Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
As Zhang Ruochen walked out of the Scroll World, he saw an evil cultivator Monk in a black armor waiting outside the courtyard.
The man was tall and big and had a pair of sparkling eyes. Apparently, he had achieved the Third Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, which made him a master.
“Great Guardian, Her Excellency has invited you to the Sacred Willow Hall. She said that she had something to discuss with you,” Guo Song bowed, then stood up straight.
Zhang Ruochen walked out steadily and closed the doors. He asked, “How did you know that I would release myself from refining today?”
A smile spread across Guo Song’s tanned face. He said, “Her Excellency has ordered that nobody is allowed to enter the room unless the Great Guardian released himself from refining. I have waited for the Great Guardian here for two days one night.”
Was that so?
Zhang Ruochen could not help but admire Red Wish Emissary. The siren had her way of winning one’s heart.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen was worried that he would be disrupted while he was breaking through to the Third Change in the Fish-dragon Realm in Red Willow Heights. However, it seemed that Red Wish Emissary trusted him after all and gave him all the freedom he required.
If Zhang Ruochen was a rogue cultivator, he would have probably stayed and assisted Red Wish Emissary in pursuing the position of young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall. Sadly, he was not.
“Lead the way!” Zhang Ruochen said subtly.
Guo Song led Zhang Ruochen through seven alleys and a few layers of arrays. They were walking to the hinterland of Red Willow Heights. One could see the distinct traits of the Red Willow Heights the farther in they get.
Was it really just a manor?
Zhang Ruochen found out that his previous knowledge on the Red Willow Heights was just the tip of an iceberg.
The villa was enormous and was filled with Spiritual Qi. There was even a grand hall in the middle of the villa, which was more beautiful and magnificent than that of the Duke’s Mansion of the Cyan Cloud County.
“I wasn’t aware that Red Willow Heights was this large. I bet only a Half-Saint could break through the traps and arrays here,” Zhang Ruochen strategically said in a casual tone.
Guo Song who was walking behind Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, “This should be news for you. The Red Willow Heights used to be residency for the Lius, an upper-class family. The Lius was a Half-Saint family. They lost against the Blood Cloud Sect during the Battle of Dominator and were eliminated by them. Since then, this residency is within the Blood Cloud Sect’s territory.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “So the Red Willow Heights belongs to the Blood Cloud Sect?”
“Not currently. The Blood Cloud Sect had presented the Red Willow Heights to the Phantom Saint, who then gifted it to Red Wish Emissary. So Her Excellency is now the real owner of the Red Willow Heights.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and decided not to ask any more questions.
At some point during their conversation, they arrived at the Sacred Willow Hall.
The Sacred Willow Hall was built on jade stone, amounting 33 meters high. One must climb a total of 99 steps on the jade stone stairway to reach the doorway of the Sacred Willow Hall.
Upon looking up from the bottom of the stairway, one would be amazed at the elegance and size of the Sacred Willow Hall. Twelve pillars, each equal to the size of three people were lined up in the hall. The top of each pillar was entwined with a huge python.
The huge pythons were not dead but were actually made of 12 fourth level savage beasts: the Black Python with Centipede Legs. The pythons had the body of a snake but had sharp centipede-like legs.
They were used to guard the Sacred Willow Hall.
There was an old willow tree in the middle of the hall. The tree was about 333 meters in height and had hanging roots thicker than the pillars of the hall.
The huge trunk, leafy branches, and numerous roots split the hall into two.
If one listened carefully, they could hear the old willow tree breathing as if it could come to life at any point and exude an impeccable power.
Zhang Ruochen was calm. He walked up the stairways step by step. He could feel the presence of auras in the Sacred Willow Hall as if they were having an evil gathering.
Guo Song quietly reminded Zhang Ruochen, “As the final battle commences, Her Excellency has invited the 18 counties of the God Failing Mansion who have pledged their allegiance to the Phantom Saint here to discuss the matter.”
“I see!”
Zhang Ruochen looked at Guo Song and smiled at him.
Of course, he knew what the “final battle” entailed. Red Wish Emissary knew that the battle against Di Yi will happen since she had made up her mind to kill the Blue Star Emissary.
The war between her and Di Yi was imminent.
The fight for the position of young master in the Black Market had always been tight. It was as though superiors of the Black Market battled to breed a jar of poisonous insects. Every poisonous insect would make use of their talent, strength, plans, and intelligence to kill each other. In the end, the strongest poisonous insect lived and it would be the future Hall Owner of the Black Market Excellence Hall.
Of course, the winner would comfortably take her place as the young master while the losers died a painful death.
As the old adage suggested, “The winner takes it all”.
Since the final battle was just around the corner, Red Wish Emissary no longer hid her own strengths. She gathered reinforcements to the Red Willow Heights.
Zhang Ruochen walked into the Sacred Willow Hall alone. However, because Guo Song was just a Monk of the Third Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, he was not eligible to participate in such a meeting.
Zhang Ruochen secretly sized up the evil masters around the two corners of the hall and soon found out about the real power of the Red Wish Emissary.
Among them, the four strongest Monks were the ones sitting on the first two seats from the left and right at the front.
The four of them hid their real faces in different ways. They probably had special identities and did not want the others to know that they were at the Red Willow Heights.
Their bodies were wrapped in the colored glazed areole. All of them reached the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.
In addition to the four big shots of the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, there were 26 Monks who were either of the Eighth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm or the Seventh Change in the Fish-dragon Realm sitting neatly on the two sides of the hall.
Everyone looked calm, yet a forceful Qi exuded from their bodies. Their Spiritual Blood was boiling and they were full of energy. Every breath sounded like a hurricane was blowing.
Everyone in the Seventh Change in the Fish-dragon Realm was an evil dominator of their own kind.
Ji Gui and Luo Shi could only sit by the gate, which was the 15th seat from the left and right respectively.
In just three days, Red Wish Emissary could gather so many evil dominators, implying that the Red Wish Emissary faked being weak this whole time to deceive everyone.
She showed her weakness to everybody, including Zhang Ruochen and Di Yi, making them belittle her.
She would not expose her trump card if the time was not right.
Red Wish Emissary was capable of fighting Di Yi after all.
However, they both had different personalities. Di Yi was charming, full of confidence, filled with pride, intelligent and decisive. His level of influence on others allowed him to gather many masters, who worked to suppress his opponents.
On the other hand, Red Wish Emissary decided to keep a low profile. She showed her weakness to everybody, yet secretly built up her influence. She tricked people into thinking she was weak, but when she made her move, she could catch everyone off guard.
As Zhang Ruochen stepped into the hall, he could feel a few hostile looks aimed at him. He did not want to cause a scene, so he walked to Ji Gui and chose the 16th chair from the left and sat down.
Red Wish Emissary sat at the front of the hall, holding a holy crystal staff. Her hair was cascaded like a waterfall, making her look especially elegant and pretty.
She saw Zhang Ruochen step into the hall. She displayed a smile across her beautiful face and said, “Oh Great Guardian, why are you sitting by the doorway? This is your place.”
Red Wish Emissary pointed her beautifully long finger at the seat beside her.
The seat was very close to her, positioning it above the evil big shots in the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.
As soon as Red Wish Emissary finished her words, several people in the Sacred Willow Hall sneered. The situation in there was awkward.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to sit, he halted when he heard Red Wish Emissary’s voice. He looked around the hall and saw that people were looking at him with animosity.
“I am rather inexperienced, how could I be so bold as to sit above the predecessors? I would much rather sit here.”
Zhang Ruochen sat in the same chair. He nodded and smiled at Ji Gui who was sitting next to him.
“At least you have a sense of shame. You do not deserve to sit on the seat of the Great Guardian even though Her Excellency had bestowed the title upon you,” a silver-haired elder who was sitting on the third chair from the right said coldly.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at him and closed his eyes, ignoring him.
Zhang Ruochen hoped that the meeting would end early so that he could discuss his closed-door practice with Red Wish Emissary. Since the final battle was just around the corner, he was obliged to improve his strength as much as possible.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to cause any more issues, but the evil masters did not intend to let him off easily.
A red-skinned evil monk who was sitting on the seventh chair from the left suddenly stood up and shouted angrily, “How dare you disobey Her Excellency’s order? Believe it or not, I’m going to tear you apart!”
“Swoosh!”
Suddenly, half of the evil dominators in the hall stood up.
Every single one of them was filled with a monstrous evil spirit. They were ready to attack Zhang Ruochen.
Red Wish Emissary, the four big shots of the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm and Zhang Ruochen remained calm.
Red Wish Emissary did not stop them. Perhaps Zhang Ruochen had blatantly challenged her authority, upsetting her and pushing her to teach him a lesson.
Or maybe she wanted to use this opportunity to test Zhang Ruochen and see whether or not he possessed the capability of a Great Guardian and whether or not he could suppress the evil dominators present.
