Everyone Has an Ax to Grind
Everyone Has an Ax to Grind
Inside the Nine-Dragon Carriage, Feng Yan looked worried.
"She cheated me, Big Brother. We must not trust her. If we want to eliminate the Rakshasas, I think we better do it ourselves," said Xiang Chunan.
He had held a grudge ever since Luo Ji had deceived him. Seeing Luo Ji made his hackles rise.
"I know what I'm doing. The Dark Manifestation of Divine Will is nasty, and we don't know if there's more out there. We need to use Luo Ji to clear the obstacles for us," said Zhang Ruochen.
"Besides, the Rakshasas are well-prepared, so it won't be easy to push our way in. It could be mutually destructive for us, as well as the Rakshasas, and that will only benefit a third party."
News of gems at the bottom of the Cliff of Doom had long spread. They and the Rakshasas were not the only ones coming for it. They needed to be prepared.
It was unwise to fight the Rakshasas before they got their hands on the Godstones and the divine body.
Yan Feng nodded in agreement.
Xiang Chunan was the only person who remained sullen. However, since Zhang Ruochen and Feng Yan would give him permission, he had no choice but to be patient.
Outside the Nine-Dragon Carriage, the Path's Anterior elite fighter spoke through telepathy. "Princess, we don't need to cooperate with Zhang Ruochen. Even without the Five-Element Soil and with the Empyrean Extinction Array alone, we can deal with the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will.
"Perhaps we might as well kill Zhang Ruochen and his mates, then take the Five-Element Soil."
That Path's Anterior elite fighter was confident about their strength, believing that they could deal with Zhang Ruochen and his people.
Luo Ji kept quiet for a moment. "Don't underestimate Zhang Ruochen and his mates. He is not as easy to deal with as you imagine. I am cooperating with him for several reasons.
"First, they possess several Supreme Artifacts and the Five-Element Soil, which will be extremely useful. Second, I am sure Zhang Ruochen is not the only one trying to get his hands on the Godstones and the divine body. I'm afraid that the Deathkin and others are just waiting for us to get into a fight with Zhang Ruochen, then benefit from it. How can I let them have their way?
"So be patient. Wait until we have dealt with the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will. Only then will we make our move to suppress them. By then, the Godstones and the divine body will be ours.
"You will have a lot of work to do from now on, Spear Fiend."
There was a light in Spear Fiend's eyes. "Don't worry, Princess. I will do everything possible to take all of them down."
It thrilled him when he was given the job to take out Zhang Ruochen, the Scion of Time and Space. He would be famous if he succeeded.
After all, Zhang Ruochen had been on the rise recently, and that had gotten people's attention.
Not long after, the Nine-Dragon Carriage appeared outside that special cave.
Now, everyone could see that the cave was in fact a snake's mouth that led into the body of a giant snake.
A divine snake was buried at the bottom of the Cliff of Doom. Its divine body had started petrifying after so many years, and the divine essence had formed Godstones.
Given more time, the divine snake might completely combine with the earth's rock and transform in between the heavens and earth.
"Make your move, Zhang Ruochen," said Luo Ji.
After being disturbed, the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will had been staking out in the blood pond since a few days ago, attacking anyone who went in and tried to take the Godstones and divine blood.
At first, some greedy fellows pushed their luck and got in. But none of them could make it back out as they all had died inside the cave.
Zhang Ruochen alighted from the Nine-Dragon Carriage with Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, and Pei Yutian followed closely from behind, leaving only Ji Fanxin still in the carriage.
Xiang Chunan glared at Luo Ji with the Metal Demonic Crown in hand. How he wished he could give Luo Ji a good beating right now.
However, Feng Yan pressed his hand on Xiang Chunan's shoulder, for fear that he might lose control and ruin Zhang Ruochen's plan.
Meanwhile, Pei Yutian remained silent. With the stone saber in hand, he would not hesitate to go on a killing spree as soon as the time was ripe. He was eager to see how many Rakshasan cultivators could withstand his saber attack.
After consuming the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb, his physique had improved tremendously, rivaling the second-best perfection physique. With the rock saber and his level of self-cultivation, he would not necessarily lose to a Precept Domain elite fighter.
Of course, he could summon even more strength if he could connect with the Northern Region's Origin of Heaven and Earth through his rock saber. But Pei Yutian's current cultivation base was not powerful enough. He had to pay a high price for each summoning.
If not absolutely necessary, such as during a life-or-death situation, he would not want to connect with the Origin of Heaven and Earth.
Standing in front of the blood pond, Zhang Ruochen first took out the Azuresky Pagoda and let it float around him, only then he took out the box containing the Five-Element Soil.
He had to be very careful as those Rakshasas were not trustworthy.
Something happened in the blood pond. The snake-formed Dark Manifestation of Divine Will lunged out of the pond with horribly evil air.
Formed by the Divine Will, it could live throughout the ages and never die. It devoured the flesh and blood of the living but was most sensitive to the breath of the living.
"I didn't bring much Five-Element Soil, and I am afraid that it cannot make a good-enough deterrence. Please ask your men to hold off the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will so I can use the Five-Element Soil to subdue it," said Zhang Ruochen.
Hearing this, Luo Ji turned to Spear Fiend beside her. "Now, go."
Spear Fiend did not feel like helping Zhang Ruochen, but he could not defy Luo Ji's will either. "Formation!" he shouted.
The other 35 princes made their move immediately, releasing powerful evil energy to send it all into Spear Fiend's body.
Spear Fiend's energy spiked. Even his body was ballooning.
A beam of red light shot out from his forehead and turned into a red spear that looked like a red dragon burning with fire.
"Regal weapon."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
Was Spear Fiend only a Third Class Prince? He had a regal weapon...
Unless, this regal weapon did not belong to him, and he was holding on to it temporarily.
However, it did not matter. Spear Fiend had the regal weapon and the aid of a combat array. His strength would increase multiple folds.
The snake-formed Dark Manifestation of Divine Will roared and took Spear Fiend as its target.
The more powerful a living being gets, the more attractive said living being is to the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will.
The snake-formed Dark Manifestation of Divine Will swayed its tail and struck it at Spear Fiend with a brutal force.
Spear Fiend roared quietly as he struck out his red spear at an incredible speed in the faint shadow of a dragon.
The impact sent Spear Fiend to stumble backward. His arms felt numb, and he nearly lost grip of his red spear.
"He could even withstand the attack of the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will. Incredible!" Feng Yan looked at him in surprise.
There were few Path's Anterior elite fighters that could clash head-on with the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will like that.
That worried Feng Yan a little because a Rakshasa that was too strong was not a good thing for them.
There was a murderous look in Spear Fiend's eyes. He was fearless when he attacked the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will.
Nevertheless, the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will was no slouch either, as shown by how it warded off Spear Fiend's attack each time and nearly gave him a deadly blow.
"Aren't you making your move yet, Zhang Ruochen?"
Luo Ji looked at him coldly.
As soon as she spoke, Zhang Ruochen performed a Dimensional Shift and reappeared above the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will in the blink of an eye.
The Dark Manifestation of Divine Will was engrossed in attacking Spear Fiend and had not noticed Zhang Ruochen.
As the box opened, a dollop of Five-Element Soil flew out. Its amount was so little that it was just slightly larger than a fist in size.
Despite the Five-Element Soil's small amount, the sacred energy it released was extremely concentrated and a counterbalance to the evil energy.
The Five-Element Soil landed on the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will's head and engulfed it with a colorful, faint divine light.
The Dark Manifestation of Divine Will suddenly froze, its strength stopped working.
"Retrieve!"
With no hesitation, Zhang Ruochen summoned the Qiankun Realm.
A powerful suction force pulled the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will into the Qiankun Realm before it could fight back.
No way the little dollop of Five-Element Soil could hold up the Dark Manifestation for long.
If there were no other means of suppression to work hand-in-hand, the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will would break free in no time.
If he could not suppress the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will, he could probably take the Godstones but not the divine body.
As soon as the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will was sucked into the Qiankun Realm, the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree quickly tied it up with its divine power.
"Leave this Dark Manifestation of Divine Will to me. This is good stuff. It would be a waste to purify it just like that." The Evil Spirit was excited inside the Qiankun Realm."
Since the Evil Spirit had said so, there was no reason for Zhang Ruochen to say no.
Instead of purification, it was better to let the Evil Spirit devour the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will.
With the Sky-Connecting Tree's help, the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will could no longer pose a threat. It would be devoured by the Evil Spirit soon.
As soon as the Dark Manifestation of Divine Will was contained, Luo Ji made her move to seize the Godstones.
As she performed a dimensional technique, the rocky ceiling broke apart and the eleven Godstones broke free and flew toward her.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen hissed and performed his dimensional technique.
The two dimensional forces collided and kept the eleven Godstones in midair.
"I knew the Rakshasa could not be trusted. Luo Ji, you deserve this!"
Xiang Chunan roared as he cast out his Metal Demonic Crown.
This was the moment he had been waiting for. The first thing he wanted to do was to even the score with Luo Ji.
"How dare you!"
Spear Fiend hissed and turned his red spear to pick on the Metal Demonic Crown.
The Metal Demonic Crown, carrying the might of the Supreme Power, was deflected by Spear Fiend and failed to get near to Luo Ji even.
Without an implement spirit, the power of the Metal Demonic Crown was limited.
In contrast, the red spear was complete; the combination of an implement spirit and Spear Fiend made a perfect match, not to mention the kind of power he could use from his high level of cultivation. The Metal Demonic Crown was no match for the spear.
"Kill!"
Pei Yutian's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he struck with his saber.
Streaks of strange patterns appeared on the rock saber. They looked the same as the terrain of Northern Region. The energy of heaven and earth was invoked as the saber struck at Spear Fiend.
Nine dragon souls were pulling the Golden Dragon Carriage, charging at Spear Fiend like a combat chariot with loud rumbles.
With Ji Fanxin's level of cultivation, she could spur the power of the Golden Dragon Carriage to its limit.
After the last session of closed-door self-cultivation, Ji Fanxin's martial art had attained the realm of Precept Domain. With her true form of ancient Lotus of Divine Reflection and the unfathomably high attainment of the Path of Truth, few people below the Supreme Sainthood could pose a threat to her. That did not even take her spiritual power into account.
It was safe to say that Ji Fanxin was one of the few Non-Supreme Saint cultivators whom Zhang Ruochen still could not see through.