Chapter 3886: Choice
Only someone like Qishier Pin Lian could, in an intangible manner, plunge Xiao Hei, whose spiritual power had reached the eighty-fifth rank, into an unconscious state.
This was undoubtedly a show of force aimed at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen quickly calmed his emotions, his eyes filled with an unyielding will in the face of adversity.
"Did the Heavenly Mother not travel with you?" Qishier Pin Lian asked.
Zhang Ruochen responded calmly, "Are you testing me?"
"When you first heard my voice, you were clearly tense, immediately circulating divine qi and mobilizing your spiritual power—an instinctive reaction to danger. After seeing me, you suppressed all those distracting thoughts and feigned ease, undoubtedly trying to appear unafraid and backed by something, to make me hesitate to act. If the Heavenly Mother were with you, you would never have reacted so flusteredly."
Her voice was as melodious as a nightingale, like a young girl whispering sweet nothings.
But every word struck at the weakness in Zhang Ruochen's heart, like knives and swords, dissecting him sentence by sentence.
Zhang Ruochen thought his performance had been relatively composed, yet she called it "flustered"—this was undoubtedly using words to undermine his confidence, to make him feel greater fear, to the point of losing the courage to strike.
Zhang Ruochen could smell the fragrance from her hair carried by the wind, as light as a lotus flower. He said, "I didn't expect that someone who has reached your level of cultivation would still be so afraid of the Heavenly Mother. And why are you so lacking in confidence? You've already unfolded the Nether Realm, yet you still think you can't keep me here? This isn't our first time dealing with each other. With your decisiveness, if you were absolutely certain, you wouldn't be wasting words with me."
Zhang Ruochen deflected and countered, returning the verbal assault of Qishier Pin Lian's momentum.
The stars scattered, and a dark blue Nether Sun hung in the void.
The Santu River below had vanished, replaced by the Nether Realm of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
The Nether Soil stretched endlessly, like a prison of darkness.
Contrary to Zhang Ruochen's expectations, Qishier Pin Lian did not argue but admitted frankly, "You're right. In this world today, there are only a handful of people I fear, and the Heavenly Mother is one of them. But with your current cultivation, you should know that even a Half-Ancestor of this era would find it no easy task to keep a Heavenly Venerable-rank being here."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is that so? Wasn't Beixi kept here?"
"If Panyuan hadn't acted, Beixi might not have been trapped," Qishier Pin Lian said.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power had already spread out, permeating the Nether Realm. "Where is Yuansheng?"
Qishier Pin Lian did not turn around nor answer Zhang Ruochen's question. She said, "The men of the Kunlun Realm Zhang Clan are indeed all sentimental fools. You're already at death's door, yet you still care about a mere strange beast."
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen activated the Imperial Talisman he had hidden in his hand, and dense talisman patterns erupted from his body, forcibly constructing a small talisman world within the Nether Realm.
This was both to guard against a sudden attack from Qishier Pin Lian and to create distance from her.
But the distance could not be widened; Qishier Pin Lian remained standing before his eyes.
Any talisman patterns that approached her dissolved into specks of light.
"The Imperial Talisman holds immense power against those in the early and middle stages of Indestructible Infinite, but using it before a Heavenly Venerable-rank is meaningless. If I wanted to take it, it would be effortless."
Qishier Pin Lian turned around. Her skin was as delicate and moist as a lotus petal, and her clear, limpid eyes held no impurities. It was hard to imagine that such a dignified and holy woman, like a Bodhisattva, possessed a heart as venomous as a demon's.
Her lips were crystal clear, as if they could drip with water, as she walked amidst the talisman light. "In the Sword God Temple, you saw the Supreme Darkness, didn't you?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "What I saw was no Supreme Darkness, but the source of evil."
Qishier Pin Lian asked, "What do you think of the Supreme Darkness's strength?"
Zhang Ruochen involuntarily recalled the terrifying power of the dark and eerie being. He could not lie, saying, "Very strong. Perhaps even stronger than the Half-Ancestors of this era."
"It is merely a tiny fragment of the Supreme Darkness. When it emerges in its complete form, no power in this universe can stand against it," Qishier Pin Lian said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I understand. You've come to seize that black hand of the dark eerie being."
"What I want is far more than that," Qishier Pin Lian said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You also want my life?"
"Yes, that was the plan before. But now, I've changed my mind. One generation has its own grudges. The grudges of our generation should probably be left in the past. After all, you've already reconciled with the White Clothes Valley. You are indeed somewhat different from the rest of the Kunlun Realm Zhang Clan."
Zhang Ruochen sensed no killing intent from Qishier Pin Lian, but the more this was the case, the less he dared to let his guard down. He said, "Your praise makes me suspect you have ulterior motives."
Qishier Pin Lian's eyes were clear, and she said softly, "You will never know what kind of torment the Withering Death Art inflicts, so you cannot understand my hatred for that generation. Do you know that because of the Withering Death Art's attack, my mother and I were nearly defiled by a group of evil cultivators who weren't even gods? My elder brother returned in time and slaughtered them all. That was when I swore I would make the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable and Ling Yanzi pay the most painful price."
"I sympathize with your suffering. I have also witnessed the pain of Juemiao's Withering Death Art attack. But the one you should hate more is the perpetrator who cast the curse," Zhang Ruochen said.
Qishier Pin Lian looked up at the Nether Sun in the sky. "Yes, that's why I've told you so much. You must understand that all the tragedies were caused by the one who cast the curse—including the annihilation of the Kunlun Realm Zhang Clan and the death of Xumi."
Zhang Ruochen laughed mockingly. "How do you manage to wash your hands of everything and feel not a shred of guilt?"
Qishier Pin Lian's gaze instantly turned cold. "Do you know that before me now lie two choices."
"That has nothing to do with me," Zhang Ruochen said.
"They both concern you."
Qishier Pin Lian continued, "Because I won't kill you now. Someone else will."
"The remnant soul of the Life Ancestor?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Exactly."
Qishier Pin Lian said, "If you beg me, I can help you kill him. You absorb the remnant soul of the Life Ancestor, and your cultivation will soar, making you an important ally. I also need you to activate the Earth Cauldron to achieve a breakthrough in my own cultivation."
"I see. Those aren't your two choices; they are my two choices."
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "What if I choose not to beg you?"
Qishier Pin Lian said flatly, "I will capture you and personally deliver you to him, thereby forming the most stable alliance with him."
"To fight together against the one who cast the Withering Death Art?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Qishier Pin Lian stared at Zhang Ruochen. Patterns of order spread from the green lotus mark on her brow. "I have said all I need to say. You may take your time to consider."
"No need to consider. I'll give you my answer now."
Zhang Ruochen said, "From the very beginning, you've been attacking my mind, searching for cracks in my heart, trying to force me to submit to you. Do you think that slaughtering all the descendants of the Kunlun Realm Zhang Clan is no longer enough to satisfy your inner hatred? Only by making me submit to you can you find greater solace?"
"Go on," Qishier Pin Lian said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You didn't attack me directly for several reasons. First, you feared the Heavenly Mother might be traveling with me, that I might be bait to lure you out. Second, you were testing whether the battle between the three Half-Ancestors and the dark eerie being had ended."
"Third, you were probing me to learn the strength of the dark eerie being, because you yourself don't know."
"Fourth, and most importantly, do you really think that with just a mere doppelganger of yours, you can keep me here?"
Zhang Ruochen completely overcame his fear of Qishier Pin Lian. He activated the talisman light of the Imperial Talisman, formed a sword finger, and thrust it straight at Qishier Pin Lian before him.
"Crack, crack!"
The patterns of order shattered continuously.
Qishier Pin Lian raised her right arm, her pale, jade-like palm striking out, colliding with the talisman light sword finger.
"Boom!"
She flew backward, crashing through the railing of the divine ship, and hovered in the void dozens of zhang away, bathed in the light of the Nether Sun.
The hand struck by the talisman light sword finger had turned a five-colored hue.
Undoubtedly, this was a doppelganger refined from a five-colored clay figurine.
Zhang Ruochen's heart tightened. He hadn't expected Qishier Pin Lian to have refined even a doppelganger to such a powerful level, able to withstand his strike without being destroyed.
The gap between himself and a Heavenly Venerable-rank was too great.
"How did you see through that this is a doppelganger?" Qishier Pin Lian said calmly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If the Heavenly Mother hasn't appeared, how would your true body dare to show itself? If the Heavenly Mother alone might need considerable effort and time to keep you here, but with my and Feng Tian's help, could you escape the Santu River region?"
Qishier Pin Lian nodded. "As expected of the future Primordial Ancestor of the Kunlun Realm Zhang Clan—brave and resourceful. Since you see it so clearly, you should understand that my doppelganger is this powerful because my true body is not far away, allowing divine power and rules to flow through. Since the Heavenly Mother is not here, my true body has no more concerns."
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood this principle. He raised his hands above his head, palms together, transforming himself into a sword.
"Whoosh!"
His body shot upward like a streak of light, straight into the sky.
If he could break through this Nether Realm, the power would spread outward, and soon all the strong beings of the Hell Realm would sense it. Then, Qishier Pin Lian would have no choice but to retreat.
This was Zhang Ruochen's only chance to survive today.
Qishier Pin Lian waved her finger lightly, and the Nether Sun hanging in the void instantly shifted, crashing toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom!"
Billions of talisman lights exploded from Zhang Ruochen's body. His form was sent flying sideways, all his sword momentum shattered.
"Though my true body has not yet arrived, the Nether Sun and the Nether Realm are real," Qishier Pin Lian said. "You made the wrong choice. I can only choose the Life Ancestor now."
"Boom!"
Ripples spread across the sky above the Nether Realm, as if struck by a heavy blow.
Qishier Pin Lian narrowed her eyes, glaring coldly upward. "Feng'er, are you sure you want to be my enemy?"
She swept her sleeve, and a rift thousands of miles long tore open in the sky above the Nether Realm.
A radiant phoenix silhouette appeared above the rift.
Feng Tian's figure stood at the center of the phoenix silhouette, then dove downward, releasing pieces of divine artifact war weapons, attacking various positions of the Nether Realm.
"Use the Thunder Clan's Primordial Ancestor Realm to counter the Nether Realm. Seize the initiative in space first."
Zhang Ruochen hadn't expected Feng Tian's emotions to spiral so out of control upon seeing Qishier Pin Lian, charging straight in. So he offered this reminder.
Then, he immediately took out the Heavenly God Chain, mobilized the divine qi within him, and swung it out.
The divine qi flowed along the chain toward the Universe Cauldron and the black hand, activating the Myriad Forms Formless Seal.
(Chapter End)