Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Led by Zhang Ruochen, they all crossed Corpse River and reached the bank of Tomb Forest.
All monks felt that they’d survived after the disaster. Had it not been for Zhang Ruochen’s crack of the Spatial Polar Wall, none of them could have survived the netherworld.
Some of them naturally felt grateful to Zhang Ruochen, and remembered his help secretly, like Shi Ren, Bu Qianfan and others.
But more people regarded Zhang Ruochen as a threat, on the contrary.
The power of the Time and Space Descendant was truly irresistible. He had just reached the Fish-Dragon Realm, and yet he could travel between the worlds of Yin and Yang. If he could reach the state of Half-Saint, he would surely be more powerful.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t care about their thoughts, and stared at the wide Corpse River instead. Thousands of dead souls could be seen crossing Corpse River continuously.
As several Half-Saint human monks gathered at this part of the river and gave out strong Qi, those dead souls tried not to be faced with them, and arrived at other parts of the river far away from them.
“Everyday there are millions of dead souls entering the East Region after they cross Corpse River. Can the army of the East Region resist them all?”
Bu Qianfan looked sorrowful.
Zhang Ruochen was about to tell Bu Qianfan that he had found the stone rune of the Thousand-bone Empress, which could block the passageway between the worlds of Yin and Yang, then a rumbling noise was heard in Tomb Forest.
Boom!
The noise became louder.
The earth shook fiercely. All monks onsite were badly frightened by it, and they fetched their saint weapons and were ready to face the enemy.
After a while, a black cloud of smoke appeared at the further end of their horizon.
It was an army riding Fire Red Leopards in the smoke. About 30,000 people in the army waved battle flags and trampled the tombs in Tomb Forest into the ground.
A Fire Red Leopard was a fourth-level savage beast with a height of about seven meters. Once it started to run, its whole body would be covered with flames and it could run about 40,000 kilometers a day.
It was not hard to imagine that the Qi given out by a whole army riding Fire Red Leopards would be scarily powerful.
“It’s one of the strongest armies of the Ministry of War, the Leopard Army. Since the Leopard Army is here, the Ministry of War must have stationed troops on the periphery of Tomb Forest.” Delight showed on Bu Qianfan’s face.
Since the Ministry of War had stationed troops in Tomb Forest, those dead souls that had crossed Corpse River could hardly enter Kunlun’s Field. In this way, the damage to the East Region would be largely reduced.
A giant battle carriage rushed out from the center of the 30,000 Leopard Army.
The savage beast that pulled the battle carriage was a Four-head Earth Fire Dragon-Leopard, which was ten times bigger than a Fire Red Leopard, with the head of a dragon and the body of a leopard.
A rustling noise could be heard.
The iron chains on the Earth Fire Dragon-Leopard were as thick as a plate, and they crashed into each other and made disturbing noises.
The battle carriage stopped about 700 meters away from Corpse River with a rumbling noise.
A cold voice was heard coming from it. “Bu Qianfan, Zhang Ruochen is a wanted criminal of the court, and the Empress personally issued a warrant of him. You should act now and arrest him.”
It had never occurred to anybody that the aim of the Ministry of War was to arrest Zhang Ruochen.
“They are really fast,” Zhang Ruochen said to himself with a low voice.
Bu Qianfan could tell the identity of the general in the battle carriage from its battle flag, as he had worked with leaders of the Ministry of War.
He passed the message to Zhang Ruochen secretly. “This is Wan Ji, an uncle of Wan Zhaoyi, a powerful figure in the Ministry of War. He was in charge of 600,000 soldiers of the Leopard Army, and was truly influential.”
Even Bu Qianfan showed a little fear of the battle carriage of Wan Ji.
He was surely an extraordinary figure as a commander of 600,000 soldiers of the Leopard Army. His cultivation must have reached one of the highest among the Half-Saints, if he wasn’t a saint already.
The message that the Time and Space Descendant was still alive had circulated around the netherworld. And as the Death Zen Elder had taken a group of monks back to Kunlun’s Field, the message must have circulated there as well.
How could the court let him go?
Who wouldn’t want to arrest him and win the award of Empress?
Wan Zhaoyi was the one who wanted to arrest Zhang Ruochen the most. Afterall, he was the one who had reported to the Empress that Zhang Ruochen had been killed by Sword Saint Jiuyou.
The reappearance of Zhang Ruochen was like a mirror of his fault.
If the message that Zhang Ruochen was still alive was proved, Wan Zhaoyi would have committed treason, which would surely be a great disaster for him and the Wan Family.
Wan Zhaoyi only had two ways to make up for his mistake.
The first, he had to kill Zhang Ruochen before he reappeared in public.
The second, he had to arrest him before everyone else and hand him over to the Empress in the Central Emperor City, trying to amend his fault.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen wasn’t surprised to see the Wan Family coming to arrest him at all.
It had to happen sooner or later.
Back in Kunlun’s Field, none of the monks would dare to fight against the Ministry of War. Even those who felt grateful to Zhang Ruochen stepped back and didn’t want to get involved.
Shi Ren and Bu Qianfan both looked at Zhang Ruochen apologetically, then they retreated and dared not to join the fights.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t blame them. After all, they had their families to care about.
If they were in the netherworld, they could help Zhang Ruochen to fight.
But now, since they’d been back in Kunlun’s Field, they would surely irritate the Ministry of War if they openly helped Zhang Ruochen, a criminal wanted by the court. And disasters would happen to their families as well.
A large amount of monks, who had just returned from the netherworld, retreated and left Tomb Forest at once. Only a few stayed and wanted to know the result.
The voice of Wan Ji sounded again in the battle carriage. “Cao Feng, Cao Gu, you two go and tie Zhang Ruochen up. If he dares to resist, you should chop his head off at once.”
Two tall, muscular and heavily armored figures from the Leopard Army approached Zhang Ruochen, riding on their Earth Fire Dragon-Leopards.
They were two commanders of the Leopard Army, each commanding 100,000 soldiers. Their cultivations had reached the level of Half-Saint, and they had been made kings of the lower region.
As for Wan Ji in the battle carriage, his rank was much higher and was made king of the middle region.
Cao Feng took a black chain from the back of Earth Fire Dragon-Leopard, and threw it to the front. With a rustling noise, it fell at the foot of Zhang Ruochen.
He said arrogantly, “Zhang Ruochen, if you are clever, you should put them on by yourself. Don’t make me force them on you.”
A sneer was shown in the eyes of Mu Lingxi; she operated her Holy Qi quickly and was ready to attack.
She was not being reckless, but had other plans.
As long as she could defeat Cao Feng and Cao Gu quickly, she would be able to negotiate with Wan Ji and help Zhang Ruochen to run away.
But she was stopped by Zhang Ruochen before she could take the move.
Both Cao Feng and Cao Gu were Half-Saints who had fought hundreds of battles, Mu Lingxi couldn’t beat either of them in such a short time with her cultivation.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t seem to be very nervous about the Ministry of War. On the contrary, he smiled. “Why didn’t you monks of the Ministry of War stop those dead souls coming across Corpse River, but send troops after me? I’m rather disappointed.”
Cao Feng sneered, “After we arrest you, we will surely go on to guard Tomb Forest and kill all the dead souls entering Kunlun’s Field.”
“What if you are unable to kill some of the powerful dead souls?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
Cao Gu, standing on the right of Cao Feng, put on a serious face. “Zhang Ruochen, there’s no need to waste words with you. What’s the meaning for you to delay now?”
“Am I delaying…?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, “I just want to remind you that all the dead souls you’ve come across so far are mere weak soldiers. When the ghost kings from the Netherworld Depths come, I’m afraid the Ministry of War couldn’t stop any of them.”
“If we couldn’t, could you?”
Cao Feng shook his head and smirked.
As a Half-Saint of the Ministry of War and a king, Cao Feng knew about the netherworld and he was clear that the Netherworld Depths was a terrible place.
For that reason, half of the troops of the East Region were transferred to Tomb Forest to build a fortress and a Defensive Formation to prepare for the long fight with dead souls from the netherworld.
So the words of Zhang Ruochen made him, and all those in Leopard Army, laugh.
If there were enemies that truly couldn’t be defeated by the Ministry of War, it would be the end of Kunlun’s Field as well.
But the next words spoken by Zhang Ruochen shocked them all.
“I surely can.”
Zhang Ruochen added, “it’s your duty to arrest me. I don’t blame you. But, before you do, shouldn’t you give me two hours to block the passageway between the netherworld and Kunlun’s Field first, to avoid more dead souls entering Kunlun’s Field at an irreversible cost?”
