1160 Cos

Earlier, when the elder went to kill the Blood God Sect Hierarch, Zhang Ruochen really wanted to know the result, but he didn't ask immediately. Instead, he walked over and bowed. "Thank you, senior, for your help."

The elder collected his Holy Qi and became an average man again. Smiling, he said, "I followed Chi Linyuan all the way to the Bottomless Abyss to cut out the Blood God Sect's hidden danger. I didn't come to save you, but since I did, you should repay this act of kindness, right?"

Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen immediately put up his guard. Does he want to take treasure from me too?

The elder looked benevolent, but when he killed, he was merciless. Did he not see the corpses all over the ground?

"Senior, what would you like?" Zhang Ruochen asked calmly.

The elder didn't reply. He seemed to be immersed in his own world. "Chi Linyuan escaped to the second gradient of the Bottomless Abyss. I must go kill him so there are no remaining threats. I will kill the hidden threat of the second gradient as well."

There was a complicated look in his eyes. He sighed and continued, "The second gradient will be more dangerous. It might hide an ancient secret. I don't know if I can return alive."

Zhang Ruochen thought that he'd misunderstood the elder. With his cultivation, it would be easy to take a treasure from Zhang Ruochen. There was no need to waste so much time talking.

"Senior, do you think that there are even stronger blood beasts in the second gradient?" Zhang Ruochen asked.

The elder nodded. "Chi Linyuan is raising blood beasts in the Bottomless Abyss. He wants to use their power to take over the world. The beasts in the first gradient are only the tip of the iceberg. There are more in the second gradient. I also suspect that there's someone even more terrible behind Chi Linyuan."

The elder had some guesses, but he didn't reveal them. However, there was a seriousness in his features. It was evident that the man behind Chi Linyuan must be very powerful.

Zhang Ruochen didn't understand. Could the man be so powerful that even the elder found it troublesome?

The heavy expression faded from the elder's features. He smiled again. "Now, we can talk about the cost of repaying kindness."

What kind of person forced another to repay kindness?

"What cost?" The elder wasn't a simple man. Zhang Ruochen had to be careful not to get tricked.

"Chi Linyuan has a deep cooperation with the Immortal Vampires," the elder said. "Other than him, there must be more spies in the Blood God Sect. Find them and kill them."

"That's it?" Zhang Ruochen was surprised.

"Yes," the elder said, smiling.

"Why should I agree?" Zhang Ruochen asked. "And what does the Blood God Sect have to do with me?"

The elder stood up straight, his eyes flashing coldly. "You are the Deity of the Blood God Sect and will replace the Hierarch in the future. How can it not have anything to do with you? Kid, you benefited so much from the sect. Do you plan on leaving without any responsibilities?"

"You really did see through me long ago." This was both unexpected and surprising for Zhang Ruochen.

"Your Traceless 36 Changes can fool others, but not me," the elder said. "To be honest, you're still very young now. Compared to old Xuanji, you're nothing."

"You know my master?" Zhang Ruochen asked.

"Yes, we've had some exchanges," the elder said.

Zhang Ruochen was silent for a moment, but he still asked, "Since you knew that I'm not Gu Linfeng, why did you let me stay in the Blood God Sect and help me become the Deity?"

If the elder hadn't sent a message to the Hierarch during the battle for the Deity, Zhang Ruochen couldn't have been so successful.

The elder chuckled. "Whether it be Zhang Ruochen or Gu Linfeng, you can become a disciple or even the Deity if you have the skills."

The elder was honestly too mysterious. His cultivation was strangely advanced as well. Before him, Zhang Ruochen couldn't hide any secrets.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "I can't do it. What you want me to do is beyond my abilities. Disregarding if I can defeat the Immortal Vampire spies, it's not easy for me to even find them."

Zhang Ruochen could distinguish regular Immortal Vampire spies and find them. However, with his cultivation, he couldn't distinguish spies in the Saint Realm.

The elder seemed to have guessed that Zhang Ruochen would say that. "What if I give you the Vampire Secrets?"

"Vampire Secrets?" Zhang Ruochen looked at him suspiciously. "In the legends, the Vampire Secrets were kept in the treasury of the Sacred Central Empire. The treasury was later taken away by the Guarding Dragon Pavilion. How could you have it?"

"Coincidentally," the elder said calmly. "I know the lord of the Guarding Dragon Pavilion and received a hand-copied version of the Vampire Secrets. Of course, even though it's a copy, it has every word from the real version."

It was hard for Zhang Ruochen to keep calm. "Who is the lord of the Guarding Dragon Pavilion?" he asked hurriedly. "Where is he?"

"The lord's identity is mysterious," the elder said. "He also possesses the Sacred Central Empire's treasury. So many people wish to know his identity. Why should I tell you? Plus, I can't tell you."

With that, he took out a yellowed book and gave it to Zhang Ruochen. "This is only a copy, but it is extraordinarily important," he said gravely. "You cannot lose it. Find the right time and person to spread the information. It will be a heavy blow to the Immortal Vampires."

Zhang Ruochen had no reason to keep refusing him. He agreed to the elder's conditions. "Alright! Since I've benefited from the Blood God Sect, I should do something for it. However, there's no way I can deal with Immortal Vampire Saints. Can you lend me your Blood God Mace?"

"Stop thinking about my Blood God Mace. You can't use its power with your cultivation." The elder took a wrinkled scroll rune out and gave it to Zhang Ruochen. "This rune has uncommon power. Do not use it unless you have no other choice."

This scroll was just like a scrap of paper. It was wrinkled and didn't look magical at all. It felt like it could be destroyed with a little bit of strength.

Zhang Ruochen furrowed his brow. He carefully put away the scroll, not quite believing the elder.

"After Chi Linyuan goes missing," the elder said. "The Blood God Sect will definitely have many changes internally. You must be careful."

Next, he told Zhang Ruochen what to pay attention to. Then he took the Blood God Mace and disappeared at the entrance to the second gradient.

Blackie finally let out a breath. "Zhang Ruochen, the Blood God Sect is a place of sin now. Even the Hierarch is working for the Immortal Vampires. Their force must be large in the sect. I think you should leave immediately and not get involved in this. You aren't able to clean up this mess."

"I've already agreed to him. Isn't it too late for you to say this?"

Blackie was speechless. It didn't know what to say. How could it dare to speak when the elder was here?

Zhang Ruochen glanced at the book in his hands. He'd already decided. No matter how dangerous the Immortal Vampires were, he would gladly face them.

Zhang Ruochen left the Bottomless Abyss, but he didn't hurry to the Blood God Sect. Instead, he went to the Ancient Snow Mountain and hid in a concealed mountain.

He set up an invisibility formation outside of it.

Whoosh—

There would often be wind in the air going toward the Bottomless Abyss. Zhang Ruochen stood in the gorge with worry in his eyes.

"The Blood God Mace's power waves are too strong," he said. "All the strong cultivators of the Blood God Sect were alerted. The Hierarch going missing won't be a secret for long. I wonder how big of a commotion will be created."

He entered the scroll world and first checked on Huang Yanchen's injuries. After confirming that she was okay, he started healing himself.

When he was fully recovered, he took out the copy of the Vampire Secrets and started reading quietly.

It recorded many things. Not only did it include how to see through the Immortal Vampires' disguises, it also contained their weaknesses, how to defeat them, and some of their secrets.

Back then, Crown Prince guard Shangguan Que had led a large group of Saints who'd fought with Immortal Vampires to write this book. It naturally had limitless value. Otherwise, why would the Immortal Vampires try everything to find and destroy it?

The last few pages were about the Blood Empress. One of the things there attracted Zhang Ruochen's attention.

According to the book, the young Blood Empress had once fought with Kong Shangling, lord of the Peacock House. Kong Shangling transformed into a seven-colored peacock and swallowed the Blood Empress.

Even when she'd been young, the Blood Empress was already very strong. She could have fought with Saints of the older generation.

Since Kong Shangling swallowed her, there could only have been two results. The first was that the Blood Empress was refined by Kong Shangling and died. The second was that the Blood Empress killed Kong Shangling and broke free from his stomach.

But in reality, neither the Blood Empress nor Kong Shangling had died. They'd both become important figures in history.

Zhang Ruochen really wanted to know what had happened in that battle.

"How can this be?"

He discovered that there were no words at the end. After looking carefully, he realized that the last page had been ripped out?