Chapter 960: Suspicion
The crisis was drawing closer, a bone-chilling murderous aura surging from behind, like countless sharp needles piercing into his skin, causing every nerve in his body to twitch rapidly.
It was a killing intent that came from death itself, filling one with despair. In the next moment, it seemed he would be reduced to ashes, vanishing completely from this world.
Facing death, who could remain composed?
Immortal Orchid King was only thirty zhang away from Zhang Ruochen. The blood qi radiating from his body coalesced into the forms of dozens of skeletons, emitting a "gagging" sound.
At this moment, Immortal Orchid King was like the Grim Reaper of hell, capable of controlling the life and death of Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü.
Sweat beaded on Zhang Ruochen's forehead, each drop the size of a bean. His legs sank, and with a cracking sound, both feet plunged deep into the rock beneath.
Steadying himself, he twisted his body abruptly, channeling space qi, and swung his hand backward in a slash.
The space within dozens of zhang trembled violently.
Then, a space rift over ten meters long tore open out of thin air, flying forward to strike the pursuing Immortal Orchid King.
The heaven and earth rules of the first gradient were indeed completely different from those on the surface.
However, the space rules remained unchanged, and Zhang Ruochen could still wield spatial power freely and effortlessly.
It was precisely because of this trump card—"spatial power"—that Zhang Ruochen could hold his own even against a Saint.
Seeing the space rift hurtling toward him, Immortal Orchid King was secretly startled and immediately sidestepped.
Spatial power was one of the fundamental forces of a world, something that could not be blocked by the saint qi cultivated by cultivators; one could only evade.
Immortal Orchid King was fast, and the space rift could not touch him.
Of course, in that brief moment, Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü had already dashed another hundred zhang away, nearly disappearing from his line of sight.
"The heaven and earth rules here don't suppress Zhang Ruochen's spatial power—this is troublesome."
Immortal Orchid King's expression turned grim. He finally began to take Zhang Ruochen seriously, no longer underestimating him.
Zhang Ruochen, capable of wielding spatial techniques, was a massive threat. Even at his own level, he had no absolute certainty of capturing Zhang Ruochen.
One fled, one pursued, covering a thousand li.
This world remained cold and dark, yet deep within that darkness, a powerful sacred beast aura emanated, instilling an inexplicable sense of dread.
They were finally drawing closer to the location where the Cloud Gold Beast slumbered.
The Cloud Gold Beast stirred slowly, its massive body rising gradually, like a dark red mountain shifting. Its head was ferocious, its body rugged, and the ancient aura it exuded suggested it had lived for at least a thousand years.
Barbarian beasts had lifespans several times, even ten times, longer than humans. Even the Undying Blood Clan could not compare to them.
Clearly, the Cloud Gold Beast had already detected the four beings rapidly approaching. It let out a fierce roar, generating a powerful, foul wind that sent boulders weighing hundreds of thousands of jin flying into the air.
Shengshu Cainü stared at the Cloud Gold Beast not far away, sensing its terrifying wild aura. She said, "Zhang Ruochen, that Cloud Gold Beast has already stepped into the Saint realm. It can split mountains and sever rivers—we cannot provoke it."
"I understand, but we have no other choice."
Zhang Ruochen continued charging toward the Cloud Gold Beast, the distance shrinking to just ten li, and still closing.
Compared to the Cloud Gold Beast's body, Zhang Ruochen was the size of a grain of rice, no different from an ant on the ground.
The wind force exhaled by the Cloud Gold Beast seemed capable of blowing him and Shengshu Cainü away.
Immortal Orchid King and the Second Prince, still in hot pursuit, naturally also saw the awakened Cloud Gold Beast.
"Uncle King, that blood beast's aura is terrifying. If we keep chasing, we might end up perishing together with Zhang Ruochen."
The Second Prince's heart trembled violently, his legs involuntarily shaking as he dared not approach.
"Zhang Ruochen deliberately lured us here to use that blood beast's power to scare us off. Though that blood beast is strong, I am not afraid of it." Immortal Orchid King remained resolute, showing no fear.
Any being that achieved sainthood had become a master of heaven and earth, with a firm heart and a strong will. As long as they had the strength to fight, they would never retreat in fear of another saint-level creature.
Clearly, this Cloud Gold Beast was not enough to intimidate Immortal Orchid King.
Nine li, eight li, seven li...
Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü had already reached the Cloud Gold Beast's underside, clearly seeing the winnowing-basket-sized scales on its belly and its claws, hard as divine iron.
A single claw strike could likely crush a mountain peak a thousand meters high.
At this moment, even Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü were on edge, for if they made a single misstep, they would die beneath the Cloud Gold Beast's claws, reduced to bones.
The Cloud Gold Beast's five claws simultaneously emitted clouds of blood mist, swinging through the air, causing the airflow to become chaotic with a "whooshing" sound.
Two of the claws struck at Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü.
The other three claws attacked Immortal Orchid King and the Second Prince from behind.
The dark red claws, over ten times larger than Zhang Ruochen's body, had not yet landed when they caused the ground beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet to sink.
"Great Space Teleportation."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü's bodies passed through an invisible watery curtain, vanishing from beneath the Cloud Gold Beast's claws.
The next moment, they reappeared behind the Cloud Gold Beast. Their figures flickered a few times before quickly disappearing into the darkness.
"Zhang Ruochen, you won't escape!"
Immortal Orchid King roared repeatedly, trying to drive back the Cloud Gold Beast to pursue the fleeing Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü.
But the Cloud Gold Beast was even more ferocious, its strikes completely suppressing Immortal Orchid King, preventing him from breaking free.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen had led Shengshu Cainü dozens of li away.
Behind them, the sounds of battle between Immortal Orchid King and the Cloud Gold Beast continued unabated, shaking the earth. Any ordinary cultivator approaching would only meet their death.
"Saints are truly terrifying. Even with their power suppressed a hundredfold, their combat strength still leaves Half-Saints in despair."
Zhang Ruochen was drenched in sweat, his robes soaked through.
That had been far too perilous. If they had been drawn into the battle circle, life and death would have been uncertain.
Shengshu Cainü also breathed a sigh of relief, pursing her lips. "Not necessarily. Those remarkable figures on the 'Half-Saint Ranking' can each contend with saints. With your physique and talent, you will surely make it onto the 'Half-Saint Ranking' in the future."
The entire "Half-Saint Ranking" had only one hundred slots, including not only human Half-Saints from the Kunlun Realm but also ancient relics and divine beast descendants from the wild secret lands, as well as Half-Saint beings from thousands of ruin realms beyond the Kunlun Realm.
In truth, human Half-Saints from the Kunlun Realm occupied only a third of the spots on the "Half-Saint Ranking." The remaining slots were almost entirely dominated by various barbarian beast clans.
Thus, every being on the "Half-Saint Ranking" was an extraordinary existence.
Zhang Ruochen had heard of the "Half-Saint Ranking" before and was naturally curious. He asked, "I heard the 'Half-Saint Ranking' was compiled by you. The Kunlun Realm is vast and boundless, with thousands of ruin realms scattered across the universe, too many to count. How could you know so much about all those Half-Saint-level beings?"
Shengshu Cainü did not answer Zhang Ruochen's question. She merely smiled faintly. "This world is indeed vast and infinite. The more you know, the more you realize how insignificant you are. In truth, the rankings on the 'Half-Saint Ranking' are not absolutely accurate. There are many unknown beings not listed on it."
Zhang Ruochen felt there was deeper meaning in her words, as if she knew many secrets ordinary people could not access.
But since she was unwilling to speak, he did not press further.
Shengshu Cainü raised her radiant eyes, gazing at Zhang Ruochen's resolute features, and added, "In fact, compiling the 'Half-Saint Ranking' was not just about creating a ranking. There is a deeper purpose. You will understand soon enough."
Zhang Ruochen led Shengshu Cainü, fleeing for over ten thousand li until they reached a region with extremely steep and rugged terrain.
In some places, black cliffs towered ten thousand zhang high, wrapped in complex heaven and earth rules that even Half-Saints could not scale.
In other places, the ground plunged deep into chasms like ravines, revealing only darkness that seemed capable of devouring a cultivator's sacred soul, instilling fear.
"The heaven and earth rules here suppress a cultivator's power to less than one two-hundredth. If I didn't have a strong physical body and relied only on saint qi, my destructive force would probably be no better than a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist on the surface."
Zhang Ruochen retracted the saint qi that had surfaced in his palm, muttering to himself, "Could this be the entrance to the second gradient?"
He stopped at the edge of a canyon, not advancing further, wary of encountering even greater dangers.
Shengshu Cainü took a blood pill to replenish her blood qi, gradually recovering her strength.
Standing beside Zhang Ruochen, her slender, graceful figure like a fragile willow, she parted her lips and asked, "What do you mean by the second gradient?"
Even with Shengshu Cainü's vast knowledge, she knew little about the world beneath the Endless Abyss.
So, Zhang Ruochen told her everything he knew, including the "three gradients of the Endless Abyss" and the "secret of the blood beasts."
After hearing it, Shengshu Cainü fell into thought. "Barbarian beasts wouldn't come to the bottom of the Endless Abyss for no reason, nor would they transform into blood beasts for no reason. I think the first and second gradients hide some astonishing secret."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I think so too, but there's not enough evidence yet. Boundless Banner King said that barbarian beasts transform into blood beasts by absorbing the residual blood qi of a Blood Queen. If he wasn't lying to me, then where is that residual blood qi of the Blood Queen?"
Zhang Ruochen noticed Shengshu Cainü staring at him with an intense gaze, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable. He asked, puzzled, "Miss Nalan, what's wrong?" (To be continued.)