Chapter 882: Sword Breaks Ziyong Pass
The Yuan Mansion’s Ministry of War camp was located in the northwestern region of Zhongyuan Commandery, stationed around Ziyong Pass and Daju City. With a permanent garrison of up to three million soldiers, the camp was extremely vast and not difficult to find.
The Ministry of War camp was responsible for guarding the thirty-six commanderies of Yuan Mansion. It not only had to combat the sub-sects of the Demon Sect and Bright Hall but also had to eliminate barbarian beasts, evil spirits, yin entities, wicked sects, and so on.
Thus, the camp naturally housed a multitude of powerful experts.
Zhang Ruochen stood outside Ziyong Pass, opening his third eye on his brow to gaze into the pass. He saw streaks of powerful sacred qi radiance shooting into the sky, merging with the clouds above.
This was "Heavenly Eye Qi Observation," a technique only usable by spiritual power half-saints.
All things have spirit, and all beings have qi. Without a doubt, the stronger a cultivator’s cultivation, the denser their qi.
If one reached the level of a spiritual power saint, they could even see the qi radiance emitted by an entire sect, using it to judge the sect’s rise, fall, fortune, or misfortune.
In the distant Ziyong Pass, each streak of sacred qi radiance represented the powerful aura of a half-saint. They were communicating with heaven and earth, comprehending the mysteries of the sacred path, and striving for higher realms.
Among them, a few qi radiances were especially extraordinary—all purple, taking the forms of dragons and tigers, like ten thousand dragons ascending to heaven or ten thousand tigers facing the sun.
Even from a distance, Zhang Ruochen was deeply shocked.
"Truly a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, with experts everywhere. I cannot force my way in," Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself.
Li Min extended two fingers and tugged at Zhang Ruochen’s sleeve, whispering, "In that case, let’s leave this place quickly and not provoke them."
Even the powerful Demon Sect and Bright Hall dared not attack the Ministry of War camp. That Zhang Ruochen wanted to stir up trouble there made Li Min think he must be insane.
"Let’s go."
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back, leading Li Min as they stepped on fallen leaves and entered a wilderness-like forest. The two left Ziyong Pass and headed into the distance.
Li Min finally breathed a sigh of relief, glad she had persuaded Zhang Ruochen. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
They stopped about eight hundred miles from Ziyong Pass.
Here stood a yellow stone hill over three hundred meters tall, shaped like a giant black tortoise lying on the ground.
Xiao Hei was circling the hill, using its claws to carve inscriptions and set up formations, burying pieces of spirit crystal inside the hill.
"How’s it going? Are the formations carved?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"You doubt this emperor’s work?"
Xiao Hei stood atop the hill, chuckling. Then, it channeled sacred qi into the hill, activating the formation.
"Swoosh!"
Strands of white mist fell from the sky, enveloping the hill. In moments, the entire hill vanished from Zhang Ruochen and Li Min’s sight.
Li Min’s eyes widened, and she pursed her lips, saying, "A concealment formation."
Xiao Hei stepped out of the formation and glared at Li Min. "Little girl, what do you know? This emperor’s formation is a Black Tortoise Heaven-Concealing Great Formation, set up based on the terrain’s mysteries. Once activated, even a saint won’t find our traces."
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Good. Once we hide in the formation, even the Ministry of War’s war saints should find it hard to discover us."
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had used his heavenly eye and spiritual power but couldn’t see through the formation’s traces. Clearly, Xiao Hei’s Black Tortoise Heaven-Concealing Great Formation was quite skilled.
"Then let’s begin."
Zhang Ruochen stepped onto the yellow stone hill and entered the formation.
Li Min was puzzled. "Begin what?"
Zhang Ruochen didn’t answer. Instead, he took out the Sky-Soaring Sword, channeled sacred qi from his entire body, and poured it into the sword.
Inscriptions emerged one after another, causing the Sky-Soaring Sword to emit a brilliant white light as it slowly rose into the air.
The aura of the Sky-Soaring Sword grew increasingly intense, like a blazing sun hanging in the sky, forming a Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force that terrified the barbarian beasts in the forest, making them tremble.
"Go!"
Zhang Ruochen mobilized his sword intent, comparable to that of a sword saint, turning it into a solid pillar of light that shot out and merged with the Sky-Soaring Sword.
With a "whoosh," the Sky-Soaring Sword transformed into a white light shuttle, flying toward Ziyong Pass at dozens of times the speed of sound.
Outside Ziyong Pass.
Jian Kongzi descended from midair, looking travel-worn, and landed below the city gate. He shouted coldly, "This king returns to the city! Open the formation immediately!"
After chasing for several days without finding Zhang Ruochen’s trail, Jian Kongzi was naturally furious.
Seeing Jian Kongzi outside the pass, the formation master inside immediately opened the city-protecting formation.
At the same time, the two heavy gates forged from cold iron slowly opened.
Zhuang Xuan Kong walked out from the city gate to greet Jian Kongzi. "Any sign of Zhang Ruochen?"
Jian Kongzi’s face darkened as he shook his head. "That brat wields a sacred edict, likely issued by Xuanji Sword Saint. Its speed matches Xuanji Sword Saint’s own, making it impossible to catch up."
Zhuang Xuan Kong’s expression also dimmed with worry. "The Ministry of War has lost four lower-rank domain kings in a row. Young Master Wan is very angry. When you see him later, be careful."
Jian Kongzi nodded, his fingers clenching tightly. His hatred grew even stronger, and he secretly vowed that once he found Zhang Ruochen, he would skin him alive.
Just then, Jian Kongzi and Zhuang Xuan Kong sensed something and looked toward the pass. They saw an extremely bright sword light flying in from the horizon, like the rising sun or a meteor streaking across the sky.
Jian Kongzi’s face changed dramatically. He roared, "Activate the city-protecting formation immediately! Someone is attacking Ziyong Pass!"
The sword on Jian Kongzi’s back trembled violently, letting out a sharp "clang" as it flew out of its sheath.
The distant sword light came too fast. The city-protecting formation was only half-activated when the powerful sword qi slashed down.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion echoed as thousands of sword qi poured down simultaneously, tearing apart Ziyong Pass’s city gate and walls.
On the ground, a sword path over ten miles long and several zhang wide was left, splitting Ziyong Pass—the first military fortress of Yuan Mansion—in two.
Jian Kongzi had drawn his sword to block, but the Sky-Soaring Sword unleashed a Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force. How could he withstand it?
Jian Kongzi’s robes were tattered, his body covered in blood. He sat at the bottom of a pit dozens of meters deep, gasping heavily. The earlier strike had sent him flying over ten miles, crashing into the bottom of the sword path.
Fortunately, his cultivation was profound, and he was a sword cultivator, so he escaped with his life.
Zhuang Xuan Kong wasn’t so lucky. His entire body was embedded in the dirt, covered in bloody sword holes, with only a faint breath proving he was still alive.
Wan Zhaoyi sat in his camp, meeting with Shengshu Cainü.
Shengshu Cainü had conveyed the Empress’s oral decree to him, putting immense pressure on Wan Zhaoyi. After all, the Empress wanted him to capture Zhang Ruochen within three months—no easy task.
If Zhang Ruochen went into hiding or left the Central Domain, finding him would be harder than searching for a needle in the ocean.
Just then, a massive sword qi surged from afar, splitting his tent in two.
Fortunately, Wan Zhaoyi and Shengshu Cainü were both top-tier figures with sharp instincts. They retreated immediately.
Thus, the sword qi didn’t harm them.
Someone dared to attack the Ministry of War camp?
Who had such audacity?
Wan Zhaoyi was furious. He burst through the tent and soared into the sky. When he saw the Sky-Soaring Sword hanging in the heavens, his anger burned even hotter.
"Zhang Ruochen, this king didn’t go after you, yet you deliver yourself to my doorstep."
Wan Zhaoyi extended his hand, and the rules of heaven and earth quickly condensed into a massive golden palm, reaching for the Sky-Soaring Sword.
"Swoosh!"
The Sky-Soaring Sword turned into a light shuttle, darting away before the golden palm could form, flying out of Ziyong Pass.
Wan Zhaoyi’s anger faded, replaced by a cold smile. He chased after the Sky-Soaring Sword, vanishing into the sky.
Shengshu Cainü, dressed in moon-white robes, stood still as a quiet orchid. Her clear, wise eyes fixed on the departing Sky-Soaring Sword as she softly murmured, "Zhang Ruochen."
Both the Demon Sect and the Ministry of War could guess that Zhang Ruochen was likely Liangyi Sect’s Lin Yue, let alone the brilliant Shengshu Cainü.
Seeing the Sky-Soaring Sword, her heart trembled slightly, and a familiar figure surfaced in her mind.
That figure, like a demonic shadow, was deeply branded into her sacred heart, impossible to shake or erase.
Sometimes, she even wondered if she had developed an inner demon.
"Is he really Lin Yue?"
The light in Shengshu Cainü’s eyes shifted constantly. Finally, she snapped her fan open, and a stream of sacred characters flew out, forming a bridge of text connecting to the horizon.
She stepped onto the sacred characters and pursued.
Zhang Ruochen stood atop the hill, retrieving the Sky-Soaring Sword. He immediately swallowed a mouthful of Black Tortoise Sacred Blood to recover his expended sacred qi.
Even at the half-saint level, unleashing a single Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force had consumed seventy percent of his sacred qi.
A wave of weakness spread through his body.
"Hiss."
Suddenly, golden light scattered from the sky, turning the earth the color of gold.
Vaguely, a heroic figure in Azure Dragon Battle Armor could be seen standing in midair, each strand of hair glowing with golden light, like a war god.
"What terrifying aura! Who is that?" Li Min whispered.
Zhang Ruochen glanced upward. "Aren’t you familiar with the heroes of the world? How do you not recognize Wan Zhaoyi?"
"What? The one who steps on the White Flood Dragon Saint Dragon, wears Azure Dragon Battle Armor, wields the Hunyuan Qiankun Blade, slays ten saints, seizes destiny, and rules the nine prefectures of the Central Domain—Wan Zhaoyi?"
Li Min was both extremely excited and scared to death.
Her excitement came from Wan Zhaoyi being the most legendary number-one heavenly prodigy of the entire Kunlun Realm in the past century, known as the "Little Saint Heavenly King," undefeated across the world.
Such a legendary figure, existing only in tales, now stood before her. Any girl would scream. How could Li Min not be excited?
Her terror came from the fact that if Wan Zhaoyi discovered them, they would have no escape—no way to heaven, no door to earth.
That Zhang Ruochen dared to provoke Wan Zhaoyi actively once again shattered Li Min’s understanding of his audacity.