Rumors of Zhang Ruochen converting Ruan Ling and making Cang Long a cuckold quickly spread throughout not just the Kunlun realm but also the various macroworlds in the Celestial Court.
Cang Long became a laughing stock in a very short time as people everywhere were talking about him.
Consequently, Zhang Ruochen’s reputation soared again. Compared with stories about him killing hundreds of thousands of Infernal Court cultivators, it seemed that people enjoyed hearing such gossip more.
Zhang Ruochen did not have time for such rumors since he was rushing back to Peakless Mountain with the Head Rat.
Upon arriving at Peakless Mountain, Zhang Ruochen parted ways with the Head Rat and went up to Saint Water Peak alone.
As soon as he arrived before the Saintess Palace, Qi Feiyu came out to greet him with a smile. “The Lady has gone into retreat, Mr. Zhang. You won’t see her for the time being.”
“Retreat?” Zhang Ruochen frowned.
He had been away for not even half a day, and Ling Feiyu had gone into retreat. This surprised him.
Since he and Ling Feiyu had talked it over earlier, they both knew their places. So, there was no need for him to think too much of it.
A thought then came to mind. “If that’s the case, I will make a move first, Sister Qi. See you around.”
The dust had settled on Peakless Mountain. Since Ling Feiyu had gone into retreat, it was pointless for him to stay there.
“See you around.” Qi Feiyu nodded at him.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the closed door of the Saintess Palace one more time before he turned around and cast a Dimensional Shift. A split second later, he reappeared at the foot of Peakless Mountain.
Not long after, the Head Rat emerged from the ground.
“Are you going to Lake Phoenix so soon, Master Zhang?” asked the Head Rat curiously.
They had just returned from outside, and he thought Zhang Ruochen would first stay on the Peakless Mountain for a few days.
“Everything’s done here. Let’s leave for Lake Phoenix now.” Zhang Ruochen nodded.
“No problem, Master Zhang. You call the shot,” said the Head Rat.
Without further delay, the two immediately set off, rushing to the 66th Sub-Terminal of Merits again.
Peakless Mountain was a great distance away from Lake Phoenix, so it was more convenient to use the teleportation array of the Sub-Terminal of Merits.
Zhang Ruochen triggered the Meritorious Armor of Flowing Light and flew over the Bronze Furnace Plains at high speed.
Suddenly, a large blanket of smoke rose ahead. The air turned velvety white with strange energy spreading all around.
“Something isn’t right!”
There was a flash in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, and he was about to move backward.
Before he could do that, however, his surroundings changed, and he, along with the Head Rat, found themselves inside a bamboo forest.
The bamboo forest was dense. As the breeze blew in the air, bamboos fluttered with a unique scent of azure bamboo permeating the air.
“What is the situation, Master Zhang?” The Head Rat shrank his head back.
Zhang Ruochen did not reply, his eyes darting around to study the surroundings.
Out of nowhere, the sound of a gentle melody came to ears. It sounded like the ensemble of lute and vessel flute, very melodious.
Zhang Ruochen tried to perform a Dimensional Shift to get out of the bamboo forest but failed.
He exhaled slowly. “Let’s find out who brought us here.”
“Wait for me, Master Zhang.”
The Head Rat hurriedly caught up with him, not wanting to be left alone.
In a time like this, tagging along Zhang Ruochen closely was undoubtedly the safest thing to do.
Tracing the direction from where the lute and vessel flute came, Zhang Ruochen walked in the bamboo forest for a long while before finally seeing the persons playing the lute and vessel flute.
There were two old men; one with slightly curly red hair, dressed in sackcloth, very tall and burly, with a steely face, sharp and domineering eyes, playing the lute; and the other was dressed in an azure cloth, slightly stooped, having ferocious eyes like that of a venomous snake, and a fierce, intimidating aura throughout his body, playing the vessel flute.
Sweeping his eyes over the two elders, Zhang Ruochen’s heart missed a beat as he felt both elders were unfathomably powerful and dangerous.
The old man in azure cloth gave out a very familiar feeling, his fierce aura exuding from his body identical to the consciousness of the implement spirit in the Azuresky Pagoda. Except that this one was more powerful.
He instantly recognized the identity of the old man in azure clothes.
“What a pleasure to meet you two here, elders.” Zhang Ruochen stepped forward and bowed in salute.
The old, red-haired man and the elder in azure stopped playing their instruments and looked at Zhang Ruochen.
A light flashed in the eyes of the azure-clothed old man. He suddenly struck out a palm strike.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed. Feeling a great danger coming his way and, he quickly gathered his saint Qi and performed a palm strike at full strength.
A dragon and an elephant flew out, filling up the entire heaven and earth with various visions.
Both the dragon shadow and the elephant shadow broke apart before a powerful palm struck Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was forced back a few steps before he could completely dissipate the energy of the palm strike.
Fortunately, the Meritorious Armor of Flowing Light had absorbed most of the palm energy, and his body had been toughened in the Bronze Furnace of Life and Death. He could take the hit without suffering any injury.
The azure-clothed old man looked a little surprised at seeing Zhang Ruochen unscathed.
Just as the azure-clothed old man was about to strike again, the red-haired elder stood up. “Brother Azure, don’t forget your purpose.”
“I know.”
The azure-clothed old man reached to grab Zhang Ruochen.
The Azuresky Pagoda instantly left Zhang Ruochen’s body, completely out of his control.
The old man in an azure cloth was none other than the implement spirit of the Azuresky Pagoda.
Just as the implement spirit’s consciousness of the Azuresky Pagoda said, its true form would return soon. By then, no one could control the Azuresky Pagoda by force.
One thing was certain: the level of cultivation of the old man in azure cloth was at the Supreme Saint level, not just at Neverwilt Realm. To be able to remain in the Kunlun Realm, he surely had a secret technique of concealing his breath, evading the detection of the Celestial and the Infernal Court.
Getting stopped by the implement spirit of the Azuresky Pagoda was anything but a good thing.
After all, it was the Chi Clan that the Azuresky Pagoda was guarding. When Zhang Ruochen led an army to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly Palace, he had made himself some enemies.
“Do you know what sin you have committed, Zhang Ruochen?” asked the old man in azure cloth bitterly.
Zhang Ruochen stood upright nonchalantly. “What wrong have I done?”
“You devastated the Lingxiao Heavenly Palace for your own personal gain.” The old man in azure cloth snorted.
Instead of being intimidated, Zhang Ruochen was bold and feeling justified. “So you mean the Lingxiao Heavenly Mansion could kill our people in Zhang Clan while I am not allowed to destroy them?”
The old man in azure cloth’s eyes flashed. “Don’t try to justify your heinous act. By the sound of you, you must have been aberrant. On your knees immediately!”
While the old man in azure spoke, he sent terrifying energy straight at Zhang Ruochen, crushing him down like a sacred mountain.
Zhang Ruochen pushed back the tremendous pressure while gritting his teeth, still standing upright. “If you think you can bully me because you are a Supreme Saint, you couldn’t be more wrong. I’m not even afraid of Chi Yao, let alone an implement spirit like you.”
He knew that even if he were to beg for mercy, the old man in azure cloth would not let him go.
Besides, with his type of character, it was impossible for him to beg for mercy, especially when it was the Chi clan.
“How dare you disrespect me? You deserve death just for this.” The old man in azure cloth exuded a strong killing intent. An azure glow gathered at his fingertip before he struck at Zhang Ruochen.
This finger strike was extremely fearsome. Zhang Ruochen wanted to dodge, but his body would not listen to him.
Just as he thought that he would surely die, the old, red-haired man abruptly stood in front of him, blocking the azure light and terrible pressure, allowing him to move again.
“Why do you do this, Brother Red?” asked the old man in azure cloth in a deep voice.
The old, red-haired man smiled at him. “Brother Azure, why get so worked up? The situation in Kunlun Realm is bad enough. Zhang Ruochen has an important role to play in this war. You must not harm him.”
“You are overestimating him, Brother Red. He is the Scion of Time and Space. But with his level of strength, no way he could be of meaningful help to resist the Infernal Court. Compared with those ancient sleepers, he is weaker by far.” There was a sense of derision in the eyes of the old man in azure cloth.
The old, red-haired man shook his head. “Don’t doubt Saint Monk Xumi’s judgment. You will know why soon.”
Hearing this, the old man in azure cloth could not help but furrowed his brow. He could see that the old, red-haired man was determined to defend Zhang Ruochen, and he could do nothing about it.
“Very well. I will let him off this time just for the sake of you, Brother Red. But I will not hesitate to kill him next time.” The old man in azure cloth calmed down, no longer singling out Zhang Ruochen.
After a slight pause, the old man in azure cloth continued. “Since I have gotten the Azuresky Pagoda back, I will first return to the Central Imperial City. See you around, Brother Red.”
The old, red-haired man said nothing, just nodding back at the old man in azure clothes.
The azure-clothed old man shot a glance at Zhang Ruochen before fading into an azure light and disappeared into thin air.
After the old man in azure left, the Head Rat approached him. “Are you all right, Master Zhang?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly, then bowed to thank the old, red-haired man. “Thank you for saving me, Mister.”
At that moment, he already knew that this old, red-haired man was the implement spirit of the Bronze Furnace of Life and Death.
He found the aura of the old, red-haired man all too familiar. It was exactly like the aura he felt in the Bronze Furnace of Life and Death.
The old, red-haired man broke into a faint smile. “Don’t worry about it. You are Saint Monk Xumi’s successor and also Yueshen’s Divine Envoy. How could I watch you die?”
Unlike the old man in azure, the old, red-haired man was friendly without the slightest sense of arrogance.
“I have some questions and am wondering if you would answer them for me?” Zhang Ruochen said with a solemn expression.
The old, red-haired man reached out to freeze the Head Rat in place, only then he asked Zhang Ruochen to sit down.
Putting away the lute, the old, red-haired man smiled. “I know what you are going to ask. You would like to know why implement spirits like us disappeared. One hundred thousand years ago, all the implement spirits of Supreme Artifacts in the Kunlun Realm disappeared. There were two reasons for this.
“One, it was to avoid the Yuanhui Tribulation. Like the gods, the implement spirits of the Supreme Artifact and divine artifacts need to survive the Yuanhui Tribulation to become stronger. Those who failed would be annihilated.
“Two, it was to avoid a divine artifact in the Infernal Court. That artifact is called the Soul-Devouring Lamp. If we didn’t hide, I’m afraid all the implement spirits of the Supreme Artifacts would not have escaped the fate of being swallowed up by the Soul-Devouring Lamp.”
Zhang Ruochen suddenly got wise to it.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen had already suspected something about the disappearance of the implement spirits of the Supreme Artifact from the Kunlun Realm. He felt that it probably had something to do with the Yuanhui Tribulation. But he did not know that there was another reason for this.
The Soul-Devouring Lamp must be extremely terrifying. If it were to swallow all the implement spirits of the Supreme Artifacts, those Supreme Artifacts in the Kunlun Realm were basically as good as useless.
The difference between a Supreme Artifact with an implement spirit and one without an implement spirit was like night and day.
“Where did you hide to avoid the Yuanhui Tribulation and the Soul-Devouring Lamp?” asked Zhang Ruochen curiously.
“You should have heard of the Altar of Path’s Soul, one of the top ten divine artifacts in the Kunlun Realm. We have been hiding in the Altar of Path’s Soul all these years.”
“The Altar of Path’s Soul?”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed face abruptly.
As a cultivator in the Kunlun Realm, he certainly knew about the ten great divine artifacts. Each of the ten divine artifacts possessed a terrifying power.
However, in this age and day, the ten greatest divine artifacts had been reduced to a legend. Some people said that they had been destroyed after some tragic battles.
Some said to have disappeared without a trace and never been seen again since middle ancient time.
As far as Zhang Ruochen knew, only the Imperial Ruler was kept in the Inscription Guild, and the Shenlong Chaos Tower of Sun and Moon was in the hands of the mysterious fighter in the Yin Yang Sea.
As for the other divine artifacts, he had no idea where they were.
“Where is the Altar of Path’s Soul?” asked Zhang Ruochen again.
The old, red-haired man shook his head slightly. “It is too important to reveal it to you now. But all I can tell is that the existence of the Altar of Path’s Soul is closely tied to the survival of the entire Kunlun Realm. It is the key to Kunlun Realm’s resistance against the Infernal Court.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen could not help but be stunned. He believed the old, red-haired man, who was not just being an alarmist. Some enormous secrets had to be hidden in the Altar of Path’s Soul, and it was the hidden trump card of the Kunlun Realm.
Judging from this, the Kunlun Realm might have failed 100,000 years ago, but it had still reserved a card up its sleeve, waiting for the ripe time to play the card.
For a moment, many things came to mind. Zhang Ruochen could not help but connect all the dots that were seemingly unrelated previously.
All realms thought that the Kunlun Realm was weak, with no significant figures in existence. But was that really the case?
Now even Zhang Ruochen could not fathom the situation in Kunlun Realm. There were too many secrets that he did not even know about.
“Don’t think too much, Zhang Ruochen. Just do what you want to do, and you will slowly make sense of things as you go. By then you will know what your mission is,” said the old, red-haired man with a meaningful look.
After saying so, the old, red-haired man faded into a stream of red light and disappeared from the bamboo forest. Probably he was rushing back to Peakless Mountain.
Zhang Ruochen stood silently in thought in the bamboo forest, unable to calm himself down for a long time.
