Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Listening to the rain in the tower, but does the rain know? See the truth of the world. The people are dangerous on the road. Cold wind blows during the rainy night. One sword breaks one soul.
Zhang Ruochen hugged Beauty Shi and sat on the third floor of the tower. Listening to the wind and rain outside the window, he seemed to forget the murderous intent outside. He couldn’t help but smile.
It was already dawn.
The rain didn’t stop. Instead, it came down harder.
Last night, Murong Yue, Sikong One, and Sikong Two had already come to the Heaven Pleasure Room. They brought over the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron and the Green Armor Divine Elephant’s saint soul.
Zhang Ruochen had put them all into the Universe Spiritual Map—even the powerful Sikong One and Two. They hadn’t entered the Saint Realm, so if they met true saintly beings, they would still be in danger.
He didn’t put Beauty Shi into the scroll world for two reasons. First, Beauty Shi was still the palace lord of the Demonic Sect. Once she recovered her mindset, Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t be her match if she wanted to snatch the Universe Spiritual Map away.
Zhang Ruochen could treat people genuinely, but who knew if others would respond to his kindness with cruelty? Even a Supreme Saint would try to steal a treasure like the Universe Spiritual Map, let alone a Sword Saint.
There were too many bloody examples throughout history. Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t expose his biggest secret unless he was completely sure.
Second, Zhang Ruochen wanted to cleanse Beauty Shi’s heart through battle. If he could awaken her, her abilities were more than enough to kill the strong cultivators of the Demonic Sect and resolve this crisis.
There were three layers of formations outside the Heaven Pleasure Room. Even a Saint couldn’t leave without a trace.
It was already morning, but gray clouds still covered the sky. It was still very dark. Ouyang Huan stood in the rain the entire night.
Qi Feiyu stood gracefully with a fan beside Ouyang Huan. “Isn’t Mother a bit too over dramatic? Do we have to use Pearl Light Pavilion’s entire force for a mere Beauty Shi and Gu Linfeng?”
Ouyang Huan had already guessed most of the truth. Thus, he understood even more how important this was. Once news was leaked, the entire Moon Worship Demonic Sect would sway.
There couldn’t be any errors.
Ouyang Huan didn’t explain to Qi Feiyu. Staring at the distant tower, a bad feeling grew in him. “I’ll go check on the Heaven Pleasure Room.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Qi Feiyu caught up with him. Together, they reached the tower, but didn’t burst in immediately. Instead, they investigated it secretly. It just felt too quiet.
A stranger’s voice sounded in the tower. “Since you two are already here, why don’t you come in?”
This voice definitely didn’t belong to Gu Linfeng.
Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu exchanged a glance. Then their bodies flashed and they disappeared from the spot.
The next moment, they were on the third floor of the tower. Pushing open the wooden door, they saw two people sitting in the center of the room.
One was Beauty Shi.
However, they’d never seen the young man before.
Maintaining his composure, Ouyang Huan quickly scanned the tower. “You are indeed skilled to have come here without anyone realizing. Where’s Gu Linfeng? Where are the Monks of the Murong Family?”
Zhang Ruochen remained sitting on the ground, caressing the Abyss Ancient Sword. “I sent them away, naturally.”
“I don’t believe you.” Ouyang Huan shook his head.
“If I can come without a trace, can’t I send someone away without a trace as well?” Zhang Ruochen asked in return.
Could someone pass through the three layers of formations and hide from all the strong Demonic Sect cultivators in Pearl Light Pavilion? Even a Saint Realm killer couldn’t do it.
“Stop making a scene,” Qi Feiyu snapped. “Who are you?”
“Zhang Ruochen,” he answered.
Hearing these three syllables, even Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu blatantly showed their shock. They were in disbelief.
Zhang Ruochen had now recovered his original features. He wasn’t using Gu Linfeng’s identity.
Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu had only seen Lin Yue before. They had never seen Zhang Ruochen, so they naturally couldn’t recognize him.
“The Time and Space Descendant, Zhang Ruochen?”
“Yes,” Zhang Ruochen said.
That moment, Ouyang Huan kind of believed Zhang Ruochen’s previous words. Others might not be able to do it, but someone who could control the powers of time and space might be able to.
“Since you’ve already sent away Gu Linfeng and the Monks of the Murong Family, why didn’t you leave too?” Ouyang Huan asked. “Why did you remain?”
“I remained to tell you something.”
“What?” Qi Feiyu asked.
Pulling Beauty Shi’s hands, Zhang Ruochen stood up slowly and stared at Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu. Unhurriedly, he said, “No matter how the internal fights of the Demonic Sect are, Sword Saint Feiyu is half my teacher and half my friend. You shouldn’t treat her like this.”
Qi Feiyu’s eyes flashed. All her questions were instantly answered. Realization dawned on her.
Whoosh.
Without warning, Zhang Ruochen performed the first move of the Eight Changes of Scale: Four Changes of Scale One.
The black Abyss Ancient Sword sliced toward Ouyang Huan and Qi Feiyu like a streak of light.
Worried about Qi Feiyu’s safety, Ouyang Huan immediately grabbed her wrist and performed the Seven-star Lotus Step. Stepping on black lotuses, he made seven steps and flew out of the tower, rushing into the curtain of rain.
Kaboom.
Hundreds upon thousands of Sword Qi flew out. They ripped apart the wooden tower, causing it to collapse into a pile of rubble.
Looking at the two-inch-long rip on his clothes, Ouyang Huan was chilled. “Such a fast sword. Sword Four? Or Sword Five?”
He’d only seen such a fast sword when he’d fought against Xue Wuye. Could Zhang Ruochen’s Way of Sword be comparable to Xue Wuye already?
Staring at the distant Zhang Ruochen, he shook his head again. He could see that Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation wasn’t that strong. There was still a big gap between him and Xue Wuye.
Zhang Ruochen carried the black Abyss Ancient Sword and held Beauty Shi’s hands. He looked around him with arrogance.
All the black shadows hiding in the darkness rushed out now. They numbered in the hundreds and were all strong cultivators. A few dozen of them had significant auras. They gave him a repressive feeling, like a mountain looming in the rain.
“Zhang Ruochen,” Ouyang Huan called. “Where did you get the confidence to challenge the Moon Worship Demonic Sect alone?”
“Who said I’m alone?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Whoosh!
Strands of Ghost Qi flew out of Zhang Ruochen’s sleeves. They formed a beautiful figure with long hair. She stood in the air.
It was Ghost King Bloodmoon.
She’d been cultivating inside the scroll world all this time and had absorbed a great amount of the Divine Sky-connecting Tree’s Death Qi. Her cultivation had improved even more.
The Ghost Qi radiating from her shrouded the entire Pearl Light Pavilion. It turned the entire area black and icy cold. All the plants shriveled with a speed visible to the naked eye.
In an instant, this place became a hell.
“Everyone, be careful. That’s a Ghost King. Her power’s similar to a Saint.”
When they saw the Ghost King, the surrounding people clad in black all retreated in fear.
However, Ouyang Huan was still calm. “Activate the Ten-sided Thunder Formation.”
As the hub of the Demonic Sect’s wealth, Pearl Light Pavilion was naturally protected with many defensive and offensive formations. Once they were activated, even a Saint could be killed.
However, when the four formation masters situated around Pearl Light Pavilion activated the Ten-sided Thunder Formation, nothing happened.
“What’s going on? We check the formation runes every month. How can we not activate it?”
“Did an accident happen?”
The formation masters were all in a panic. Right then, Blackie crawled out of the ground. Looking toward the four formation towers, it grinned. It puffed out its furry chest full of pride.
“How can a mere seventh-class formation get in my way?”
Before entering the auction yesterday, Zhang Ruochen had told Blackie to go damage Pearl Light Pavilion’s formation runes. It was just for this moment.
“Heh, it’s time for me to decide your life or death now.” Excited, Blackie activated its Holy Qi, gathering it in its claws. Then it hit the Holy Qi into the ground.
Kaboom!
Seventy-two pillars of white light shot up in Pearl Light Pavilion. They rose into the clouds, stirring up the dark sky.
A huge spinning formation consolidated within the clouds. A dense mass of interwoven lightning bolts cracked and popped. The commotion alerted all the forces in the Black Market.
“The Pearl Light Pavilion has actually activated the Ten-sided Thunder Formation. They must be facing a great enemy. I wonder who would go against the Demonic Sect.”
“Ghost Qi shoots into the air over there, covering the ground. A Ghost King must be fighting against them.”
“This isn’t a small matter. Let’s not get involved.”
The various evil sects of the Black Market didn’t go to help. They immediately activated their defense formations so they wouldn’t be affected.
The Demonic Sect Monks within Pearl Light Pavilion were all relieved after seeing that the Ten-sided Thunder Formation was successfully activated.
They were confident they could take down Zhang Ruochen and Ghost King Bloodmoon without it, but they would suffer great losses. The entire Pearl Light Pavilion might be destroyed too.
They couldn’t withstand those losses.
The pavilion lord looked up at the spinning formation and nodded with satisfaction. He stood out and proclaimed, “Zhang Ruochen, you can still stop now. If the power of the Ten-sided Thunder Formation descends, you will die even with a Ghost King protecting me.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “I can’t stop anymore. Tonight, you are destined to die while I live.”
“You’re looking for death.”
The pavilion lord trained his eyes on Zhang Ruochen. Shreds of black Demonic Qi poured out of his fingers. They formed rings that forced away Ghost King Bloodmoon’s Ghost Qi.
Just that was enough for one to see that his cultivation was too high to be calculated. He was possibly already a Saint.
However, before he could attack, a thick bolt of lightning fell from the center of the spinning formation. It hit him squarely on the head.
The pavilion lord froze. All his gathered Demonic Qi had scattered. His body turned scorched black and his hair stood up straight. Black smoke rose up from him.
