Chapter 329 - Nine Palaces and Seventy-Two Mansions
As Zhang Ruochen, holding his sword with both hands, was fiercely suppressing Murong Bairen, he glanced at Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling.
10 masters of the Black Market at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm turned into 10 shadows and dashed into the crowd. Just like wolves among sheep, they took down those 10 warriors who were from the Duanmu family in a flash.
“Swish!”
It was a night of swords and sabers, with the aura of death in the air.
A warrior in the Completion of the Earth Realm fighting with a warrior in the Heaven Realm was just like a kid fighting with a well-armed soldier. It was simply an overwhelming landslide.
Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, and Chen Xier, all Three-realm Fighting Geniuses, whose martial cultivation had reached the Completion of the Earth Realm, could content against warriors at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm.
“Zhang Ruochen, you... cannot kill me...”
Seeing the 10 rushing warriors, Murong Bairen smiled with his pale face.” As long as they come, the situation will change.”
Of course, he had to save himself before their arrival.
Murong Bairen circulated all the Genuine Qi into his arms, which then turned into cyan with copper-pipe-like meridians winding on. Then, his arms became stronger to get free from the control of Zhang Ruochen.
“I can’t kill you? You are so overconfident!”
Zhang Ruochen attacked Murong Bairen’s head as his hand was forming a palm print.
This was not good!
Under the threat of death, Murong Bairen broke out with unprecedented potential. He pushed up with his legs kicking backward so that he narrowly avoid the palm of Zhang Ruochen.
“Shing!”
At the moment, a sword light flew past Murong Bairen’s eyes, leaving a line of blood on them.
His golden knife fell on the ground while his hands were covering his bloody eyes. He screeched, saying, “My eyes... Zhang Ruochen, you dared to ruin my eyes. The Dark Shadow Sect will not let you off...”
Without hesitation, Zhang Ruochen hacked again with his sword, which streaked across Murong Bairen’s neck, cutting through his throat and stopping his voice abruptly.
Losing the protection of the Celestial Bodyshield, Murong Bairen broke into pieces of a dismembered corpse under the strong hydraulic pressure.
The surrounding water turned completely red.
A young legend had fallen.
Murong Bairen’s talent could have made him an overlord of Omen Ridge, but when he had just reached the Heaven Realm and had yet to show his ability, he died in the water—even a complete skeleton could not be found.
Under that bloody fog, a golden light was shining.
A knife was wrapped up by the golden light.
It soon flew and rushed into Zhang Ruochen’s palm as his fingers stretched out.
This golden knife, which could ward off the skill of the Abyss Ancient Sword without cracking, could not be an ordinary one.
Zhang Ruochen infused Genuine Qi into the knife. And after scrutiny, joy arose in his heart. There were 74 inscriptions on the blade, four of which had the medium level inscription “Fire”.
“It’s a... 10th-level Genuine Martial Arm.”
The strongest soldiers in the Yunwu Commandery only had ninth-level Genuine Martial Arms.
“Why was Murong Bairen able to have a 10th-level Genuine Martial Arm?”
Zhang Ruochen was a little puzzled that the force of a soldier with a 10th-level Genuine Martial Arm could be somewhat exerted by a warrior in the Heaven Realm.
Murong Bairen had just broken through to the Heaven Realm, so he probably did not know how to exert the full power of the knife. Otherwise, it would not have been such an easy thing for Zhang Ruochen to kill him.
Although the Abyss Ancient Sword was sharp, it was a ruined weapon with the power equal to a ninth-level Genuine Martial Arm.
“Howl!”
A roar, coming from not far away, turned into a harsh sound wave.
It was not from the enemies, but from Si Xingkong, who had broken through to the Heaven Realm.
Si Xingkong stood up and a formidable vigor from his opening arms swept away the three masters in the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm who wanted to kill him.
Si Xingkong formally stepped into the list of martial arts legends as his realm breaking and cultivation increased.
Si Xingkong rushed out like a streaming light at a rapid pace, throwing three punches in succession.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The heads of all three warriors burst into three clouds of bloody fog.
Si Xingkong killed the three warriors in the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm instantly.
“Si Xingkong was once the top young master in Omen Ridge, and now he has broken through to the Heaven Realm. Nobody can ward off him.”
The warriors from the Black Market all felt scared after seeing the mighty Si Xingkong.
“Zhang Tiangui could defeat Si Xingkong, right? If he reaches the Heaven Realm, Si Xingkong will lose again,” one of the warriors of the Black Market said.
“Zhang Tiangui has entered the Life Gate to find treasures in the Dragon Palace.”
“Both Zhang Ruochen and Si Xingkong are fierce among the young generation. Don’t you see that Murong Bairen has died? Let’s run!”
...
Those remaining warriors from the Black Market all retreated and rushed into the Life Gate.
Because most of the warriors had been slaughtered by Zhang Ruochen and Si Xingkong, only 12 warriors at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm escaped.
With not even a quarter of an hour having elapsed, it was a shocking fact that 14 warriors in the Heaven Realm died outside of the Dragon Palace.
Huang Yanchen and Chang Qiqi took out the liquid refined from the petals of the Nirvana Fire Spirit Flower and drank it, being ready to break into the Heaven Realm.
Chen Xier did not have any petals of the Nirvana Fire Spirit Flower, but she owned another Spiritual Dose. After using it, she also began to practice to break through realm.
Only Duanmu Xingling hesitated a little before drinking the liquid.
She had almost reached the Ultimate Realm of the Earth Realm, and she also wanted to find the Dragon Sarira to increase her cultivation. Thus, she did not plan to break through the realm now.
Though she used the liquid, she suppressed the efficacy of the petal rather than refining and absorbing it.
“Eldest Brother, you deal with this. I’ll go first to open a way to the Life Gate. ”
Zhang Ruochen rushed into the Life Gate in a flash.
As Guoguo saw Zhang Ruochen entering the Life Gate, its big eyes blinked and quickly it went after him.
If Guoguo had a choice, it had to choose Zhang Ruochen because Chang Qiqi would only support it with carrots while Zhang Ruochen could give it meat.
“Zhang Ruochen, go to hell!”
As Zhang Ruochen rushed out of the Life Gate, a cold light came from his left.
A murderer wrapped in purple clothes with a flashing long spear dashed out from the corner, stabbing at Zhang Ruochen’s heart.
“There’s really an ambush here.”
Zhang Ruochen seemed to have discovered that someone was hiding behind the gate. At the instant of the long spear thrusting forward, his finger pointed out and struck out a Sword Wave.
“Tranquility Pulse Sword Wave.”
The location that the wave passed immediately became glaciated.
The killer who hid behind the Life Gate and wanted to ambush Zhang Ruochen was frozen in the ice. He remained in the same posture as he had been while stabbing with the spear.
However, his body had already been cut to pieces by the Sword Breath.
Just a snap of Zhang Ruochen’s fingers shattered the giant ice immediately.
Even the killer inside it was broken apart.
People could only perceive the magnificence of the Dragon Palace by entering it. The palace was a hundred times more massive than a human’s palace, and each of the buildings was as high as a mountain, emitting colorful light.
Zhang Ruochen walked at a high speed. The road forward suddenly vanished, and a bitterly cold black fog appeared.
It was the only way to the center of the Dragon Palace.
Zhang Ruochen rushed in without hesitation. As he entered the fog, a strong suction from his feet constantly drew him down as if he was walking into a mire.
“There is so much danger in the Dragon Palace. I should not take it lightly.”
Zhang Ruochen breathed deeply and his Genuine Qi flowed into his feet. His palms slapped on the surface of the mire. Then, his body soared over the mire immediately.
After escaping, Zhang Ruochen looked back.
This was not a mire.
It was clearly a Blood Pit.
The surface of the Blood Pit was bubbling up—bones were floating as the minced meat of human beings and savages was boiling in it.
Luckily, Zhang Ruochen possessed a profound cultivation. That would have been fatal for other warriors in the Earth Realm.
Guoguo was luckier than Zhang Ruochen. It easily avoided the Blood Pit and caught up to him.
“Guoguo, why are you coming after me?”
Zhang Ruochen saw the big rabbit as a smile appeared on his face.
Guoguo walked up to him with its eyes blinking. It stretched out its hands and expectantly stared at Zhang Ruochen.
“It is OK to eat, but you have to help me.”
Zhang Ruochen took out a jade box, which contained the Spiritual Brawn, from the Spatial Ring and held it in his hand. But he deliberately did not hand it over.
As soon as Guoguo saw the jade box, its eyes lighted up. It nodded eagerly, which seemed to say: “I promise you anything!”
Giving it the box, Zhang Ruochen said, “You stay here to alert people that there is a Blood Pit, lest they fall into it.”
Guoguo nodded and opened the jade box, holding the Spiritual Brawn to eat.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile. “Chang Qiqi was so unreliable that even he brought Guoguo into the Dragon Palace.”
Having undergone that danger, Zhang Ruochen became more careful. He released the Time and Space Domain and continued forward.
After crossing through that black fog, a graceful purple figure with a Fish Intestine Sword stepped out from the piles of colorful coral and intentionally waited for Zhang Ruochen.
“Zhang Ruochen.”
The purple figure was wearing a veil that wrapped her head and face, all that showed were her cold eyes.
Even so, Zhang Ruochen recognized her in an instant and said, “Sister Zi, are you here to impede me?”
After Zi Qian dropped her veil, her beautiful face was revealed. She said coldly, “It is meaningless to stop you since you have already entered the Dragon Palace. I just came to warn you that Di Yi has arrived at the central Divine Dragon Temple, so you’d better not go there. Nobody will be a threat to you if you don’t fight with them.”
Before entering the Underwater Dragon Palace, Zhang Ruochen had heard that the Dragon Palace contained nine halls and 72 abodes in total.
The nine halls centered on the “Divine Dragon Temple”, in which the Four-winged Earth Dragon had lived.
If the Dragon Sarira was really inside the Dragon Palace, it was likely placed in the Divine Dragon Temple.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I have to get the Dragon Sarira, so the Divine Dragon Temple is the place that I must go. I hope you won’t hold me back.”
“Zhang Ruochen, please wait.”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen wanted to enter the Divine Dragon Temple, Zi Qian immediately stretched out a hand to hold his arm.
Zhang Ruochen stopped to turn back and gave her a glance.
Zi Qian felt a little awkward, and she withdrew her hand to behind her back and said, “Have you forgotten that we got a dragon horn in the Chikong Secret Mansion? It may have some important function. We don’t have to go to the Divine Dragon Temple.”
...