Chapter 955: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind?
Zhang Ruochen did not give Mei Lanzhu another chance to strike. Executing his fastest movement technique, he charged into the mountain body, using his finger as a sword to strike at Mei Lanzhu's brow.
"No!"
Mei Lanzhu roared loudly, swinging his right hand to thrust the Seven Saints Serpent Spear in a reverse stab aimed at Zhang Ruochen's heart, attempting a desperate counterattack.
Unfortunately, the gap between the two was too great.
By the time Zhang Ruochen's sword wave pierced through Mei Lanzhu's Qi Sea, the Seven Saints Serpent Spear was still three feet away from Zhang Ruochen's heart.
In a clash of top-tier experts, even a distance of one inch could decide life and death, let alone three feet.
Mei Lanzhu's body was embedded in the soil, his eyes still wide open. At the center of his brow, his third eye was completely covered by a wine-cup-sized bloody hole, from which blood continuously flowed.
His blood was scorching hot, containing powerful energy that melted the soil around it. A young king who had the potential to grow into a Great Saint should have had a brilliant future—leading the Blood God Sect and commanding the saints of the evil path.
Yet today, Mei Lanzhu ultimately fell, failing to make any waves in this era teeming with geniuses.
Zhang Ruochen picked up the Seven Saints Serpent Spear, holding it in his hand as he observed the complex patterns on the spear's surface.
"Buzz."
Seven powerful artifact spirits emerged, causing the serpent spear to tremble incessantly and unleash an exceptionally fierce force, trying to fly out of Zhang Ruochen's grasp.
"It's actually a Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact. It seems to have seven sacred python souls sealed inside, refined into the spear's artifact spirits."
Flames blazed on Zhang Ruochen's hands as he completely refined the lingering aura of Mei Lanzhu within the Seven Saints Serpent Spear.
"You'd better behave. Destroying you is not a difficult task for me."
Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual power to transmit a firm will to the seven artifact spirits.
His intimidation clearly had some effect, as the Seven Saints Serpent Spear soon stopped struggling.
Then, Zhang Ruochen retrieved some priceless treasures from Mei Lanzhu's body, including pills, secret manuals, and sacred stones.
"Oh? This is..."
Zhang Ruochen found a rather unusual box, half the size of a fist, radiating a bone-chilling cold.
The surface of the box was sealed with a layer of enchantment.
When Zhang Ruochen applied a bit of force, the seal on the box's surface rebounded, releasing bolts of lightning that spread from his fingers up to his arm.
"What a powerful seal. The one who set this seal is certainly not Mei Lanzhu. With my current spiritual power, I can't break it. I wonder what valuable item is inside?"
Zhang Ruochen considered using the Abyssal Ancient Sword to forcibly break the seal on the box's surface.
But he was worried that doing so might damage the contents inside, so he ultimately abandoned that decision.
Putting the box away, Zhang Ruochen lifted the Seven Saints Serpent Spear and Mei Lanzhu's corpse, leaped up, broke through the soil, and returned to the ground.
"Thud."
Zhang Ruochen threw Mei Lanzhu's corpse to Zhao Shiqi, saying, "Dispose of the body. Make sure the old-timers of the Blood God Sect don't find any clues, or we'll be in big trouble."
Zhao Shiqi had already turned the unconscious Qi Feng Banner Master into ashes. Glancing at Mei Lanzhu's corpse, he smiled, "Rest assured, young master. I'll make sure the old-timers of the Blood God Sect believe Mei Lanzhu was killed by blood beasts, with no connection to us."
"Mm."
Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of sacred energy coming from the top of the snowy mountain behind him.
"Who?"
His expression changed abruptly as he immediately turned and thrust the Seven Saints Serpent Spear outward.
From the spear tip, a surge of sacred energy condensed into a thin beam of light, carrying extreme penetrating power, flying toward the mountain peak.
At the top of the snowy mountain, wisps of black evil energy coalesced into the figure of an old man in a black robe.
"Boom."
The power unleashed by the Seven Saints Serpent Spear stopped seven feet away from the black-robed old man, absorbed and dissipated by an invisible force.
"Haha! Haiming Dharma King actually has such an impressive grand-disciple, capable of killing the Blood God Sect's Divine Son. This old man is quite impressed."
A hoarse laugh came from within the black robe.
"Impressive!" Zhang Ruochen was secretly startled.
He immediately mobilized all his sacred energy, shifting his feet apart, his expression extremely grave. "I feel like your aura is somewhat familiar."
"Oh? Your perception is quite accurate."
At the top of the snowy mountain, the black-robed old man pushed back the hood covering his face, and the black evil mist dispersed, revealing his true appearance.
"Wuliang Banner King."
Zhao Shiqi's face turned deathly pale as he involuntarily took a step back.
The black-robed old man standing on the snowy peak was none other than the camp master of the Netherword Heavenly Palace's Sixth Camp, Wuliang Banner King.
Although Wuliang Banner King was the weakest among the six camp masters, he still possessed peak Eighth-Step Half-Saint cultivation.
Moreover, because the technique he practiced was the "Heavenly Demon Hell Diagram" from one of the Kunlun Realm's Six Great Strange Books, the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription, his combat power was formidable enough to fight across realms.
Once, Wuliang Banner King had clashed with a Ninth-Step Half-Saint elder of the Blood God Sect and won by a narrow margin.
Such a figure was not someone he or Zhang Ruochen could contend with, and Zhao Shiqi naturally felt immense fear.
Zhang Ruochen showed no sign of panic. "Banner King, you must have been nearby for a while, right? How could you just watch as I killed the Divine Son?"
Wuliang Banner King laughed. "Mei Lanzhu dying at your hands only proves he was too weak, unworthy of being the Blood God Sect's Divine Son. Why would I save him?"
"Is that all?"
Zhang Ruochen said calmly, "Mei Lanzhu wanted to kill me because of that Saintess. You want to kill me for the Yuling Blood Blade. Am I right?"
"Correct."
Wuliang Banner King admitted frankly.
Zhang Ruochen continued, "By killing Mei Lanzhu, you not only get the Yuling Blood Blade but also the Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact, the Seven Saints Serpent Spear. That's why you didn't save him. Am I right?"
Wuliang Banner King smiled. "Gu Linfeng, oh Gu Linfeng. Even I misjudged you. I thought you were just a petty character chasing beauty, but I never expected you to be so clever. Unfortunately, you've met me, so today will be your death day."
Wuliang Banner King extended both clawed hands from his sleeves, transforming them into two massive black demon hands hundreds of meters long, striking at Zhang Ruochen and Zhao Shiqi respectively.
"Space Distortion."
Zhang Ruochen immediately released his Space Domain, manipulating space to distort the area within a hundred meters, neutralizing Wuliang Banner King's attack.
"I'll hold him off. Zhao Shiqi, you go first," Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhao Shiqi looked at Zhang Ruochen, a flicker of emotion in his eyes.
In such a dangerous situation, Zhang Ruochen told him to leave first—something Mei Lanzhu would never have done.
For this alone, Zhang Ruochen was a hundred times better than Mei Lanzhu.
"Young master, let's flee in separate directions. Even if Wuliang Banner King is strong, he can only kill one of us."
"I have a way to escape. That Zhao Wuliang can't kill me. Don't waste words—just leave."
"Alright, take care, young master."
Zhao Shiqi was decisive and said no more. He took out a scroll of sacred edict, activated its sacred power, and turned into a streak of light, fleeing into the distance.
Zhang Ruochen's use of space power to neutralize Wuliang Banner King's attack had naturally stunned the latter for a moment.
By the time he reacted, Zhao Shiqi had already activated the sacred edict and flown away.
"Damn it, who exactly are you?"
Wuliang Banner King did not pursue Zhao Shiqi. His eyes emitted a dark demonic light as he used the Heavenly Demon Pupils, trying to see through Zhang Ruochen's true identity.
"If you want to know who I am, you'll have to defeat me first."
Zhang Ruochen did not flee immediately but instead assumed a stance ready to fight Wuliang Banner King.
After all, what Wuliang Banner King truly cared about were the Yuling Blood Blade and the Seven Saints Serpent Spear. As long as there was even a chance, he would not choose to send a message back to the Netherword Heavenly Palace. Instead, he would want to secretly kill Zhang Ruochen and keep all the treasures for himself.
If Zhang Ruochen used the sacred edict to flee immediately, then Wuliang Banner King, unable to privately keep the two sacred artifacts, would definitely send a message back to the Netherword Heavenly Palace and report everything to the palace master.
By then, forget about going to the Endless Abyss—even escaping the Blood God Sect would be difficult for Zhang Ruochen.
"Haha! Daring to challenge me? Fine, I'll grant your wish."
Wuliang Banner King was secretly delighted. Between his hands, he condensed a ball of black demonic energy, radiating a chilling power.
"Heavenly Demon Seal."
From the demonic energy, an ancient iron seal flew out.
The iron seal grew larger and larger, like a small steel mountain, attacking Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom."
After a single clash, Zhang Ruochen was sent flying by the Heavenly Demon Seal, spitting blood, looking quite battered as if severely injured.
Zhang Ruochen jumped up from the ground, executed the Phoenix Divine Seal Speed, turned into a ball of fire, and flew toward the Endless Abyss.
"Still trying to escape?"
Wuliang Banner King sneered, believing he had already severely wounded Zhang Ruochen, who couldn't escape his grasp. So he immediately gave chase.
Along the way, Zhang Ruochen fled while clashing with Wuliang Banner King, fighting across eight hundred miles until they reached the edge of the Endless Abyss.
Wuliang Banner King flew three feet above the ground, like a black ghost, staring at Zhang Ruochen, who was covered in blood. He laughed, "Behind you is the Endless Abyss. Where do you plan to run now?"
He added, "Actually, if you had used the sacred edict Haiming Dharma King gave you earlier, I might not have been able to stop you. But you were too arrogant, wanting to challenge me. You wanted to silence me, didn't you? Tsk, tsk, your cultivation was just too weak to turn the tide, and in the end, you only benefited me. What a pity, what a pity!"
Zhang Ruochen dusted off the dirt on his clothes, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and laughed, "How do you know I was fleeing? Could it be that I deliberately lured you here?" (To be continued.)