# Chapter 481: Undying Blood Clan
Pei Ji's face revealed a cold smile: "I should be asking you the same question. Who exactly are you? To be able to manipulate space, to perform space distortion and space tear."
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "If you can catch me, I'll tell you."
"You really think that just because you can control the power of space, I can't deal with you? You want to know who I am? I'll tell you now."
Pei Ji spread his legs apart, circulating his energy. Immediately, the blood within his blood vessels began to flow rapidly, making a rushing sound.
Gradually, Pei Ji's skin turned completely blood red.
His entire skeleton protruded outward.
The fingernails on all ten fingers became sharp claws, and two pointed fangs grew from his mouth.
"Whoosh!"
Two bulges grew on his back, fully extending into a pair of enormous blood wings.
Seeing Pei Ji's true form, Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and said, "You are actually a member of the Undying Blood Clan."
"Haha! That's right, the Undying Blood Clan indeed." Pei Ji laughed.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If I remember correctly, eight hundred years ago, all members of the Undying Blood Clan were exiled by Emperor Ming to Chiji Island, and Emperor Ming also sent people to seal Chiji Island. How could there still be Undying Blood Clan members remaining in the Kunlun Realm?"
The members of the Undying Blood Clan were not truly immortal; rather, they could absorb human blood to extend their lifespans.
Ordinary people only lived to be sixty or seventy years old.
But as long as the Undying Blood Clan could absorb enough human blood, even ordinary members could live up to two hundred years. Legend had it that some of the stronger members of the Undying Blood Clan, by absorbing enough sacred blood, could even live for a thousand years.
Back then, Emperor Ming exiled them to Chiji Island, far away from the Kunlun Realm, precisely because he didn't want to see too many innocent people drained of their blood to death.
Unexpectedly, eight hundred years had passed, and the Undying Blood Clan had appeared again.
Pei Ji laughed, "You know quite a bit. It doesn't matter if I tell you. Our Undying Blood Clan has already broken the seal on Chiji Island. Soon, we will return to the Kunlun Realm. When that time comes, we will naturally settle the accounts from eight hundred years ago with the Bright Hall."
Zhang Ruochen snorted coldly, "You think you can oppose the Bright Hall? You don't know your place."
"Just a mere Bright Hall? Do you think it's still the Sacred Bright Central Empire of those days? Even if the Sacred Bright Central Empire hadn't been destroyed by Empress Chi Yao, as long as Emperor Ming is gone, our Undying Blood Clan could still bring it to ruin." Pei Ji laughed wildly.
"Whoosh!"
After transforming into his Undying Blood Clan true form, Pei Ji's speed increased significantly. In the blink of an eye, he flew above Zhang Ruochen's head, swung the Dragon Pattern Emerald Water Sword, and slashed downward.
After clashing swords with Pei Ji, Zhang Ruochen immediately turned and fled into the distance again.
"Haha! You can't escape!"
Pei Ji flapped his blood wings, laughed loudly, and quickly caught up to Zhang Ruochen, slashing out another sword strike.
With no other choice, Zhang Ruochen had to engage Pei Ji again.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two tangled together, exchanging sword strikes at incredible speed.
With each move, countless sword energies were released. Some sword energies flew into the sky. Others slashed toward the ground.
At the same time, their body movements constantly changed, forming over a dozen afterimages.
After twenty-three exchanges, Zhang Ruochen was struck by Pei Ji's fist and sent flying backward.
On Pei Ji's fist were five Blood Hand Gold Rings, which left five bloody holes in Zhang Ruochen's lower abdomen. Blood continuously flowed from the holes.
However, Zhang Ruochen had the Dragon Pearl protecting his body, so the five holes were not deep, and he hadn't suffered internal injuries.
"Again with the power of space, you dodged it." Pei Ji snorted coldly.
His earlier punch had been aimed at Zhang Ruochen's heart, but Zhang Ruochen had dodged the vital area, leaving only five bloody holes in his lower abdomen.
"Come again."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes darkened. Using his Sword Heart Illumination, he controlled the Abyssal Ancient Sword and executed the Flying Sword Art. The Abyssal Ancient Sword transformed into a beam of sword light and flew toward Pei Ji.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen raised both arms and rapidly unleashed a series of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm strikes.
"Wild Elephant Charging the Ground."
"Flying Dragon in the Sky."
"Dragon-Elephant Returning to the Field."
"Dragon-Elephant Shadow."
"Elephant Power Ninefold."
"Divine Dragon Tribulation."
After unleashing six palm strikes in succession, Zhang Ruochen once again activated the power of the Dragon Pearl. His body was covered by a layer of golden dragon scales, and a pair of golden dragon wings grew from his back.
"Whoosh!"
Spreading his wings, Zhang Ruochen also took flight.
Zhang Ruochen multitasked, controlling the Abyssal Ancient Sword to execute sword techniques and pin Pei Ji down. At the same time, he mobilized his spiritual power to summon bolts of lightning to attack Pei Ji.
"Zhang Ruochen has both cultivated Sword Heart Illumination and is a spiritual power master. If I fight him at long range, I'm at too great a disadvantage. I must close the distance and finish this quickly."
Thinking this, Pei Ji folded his wings and quickly landed on the ground, charging rapidly toward Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing Pei Ji approaching rapidly, Zhang Ruochen flapped his dragon wings and flew into the distance, not giving him a chance to get close.
And so, the two continued their chase, one after the other.
Zhang Ruochen used the Flying Sword Art and lightning power to keep Pei Ji at bay from a distance, preventing him from getting close.
No one knew how long they had been fighting when they charged into a strange forest.
In the forest grew all black giant trees. The thinnest ones were as thick as a water bucket, while the thickest required several people to wrap their arms around.
The tree trunks were covered with dense green vines, like spiderwebs, connected one to another.
As soon as he charged into the forest, Zhang Ruochen sensed something was wrong. When he tried to retreat, Pei Ji had already caught up. So he could only steel himself and continue charging deeper.
"Whoosh!"
A vine as thick as a wrist flew up from the thick layer of fallen leaves, like a python, wrapping around Zhang Ruochen's feet and dragging him forward.
"Break!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword let out a sword cry, flying down from above and slashing, cutting the vine.
But just as Zhang Ruochen stood up, all the vines in the forest began to move rapidly, making a "shua shua" sound.
"Not good!"
"Not good!"
Both Zhang Ruochen and Pei Ji's expressions changed as they realized they had charged into a place they shouldn't have.
They stopped fighting and simultaneously spread their wings, charging toward the sky.
Just then, the black giant tree beside them, standing seventy zhang tall, seemed to come alive. A huge mouth grew on its trunk, emitting a voice: "Foolish humans, you entered the Black Wood Plains and still think you can leave?"
One of the black giant tree's thick branches turned into a giant hand, striking down on Pei Ji's head, sending him crashing back to the ground.
Another branch of the black giant tree swept toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen immediately executed a Space Displacement, leaping forward, passing through the branch, and soaring into the sky. He quickly reached a height of a hundred zhang, narrowly escaping the black forest.
"So this is the Black Wood Plains."
Zhang Ruochen had seen the markings for "Black Wood Plains" on the map. It was one of the most dangerous places in the Wood Essence Ruins Realm.
The Black Wood Plains was home to a large number of the Wood Essence Ruins Realm's indigenous inhabitants, the Black Wood Tree Spirits, also known as "Black Wood Tree Men."
What Zhang Ruochen and Pei Ji had just encountered was a thousand-year-old Black Wood Tree Man, with strength comparable to a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator. In the Black Wood Plains, a thousand-year tree man could mobilize large amounts of wood-attributed spiritual energy, unleashing terrifying power.
Even a cultivator at the second transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm would find it difficult to escape from a thousand-year tree man.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen saw the thousand-year tree man below collapse with a loud crash.
"Pei Ji's strength is formidable. He actually cut down the thousand-year tree man."
Zhang Ruochen didn't linger and immediately flew away.
Before long, Pei Ji emerged from the Black Wood Plains, covered in dust and dirt. Not finding Zhang Ruochen, he sniffed the air and soon caught a faint trace of lingering scent.
"Zhang Ruochen, you can't escape!"
Following the scent Zhang Ruochen had left behind, Pei Ji flapped his blood wings and flew into the sky.
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew Pei Ji would pursue him.
So after flying a hundred li away, he landed back on the ground, plunged into a large river with a splash, using the water current to wash away the scent on his body.
Once underwater, Zhang Ruochen entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, took a healing pill, and immediately began rapidly circulating the "Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture."
"Pei Ji's strength is too great. I can only defeat him by breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position."
Zhang Ruochen healed his injuries while assaulting his realm.
The Time-Space Crystal sank to the riverbed, carried downstream by the current.
"Whoosh!"
Pei Ji folded his wings and descended from the sky, standing by the riverbank. He glanced at the rolling river and frowned. "He jumped into the water. This makes tracking difficult. In that case, I'll go deal with Ao Xinyan first. Since Zhang Ruochen saved her life twice in a row, if I capture her, Zhang Ruochen will surely show himself."
Pei Ji left the river and retraced his steps, going to track Xiao Hei and Ao Xinyan.
At this moment, Xiao Hei had already taken Ao Xinyan a thousand li away and was resting temporarily in a tree hollow.
Ao Xinyan slowly woke up. As soon as she moved her arm, it pulled at her wounds, sending a tearing pain through her chest and abdomen.
"Ah..."
Ao Xinyan's face was pale, and all the muscles in her body twitched. She immediately began circulating her true qi to heal, but found that most of the meridians in her body were severed, making it impossible to complete even one full cycle.
Now, she was almost a cripple.
"How... how could this... be..."
Ao Xinyan's heart was filled with terror, as if the sky had fallen. She fell into despair.
Tears flowed from her eyes as she wept bitterly.
For a martial artist, especially a genius among martial artists, to suddenly become a cripple was more painful than death itself.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded in her ear, "Three ribs broken, lung pierced, heart damaged, seventeen meridians severed. Tsk tsk! To survive such severe injuries, you really do have a half-dragon body."
Ao Xinyan struggled to open her eyes. Before her appeared a huge cat face.
Her upper garment had been undone by the fat cat's two claws, the clothes parted to both sides, covered in blood.
Xiao Hei was staring at her wounds with his big, round eyes, as if studying something.
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