Chapter 711: Bet Duel
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Shengshu Cainü and noticed that she remained remarkably calm, without a trace of panic. He secretly wondered, *Could she still have some trump card?*
Qi Qiankun carefully examined Shengshu Cainü. Seeing that she was only wearing a bloodstained Daoist robe, he chuckled and said, "Lady Cainü, you're already severely injured, yet you still put on such a strong front. Aren't you tired?"
Shengshu Cainü's eyes blinked lightly, and she smiled faintly, "You think I'm pretending to be strong?"
Qi Qiankun was very confident. He laughed hoarsely, "If you were at your peak, you wouldn't be hiding in the Corpse River. You'd probably have returned to Liangyi Sect long ago to mobilize forces against the Qi Clan. How could you still be here talking with me?"
Shengshu Cainü nodded, "A sharp analysis. This shows you're a clever man. Unfortunately, clever people are often misled by their own cleverness—just like me. If I hadn't thought I could control everything, I wouldn't have fallen into Qi Hong's trap."
Qi Qiankun squinted his eyes and grinned, "You should know that in this Fallen God Tomb Forest, some of the world's rules are obscured. Even if I kill you, the Empress might never find out."
"In such a hurry to make a move? Qi Qiankun, your patience is far too lacking," Shengshu Cainü said.
"You're trying to stall for time... Hmph, I won't give you a chance to escape."
Qi Qiankun's aura grew even stronger. He raised his sacred wooden staff and struck it against the ground. Instantly, the Taiji imprint spun rapidly, releasing a dense swarm of sword qi—seven to eight thousand strands in total.
"Sword Three!"
Each strand of sword qi condensed into a three-foot-long sword, forming a torrent of sword energy that roared as it flew toward the Corpse River.
Standing on the small boat and looking up, Zhang Ruochen saw the seven to eight thousand sword qi streaks like a meteor shower streaking across the sky, plummeting down with an aura of despair.
"Zhang Ruochen!"
Xiao Hei sent a telepathic message to Zhang Ruochen, signaling him to quickly open the space gate of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and escape inside.
A Saint's strike was something they simply couldn't withstand.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Shengshu Cainü, but saw no fear on her face—only a faint smile, as if she weren't facing death at all.
Could it be...
Zhang Ruochen thought of a possibility and temporarily refrained from using the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, choosing to wait and see.
Suddenly, Shengshu Cainü's arm moved, and the folding fan in her hand unfurled. She swung it forward.
"Whoosh!"
Tens of thousands of characters flew out from the fan, colliding with the seven to eight thousand sword qi strands.
A series of explosions rang out, and all the sword qi shattered.
Shengshu Cainü pressed the fan downward and uttered a single word from her crimson lips: "Suppress."
The characters, imbued with sacred qi, arranged themselves into a scripture and pressed down toward Qi Qiankun.
"Sword Four!"
Qi Qiankun extended a finger and pointed upward.
On the ground, the black-and-white Taiji imprint blazed with light, illuminating half the world in darkness and half in daylight.
From the boundary between night and day, a sacred sword flew out, surging upward with immense sharpness, tearing a rift through the scripture formed by the characters.
Qi Qiankun's figure flickered, flying out through the rift and hovering in midair.
The sacred sword circled once before returning to Qi Qiankun's hand, condensing back into the sacred wooden staff.
The staff was quite flat, with a sharp tip. Without close observation, it was hard to tell that it was actually a sacred sword.
Qi Qiankun was shocked, "You weren't injured?"
Not only Qi Qiankun, but even Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei were surprised, wondering when Shengshu Cainü's cultivation had recovered.
"I was never injured. My spiritual power was merely suppressed by a wave of deathly evil qi, which is why I avoided you. But I've already used some methods to expel the evil qi from my body."
Shengshu Cainü glanced at Zhang Ruochen, noticing the confusion in his eyes, and smiled lightly, "I have you to thank. If you hadn't given me that bell to study, my cultivation might not have recovered yet, and I'd be at their mercy."
Shengshu Cainü took out the purple-black bell, held it in her hand, and shook it.
Inside the bell, a mass of deathly evil qi churned.
That bell could not only absorb cultivators' souls but also deathly evil qi. Who knew where the three-headed dog had gotten it?
Anything capable of absorbing deathly evil qi was certainly no ordinary object, and it might even have some connection to the deathly evil qi itself.
Shengshu Cainü retracted all the characters into her fan and once again faced off against Qi Qiankun, now in full control. "Qi Qiankun, killing me today is absolutely impossible. Once I leave the Fallen God Tomb Forest, it will be the end of your Qi Clan. Care to make a bet with me?"
"How does Lady Cainü wish to bet?" Qi Qiankun asked.
Shengshu Cainü said, "If we two truly fight, it will cause a great disturbance and likely provoke the Ghost King in the Fallen God Tomb Forest. I believe that's something neither of us wants to see."
The Fallen God Tomb Forest was filled with many forbidden things, and even Saints could fall there.
Qi Qiankun naturally didn't want to cause too much commotion, but today, he and Shengshu Cainü were bound to fight—there was no avoiding it.
So, what did she want to bet on?
Shengshu Cainü pointed at Qi Yun and Lin Yue and said, "We can't fight personally, but they can fight in our stead."
Qi Qiankun had naturally taken note of Lin Yue. When his gaze fell on Lin Yue, he revealed a meaningful smile. "Lady Cainü, you're sending a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator to fight against a Half-Saint from our Qi Clan? What exactly are you betting on?"
Qi Qiankun could see that Lin Yue was only at the seventh change of the Fish-Dragon realm.
A Half-Saint could kill a seventh-change Fish-Dragon cultivator without even lifting a finger—just a single burst of sacred might would shatter their organs and make them bleed from seven orifices.
Of course, if Shengshu Cainü wanted to send a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator to his death, Qi Qiankun had no objections.
Shengshu Cainü seemed very confident in Lin Yue. "If Lin Yue wins, you must surrender and return to Liangyi Sect with me to face judgment."
Qi Qiankun sneered coldly, a look of disdain in his eyes. "Making a Saint surrender is impossible."
"Hear me out before you decide."
Shengshu Cainü continued, "If Qi Yun wins, I'll let you leave. At least until the Sword Discussion Assembly, I won't specifically target you. And when the time comes to sanction the Qi Clan, I'll show leniency to the innocent and won't order a complete eradication. How about it? This opportunity comes only once—there won't be another."
Qi Qiankun fell silent.
He knew well that once Shengshu Cainü left the Fallen God Tomb Forest, the Qi Clan would inevitably face sanctions.
The question was the extent of those sanctions.
Would it be the extermination of the entire clan?
Or just the execution of the family elders who knew the truth?
Qi Qiankun let out a dry laugh. "It seems I have no choice. Very well, I'll take this bet with Lady Cainü."
Then, Qi Qiankun secretly sent a telepathic message to Qi Yun: "Subdue Lin Yue as quickly as possible. Only by capturing him can we retreat safely today. And with his life, we can negotiate terms with Liangyi Sect to minimize the Qi Clan's losses."
Qi Yun also understood the importance of this battle and nodded slightly to Qi Qiankun.
At the same time, Shengshu Cainü sent a telepathic message to Zhang Ruochen: "Lin Yue, use the remaining spiritual power in that chess piece to defeat Qi Yun. If possible, kill him outright."
When he killed Qi Hong, Lin Yue had only used one-fifth of the chess piece's spiritual power.
Using the remaining power to defeat a first-rank Half-Saint like Qi Yun would be more than enough.
The Ascension Boat docked at the shore, and Shengshu Cainü, Zhang Ruochen, and Xiao Hei stepped off onto the bank.
"You've already reached the seventh change of the Fish-Dragon realm—your cultivation speed is astonishing. Truly a rising sword prodigy. But with your current cultivation, trying to fight a Half-Saint is far too ambitious," Qi Yun said.
Qi Yun clearly looked down on Lin Yue. For a Half-Saint to be reduced to fighting a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator was quite embarrassing.
Zhang Ruochen didn't use the Void Sword. Instead, he drew two Golden Snake Sacred Swords, holding one in each hand. "I've heard that Senior Qi Yun reached the Half-Saint realm after only eighty-two years of cultivation—a remarkable talent. It's an honor to cross swords with you."
Shengshu Cainü and Qi Qiankun were both Saints with extraordinary eyesight. If Zhang Ruochen used the Void Sword against Qi Yun, they might recognize it.
Moreover, the Void Sword's spirit hadn't fully awakened, making the Golden Snake Sacred Swords more convenient to use.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen hadn't used the chess piece but instead drew two sacred swords, Shengshu Cainü wondered, *Is he not planning to use spiritual power?*
"Is this guy too confident?"
Shengshu Cainü grew worried. She had access to all the genius data in Kunlun Realm, and while some exceptional talents could indeed match a first-rank Half-Saint at the Fish-Dragon realm, there was no precedent for defeating one at the seventh change.
Shengshu Cainü couldn't help but call out, "Lin Yue."
Zhang Ruochen looked at her. "Saint, do you have further instructions?"
"Are you confident?" Shengshu Cainü asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and answered honestly, "No."
This was his first time facing a Half-Saint with his own strength. Whether he could win was indeed uncertain.
Shengshu Cainü's almond-shaped eyes widened. She really couldn't understand this guy—he could easily crush his opponent by borrowing her power, yet he insisted on using his meager cultivation to fight a Half-Saint. Wasn't that like throwing an egg against a rock?
Qi Qiankun laughed hoarsely, "Lady Cainü, if you regret it now, it's too late."
Shengshu Cainü just smiled and stepped back.
But she spread out her spiritual power, ready to rescue Lin Yue at any moment.
Even she didn't know why she cared so much about a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator. She could only think to herself, *After all, Lin Yue is a sword prodigy carefully selected by Liangyi Sect. I can't let him die at Qi Yun's hands because of my bet.*