Chapter 703: The Void Sword's Response
After destroying Qi Hong's doppelganger, Zhang Ruochen immediately charged into the ancient ruins behind him. Now, only this path offered any chance of escaping Qi Hong's pursuit.
Entering the ancient ruins might mean nine chances of death and only one of life.
But facing Qi Hong meant certain death—ten chances of death with no chance of life.
The deeper Zhang Ruochen rushed into the ancient ruins, the more he realized how eerie this place truly was. Not only was there no fluctuation of spiritual energy, but an invisible force enveloped him, causing his hearing and vision to rapidly deteriorate. Even his body gradually grew numb.
Even Xiao Hei had his tail and ears standing on end, clearly extremely tense.
"What's going on?"
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen stopped, retrieved the Void Sword from his space ring, and gripped it in his hand.
"Clang!"
The Void Sword trembled lightly, light continuously emerging from its surface.
Zhang Ruochen sensed that within the Void Sword, something like a life force was slowly awakening. Each flicker of the sword's light was like a heartbeat.
"Could the sword spirit of the Void Sword be awakening?"
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised. Why would the Void Sword's sword spirit show signs of awakening at this moment?
The Void Sword was Qiangu Nüdi's personal blade, a supreme sacred artifact. If the sword spirit fully awakened, the sword's power would also be restored.
How powerful would a supreme sacred artifact be?
Xiao Hei was even more excited than Zhang Ruochen, all his fur standing on end. "This is strange! The Void Sword had no reaction anywhere else, but the moment we entered these ancient ruins, it starts flashing with sword light. Could it be that its master is inside these ruins?"
"The Void Sword's master, Qiangu Nüdi?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Even a supreme Great Saint only has a lifespan of three thousand years. Qiangu Nüdi was a powerhouse from the medieval era. No matter how high her cultivation, she couldn't possibly still be alive."
Cultivating to the Great Saint realm in the Kunlun Realm allowed one to be titled Emperor or Empress.
The Nine Emperors and Three Empresses from eight hundred years ago were also at the Great Saint realm.
However, after Empress Chi Yao ascended the throne, even if an unparalleled genius cultivated to the Great Saint realm, they could no longer be titled Emperor or Empress. In all of Kunlun Realm, only she could be the sovereign.
Xiao Hei's emotions were highly excited, completely forgetting they were being hunted. "A Great Saint naturally couldn't survive from the medieval era to now, but Qiangu Nüdi could—because she once killed a god. Even the current number one of Kunlun Realm, Empress Chi Yao, could she kill a god?"
"If Qiangu Nüdi were still alive, how could her personal sword have been lost?" Zhang Ruochen shook his head and continued forward, but he became more cautious.
Xiao Hei had no retort and sighed.
Zhang Ruochen said, "However, Yuan Long Half-Saint once said he found the Void Sword in a set of medieval ruins. Perhaps the ruins he mentioned are these very ones."
Xiao Hei's eyes lit up, and he immediately raised his head. "If the Void Sword was found here, then Qiangu Nüdi must have come here, and she might still... not have left."
Xiao Hei turned into a black shadow and rushed forward.
"Why is this cat so excited at the name 'Qiangu Nüdi'?"
Zhang Ruochen thought back carefully and realized that many of Xiao Hei's actions were indeed quite abnormal.
For instance, he was extremely close to Hanxue, who also possessed the Thousand Bone Constitution, obeying her every word. He had even personally taken Hanxue to complete the sacrificial ceremony, helping her obtain the cultivation technique Qiangu Nüdi had practiced, the "Sun God Scripture."
"Xiao Hei was sealed by Xumi Saint Monk a hundred thousand years ago, which puts him in the same era as Qiangu Nüdi. He probably really does have some connection with her." Zhang Ruochen stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.
"Swish!"
Suddenly, a sound of something cutting through the air came from behind.
Zhang Ruochen thought it was Qi Hong catching up, so without thinking, he immediately dashed forward.
After rushing several hundred zhang, Zhang Ruochen stopped and turned around to find nothing behind him. "Could it not be Qi Hong?"
If it were Qi Hong, he would have caught up long ago.
But since it wasn't Qi Hong, could there be other living things inside these ancient ruins?
Zhang Ruochen felt a chill down his back. Taking a deep breath, he fully released his spiritual power, caught up to Xiao Hei, grabbed his tail, and said sternly, "Don't run off. I sense there might be unknown creatures in these ruins. If we encounter them, it might be even more dangerous than facing Qi Hong."
Xiao Hei seemed to sense it too and asked, "What do we do?"
Zhang Ruochen carefully observed the surroundings and saw a stone forest ahead. Squinting his eyes, he said, "Let's hide in the stone forest first."
In the distance, there was indeed a vast, endless forest of giant stones.
But when Zhang Ruochen approached, he realized it wasn't a stone forest at all—it was a graveyard, with tall tombstones standing upright on the ground.
Those tombstones were over ten zhang tall. Due to the passage of time, they were severely weathered, the inscriptions on them blurred beyond recognition.
One tombstone was stained with blood, and beneath it lay three human skeletons. The bones emitted a five-colored liuli light, appearing crystalline and translucent, as if carved from liuli gems.
Clearly, all three had cultivated a liuli body when alive, at least reaching the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon realm, possibly even the Half-Saint realm.
"How did they die here?"
Zhang Ruochen examined the three skeletons on the ground but found no wounds on the bones.
Xiao Hei licked his lips. "This place is quite sinister. It's probably a land of death. We should leave as soon as possible."
"The more dangerous the place, the less Qi Hong will dare to charge in." Zhang Ruochen glanced at the graveyard. "Aren't you well-versed in formations? Why not set up a grand formation first?"
"Right! We can set up a formation before Qi Hong catches up. Then I can use it to slowly deal with him." Xiao Hei laughed.
Zhang Ruochen placed three sacred stones and a large number of spirit crystals from his body into a space ring and handed it to Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei took the space ring, rubbed his two paws together, and charged into the graveyard. He went two hundred zhang deep before stopping to prepare a sixth-level formation specifically for dealing with Half-Saints.
Zhang Ruochen began studying the Void Sword.
Since arriving at this graveyard, the Void Sword's flashing frequency had noticeably increased.
"The Void Sword must be sensing something to change like this. Could Qiangu Nüdi... be buried in one of these graves?"
Zhang Ruochen frowned, looking at the surrounding tombs. It was hard to imagine that a legendary figure might be buried nearby.
If news of Qiangu Nüdi's tomb being discovered spread, the commotion would be astonishing.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed danger and immediately turned around.
From behind, two tombstones weighing hundreds of thousands of jin flew up from the ground and rapidly crashed toward him.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the Void Sword and swung it forward. The sword energy it released split the two tombstones into pieces.
Qi Hong walked out step by step, sneering. "Quick reflexes, but utterly useless. Even if you flee into these ancient ruins, you're still dead."
"Now, just obediently answer my questions, and perhaps I'll give you a quick death, letting you die painlessly."
Zhang Ruochen gripped the Void Sword and took a step back, laughing. "Aren't you skilled in soul-searching secret arts? Why waste words? Just grab me and search my memory—wouldn't that be more convenient?"
Qi Hong didn't answer, only sneered coldly.
"If I'm not mistaken, you don't actually know any soul-searching secret arts, do you?" Zhang Ruochen said calmly.
"Since you insist on provoking me, I'll grant your wish."
A sinister light flashed in Qi Hong's eyes. He formed his five fingers into a claw shape and reached out, instantly condensing a giant evil claw over ten meters long, aiming to capture Zhang Ruochen.
Just as Zhang Ruochen gathered sword energy, ready to fight to the death—
A character "Dao" flew in from the distance.
The "Dao" character was as large as a millstone, carrying a vast surge of sacred qi, and blasted Qi Hong's evil claw into smoke.
The "Dao" character spun in midair, emitting a powerful sacred might, and pressed toward Qi Hong.
"This is..."
Seeing the "Dao" character, Qi Hong's expression changed drastically. He immediately executed a ghost-level martial technique, Cloud-Opening Palm.
Gathering all his sacred qi, Qi Hong struck forward with both palms. Centered on his hands, a circular palm force wave formed, blasting dozens of surrounding tombstones away.
But the "Dao" character's power was even greater. It instantly broke through the palm print and stamped onto Qi Hong's body.
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed from Qi Hong's mouth as he knelt on one knee.
"Such formidable skill—just one character injured a Half-Saint."
Zhang Ruochen was quite astonished. He looked into the distance and saw a white sacred light breaking through the black clouds in the ancient ruins, flying over from afar. It landed on top of a tombstone, condensing into a slender figure.
Every inch of Shengshu Cainü's skin emitted a white sacred radiance. She wore an immaculate white robe, dressed as a woman in man's clothing.
Even so, it couldn't hide her stunning, peerless beauty. Every curve of her body was perfect, her willow waist extremely slender, her legs straight and long.
"Whoosh!"
Shengshu Cainü unfurled her folding fan. The "Dao" character flew up again, transforming into a fly-sized black character that landed on the fan.
Qi Hong quickly scrambled to his feet, clutching his blood-soaked chest, feigning confusion. "Lady Cainü, that Lin Yue kid is highly suspicious. He's a spy sent by another force to Liangyi Sect. I killed him only to clean house. Why did you stop me?"
Shengshu Cainü lightly bit her red lips, her eyelashes fluttering gently as she smiled. "Half-Saint Qi Hong, I followed the trail of your aura all the way from the ancient altar on Ancient God Mountain. Don't tell me the one who broke into the ancient altar wasn't you?"
Qi Hong's expression darkened. He hadn't expected Shengshu Cainü's spiritual power to be so formidable. When he left Ancient God Mountain, he had been extremely careful to erase the aura on his body, yet she still detected a trace.
What now?
Shengshu Cainü had achieved sainthood through spiritual power. Even if his cultivation were ten times stronger, he couldn't withstand a single finger from her. Was he just supposed to wait for death?
Qi Hong was naturally unwilling to accept this. Suddenly, he remembered the death evil qi he had expelled from his body earlier. An idea struck him. He fixed his gaze on Shengshu Cainü again, a malicious smile curling at the corner of his mouth. (To be continued.)