1532 Man of Fame

Merits Godly Palace.

Shang Ziyan stood below the two godly pillars on a circular stone table, looking to the space between the two godly pillars. He bowed and asked, "What have you summoned me here for, master?"

The two godly pillars were as large as mountains, stretching into the godly clouds.

There were three-colored clouds between the two pillars, which godly Qi flowed inside. Rules engravings permeated, and a dimming godly voice came out. "What do you think of Zhang Ruochen?"

Shang Ziyan said, "Unrivalled among his peers."

"Can you defeat him?"

Shang Ziyan smiled. "If we were at the same level, I couldn't guarantee that, but he's just an absolute saint. He's nothing compared to me yet."

Flame God said again, "What would you do if you were asked to kill him."

A God wanted to kill a saint?

Other saints would be shocked hearing that.

However, Shang Ziyan was very shrewd and had thought about it before. He said, "There are excellent tactics, a mediocre plan, and bad tactics to kill him."

"Tell me," Flame God said.

Shang Ziyan said, "I don't need to do it myself. If we put out a great price, there'll be many great beings trying to kill him."

Flame God said, "You said It yourself that Zhang Ruochen is an unrivaled talent among his peers. Moon Goddess and the supreme saints from Guanghan Field will definitely do their best to protect him. Even the best assassin group from Heaven World will find it difficult to even get close to him."

Shang Ziyan said, "Which is why that's only a bad tactic. I still have a mediocre tactic, which is to kill him with someone else's hands."

"With someone else's hands?"

Flame God was a bit surprised.

Shang Ziyan smiled and said, "No matter how extraordinary Zhang Ruochen is, he's still just an outsider. He did save Guanghan Field, but by doing so, he stole the thunder of the heir of Guanghan Field and seized the glory that was supposed to be his. If another talent who's better than me comes into being in Merits Godly Palace, there's no way I can be at peace with him. Instead, I'll try everything to eradicate him."

Flame God said, "What if the heir from Guanghan Field doesn't mind it?"

"Anyone who's ambitious will mind it. Wu Hao couldn't stand to be mediocre. Instead, he wants to help Guanghan Field thrive again. Unfortunately, his talent and power aren't good enough to support his dream. Guanghan Field has fallen for so long that he won't be able to reinvigorate it. I might… be able to give him some hope," Shang Ziyan said.

Flame God said, "If Wu Hao is willing to help you, it'll indeed be much easier for you to kill Zhang Ruochen. What's your excellent tactic?"

Shang Ziyan said, "I presume that you want to kill Zhang Ruochen because he's the descendant of time and space, and once he grows up, he'll be a huge threat."

Flame God stayed silent for a while before saying, "You're right. A hundred thousand years ago, there was an almighty being in Kunlun's Field called Saint Monk Xumi, and that Zhang Ruochen must have a lot to do with that almighty being. Chances are, he might become the second Saint Monk Xumi."

Shang Ziyan said, "Then why do we have to kill him? Wouldn't it be better if Zhang Ruochen could be under your control?"

"I've tried it before, but Zhang Ruochen's willpower is too sturdy to bend," Flame God said.

Shang Ziyan said, "How about we do a walk-in on his body and saint soul?"

"Walk-in… Haha, how come I haven't thought of that before. Ziyan, you're indeed one of my proudest disciples. However, it isn't easy to do a walk-in on Zhang Ruochen." Flame God smiled.

Shang Ziyan said, "It isn't easy indeed, which is why I've decided to go to Soul Field to select a strong soul spirit that can swallow Zhang Ruochen's willpower."

"How are you going to execute that plan?" Flame God asked.

Shang Ziyan said, "I'll utilize all three of the tactics. The bad tactic and the mediocre tactic are just to distract Zhang Ruochen and the prominent beings from Guanghan Field. Swallowing Zhang Ruochen's willpower is my ultimate goal."

"Okay. You're always meticulous, and I have faith in you. You'll be in charge of this." Flame God laughed.

…

Mu Lingxi stayed in Moon Goddess mountain and refined with the Moon Goddess.

After seeing Moon Goddess formally admitting Mu Lingxi as her disciple, Zhang Ruochen left by himself and went back to Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land in Red Dragon Sacred Domain.

Red Dragon Sacred Domain was the territory of Supreme Saint Manjian. As for Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land, it was one of the fourteen sacred lands in Red Dragon Sacred Domain.

Zhang Ruochen was the saint leader of Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land.

He saw lots of people gathering outside the sacred domain when he came back. There were human beings and all kinds of savage beasts.

Some of them were half saints, some were saints, and there were even some saint kings.

"What's happening?" Zhang Ruochen was surprised.

If it weren't for Supreme Saint Manjian, Zhang Ruochen would've thought that Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land was attacked by enemies. However, those monks were all very well-behaved.

A beautiful saintess walked to the front and yelled, "I'm a disciple of Supreme Saint Yukong, Yue Zhao. I'm here to send you an invitation and gifts. We hope that Lord priest can head to Linjin Sacred Domain. My master has prepared a feast."

All the monks around held their breath as they didn't expect a supreme saint to send someone to invite Zhang Ruochen.

Which meant Zhang Ruochen was qualified to be a guest of a supreme saint.

An owl saint beast walked out of the sacred land. Its body was as large as an elephant. It stood atop and said, "I'll take the gifts and the invitation and give them to Zhang Ruochen. It'll be up to him to decide whether to go or not. After all, Emperor Jimie, Supreme Saint Nine Spirits, and Wu Zu also sent invitations."

The owl saint beast then flapped its wings, and then, more than ten half saints moved all the gifts into the sacred land.

A level-nine half saint walked to the owl saint beast and said respectfully, "Lord Blackie, I want to join Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land and refine with Lord priest."

He then added, "Lord priest is my idol. I'll do everything to join Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land."

The owl saint beast said impatiently, "It's not easy to join Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land. Line up there first, and I'll test every one of you. Only those who pass the test can join."

The level-nine half-saint looked exhilarated and walked to the line while whispering, "I must pass the test and join Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land. That'll be an honor for me. Yurou, wait for my news. I won't let you down. I'll become a man like Lord priest."

Zhang Ruochen reined in his forces and stood afar.

He saw that some of the monks here were sending invitations and requests for joining his sacred land.

"Am I already that influential in Guanghan Field?" Zhang Ruochen stroked his nose and chuckled.

After one battle, he could already be a guest of supreme saints.

Was that what being in first place on the 'Saints Merits Rank' meant?

To avoid any unnecessary trouble, Zhang Ruochen dodged the crowd and sneaked into Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land.

"Come meet me."

The owl saint beast was thrilled to hear the message from Zhang Ruochen. "You're finally back!"

The owl saint beast gave the disciples in Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land an order, and then, it flapped its wings and flew to the deeper area of the sacred land.

There was white mist permeating the sacred land.

Below a cliff was a saint spring nurturing the sacred land. On the sides of the saint spring were spiritual medicine and saint medicine with fragrances and of all colors.

Zhang Ruochen stood beside the saint spring with his hands behind his back. The space around him seemed to have been affected as it was somehow solidified.

Whoosh!

The owl saint beast dived and laughed. "You're finally back, Zhang Ruochen! You have no idea how many monks came here to send you gifts. Supreme Saint Nine Spirits and Emperor Jimie even implied in their invitations that they want their granddaughter or daughter to marry you."

Suddenly…

Zhang Ruochen turned around and spread his arms. A golden dragon was formed by saint Qi between his hands.

Howl!

The golden dragon quickly spun in the sky, forming a golden circle.

"Out!"

Zhang Ruochen wielded the golden circle that had a diameter of five feet against that owl saint beast.

"What're you doing? I'm Blackie! Blackie!"

The owl saint beast was horrified. It flapped its wings forward, and then, two tumbling tornados were formed, clashing with the golden circle.

Boom!

The golden circle crumbled, turning into traces of dragon Qi, withering away in the air.

Those two tornados didn't disappear. Instead, they hit Zhang Ruochen's body, knocking him to the sky, and the winds felt like blades slashing Zhang Ruochen's body, making cracking sounds.

Zhang Ruochen had great enough defense power to ward off the tornados. He landed back on the ground and smiled. "Just as I expected, you've recovered a lot."

Blackie retracted its wings and said, "Of course I have. I can easily fight a couple of saint kings myself."

Zhang Ruochen couldn't tell the real power of Blackie, so he didn't know whether it was exaggerating or not.

Zhang Ruochen reined in his saint might and said, "Don't you have incredible formation skills? Why didn't you set up a defense formation around Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land?"

"Of course, I have. It's just not activated, otherwise, do you really think you could sneak into the mountain that easily?"

Blackie rolled its eyes as it looked down upon Zhang Ruochen's power, and it was also very confident in its attainment in formations.

Zhang Ruochen said, "Stop receiving gifts and people. Turn on the defense formation immediately and tell everyone that I won't meet anyone anymore. Seal Mount Yuanxu Sacred Land."

"Seal the mountain? Why?" Blackie was confused.

Zhang Ruochen said, "I'm who everyone is talking about now. There must be lots of people who're jealous of me. I'd better keep a low profile, and also… There's something I can't tell you yet. I reckon there'll be many assassins coming at me. It's best to seal the mountain.

"And besides, I need to spend some time organizing the collections I got from Merits Battlefield and improving my power."

"Okay, I'll go activate the defense formation now."

Blackie knew Zhang Ruochen was always cautious. He must've heard of something or sensed dangers coming, which was why he told it to seal the mountain.