After absorbing all of the Divine Tree Qi from the void, Zhang Ruochen did not tarry and immediately rushed out at his highest possible speed.
The battle of Xianji Mountain had yet to end, and Ji Fanxin, Feng Yan, as well as the rest, were still outside. He had to rush over to join them as soon as possible.
As for what kind of secrets were hidden inside the Divine Sky-connecting Tree trunk, it would not be too late if he only looked into it after the dust settled.
After all, the Divine Sky-connecting Tree trunk had already entered the Qiankun Realm, so unless he perished, no one could take it away.
As soon as they rushed out of the void, Zhang Ruochen felt a sense of peril and immediately used his Dimensional Shift, leaving only an afterimage in the spot he stood.
Baaam!!
Saint Light shot out and hit the afterimage left by Zhang Ruochen, instantly shattering it.
Ji Fanxin rushed out from the side and appeared beside Zhang Ruochen before looking coldly at a dark corner and saying, “Bi Yunhai, what do you think you’re doing?”
Bi Yunhai walked out of that dark corner and saw Ji Fanxin protecting Zhang Ruochen. A bitter look appeared on his face as he said, “Fairy, this has nothing to do with you. Zhang Ruochen, hand over the Divine Sky-connecting Tree.”
“The Divine Sky-connecting Tree is something I need, so how can it have nothing to do with me?” Ji Fanxin replied.
“That’s simple then. Once I get the Divine Sky-connecting Tree, I can share it with you. Only I can protect the Divine Sky-connecting Tree,” Bin Yunhai said.
Zhang Ruochen took a step forward and replied, “The Divine Sky-connecting Tree belongs to the Kunlun Realm. No one can take it away, not even the gods.”
In response, Bi Yunhai’s eyes became much chillier as he spat, “Zhang Ruochen, know your place. My patience is limited, so hand over the Divine Sky-connecting Tree now.”
“And if I don’t?” Zhang Ruochen’s aura too became even more menacing.
Whooosh~
A series of dimensional ripples appeared near Bi Yunhai as orbs of blue flame orbs flew out of the ripples and charged at him.
The blue flame orbs were naturally the God-eater Bugs, and all of them were the size of a washbasin, enough to be a threat to a Path’s Anterior elite.
Zhang Ruochen was indeed still unable to control the God-eater Bugs. Nevertheless, he could release them from the Qiankun Realm and allow them to indiscriminately attack anything around them.
In fact, there were even larger God-eater Bugs inside the Divine Sky-connecting Tree the size of millstones, and they were enough to pose a threat to Supreme Saints.
However, Zhang Ruochen dared not touch them yet, for fear of causing serious trouble instead.
After all, a God-eater Bug of that size was just too terrifying. Once released, whether he could recover them back again was a question in itself.
According to the legends, when the Divine Sky-connecting Tree was not yet cut, there were even more powerful God-eater Bugs living parasitically inside it, and even a top-tier Supreme Saint could be reduced to ashes.
However, after the Divine Sky-connecting Tree was cut off, those powerful God-eater Bugs were all dead.
There was no way to breed such powerful God-eater Bugs just by relying on the dead Divine Sky-connecting Tree trunk.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen had only released a dozen God-eater Bugs the size of washbasins and instantly surrounded Bi Yunhai with them.
“Damn it, Zhang Ruochen can actually control these God-eater Bugs!”
Bi Yunhai was both shocked and furious.
Baaam!!!
Using his Azure Sky-sea Palm technique, Bi Yunhai sent five of the bugs flying.
But the five God-eater Bugs did not suffer any damage, and immediately rushed over again.
At the same time, Bi Yunhai sensed some peril as he turned around and saw Zhang Ruochen holding the Azuresky Pagoda in his hand.
On top of that, a large number of hexes also appeared before Ji Fanxin, exuding an extremely bizarre and dangerous aura.
Facing off against the dozen washbasin-sized God-eater Bugs itself was difficult enough. If Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin were to attack, it would undoubtedly make the situation worse.
“Hmph.”
With a cold sneer, Bi Yunhai immediately chose to retreat.
Zhang Ruochen did not pursue and immediately opened the Qiankun Realm. He then used the Divine Sky-connecting Tree seedling and tree trunk to retrieve the dozens of God-eater Bugs.
Once he fully tamed them, these God-eater Bugs would be one of his important trump cards. Each one of them was very precious, hence he could not afford to lose them.
Suddenly, Ji Fanxin coldly called out, “Who goes there?”
Zhang Ruochen was slightly startled. He did not expect there was someone else in the Blue Temple, and he did not even notice the person.
Tap… Tap…
A crisp sound of footstep rang out as a figure slowly walked out of the darkness.
It was a young man wearing a black and white Taoist robe with a compass hanging from his waist. His appearance was very handsome, but his face was very pale, showing a sickly disposition.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was fixed on the compass at the man’s waist as a strange look flashed across his eyes. “So, you are the one who took the Xianji Compass away. Who are you?” he said.
Right then, both Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin were highly vigilant. They dared not be careless.
For this person to take away the Xianji Compass so easily in the presence of the group of top elites and for no one to find him afterward meant that he was no slouch.
“Hmm?”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed slightly and sensed a very special aura from the young man’s body.
This aura was extremely special, and he had sensed it in another person before that left a lasting impression on him.
It was none other than Jiang Yunchong of the Jiang Clan.
“Could it be…”
All of a sudden, a conjecture came to Zhang Ruochen’s mind.
After calming down a little, Zhang Ruochen looked directly at the young man and spoke. “You’re a Re-awakener of the Xianji Sect.”
Hearing this, a look of surprise unwittingly flashed in the young man’s eyes as he said, “It looks like you’ve already met someone like me. Yes, I am indeed a survivor of the Xianji Sect. My name is Hong Tianji. Zhang Ruochen, the Scion of Time and Space, I need your help.”
“How can I help you?” Zhang Ruochen asked curiously.
Hong Tianji cast his gaze toward the void and said, “The void was created by Saint Monk Xumi, and it contains a powerful divine power. If this power is unleashed, it can form a space-time barrier that will lock the entire Xianji Mountain down, and only you can do this.”
“You’ve met Saint Monk Xumi before?” Surprise flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes.
Hong Tianji nodded and said, “I have indeed met him before, and thus became a survivor of the Xianji Sect. With my re-awakening, the world was already so different.”
Zhang Ruochen could hear a clear trace of deep sorrow despite Hong Tianji’s calm voice.
With his sect destroyed and all of his fellow sect members dead, he was left all alone to bear the sect’s mission. Throughout the entire time, he had been in a deep slumber since the Middle Ages.
“What am I supposed to do?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Hong Tianji pointed his finger forward and answered, “Put the Secret Tome of Time and Space into this groove and rouse it with the power of time and space to release Saint Monk Xumi’s divine power. It will form the Interdiction of Time and Space. Although it will not be able to stop the Deathkin from entering the Kunlun Realm, it will make it much more difficult for them to do so in the future.”
Zhang Ruochen looked in the direction that Hong Tianji was pointing at and saw a shallow groove in the wall. The size of the groove was the same as the Secret Tome of Space and Time, and it had clearly been specially prepared for the tome.
As he approached the groove, Zhang Ruochen did not immediately place the Secret Tome of Space and Time in it. Instead, he turned to Hong Tianji and said, “The Deathkin have set up an Altar of Death that can absorb the Northern Region’s recovery power. Do you have any way to deal with it?”
“That Altar of Death is indeed something, and destroying it will be extremely difficult. However, it is not impossible. Take the Xianji Compass, and you will be able to activate the ancient formation that the Xianji Sect deployed. Even if you cannot destroy the altar outright, you will be able to severely damage it,” Hong Tianji said.
Clearly, after his reawakening, he had already secretly scouted the situation and now had a general understanding of the current situation on Xianji Mountain.
As he spoke, Hong Tianji removed the Xianji Compass from his waist and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the Xianji Compass but did not reach out to take it and instead asked, “Why don’t you do it yourself?”
“It’s not the right time for me to show up yet. There are many things that can only be left to you. As the Scion of Time and Space, you are destined to shoulder more callings than anyone else from the very start,” Hong Tianji said meaningfully.
Hearing that, Zhang Ruochen did not say anything else and simply took the Xianji Compass.
Upon seeing this, a smile appeared on Hong Tianji’s face as he turned around and disappeared back into the darkness.
Only at this moment did Ji Fanxin say, “It looks like there is much more to the Kunlun Realm’s secrets than I anticipated. But this is only right. As a great immortal world, how could the Kunlun Realm have no backup plans?”
Zhang Ruochen put away the Xianji Compass and said with a solemn expression, “Fairy, please protect me.”
Ji Fanxin did not say anything and just nodded gently as she released her mighty spiritual power, covering the entire Blue Temple.
With Ji Fanxin around, Zhang Ruochen had no more worries. He immediately lifted the Secret Tome of Space and Time and inserted it into the groove in the wall.
Through a shred of Saint Monk Xumi’s divine power, the Secret Tome of Time and Space established an arcane connection with the void.
Needless to say, Saint Monk Xumi had already calculated everything beforehand.
“Huh…”
Exhaling a deep breath, Zhang Ruochen acted as he activated all of his Precepts of Time and Space. A powerful force of space and time was released as he infused it into the Secret Tome of Time and Space.
Suddenly, the Secret Tome of Time and Space changed and glowed in silver light as even more arcane patterns of time and space appeared, merging into the void.
Boooom!
The Blue Temple shook again as if an earthquake had struck.
In the end, the temple did not crumble, but the void rapidly collapsed instead as it returned to nothingness.
While the void collapsed, the vast divine power hidden in it was unleashed.
Crash!!!
The vast divine power surged into the sky, breaking through everything as it reached tens of thousands of feet above the sky. It surpassed even the tallest peak of Xianji Mountain.
The next moment, this divine power quickly diffused, forming a space-time barrier that completely enveloped the entire Xianji Mountain.
“What’s going on?”
The moment the space-time barrier took form, all of the cultivators on Xianji Mountain were shocked.
Be it the Celestial Court or the Deathkin, all of them were anxious as none of them knew how or when the space-time-space barrier had formed. They were worried that it was a technique used by the opposite force.
Some of the elites could not help but unleash their high-level sacred artifacts to attack the barrier.
Baaaam!!!
The high-level sacred artifacts unleashed a terrifying power but could not even scratch the space-time barrier.
“It’s the power of space and time, it’s Zhang Ruochen.”
Sending the power of the dimensional barrier, someone immediately thought of Zhang Ruochen.
“Zhang Ruochen again.” Yuanmo Shenzi clenched his fists tightly.
The next moment, Yuanmo Shenzi shook his head and said, “No, with Zhang Ruochen’s strength, how can he create such a powerful barrier?”
“It may not be Zhang Ruochen’s own strength, but perhaps a hidden hand left behind by Saint Monk Xumi back in the day,” Pan Ruo said softly.
Hearing the name “Saint Monk Xumi”, the expressions of all the Deathkin elites changed. Forget them, even the Deathkin gods were wary of Saint Monk Xumi.
If Saint Monk Xumi had not exhausted all of his divine power to seal all of the rifts in the Kunlun Realm, it would have been destroyed by the Infernal Court during the Middle Ages.
If this space-time barrier was really the work of Saint Monk Xumi, then it would undoubtedly be a massive problem.
