Chapter 693: Crisis
“What do you think? With me making a move, not only did I help you kill a powerful enemy, but I also saved your life. Doesn’t that have the style of a true expert?” Xiao Hei laughed.
“Que Jiu was already severely injured; otherwise, with her cultivation level, how could she have been killed by you in a single strike?”
Zhang Ruochen sat on Xiao Hei’s back, looking behind him. Dozens of miles away, a two-hundred-meter-long thousand-legged centipede was surging forward, black poisonous mist billowing from its body as it rapidly gave chase.
However, Xiao Hei’s flying speed was much faster than the centipede’s, and it quickly left it far behind.
“Wu Ba’s strength surpasses Que Jiu’s, but his speed is lacking a bit. He’s not much of a threat.”
Just as Zhang Ruochen breathed a sigh of relief, a patch of crimson clouds suddenly appeared in the sky above. From within those clouds came a dragon’s roar, and then a seventh-order barbarian beast-level Crimson Fire Winged Dragon flew out.
That Crimson Fire Winged Dragon was still in its juvenile stage, far from being comparable to a true seventh-order barbarian beast.
But its body was still enormous, like a small crimson mountain. It spread its scaly dragon wings and swooped down, chasing after Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei from above.
The dragon wings flapped, creating a tremendous wind force, producing a howling gale.
“That demon son of the Demon Sect actually raised a dragon.”
Zhang Ruochen’s brows furrowed tightly. He held the Thunder Pearl in both hands and began to mobilize his spiritual power. Although his physical body was severely injured, he could still use spiritual attacks.
“Just a mere Crimson Fire Winged Dragon. Let me have some fun playing with it.”
Xiao Hei’s cultivation was clearly inferior to the Crimson Fire Winged Dragon’s, yet he was quite excited.
Xiao Hei took the initiative to attack the Crimson Fire Winged Dragon, spitting out a black electric ball from his mouth that struck its head, knocking off a dragon scale beside its eye.
“Roar!”
The Crimson Fire Winged Dragon roared in fury, glaring at Xiao Hei.
A mere fat cat dared to provoke the noble dragon clan?
Was it tired of living?
“An impure-blooded winged dragon dares to bark in front of me? Do you believe I’ll eat you alive?” Xiao Hei stood up, his furry ears perked, revealing two sharp fangs, looking even more arrogant than the Crimson Fire Winged Dragon.
Enraged, the Crimson Fire Winged Dragon spat out a stream of flame, turning into a crimson waterfall of fire that poured down from the sky.
Xiao Hei’s entire body emitted a dark light, and his speed increased even more.
“Thunder Domain.”
Under Zhang Ruochen’s control, the Thunder Pearl emitted streaks of purple lightning, forming a spherical thunder domain that enveloped both him and Xiao Hei.
They crashed through the fiery waterfall, piercing through it and speeding toward the horizon.
The Crimson Fire Winged Dragon chased them to a point just a thousand miles from the Liangyi Sect before receiving a telepathic message from Ouyang Huan, halting its pursuit and immediately turning back.
“If my cultivation were restored, I’d capture it and roast it for dragon meat.” Xiao Hei looked at the retreating Crimson Fire Winged Dragon, somewhat disappointed, and sighed.
“Tonight’s commotion has definitely alerted the Liangyi Sect’s half-saints. We need to be careful and return to the sect quickly.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhang Ruochen landed on the ground, put on the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, and, with Xiao Hei, entered the Liangyi Sect undetected, returning to Zixia Spirit Mountain.
But just as Zhang Ruochen stepped into the small courtyard where he lived, he saw Gai Tianjiao walking out of the house.
Her eyes, bright and sharp, fixed on the masked Zhang Ruochen. “You took too long to come back, didn’t you?”
Zhang Ruochen remained calm and collected, removing the mask from his face with a faint smile. “Since Senior Sister has discovered me, there’s no point in hiding. Lin Yue thanks Senior Sister for saving my life.”
“Whoosh!”
Gai Tianjiao’s palm surged with crimson flames, coiling toward Zhang Ruochen. Her voice was cold. “I’ve never heard of you having such high attainments in spiritual power. A forty-fourth-level lightning-element spiritual master—you’ve truly impressed me.”
Zhang Ruochen knew Gai Tianjiao had begun to suspect his identity, but he remained composed. “Everyone has their trump cards. I naturally wouldn’t reveal all my methods. Does Senior Sister intend to interfere with that as well?”
Gai Tianjiao squinted her eyes. “Why did you leave the sect tonight? And how did you provoke the Moon Worship Demon Sect?”
Zhang Ruochen met her gaze. “Why did Senior Sister leave the sect? And why did you appear there? Whatever your reason, that’s mine as well.”
Seeing no trace of unease in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, Gai Tianjiao frowned and withdrew the flames from her hand. “Xu Changsheng was investigating Qi Feiyu. I followed the marks he left and found that place. What about you?”
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back. “I was also following Qi Feiyu and found that place. By the time I arrived, Senior Brother Xu had already been killed by the Demon Sect. They wanted to silence me, so they attacked.”
Gai Tianjiao’s eyes widened. “You saw Qi Feiyu meeting with the Demon Sect?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “I didn’t see her.”
He added, “Perhaps she had already left by the time I arrived.”
Zhang Ruochen truly hadn’t seen Qi Feiyu with his own eyes, but the fact that both he and Gai Tianjiao had tracked her to discover the Moon Worship Demon Sect’s cultivators couldn’t be a mere coincidence.
Gai Tianjiao’s expression shifted repeatedly, clearly pondering something of great importance.
After a long moment, she turned back to Zhang Ruochen. “Forget everything that happened tonight. Understand?”
“Why? What if Qi Feiyu really is a spy for the Demon Sect?” Zhang Ruochen asked, puzzled.
Gai Tianjiao snorted coldly. “What do you know? Without solid evidence, anyone who brings this up will die. Who is Qi Feiyu? She’s the heir of the Qi Clan. If you say she’s with the Demon Sect, aren’t you implying that the entire Qi Clan is also aligned with the Demon Sect?”
“The Qi Clan is a medieval aristocratic clan with close ties to the Liangyi Sect. Do you know how much influence the Qi Clan has within the Liangyi Sect? Do you know how many half-saints and saints in the Liangyi Sect are members of the Qi Clan?”
“Kid, if you want to live, keep your mouth shut. Someone like you, without any background, even with your talent, the Qi Clan can kill you effortlessly before you become a half-saint.”
With that, Gai Tianjiao turned and left, heading toward Ancient God Mountain.
No matter what, she had to report this to Zangyue Sword Saint first.
As for Lin Yue, Gai Tianjiao didn’t suspect him too much. First, Lin Yue was chosen by Grandmaster Taiyi. With Taiyi’s cultivation and judgment, he shouldn’t have misjudged. Second, Lin Yue was hostile to the Demon Sect. If she hadn’t arrived in time, he might have been killed.
“Qi Feiyu has such immense influence within the Liangyi Sect.” Zhang Ruochen’s eyes showed deep concern.
He had originally thought that holding leverage over Qi Feiyu would allow him to control her.
But after hearing Gai Tianjiao’s words, he realized how naive he had been. The Qi Clan’s power in the Liangyi Sect was too vast. If Qi Feiyu truly wanted to deal with him, she could use any number of methods to make him disappear forever.
Before, she had only admired his talent and wanted to recruit him, so she hadn’t killed him.
But from now on, that might not be the case.
“If I can break through to the sixth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, I can open three saintly meridians. The saintly qi in my body will become much denser, allowing me to maintain my transformation for a full month.”
“Then I can hide in the Sword Pavilion.”
“Even if the Qi Clan’s power is immense, they probably wouldn’t dare to provoke Zangyue Sword Saint easily.”
A sense of urgency gripped Zhang Ruochen’s heart. He immediately entered the Scroll World, took out the Xuanwu Sacred Blood, and began refining it, striving to break through to the sixth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm as soon as possible.
According to Zhang Ruochen’s estimate, he would need to reach at least the half-saint realm to fully digest the Xuanwu Sacred Blood.
The Azure Fire Xuanwu was a creature comparable to a saint king. Its corpse was a massive treasure trove. Falling into Zhang Ruochen’s hands was actually a great waste.
If it had been obtained by a saintly clan or noble family, its value would have been far greater.
In the blink of an eye, three months passed within the Scroll World.
Zhang Ruochen refined three drops of Xuanwu Sacred Blood in succession, breaking through again to reach the late stage of the fifth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
That day, Zixia Half-Saint sent a disciple to inform Zhang Ruochen that he was to participate in the ranking matches of the sword dao competition.
The so-called ranking matches were battles among the top ten cultivators at the eighth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, ultimately determining a ranking order.
The higher a cultivator’s ranking, the higher their status and reputation within the Liangyi Sect, and the more likely they were to shine at the Sword Discussion Assembly.
However, Zhang Ruochen was currently focused on breaking through to the sixth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm. He had no interest in competing for a higher or lower ranking.
Zhang Ruochen left seclusion and personally went to see Zixia Half-Saint to explain his reasons.
Upon learning that Zhang Ruochen wanted to go into seclusion to improve his cultivation, Zixia Half-Saint readily agreed. For a young man, cultivation was still the most important thing. Since Lin Yue had such awareness, Zixia Half-Saint naturally supported him fully.
Of course, Zixia Half-Saint also told Zhang Ruochen that since he was giving up the ranking matches, his ranking at the eighth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm would be at the very bottom, tenth place.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t mind at all.
As he left Zixia Half-Saint’s cave dwelling and walked back to his small courtyard, he overheard a piece of news:
“Xuanji Sword Saint has issued a challenge to Jiuyou Sword Saint for a life-or-death duel on the ninth day of the ninth month at the Sword Pavilion.”
“Life-or-death duel?”
Zhang Ruochen was momentarily stunned, unsure whether this news was true or false.
He understood the meaning of “life-or-death duel”—it meant that one of them would die.
Such a major event required confirmation.
At dusk, Mu Jiji and Xun Hualiu returned to Zixia Spirit Mountain in high spirits. When they saw Lin Yue sitting in the courtyard, they exchanged glances, looking quite surprised.
They immediately walked over.
Mu Jiji, without any formality, sat down across from Zhang Ruochen. “Lin Yue, boss, weren’t you in seclusion? Why did you come out early?”
“It’s not exactly early. I was waiting for you two here.”
Zhang Ruochen glanced at them both, a faint smile on his face. “What happened? Why are you two so excited?”
(Last night, I was writing until three in the morning and was too tired, so I went to sleep first. My apologies. I got up at seven this morning and managed to catch up on the update.
Since the due date is approaching and the baby is about to be born, things are quite busy. The update times over the next week or two might be a bit unstable, but I definitely won’t stop updating, and I’ll try to keep it on schedule. I hope everyone understands.)