Chapter 348: A Half-Saint Arrives
The demon heart fell into the Tongming River, and with his heart lost, Di Yi did not immediately die. However, the vitality of a saintly body was far stronger than ordinary martial bodies could compare. Di Yi lay in the water, his eyes staring at the clear blue sky, gradually becoming hollow and lifeless.
“I... actually... lost... completely lost...”
Di Yi had always harbored an unshakable belief in victory, never having been defeated since childhood. Now, that belief within him was shattered. Even if his demon heart had not been torn out, he would have been nearly crippled.
Zhang Ruochen, holding the blood-drenched Abyssal Ancient Sword, silently watched Di Yi lying in a pool of blood, making no further move. With his heart gouged out, Di Yi would not live much longer.
“Woo woo!”
At that moment, a patch of black clouds appeared, covering the entire sky and blotting out the blazing sun hanging in the mid-heavens. The entire Death River section was plunged into darkness, with not a trace of light visible. The only sounds were the lapping of water and the ever-strengthening wind.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly looked up, staring at that expanse of black clouds, sensing a terrifying force rapidly approaching.
“What’s happening? Why has the sky gone dark?”
The lower-realm martial artists all panicked, hastily pulling out light-attributed spirit crystals and holding them in their hands to illuminate their surroundings. The higher-realm martial artists, however, wore grim expressions, feeling a dreadful aura hidden behind the black clouds, causing their legs to tremble involuntarily.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, from within the black clouds in the sky, an old man in gray robes stepped out, hovering in the void. He had long gray hair, withered skin, and a purple crescent moon mark appeared on his forehead.
Seeing that gray-robed old man, the Seven Fiend Star Envoys’ faces showed terror, and they simultaneously bowed and said in unison, “We pay respects to Elder Yuanying.”
Hearing the Seven Fiend Star Envoys address the gray-robed elder, the martial artists of the Demon Ridge present were all greatly shocked.
“Could that old man be the infamous Black Market villain, Yuanying?”
“Yuanying? Is he famous?”
Some young disciples had never heard of Yuanying’s name and didn’t find him particularly frightening, so they asked a question.
“Yuanying is an elder of the Black Market’s subordinate force, the Nine Nether City. Do you know the Nine Nether City? You don’t? The Nine Nether City has been passed down for nearly a hundred thousand years, founded in the Middle Ages. It has endured countless generations and still hasn’t perished; instead, it has grown even stronger,” an old man explained.
Hearing this, although the young disciples still didn’t grasp how terrifying the Nine Nether City was, they were stunned by its inheritance time. Someone exclaimed, “So, the Nine Nether City is essentially a Middle Ages evil sect?”
Throughout the entire Eastern Domain, the number of sects and clans that had survived from the Middle Ages could be counted on one hand. Each was a super overlord, and even the First Central Empire would not easily provoke them. Their power and heritage far surpassed those so-called half-saint families and saintly clans.
Being passed down for a hundred thousand years, or even hundreds of thousands of years, was awe-inspiring just to think about.
The top sects of the Demon Ridge, the Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion and the Supreme Clarity Palace, had only been passed down for a few hundred years. Before the Middle Ages aristocratic clans and saintly sects, they were merely minor sects.
Yuanying, as an elder of a Middle Ages evil sect, possessed terrifying personal strength. His personal arrival at the Demon Ridge was undoubtedly a earth-shattering event.
“Yuanying once killed a half-saint, drank his blood, and devoured his flesh. He is extremely vicious. Even in the eyes of Black Market martial artists, he is a demon feared by all.”
“Yuanying single-handedly annihilated a lower-level commandery, turning it into a thousand miles of scorched earth. Countless innocent people died at the hands of this butcher,” Huang Yanchen said through gritted teeth, staring at the gray-robed old man standing in the void.
There were many legends about Yuanying, from killing half-saints to destroying countries and cities. Not just the young disciples, but even the older martial artists, upon hearing that the gray-robed old man was Yuanying, trembled with fear and wanted to flee immediately.
That elder named Yuanying, with a gloomy face, merely swept his gaze over the Seven Fiend Star Envoys before fixing his eyes on Di Yi. “Di Yi, from today’s defeat, have you learned your lesson?”
His voice was vast and distant, descending from the sky into Di Yi’s ears.
Di Yi lay in the bloody water, blood continuously flowing from the gaping hole in his chest. He spoke as if in a dream, “Elder, my demon heart is gone, and I am about to die. Is it still useful to talk about lessons now?”
Elder Yuanying said, “Losing your demon heart may not be a bad thing for you. You were too reliant on the power of your saintly body and demon heart, which is why you suffered today’s defeat. As long as you can awaken, you may yet break through and rebuild in the future.”
Di Yi’s eyes, which had been somewhat hollow, suddenly gleamed with a trace of brilliance. He kept murmuring, “Break through and rebuild... break through and rebuild...”
“Boom!”
Suddenly, Di Yi’s body emitted a dazzling five-colored saintly light. His gaze gradually became firm, and he actually stood up from the water again.
This was an extremely eerie scene—a man without a heart had somehow risen again.
Zhang Ruochen, standing not far away, was slightly startled. “In the midst of death, Di Yi can still stimulate the potential of his saintly body, perfecting his Five Elements Saintly Body. No wonder he is the most outstanding proud son of heaven in the Black Market in a hundred years.”
Seeing Di Yi stand up again, Elder Yuanying nodded with a smile and took out a cold jade box. Opening it, inside was a blood-drenched heart.
“Thump, thump...”
That heart was still beating.
Even from dozens of miles away, the sound of its beating could be heard.
Elder Yuanying said, “Saint Ku Hai calculated that you would face a calamity today and had me rush here to deliver this heart to you.”
“Whose heart?” Di Yi asked.
Elder Yuanying said, “A half-saint from the Martial Market Academy. Two days ago, Saint Ku Hai personally dug it out of his body. With the aid of this half-saint heart, I believe your cultivation will surely advance by leaps and bounds.”
With these words, Elder Yuanying lifted the blood-drenched heart and thrust it into Di Yi’s chest. As Elder Yuanying’s palm pushed forward, a mass of blood-red radiance emanated.
When the blood light faded, Di Yi’s chest had regrown flesh, enveloping that half-saint heart.
“I... I have not died after all. From now on, I will become even stronger.”
Di Yi’s gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen, intending to fight him again to wash away his shame. But as soon as he took a step, a sharp pain shot through his chest. That half-saint heart beat with a “thump, thump” sound, as if trying to leap out of his body.
Elder Yuanying said, “The half-saint heart has only just entered your body; you have not yet refined it. So, you cannot casually fight with anyone for now.”
Di Yi suppressed the intense pain in his chest and said, “Elder, Zhang Ruochen possesses the Dragon Relic. We must capture him and refine the Dragon Relic from his body.”
“Oh!”
Elder Yuanying’s eyes lit up, and he immediately fixed his gaze on Zhang Ruochen.
Just a single glance from Elder Yuanying fell on Zhang Ruochen, and it felt like two great mountains were pressing down on him, suffocating him. His blood seemed to freeze, and his muscles, bones, and meridians felt as if they were about to be crushed.
“Yuanying, if you dare harm Zhang Ruochen, the saints of the Martial Market Academy will surely take your life.”
Lei Jing and Chen Ying simultaneously burst forth at their fastest speed, charging toward Zhang Ruochen to rescue him.
Elder Yuanying let out a “cackling” laugh. Across the void, he waved his hand, and a massive true qi palm condensed, sending Lei Jing and Chen Ying flying.
Lei Jing and Chen Ying each spat out a mouthful of blood, their bodies emitting a “crackling” sound of shattering. Most of the bones inside them had broken.
Fortunately, their cultivation was strong; otherwise, that single strike would have split their bodies into two clouds of blood mist.
Before Elder Yuanying, even Fish-Dragon Realm martial artists were like ants, utterly powerless.
“You think you can save someone? Don’t you know your own strength?”
Elder Yuanying’s voice turned fierce, his killing intent surging. “Today, aside from the Black Market martial artists, everyone else must die.”
Elder Yuanying landed on the water, waving his arm. The waters of the Tongming River churned, raising waves dozens of meters high, overturning all the ships in an instant.
The martial artists from various sects all fell into the water.
“Everyone, flee! The old demon Yuanying is about to go on a killing spree!”
“Run for your lives!”
...
All the martial artists swam desperately in the water, fleeing into the distance.
“Hehe!”
Elder Yuanying let out a sinister laugh. He stomped his foot into the water, sending a surge of cold energy spreading from his foot, freezing the river into ice. The ice layer extended far into the distance.
All the martial artists who had fallen into the water were sealed in the ice, unable to move.
The entire world seemed to fall silent in an instant.
Aside from the Black Market martial artists, only Zhang Ruochen remained standing on the water, unfrozen. It wasn’t because his strength was sufficient to resist the cold, but because Elder Yuanying didn’t want to freeze him.
Elder Yuanying walked up to Zhang Ruochen, his old face like a vengeful spirit, clearly appearing before Zhang Ruochen. He smiled and said, “By rights, you are just a young lad of over ten years. For me, an old man, to strike at you would indeed be beneath my dignity. But since you possess the Dragon Relic, that’s a different matter. You can only blame yourself for obtaining something you shouldn’t have... Hmm...”
Elder Yuanying let out a soft exclamation and looked toward the horizon.
In the distance, a patch of blue saintly clouds flew over.
Within the saintly clouds, a sword qi pierced through heaven and earth, tearing through the black clouds. A beautiful palace-dressed woman with an ancient sword on her back flew out. She didn’t look old, appearing to be about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with a tall figure, sapphire-blue hair, and a cold, proud expression on her face.
Landing on the ice, she didn’t head toward Elder Yuanying. Instead, she walked to a nearby ice pillar and looked at Huang Yanchen, who was sealed inside. A softness appeared in her eyes, and she let out a gentle sigh.
If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would have noticed that the woman outside the ice and the woman inside the ice bore a striking resemblance to each other.
However, the woman outside the ice was slightly more mature. Though she looked young and beautiful, her true age was far beyond twenty-something.
That palace-dressed woman extended a finger and pointed at the ice pillar.
“Whoosh!”
In an instant, the ice melted, revealing Huang Yanchen’s body.
Not only that, but with the palace-dressed woman as the center, the ice rapidly melted, spreading into the distance. Soon, the ice within a hundred miles completely dissolved, turning back into a stretch of water.
The power emanating from her body was not the true qi cultivated by ordinary martial artists, but saintly qi.