Chapter 2027: Win in a Move
Those demonic cultivators gathered together and held in their demonic energy as the battle between Mu Lingxi and Saint King Yin Su was about to begin.
Wisps of golden sunlight penetrated the black clouds and shone down as if the light of the Buddha. The dark clouds covering the sky above the Sect of the Blood G.o.d quickly dissipated.
All the demonic cultivators fell into silence as the atmosphere felt depressing. There was nothing they could do except despair in the face of Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen walked across the Celestial River and came in front of Yingzhu Peak, then appeared on the s.p.a.cious square outside the Guiyuan Shrine.
“Hail to the Lord.”
Led by Sun Dadi, Elder Yuanxing, Hai Lingyin, and King Tianji and Jie Wuji, all the saints of the Sect of the Blood G.o.d bow to Zhang Ruochen.
And those disciples under Sainthood all bowed as well.
“Please rise,” said Zhang Ruochen.
The saints and all none-Sainthood disciples of the Sect of the Blood G.o.d stood straight.
All eyes were on Zhang Ruochen at this moment. There was reverence and excitement.
At the moment of desperation, Zhang Ruochen returned on a Celestial River. His return frightened the demons, and they looked at him as if he was a G.o.d descending from heaven to turn the tide, giving them hope.
Zhang Ruochen swept his eyes over everyone in the square. “The Sect of the Blood G.o.d is facing a great trial, but it will surely regain its former glory with you all here.”
He then waved his hand and released the King Haiming and three others. “Elder Yuanxing, what is the punishment for the traitors of the Sect of the Blood G.o.d?”
Elder Yuanxing glanced at the four, a murderous intent flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes, even his voice extremely low. “The punishment for traitors is death, Lord.”
King Haiming and three others quaked in their boots at hearing that, and they immediately begged for mercy. “Lord, please pardon us. Give us another chance.”
“When you betrayed the sect, you should have known the consequences. You make the wrong choice, pay for it,” said Zhang Ruochen coldly.
He never tolerated traitors.
“Lord—”
The four of them wanted to say something more, but it was too late.
Zhang Ruochen casually performed a palm strike and the bodies of the four exploded in groups of mist at once, leaving behind four beads of sainthood source in their places.
He did not kill them on the spot in Xingluo City because he wanted to execute them in front of the disciples, so that all the disciples would know death was only the way for traitors.
The faces of the group of traitors led by the Shangzi Temple turned pale in an instant, some of them collapsing to the ground in fear.
Even King Haiming and three others were dead. Did they still have any chance to live?
Zhang Ruochen turned around abruptly, a terrifying cold light flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes as he looked at the traitors who had surrendered to the Darkdemon Realm.
He hated not only the betrayal of these people but also them for helping the Blackdemon Realm slaughter the disciples of the Sect of the Blood G.o.d. He would never forgive them.
A wave of invisible dimensional fluctuations spread. Before the master of the Shangzi Temple could say anything, his body was torn apart in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, the other traitors also ended up in the same fate as the Shangzi Temple’s master. They could not even put up a resistance.
Zhang Ruochen beckoned with his hand and harvested over ten beads of sainthood source.
The Sect of the Blood G.o.d had over 280 demi-Saints, and this resulted from the revival of the Kunlun Realm.
Zhang Ruochen thought for a while, and took out over 260 beads of sainthood source, together with those from the killed traitors, and distributed them to the 280 or so Demi-Saints.
After the battle, Zhang Ruochen had collected tons of sainthood sources, including those of the Nine-Step Saint King.
It was a shame that there were too few Demi-Saints in the Sect of the Blood G.o.d. Otherwise, it could train and produce more Saints.
All the Demi-Saint disciples were emotional when they got the sainthood sources. “Thank you, Lord.”
“You all deserve it,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Traitors received their punishment, and those who were loyal to the Sect of the Blood G.o.d were rewarded.
When all those 280 or so Demi-Saints attained Sainthood, the strength of the Sect of the Blood G.o.d would get a huge lift, and it would come out of its moribund state caused by this trial.
Zhang Ruochen s.h.i.+fted his attention to Mu Lingxi and Saint King Yin Su.
In the short while he dealt with the traitor, Mu Lingxi and Saint King Yin Su’s aura had risen to the extreme.
Black clouds were surging behind Saint King Yin Su, filling the air within several hundred miles in radius with a horrible energy. A thousand-meter-long ferocious bird in the dark cloud was burning in dark brown flame, but the flame put out not the slightest heat. Instead, it was bitterly cold.
The black ferocious bird gave out a sharp cry and sound waves spreading in all directions.
Zhang Ruochen performed a Dimensional Field to envelop the entire Yingzhu Peak, so that the sound wave attack would not affect the Sect of the Blood G.o.d disciples.
But those demonic cultivators were not so lucky.
Some of the weaker ones screamed in pain and fell straight down from mid-air.
The cry of the black ferocious bird was so terrifying that it could attack the saint soul. No ordinary people could withstand such an attack.
“What bird is that? That’s a terrifying creature!” asked He Yuan in surprise.
“It is the Grim Raptor, a terrifyingly ferocious bird that used to be neck and neck with the Phoenix race. Legend has it it originated in the underworld and was nurtured by condensing evil spirits, symbolizing death,” said the middle-aged man with a big mouthful.
“Originally, the Grim Raptor race lived in the Kunlun Realm, but later moved into the Blackdemon Realm en ma.s.se. Yin Su has the bloodline of the Grim Raptor. She can summon it with ease and is not any weaker than a real Grim Raptor. Furthermore, Yin Su specialized in the Grim Demonic Portrait, which perfectly fits with the Grim Raptor bloodline. In a battle of the same cla.s.s, a real Grim Raptor may not even be her match.”
He Yuan and the demonic cultivators had a shocked expression on their faces. Apparently, they did not expect that Saint King Yin Su would possess the bloodline of such a terrifying bird.
“So the Saint King Yin Su should stand a chance; she might live,” said He Yuan, eyes full of envy.
But this opportunity did not belong to him.
He did not have the courage of Saint King Yin Su to challenge Zhang Ruochen. So naturally he would not get such an opportunity.
Saint King Yin Su looked at Mu Lingxi with bitter eyes. “Let me show you that the Grim Raptor is more powerful than the phoenix. Our race is the overlord of the birds.”
“Oh, really? We shall see.” Mu Lingxi let out a saint smile.
Sacred light burst out behind Mu Lingxi as a Frost Phoenix formed, releasing an ever-conquering aura that quashed every other bird into submission.
Snow transformed into birds that flew around the Frost Phoenix, forming a beautiful and magnificent vision of a hundred birds paying homage to a phoenix.
Saint King Yin Su could not help sneering at seeing Mu Lingxi’s calm composure. “You will find out the difference between you and me right away.”
With both her hands in mudras, the ferocious bird in the dark cloud behind her spat out a Grim Fire at Mu Lingxi.
The Grim Fire could consume saint souls and destroy the foundation of cultivators. It was extremely dreadful. Once coming into contact with it, that person would be done for.
But Mu Lingxi was cool, calm, and collected. With the wave of her hand, the Frost Phoenix behind her flapped its wings to produce a power blast of wind.
The wind blew the Grim Fire apart, dispersing it into countless sparks that fell in all directions.
As tiny as the sparks were, it immediately exploded and blasted an enormous hole in the earth once it touched the ground.
Tens of thousands of holes formed in the ground. They varied in size, ranging from a few meters to hundreds of meters, as if a rain of meteorites had hit Earth.
The demonic cultivators on the side quickly retreated for fear of getting hit.
Zhang Ruochen had not killed them yet. It was not worthy of it if they died as collateral damage from the fight between Mu Lingxi and Saint King Yin Su.
“Junior Brother, that Blackdemon Realm woman has attained Precept Domain in her cultivation. Will there be a problem with your girlfriend fighting her?” asked Bao Lie in a low voice.
“Don’t worry, Saint King Yin Su might be higher than Lingxi in terms of cultivation base, but in actual combat, she may not beat Lingxi,” said Zhang Ruochen. “Even if Lingxi could not beat Saint King Yin Su, I will not allow her to get hurt even a bit.”
Bao Lie shook his head. “I really don’t understand what is in your girlfriend’s mind. She should save the trouble and kill those demons. Why the ha.s.sle?”
He did not see those demonic cultivators as opponents at all. As far as his temperament is concerned, he would have killed each of them with a palm strike.
“It’s okay, just let Lingxi warm up her skills,” said Zhang Ruochen.
As long as Mu Lingxi wanted it and it was safe, Zhang Ruochen would throw his support behind her.
Saint King Yin Su kept unleas.h.i.+ng her attacks with hundreds of flying snake-like Grim Fire shooting out at the same time. The attack came in different directions and angles, making it hard for the target to dodge.
But Mu Lingxi appeared nonchalant. With the wave of her hand, she summoned a force of ice and cold to gather and form a transparent ice s.h.i.+eld around her.
At this moment, Mu Lingxi appeared as if a G.o.ddess of ice and snow with all the power of ice and cold between heaven and earth under her control.
Ice and snow were everywhere in the Sect of the Blood G.o.d. The amount of condensed icy energy was enormous. This place was absolutely Mu Lingxi’s home turf.
A barrage of Grim Fire bombarded the ice s.h.i.+eld, but it could not even cause a dent in it.
In a short amount of time, Saint King Yin Su had launched hundreds of rounds of attack against Mu Lingxi. Had it been other Precept Domain cultivators, they would have been killed many times over.
No matter how fierce Saint King Yin Su’s attack was, she still could not break the ice s.h.i.+eld that protected Mu Lingxi.
The middle-aged man with a big mouthful frowned. It might seem that Saint King Yin Su was on the offensive side, but she could even defeat Mu Lingxi’s defenses. Things might not be looking up for her.
“Is that all you have got, hiding behind the s.h.i.+eld?”
Repeated attacks did not work. It worried Saint King Yin Su, whose expression became graver by the seconds.
Mu Lingxi’s defenses were too strong, giving her not the slightest chance. She started to feel powerless.
“I just want to see how good you can be. It turned out to be so disappointing. All you have got is just a Grim Raptor.” Mu Lingxi gently shook her head.
There was a hint of anger in Saint King Yin Su’s eyes. “You will pay for your arrogance and underestimating the Grim Raptor!”
Saint King Yin Su’s long hair fluttered with the burst of majestic saint qi from her body. The saint qi combined with nearly 20 million Precepts and formed an extremely powerful Precept Domain. The Precepts and power of Heaven and Earth within a radius of hundreds of miles were drawn and gathered.
With the Sant King Yin Su at the center, a ma.s.sive amount of evil energy rapidly spread out in all directions, seemingly about to turn the land within a radius of hundreds of miles into a dark realm.
Inside the dark clouds, the figure of the Grim Raptor was growing, slowly rising from the dark realm along with a sticky ink-like demonic air on the outside.
“The Grim Demon, G.o.dfall!”
Saint King Yin Su chanted.
The Grim Raptor flew out of the dark realm behind her and came below Mu Lingxi.
A burst of faint light formed a strange dimension. It was incredibly deep and engulfing Mu Lingxi and the Frost Phoenix behind her.
That strange dimension seemed to be a place where the Grim Raptor lived, the ultimate destination of the souls of the dead.
The Grim Raptor looked up with its mouth wide open before a powerful suction force formed.
The Grim Raptor swallowed Mu Lingxi and the Frost Phoenix in an instant.
Saint King Yin Su broke out in a smile at seeing this. She thought no matter how strong Mu Lingxi’s defenses were, she still could not withstand The Grim G.o.dfall.
The inside of the Grim Raptor was a piece of real Grim Dark Realm, in which the Grim Fire is blazing, and any living creature would be tortured and died if swallowed.
In an extremely remote era, the powerful of the Grim Raptor race had once swallowed and refined an immortal being.
So The Grim Fall was no joke.
“Junior Brother, your girlfriend is in danger.” Bao Lie’s expression changed, ready to make his move.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and stopped him. “Hold on a minute, Lingxi is no weakling.”
Mu Lingxi was also a disciple of Yueshen and had inherited half of the Frostfire Phoenix’s attributes in the Zuling Realm. So Zhang Ruochen was very confident in her.
“Zhang Ruochen, I won—”
Before Saint King Yin Su could finish her sentence, her expression changed all of a sudden.
Boom!
The ma.s.sive body of the Grim Raptor broke into pieces as countless ice crystals burst out of it.
The Frost Phoenix re-emerged unscathed.
“Is this all you have got? It is my turn now,” said Mu Lingxi.
Her hands formed into mudras with a Power of the Dark Netherfrost forming on one wing of the Frost phoenix.
The Frost Phoenix’s wing now was as sharp as a heavenly sword. It swung its wing and struck at Saint King Yin Su.
A powerful blade shot out, continuously gathering the icy power between heaven and earth to form smaller blades. There were now so many blades that it filled the sky, as if they were going to sweep this heaven and earth.
When the sharp blades emerged, the mountain range below split into two halves.
If it weren’t for Zhang Ruochen’s Dimensional Field enveloping Yingzhu Peak, the peak would have been affected.
Saint King Yin Su’s heart skipped a beat as she sensed a hint of fatal danger.
She hurriedly performed her demonic technique, and a Grim Raptor flew out from the dark realm behind her.
Biting the tip of her tongue, she spat out a mouthful of blood, which then merged with the Grim Raptor.
The Grim Raptor became even more lifelike, as if it possessed a soul. It let out a terrifying shriek, causing the mountain range that had been cut in half below it to shatter.
“Stop it!” Saint King Yin Su roared.
An unbelievably deep black vortex appeared in front of the Grim Raptor, as if it was going to shred everything in the world.
Anyone could sense the terrifying power of that black vortex. Anyone, including Nine-Step Saint Kings, who got sucked into it would be done for.
“Step back!”
All the demonic cultivators were in shock and they quickly retreated.
They sensed a deadly threat in both the peerless blades of the Frost Phoenix and the black vortex formed by the Grim Raptor.
No one could survive if got caught in the crossfire.
Not surprisingly, the winner would be known after this exchange of blows between Mu Lingxi and Saint King Yin Su.
Sharp blades formed by the Power of the Dark Netherfrost collided with the black vortex under the watchful eyes of the cultivators from both sides.
The black vortex spun, constantly crus.h.i.+ng the blades that shot at it.
There were so many blades of the Power of the Dark Netherfrost that no matter how powerful the black vortex was, it could not possibly contain all of them.
The most powerful blade eventually cut open the black vortex, and the body of the Grim Raptor split in half.
The most powerful blade continued to bombard the saint body of Saint King Yin Su.
She burped up a mouthful of blood as she was sent flying out backward before cras.h.i.+ng into the steep cliff of Yingzhu Peak.
At this point, that powerful blade finally dissipated into nothingness.
Mu Lingxi’s dress fluttered in the wind. There was a faint smile spread across her face. “So much for the Grim Raptor bloodline. It seems that I have overestimated you. After moving into the Darkdemon Realm, the Grim Raptor bloodline has degraded, and it is no longer qualified to be an opponent of the Phoenix clan.”
Having said that, Mu Lingxi retrieved the Frost Phoenix inside her. She then tapped her foot, and she reappeared on the top of Yingzhu Peak.
She made a face at Zhang Ruochen. “My Lord, I haven’t let you down, have I? What reward are you thinking of giving me?”
Zhang Ruochen reached out his hand to wrap around her waist with a smile. “How about becoming the wife of the leader of the Sect of the Blood G.o.d?”
“Why not? You had better keep your word.” Mu Lingxi smiled.
Bao Lie gave a thumbs up. “Not half bad at all. You won in just one move. No wonder my junior brother is so fond of you.”
“Hail to the wife of the Lord!” Sun Dadi shouted.
“Hail to the wife of the Lord!” Everyone in the sect echoed.
Mu Lingxi’s face smitten, as if out of shyness. The corners of her mouth rose with a hint of happiness in her eyes.