Chapter 550: The Iron Pillar at the Bottom of the Sea
The Earthfire Qilin was enormous, its wings spanning a full seventy zhang when spread, burning with destructive flames that seemed to turn the very seawater into magma.
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
The Ruins Realm warriors and Red Cloud Python Drakes that had failed to escape were caught by the Earthfire Qilin. Without even a single scream, their bodies ignited and turned to ash in an instant.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen was also overtaken by the Earthfire Qilin, the distance closing rapidly as the beast’s claws were about to seize him.
Zhang Ruochen’s fingers brushed over his Space Ring, retrieving the sacred decree given to him by Xuanji Saint Master. He gripped it tightly.
"Whoosh!"
He channeled his true qi into the sacred decree.
Immediately, strands of white sacred qi emanated from the decree, swirling around Zhang Ruochen and coalescing into a phantom image of Xuanji Saint Master, radiating a vast sacred aura.
The phantom of Xuanji Saint Master stood three zhang tall, shining with white light, overlapping with Zhang Ruochen’s body.
Seeing the phantom, the Earthfire Qilin sensed a powerful fluctuation of energy. It paused briefly, a look of wariness crossing its features.
When a sacred decree was unleashed, it was as if a Saint had arrived in person—enough to intimidate the world and force all beings to kneel in worship.
However, each sacred decree carried a different power.
To temper Zhang Ruochen, Xuanji Saint Master had imbued this particular decree with only the power of speed. If Zhang Ruochen encountered danger he couldn’t withstand, he could channel his true qi into the decree and instantly teleport ten thousand li away.
Of course, if Xuanji Saint Master had wished, he could have given Zhang Ruochen a decree bearing a Saint’s full power. But that would have only harmed Zhang Ruochen, offering no benefit.
Once a person possessed overwhelming external strength, would they still strive to cultivate?
"Whoosh!"
With the sacred decree’s power enhancing him, Zhang Ruochen felt divinely aided. Transforming into a streak of white light, he shot toward the bottom of the trench, escaping the Earthfire Qilin’s attack in an instant.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen reached the trench’s floor ahead of Black Bone Serpent King and Lidi Monk, landing on a layer of hard stone slabs.
Logically, the temperature at the bottom of the sea should have been very low.
But the water at the base of the Blood Spring Trench was scorching hot, like standing in a boiling cauldron of oil. Only cultivators who had reached the second transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, achieving the "Skin Forged to Gold" stage, could withstand such heat.
Back then, Huang Shenyi had likely relied on some treasure to reach this place.
Following Zhang Ruochen’s instructions, Huang Yanchen, Ao Xinyan, and Orange Moon Star Envoy had already arrived at the trench’s bottom earlier, thus escaping the Earthfire Qilin’s flames.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen descend, they immediately rushed over and gathered around him.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Have you found the Black Tortoise inheritance site?"
Huang Yanchen’s expression was grave. "We’re standing on the back of the Black Tortoise’s corpse right now."
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had been too busy fleeing to observe the seabed environment. Hearing Huang Yanchen’s words, he carefully surveyed his surroundings.
Not far away stood an iron pillar three zhang in diameter, like a sea-calming divine needle, embedded deep into the stone layers of the seabed, rising hundreds of zhang into the water.
Such a massive iron pillar—how many tens of thousands of jin must it weigh?
The pillar had been submerged in water for who knows how many years, its surface covered in rust.
Through the rust, one could see eerie, sinister patterns carved into the pillar. Some patterns resembled white bones, others vengeful spirits, and others demonic flowers.
Zhang Ruochen walked over. The moment his fingers touched the iron pillar, a surge of deathly, overwhelming energy flowed through his fingers into his body.
"Woo-woo!"
Instantly, the cries of countless evil spirits and dead souls echoed in Zhang Ruochen’s mind. Vivid, bloody images surfaced as a mass of malevolent energy, like black ink, began corroding his martial soul.
Just then, the imprints of the gods on the walls of Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea lit up, like light breaking through darkness, expelling the overwhelming evil energy from his body.
Zhang Ruochen jerked his hand back as if shocked, retreating two steps. His face showed astonishment. "Such terrifying deathly evil qi! If not for the gods’ imprints, I might have turned into a mindless monster."
In that moment, Zhang Ruochen felt as if the iron pillar had dragged him into a sinister world.
There, he saw bone creatures as massive as mountains, a blood-red eye flying across the sky, and countless black souls emerging from an abyssal pit, forming a dark cloud of ghosts.
That world was like the legendary Hell Realm.
Huang Yanchen’s eyes grew dazed. Unconsciously, she also approached the iron pillar, slowly reaching out her hand.
"Don’t touch it. It’s an evil artifact."
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Huang Yanchen’s wrist and pulled her away from the pillar.
Huang Yanchen snapped back to reality, her eyes clearing. She said, still shaken, "That iron pillar can affect my mind. What is it?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly.
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
Xiao Hei extended a claw and scraped the pillar, peeling away rust to reveal three golden scratches.
Unfazed by the evil energy, he said, "This is a war weapon." Then he added, "It doesn’t seem to come from the Kunlun Realm."
"Why not from the Kunlun Realm?" Orange Moon Star Envoy asked.
Xiao Hei glanced at her and said calmly, "Because the forging method is different. War weapons from the Kunlun Realm are based on inscription patterns. But this pillar has no inscriptions—it uses a different forging technique."
Xiao Hei pressed both claws against the pillar, channeling all his strength to try to pull it out.
But no matter how much force he used, the pillar didn’t budge.
"Damn thing. Even a Half-Saint might not be able to lift it." Xiao Hei withdrew his claws, stepping back two paces, panting heavily.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen channeled his true qi into his leg and stomped down, cracking the thick stone layer.
Rocks fell away, revealing the Black Tortoise’s shell beneath.
The Black Tortoise’s body was immense, its shell alone spanning over ten li. If it stood on land, it would be a mountain.
When all the stone layers around the Black Tortoise’s body had shattered, everyone saw that the iron pillar had pierced through the Black Tortoise’s back, nailing it to the bottom of the trench.
The blood springs of the Blood Spring Trench were actually the blood flowing from the Black Tortoise’s body, dyeing the seawater red for hundreds of li.
Everyone was stunned by the sight, unable to speak for a long time.
Zhang Ruochen frowned. "It’s not a pure-blooded ancient divine beast Black Tortoise, but a descendant—a Green Flame Black Tortoise. Still, given its size and the aura it emits, if it were alive, it could probably tear a Saint apart."
"Such a powerful Green Flame Black Tortoise—what kind of being could have killed it?"
Xiao Hei said, "Probably the owner of that iron pillar."
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Black Tortoise’s back is its strongest defense. For that pillar to pierce through its back from above, how powerful must its owner be?"
"You said the pillar’s forging method differs from the Kunlun Realm’s artifact-making techniques. But as far as I know, the forging methods of various Ruins Realms are very similar to the Kunlun Realm’s, with no major differences."
"So, which Ruins Realm did the pillar’s owner come from?"
"The one who killed this Green Flame Black Tortoise must be an incredibly terrifying powerhouse. Even among upper-tier Ruins Realms, it would be rare to produce such a being, let alone the Kunlun Realm."
Zhang Ruochen had a bad feeling. The sinister world that had appeared in his mind earlier might actually exist. The pillar’s owner might have come from there.
If so, it meant that within this vast universe, there was another great world as powerful as the Kunlun Realm. Perhaps it was even stronger and more terrifying.
Because cultivators from that world had already reached the Kunlun Realm’s borders, yet the Kunlun Realm’s cultivators hadn’t discovered their world’s location.
In an instant, countless thoughts raced through Zhang Ruochen’s mind. The more he thought, the more terrified he became. His body felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar, chilling him to the bone.
"It must be my imagination. There are so many Ruins Realms around the Kunlun Realm—it’s normal for a sinister little world to exist."
"This Black Tortoise died who knows how many years ago. If there really were a great world stronger than the Kunlun Realm, it would have launched a large-scale invasion by now. We would have seen signs of them."
Zhang Ruochen tried to convince himself to calm down.
Before he could think further, a blaze of firelight pressed down from above, making the seawater scalding hot.
The Earthfire Qilin chased Black Bone Serpent King and Lidi Monk, charging downward rapidly.
Feeling the immense power from above, Huang Yanchen, Ao Xinyan, and Orange Moon Star Envoy’s faces turned pale, as if crushed by a ninefold mountain. They nearly fell to their knees.
The power of a Half-Saint was beyond what they could withstand.
"Let’s go. Hide inside the Black Tortoise’s body," Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhang Ruochen could sense that the Black Tortoise’s inheritance was inside its body.
There were only two entrances to the Black Tortoise’s body: its eyes.
The Black Tortoise’s eyeballs had long since rotted away, leaving only two black eye sockets, each over ten zhang high, leading into the body. They were deep and dark, with no bottom visible.
Streams of Black Tortoise qi, like multicolored waterfalls, flowed from the eyes, merging into the seawater and vanishing.
Standing at the Black Tortoise’s left eye, Zhang Ruochen looked down. He saw that the iron pillar had pierced straight through the Black Tortoise’s body, exiting through its belly and plunging into the magma beneath.
Below the Black Tortoise’s body lay a boiling lake of red magma. Red Koi Beasts, as if responding to some signal, surged out of the magma and attacked Zhang Ruochen and the others.