An old body was lying on the ice bed silently. With his knees under his chin, he was as skinny as a root newly dug out from the ground.
His white long hair looked like a spider web, scattering on the ice bed, never trimmed for hundreds of years.
Who could this be if not Shi Mingyuan?
“Oh my gosh, the old clan chief is still alive!
“If the old clan chief could recover, with his attainment in spiritual power and talismans, we, the Zhenyu Clan, wouldn’t have to be afraid of the Immortal Vampires, no?”
The Zhenyu Clan’s Saint-level elders were divided into two rows, neatly standing below, their eyes filled with shock, worries, and a deep sense of anticipation.
Six hours ago, Zhang Ruochen sent Shi Mingyuan into the Qiankun Realm, seeking the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree’s help to purify the evil consciousness in his body.
Due to this, Shi Mingyuan was no longer demented or attacking other cultivators. But there was still the residue of Lord Ming’s blood toxin in his body, so he was asleep.
Right now, Zhang Ruochen, Bao Lie, Xiang Chunan, and Luo Yi joined hands to infuse their Saint Qi into Shi Mingyuan’s body to drive out Lord Ming’s blood toxin, droplet by droplet.
The four of them spent nearly half a day and had only expelled one-third of the blood toxin.
“How is it, Brother Zhang?” Shi Ren came up and asked.
“One-third of it has been cleared. Quickly give the old clan chief some blood-enhancing pill. We will continue tomorrow,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Below them, the Saint-level elders of the Zhenyu Clan looked pleased.
“One-third at a time. That means the blood toxin in the old clan chief’s body will be cleared in two more days?” said an elder.
“It is not so simple. The old chief’s condition is so bad that his blood and Lord Ming’s blood toxin has mixed. We can’t get rid of it completely with our level of cultivation. A Supreme Saint could do a better job. Only continuous blood transfusion and regrowth could dilute the poison,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“How long will it take before Grandpa could wake up?” asked Shi Ren.
“Half a month! After half a month, there will be only a thousandth of the poison remaining inside the old chief’s body. With his cultivation base, he might be able to suppress the blood toxin and wake up by then,” said Zhang Ruochen after some thought.
“Thank you so much, Brother Zhang. The Zhenyu Clan owes you too much. I, Shi Ren, will do whatever you ask of me from now on.” Shi Ren looked solemn, his eyes reddening.
“Zhang Ruochen smiled at him. “Take good care of the chief. I will leave the Sword Vault Palace for a while.”
“Where are you going?” asked Shi Ren.
“I won’t be long.”
After saying so, Zhang Ruochen disappeared from the Sword Vault Palace.
Once leaving the Sword Vault Palace, Zhang Ruochen cast out a communication talisman into heaven.
He was sending this communication talisman to Master Indra at Western Region, as he wanted to take back the Toten Sword that he put in Master Indra’s custody.
“There is an array divine mark from the Middle Ages still protecting the Sword Vault Palace and the Zhenyu Clan. I can’t send the communication talisman without getting out of the place. That’s so troublesome.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head lightly, ready to return to the Sword Vault Palace.
Just then, he spotted something and performed a palm immediately, casting out a giant fire dragon toward a barren hill fifteen miles to his right.
A round, blood-red mark appeared on the barren hill as if a cave had emerged out of thin air.
A figure, draped in Hundred-Saint Blood Armor, jumped out of the blood-red cave, spreading featherless wings with a thick qi of blood covering an area of thousand miles in radius.
The figure, holding a chain that looked like a steel dragon, clashed with the giant fire dragon of Zhang Ruochen, crushing and turning it into balls of fire.
“I am surprised that you could sense my presence. Not bad for your alertness.” Prince Wujie snickered.
The blood qi spread to Zhang Ruochen, engulfing him within.
Zhang Ruochen could feel strange energy flowing in the blood qi. Like the quagmire, it limited his cultivation base and the speed of his movement.
“The fact that this Immortal Vampire cultivator could defeat my palm shows that he is no slouch,” mumbled Zhang Ruochen to himself.
With Zhang Ruochen’s level of cultivation, he was only a step away from becoming a Nine-Step Saint King. A casual move like a palm of his could unleash an overwhelming amount of power.
Zhang Ruochen was unflustered, his eyes scanning around. “So many Immortal Vampires have come, huh? After Baihuan Shenzi, here comes another one. All of you, reveal yourself at once!”
Prince Wujie squinted. “You have met Baihuan Shenzi yet is still alive?”
Zhang Ruochen let out a smile as he took out a blood-red Sainthood Source from the storage ring and held it in his hand.
The energy of the Sainthood Source spread in the air.
Prince Wujie’s expression changed suddenly. “It is the breath of Baihuan Shenzi. Who killed him?”
“With his Sainthood Source in my hands, who do you think killed him?” Zhang Ruochen asked back.
“It was you!”
Prince Wujie raised his guard as he dared not look down on this human. Baihuan Shenzi’s combat strength might not be of the top tier, but his illusory and shapeshifting techniques were at the acme of perfection. An ordinary Supreme Saint could not have possibly been his match.
He who could kill Baihuan Shenzi was definitely an elite.
Far away, inside a white cloud floated a white bone mountain.
Nine-Eye Heavenly King and others were looking at Prince Wujie and Zhang Ruochen. When they sensed the breath of Baihuan Shenzi emanating from the Sainthood Source, their expression turned unnatural.
“Baihuan Shenzi was a fool to die in the hands of a little-known kid. It seems that his arrogance has caused his own downfall.” A Princess with a long face snickered.
There was no sense of mercy, just a sneer and a murderous intent directed at Zhang Ruochen.
“Little-known kid? You all are underestimating him.”
Just then, a magnetic voice came from the top of the white bone mountain.
Two shenzis and six princes and princesses of the Immortal Vampires looked at that figure. There was a sense of reverence and respect toward the figure in many of them.
That figure stood with his back facing them. He was tall with beautiful, blood-red long hair and reading from a scroll of bamboo slips in his hand.
Slowly, he turned around, revealing his extremely handsome face.
If not for his Adam’s apple and his male voice, any cultivators would have thought that he was a peerless beauty, rivaling the nine fairies on the Portrait of the Nine Beauties.
“You know who he is, Xia Shenzi?” asked the long-faced princess.
“His name is Zhang Ruochen, the bravest and most skillful warrior among the young generation of the Kunlun Realm. He has inherited the Path of Time and the Path of Dimension from Saint Monk Xumi and is Yueshen’s Divine Envoy. He is a top dog in terms of talent, luck, and background. Yet you all think he is a little-known kid?” said Xia Wenxin unhurriedly.
“So he is Zhang Ruochen!”
Nine-Eye Heavenly Lord looked as if the name had aroused his interest, five of his eyes open at once, looking at the male human confronting Prince Wujie.
But after a while, Nine-Eye Heavenly Lord was disappointed. “You must have gotten it wrong, Xia Shenzi.”
“Why did you say so?” asked Xia Wenxin.
“Even if Zhang Ruochen has inherited the Path of Time and the Path of Dimension from Saint Monk Xumi, and that he is undefeated at his present realm, his cultivation base has not yet attained Nine-Step Saint Kinghood. No matter how strong he is in other areas, his overall strength is still not up to snuff,” said Nine-Eye Heavenly Lord.
“He might be unbeatable in the realm of Eight-Step Saint Kings, but could he be in the Lesser Precept World? Where does he stand in the Greater Precept World? I am afraid that he would have to run for his dear life in front of the Precept Domain elites.”
Xia Wenxin remained silent.
The long-faced princess chortled. “So he is just an Eight-Step Saint King. Such a weakling is the bravest and most skillful warrior of the Kunlun Realm? If so, the Kunlun Realm must have declined so terribly.”
A prince with a silver pattern on his forehead also snickered. “Prince Wujie has a strong Supreme Bloodline in his body. At only Eight-Step Saint Kinghood, he could pose a challenge to the Great Precept World elites for a moment, just nice to test out the strength of this Scion of Time and Space.”
“Are you kidding me, Prince Yun? Prince Wujie is no longer at the Eight-Step Saint Kinghood. He has attained Precept Domain after absorbing a vast amount of Saint Blood on the battlefield of merits. His cultivation base is three realms higher than that of Zhang Ruochen. Are you sure he is just good enough to test out Zhang Ruochen’s ability and not kill him?” said the long-faced princess with a smile.
“All of you, don’t forget how nasty the powers of time and dimension are. Zhang Ruochen’s combat strength is not as simple as you all imagine, I am afraid. How do you explain Baihuan Shenzi is reduced to become a Sainthood Source?” said a third prince, whose voice was low and body looked like a tower.
“Maybe Baihuan Shenzi wasn’t killed by Zhang Ruochen but some other elite fighter,” said Prince Yun.
“We had better warn Prince Wujie. Just in case he is taken by surprise.”
The long-faced princess’s lips moved as she delivered a silent sound wave into Prince Wujie’s ear.
Prince Wujie’s eyes brightened up as he let out a smile. “So you are the scion of Saint Monk Xumi, eh? Great! You may still have a chance to live. If you hand over the tome, I will spare your life.”
Zhang Ruochen had sensed the presence of other elites of the Immortal Vampires nearby, and there was more than one.
Prince Wujie was an experienced fighter. When he noticed the changes in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, he knew that this Scion of Time and Space was thinking of fleeing.
“Perish the thought. You can’t escape today!”
Prince Wujie spun the chain in his hand rapidly. It lengthened to a thousand yards and formed a giant vortex, ripping the mountains in the vicinity and bringing them into the air as it spun quicker and quicker.
“I have given you the chance to hand over it. Since you refuse, I could only take it from you myself.”
The chain brought mountains of rock up in the air, turning the sky dark and the air howling violently. The next moment, a destructive force came down at Zhang Ruochen at once.
