God Emperor

Seeing that Han Xue was still refining the Saintly Source, Zhang Ruochen decided not to disturb her. He walked out of the scroll world and continued observing the Tomb Forest, investigating the dead souls’ actions.

This time, he made a new discovery.

On the border of the Tomb Forest, he discovered new powerful auras. There were human Monks and high-level beasts. They were hidden nearby but didn’t charge the Tomb Forest. Clearly, they were waiting for something.

There is unrest in the Tomb Forest, Zhang Ruochen thought. As expected, all the powerful creatures in the Fallen-gods Mountain Range have been startled. I wonder why they’ve appeared here.

The Tomb Forest was now extremely dangerous. Average Monks would stay as far away as possible. Any creature that dared to come now, whether they were humans or beasts, all had a special goal.

If Zhang Ruochen tried to charge into the Tomb Forest, he would face extreme danger. There was only one-tenth of a chance he would survive. This was why he had to be even more careful. He couldn’t be brash.

Let’s wait longer. Maybe there’ll be new changes.

Zhang Ruochen called out the Elephant-swallowing Rabbit and ordered it to observe the Tomb Forest from the outside. Once anything happened, he should be notified immediately.

The Elephant-swallowing Rabbit had already reached the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm. It was very clever. Zhang Ruochen didn’t have to worry about leaving it here.

Returning to the scroll world, Zhang Ruochen look out the Liuli Treasure Pill and grasped it tightly. This Liuli Treasure Pill was very precious. It was the prize he’d won when he ended top ten in the Yin and Yang Sect’s sword competition.

If a Monk in the peak of the Fish-Dragon Realm’s Eighth Change refined it and became the Liuli Treasure Body, he would immediately reach the Ninth Change.

Now that huge changes have happened in the Eastern Region, I can only have a chance at survival if I’m strong enough. Once I reach the Ninth Change, my cultivation will rise again.

Zhang Ruochen put the Liuli Treasure Pill in his mouth and swallowed it.

The fifth layer of the Emperor Ming Nine-sky Scripture emerged in his mind. Soon after, beams of Holy Qi shot out of his sea of Qi. They quickly flowed along his thirty-six meridians and five saintly meridians.

The Liuli Treasure Pill contained Liuli Treasure Qi. It flowed out consistently, melting into his blood and bones, rushing into his organs.

Whoosh!

Half a day later, multicolored Liuli Treasure Light emerged on Zhang Ruochen’s skin, enveloping him.

One day later, Zhang Ruochen cultivated the Liuli Treasure Body in one spurt of energy and reached the Ninth Change. Everything had been successful. He didn’t reach a bottleneck at all.

After entering the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, Zhang Ruochen discovered that his physique had improved quite a bit. If he had divine blood, he was confident he could refine two drops.

However, he’d already completely absorbed the four drops he had. If he wanted to receive more divine blood, he had to figure it out himself.

With my current abilities, I can fight with a top second level Half-Saint fighter without being at a disadvantage, Zhang Ruochen thought.

Next, he spent another day reinforcing his cultivation state.

The three days passed quickly. Finally, Han Xue completed the first step of refining the Saintly Source. The saintly power had already fused perfectly with her Holy Qi. At the same time, she’d also reached the Sixth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Strong power quickly burst from her.

Zhang Ruochen hadn’t been this strong when he was in the Sixth Change.

The Thousand-bone Body was too powerful. Back then, Zhang Ruochen only had the Three-spirit Treasure Body and naturally couldn’t compete with her. Now, Zhang Ruochen had cultivated the Four-spirit Treasure Body. Physically, he was closer to her Thousand-bone Body.

Zhang Ruochen took out two balls of Half-Saint Light from the Ruyi Treasure Bottle. He gave one to the Elephant-swallowing Rabbit and one to the Monster Ape.

These were both mutants of the savage beasts. Not only were they physically strong, they’d also cultivated two powerful techniques that Blackie had taught them: Ten Days of Demons and the Sky-swallowing Skill.

These two techniques were incredible. Even a Saint could only dream about them. Once cultivated fully, they would transform greatly.

This was why Zhang Ruochen worked hard to train them. He invested a great amount of resources into them.

Leaving them in the scroll world to refine the Half-Saint Light, Zhang Ruochen and Han Xue exited the scroll. They came to the edge of the Tomb Forest. Three days had passed in the scroll world, but only around six hours had passed in the outside world.

More and more strong cultivators gathered outside the Tomb Forest. Zhang Ruochen extended his Spiritual Power and quickly discovered that there were more than ten groups of Monks hidden here. There were also some powerful beastly auras.

How can this be? The number of people at the Tomb Forest is actually rising. Zhang Ruochen felt that this was very strange. He was even more afraid of acting brashly.

Han Xue stood beside Zhang Ruochen, carrying the Void Sword. She stared in the direction of the Tomb Forest. Her body was very unique. Even without using the Sky Eye, she could see all the menacing dead souls.

Her heart beat quickly. Biting her red lips, she wanted to ask Zhang Ruochen what kind of place this was. But then, Zhang Ruochen signaled for her to be quiet. He discovered that someone could no longer resist the urge and had charged towards the Tomb Forest.

Three hundred meters from the Tomb Forest, a patch of red Qi rose up behind a black mountain. It shot up and rushed to the entrance of the Tomb Forest.

A Vampire was flying inside the cloud of red Qi. He was thin like a bag of bones. Flapping his wings, he was impossibly fast and was about to get in.

“Those who break into the Tomb Forest shall die.”

A man in black armor standing outside the Tomb Forest huffed coldly. He took a shield-shaped ghost weapon from his back and hurled it at the bloody cloud. The black shield was carved with ancient corpses, white bones, shadow soldiers … The various carvings radiated with chilling Qi after it flew out.

The Vampire was quite skilled too. Using a long spear, he knocked the black shield down onto the ground.

Kaboom!

The clash between the shield and spear created a ring of energy waves. Many shadow soldiers and ghost generals were shaken apart, reduced to shreds of ghostly Qi.

The black-armored man grunted. He grabbed his black shield and brought a group of shadow soldiers into the sky. They charged towards the strong Vampire.

This is a fight between a Ghost King and a Saint.

Zhang Ruochen was secretly happy that he hadn’t charged rashly into the Tomb Forest. Otherwise, he would be too close and wouldn’t be able to fool the Ghost King’s eyes and ears even with his Shooting Star Invisibility Cloak. If he was discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Black ghostly Qi filled the air. Moans could be heard.

The Ghost King was frighteningly powerful. He and the Vampire Saint tumbled in the sky. Any burst of power that fell down also caused considerable damage to the earth.

So strange, Zhang Ruochen thought. Aren’t the Ghost Kings of the Tomb Forest working together with the Vampires?

He was very curious. It didn’t make sense. Technically, the Vampires had something to do with the dead souls escaping from the Tomb Forest. So why had they started fighting first?

Were the Vampires taking advantage of the dead spirits instead of working with them?

Just as Zhang Ruochen was pondering, deafening beastly cries sounded in his ears.

Boom!

Boom!

…

The earth shook without stopping. A golden pangolin more than 300 meters long sped forward like a golden mountain. It charged towards the Tomb Forest. It easily crushed the hills under its feet.

Its huge foot stepped down beside Zhang Ruochen and Han Xue. A giant footprint appeared on the ground.

Goldscale Lion.

Zhang Ruochen gasped. He never imagined that he could see such a powerful creature here.

The Goldscale Lion was a level eight beast. It was as powerful as the Blue Fire Xuanwu. It had the body of a pangolin but the head of a lion. Its body shone brilliantly as if made of gold.

According to rumors, Goldscale Lions fed on Saints. After eating a Saint, they didn’t have to eat for the next decade. Instead, they would hibernate.

However, the Goldscale Lion here evidently wasn’t mature yet. It was just a cub and its power hadn’t reached that terrifying level yet. If it was mature, its roar could shatter Zhang Ruochen and Han Xue’s bodies.

The Goldscale Lion naturally discovered them, but they were like two ants on the ground to it. It was too lazy to mind them.

Roar!

The Goldscale Lion rushed to the edges of the Tomb Forest. Extending a golden claw, it slapped the ground. A gust of golden Qi waves spread in all directions.

A large mass of dead souls dissipated into strands of ghostly Qi that scattered in the air.

At the same time, the gold Qi waves spread outward, pulverizing all the trees in the mountains. Huge cracks opened up on the ground, extending for hundreds of miles.

Seeing the golden Qi waves flooding over, Zhang Ruochen grabbed Han Xue’s hand. He activated a technique and hurriedly escaped. They didn’t stop until they were miles away.

“Master, that lion’s power is so scary,” Han Xue said with fright. She patted her chest with her small hands.

Zhang Ruochen activated the Sky Eye and looked toward the Tomb Forest. He saw a beautiful woman in a blood-red robe. Riding a ball of ghostly fog, she soared into the air and slapped her crystal-like hand forward.

Whoosh!

She vanished from the spot.

The next moment, her handprint already hit the Goldscale Lion between its brows. It radiated with horrible chilling Qi. There were cracking sounds and the lion was sealed in ice.

“Another powerful Ghost King,” Zhang Ruochen said.

The woman in the blood-red robe was a Ghost King, but she didn’t look monstrous at all. Instead, she was extraordinarily beautiful.

Her ghost form was graceful, with a curvaceous chest and behind. Her waist was delicate while her legs, revealed outside the long robe, were slender and translucent. She seemed to be a divine statue carved from white jade.

There weren’t many humans more beautiful than her, let alone ghosts.

Boom!

The Goldscale Lion abruptly broke through the ice. Its gold radiance was even more blinding now. It charged forward and crashed into the beautiful Ghost King, sending her flying.

Two Ghost Kings were held up now. Taking advantage of this chance, dozens more figures around the Tomb Forest charged towards the entrance.

“Let’s go!”

Zhang Ruochen grabbed Han Xue with one hand, wrapping the Shooting Star Invisibility Cloak around her.

Both of them became semi-transparent and then vanished. They charged soundlessly towards the entrance of the Tomb Forest.