The Altar of Evil
The Altar of Evil
Now, however, Xianji Mountain had five peaks about the same height, and the Saint Qi of heaven and earth were abundant. The divinity on its grounds had clearly been awakened.
"The Divine Sky-connecting Tree trunk should not have been taken away that easily." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Immediately, he used his spiritual power and entered the Qiankun Realm as he said, "Senior Tree, can you perceive where the tree trunk is?"
The Divine Sky-connecting Tree's branches gently shook as it released strange energy out of the Qiankun Realm.
This energy was so subtle that even a Supreme Saint might not have been able to detect it.
A moment later, that power returned to the Qiankun Realm, and the Divine Sky-connecting Tree spoke. "The tree trunk is underground, and a great power is isolating it, so much so that I can only vaguely perceive it."
"Underground?"
A surprised look appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face.
However, he was relieved that the trunk had not been taken away by the Deathkin.
Legend had it that there was a treasure being bred inside the Divine Sky-connecting Tree trunk, which might involve the mystery of godhood. Thus, it must no be allowed to fall into the hands of the Deathkin.
Using the Dimensional Shift, Zhang Ruochen quietly dived underground.
The underground of Xianji Mountain was a vast, empty space. It was filled with an incomparably potent evil qi of death and was very suffocating.
Guided by the Divine Sky-connecting Tree, Zhang Ruochen instantly locked onto the tree trunk's location.
An altar entered Zhang Ruochen's sight, and it was massive, with its diameter spanning more than three hundred feet. The altar was engraved with countless arcane runes that unleashed a mysterious power as it absorbed the qi of the land.
There was a five-hundred-foot-tall Shadow of Death that could be clearly seen at the center of the altar. It held a death scythe, with a shiny bracelet on its wrist, and all twelve beads were as solid as they could be.
As more and more qi of the land was absorbed, the Shadow of Death became increasingly solid and continued to show signs of growing.
In contrast, the Shadow of Death that the Blackflame General had conjured was too weak, and it possessed less than a percent of its strength.
"This altar is really unusual. What it draws is not the land's qi, but the power of the Kunlun Realm's recovery." Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had entered more than one awakened land, and he was very familiar with this power and was confident that his perception was not faulty.
It was not a small matter that the Deathkin had lain out an altar to absorb the Northern Region's recovery power.
Even if it was only a part that was absorbed, the impact would be enormous.
Above the altar sat three figures in a three-person formation. They were made out of two men and one woman, all dressed in white robes as their aura was completely fused with the altar.
They were the White Robed Priests of the Fane of Death, holding a lofty status and was powerful. Even a Deathkin General needed to be respectful when one sees them.
Whoosh!
A white-robed priest with a vertical eye on his forehead suddenly opened his eyes and looked in the direction of Zhang Ruochen's hiding place.
"Someone dared to break in. Death Knights, take care of the intruder," the white-robed priest with a vertical eye on his forehead said coldly.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
...
Following several rips of air, six Death Knights in armors of death rushed out.
The Death Knights were carefully cultivated by the Fane of Death, like the Angels Encarmine of the Fane of Bloody War. Each of them was extremely powerful, comparable to a prince of the Precept Dominion realm.
The Death Knights of the Fane of Immortality were imitations of the Death Knights of the Fane of Death, and the two had a distinct difference.
The six Death Knights all held death scythes, like a death god walking upon mortal realms, harvesting the souls of all living beings.
Seeing the six Death Knights rush forward, a strange glint flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. "They've discovered me."
He thought that he had concealed himself well enough and withdrawn all of his aura, lowering the chances of him being exposed. Hence, he never thought that he would be discovered in an instant, and that surprised him.
If that was the case, all he could do was fight.
A surge of Saint Qi and Blood Qi rushed out of the seven orifice points on his palm, forming a massive shadow of Lord Ming.
"The Seven-Orifices Netherblood Palm."
Zhang Ruochen growled and released a palm strike with all his might.
The palm of the Lord Ming phantom stretched out as boundless Blood Qi surged and formed a vast sea of blood to drown everything.
The six Death Knights struck at the same time, waving their death scythes as they combined their strength and materialized a slashing black scythe beam.
"All life shall die."
Obviously, they had sensed Zhang Ruochen's terror and had to choose to fight together.
The black scythe beam was extremely sharp, seemingly able to cut through everything.
Whooosh!!
The sea of blood was cut apart by the beam and quickly annihilated.
By the time the sea of blood completely disappeared, the scythe beam dissipated too as its power had been exhausted.
Whoosh!
The Ancient Abyssal Blade appeared in his hand and shook slightly as numerous Marks of Time popped up.
As his combat experience increased, Zhang Ruochen's understanding of the Moonlight Song technique undoubtedly grew deeper and deeper. The power unleashed naturally became stronger as well.
Vooosh!
A sword shadow flashed past, and the heads of all six Death Knights were separated from their bodies.
Baaaaam!!
Baaaaaam!!
...
Zhang Ruochen struck like lightning and destroyed the heads of all six Death Knights, completely killing them.
Even if the Deathkin was a special race, once their heads were destroyed and their Saint Souls annihilated, they would still die.
Seeing this, the white-robed priest with a vertical eye on his forehead became furious. "Hmm? You dare to kill the Death Knights? Death awaits you!"
As he spoke, he stretched out his finger and moved forward slightly.
Boom!!
Countless death beams shot out and transformed into a stallion as it charged at Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing this, Zhang Ruochen also extended his finger and struck forward.
"Dimensional Rift."
The dimension instantly tore open, forming a rift several meters long.
The stallion formed by the death beams were swallowed by the rift, and none of the attacks hit Zhang Ruochen.
"So, you're a cultivator of space... No wonder you were able to sneak in without a trace. But no matter, now that you're here, don't even think about leaving again," the only priestess said coldly.
She slowly put out a hand, as a majestic power of death surged, forming a giant black hand hundreds of meters wide as it grabbed at Zhang Ruochen.
The giant black hand contains extremely terrifying power and almost suppressed the entire underground space.
"Amazing, none of these three are beneath me in strength."
Zhang Ruochen did not choose to fight. Instead, he held the Secret Tome of Time and Space and break through the giant hand's suppression of the space as he performed a Dimensional Shift.
The giant black hand tried to grab him where he stood but only caught an afterimage. Zhang Ruochen's real body had already left the underground cavern.
Without any stops, Zhang Ruochen used the Great Dimensional Shift and appeared nine hundred miles away.
After using more than ten consecutive Great Dimensional Shifts, Zhang Ruochen escaped Xianji Mountain and appeared outside the Northern Region Basecamp.
His retreat was extremely abrupt in order to not arouse the Deathkin's suspicion and not expose the Divine Sky-connecting Tree's trunk.
After a short investigation, Zhang Ruochen had determined that the Divine Sky-connecting Tree trunk was beneath that evil altar and would probably not be discovered by the Deathkin for the time being.
"I have to tell Senior Brother Zhen Yuan about that altar." Zhang Ruochen's expression was somewhat serious.
Immediately, he entered the camp and went straight to look for Zhen Yuan.
At the same time, in the underground space beneath Xianji Mountain, the face of the white-robed priestess was bitter. She had personally intervened, yet Zhang Ruochen still escaped.
"This person's Path of Dimension is so strong that he can break the dimensional lock here. Who is he?" The white-robed priestess frowned.
"Damn him for killing six Death Knights with a single slash," the white-robed priest with a vertical eye on his forehead said with fury in his eyes.
The final white-robed elder with green hair said in a deep voice, "What I'm worried about is, has that person discovered the secrets of this place? Yuanmo Shenzi forbade us from standing guard here, and if anything happens, our fates will not be kind."
Hearing this, solemn expressions appeared on the faces of both the white-robed priest with a vertical eye and the white-robed priestess as they fell into silence.
All of them shuddered when they recalled how terrifying Yuanmo Shenzi was.
Unlike other Shenzis, Yuanmo Shenzi was a child of one of the gods of the Fane of Death. His position was extremely venerated and his strength unparalleled. No one dared to cross him.
"I'm not too worried about Yuanmo Shenzi's side, but we should carefully deal with the one from the Fane of Destiny," the white-robed priestess said.
Just as her voice trailed off, the ripples appeared in the underground space as three dim brilliance descended, revealing three figures.
Leading the trio was a graceful woman with a tall figure. Her legs were long and slender as she wore a veil on her face, only her two bright, onyx-like eyes were revealed.
A temperament beyond words exuded from her body and made people unable to resist from worshipping her.
Behind the graceful woman stood a man and a woman; both were young-looking, but the aurae that emanated from their bodies were extremely powerful. They were not beneath the three white-robed priests in the least, instead, they even exceeded them a little.
Seeing the graceful woman, the expressions of the three white-robed priests all changed drastically.
The white-robed priestess trembled a little; this was the scenario she had feared.
The graceful woman had an indifferent look as she locked her eyes onto the white-robed priestess and said, "How are you planning to deal with me?"
The white-robed priestess trembled even more visibly as she said, "Please forgive me. I never intended to offend you. It will never happen again in the future."
The graceful woman slowly extended her hand and pointed a finger at the white-robed priestess.
Suddenly, a Light of Destiny flew out of her finger and entered the white-robed priestess' body.
"Ah, My Lady, please forgive me!" The white-robed priestess let out a painful scream as she fell onto the ground and struggled violently.
The Light of Destiny affected the soul directly, and the pain that erupted was indescribable, as well as unbearable, to anyone.
The white-robed priest with a vertical eye and the green-haired priest stood aside silently, not daring to say a word.
She was one of the three candidates who had the most hope to become the Fane of Destiny's Lady, and she was also the object of Yuanmo Shenzi's affections. She was someone they could not afford to offend.
Noticing that the white-robed priestess was about to totally collapse, the graceful woman withdrew the Light of Destiny and softly said, "If there's another time, do not expect mercy."
The white-robed priestess breathe a sigh of relief as she stood up and said, "Thank you, My Lady. I will never dare to repeat this."
"Who can tell me what has happened here?" the graceful woman asked.
The white-robed priest with green hair hurriedly replied, "My Lady, a mysterious cultivator of space broke in just now and killed six Death Knights before escaping."
Hearing that, the graceful woman waved her hand and an orb of Light of Destiny flew out and transformed into a mirror, revealing the images of Zhang Ruochen being in the underground space.
"Why is it him?"
A strange look flashed in the graceful woman's eyes, and she said, "It's the Scion of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen. The two of you, bring him back here. Remember, I want him alive."
"Yes, My Lady," the man and woman standing behind the graceful lady responded.
The two of them only left afterimages as they immediately rushed out of the underground space at extreme speed.