1817 The Return of the Powerful Ancient Kunlun

A nine-inch green jade tower was suspended in the air with a faint green glow.

A loud voice came as the branches of the Divine Sky-connecting Tree swayed lightly in the air. "If you remove the seal now, you may not be able to suppress the Azuresky Pagoda with your current cultivation base."

"I would like to try. If I fail to subdue it, I hope you could lend me a hand," said Zhang Ruochen calmly.

After saying so, he started to remove the layers of seal on the Azuresky Pagoda.

The tiny pagoda started to shake violently.

Ripples appeared in the air as heaven and earth trembled. Zhang Ruochen felt as if he was standing in the middle of a dimensional storm. If he lost his balance, that violent force would rip his body apart.

He took away the last layer of the seal.

Boom!

A supreme power rushed out and hit Zhang Ruochen.

But he had come prepared. An Eight-Dragon Fan propped up and spun at high speed, blocking the supreme power while he retreated tens of miles away.

He then moved the Eight-Dragon Fan aside and looked ahead.

The Azuresky Pagoda had become as massive as a mountain. A green glow that carried terrifying energy struck down at him.

But he was not afraid. He was no longer what he used to be. Using the Eight-Dragon Fan to shroud his body, he turned into a stream of golden light and lunged at the pagoda.

The Eight-Dragon Fan stormed into the pagoda through the door with a loud bang, with Zhang Ruochen following closely behind it.

Inside the pagoda was a misty world, with stars suspended above in a strange formation.

As Zhang Ruochen stepped out, ripples spread under his feet. "I heard that the implement spirit of the Azuresky Pagoda had long been missing. Now there is only the consciousness of the implement spirit left here. If you are to fight me, things will not end up well for you."

"Young man, I may be just an implement spirit's consciousness, but I have been in existence for one hundred thousand years."

The next second, the stars above plunged from the sky.

They were as if the actual stars, becoming larger and larger as they fell with an immeasurable amount of energy. Even the Supreme Saints would probably be crushed to their death, let alone a Seven-step Saint King like Zhang Ruochen.

"Lend me your power, Qiankun Realm!"

As Zhang Ruochen raised his right hand in a palm, the entire Qiankun Realm raged with storms and dark clouds blocking the sky. The energy of the entire world was focused on the Azuresky Pagoda.

The falling stars vanished, turning into tiny pieces of rock as they plunged toward the ground.

A green Bi-an magical beast appeared behind these falling stars.

"So you are the implement spirit's consciousness of the Azuresky Pagoda?"

The three-inch-tall sword soul appeared on the black hou's head, holding a long sword, and was ready to strike.

The sword soul could attack not long the saint souls of the cultivators but also the implement spirits of sacred artifacts.

But the sword soul did not strike.

Because the Azuresky Pagoda that kept the consciousness of the implement spirit would be much more powerful than without the implement spirit.

If can, he would like to bring it under his control.

The green Bi-an suddenly sighed. "Your speed of growth is twice as fast as what I expected, Zhang Ruochen."

"So you are not going to resist?" asked Zhang Ruochen.

"You have the power to destroy me. Why would I still want to resist?"

Zhang Ruochen almost wanted to call it a coward. But at last, he let out a smile. "As far as I know, the implement spirit of the Azuresky Pagoda is the guardian of the Chi Clan. And I am an enemy of the Chi clan. Aren't you afraid that once I take control of the Azuresky Pagoda, I would wipe out the Chi Clan?"

"You can't do that. When the implement spirit returns, no one can control the Azuresky Pagoda. I could already smell the aura of the implement spirit. It should return very soon," said the green Bi-an.

The implement spirits of all the Supreme Artifacts in the Kunlun Realm had been missing, which had perplexed Zhang Ruochen for a long time.

Today, it seemed that he would find the answer here.

"Where did the implement spirit of the Azuresky Pagoda go?" asked Zhang Ruochen.

"I have no idea."

The green Bi-an shook its head. "But once we sense each other, it means that it will be born very soon."

Since the Azuresky Pagoda's implement spirit was not destroyed, it would be born again.

But what about the implement spirits of other supreme artifacts?

Would they be born again at the same time?

Where did they go for the past one hundred thousand years? Why would they want to leave the artifacts?

Zhang Ruochen shot out green and white-patterned Divine Purification Flame. It turned into a massive fire to engulf and control the green Bi-an.

He then withdrew from the pagoda and spread out his hands.

The Azuresky Pagoda landed on his palm. This pagoda that was as huge as a mountain earlier had returned to just nine-inch in height.

"With this supreme artifact in hand, there will be no place where I can't go in the Kunlun Realm." He placed his hand behind his back and looked like a king as confidence rose within him

He immediately started studying the Godslayer Cross-Shield and the Compendium of Thousand Beasts.

As soon as his spiritual power entered the Godslayer Cross-Shield, it came back out immediately. The Godslayer Cross-Shield's implement spirit was an actual implement spirit, not its consciousness.

It was in hibernation.

Yet the energy it exuded felt so terrifying.

It was hard to predict what would happen once it was woken up.

Most probably, it would exterminate Zhang Ruochen before he had time to summon the power of the world from the Qiankun Realm.

He laid a layer of shackling power over the Godslayer Cross-Shield's surface, then asked the Divine Sky-connecting Tree to bind it on the ground using its root. Only then he was relieved.

The Compendium of Thousand Beasts was a badass artifact, inside of which were layers of dimensional structures. Each layer of dimension was further divided into small dimensions the size of typical palaces.

These beasts were not ordinary but sacred beasts in the third dimension.

In the fourth dimension, there were the eight-order, Saint King-level savage beasts.

Zhang Ruochen's spiritual spirit could not enter the fifth dimension. But looking down through what might look like a layer of ice of the fourth dimension, he could see the shadows of savage beasts.

Most probably, sealed within the small spaces of the fifth dimension were savage, ninth-order beast kings. He felt a chill run up his spine by just thinking of it.

His spiritual-power clone stopped in the fourth dimension, standing outside a cell with a vampire bat inside.

That Vampire Bat's cultivation base was at Nine-step Saint Kinghood. It looked hideous as it shrilled at Zhang Ruochen, spurting blood mist from its mouth.

A dimensional wall was separating the Vampire Bat from him.

Of course, the dimensional wall could stop the other cultivators, but not him. He was a master in dimensions.

Performing a Dimensional Shift, he crossed the dimensional wall over to the other side, appearing in front of the Vampire Bat.

The Vampire Bat shrilled and got even more pissed with flames rising from its wings. Its claws turned fiery red as it charged at Zhang Ruochen.

He tried to communicate with it but failed.

At last, he had to use violence to end violence. Again, he performed a Dimension Shift. He reappeared above the head of the Vampire Bat and struck it down to the ground. It passed out at once.

By right, mastering the Compendium of Thousand Beasts should have given me the ability to control the savage beasts here. Zhang Ruochen was puzzled.

At the end of the day, it all boiled down to his inadequate understanding of the compendium. If Blackie were here, it could surely answer his questions.

Maybe I should ask the Divine Sky-connecting Tree.

He withdrew his spiritual power from the Compendium of Thousand Beasts and stood under the Divine Sky-connecting Tree.

A branch of the Divine Sky-connecting Tree reached down and shrouded the compendium. After a few moments, a voice came. "Zhang Ruochen, the Compendium of Thousand Beasts is a unique artifact of space and time. You should have noticed that the time flow inside it is different from the outside world. It is almost static. It is exactly because of this that deity of the middle ages is still alive and inside the savage beast until today."

But if you want to control that savage beast, you have got to first meet two conditions."

"Which two conditions?"

"One, there is a seal in every small dimension inside the compendium. You have got to use your power to remove the seals, only then you could summon the savage beasts."

"Two, you must become the master of the Compendium of Thousand Beasts. Only then you can summon its power and control the savage beasts imprisoned inside."

"How can I become the master of the Compendium of Thousand Beasts?"

"The Compendium of Thousand Beasts has an implement spirit. It will automatically choose its master."

"But I didn't find any implement spirit in the compendium," said Zhang Ruochen.

"That is because it already has a master. Besides, the implement spirit and its master's saint soul have become one."

Zhang Ruochen thought of Ying Huo, then things became apparent to him. "Now I know why," he mumbled to himself.

Had he known earlier that the Compendium of Thousand Beasts had taken Ying Huo as its master, he would not have let Qiu Yichi her away, no matter what.

"Damn it!"

He then continued. "That is to mean, I must kill the existing master of the compendium, only then I can become its new master?"

"That is how it works."

Divine Sky-connecting Tree quickly continued, "But there are pros and cons in commingling with the compendium's implement spirit. So I don't recommend you to do so. If you can control the master of the compendium, you would have all the savage beasts inside the compendium under your control."

Zhang Ruochen had no idea what were the cons, but the Divine Sky-connecting Tree had vast knowledge. It should have its reason for saying so.

Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to leave the Qiankun Realm with the Azuresky Pagoda, the Divine Sky-connecting Tree suddenly spoke again. "Something came to my mind recently. One hundred thousand years ago, some smart ones from the major ancient sects survived and went into hibernation. Their saint souls seem to be preserved with a special method, waiting for the right moment to wake up."

"What?"

Zhang Ruochen's heart skipped a beat. He was beyond stunned by this news. Things suddenly kept flashing through his mind.

"Hibernation… saint souls…"

He thought of the Mount Gushen of the Liangyi Sect, the Blood Good Altar of the Sect of the Blood God, and those ancient corpses floating on the water and frozen inside the icebergs in the Ying Yang Sea.

He used to fight with Xue Lingxian, the first disciple of the Blood God, on the Blood God Altar one hundred thousand years ago.

At the time, he thought it was just an empty spirit of Xue Lingxian. But now, hearing what Divine Sky-connecting Tree said, a horrifying thought came to mind. Could it be the saint soul of Xue Lingxian?

Mount Gushen of the Liangyi Sect seemed capable of preserving the ancient saint souls, too.

He would not have believed that people could come back from the dead had he not witnessed the power of the Chaotic Space-time Lotus. Now he knew that as long as body and soul were still there, resurrection was not something impossible.

Did Blackie not return from the dead this way?

So there would be many powerful figures from the major ancient sects and clans coming back to life again? During this chaotic, wartime?