Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The stronger one's Spiritual Power was, the more mysterious their abilities were. Some of them were even more terrifying than saint spells.
Wiping and extracting a Monk's memories wasn't hard for a 49th level Spiritual Half-Saint.
"Princess White Li is from an ancient race. She can hide a portion of her memory in her blood," Blackie reminded. "Her Spiritual Power is far from yours, but her will is very strong. Once she becomes a Saint, she may recover her memory."
"No problem."
Zhang Ruochen didn't want to control Princess White Li. He only wanted to use her to top the Sky-swallowing Demonic Dragon. It wasn't a big deal even if she recovered her memories later.
Spirit returned to Princess White Li's eyes. Her clear eyes studied Zhang Ruochen and Blackie curiously. "Who are you? Why are you with me, the princess?"
Zhang Ruochen exchanged a glance with Blackie. As expected, she still had some memories hidden in her blood that Zhang Ruochen couldn't take away. At least, she still knew that she was a princess.
Excited, Blackie walked over, rubbing its claws. Smiling, it said, "You are my queen. Your name is Queen White Li."
When it said this, Blackie had already reached out to grab Princess White Li's hands. The princess was dazed, but she still grabbed Blackie's paw.
Just as Blackie was getting c.o.c.ky, a gust of icy power spread from Princess White Li's hand, freezing it. Then the princess waved her hand, tossing Blackie far away.
Princess White Li was from an ancient race. Even with her cultivation sealed, her physical strength was still terrifying. Swinging her arm with all her might, she threw Blackie into the horizon. It disappeared as a small black dot.
Even Zhang Ruochen was shocked. What was going on?
"A stupid cat dares to call itself king? If it's that way, then isn't it in a higher level than I?"
Princess White Li pouted. Instead of a composed fairy, she was like a spoiled princess. Even though she'd lost her memories, she was still very intelligent and saw through Blackie's lie.
Zhang Ruochen looked into the sky. He couldn't see Blackie. It probably wouldn't be back any time soon.
The white-haired man and woman had woken up, but Sikong One had put the Vajra Shackle on them, sealing their bodies and cultivations. Right now, rings of golden chains were wrapped all around their limbs.
"Princess, don't worry about us!" the elderly woman said anxiously. "Hurry and run. The three humans are top fighters. You aren't their match!"
Princess White Li pointed at herself in confusion. "Are you talking about me? Why should I run? Who are you?"
The man and woman's expressions changed. They realized something was wrong with Princess White Li.
The woman's face twisted. "Zhang Ruochen!" she roared. "What did you do to the princess?"
Still composed, Zhang Ruochen walked over to them. "My target is the Sky-Swallowing Demonic Dragon, not Princess White Li. If you two can cooperate with me, I promise Princess White Li won't be in danger.
"You—"
The woman wanted to continue, but the man stopped her. He saw the situation clearly. With their current state, they couldn't negotiate with Zhang Ruochen at all. Plus, since Zhang Ruochen was willing to talk to them, it meant that they wouldn't die right now.
"I hope the s.p.a.ce and Time Descendant will keep his word," the man said.
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen suddenly sensed something. He looked up at the starry sky. While sensing, he walked to a higher sandhill.
It was dawn right now. The Evening Star in the east of the sky quickly dimmed. Various red stars suddenly appeared around it.
Whoosh—
Dozens of shooting stars shot through where the Evening Star was and flew to the north.
"The Evening Star has lost its l.u.s.ter. Instead of the sun, the east is covered in blood. This kind of astrological scene represents…no light in h.e.l.l."
Zhang Ruochen sighed, his expression ugly.
Sikong One scratched his head and asked curiously, "Senior Uncle, what does that mean?"
"Senior Brother," Sikong Two said immediately, "No light in h.e.l.l is an inauspicious phenomenon. At the same time, it is related to something happening in the world at the moment. The Evening Star clearly represents Yingsha City."
"What does it mean if the Evening Star dims?" Sikong One asked.
Sikong Two sighed. "It's possible that…Yingsha City has already been lost."
"What exactly does 'no light in h.e.l.l' mean?" Sikong One still didn't understand.
"When h.e.l.l arrives, it becomes devoid of light. Or it means that many creatures have died and are unable to see light anymore. From this, we can interpret that the humans and beasts in Yingsha City have fought again. The bloodshed must have been horrible with rivers of blood and mountains of corpses."
"It's only some stars," Sikong One said again. "How come you and Senior Uncle can see all these things? My cultivation isn't any weaker, so why can't I see?"
Sikong Two put his hands together. Instead of explaining, he chanted a hymn as if sending the dead away.
"When your Spiritual Power is in the 49th level and getting closer to becoming a Saint," Zhang Ruochen said, "you'll be able to understand the world through the stars. This is called astrology!"
In the distance, Princess White Li's eyes grew curious. She was interested in the mysterious astrology.
She immediately walked over to Zhang Ruochen. Instead of fearing him, she grabbed his arm like a little girl. Happily, she asked, "Can you teach me astrology?"
Zhang Ruochen had a worried expression. Ignoring Princess White Li, he said to Sikong One and Two, "Stay and accompany Blackie. I must head to Yingsha City immediately."
He hadn't expected that the humans of Yingsha City would be unable to control themselves and fight with the beasts so quickly. This put him in a tight spot.
How exactly was the situation there? Was it really "no light in h.e.l.l?"
If he knew that they would fight tonight, Zhang Ruochen wouldn't have wasted so much time here.
"No." Sikong Two immediately went to stop Zhang Ruochen. "Senior Uncle, the astrological phenomenon has already appeared. This means that everything is set and no one can change it. Going to Yingsha City now is going against nature. You will die. No one can fight against nature."
Sikong One also added, "Since they dared to go forcefully against the beasts, they're looking for death. Why should we get involved?"
"Don't worry. I'm just going to look." Zhang Ruochen couldn't keep waiting. Wrapping Princess White Li and the two elders in Holy Qi, he used the Great Spatial Move and disappeared from the spot.
This journey was dangerous. Zhang Ruochen decided to go alone. Even though astrological phenomenon had already appeared, Zhang Ruochen still wasn't afraid. Maybe he could do something if he went to look.
In the end, he wasn't a cold-blooded man.
When he reached the outside of Yingsha City, he saw a h.e.l.lish scene. The ground was completely cracked. The cracks were dozens of miles long, clearly the result of the Destruction of the Thousand Patterns.
A cold wind blew, bringing about a b.l.o.o.d.y scent. There were human and beast corpses for as far as he could see. He couldn't even count them.
Black smoke rose up from the corpses. War fire burned. There were no cries anymore. Everything was silent.
Zhang Ruochen saw some familiar corpses on the battlefield.
Cai Jin, the manager of the Cai Family, was a Pre-Saint and had come to the Blue Dragon Void World to search for an opportunity to become a Saint. Right now, he was an incomplete corpse, fallen in a puddle of blood. Perhaps because all his blood had run dry, his old face looked extraordinarily pale and menacing.
Chi Yutang, one of the four lords of the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion, had died as well. Half of his head and internal organs had been eaten by a beast. All that remained was a b.l.o.o.d.y sh.e.l.l.
Zhang Ruochen discovered the aura of Blue Night, 13th disciple of Discipline King Haiming, and quickly found his corpse.
There was a patch of scorched dirt, hundreds of feet wide. The earth had caved in and red electric fire surged in the dirt. The center was Blue Night's body. It had become a pile of broken bones.
"Blue Night is dead. Can Ji Shui still be alive?" Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself. In the end, he could only sigh and shake his head. He used a physical technique to fly toward Yingsha City.
As expected, Yingsha City had been conquered. Half of the towering city walls had collapsed. Only some remnants were still standing.
Some faint rumbles sounded inside the city. The war between the humans and beasts seemed to have not ended yet.
Hundreds of humans hung from the damaged city wall. They'd all been stabbed through by a single black metal nail to the wall. Some of them had already died from loss of blood while the others were still wailing and struggling.
The scene was tragic. Blood flowed continuously from the wall, converging in the pool of blood on the concave land.
Wan Huayu and the beautiful twins from the Shangguan Clan, Shangguan Linglong and Shangguan Nihong, were all nailed on the wall.
Shangguan Nihong had already died. Her body was cold and stiff. Shangguan Linglong was still alive but on her last breath. A nail had gone through her neck to nail her to the wall. Her entire body was dyed red by the blood.
Wan Huayu was still alive. A nail had pierced her stomach, positioning her right above the city gate. The fire phoenix armor was dull now, but she hadn't let go of her blood-red sword.
Devastation and desolation.
Yingsha City was still vast, but it gave off an eerie feeling as if it was a ghost city from h.e.l.l.
Zhang Ruochen walked on the b.l.o.o.d.y sand, stepping past the corpses scattered on the ground. He walked toward Yingsha City. The cold wind blew past his robes, rustling them.
Many beasts were gathered below and atop the city walls. They'd stayed behind to watch the gate. That moment, they saw the human striding toward Yingsha City.
