God Emperor

If Zhang Ruochen was in the Death Zen Sect elder’s position and stood before him, he had two choices.

He could either wait for death in the netherworld or open the passage between the two worlds to save himself. Which one should he choose?

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and sighed. “For the first time in my life, I did something that I regret.”

“You regret saving me?” The old monk chuckled and said, “Actually, you don’t have to regret it. Think about it. If you knew beforehand that I’m the Hierarch of the Death Zen Sect and didn’t help me, then after I died, you’d be the one to die next.

“Furthermore, if you didn’t save me, then you would’ve never completed the Five Elements Chaotic Body. That is why people say that you can always reap what you sow. If I were you, I would think that this was worth it. I wouldn’t regret it at all.”

“Zhang Ruochen, do you know why I left the Brahma Way and created the Death Zen Sect?”

Zhang Ruochen looked over at him and said, “The rumors say that you’d cultivated the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm and couldn’t control your energy. You lost yourself and fell into the evil way.”

“Nonsense. You can listen to rumors, but you cannot believe them.” Chuckling, the monk said, “Actually, I’d seen through the fakeness of those so-called noble monks and didn’t wish to be associated with them. Thus, I chose to leave and found my own sect.”

Zhang Ruochen sneered. “At least they won’t do anything for themselves like you. The Buddha once said that if he doesn’t go to Hell, then who will? Can you do that?”

“But the Buddha didn’t go to Hell,” the old monk said. “Only humans go to Hell.”

Zhang Ruochen furrowed his brow. He didn’t want to argue anymore. With his experiences, he couldn’t win against an old creature that had lived for centuries.”

“I don’t even bother with those renowned Saints who come and voluntarily bow down before me,” the monk said, smiling. “Zhang Ruochen, do you know why I’m telling you so much?”

“Why?” Zhang Ruochen asked.

“To be honest, you are highly talented and have a strong willpower,” the old monk said. “You will definitely be extraordinary in the future. If you become my disciple, your status in the Death Zen Sect will be above all except me. In the future, the position of Hierarch will definitely be yours. What do you think?”

Zhang Ruochen also smiled. “In the past, you thought that the Brahma Way was too fake, so you betrayed it. But in my eyes, you are too selfish and narrow-minded. I will not take you as my master. There’s a saying…those with different ways cannot come together. You should understand this better than I do.”

Instead of being angered, the monk felt more favorably about Zhang Ruochen. Smiling, he said, “Zhang Ruochen, you’re the only one since the middle ages to have a chance to cultivate the Tenth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm and Divine Life Chart. If I help you, you have a high chance of succeeding. But the requirement is that you must kneel three times and kowtow nine times, becoming my disciple.”

Zhang Ruochen laughed. “You just want to finish the second thing you promised and make your mind freer. Why must you make the excuse of making me a disciple?”

The monk laughed soundlessly.

Zhang Ruochen turned and walked towards Mu Lingxi. Without looking back, he said, “Death Zen Sect Elder, it’s not so easy to pay back the second thing you owe me. I will use my own power to reach the Tenth Change. I don’t need your help.”

He didn’t fear souring the relationship with the elder. However, a truly evil man would definitely have high intelligence and courage. He wouldn’t ruin his promise and mind for a Monk in the Fish-Dragon Realm.

It had no benefits for his cultivation.

Golden flames surged from Buddha Xinshu’s eyes. He walked over to Zhang Ruochen. “Master, if you cannot act, let me do it. I will rid our sect of this problem.”

“Xinshu.” The old monk stopped him and smiled. “Why are you so extreme? If he’s unwilling to become my disciple now, it doesn’t mean that he won’t in the future. When he returns to Kunlun’s Field, he’ll understand how cruel reality is. The imperial court won’t let him go, the Black Market won’t let him go, and the Vampires won’t let him go. Neither the just or evil side has a place for him. When he has no place to turn to, he will come find me. Did you bring the divine blood?”

Buddha Xinshu immediately took out dozens of drops of divine blood, handing it to the Death Zen Sect elder.

The old monk swept his sleeves and powerful Buddhist Qi surged out. The seals on the dozen drops all broke open. The strong aura flooded out. The drops hovered in the air like dozens of blood-red stars.

Next, the old monk used the Death Zen Buddhist Way to hit the drops into the surface of the black volcano. They overlapped with the Buddhist runes he’d carved earlier.

In the distance, Zhang Ruochen had reached Mu Lingxi. He picked up her listless body. Because she’d used too much of her Holy Qi, Mu Lingxi had become weak. She leaned into Zhang Ruochen’s body, but her bright eyes stared at the Death Zen Sect elder and Buddha Xinshu.

“Zhang Ruochen…is that old monk…really the Death Zen Sect elder?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“What is he doing?”

Zhang Ruochen was also staring at the Death Zen Sect elder. At that moment, he finally understood why those Half-Saints all carried a drop of divine blood. They’d probably all planned on taking them to Ghost God Valley to give it to the Death Zen Sect elder.

But what was he doing with the blood?

“Let’s leave first.”

Zhang Ruochen unfurled his dragon wings. Carrying Mu Lingxi, he used a physical technique and charged out of the black volcano. Using his previous experience, he quickly crossed the sea of lava and reached the land.

The moment his feet landed, black flames behind him started wavering violently. The mountain kept rising too.

Kaboom.

At the same time, the sea of lava started tossing powerfully. Golden waves more than ten meters high rose up. A shocking divine might spread out from the center of the sea, radiating in all directions. With Ghost God Valley as the heart, all tombs within 10,000 miles started shaking and emerging from the ground.

Dead souls all around the netherworld cried out piercingly.

Zhang Ruochen stood on the bank. Five-colored light shone from his body as he gaped at the black volcano in the distance.

As the mountain rose, the volcano finally revealed its true appearance. It was…a human-shaped corpse. The corpse wore black armor and stood above the sea like a giant that pushed up the sky.

Compared to the corpse, Zhang Ruochen was like an insignificant speck of dust standing on the land. The portion above the sea before had only been its head.

Gold lava continued flooding out of the volcano on the corpse’s head, flowing down endlessly. One could imagine that the Thousand-bone Empress had stabbed the sword through his head, killing him here.

“Can that be…the rumored…god’s corpse…” Mu Lingxi inhaled sharply.

“It should be.” Zhang Ruochen nodded. “The Death Zen Sect elder came just to find the god’s corpse and refine it.”

The Death Zen Sect elder stood near the corpse’s nose and looked down. “Zhang Ruochen,” he announced, “If you’re regretting it now and wish to become my disciple, I can take you away from here and return to Kunlun’s Field.”

Buddha Xinshu stood on the corpse’s left shoulder. Hands together in prayer, white Buddhist light radiated from him. He looked extremely divine.

Standing on the ground, Zhang Ruochen just smiled. He didn’t reply.

The Death Zen Sect elder shook his head, a bit disappointed. Without saying anything else, he activated the Death Zen Buddhist Way to control the god’s corpse. It spread its huge feet. With a single step, it crossed a huge distance and walked out of Ghost God Valley.

The powerful divine might in the world gradually dissipated. The pressure on Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi disappeared instantly.

“Why is the Death Zen Sect elder sure that he can return to Kunlun’s Field?” Mu Lingxi asked. “Can he break through the Spatial Extreme Wall above Corpse River with his cultivation level?”

“I can’t say if you can do that in his level,” Zhang Ruochen said. “But the god’s corpse definitely can.”

Mu Lingxi pursed her lips lightly. “That makes sense. The Death Zen Sect elder’s controlling the god’s corpse. It’s like controlling a super-divine power. Who can fight him now?”

“Don’t underestimate the various middle age and ancient clans in Kunlun’s Field,” Zhang Ruochen said. “If they can survive until now without failing, they must have some extraordinary methods to protect themselves in the face of extreme danger.”

“Plus, the Death Zen Sect elder has only started to control the god’s corpse. If he wants to refine it into a battle corpse, he’ll need a great amount of resources and time. At least, he won’t succeed within a few years.”

“Then how do we leave Ghost God Valley?” Mu Lingxi asked.

“Since the god’s corpse is no longer here, this place will gradually stabilize. Plus, the divine might pressing down on us will disappear soon too. By then, we can easily reach the top of the abyss with our cultivation. We can leave Ghost God Valley.”

Next, Mu Lingxi grasped a divine stone and absorbed the Holy Qi within to recover her cultivation.

The god’s corpse had been here for 100,000 years. It must have turned many of the things around it into god-like objects. Merely the sea of lava contained immense divine power. Once it cooled into rock, they could break off any piece and sell it for a good price in Kunlun’s Field.

If this kind of rock was used as a foundation for a battle formation, it could boost the formation’s power greatly. It could also be used for a ritual altar so that it could be more divine.

The Death Zen Sect elder didn’t care for these things, but Zhang Ruochen did. Rocks with so much divine power could definitely be useful in the future.

Of course, if he could fish out some broken pieces of the god’s armor or bones from the sea of lava, that would truly be priceless.