Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t use other means except the Seven-Apertures Blood Palm and the Blood God Venomous Worm, and had to restrain his battle power under a certain state.
In this way, Zhang Ruochen surely was less competitive than the other three sons of the Discipline King’s disciples. It wouldn’t be easy for him to win.
Luckily, there would be three Banner Lords recruited by the Nether Heavenly Palace this time. Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t have any comparative rivals than Yan Kongming, Bai Yu and Ning Guihai.
As long as he defeated one of them, he would win a position of Banner Lord.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “The Grandmaster has further plans to send me to compete for the Banner Lord of the Nether Heavenly Palace, doesn’t he?”
“You are smart.”
Blue Night gave Zhang Ruochen a stare, and kept the cold face. “Now that you’ve taken the Blood God Venomous Worm, it will do no harm to tell you.”
“It has been 300 years that the Nether Heavenly Palace has been stationed in the Bottomless Abyss. They were preserving a big secret. Master wants you to fight for the position to find out the secret. If you failed, he would surely be disappointed.”
Zhang Ruochen was a little shocked by the news.
He was worrying about how could he go to the Bottomless Abyss secretly. Unexpectedly, such a perfect opportunity was handed to him.
What secret was there in the Bottomless Abyss that had made the Nether Heavenly Palace station there?
It seemed that none of the sect members had access to it.
It was highly likely that the reason why the other three Discipline Kings all had sent their disciples’ sons to compete for the position of the Banner Lord was also to investigate the secret in the Bottomless Abyss.
Zhang Ruochen had little interest in fighting for the position of the Banner Lord before, but now, he had to strive to pass the test tomorrow to enter the Nether Heavenly Palace, even if it was not for Discipline King Haiming’s sake.
After telling everything to Zhang Ruochen, Blue Night and Ji Shui left the Discipline King’s Hall. Zhang Ruochen didn’t stay long, but soon returned to the Wangchu Island.
After he enter the Practice Tower, Zhang Ruochen transferred his spiritual power to observe the Blood God Venomous Worm entrenched in his lower abdomen.
The Blood God Venomous Worm curled up, appearing to be in a peaceful sleep.
“Is the Blood God Venomous Worm really powerful?”
Zhang Ruochen started to operate his Holy Qi slowly, changing it into flames to form a giant fireball. He pushed it closer to the Blood God Venomous Worm, attempting to refine it.
The Blood God Venomous Worm was awake all of a sudden. It gave out the Qi of violence and brutality, and opened its mouth to swallow the flames around it.
The burning flame couldn’t refine the Blood God Venomous Worm, but became the tonic for it to build up.
Zoom.
The Blood God Venomous Worm threw itself to the wall of Zhang Ruochen’s lower abdomen, and scratched it with its sharp claws.
Zhang Ruochen was shocked. Then, he operated his Holy Qi to make the Mark of Gods on the wall of his lower abdomen to emerge again, giving out bright lights to resist the attack of the Blood God Venomous Worm.
The claws and teeth of the Blood God Venomous Worm were sharp enough to have cracked seven inscriptions in a row in just fifteen minutes.
But after it had cracked the inscriptions, they quickly came to the shape again to resist its attack.
It had lasted for four hours that the two parties kept fighting against each other, until the Blood God Venomous Worm seemed to exhaust its power and went back into hibernation.
Zhang Ruochen exhaled a long breath, and said to himself, “What a scary power! If its cultivation reached the Seventh Level of the Half Saint, perhaps the Mark of Gods wouldn’t be able to resist it.”
Although the Blood God Venomous Worm fell into hibernation again, it kept absorbing the Holy Qi inside Zhang Ruochen to practice and grow stronger.
With such a speed, it wouldn’t be long before it reached the Seventh Level of the Half Saint.
It had to be refined before it reached the Seventh Level of the Half Saint, no matter the cost. Otherwise, Zhang Ruochen would surely be owned by Discipline King Haiming.
“How high is the cultivation of Discipline King Haiming?”
Zhang Ruochen had only met the divided saint soul of him so far, having no idea where his true self was.
It must be top secret that Discipline King Haiming asked Zhang Ruochen to go to the Nether Heavenly Palace. Therefore, whether Zhang Ruochen could get the job done or not, he was surely to be killed at the end.
Discipline King Haiming couldn’t keep giving him the divine blood to extend his life forever.
Now, Zhang Ruochen must prepare a strategy for him to walk away. To walk away, naturally, he must find out the true power of Discipline King Haiming first.
Zoom.
With a flash between Zhang Ruochen’s eyebrows, the Universe Spiritual Map flew out, floating in midair.
“Ghost King Bloodmoon.” Zhang Ruochen called the name.
The blood red Ghostly Qi rose above from the surface of the scroll. Then, it condensed into a slender figure in the Practice Tower.
The cultivation of Ghost King Bloodmoon had improved a lot from that of hers in the netherworld, giving out the Qi of Death.
The changeable Ghostly Qi took the shape of an incomparable beauty. She stared at Zhang Ruochen, and said, “Zhang Ruochen, you’ve called me out. What do you want from me?”
“Help me test the guy’s cultivaiton, please,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Needing him to say no more, the eyes of Ghost King Bloodmoon turned blood red, like two pure rubies.
99 threads of invisible Ghost Qi flew out from her eyeballs to spread beyond the Wangchu Island. Then they circulated above the Spiritual Void Sea to locate the Kongcheng Island at its center.
The 99 threads of Ghostly Qi condensed into a divided soul of Ghostly Qi of Ghost King Bloodmoon. She stood on the water’s surface, releasing terribly cold Qi to freeze the water into ice underneath her feet.
Eh!
The divided saint soul of Discipline King Haiming noticed it on the Kongcheng Island, and returned from the Mei Garden. It stayed in midair to look at Ghost King Bloodmoon. “Your cultivation is remarkable that you can sneak in the hinterland of the Spiritual Void Sea without making a sound.”
Ghost King Bloodmoon didn’t say a word, but raised her slender and jade-like hands to push forward. A rustling sound was heard.
The area for several kilometers around, with the Kongcheng Island as its center, was shrouded by the dark Ghostly Qi.
Thickly arranged blurring shadows of the white skeletons came out of the Ghostly Qi to gush toward Discipline King Haiming like an Army of the Dead, making ear-piercing screams.
“So you are a Ghost King from the netherworld.”
Discipline King Haiming gave a sneer, and raised one palm to pat in his front. A giant blood red handprint dispersed all of the Army of the Dead.
Even the divided saint soul of Ghost King Bloodmoon had to fly dozens of kilometers backwards to resolve the power of Discipline King Haiming’s palm.
Without hesitation, Ghost King Bloodmoon dissolved her divided soul. Her Ghostly Qi dispersed from the sky of the Spiritual Void Sea.
At the same time, the body of Ghost King Bloodmoon trembled a little inside the Practice Tower.
She didn’t come back to herself until a few minutes later. She looked grave, “The guy’s cultivation is at least two states above me. He possibly has reached the Heaven Pass Realm. You’d better get out of his way, or you are gonna die. You don’t stand a chance to run away.”
Although Ghost King Bloodmoon had only fought with Discipline King Haiming with divided souls, at their states, they could perceive each other’s strength very precisely to speculate the real cultivation of the opponent.
Since Ghost King Bloodmoon gave Discipline King Haiming such an evaluation, he must be some horrifying character.
Ghost King Bloodmoon went back in the Universe Spiritual Map, and Zhang Ruochen fell into thought again.
The cultivation of Discipline King Haiming was way stronger than his expectation. Even if he could figure out the secret in the Nether Heavenly Palace, he could hardly retreat alive.
“Now I have to take one step at a time,” Zhang Ruochen appeared to be rather calm. Actually, he had planned for the worst before he joined the Blood God Sect.
All the Battle Formations in the Spiritual Void Sea had been on during the night. And all sect members had been sent out to trace Ghost King Bloodmoon.
Nothing was found til the next morning.
Zhang Ruochen acted like he didn’t know anything. He put on a red robe, combed a knot out of his hair, and walked out of the Practice Tower with his sleeves waving in the air, looking extremely at ease.
Zoom.
Zoom.
Two light shuttles landed from the sky. One was in a black robe, the other blood. They were the Tenth Disciple of the Discipline King Haiming, Ji Shui and the Thirteenth Disciple, Blue Night.
“Senior Uncles,” Zhang Ruochen bowed to them.
Blue Night said, “Today is the day that the Nether Heavenly Palace recruits its Banner Lords. Master asked us to take you there.”
Then, the three all displayed their moves to turn into three rays of light to fly out of Wangchu Island.
The test of the Nether Heavenly Palace happened in the Poluo Mountain.
Dozens of Half-Saints in blood robes had gathered under Poluo Mountain just after the sun emerged from the horizon.
Naturally they were all outstanding people with real power as they’d all reached the state of the Half-Saint. Each of them could start a grand Half-Saint family, or a fourth-class Sect to become the overlord of his district.
Not only did the Discipline Kings send their juniors to compete for the positions of the Banner Lords, other extremely influential figures in the Blood God Sect also sent their disciples to take the test of the Nether Heavenly Palace.
Man Ye stood at a higher place in his heavy black armor. He crossed his arms in front do his chest, and sneered, “Isn’t it true that this time, the test for the Banner Lord has attracted the most Half-Saints?”
Man Ye, one of the Six Banner Kings of the Nether Heavenly Palace, came from savages. He was five meters tall, and looked like a wildling with arms as thick as columns. His cultivation was unfathomable.
He was in charge of today’s test to recruit new Banner Lords, with another Banner King, Zhao Wuliang.
Zhao Wuliang glanced at the Half-Saints who were going to take the test, and said, “It surely is. And some terrible figures are among them. They have the cultivation that can help them reach the state of saints.”
