Chapter 2277: Seats of Honor
After entering the Gate of Destiny, Zhang Ruochen had Moyin transform into a Saint Devourer and flew back into his body. Now, he was alone with Lian Xi.
During the festival, the attendees who were Supreme Saints could bring along a maidservant or servant with them to serve them at any time.
The Celestial-Hunting Festival was grand. 5,000 Supreme Saints and 5,000 top-tier Saint Kings were gathered, and they were all no older than 1,000 years old. Such a stunning event was extremely rare in Celestial Court.
There were Ghost Emperors, Supreme Saints from Bone Clan, and Deathkin’s powerful figures emitting the death aura. Even though Lian Xi knew that she was in Infernal Court, she was still very shocked.
She didn’t dare to imagine what would happen to her without Zhang Ruochen’s protection.
‘Infernal Court was too powerful. Celestial Court hasn’t had so many Supreme Saints in the last 1,000 years. And these are just part of the total in Infernal Court. There more of them.’ A deep sense of powerlessness welled up in Bright Xi’s heart.
She finally understood why Celestial Court had been at a disadvantage in the Battles of Merits for the past 100,000 years. They could only be under attack.
‘I wonder if Celestial Court cultivators who watched the Celestial-Hunting Festival feel the same way? If this continues, the gap between Celestial Court and Infernal Court will grow larger and larger. I’m afraid…’
Lian Xi didn’t dare to think further. She felt at loss.
“Lian Xi, stay here. I’ll be back soon.”
Zhang Ruochen stood up at this moment and walked up Destiny’s Creek.
Lian Xi stared at Zhang Ruochen’s tall and straight figure. She was puzzled. ‘What is he up to?’ This question popped up in her mind. Then, her thoughts returned to where they had been. ‘The elites among Infernal Court Supreme Saints and the forces they represent are way too many. Can an outsider like Zhang Ruochen really make a difference at the Celestial-Hunting Festival,’ she thought.
Although she had already become a spiritual power Supreme Saint, she felt extremely inferior in the face of the elites attending the Celestial-Hunting Festival.
She felt like a weak girl who couldn’t fight back. She was surrounded by thousands of burly men. Her heart was filled with despair, helplessness, inferiority, and fear.
However, Zhang Ruochen could stand in front of her by himself. The burly men didn’t dare to act rashly.
This planted a subtle seed in her heart.
When Zhang Ruochen was walking upstream, Lord of Spear, Lord Mu Yang, and the others were looking at him. They were all very surprised.
‘Did Zhang Ruochen feel regret and is targeting a seat of honor instead?’ they guessed.
However, it was too late to go now, no matter how fast his a.n.a.lytic speed was.
The contest for the seats was coming to an end.
Beside the fourth seat of honor on the left, Lord Xia Yu and Xu were less than ten feet away from each other. They were only five or six steps away from each other.
“It’s about time. There’s no need to continue toying with her.”
Xu smirked in triumph. He no longer held back.
One step, two steps, three steps.
He took three consecutive steps and completely widened the distance between him and Lord Xia Yu.
“What? How-How is this possible?”
Lord Xia Yu stared at Xu in disbelief as she took a step forward with all her strength. However, because the restrictive inscriptions within this step had yet to be completely resolved, she was attacked by a Dimensional restrictive inscription the moment she took a step forward; her arm was struck by a Dimensional Rift.
Bright red blood dripped from her arm.
She did not dare to advance any further.
“Xia Yu, your strength is already very strong. However, you shouldn’t have come to compete against me. Why are you bringing shame on yourself?” Xu said.
How could Lord Xia Yu not know that Xu had toyed with her? Intense rage surged out from her pair of bright eyes. She almost could not control her anger and wanted to strike at Xu.
“You can’t take it anymore?
“You must restrain yourself. You’re the only worthy opponent in Bloodsky Clan. If you’re expelled from the Celestial-Hunting Festival, what’s the point of Dishastan hunting Bloodsky Clan this year?”
Xu laughed.
He liked to watch other cultivators unable to do anything to him even though they hated him to the core.
Lord Xia Yu did not dare to break the rules of the Celestial-Hunting Festival. She had to restrain herself and look down the river.
“Stop looking and go down the river. You can forget seats of honor and prime seats. Perhaps you can try a secondary seat.”
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen came to Lord Xia Yu’s side. He stretched out a hand and said, “Give me your hand.”
“Why are you here?”
Lord Xia Yu was very surprised, but she understood Zhang Ruochen’s terrifying speed of a.n.a.lysis. She decisively reached out a fair hand and held his hand tight.
The next moment, Lord Xia Yu found that there were a lot of Marks of Time around her, and the time flow slowed down.
At the same time, she found that there were Precepts of Truth flowing from Zhang Ruochen’s palm into her body and converging into her eyes. Her eyes seemed to have become the eyes of truth, and she could quickly see the distribution of the restrictive inscriptions.
Although Zhang Ruochen’s appearance surprised Xu, Xu did not take it to heart.
He was only two steps away from the seat.
It was a foregone conclusion that he would occupy the seat.
He took another step and looked at the seat of honor in front of him with a satisfied smile.
However, his smile soon froze. He looked to the left and saw Lord Xia Yu and Zhang Ruochen standing next to him. They were only one step away from that seat.
‘How can they be this fast?’
The shock in his heart could not be any greater.
At this moment, the Celestial-Hunting Festival attendees as well as the cultivators watching the projection were in an uproar.
Nothing like this had ever happened in the Celestial-Hunting Festival. ‘Zhang Ruochen still has the ability to help other cultivators fight for seats?’
Everyone knew that the closer you reach the seat, the harder it was for you to crack the restrictive inscriptions. Therefore, although there was a huge difference in the cultivation strength among the attendees at the Celestial-Hunting Festival, the difference in the time they sat down was not big.
Hence, it was almost impossible for a cultivator to help another secure a seat.
Zhang Ruochen could help Lord Xia Yu because he had mastered the power of Time and Truth. He had practiced both Paths of cultivation to a very high level simultaneously.
If it were other cultivators, even if they were as powerful as Lan Ying and Yan Huangtu, they could only give limited aid to their fellow cultivators in the contest for seats.
Above Destiny’s Creek, in the Divine Bone PaG.o.da, a Thousand-Koan Realm Supreme Saint from Dishastan said, “Cheating. This is cheating. Zhang Ruochen has broken the rules of the Celestial-Hunting Festival. He must be expelled from the venue.”
Lord Zhiyuan snorted, “The Celestial-Hunting Festival has never set any rules. None of the rules says you can’t help your fellow cultivators secure seats. How can it be considered a violation?”
“The deities are all paying attention to the Celestial-Hunting Festival. They haven’t said anything. This means that Zhang Ruochen hasn’t breached any rules,” Lord of Spear said.
The several Supreme Saints of Bloodsky Clan were overjoyed. If Zhang Ruochen succeeds in helping Lord Xia Yu take a seat of honor, Dishastan will certainly lose face.
This was what Lord of Spear and his peers wanted to see the most!
As expected, Lord Xia Yu took the last step and sat on the fourth seat of honor on the left.
Whoos.h.!.+
The white jade platform emitted a dazzling light and enveloped her. The word “Xia Yu”appeared on the jade platform.
Xu, who was only one step away, was stunned and couldn’t accept this result.
He had wanted to tease Lord Xia Yu to lower Bloodsky Clan’s morale, but he hadn’t expected such an outcome.
Lord Xia Yu let out a long sigh of relief. She quickly withdrew her hand from Zhang Ruochen’s grasp and glared at him. However, there was no anger in her eyes. She was just pretending to be angry.
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had done something she couldn’t tolerate in front of all the cultivators in Infernal Court. Although he was helping her to get a seat, their action was too intimate and could easily spark gossip.
Just like Pan Ruo and Lady Wind, they would never let other male cultivators hold their hands. They were candidates for Scioness. Such a thing would affect their image.
Xu’s state of mind almost collapsed. He gnashed his teeth and glared at Zhang Ruochen and Lord Xia Yu, who looked like an affectionate, flirting couple. He cupped his hands, bowed to the Fane of Destiny on the top of Mount Destiny, and raised his voice, “Zhang Ruochen and Xia Yu have violated the rules of the Celestial-Hunting Festival. Please expel them.”
During the Celestial-Hunting Festival, the deities of all clans in Infernal Court would gather at the Fane of Destiny and enjoy a feast.
After a long time, the Fane of Destiny did not respond.
Lord Xia Yu sneered. “Stop shouting and go downstream. Forget about seats of honor and prime seats. If you don’t hurry up, you won’t even secure a secondary seat.”
Xu was so angry that his lips trembled. “Don’t get c.o.c.ky too early. We’ll see.” His tone was harsh.
Xu rushed downstream.
Lord Xia Yu went to see Zhang Ruochen again, but found that he had left without a word and returned downstream.
She muttered to herself, “All I did was just glare at you. Don’t tell me you’re angry over a glare?
“There’re so many cultivators staring at us. I can’t act like I’m cooperating with you. Cultivators who don’t know the situation might think that we’re related.
“Anyway, thank you!”
Regardless of whether Zhang Ruochen could hear her or not, she still said this.
Thinking of how she had been humiliated and Zhang Ruochen suddenly helped her and turned the tables, Lord Xia Yu couldn’t help but smile. Her smile could wrap around others like a warm glove.
At Destiny’s Creek, Pan Ruo and Luo Sha looked at Lord Xia Yu unconsciously and saw the smile on her face.
Pan Ruo quickly averted her gaze, lowered her eyes, and remained silent. No one could see through what she was thinking.
Luo Sha, on the other hand, revealed an angry expression and muttered something.
Holding hands in public at the Celestial-Hunting Festival was indeed too intimate an act. Moreover, Lord Xia Yu’s beauty was no less than that of the nine immortals. So, the scene would naturally trigger speculations about the relations.h.i.+ps between her and Zhang Ruochen.
In Royal Mountain.
“Tsk tsk. ” Blackie pointed at the projection in the sky with its claws and spoke to Han Xue, “Did you see that b*stard? Did you see that? You even said that maybe he was out of options or there’s something he must do. In my opinion, he has already become a traitor. He must’ve enjoyed a blissful life there and long forgotten about Kunlun.
“He suffered losses from women back then, so he’d definitely seek revenge until he’s satisfied at Infernal Court.
“I also want to go to Infernal Court. I can’t let him continue to fall.”
Central Imperial City, Ziwei Palace.
Warrior Saint Canglan slammed her palm heavily on the stone platform, she snorted coldly. “It seems that I’m overthinking. Zhang Ruochen is a b*stard. He isn’t in any danger. He’s doing too well in Infernal Court that he still has the mood to flirt.”
Divine Scripture Maiden stared at Lord Xia Yu. Her bright eyes showed a hint of envy and gloom. She said in a low voice, “I didn’t expect the Immortal Vampires to have such a beautiful woman. She must be very powerful to be able to sit in the seat of honor.”
All of a sudden, Warrior Saint Canglan became serious. “Do you think Zhang Ruochen has really joined Infernal Court?”
Divine Scripture Maiden shook her head gently and did not answer Warrior Saint Canglan..