was complex. "Uncle Xue Yao, why did you do this?"
The Supreme Sacred Artifact the black-robed figure had used earlier was precisely Xue Yao Divine Lord's Endless Refining Tower.
The black-robed figure wore a mask with the character "Ji" (Quantifier) on it. His eyes gradually regained focus, then turned cold and stern. "You saw everything just now?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "The blood you spilled on the ground just now—whose was it? Who were you trying to frame for Zhou Fang's death? You want to incite the wrath of Fengdu Ghost City!"
"You know too much!" the black-robed figure said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "No, what I know is still not enough. You are a member of the Quantity Organization, aren't you?"
"That's right," the black-robed figure said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Grandfather didn't kill you, probably because he valued the life-and-death friendship you've shared over so many years. For the sake of my friendship with Xue Tu, I can also spare your life. But you must tell me everything about the Quantity Organization."
The black-robed figure's divine light surged. The divine blood flowing within his body made a sound like a rushing river. He transformed into a streak of light and fled at extreme speed.
At such a close distance, how could Zhang Ruochen let a Taiyi Realm Great God escape?
Taking a single step, Zhang Ruochen crossed space and appeared before the black-robed figure, pressing a palm forward.
"Pfft!"
The black-robed figure's abdomen caved in, and the sound of bones breaking came from within his body.
The next moment, strange and profound divine patterns appeared on the black-robed figure's robe. His form became half-substantial and half-illusory, his speed increased tenfold, and he ignored spatial barriers, fleeing into the distance at great speed.
The black-robed figure leaped through space at a speed that startled Zhang Ruochen.
Because even he could not achieve such spatial jumping speed.
Zhang Ruochen pursued with all his might. Although he was somewhat slower, fortunately, his Wuji Divine Dao was extremely sensitive to auras, so the black-robed figure could not shake him off.
He did not know how long he had been chasing when suddenly a golden spear flew out of the void and struck the black-robed figure.
"Pfft!"
The black-robed figure was pierced through the chest by the golden spear and fell to the ground.
An ancient god clad in golden armor grabbed the spear and walked over.
"Stop!"
Zhang Ruochen roared.
Too late!
The golden-armored ancient god thrust his spear down, piercing the black-robed figure's head.
With a loud boom, Zhang Ruochen landed heavily on the ground, creating a crater dozens of meters in diameter. He summoned the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and his battle intent erupted instantly.
He was about to strike, but when he saw the golden-armored ancient god's face, he was slightly stunned. "Yu Ying Ancient God, how is it you?"
Yu Ying Ancient God was deeply trusted by Luoyan Great Emperor and was one of the top experts below the Infinite Realm in the Rakshasa Clan's Tianluo Divine Kingdom. He had once visited Zhang Ruochen on Xinghuantian together with Luo Sha.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen, Yu Ying Ancient God also showed surprise and smiled. "I was wondering who was chasing him. So it's Ruochen Realm Lord. Realm Lord, your cultivation is now so profound, your aura hidden and unrevealed. Even I couldn't sense it was you."
Suspicion appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. "Ancient God, why are you here?"
"That's a long story," Yu Ying Ancient God said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "A long story? Alright. Then, Ancient God, do you know who he is?"
"Xue Yao Divine Lord!" Yu Ying Ancient God said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since you knew he was Xue Yao Divine Lord, why did you kill him? Could it be that you wanted to silence him?"
Yu Ying Ancient God showed a bitter smile. "How could Realm Lord think that? How about this: I'll take you to meet someone. Once you see him, you'll understand!"
Zhang Ruochen did not let his guard down. Yu Ying Ancient God retreated into the distance.
Zhang Ruochen walked over to the black-robed figure and removed the mask with the character "Ji" from his face.
Under the mask was indeed the face of Xue Yao Divine Lord.
Upon careful inspection, there were no signs of a transformation technique.
Yu Ying Ancient God's second spear strike had directly shattered Xue Yao Divine Lord's cranial Divine Sea and crushed his Divine Source.
In addition, there was a thick ghostly aura inside Xue Yao Divine Lord's body, causing his skin to turn black in an extremely short time.
"Realm Lord, be careful. That ghostly aura contains terrifying deathly power, extremely harmful to living beings. I only wanted to shatter his Divine Source to make it easier to extract his divine soul and seize his memories. I never expected such a ghostly aura to be hidden inside his body. Once released, it instantly extinguished all life force, even annihilating his divine soul!" Yu Ying Ancient God said from a distance.
Zhang Ruochen carefully collected a wisp of the ghostly aura and was about to turn and leave when he suddenly noticed something. He looked back at Xue Yao Divine Lord, noting the expression in his eyes at the moment of death. His heart was slightly startled.
After pondering for a moment, he walked back over and waved his hand, closing Xue Yao Divine Lord's eyes.
Yu Ying Ancient God said, "Xue Jue treated him like a brother, yet he joined the Quantity Organization and tried to kill Xue Jue. The Blood Absolute Family suffered heavy losses because of him. A man like that deserves to die!"
Yu Ying Ancient God took off the battle robe draped over his golden armor, wrapped Xue Yao Divine Lord's corpse in it, and led Zhang Ruochen along the Santu River, flying rapidly downstream.
Having escaped even from Xuan Yi's grasp, Zhang Ruochen was now bold and confident. Even though he knew Yu Ying Ancient God was likely very problematic, he still followed.
After flying over a hundred thousand miles, Yu Ying Ancient God and Zhang Ruochen landed on a divine ship hidden on the Santu River.
The ship's protective formations were very sophisticated, especially the concealment formation, which could even fool Zhang Ruochen's perception beyond a certain distance.
Zhang Ruochen calculated. From the place where Xue Yao Divine Lord had died to here, it was exactly one Divine Spirit Step away.
"Boom!"
Yu Ying Ancient God threw Xue Yao Divine Lord's corpse to the ground and clasped his hands in a bow, reporting to the ship: "Divine Mother, the person behind Xue Yao Divine Lord should be Wenhe Ghost Emperor. The deathly ghostly aura of Wenhe Ghost Emperor was hidden inside his body."
The beaded curtain of the divine ship was pushed aside by a hand as white as mutton fat and jade, with slender, long, and soft fingers.
Tianyin Divine Mother's peerlessly elegant figure, accompanied by a fragrant scent, emerged from within.
She looked very much like Luo Sha, tall and beautiful, even appearing to be of a similar age, only with a bit more mature charm.
"Would it be that obvious? Wenhe Ghost Emperor is one of the Five Directions Ghost Emperors of Fengdu Ghost City. Would he expose a flaw so easily?"
Tianyin Divine Mother's voice was magnetic and pleasant, her temperament noble and elegant, yet she did not give off a sense of unapproachable distance. Instead, she seemed very approachable.
Zhang Ruochen had not expected Tianyin Divine Mother to be here. He quickly bowed. "Greetings, Divine Mother."
Tianyin Divine Mother looked at Zhang Ruochen, a smile rippling in her beautiful eyes. She walked over and helped him up. "Ruochen, why are you so formal? You are now the master of Xinghuantian, and your cultivation has reached the level where you can defeat a Tai Xu Great God. In this world today, aside from Divine Kings and Divine Venerables, who can bear such a bow from you?"
Zhang Ruochen took a close look at Tianyin Divine Mother and couldn't help but feel a bit dazzled. Truly, she was a woman of unparalleled charm, no wonder she had captured Luoyan Great Emperor's heart.
Zhang Ruochen immediately stepped back three paces and was about to ask a question.
Tianyin Divine Mother's red lips parted, and she sighed. "Your grandfather let Xue Yao go because he wanted to cast a long line to catch a big fish. But he was too severely injured and needed to find a secret place to heal. So, he sent a message to me, asking me to mobilize the Rakshasa Clan's power to track Xue Yao. Tell me, isn't your grandfather quite capable? He, a Grand Councilor of the Undying Blood Clan, can mobilize me, a Divine Mother of the Rakshasa Clan."
...
I think I can ask for monthly votes again!