Chapter 1849: Reunion
The Battle of Eastern Region Holy City had finally ended, and those cultivators from the Heavenly Realm, led by Mr. G.o.dcliff, had lost and escaped.
Zhang Ruochen, Murong Yefeng, and others had risen to fame after the battle. They had become the role model of the Eastern Region cultivators.
It was because of them that the cultivators from other macroworlds realized that the Kunlun Realm was not a lame duck that they could bully. There were still some kick-a.s.s figures there.
Xie Canghai and Jueyan Hu were killed.
Tian Chen was captured, while Mr. G.o.dcliff was wounded but had escaped.
…
Such a track record was terrific enough to deter them.
Peace and serenity returned to Eastern Region Holy City.
During this sensitive period, the Saint-level cultivators of the major macroworlds went silent and were cautious not to do anything.
The palace of Eastern Region.
Zhang Ruochen and Chen Yin, Prince of the Eastern Region, were sitting face-to-face.
Prince of Eastern Region was a t.i.tle given by Empress Chi Yao as an official position. Meanwhile, Zhang Ruochen who held the Seal of Flames was the real deal, the king of the region.
Zhang Ruochen told him of his encounter with Chen Yuhua.
After hearing all that, Chen Yin’s reaction was unusually calm, sighing. “Father finally found someone who could continue to carry the Seal of Flames before he died. I am sure he left in peace.”
“But I still couldn’t control the Seal of Flames,” said Zhang Ruochen.
He was still a long way to go before he could attain 59-order spiritual power.
There was a hint of worry in Chen Yin’s eyes.
The Great Orbital Array was badly damaged by Mr. G.o.dcliff and his gangs. It could no longer protect Eastern Region Holy City until it was fully restored.
Even the Nine Stratum Array guarding the princ.i.p.al city of the Eastern Region suffered damage.
Under such circ.u.mstances, if the ancient inscription could not be activated, Eastern Region Holy City would be in danger. If the cultivators from the Infernal Court came to attack, it would be a disaster for the city.
Besides, the cultivators from the Heavenly Realm, Shengze Realm, Blackdemon Realm, and other macroworlds were also posing a threat.
They were not going to give up unless they got their revenge.
Jiang Yunchong put his hands behind him as he stood at the window. “If you trust me, Zhang Ruochen, I can take control of the seal on your behalf temporarily.”
“You have attained 59-order spiritual power?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
Jiang Yunchong spun around and smiled. “My spiritual power isn’t that powerful. But someone else is.”
“Yin Ruo.”
A dark purple Commandment Soul Jar appeared in Jiang Yunchong’s hand.
An extremely beautiful lady flew out of the jar, her body translucent and immersed in a rain of light.
Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual power to summon lightning from the void to strike at Yin Ruo.
The lady was all smiles as she extended her hand, drawing a circle in the air with her finger. The circle spun, formed into a large vortex, and devoured the lightning attacking her. Zhang Ruochen then nodded, believing she possessed 50-order spiritual power.
“Who is she?”
“Yin Ruo.”
Jiang Yunchong held Yin Ruo’s translucent hand, sounding melancholy. “Back then, we were entering hibernation together. But when I woke up, I found that someone had taken away Yin Ruo’s body. I still couldn’t find it until today. Perhaps, it has been destroyed a thousand years ago.”
All cultivators kept their spiritual power in their Saint Hearts.
Yin Ruo was only a Saint Soul, yet she was as powerful as a 50-order spiritual-power Saint King. If her physical body were still here, how powerful her spiritual power would be when her Saint Heart awakened?
As Zhang Ruochen knew very little about Jiang Yunchong, he could not say he trusted him.
But after the last battle where Jiang Yunchong had risked his life to protect Eastern Region Holy City, he would not believe that Jiang Yunchong was a foreign cultivator.
There was still a question in Zhang Ruochen’s mind. “Who is that mysterious seller of the Demonic Blood Ax Engraving?”
“His name is Xia Wenxin, but I know nothing about his background.”
Jiang Yunchong continued. “Two days ago, he brought along the Demonic Blood Ax Engraving to the Tianjue Pavilion, asking us to auction it for him. At the time, I got intel of Mr. G.o.dcliff, Xie Canghai, and others wanting to destroy Eastern Region palace and wrest control of Eastern Region Holy City.”
“So I made a deal with him, using him to counter Xie Canghai.”
“He knew he was being used but still agreed to the deal. All that man cares about is profit and result and doesn’t give a s.h.i.+t about the means.”
“One thing is sure, though, is that he is not a Kunlun Realm cultivator.”
“Why are you so sure?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
“How could a Kunlun Realm cultivator sell the Demonstone Engraving, one of the six great books? It will surely earn the wrath of all Kunlun Realm cultivators,” said Jiang Yunchong.
“Didn’t you say all he cared about was profit and result? Would he care about what people say?”
“Err…”
Jiang Yunchong was struck dumb, putting his fingers to his chin.
Yin Ruo put her hand to her mouth and giggled. This was probably her first-time seeing Jiang Yunchong being asked a question and could not find a word to respond.
“But I agree with your conjecture. This man isn’t a Kunlun Realm cultivator,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“Why did you say so?” asked Jiang Yunchong.
“Do you still remember the auction earlier? Xia Canghai took out three one-hundred-thousand-year-old ancient sacred herbs and Taiyi Primordial Stone, but he chose my G.o.dslayer Cross-s.h.i.+eld.”
“The G.o.dslayer Cross-s.h.i.+eld is a treasure. But even I could not know whether it was valuable or not. So why did Xia Wenxin choose it?”
“Unless… he knew it very well.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes looked grave.
The G.o.dslayer Cross-s.h.i.+eld was the treasure of the Qitian Clan, one of the ten clans of the Immortal Vampires. It was interesting that Xia Wenxin had placed such importance on it.
After much consideration, Zhang Ruochen decided to place the Seal of Flames in Jiang Yunchong’s custody.
Zhang Ruochen did not have much choice here. He needed to use the ancient inscription to protect Eastern Region Holy City.
When Murong Yefeng finally came back, he and Zhang Ruochen looked at each other from a distance and they both smiled.
Eight hundred years had pa.s.sed since, and Murong Yefeng was no longer Little Ye, the greenhorn he used to be known. Now he looked about thirty, well built with stubble under his mouth and jaw. He must have gone through countless baptisms of blood to become the mature man he was today.
The last time they met, they were seeing each other from a distance on Peakless Mountain.
But because of the appearance of Chi Yao, Zhang Ruochen had to follow Yueshen and leave the Kunlun Realm for the Celestial Court.
So this was the first time they were meeting each other in the truest sense since eight hundred years ago.
Zhang Ruochen had a thousand and one things to say, his eyes almost welling up. “Little Ye, you have not let me down. Your achievement deserves the highest rewards as a prince. Let alone a general or something!”
A scene that happened eight hundred years ago came to mind. “I want to be the First Warrior of Shengming Central Empire one day. Come to bid farewell on the day of my departure.”
“Your Majesty!”
Murong Yefeng’s eyes reddened, but he was beaming.
Zhang Ruochen saw Murong Yefeng’s arms; all that was left were bones. His sleeves were soaked in his own Saint Blood. Zhang Ruochen quickly took out a bottle of Spring of Life and tossed it to him.
Murong Yefeng caught the wooden bottle in his hand and gulped half of the content down his neck.
Zhang Ruochen was struck dumb. “You think that is wine? It’s the Spring of Life, for goodness’ sake. It is so precious that a few droplets would be sufficient to heal your wounds and grow your flesh back. And you downed half a bottle of it?” said Zhang Ruochen half-jokingly.
“Never mind. I can always get resupply from Your Majesty when I finish,” said Murong Yefeng with a smile.
The Spring of Life was a highly potent healing substance. Flesh was rapidly growing on Murong Yefeng’s arms.
“What a shame, Mr. G.o.dcliff and others got away. There will be no end of trouble.” Murong Yefeng suddenly turned serious.
“It is not easy to kill an array master. Probably not even the Supreme Saints,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“You may be right. But since Mr. G.o.dcliff is wounded, it is the best time to get rid of him. Otherwise, when he recovered from his injury, he would come back for revenge. By then, we might find ourselves on the defensive. Your Majesty, why don’t you ask Divine Scripture Maiden? She could use the Chessboard of the Heavens to locate Mr. G.o.dcliff, and I will go to finish him off.”
“How do you know I could ask Divine Scripture Maiden?”
Murong Yefeng chuckled. “Everyone knows how close Your Majesty and Divine Scripture Maiden are. It is an open secret.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. Murong Yefeng was right; this was the best time to get rid of Mr. G.o.dcliff.
Putting down his ego, he summoned a communication talisman, asking Divine Scripture Maiden for help.
He also summoned another communication talisman, asking Awesome, the Little Taoist, who was in Yunwu Commandery, to hurry to Eastern Region Holy City right now.
Mr. G.o.dcliff might have gotten away, but his Nine-Flag Array and seven Divine Planets were left here in Eastern Region Holy City and retrieved by Zhang Ruochen.
Awesome had a deep understanding of arrays. If he could control the Nine-Flag Array or the seven Divine Planets, it could increase their strength tremendously.
“How are you going to deal with Tian Chen, Your Majesty?”
Tian Chen was a Scarlet Angel from the Fane of b.l.o.o.d.y War. His combat strength was higher than the ordinary Precept Domain cultivators, definitely a top figure of the Heavenly Realm in the Kunlun Realm.
Zhang Ruochen had imprisoned him in the Qiankun Realm right now.
“No way the Heavenly Realm will just sit by and watch when we have captured one of their top fighters. I believe someone will come to negotiate,” said Zhang Ruochen with a smile.
Divine Scripture Maiden had replied; a light talisman flew to Zhang Ruochen’s hand.
“That is a rather quick reply, Your Majesty. It seems that Your Majestic occupies an important place in her heart.” Murong Yefeng chortled.
Zhang Ruochen shot a glare at him before checking the message on the talisman.
“What does she say? She agrees?” asked Murong Yefeng.
“The situation in the Central Imperial City is pretty tense. She is going from place to place to placate the cultivators of major macroworlds. It would be a few days before she could come.”
Murong Yefeng nodded his understanding of the situation faced by Divine Scripture Maiden. “Without the Spring of Life, Mr. G.o.dcliff’s injury won’t heal that quickly. We can still afford to wait for a few days.”
“I will take this opportunity to raise my cultivation base to Eight-Step Saint Kinghood,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Murong Yefeng was startled. “A few days are enough to make a breakthrough?”
Back then, Murong Yefeng had spent 60 years to get from Seven-Step to Eight-Step Saint Kinghood.