Chapter 994: Heir of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen
"Leaning on the railing, listening to the wind and rain—do the wind and rain know my wish? Gazing lightly at the rivers and lakes—on the road, human hearts are treacherous. On a rainy night, the cold wind is fierce; one sword, one soul severed."
Zhang Ruochen embraced the Stone Beauty, seated on the third-floor pavilion, listening to the wind and rain outside the window. It was as if he had forgotten the deadly tribulation outside, and he couldn't help but let a faint curve appear at the corners of his mouth.
It was already dawn.
The rain had not stopped; instead, it fell even more fiercely.
Last night, Murong Yue, Grand Minister of Works, and Second Minister of Works had already arrived at the Heavenly Music Chamber, delivering the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron and the elephant soul of the Azure Armored Sacred Elephant.
Zhang Ruochen placed them all into the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, including the powerful Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works.
After all, Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works had not yet stepped into the Saint Realm. If they encountered a true Saint Realm being, they would likely be in danger.
Zhang Ruochen did not send the Stone Beauty into the Scroll World.
There were two reasons for this:
First, the Stone Beauty was, after all, a palace master of the Demon Sect. Once her mind recovered, if she tried to seize the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, Zhang Ruochen would be no match for her.
Zhang Ruochen could treat others with sincerity, but who could say whether others would repay kindness with enmity? Faced with a treasure like the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, even a Sword Saint, let alone a Great Saint, would try to seize it.
In history, there were too many bloody examples. Without absolute certainty, Zhang Ruochen would not expose his greatest secret.
Second, Zhang Ruochen also wanted to cleanse the Stone Beauty's heart through battle. If he could awaken her, her strength alone would be enough to sweep through all the strong members of the Demon Sect, resolving every crisis.
Outside the Heavenly Music Chamber, three layers of formations had been arranged. Even a Saint could not silently escape.
It was already the second morning, but because the sky was covered with dark clouds, it was still quite dim.
Ouyang Huan had stood in the rain for an entire night.
Qi Feiyu held an umbrella, standing gracefully beside Ouyang Huan, and asked, "Is Mother perhaps overreacting? For the sake of a Stone Beauty and a Gu Linfeng, does she need to mobilize the entire strength of the Pearl Radiance Pavilion?"
Ouyang Huan had probably already guessed part of the truth, and thus understood even more how important this matter was. If news leaked, the entire Moon-Worshipping Cult would be thrown into turmoil.
This matter absolutely could not fail.
Ouyang Huan did not explain to Qi Feiyu. Staring at the distant pavilion, he felt a sense of foreboding and said, "I will go to the Heavenly Music Chamber to take a look."
"I will go with you."
Qi Feiyu followed him.
The two arrived below the pavilion but did not immediately barge in. Instead, they observed quietly, feeling that it was too quiet inside.
A strange man's voice came from the pavilion: "Since the two of you have already arrived, why not come in and talk?"
This voice definitely did not belong to Gu Linfeng.
Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu exchanged a glance. Then, their figures flickered and vanished from the spot.
The next moment, they appeared on the third floor of the pavilion. Pushing open the wooden door, they saw two people sitting in the center of the room.
One was the Stone Beauty.
The other was a young man they had never seen before.
Ouyang Huan maintained a calm and composed expression, quickly scanning the pavilion, and asked, "You truly have remarkable skills, able to break in here without anyone noticing. Where is Gu Linfeng? Where are the cultivators of the Murong family?"
Zhang Ruochen remained seated on the ground, caressing the Abyssal Ancient Sword in his hand, and said, "Naturally, I have already sent them away."
"I don't believe it," Ouyang Huan shook his head.
"If I can break in silently, why can't I send people away silently?" Zhang Ruochen countered.
Could someone really break through three layers of formations without a sound and evade the perception of all the Demon Sect experts in the Pearl Radiance Pavilion?
Even a Saint-level assassin wouldn't have such skill.
"Stop playing tricks. Who exactly are you?" Qi Feiyu shouted coldly.
"Zhang Ruochen," Zhang Ruochen said.
Hearing those three words, even Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu, with their composed minds, showed expressions of surprise, finding it extremely hard to believe.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen had reverted to his original appearance, no longer using the identity of Gu Linfeng.
Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu had only seen Lin Yue before, not Zhang Ruochen's true face, so naturally, they did not recognize him.
"The Heir of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen?"
"That's right," Zhang Ruochen said.
At this point, Ouyang Huan finally began to believe what Zhang Ruochen had said earlier. What others could not do, the Heir of Time and Space, who controlled the power of time and space, might very well be able to accomplish.
Ouyang Huan said, "Since you have already sent Gu Linfeng and the Murong family cultivators away, why haven't you left as well? Why are you still here?"
"I am staying here to teach you a lesson."
"What lesson?" Qi Feiyu asked.
Zhang Ruochen took the Stone Beauty's hand and slowly stood up, looking at Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu. He said unhurriedly, "No matter how you fight among yourselves within the Demon Sect, Ling Feiyu Sword Saint is half my teacher and half my friend. You should not have treated her that way."
A strange light flickered in Qi Feiyu's eyes, and all the doubts in her heart suddenly cleared, giving her a sense of epiphany.
"Shua." Without any warning, Zhang Ruochen directly executed the first move of the Scale Sword Technique, One Strike, Four Directions Change.
The black Abyssal Ancient Sword, like a streak of light, slashed horizontally toward Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu.
Worried about Qi Feiyu's safety, Ouyang Huan immediately grabbed her wrist, executed the Seven Star Lotus Step, stepping on black lotuses, and retreated seven steps in a row, flying out of the pavilion and into the curtain of rain.
"Boom."
Hundreds and thousands of sword qi burst forth, completely shredding the three-story wooden pavilion, which collapsed into a pile of wooden rubble.
Ouyang Huan looked at a two-inch-long tear on his clothes and felt a chill in his heart. "Such fast swordplay. Sword Four? Or Sword Five?"
He had only seen such fast swordplay when fighting Xue Wuye. Could Zhang Ruochen's sword dao already rival Xue Wuye's?
Ouyang Huan looked at Zhang Ruochen in the distance but then shook his head.
He could tell that Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was not particularly strong, still far from Xue Wuye's level.
Zhang Ruochen held the black Abyssal Ancient Sword, pulling the Stone Beauty's hand, and swept his gaze around with a domineering posture.
In the darkness, figures in black rushed out, hundreds of them, all of them strong.
Among them, more than ten exuded extremely powerful auras, standing like primeval mountains in the rain, giving off a strong oppressive force.
Ouyang Huan raised his voice and said, "Zhang Ruochen, where do you get the confidence to challenge the Moon-Worshipping Cult all by yourself?"
"Who said I am alone?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Hua."
A wisp of ghostly qi flew out from Zhang Ruochen's sleeve, condensing into a beautiful figure with flowing hair, standing in midair.
It was the Blood Moon Ghost King.
Recently, the Blood Moon Ghost King had been cultivating in the Scroll World, absorbing a large amount of death qi from the stump of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, and her cultivation had advanced to a higher level.
The ghostly qi emanating from the Blood Moon Ghost King enveloped the entire Pearl Radiance Pavilion, turning the area pitch black and icy cold. All vegetation withered and turned yellow at a visible speed.
In an instant, this place seemed to have turned into a Shura hell.
"Everyone be careful, that is a Ghost King, with strength comparable to a Saint."
Seeing the Ghost King appear, the black-clad figures surrounding them felt fear and retreated.
Ouyang Huan, however, remained exceptionally calm and gave the order: "Activate the Ten Directions Heavenly Thunder Formation."
As a key location for the Demon Sect to amass wealth, the Pearl Radiance Pavilion naturally had protective and offensive formations.
Once the formation was activated, even a Saint could be suppressed and killed.
However, when the formation masters stationed at the four corners of the Pearl Radiance Pavilion tried to activate the Ten Directions Heavenly Thunder Formation, nothing happened.
"What's going on? We check the formation inscriptions every month. Why can't we activate the formation?"
"Where did something go wrong?"
The formation masters in the Pearl Radiance Pavilion were all panicking.
At that moment, Xiao Hei crawled out from underground, looked toward the four formation towers, grinned, puffed out his furry chest, and looked very proud.
"A mere seventh-rank formation, how could it stump this emperor?"
Last night, before entering the auction, Zhang Ruochen had asked Xiao Hei to destroy the formation inscriptions underground in the Pearl Radiance Pavilion, all for this moment.
"Hehe, now it's this emperor's turn to decide your life and death." Xiao Hei was very excited, channeling sacred qi into his claws, then driving the sacred qi into the ground.
"Boom."
From the Pearl Radiance Pavilion, seventy-two white light pillars, each a meter in diameter, shot up into the sky, causing the dark clouds above to churn rapidly.
A massive formation wheel condensed in the clouds.
Countless bolts of lightning intertwined, crackling and popping, creating a commotion that alarmed all the major powers in the Black Market.
"The Pearl Radiance Pavilion has activated the Ten Directions Heavenly Thunder Formation. They must have encountered a powerful enemy. I wonder who dares to oppose the Demon Sect?"
"In that direction, ghostly qi is soaring, covering the sky. It seems a Ghost King is fighting the Demon Sect."
"This is no small matter. Let's not get involved."
The various evil path forces in the Black Market did not offer a helping hand. They immediately activated their defensive formations, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
When the Demon Sect cultivators in the Pearl Radiance Pavilion saw that the Ten Directions Heavenly Thunder Formation had been successfully activated, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they were confident they could capture Zhang Ruochen and the Blood Moon Ghost King without the formation, it would certainly result in heavy casualties, and the entire Pearl Radiance Pavilion might be destroyed.
Such a loss was unacceptable.
The Pavilion Master of the Pearl Radiance Pavilion looked up at the formation wheel above, nodded in satisfaction, stepped forward, and said loudly, "Zhang Ruochen, it's not too late for you to stop now. If the power of the Ten Directions Heavenly Thunder Formation descends, even with a Ghost King protecting you, you will only end up with divine form annihilation."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, "I can no longer stop. Tonight, it will be a fight to the death."
"You are seeking death."
The Pavilion Master's gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen. Wisps of black demonic qi surged from his fingertips, forming ripples that broke through the ghostly qi emitted by the Blood Moon Ghost King.
From this alone, it was clear that this person's cultivation was unfathomably deep, likely having already stepped into the Saint Realm.
However, before the Pavilion Master could launch his attack, a bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl struck down from the center of the formation wheel above, hitting him squarely on the head.
The Pavilion Master froze completely. The demonic qi he had gathered was all dispersed. His entire body turned charred black, his hair stood on end, and black smoke rose from him. (To be continued.)