God Emperor

When Ghost King Bloodmoon charged into the scroll world, Mu Lingxi had already rushed over. She stood beside Zhang Ruochen and naturally heard the earlier words.

She furrowed her slender brow. A beat later, she said, “Zhang Ruochen, why do I feel like someone’s hiding in the darkness and purposefully moving things along? Can it be Ghost King Shenchu?”

Ghost King Shenchu was one of the most powerful existences in the far reaches of the netherworld. He could command many Ghost Kings and millions of shadow soldiers.

The passage between the netherworld and living world opening must have had something to do with him.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head. “If Ghost King Shenchu can break through the Thousand-bone Empress’ seal, he would have done so long ago,” he said. “Why would he wait until now? Plus, there are many strange points that can’t be explained. First, why would the Void Sword fly out of the netherworld?”

Half-Saint Yuanlong had given the Void Sword to Zhang Ruochen, but he was sure that Half-Saint Yuanlong hadn’t crossed Corpse River and entered the netherworld. He should have found the Void Sword in the Tomb Forest and thought it was an average saint weapon, thus taking it back to the Yin and Yang Sect.

“Second, who was the one that spread news of the Pill of Resurrection? What was his goal for attracting everyone to the netherworld?

“Third, why did the Death Zen Sect enter the netherworld in such large numbers? I believe it can’t be as simple as digging up Half-Saint corpses. There must be a secret we don’t know.”

Blackie laughed and untied Jialuo Lan. Then it pushed him forward, tossing him onto the ground. “It’s easy. We can just interrogate him.”

“Amitabha.”

Jialuo Lan lay on the ground. He put his hands together in prayer and closed his eyes.

Zhang Ruochen wasn’t an expert at interrogation at all. Thus, he glanced at Jialuo Lan and waved his hand. “You and the demon rat go interrogate him,” he said. “Wait.”

He walked to Jialuo Lan and felt around his robe. He quickly found a drop of divine blood.

“As expected, he’s also carrying a drop of divine blood.” Zhang Ruochen clenched the blood with his five fingers. His eyes turned serious.

Blackie and the demon rat took Jialuo Lan away.

Zhang Ruochen’s eyes fell back on Ghost King Bloodmoon and said, “You should be clear that even if I don’t kill you, I won’t let you out of the scroll world. So I’ll give you two paths. The first is to follow me. As long as you work for me, I’ll give you many benefits and help you reach a higher cultivation realm.”

Ghost King Bloodmoon revealed her white teeth as she smiled with disdain. “You can help me reach a higher realm with your current cultivation? How about you say that after you become a Saint?”

It wasn’t very possible for a Ghost King to submit to a Monk in the Fish-Dragon Realm. If Zhang Ruochen’s method was too overbearing, it would probably force her into a life-or-death struggle. This didn’t benefit Zhang Ruochen at all.

He wasn’t worried though. “In that case, you’ll choose the second path,” he said.

“What’s the second path?” Ghost King Bloodmoon asked.

“Just stay inside the scroll world.”

With that, Zhang Ruochen, Han Xue, and Mu Lingxi turned and left. They began discussing what to do next. Ghost King Bloodmoon was left alone, shock written on her face. Did Zhang Ruochen just let her go like this? He didn’t even lock her up.

According to her, the second Corpse River was at the end of the world. It was very far from Ghost King Shenchu’s territory. Even with a Ghost King’s cultivation, they would need more than a year to reach it. With Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation, it would probably take more than ten years before he could reach it.

If the Thousand-bone Empress really crossed the second Corpse River and went into the depths of the netherworld, Zhang Ruochen would have to change his original plan. If they continued searching for the Thousand-bone Empress with their cultivations, they’d probably be dead before they reached the second Corpse River.

According to the various pieces of information, Zhang Ruochen found a critical location: Ghost God Valley.

Thus, Zhang Ruochen said his idea out loud.

Mu Lingxi rested her chin in her hands. She bit her lips with a mischievous expression. “You mean we should abandon our original plan and go search in Ghost God Valley?”

She completely supported this plan of Zhang Ruochen’s.

After all, the deep netherworld was overly dangerous. Even someone like the Thousand-bone Empress couldn’t return from it. If Zhang Ruochen continued to search for her, he’d be stepping deeper and deeper into hell. There was no chance of surviving.

“The Thousand-bone Empress has used the Void Sword and god’s corpse to seal the passage between the netherworld and living world,” Zhang Ruochen said, analyzing. “It’s possible she’s left some people in Ghost God Valley. I’m also curious why the Death Zen Sect is going there. No matter what, we have to visit it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Mu Lingxi said.

Zhang Ruochen didn’t refuse her this time. Nodding, he said, “Whether we find anything in the Ghost God Valley or not, you have to protect yourself.”

If possible, Zhang Ruochen obviously wished he could help the beings of Kunlun’s Field. But faced with the vast and boundless netherworld, he felt so insignificant. It wasn’t possible for him to change certain things with his current power.

This was why he wanted even more desperately to get stronger. He wanted to use his own power to protect the people around him and create a safe space so they wouldn’t be in danger.

Do what you can with all your power. If you can’t, at least protect the people around you, Zhang Ruochen told himself.

Kaboom!

A deafening sound came from the distance. Even the ground shook violently.

A moment later, Blackie and the demon rat ran over, looking a bit pathetic.

“What happened?” Zhang Ruochen asked.

A large patch of Blackie’s fur was scorched. It shook its head. “I miscalculated!” it said. “That bald donkey used some type of secret spell and actually exploded his Sea of Qi. I didn’t expect this, so I paid a small price.”

“Cat Lord, you only paid a small price, but I almost died with him!” the demon rat said. “To be honest, that bald donkey is really something. He’s a Half-Saint and the 100 years of cultivation wasn’t easy, but he killed himself without any hesitation.”

The demon rat was indeed in a bad state. It had taken the hit from the self-detonation and a giant patch of its skin had fallen off. Its entire body was covered in bloody injuries. It was badly hurt.

After all, a demon rat was an ancient species from the Archean Era. Its strong body could cross the Corpse River. If Jialuo Lan could hurt it so horribly by self-detonating his Sea of Qi, a regular person would have probably been turned to ash.

“A Half-Saint’s final attack before death is indeed terrifying,” Zhang Ruochen said. “Everyone should be careful in the future.”

Mu Lingxi shook her head. “Jialuo Lan might not have chosen to self-detonate.”

“What do you mean?” Zhang Ruochen asked.

Mu Lingxi smiled brightly. “From what I know, the clans of Kunlun’s Field in the middle ages were all skilled in a type of secret spell. They could print a rune on the walls of a Monk’s Sea of Qi to protect the clan’s secrets.

“If a member was captured by the enemy and revealed the secret because he couldn’t take the interrogation, the rune would explode immediately. Most heirs of middle age clans would plant a curse like this on the walls of their Sea of Qi before going out.”

Blackie’s eyes rolled and it scratched its head. “I see. I was saying that I’d already restricted his spiritual power. How could he have the mind to fight back? I see now. He had a self-detonation curse in his Sea of Qi.”

“In that case, this matter is over now,” Zhang Ruochen said. “Blackie, watch over Ghost King Bloodmoon carefully. I feel that she has an unusual relationship with the woman in the Sun-moon Crystal Coffin.”

Mu Lingxi blinked. “Is that why you didn’t kill her?”

Zhang Ruochen glanced at her and chuckled. “Actually, the Sun-moon Crystal Coffin and the Moon Worship Demonic Sect are highly connected. The person inside might be an elder of the Moon Worship Demonic Sect. As for other relationships, you can ask Blackie. It must know more than me.”

Mu Lingxi and the demon rat were both shocked. Did it have something to do with the Moon Worship Demonic Sect?

After giving out orders for everything, Zhang Ruochen returned to the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree again. He sat down cross-legged on a thick root. Then he took out a fist-sized marble and grasped it.

There was a drop of divine blood sealed within the marble. It was the one taken from Jialuo Lan.

It’s so weird that a monk of the Death Zen Sect has a drop of divine blood.

Zhang Ruochen tapped his spatial ring and activated the spatial inscription. Then he pulled out Jialuo Kong’s body. As expected, there was a drop of divine blood on him too.

The Death Zen Sect, divine blood, Ghost God Valley, god’s corpse, Void Sword, Pill of Resurrection, Ghost King Shenchu, the passage between the netherworld and living world… What exactly is the relationship between them?

Zhang Ruochen had no idea. He shook his head softly.

Since he couldn’t figure it out, he took the two drops of divine blood out again. Since I received these two drops, I can use this chance and try for the legendary Tenth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm.

“Open!”

Zhang Ruochen opened the seal of one drop. The powerful divine power quickly spread from the divine blood, forming a brilliant glow.

The divine blood hovered above Zhang Ruochen’s head. Like a fireball, every sliver of light that radiated from it carried destructive power.

It was the sixth drop of divine blood.

Zhang Ruochen raised his hands, lifting upward, and began refining.