Chapter 421: Attacking the Evil Wood Palace
Zhang Ruochen’s voice was hoarse as he chuckled, “Perfect timing. Brother Masheng, why not open the sacred formation now?”
Masheng Dharma King shot a glance at the distant “Long Ze,” a hesitant look on his face. A nagging sense of dread gnawed at him. He said, “Before the Palace Lord departed, he instructed that the sacred formation must not be opened until his return. I’m afraid Brother Longze will need to wait a few more days…”
Zhang Ruochen’s aura shifted, a chill emanating from him as if he were angered. He snorted coldly, “Brother Masheng, you still doubt me? Do you truly believe I must throw in my lot with the Evil Wood Palace? Fine, then. I have no desire to live under another’s roof. I’ll go pledge myself to the Sacred Water Hall instead.”
“Brother Longze, wait.”
Masheng Dharma King furrowed his brow, hesitating for a moment. He thought to himself, *I can’t let Longze leave like this. He and the demon ape are a tremendous asset to the Evil Wood Palace.*
*Perhaps it’s just that the Evil Wood Palace has lost too many experts lately, making everyone jumpy.*
With this thought in mind, Masheng Dharma King finally gave the order, “Open the sacred formation at once. Welcome Dharma King Longze into the Evil Wood Palace with the highest honors.”
Hearing this, a satisfied smile crept across Zhang Ruochen’s face, hidden beneath the black hood.
Masheng Dharma King had no choice but to make this decision. After all, the Evil Wood Palace had lost two Dharma Kings in succession. If Longze and the demon ape joined their ranks, they could fill the void left by Green Wood Dharma King and Ancestral Heart Dharma King.
“Rumble!”
The sacred formation began to close, and Fissure Y Mountain shook violently. After a long moment, it gradually settled.
“Welcome, Dharma King Longze.”
Except for Masheng Dharma King, all the other mages knelt on one knee, gripping their crystal divine staves with one hand and pressing the other to their left chests, bowing to Zhang Ruochen.
The demon ape strode on thick legs through the mountain gate of the Evil Wood Palace.
“Brother Longze, welcome to the Evil Wood Palace,” Masheng Dharma King said with a smile.
“Hehe!”
Zhang Ruochen let out a sinister chuckle.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew, sweeping back the hood from Zhang Ruochen’s head as he sat on the demon ape’s shoulder, revealing a youthful face.
Seeing that face, Masheng Dharma King froze, losing focus for a single instant.
In that instant, with a *shing*, the Purple Thunder Sword flew from the storage ring on Zhang Ruochen’s finger, trailing a lightning-like sword tail, and pierced straight through Masheng Dharma King’s chest.
“Pfft!”
A bowl-sized bloody hole appeared in Masheng Dharma King’s chest. His internal organs were shredded by the sword energy. His eyes bulged as he gasped his last words, “Who… are… you…”
Then, with a *thud*, he fell stiffly backward.
A Dharma King had fallen.
The Purple Thunder Sword arced gracefully through the air before flying back into Zhang Ruochen’s hand.
Zhang Ruochen fixed his gaze on the formation’s core. Sword in hand, he leaped into the air, channeling all his true qi into the blade. The inscriptions within the sword surged forth, transforming into dozens of thick purple lightning bolts that coiled around the sword like electric dragons.
“Break for me!”
Zhang Ruochen struck down with all his might, aiming at the formation’s core.
“Boom!”
The sword energy shattered the ground, tearing a long gash and severing several of the most crucial inscriptions of the sacred formation.
At the same time, the formation unleashed a powerful counterattack. An inscription flew up from beneath the earth, gathering the world’s spiritual energy to form a cyan long spear that shot toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen immediately activated the power of the Dragon Pearl, forming a golden halo around his body.
“Boom!”
The cyan spear pierced through Zhang Ruochen’s protective celestial shield in an instant, then slammed into the defensive barrier of the Dragon Pearl.
The golden barrier trembled violently, as if it might not hold against the cyan spear.
*This is strong—must be residual power left by a Half-Saint.*
Zhang Ruochen’s expression shifted. Knowing he couldn’t withstand that force, he immediately executed a spatial displacement, shifting ten zhang to the side.
The moment he moved, the cyan spear shattered the Dragon Pearl’s barrier, passed through his afterimage, and flew onward.
The cyan spear struck a massive palace in the distance, its immense force causing the building to collapse into rubble. A deep crater appeared on the ground.
The destructive power was enough to make anyone shudder.
*Thank goodness I mastered spatial power. Otherwise, even if I destroyed the sacred formation, I wouldn’t have escaped death,* Zhang Ruochen thought, letting out a long breath.
Clearly, the founder of the Evil Wood Palace had left a hidden trap when setting up the formation. Anyone who damaged it would be killed by that inscription.
Now that the formation was broken, he could signal the students to attack the Evil Wood Palace.
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen condensed his true qi and pointed a finger toward the sky.
Instantly, a cyan beam shot from his fingertip, soaring into the heavens.
At the foot of the mountain, Si Xingkong saw the cyan pillar rising into the sky and grinned. Raising his arm, he shouted, “Zhang Ruochen has broken the sacred formation! Everyone, follow me up the Evil Wood Palace and wipe out those natives!”
Over forty students unleashed their movement techniques at lightning speed. In moments, they reached the mountain gate of the Evil Wood Palace and engaged the mages in battle.
After sending the signal, Zhang Ruochen immediately rushed toward the mountain peak. A celestial eye emerged on his brow as he began searching for the Purple Cloud Agarwood.
*The Purple Cloud Agarwood is the Evil Wood Palace’s greatest treasure. Even the Palace Lord, Skeleton Remnant Dharma King, wouldn’t carry it on him. It must be stored in some secret place within the palace.*
Using his celestial eye, Zhang Ruochen could see mineral veins hundreds of zhang deep underground, making it easy to locate the Purple Cloud Agarwood.
Soon, he discovered an underground palace within the Evil Wood Palace. Finding the entrance, he broke through the formations and arrived before the door of that subterranean hall.
*This should be the place.* Zhang Ruochen stood with his sword horizontal, walking toward the stone door.
“Roar!”
A beastly roar echoed.
A massive cyan double-winged serpent-dragon, lying outside the underground palace, awakened. Its body was enormous, covered in scales, with a head like a lion’s, exuding a chilling, bloody aura.
An Abyssal Lion Serpent—a fifth-rank lower-level savage beast, with strength comparable to a Fish-Dragon Second Change expert. It was the Evil Wood Palace’s guardian divine beast.
The Abyssal Lion Serpent bared its fangs and spat out a cloud of poisonous mist, attacking Zhang Ruochen.
A foul wind swept in, lifting Zhang Ruochen off the ground. But with his profound cultivation, he remained composed, executing a spatial displacement to evade the serpent’s attack.
The serpent persisted, launching another assault.
“Roar!”
The demon ape charged in from outside, slamming a fist into the serpent’s head, sending it flying into the stone door of the underground palace.
The entire underground palace shook with the impact.
The demon ape’s cultivation was at the peak of Fish-Dragon First Change, just a hair’s breadth from breaking through to Fish-Dragon Second Change. Moreover, it had cultivated a Water Spirit Treasure Body, making its true strength a notch above the Abyssal Lion Serpent’s.
While the demon ape fought the serpent, Zhang Ruochen unleashed a “Space Rift,” tearing apart both the protective formation and the stone door of the underground palace.
A three-meter-high, one-meter-wide crack appeared beneath the stone door, like a small entrance.
Zhang Ruochen’s body flickered as he slipped through the crack into the underground palace.
The moment he entered, a dense wave of wood-attribute spiritual energy surged toward him like a tide. Every pore greedily absorbed it, as if he had reached the Fish-Dragon First Change realm of “Innate Fetal Breath.”
Of course, that was just an illusion. His current level was still far from “Innate Fetal Breath.”
However, having refined a large amount of Black Water Liuli Crystal in the past, his physique was close to a Water Spirit Treasure Body.
In the Five Elements, water and wood nurture each other.
Thus, the wood-attribute spiritual energy automatically flowed into his body, mimicking the state of “Innate Fetal Breath.”
On the stone walls of the hall were over a hundred wooden compartments. Some held precious crystal divine staves, while others contained Purple Cloud Agarwood.
Zhang Ruochen opened all the compartments, finding that forty-five of them held Purple Cloud Agarwood. Some pieces were large, weighing dozens of jin; others were small, only two liang.
In total, the Purple Cloud Agarwood weighed about two hundred and forty jin.
*Purple Cloud Agarwood can be used not only to cultivate a Wood Spirit Treasure Body but also to refine pills and forge weapons. Even a single jin would fetch a high price back in the Kunlun Realm.*
Overjoyed, Zhang Ruochen unceremoniously collected all forty-five compartments into his storage ring.
As for the crystal divine staves, he had no interest and didn’t even glance at them.
When Zhang Ruochen emerged from the underground palace, the demon ape had already crushed the Abyssal Lion Serpent’s head and swallowed it whole, beginning to refine it.
The demon ape stood motionless.
Black demonic light surged from its body, forming a cloud of mist. Over time, its aura grew stronger and stronger.
*Oh? Is it trying to refine the Abyssal Lion Serpent and break through to Fish-Dragon Second Change?*
The demon ape’s cultivation was already infinitely close to Fish-Dragon Second Change. By refining the serpent and absorbing its essence and blood energy, it might very well break through.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen had planned to seize the Purple Cloud Agarwood and leave the Evil Wood Palace immediately, avoiding a direct confrontation with Skeleton Remnant Dharma King.
After all, with his current strength, he was still no match for Skeleton Remnant Dharma King.
But if the demon ape could break through to Fish-Dragon Second Change, its power would increase dramatically, possibly enough to fight Skeleton Remnant Dharma King.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes showed a contemplative look. *Even if the demon ape breaks through to Fish-Dragon Second Change, it’ll only be at the initial stage. It certainly can’t contend with a seasoned expert like Skeleton Remnant Dharma King.*
*But… if I give the demon ape some of the Purple Cloud Agarwood to refine, its strength will skyrocket. Even if it can’t cultivate a Dual Spirit Treasure Body, it should be able to fight Skeleton Remnant Dharma King.*
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly, a plan forming in his mind.