It was not until now that many people noticed Zhang Ruochen had not captured all the God-Eater Bugs. At the Gate of Destiny behind Pan Ruo, there were still close to one hundred of them.
More importantly, Pan Ruo was controlling these bugs. Anyone could be caught unawares and lose their lives as a result. Shi Lingkun was a good example of this.
Despite how careful they were in guarding themselves against Pan Ruo, there were bound to be people who would be attacked by these God-Eater Bugs.
However, that also meant more God-Eater Bugs were being killed, and the number of God-Eater Bugs that Pan Ruo controlled was decreasing.
Chixing Shenzi flapped a wing, releasing an immense amount of evil air of death to rip the Xianji Compass off the dome.
Seeing what he did, fighters from both sides fought tooth and nail to get the compass.
Zhang Ruochen performed a dimensional technique, trying to get the compass remotely.
If he performed a Dimensional Shift to come close to the Xianji Compass, he could easily get the Xianji Compass.
By doing that, however, he would become a bull’s eye, which meant great trouble for him. Even if he could get the Xianji Compass successfully, he could no longer retrieve the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. Instead, he could just flee.
There was no way he would give up the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree for the Xianji Compass.
He made the move now just to rock the Deathkin’s boat so that the Xianji Compass would not fall into their hands.
“You’re not going to get it!”
Yuanmo Shenzi shouted. He released a powerful Will of Death to form strands of silk to catch the Xianji Compass, pulling it toward him.
Xuanyuan Liekong would not let him get it, though. He attacked with his Sky-Piercer Halberd, more aggressively this time. The halberd pierced through the air and cut off the Will of Death.
Smelling the opportunity, Bi Yunhai lunged out in a flash, powering his regal weapon-class sky-blue gourd to release a powerful suction force to catch the Xianji Compass.
As Bi Yunhai was about to get his hands on the compass, Pan Ruo lunged up into the air. Golden Buddha light glowing on her body formed into a majestic golden statue of Bodhisattva.
“Hand of Perfected Wisdom!”
The golden Bodhisattva reached out a hand to strike Bi Yunhai.
Sensing the immense pressure, Bi Yunhai dared not take chances. He quickly gathered his saint Qi and performed a palm strike to meet the hand of the golden Bodhisattva.
Bang!
The golden Bodhisattva did not budge a bit, as sturdy as a mountain.
Bi Yunhai, meanwhile, was forced a step back. His haphazard response did not get him any advantage over his opponent.
I can’t believe that the Deathkin has such a high level of mastery of Buddha fist technique. This woman is not that simple. Bi Yunhai was shocked.
This was not the first time he fought with a Deathkin. But it was definitely his first time fighting a Deathkin capable of Buddha fist technique.
After a brief engagement, he already knew how powerful Pan Ruo was. She was no less powerful than he was. So he must not underestimate her.
Left with no choice, he had to give up the Xianji Compass for now and directed his attention to deal with Pan Ruo.
He could not afford to lose to Pan Ruo after being beaten by Qi Yang. Otherwise, his reputation would go to the dog on the battlefield of Northern Region.
Since he could not summon the Precepts of Heaven and Earth inside the green building, he could only depend on his bodily strength to fight.
As he summoned his saint Qi, 80,000 Precepts appeared on his body to form a powerful Precept Domain.
With the wave of his hand, a wave of water appeared in the air. The Precepts rushed in to form a water dragon, which then charged at Pan Ruo.
Pan Ruo appeared calm, almost nonchalant as the golden Bodhisattva behind her performed a move slowly.
As slow as it might seem, the golden Bodhisattva precisely blocked the water dragon’s attack before it performed an attack move.
“How did she learn her Buddhist saint technique, and how did she practice it to such a high level of attainment when she is a Deathkin?” Zhang Ruochen was looking in surprise at the golden Bodhisattva from behind.
As far as he could remember, Huang Yanchen had never come into contact with Buddhism, let alone practicing Buddhist saint technique.
In a brief span of a few years, she had become a Lady candidate of the Fane of Destiny, her cultivation base attaining Path’s Anterior, and she had mastered a Buddhist saint technique. It was hard to imagine what she had gone through all these years.
While the fight between Pan Ruo and Bi Yunhai was ongoing, a shadow suddenly appeared nearby and ran away with the Xianji Compass.
It was none other than Nie Yundao, the leading figure of Soul Realm in Northern Region. His cultivation base was originally at the zenith of Heaven’s Reach realm. But after a round of great battle, he had attained Path’s Anterior.
There was a murderous look in Nie Yundao’s eyes. I will kill you after I get the Xianji Compass, Zhang Ruochen!
Nie Yundao was hostile to Zhang Ruochen because of King Daxi. How he wished you could cut Zhang Ruochen into pieces right now.
“Get the hell out of here!”
Bi Yunhai roared as he aimed a palm strike at Nie Yundao.
This palm strike might just be a casual move, but its power must not be underestimated.
No one must snatch the Xianji Compass under his nose.
Nie Yundao was shocked, his face changing as he quickly parried the attack with all his strength.
He did not expect a Celestial Court fighter to stop him from taking the Xianji Compass, because all this while, even the Deathkins did not attack him.
Bang!
The blow sent Nie Yundao flying out backward. He puked a mouthful of blood.
“How dare you attack me, Bi Yunhai!” Nie Yundao roared.
“So what if I have attacked you? If you think you could take the Xianji Compass with your level of ability, then you would be sorely mistaken.” Bi Yunhai hissed.
“You…”
Nie Yundao was furious. No one had ever belittled him like this since he started out as a fighter.
Just then, a flash of sword light suddenly appeared from behind and cut Nie Yundao in half.
Things happened so suddenly that Nie Yundao could not even get a chance to fight back.
But as a Soul Realm cultivator, his saint soul was unlike any ordinary people. In that critical moment, his saint soul left his body as he tried to flee.
But as soon as his saint soul was out, a sword pierced through it, and the saint soul shattered at once. Nie Yundao was as dead as a doornail now.
After killing Nie Yundao, the sword dissolved to become silver droplets before disappearing into Pan Ruo’s forehead.
Needless to say, it was Pan Ruo who killed Nie Yundao with what might look like a special saint sword.
Poor Nie Yundao; he did not even know who killed him.
“It is a Primeval Sword!”
Zhang Ruochen muttered.
He knew this sword all too well. It was this sword that pierced through his body in front of the Ziwei Palace. This sword was stained with his blood.
Refined from Primeval water from the outer universe, this sword used to be the weapon of Tianyu Beast King, the overlord of a wild, mysterious realm in the Kunlun Realm. This sword was a regal weapon through and through.
With Pan Ruo’s current strength, using a regal weapon to kill a Path’s Anterior fighter like Nie Yundao couldn’t have been easier.
Nie Yundao had himself to blame for his greediness. He should not have tried to get his hands on the Xianji Compass with only this level of strength. He could blame no one but himself for his death.
Zhang Ruochen pulled back his attention and looked at the greenish fog. Since the Xianji Compass had fallen from the dome, that invisible barrier should have also gone.
He probably could retrieve the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree while others were fighting for the compass.
He moved in a flash and passed through the greenish fog. He found himself coming into a strange dimension where the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree was.
Just as he had expected, there was no invisible barrier stopping him.
Looking from the outside, the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree was right in front of him. But once he was inside the greenish fog-filled dimension, he realized that the tree was still a great distance away, beyond reach.
Not only that, he also found that movement in this dimension was difficult, as if he was moving in the mire.
“Could this be the Null Dimension?”
The Secret Tome of Time and Space’s record about the Null Dimension suddenly came to mind.
The Null Dimension differed from normal dimensions in that any living things inside this dimension would find their movement restricted.
It was not a naturally occurred dimension but artificially formed with special means. The dimensional structure was complex—so much so that even dimensional cultivators found it hard to understand.
With Zhang Ruochen’s current level of cultivation, he could not understand the structure of the Null Dimension, and so he could not control it.
The only Kunlun Realm cultivator who could create a Null Dimension was Saint Monk Xumi.
So did Saint Monk Xumi create this dimension to house the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree?
“Who? Who is it?”
An angry roar suddenly rose inside the green building.
Upon hearing the voice, Zhang Ruochen retreated from the Null Dimension and looked in the direction where the voice came from.
It surprised him to see that the battle in the building had stopped, and the Xianji Compass was missing. Someone had run away with it.
Just then, Ji Fanxin ran up to him. “Someone lunged out from out of nowhere and snatched away the Xianji Compass.”
“Who could it be?” Zhang Ruochen appeared puzzled.
“I don’t know. That person had never revealed itself. It disappeared without a trace after taking the compass,” said Ji Fanxin.
“Someone had been hiding in the dark, and this someone could even take away the Xianji Compass from under the nose of so many fighters. Who could it be? Did you notice anything suspicious before this, Fairy?”
“I had already sensed something amiss from the moment I stepped into this green building. That person was superb at avoiding detection; I couldn’t even find that person.”
“You mean, Fairy, that person had long been inside the green building?”
“I supposed, yeah.” Ji Fanxin nodded.
Zhang Ruochen furrowed his brow, feeling that things were really weird. If that person had been inside the building since the beginning, why didn’t that person take the Xianji Compass? Could it be that the person could not find the compass?
Besides, there was an enchantment concealing the green building. Not even the Deathkins had discovered its existence. So who could enter before everyone else? At least, he could not do that.
Many thoughts came to mind. Zhang Ruochen then pulled himself out of the thought. “Let’s not worry about who stole the Xianji Compass. The priority is the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.”
Jin Fanxin got the message and lunged into the greenish fog with him.
Others saw where they had gone and also followed suit.
“Get the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree,” said Yuanmo Shenzi with a low voice.
After losing the Xianji Compass, he could not afford to lose the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
Besides, he wanted the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree more than the Xianji Compass because the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree was the nemesis of the Deathkin. If the tree fell into the Celestial Court’s hands, they would be in great trouble.
Several shadows flew into the greenish fog, which was the Null Dimension.
“What is happening? It is difficult to move inside here!”
The moment they entered the Null Dimension, their faces changed.
“Could it be Zhang Ruochen? What the hell have you done, Zhang Ruochen?” Ten-Eyed Qiankun Insect roared.
In his mind, only Zhang Ruochen could perform such a trick to a dimension.
Everyone looked alarmed as they looked over at Zhang Ruochen.
“It is the Null Dimension, mind you. Normally, only the god practicing the Path of Dimension can create it,” said Pan Ruo faintly.
Zhang Ruochen could not help but glance at Pan Ruo. He did not know that she even knew about the Null Dimension. She had indeed a changed person.
“Movement is difficult inside a Null Dimension. Those with weaker strength had better get out as soon as possible. If you all don’t know yet, those God-Eater Bugs are not affected by this Null Dimension,” said Pan Ruo.
As soon as her voice trailed off, many cultivators had started thinking of turning back. They were quaking in their boots at the mention of the God-Eater Bugs.
