Chapter 701: Desperate Counterattack
What appeared to be a simple claw strike, yet to Zhang Ruochen, it felt as if the sky had collapsed, pressing down upon him, rendering his entire body immobile.
"Is this the power of a Half-Saint?"
Zhang Ruochen's Saint Qi was suppressed by Qi Hong's Saintly Might, unable to circulate through his meridians.
The power of his Spiritual Power could still be used, but even if he mobilized it to cast a spell, he certainly couldn't escape from a Half-Saint. It was better to temporarily conceal his Spiritual Power cultivation and wait for another opportunity to seek survival.
Qi Hong's claw landed on Zhang Ruochen's left shoulder, tearing off the Meteor Invisibility Cloak.
The force contained in that claw broke through Zhang Ruochen's protective Saintly Gang Qi, sending him flying more than ten zhang away.
With a bang, Zhang Ruochen's body smashed through the trunk of an ancient tree and fell into a pile of dead leaves.
With that move, Qi Hong's main goal was to seize the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, not to kill Zhang Ruochen. Even so, the residual power emanating from his claw had severely injured Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen felt his entire body turn ice-cold, a layer of white frost covering his skin, freezing him so badly that he could only tremble on the ground.
The flesh on his left shoulder was torn and bloody.
Intense pain spread through most of Zhang Ruochen's body. He could clearly sense a surge of cold energy entering his meridians from the wound on his left shoulder, freezing all the true qi in his body.
Qi Hong held the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, a greedy expression in his eyes. He kept stroking it with his hand and exclaimed in admiration, "Marvelous! Truly marvelous! No wonder a brat with your cultivation could escape from that altar—it's because you possess such a precious treasure."
The Meteor Invisibility Cloak was also of great help to a Half-Saint. Once he put it on, Qi Hong was confident he could escape even from a Saint.
"Who... who exactly are you? Why did you... break into that... altar?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Qi Hong glanced at Lin Yue on the ground, revealing a sneering smile, and said in a sinister tone, "Actually, I had no idea that such a massive altar was built within Ancient God Mountain. I followed you inside the altar."
"You... you were tailing me?" Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised.
But soon, he let it go.
If a Half-Saint wanted to tail him, it would indeed be an easy task.
However, it was rare for a Half-Saint to tail a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator.
A cold murderous intent flashed in Qi Hong's eyes, and he smiled cruelly, "I wasn't just tailing you; I was going to kill you. You should understand why I want to kill you, right?"
"Just because I defeated Qi Feiyu and angered the Qi Clan, the Qi Clan wants me dead?" Zhang Ruochen probed.
"The Qi Clan? Hmph! It's because your existence has interfered with my sect's plans."
"What plans?" Zhang Ruochen pressed.
"Of course..."
Qi Hong realized he had let something slip and swallowed the rest of his words, laughing, "Trying to pry information out of me? With your petty cleverness, you dare to play mind games with a Half-Saint? You really don't know how to spell 'death.'"
"But honestly, your skills are indeed impressive. I considered sending my subordinates to kill you before, but I vetoed it every time. Do you know why?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Because none of them could kill me."
Qi Hong nodded, "Exactly. Your strength is truly formidable. Unless a Half-Saint acts personally, no one else sent would have absolute certainty of killing you."
"Hiss!"
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and struggled to stand up from the ground.
Qi Hong put on the Meteor Invisibility Cloak and, seeing Zhang Ruochen get up, showed a hint of surprise in his eyes. "You took my 'Profound Ice Soul-Severing Claw' and can still stand? Are you really only at the fifth change of the Fish-Dragon Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen's body was covered in white frost, his bones and muscles stiff, but he still tried to straighten his spine and laughed, "If I remember correctly... the Profound Ice Soul-Severing Claw is... a martial technique of the Demon Sect. You are... a Sword Bearer of the Sword Pavilion—where did you learn... this technique?"
Qi Hong sneered, spreading his hands in a relaxed manner, "So what if you recognize it? You'll be a dead man soon anyway."
"Swish!"
Qi Hong took a step forward, directly executing the "One Step, A Thousand Miles" movement technique. In an instant, he appeared before Zhang Ruochen and struck a palm at the top of his head.
Xiao Hei, hidden in Zhang Ruochen's sleeve, grabbed the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and was about to immediately open the spatial gate to the Scroll World.
But Zhang Ruochen pushed him back.
Qi Hong was a formidable existence even among Half-Saints. Before he and Xiao Hei could enter the Scroll World, Qi Hong would likely have already seized the Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
Moreover, even if they escaped into the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, it would be like hiding in a dead end.
Even if Qi Hong couldn't refine it, couldn't he present the Cosmic Divine Wood Map to the Qi Clan's patriarch?
With the foundation of a medieval aristocratic clan like the Qi Clan, refining the Cosmic Divine Wood Map would certainly not be difficult.
By then, Zhang Ruochen would still be dead.
"Don't you want to know the secret of that altar? To tell you the truth, I came to the Liangyi Sect specifically to investigate it," Zhang Ruochen said.
Qi Hong's palm stopped, and he said imposingly, "Speak! What exactly is the secret of that altar? And which side are you from?"
"Is this your negotiation attitude?" Zhang Ruochen laughed.
Qi Hong's gaze darkened, and he was about to make Zhang Ruochen suffer, but he glanced behind him, sensing someone approaching.
"I'll let you live a little longer for now. I'll deal with you slowly later."
Grabbing Zhang Ruochen, Qi Hong activated the power of the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, and he vanished from the spot, shooting out of the Kuiwu Forest at an extremely fast speed, flying out of the Liangyi Sect's mountain gate.
About half an hour later, Qi Hong, carrying Zhang Ruochen, left the Liangyi Sect's sphere of influence far behind and stopped at a desolate small mountain.
With a Half-Saint's speed, half an hour was enough to cover a vast expanse of territory.
"What a treasure robe! It's doubled my speed. With its help, even a Saint probably can't do anything to me," Qi Hong said, gently stroking the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, growing even more fond of it.
Then, he threw Zhang Ruochen to the ground, his smile fading, and said, "Speak! What secret is hidden in that altar?"
Zhang Ruochen just smiled and didn't reply.
Qi Hong also smiled, but more sinisterly, "Brat, will you tell me willingly? Or should I use some extreme methods to dig the secrets out of your mind myself?"
In the past half hour, Zhang Ruochen had been circulating the "Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture," dissolving most of the cold energy in his body.
However, Zhang Ruochen still pretended to be unable to move, stalling for time while speaking weakly, "Fine, I'll tell you. But why are you standing so far away? Don't you want to know the secret of that altar?"
"You'd better not try any tricks. It won't do you any good," Qi Hong said coldly.
A mere Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator—no matter how much he struggled, what waves could he make?
Qi Hong didn't think Zhang Ruochen could threaten him at all, so he confidently walked over and stopped just three steps away from Zhang Ruochen.
"Why are you so scared? Don't you dare come closer?" Zhang Ruochen said.
A three-foot-long ice sword condensed in Qi Hong's hand, and he said, "If I come any closer, I'll chop off your head and use a soul-searching secret technique to extract past memories from your Martial Soul. That kind of method is utterly agonizing. Are you sure you want me to come closer?"
Zhang Ruochen snorted coldly, sat up from the ground, and took the opportunity to move a bit closer to Qi Hong, saying, "I can tell you, but actually, the altar on Ancient God Mountain was built by order of Empress Chi Yao. It's not just at the Liangyi Sect; identical altars have been built in the other four domains of the Kunlun Realm and various ruins realms."
Qi Hong was clearly captivated by Zhang Ruochen's words, showing a shocked expression. He couldn't help but take a step forward and quickly asked, "Why did Empress Chi Yao build these altars?"
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Qi Hong's feet, revealing a faint, ambiguous smile, and said, "That's because..."
Just as he spoke halfway, he took out a black pill from his sleeve and threw it at Qi Hong.
"Bang!"
The black pill exploded, forming a cloud of black evil qi that enveloped Qi Hong's body.
Even though Qi Hong deployed his Saint Light Domain, he couldn't defend against it. Wherever the black evil qi touched his skin, it immediately corroded it.
"What is this?" Qi Hong said in panic.
The black evil qi contained a terrifying deathly power, easily penetrating his skin, entering his blood and meridians, and beginning to devour his life force.
The black evil qi was the death evil qi from within the Azure Fire Xuanwu.
The Azure Fire Xuanwu had been suppressed at the bottom of the sea by the Sin Sea Pillar for a hundred thousand years, so its Saint Blood had naturally become tainted with the death evil qi of the Sin Sea Pillar.
When Zhang Ruochen refined the Xuanwu Saint Blood, he also separated the death evil qi from the Saint Blood and gave it to Xiao Hei to refine into pills, intending to use them against Half-Saint-level enemies.
Of course, a Half-Saint's speed was extremely fast; upon detecting danger, they would immediately flee.
If Zhang Ruochen hadn't deliberately feigned weakness and lured Qi Hong close, even with the pills made from death evil qi, it would have been very difficult to harm him.
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(To be continued.)