The demonic dragon transformed into a giant rabbit. It then stretched out its claws, which teemed with Demonic Qi, as it crushed Bloodhunt Hongdong’s body, deliberately showing a menacing gaze. “Master Chen, I’ve taken him. How should I deal with him?”
“Cough, cough.”
Bloodhunt Hongdong’s internal organs were almost completely shattered, and his meridians, Saint Meridians included, were extensively damaged.
He coughed and vomited blood.
The pain of his body was secondary, what made him extremely depressed and resentful, was that the dignified Young Master of the Warhammer Palace was defeated by a rabbit. If this news spread out, he would surely become a joke within the Warhammer Palace.
Of course, at this moment, what he should have thought of more, was how to save his life.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the air and took away the storage bracelet from Bloodhunt Hongdong’s wrist. Infusing his spiritual powers into it and exploring it, he found that the bracelet contained a lot of precious refining materials.
Some of those materials could not even be bought from the market.
“Kill him,” Zhang Ruochen said indifferently.
“No, Zhang Ruochen, you can’t kill me. I’m the Young Master of the Warhammer Palace. If you take me back to the Warhammer Palace, you will surely be able to exchange a lot of sacred artifacts. I’m the great-grandson of the Grand Elder of the Warhammer Palace,” Bloodhunt Hongdong said.
“Not interested, I still want to kill you,” Zhang Ruochen spat.
The cultivators of the Sword Sanctum was the foundation of his sixth senior brother, Lu Yuanzhi, and the latter was one of the loyal subjects of the Central Shengming Empire, Zhang Ruochen owed them a response to the grudge.
“No, no…”
Bloodhunt Hongdong’s face turned purple as his mind went blank. He had never thought that he would one day have to face death himself.
“When you kill other cultivators, you should also have the mental preparation of being killed yourself. I have that, so should you,” Zhang Ruochen said faintly.
Boooom!
A powerful aura of a Supreme Saint came from the sky and shook the clouds within a thousand miles apart, scattering them.
On this land, all of the Saint’s expression changed as they looked up into the air.
On the empyrean above, stood a great figure clad in silver armor. He was extremely far away from the surface of the Kunlun Realm, more than a million miles away. Only the Saint Eyes of a Saint King could see his figure.
“Salutations, Emissary Vigilant.”
All of the Saint cultivators on the ground saluted the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant.”
The so-called Emissary Vigilant is a Supreme Saint sent out by the Celestial Palace to patrol and supervise the War of Merits from the heavens.
If the cultivators of the Celestial Court were found to be fighting among themselves to the point of death and injury, the Emissary Vigilant would need to stop it and punish the perpetrators.
Of course, if they were to discover the appearance of an Infernal Court Supreme Saint and the breaking of the War of Merits’ rules, the Emissary Vigilant would need to report it immediately or to strike the Supreme Saint down.
An Emissary Vigilant could not manifest their true forms in the Kunlun Realm, but they could still bring upon divine retribution.
It was Zhang Ruochen’s first time seeing an Emissary Vigilant. When he saw three pairs of white wings on the silver-armored man’s back, his expression sank slightly.
“An angel, someone from the Heavenly Realm faction.”
The voice of the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant that transmitted onto the ground carried with it a powerful Supreme Saint pressure. “Zhang Ruochen, the War of Merits does not allow infighting. You dare to ignore the rules of the Celestial Court and kill your comrades-in-arms. Today, I shall bring upon divine wrath upon you.”
Zhang Ruochen was not afraid of the other side’s Supreme Saint pressure, and there was nary a trace of respect on his face as he raised his voice. “You’re deliberately accusing me there?”
“Are you saying that I’ve wronged you? The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant said.
Even an Emissary Vigilant could not do as they please, if they were reported and subsequently stripped of their position, they would lose everything.
After all, there were several other factions in the Celestial Court that were always ready to crush the Heavenly Realm faction and push their own people up.
There were many cultivators on the ground, and Zhang Ruochen was the divine envoy of Yueshen, his identity was extraordinary. Even the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant dared not casually bring upon divine retribution upon him.
Zhang Ruochen had nothing but despise in his heart. When the Sword Sanctum was slaughtered, where were the Emissaries Vigilant? When the Eastern Region Saint King Manor came under a large scale attack, where were they?
Zhang Ruochen could not be bothered to argue with him, because it was pointless.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Bloodhunt Hongdong has massacred a large number of Kunlun Realm cultivators in the Sword Sanctum of the Eastern Region Holy City. He deserves to die. The cultivators of the Sword Sanctum are the descendants of my senior brother. I have the right and reason to avenge them. Even if I’ve not killed him yet, killing Bloodhunt Hongdong is to enact justice for the heavens.”
“Insolence. Even if Bloodhunt Hongdong were to commit crimes against the rules of heaven, only the Celestial Palace can punish him. Killing him means you are also ignoring the rules of heaven and should be punished,” the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant replied angrily.
“Then the rules of heavens of the Celestial Court should be changed! It should be made stricter, especially for the members of the Celestial Palace.” Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were sharp.
“You…”
Dark clouds suddenly charged in the sky as a large amount of lightning flashed across the realm.
The Saint Aura emanating from the Emissary Vigilant was extremely powerful and domineering. It was as if he was about to call upon a power that could destroy a world. The aura caused extreme pressure on the Saint cultivators, and every one of them was terrified. Some even knelt down on the ground.
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Azuresky Pagoda and held it in his hand as he unleashed the Supreme Power within it. “Divine retribution is not something you can call upon willy-nilly. Killing me when I have not even killed Bloodhunt Hongdong yet… Aren’t you going against the rules of heavens?”
The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant froze for a short moment and realized that he had been a little too hasty.
In the event, there were cultivators of the Pangu Faction or the Yaoshen Realm were to use this as a reason to lodge an impeachment complaint to the Celestial Palace. Forget if he could preserve his position, if Yueshen were to kill her way to the Celestial Palace, he might not even protect his own life.
Furthermore, this time around, not only did he need to deal with Zhang Ruochen, he also needed to rescue someone.
Dealing with Zhang Ruochen slowly after rescuing his quarry was still not too late.
The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant recalled the lightning and formed a projection as it descended upon the Kunlun Realm, standing in the air hundreds of feet above ground.
Although it was just a projection, the aura it exuded was still extremely powerful, powerful enough to kill a normal Saint King.
“You said that Bloodhunt Hongdong has massacred the Kunlun Realm cultivators in the Eastern Region Holy City. Do you have any evidence? If there is none, I can cripple you and take you back to the Celestial Palace for severe punishment,” the projection said.
“Of course, I would have evidence.”
While Zhang Ruochen was not afraid of the Emissary Vigilant, he did not want to cross the Celestial Palace.
So, he took out a scroll.
On the scroll was the traced image of Bloodhunt Hongdong conducting a massacre in the Sword Sanctum, and could be said to be conclusive evidence.
The Emissary Vigilant narrowed his eyes. “This Bloodhunt Hongdong, he’s digging his own grave. Even if he wants to take the Records of Heavenly Works, he shouldn’t have been so blatant about it.”
With this scroll as evidence, even if Bloodhunt Hongdong was to be sent to the Celestial Palace for punishment, he would probably end up dead.
“Zhang Ruochen, you are the divine envoy of Yueshen. You should know that the rules of heaven are inviolable. Even if you have evidence, and kill Bloodhunt Hongdong, it still means your death,” the Emissary Vigilant’s projection said.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze kept changing, as he thought of countermeasures.
In short, it was impossible for him to hand over Bloodhunt Hongdong to the Emissary Vigilant. In the unlikely event that the Warhammer Palace made some moves behind the schene, and rescue Bloodhunt Hongdong, how would Zhang Ruochen explain that to the cultivators of the Sword Sanctum?
A moment later, Zhang Ruochen said, “Thank you for your reminder.”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen would compromise, the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant gave a satisfied nod before speaking sternly again. “I received word that the Scarlet Envoy of the Fane of Bloody War, Tian Chen has been taken captive by you. Is that true?”
“Nope.”
Zhang Ruochen continued, “Given how powerful Tian Chen is, how am I his opponent? Are you joking with me?”
“Joking?”
The voice of the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant was transmitted into Zhang Ruochen’s mind. “Zhang Ruochen, name your price. What does it take to for you to let Tian Chen go?”
“For them to get an Emissary Vigilant to negotiate terms with me. It seems like the Heavenly Realm really does pay attention to me.” Zhang Ruochen laughed to himself.
To be precise, the Heavenly Realm was paying special attention to Tian Chen.
After all, there was a great possibility that Tian Chen would reach Supreme Sainthood.
Zhang Ruochen responded via telepathy, “Bring Mr. Godcliff to me in tethers, or send King Daxi to me.”
A cold aura exuded from the body of the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant, causing a layer of ice to condense on the ground hundreds of miles wide. “Insolence.”
“You asked for my terms, these are my terms,” Zhang Ruochen said.
The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant threatened, “As an Emissary Vigilant, I have many ways to kill you, and it is not necessary to invoke divine retribution. If you hand over Tian Chen now, perhaps you may live a little longer.”
“It’s not like I’ve never seen how the Heavenly Realm operates, but aren’t I live and well now? Tell Shang Ziyan that if he wants to rescue Tian Chen, then come and fight me. If he wins, I’ll hand Tian Chen over. If he loses, his life is mine,” Zhang Ruochen said.
The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant gaze turned sullen. “Is this a declaration of war?”
“Yes, it is a declaration of war. A decisive battle between us is long overdue.”
Only Shang Ziyan was a great foe of the same rank as Zhang Ruochen. Now that he had stepped into the rank of an Eight-step Saint King, Zhang Ruochen finally possessed the strength to avenge his senior brothers and sisters. So naturally, he was eager to fight Shang Ziyan…
In a battle to the death.
Zhang Ruochen walked toward Bloodhunt Hongdong step by step.
The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant sensed Zhang Ruochen’s motive, and the projection immediately flew over and reached out to grab Bloodhunt Hongdong.
“Dimensional Rift.”
With a stroke of his finger, Zhang Ruochen sent a dimensional rift out and forcing the projection of the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant back.
Whoosh.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen appeared beside Bloodhunt Hongdong and slammed his palm against him.
“Zhang Ruochen, you dare.”
The silver-armored Emissary Vigilant’s projection roared, as his armed stretched out to the void, and a white sword flew from the sky and landed into his hands.
Like a meteor, the sword ripped through the air toward Zhang Ruochen.
The palm strike that Zhang Ruochen delivered toward Bloodhunt Hongdong did not land. Instead, it turned into a claw, and grasped the latter’s right shoulder, before raising him up high, and turned him to his back to block the attack.
Dushh!!
The sword in the projection’s hand pierced Bloodhunt Hongdong’s at the center of his brow.
After all, it was just a projection, and not the Supreme Saint himself, his reaction speed was naturally incomparable to Zhang Ruochen now.
Seeing that he had killed Bloodhunt Hongdong, a color of shock flashed past the eyes of the silver-armored Emissary Vigilant.
