Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi stepped forward. The majestic cluster of pavilions appeared before them again.
After activating the 12 Buddhist pearls and collecting their aura, Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi walked timidly through the golden gates. Instantly, Qi more mysterious than Holy Qi surged from the depths of the palace.
The Qi was blue-purple and specks of light floated in it.
Every speck of light was a Rule of Saintly Way. It melted into their bodies as soon as it touched their skin.
“This is too crazy! In just a few short breaths, I gained 16 Rules of Saintly Way.” Mu Lingxi was both overjoyed and a bit unsettled.
This made improvement way too easy. They only needed to touch the specks of light and a rule would automatically appear within them.
How could there be something so easy in the world?
“What exactly are these Qi currents? How were these rule lights formed? If this really is a place that’s even more precious than the Truth Godly Palace, it should have been taken advantage of already. How could it still be so barren?”
Holding the heavy sword, Zhang Ruochen walked timidly toward the flowing blue-purple Qi.
“Look, who’s that?”
Mu Lingxi’s eyes trained on an ancient tree around 200 feet away.
The grayish brown trunk was wide enough for a dozen people to wrap around. The roots were even thicker than pillars. There were many branches and rich leaves. Each leaf seemed to be breathing.
It absorbed the blue-purple Qi and rule lights. What it exhaled was regular Holy Qi.
There were countless blue-purple fruits on the tree. Shaped like pears, they shimmered on the surface. It was like millions of specks of light were nurtured inside it.
One knew without guessing that these fruits were definitely priceless. Your cultivation would improve so much if you could eat it.
However, Mu Lingxi’s attention wasn’t on the fruits. Instead, she stared at the three corpses nailed onto the trunk.
They were a lion-headed silver-eyed creature, a half-beast half-man with seven tails, and a creature with a bird head and nine-colored wings. They were stabbed through by a saint bone spear. Blood still dripped out of their wounds. Each drop of blood contained extreme power. Evidently, they’d been powerful Saint Kings when alive.
“They didn’t die long ago. They must be Saint Kings from the Heaven Field group who wanted to pick the fruits but got killed. Who killed them?” Zhang Ruochen’s scalp went numb.
It was obvious that the three beings nailed there weren’t regular Saint Kings. They must have had terrifying combat abilities, but they’d all died there tragically.
Mu Lingxi felt chills run down her spine. “Could it be those prehistoric corpses that had been chasing after us?”
“Those corpses are strong, but it’s not easy for them to kill these three. There must be even more terrifying monsters here.”
Zhang Ruochen released his Spiritual Power and spatial territory. He also took out Emperor Yi’s Bone Staff.
The evil spirit inside it had already eaten all the souls of the Yin and Yang Palace cultivators. Now, it could fight anyone under the seventh step and was Zhang Ruochen’s most important trump card.
He’d even taken out the Bone Staff, so one could imagine how stressed he felt.
If not for the fact that he had to find Xiang Chunan, Zhang Ruochen would definitely leave this place immediately. It was too dangerous here. He couldn’t venture around here with his current cultivation.
Next, he took out three Assassin Puppets to guard him and Mu Lingxi. After doing all this, he finally felt a bit of security.
The ancient tree with the blue-purple fruits was in the near distance. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted.
Mu Lingxi grabbed his wrist and shook her head. “Those three strong Saint Kings died too strangely. Don’t risk it.”
“I have my bottom line.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t go pick the fruit by himself. Instead, he sent out a third step Saint King Assassin Puppet.
The puppet wore silver armor and was only one meter tall. It held two broadswords and was as fast as lightning. It instantly arrived under the saint tree.
It bent its legs and was about to rush up the tree.
Whoosh!
A bone spear shot out of the purple mist in the corner of the palace with an ear-splitting sound of wind.
Merely the wind made Zhang Ruochen’s ears bleed. His head was in pain and his vision went black. His body swayed and he almost fell to the ground with weak knees.
Boom!
It was the sound of metal cracking.
The strong Assassin Puppet was stabbed through by the bone spear and nailed onto the tree. Its metal body had practically fallen apart and was completely destroyed.
Mu Lingxi fell to the side of Zhang Ruochen. She bled from all openings and was horribly injured.
Zhang Ruochen leaned on the heavy sword and gradually recovered. He quickly checked his body and discovered that his organs had cracked from the reverberations. His meridians and Saintly Meridians were in immense pain.
“What kind of creature is this? Merely the sound waves and might of the spear that it threw out injured me so heavily.”
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t imagine the consequences if that spear had flown at him.
Mu Lingxi was badly hurt and her Holy Qi was in a mess. Zhang Ruochen fed her a curing pill. A while later, he lifted her up to help her refine the pill.
Heavy steps came from the blue-purple fog in the palace corner.
The sound was light, but as the sound waves traveled over, the ground trembled. With Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation, he couldn’t even steady himself.
His organs were also in immense pain as if about to be ripped apart by the power.
Half of a corpse walked out of the fog.
Its body had been cut apart by some sharp blade. Only two legs and a right arm remained. It had no head or left side of its body.
But this half of a corpse created horrible pressure for Zhang Ruochen. His heart constricted and his body went numb. He couldn’t move at all.
The half corpse shone with brilliant white light and hadn’t decayed at all. Its saintly might was countless times stronger than Zhang Ruochen. It could probably kill him with one finger.
However, Zhang Ruochen’s Buddha Pearls went into effect. They hid his aura completely and the half corpse seemed unable to detect him.
It doesn’t have eyes. It can’t see me. Zhang Ruochen was slightly relieved.
But then, something even stranger happened before his eyes.
Many corpses appeared out of thin air below the tree. At first, there were about ten corpses, then dozens, hundreds… Blue flames burned in their eye sockets and they radiated with ancient Yin Qi.
One of the corpses discovered Zhang Ruochen. It glared with fiery blue eyes and howled.
Zhang Ruochen was about to run out with Mu Lingxi in his arms, but he saw a dozen corpses standing at the exit. They were all as strong as Saint Kings. He wouldn’t be able to get past them at all.
The half corpse that hadn’t decayed at all sensed Zhang Ruochen too. It moved to face him.
“Brother Ruochen, here! The temple in the southeastern corner. They don’t dare to enter!” Xiang Chunan’s voice came from the southeast.
Without even thinking, Zhang Ruochen used his fastest speed and ran. A bone spear chased after him.
It was about to hit his back, but he broke open the temple door and stepped in.
Boom!
When the spear flew to the door, purple light poured out of the temple and blocked it. Finally, all the power on the spear disappeared and it clattered to the ground.
Phew.
Zhang Ruochen let out a long breath and looked back.
The group of zombies surrounded the temple and kept howling, but they didn’t dare to enter. They seemed to fear something. The half corpse was no exception.
Xiang Chunan came over, carrying his metal hammer. Sighing, he asked, “Brother Ruochen, how come you came to this malicious place too?”
“To find you,” Zhang Ruochen said. “How could I leave by himself?”
“A great brother, so loyal, haha!”
Xiang Chunan patted Zhang Ruochen’s shoulder. Then he said a bit apologetically, “Earlier, I was busy dealing with those guys and didn’t know you’d come. Otherwise, I would’ve reminded you earlier and that prehistoric monster wouldn’t have been lured out.”
Zhang Ruochen had guessed that the half corpse was some ancient Supreme Saint, so he wasn’t surprised.
Under Xiang Chunan’s lead, Zhang Ruochen carried Mu Lingxi deeper into the temple. He saw five strong Saint Kings repressed under a black metal crown with demonic Qi.
The five Saint Kings weren’t weak. The lowest were third step Saint Kings, while two were fourth step Saint Kings.
However, that metal crown immobilized them completely. Faces red, they used all their might to push up the crown so they wouldn’t be crushed to death.
Xiang Chunan was annoyed. “These guys came out of nowhere and wanted to kill me as soon as we met. Thankfully, I took out my teacher’s metal hat in time to restrict them. But two of them were seriously strong and escaped beforehand. One had two pairs of red wings. The other one’s kind of funny. He didn’t have a face.”
Xiang Chunan sounded casual, but the five Saint Kings under the black metal crown were furious. A metal hat? This was obviously an Absolute Sant weapon.
Of the five Saint Kings, one at the peak of the third step was a female Angel Saint King. She was beautiful with delicate features and translucent skin. Entire cities would fall for her.
She held a saint pearl with both hands to fend off the Absolute Saint weapon with thick demonic Qi. Delicate frame trembling, she cast a charm spell. “We must have a misunderstanding,” she said gently. “Sir, please lift this demonic crown and give us a chance to explain.”
This female Saint King was confident in her beauty. She was also advanced in charm spells, so she was confident in taking down this Dark Fool who’d probably never even touched a girl’s hand before.
Crack!
Not caring about her beauty at all, Xiang Chunan slapped her, making her spit out blood. “Misunderstand my ass. You think your Lord Xiang is stupid? You’re already ugly and you keep squinting your eyes at me. Do you want to make me die of disgust? Ugh, you get uglier the more I look at you. I can’t stand it. Brother, how about you deal with her?”
That female Saint King was livid and her chest rose and fell in anger. She’d never been so insulted in her life.
