“Where is Pan Ruo?”
Yuanmo Shenzi could not help but ask when he could not find Pan Ruo anywhere.
“Shenzi, Her Excellency Pan Ruo entered the dimension below as soon as she found a God-Eater Bug. She must be taming the God-Eater Bugs right now and probably has the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree in her hand already,” replied a white-robed priest with greenish hair.
Yuanmo Shenzi smiled. “Good. I am sure that Pan Ruo will retrieve the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. We just need to guard this entrance.”
The three white-robed priests exchanged looks with each other. There was fear in their eyes, and they looked like they had something to say but were hesitant.
Noticing their expressions, Yuanmo Shenzi suddenly had a bad feeling. “What’s wrong?”
“Zhang Ruochen and Fairy of a Hundred Flowers have also entered that dimension. Zhang Ruochen’s dimensional skill was elusive; he couldn’t stop him.” The white-robed priest with green hair bit the bullet and told of what happened.
Yuanmo Shenzi furrowed his brow. “Zhang Ruochen, again? You all stay here. I will deal with him personally.”
Yuanmo Shenzi was ready to jump into the dark hole to lend Pan Ruo a hand. He might be able to impress Pan Ruo by helping her in a time like this.
How could he miss such an opportunity?
Just then, something happened.
Cracks started to appear around the dark hole, the surrounding area sank.
In the blink of an eye, a massive underground world appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.
With this happening, the Deathkins could no longer stop people from entering the underground world.
Someone could not wait and lunged straight down.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It was totally worth the risk for the sake of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
Some were more cautious and first observing the situation.
“Aah! Run!”
A few moments later, a scream was heard inside the dark dimension.
Those who had entered earlier were scrambling back out with dots of flickering blue light chasing from behind.
Those who could not make it out on time were consumed and burned into ashes by the blue flames.
In a desperate attempt to save their lives, some even cut off their arms or legs that had been bitten by the God-Eater Bugs.
A vast number of God-Eater Bugs flew out from underground. It was a beautiful but deadly sight. These things were the last things anyone wanted to touch.
With the help of the illumination from the blue flames, one could vaguely see the situation inside. There was a complex of greenish buildings, some perfectly intact, some a ruin.
“These buildings used to sit on the peak of Xianji Mountain. How did they end up underground?” Pei Yutian looked puzzled.
He was born in Northern Region, and so he knew Northern Region well. He used to explore Xianji Mountain, which was still semi-veiled last time, and the place was mysterious. So he did not go far that time.
An Eight-Step Saint King struck and crushed a nail-sized God-Eater Bug. “So much for a God-Eater Bug!”
Seeing this, others made their moves and started to attack those God-Eater Bugs coming out of the underground.
In just a few moments, they had killed nearly a hundred of the bugs, and there was more casualty on the Celestial Court and the Deathkin’s sides.
As people became more daring, they lurched into the dark underground world again.
“Let’s go down there.”
Xuanyuan Liekong lunged down at once.
Few could remain collected in front of a fetish like the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. Destroying the Altar of Death could wait.
Without needing Xuanyuan Liekong to tell him, Bi Yunhai had made his move. Pan Ruo and Zhang Ruochen had been down there for a while. It would leave him with nothing if he waited any longer.
Even Zheng Yuan, Yuan Xianzi, Ten-Eyed Qiankun Insect, Feng Yan and others had lurched into the dark underground world at once, let alone the Deathkins.
Except for the three white-robed priests guarding the Altar of Death, other top fighters had acted, too.
In the dark corner somewhere, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, Pei Yutian, and the evil spirit watched quietly. They remembered what Zhang Ruochen had told them. So no matter how keen they were, they did not go underground.
Right now, the situation had gotten as messy as it could get. Many people were going to die in the pursuit of the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. Even those top fighters would find themselves stuck.
Inside a green building, Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxi moved like a gale of wind. At first, they were chasing Pan Ruo. But Pan Ruo moved like a flash and disappeared from their sights.
Zhang Ruochen found that this green building had changed a lot, more massive than it used to be and looking like a maze. One could get lost here easily.
There were many God-Eater Bugs circling around Ji Fanxin. They were the size of the nail of a finger, a few the size of a fist.
These were God-Eater Bugs that had been tamed by Ji Fanxin using a secret technique.
With these bugs around, Ji Fanxin could immediately detect as soon as other God-Eater Bugs approached, thus reducing the risk.
“There used to be an enchantment around this green building. Coming here wasn’t easy, and the God-Eater Bugs couldn’t get out either. The Altar of Death must have drawn the enchantment’s power, making it become fragile and broke apart during the violent impact earlier. When the green building was exposed and the God-Eater Bugs living inside the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree were disturbed, they started to come out in droves,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“The God-Eater Bugs were unlike ordinary insects and beasts; they are hard to control. Even my ancient witchcraft might not be able to rein in the more nasty ones,” said Ji Fanxin.
Witchcraft was a lost ancient secret technique. Jin Fanxin had lived in that era, and so she had learned a bit of the technique.
“Let us go to where the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree is. Since Bi Yunhai broadcast the existence of this tree, I am sure those fighters from the Celestial Court and the Deathkin are already coming to get a piece of the action. We need to hurry.” Zhang Ruochen had a sense of urgency on his face.
Ji Fanxin nodded in agreement. “We are almost there. When we get there, I will hold off Pan Ruo while you retrieve the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.”
“Okay.”
He did not want to clash with Pan Ruo. It could not have been better since Ji Fanxin was willing to help.
A moment later, Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin found themselves in front of a blanket of greenish fog.
It was formed by the Qi of the Divine Tree; the concentration was so high that condensation almost happened.
The trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree was right inside the greenish fog.
Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin did not go in, as someone was ahead of them, and that person was Pan Ruo.
She was standing in front of the greenish fog, facing a bizarre light door formed by the Precepts of Destiny. This was the Gate of Destiny.
Grayish fog was inside the Gate of Destiny, and those God-Eater Bugs appeared unusually docile.
Pan Ruo did not turn around. “You two are quick. But my advice to you two is, leave while you can. You have only one chance.” Her voice was bitter.
“We will leave, but only after retrieving the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. So stop threatening us. Show us what you have got. I am curious to know what a candidate of the Lady of the Fane of Destiny is capable of,” said Ji Fanxin nonchalantly.
This time, Pan Ruo turned around, her eyes sweeping over Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin. “You two are a perfect match.”
Upon hearing that, Zhang Ruochen looked like he was in a pickle. He had many questions on his mind, but words choked in his throat.
At last, he ended up saying nothing.
Just then, Ji Fanxin had made her move. She cast out petals to form into a bolt of purple silk, sweeping toward Pan Ruo.
Just as the purple silk was about to approach, fire went up on each petal, and the purple silk turned into a purple fire dragon.
Pan Ruo let out a faint smile. With the wave of her hand, a massive evil air of death surged to meet the purple fire dragon.
Bang!
The purple fire dragon disintegrated and turned into petal rain to engulf Pan Ruo.
Pan Ruo made a strange hand gesture while chanting an unintelligible incantation. A power Will of Death was released to scatter the petals.
Seeing what happened, Ji Fanxin pointed forward with her fingers and a beam of saint light formed. It was holy and looked as if it could expel every evil thing in the world.
But Pan Ruo appeared composed. An evil air of death rushed out of her body, as sticky as ink, and filled the entire dimension.
While Ji Fanxin was engaging Pan Ruo, Zhang Ruochen immediately acted to retrieve the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
Just as he approached the greenish fog, a strange expression formed on his face.
He found that there was a special energy up ahead, isolating the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree from the outside world. He could see the tree, but not get near to it.
So he immediately contacted the sapling of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree through telepathy. “How can I retrieve the trunk, sir?”
His biggest help in retrieving the trunk came from the sapling of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. After all, they were kindred, and no one knew the trunk sealed in this place better than the sapling.
“Let me get near to the trunk. I will talk to whatever consciousness remains in the trunk,” said the sapling.
Zhang Ruochen was in a pickle upon hearing that. The question was, how was he going to get near to the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree?
He could sense how powerful the forces were stopping him. It was not easy to pass through it.
Perhaps this was also the reason Pan Ruo had stopped there.
A few moments of delay had finally seen the coming of the Celestial Court and the Deathkin fighters.
“How dare you hurt Pan Ruo!”
Yuanmo Shenzi had a murderous look in his eyes.
The moment he arrived, he attacked Ji Fanxin by striking out a powerful punch.
“How dare you!” This time, it was Bi Yunhai shouting.
But he came too late. Stopping Yuanmo Shenzi was impossible now.
In a split second, Zhang Ruochen appeared beside Ji Fanxin, casting out the Azuresky Pagoda with powerful Supreme Power.
The implement spirit had woken up, and the power of the Azuresky Pagoda had increased tremendously.
Boom!
The Azuresky Pagoda was forced back from the impact. But at least, it had blocked the fist of Yuanmo Shenzi.
Ji Fanxin stepped back and halted the fight with Pan Ruo temporarily.
With so many powerful fighters assembling here, she did not want to get into a fight with Pan Ruo and let others take advantage of the situation.
