Chapter 331: Battling Di Yi
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
"A dragon's tomb?"
Upon hearing Zhang Ruochen's words, everyone's gaze once again focused on the hill in the distance. Under closer inspection, it indeed looked like a dragon's tomb from where they stood.
"If it's a Dragon Tomb, maybe the Golden Dragon from 800 years ago is buried at the foot of it." Duanmu Xingling's eyes lit up and her eyelashes fluttered. It was impossible to guess what she was thinking.
Huang Yanchen said, "Even if we know for sure that Dragon Sarira is at the foot of the hill, so what? We can't get even one step closer to the hill."
"That might not be true."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the dragon horn in his hand and said, "The humans and savage beasts died at the foot of the hill because they woke the dragon soul inside the hill. Their souls were shattered by the breath of the soul."
Although the Golden Dragon had died, its soul had not dissipated.
Just a few hours earlier, Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul had almost been shattered from the dragon soul's giant roar.
Si Xingkong asked, "How can we avoid the dragon soul?"
"Avoid?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "The Golden Dragon was once the stead of the Buddhist Emperor and later it swallowed the Buddhist Emperor's Sarira. Its cultivation is terrifyingly powerful. It would be impossible for us, with our cultivation, to avoid the dragon soul. If we want to enter the hill, we can only do so by worshipping it."
Zhang Ruochen placed his hands together and bowed deeply towards the hill.
At the same time, he extended his powerful Spiritual Power to communicate with the dragon soul in the hill. As he did so, he recited a passage of Soul-soothing Mantra.
The Soul-soothing Mantra was a basic scroll of the Thousand Buddhas Sect. It was not a martial technique, so it had spread widely. Almost every monk was able to recite it.
Naturally, the Emperor Ming's Palace in those days had also had a copy of the Soul-soothing Mantra. Zhang Ruochen happened to have read through it once and memorized it.
The main purpose of the Soul-soothing Mantra was to calm a warrior's miscellaneous thoughts, as well as evil and killing desires. It brought warriors peace of mind.
If one were to spend a large amount of time listening to monks reciting a Soul-soothing Mantra, it would help strengthen their Martial Soul.
Of course, the Soul-soothing Mantra also had some aggressive quality. If a high-level monk were to recite the mantra, it could freeze a warrior's Martial Soul and lull it to sleep.
Rumor had it that when Empress Chi Yao first brought her soldiers to attack the Western Region, the Buddhist Emperor had recited the Soul-soothing Mantra and put Chi Yao's army to sleep for seven days and nights. The Buddhist Emperor wanted to use this method to persuade the Empress Chi Yao to turn back.
It was unfortunate that the Buddhist Emperor had misjudged Empress Chi Yao's determination. In the end, the army had entered into the Western Region and broken the Thousand Buddhas Sect.
And thus, a monastical order of countless generations was destroyed in a mere moment.
Although the Thousand Buddhas Sect was rebuilt later, it never again reached the level of its glorious past.
Zhang Ruochen was not an enlightened monk. He could only try and hope that his sincere recitation of the Soul-soothing Mantra would have some effect on the dragon soul.
Si Xingkong, Chang Qiqi, Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Zi Qian, and Chen Xier also put their hands together and knelt on the ground to worship the dragon soul.
The dragon soul would not consider them enemies if they showed enough goodwill.
Zhang Ruochen felt the power of the dragon soul was gradually lessening. He slowly took a step in the direction of the hill.
The others also rose and followed behind him with great care.
Only once the power of the dragon soul had disappeared did Zhang Ruochen stop reciting the Soul-soothing Mantra. In a low voice, he said, "I am going to look for the entrance to the Dragon Tomb. You should hurry to gather Spiritual Dose from the hill. Remember, you must maintain sincerity in your heart, otherwise, you will enrage the dragon soul."
Hearing that they could gather Spiritual Dose, Chang Qiqi could not wait any longer. He quickly dashed up the hill.
Guoguo was quicker than Chang Qiqi and already on the hill. Seeing the Spiritual Dose, he began to eat and drink with relish.
With the exception of Zhang Ruochen, everyone went up the hill to gather Spiritual Dose.
The hill was full of rare treasures. The Spiritual Dose here could cure illness, heal injuries, raise cultivation, and increase longevity.
It was equivalent to a huge fortune.
"Crimson Coral, Crimson Coral, finally got you... haha..."
Chang Qiqi held a one-meter long blood red coral in his hands and stroked it continuously. He was very excited and quickly placed the Crimson Coral into the Spatial Ring Zhang Ruochen had given him.
He went to gather more Spiritual Dose.
Zhang Ruochen also climbed up the hill, but he didn't gather Spiritual Dose. He was looking everywhere for the entrance to the hill.
He soon found a stone wall in the center of the hill. It was very smooth but covered in vines. Many spots along the wall were covered with mud and sand.
Peeling aside the mud and sand, the skeleton of an ancient stone gate was gradually revealed. It was seven meters tall and carved with deep print.
BANG!
He hit the surface of the stone gate with one palm. The print immediately gave off a warm golden light and blocked his handprint.
A layer of rock on the stone gate crumbled down, revealing a small but deep indent. It looked like a keyhole.
Zhang Ruochen was very happy with this development and immediately called everyone over. "Everyone come here, I've found the stone gate entrance into the hill."
Just as everyone was rushing toward the stone gate, an ear-piercing laugh came from the foot of the hill. "Zhang Ruochen, thank you for helping me find the Dragon Sarira."
A man wearing a metal mask dissolved into a shadow and appeared at the foot of the hill. He pushed with both his feet and made his way quickly up the hill by stepping on the water waves. He was heading directly toward the stone gate.
"That's not good. It's the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall, Di Yi." Si Xingkong said.
Huang Yanchen was closest to him so she immediately executed the Shadow of the Royal Wind Dragon. She dissolved into a dragon shadow and headed straight for Di Yi, intending to block him.
SHING!
Huang Yanchen drew out a eight level Genuine Martial Arms sword. She moved her arm summoning 13 attacks towards Di Yi's heart.
Having broken into the Heaven Realm, Huang Yanchen's speed was unbelievably fast. Her body blurred and nine shadows appeared. It looked like nine swords were striking out at the same time.
"You don't know your own limits."
Di Yi sneered coldly. His stance did not change at all as he struck one palm towards Huang Yanchen's sword.
His handprint had not even made contact with the combat sword when Huang Yanchen was hit so hard that she spat out blood. She flew backwards near the stone gate.
Huang Yanchen was so dazed that she was not able to activate the defensive inscriptions in her Space Pendant. If she had actually slammed into the stone gate, her bones would have shattered, and she would have died instantly.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen was standing right next to the stone gate. When he saw Huang Yanchen fly back, he immediately rushed forward and used all his Genuine Qi to catch her.
It was not until both of them had backed up to the stone gate that Zhang Ruochen finally managed to dissipate the force in Huang Yanchen's body and stop.
"Zhang Ruochen, you dare to divert your attention to rescuing another when I am your enemy?"
Di Yi let out a cold laugh from behind Zhang Ruochen.
Without any hesitation, Zhang Ruochen immediately used his Genuine Qi to activate the defensive inscriptions on his Spatial Ring. A white light poured out of the Spatial Ring and formed a protective sphere around them.
Just as the protective sphere was completed, Di Yi pointed one finger. It shot out towards the main Meridian on his back, the Sacred Meridian.
SWOOSH!
Although there was a protective sphere around him, Di Yi's attack slowly pierced through it. It was getting closer and closer.
Di Yi's gloves were called the Blackdragon Ghost Claw. They were a tenth level Genuine Martial Arms. It was because of these that he was able to pierce through the defenses of the Spatial Ring layer by layer.
If Di Yi's attack hit Zhang Ruochen's Sacred Meridian, his martial cultivation would be destroyed.
An eye-piercing white light emerged from Zhang Ruochen's glabella. The Heart of the Sword floated within his Qi Sea emitting a bright white light.
The Abyss Ancient Sword immediately flew from its scabbard. It left behind a beautiful 10 meter arcs of sword radiance as it slashed towards Di Yi's arm.
"Royal Kill, Heart Integrated into Sword."
Di Yi exclaimed. He drew back his finger. He struck with a palm towards the Abyss Ancient Sword.
Di Yi activated his gloves and struck out a giant 10-meter black dragon claw.
The giant claw looked like an enormous black cloud. Its power was terrifying and its strength was boundless.
BANG!
The Abyss Ancient Sword was sent flying. It slammed into the hill leaving a deep gaping hole.
Zhang Ruochen held out his arm and the Abyss Ancient Sword returned to him. It circled him once before striking towards Di Yi again.
"Haha! You've managed to reach Heart Integrated into Sword at the Earth Realm. It seems that I underestimated you. You are better than Bu Qianfan when it comes to the sword technique."
Although Di Yi knew that Zhang Ruochen had reached the realm of Heart Integrated into Sword, he did not show fear. Rather, he laughed aloud and once again swept his arms to attack with another giant black dragon claw.
Power strong enough to flatten mountains and upturn seas pressed down against Zhang Ruochen's head.
Normally, Zhang Ruochen would not go head to head with Di Yi. He would use Sword Defending Technique to battle against Di Yi from a distance. He would look for Di Yi's flaws and defeat him with elegant swordsmanship.
But he could not do that right now. He had to protect Huang Yanchen. She had fainted at this point. He could only pit himself against Di Yi.
Di Yi had a Saintly Being and his physical quality was without comparison. Naturally, melees were his forte.
"Dragon Shape and Elephant Shadow."
Zhang Ruochen's body shifted. He pushed off with his legs and rushed forward.
His body separated into two. There appeared to be two Zhang Ruochens. One of them was enveloped by the dragon shadow; the other by the illusory image of an elephant.
The two Zhang Ruochens struck out from either side together, executing the dragon claw and elephant foot against Di Yi.
BOOM!
After a reckless clash, they both took a few steps back.
However, Zhang Ruochen took 13 steps back; Di Yi only took three.
"Interesting, Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm. No wonder it is the foremost palm technique of the Thousand Buddhas Sect."
Di Yi knew, very clearly, that Zhang Ruochen's palm technique was very ferocious. If he had not been wearing the tenth level Genuine Martial Arms Blackdragon Ghost Claw Gloves, he might not have come out on top.