693 The Crisis

"Well? Not only did I help you kill a strong enemy, but I have also saved your life. Don't I have the superior charisma?" Blackie smiled.

"Bird Nine was heavily wounded. Otherwise, with her cultivation, how could she be killed by your one move?"

Zhang Ruochen nestled on Blackie's back and looked back only to find a Thousand-legged Centipede more than 200 meters long chasing after them with poisonous fog billowing from its body.

However, Blackie was flying at a fairly quick speed—much quicker than the Thousand-legged Centipede. They soon left the Centipede far behind.

"Centipede Eight is stronger than Bird Nine but he is slower. We do not have to fear him."

Just as Zhang Ruochen began to feel a bit relieved, a scarlet cloud suddenly appeared in the sky. From behind the cloud, the rumbling of a dragon was heard. A Red-fire Pterosaur, a Seventh Level Savage Beast, rose up.

It was still a cub and was still far from a full-fledged Seventh Level Savage Beast.

However, its body was already huge like a red hill. It fluttered its dragon wings covered with scales all over and swooped down at Zhang Ruochen and Blackie.

The fluttering dragon wings created a strong whining wind.

"The Demon son keeps a dragon."

Zhang Ruochen frowned and held the Thunder Pearl in hand, mobilizing his spiritual power. Though his body was hurt, he was still able to use his spiritual power to attack.

"It's just a Red-fire Pterosaur. Let me play with it."

Blackie's cultivation was obviously not as profound as the Red-fire Pterosaur's, but he looked quite excited.

Blackie attacked first. He spat out a black lightning ball that hit the dragon's head and caused a dragon scale to fall off.

"Roar!"

The Red-fire Pterosaur roared angrily and glared at Blackie.

How could a mere fat cat dare to challenge a member of the Dragon tribe of noble blood?

Did he want to die?

"Your aristocratic pedigree is not impeccable. How dare you play tough in front of me. Believe it or not, I can eat you alive."

Blackie plucked up his two downy ears and bared his fangs, looking more atrocious than the Red-fire Pterosaur.

The pterosaur was infuriated and spat out a ball of fire that turned into a shower of burning flames dashing down from the sky.

Blackie's body shone as his speed picked up.

"Thunderbolt Domain."

On Zhang Ruochen's command, the Thunder Pearl glinted with purplish lightning and formed a ball-shaped thunder domain that wrapped around him and Blackie.

They broke through the top of the burning flames and quickly flew to the sky.

The pterosaur chased after them until they were within thousands of miles of the Yin and Yang sect, then Ouyang Huan called it back via sound transmission, so it turned around and left.

"If I had recovered my cultivation, I would have been able to capture it and grill it so I can eat dragon meat." Blackie sighed in disappointment when he saw the Pterosaur flying away.

"We have made such a commotion tonight. Half-Saints in the Yin and Yang Sect must have been alerted. We must be careful and hurry back as soon as possible. "Zhang Ruochen said.

When they landed on the ground, Zhang Ruochen put on the Shooting Star Invisible Cloak and snuck into the Yin and Yang Sect with Blackie, back to Zixia Sacred Mountain.

Upon entering his courtyard, Zhang Ruochen saw Gai Tianjiao walking out of his room.

She looked at the masked Zhang Ruochen with piercing eyes and said, "You took too much time to come back."

Zhang Ruochen remained composed as he stripped the mask off his face and smiled. "Since you've already seen, there is nothing more to hide. I really appreciate Senior Sister Apprentice for saving my life."

"Swoosh!"

A red flame suddenly popped up in her palm and wound around Zhang Ruochen. She coldly said, "I never knew you had such prowess in spiritual power. A 44th Level Master of Spiritual Power of thunderbolt series really needs to be regarded with new eyes."

Zhang Ruochen realized that Gai Tianjiao had begun to suspect his identity, but he remained calm and said, "Everyone has their own trump card. I am no exception. I will not unnecessarily reveal all of my power. Does Senior Sister Apprentice want to look into this as well?"

Gai Tianjiao's eyes narrowed. "Why did you leave the Sect tonight? Why did the people from the Moon Worship Demonic Sect engage you?"

Zhang Ruochen looked her in the eye. "Why did the Senior Sister leave the Sect tonight as well? How did you end up there? Your answer is the same as mine."

Seeing no changes in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, Gai Tianjiao frowned and withdrew the fire. "Xu Changsheng was investigating Qi Feiyu, and I tracked the marks he left. That's why I was there. What about you?"

Zhang Ruochen crossed his hands behind his back and said, "I also followed Qi Feiyu there. When I got there, Senior Brother Apprentice Xu had already been killed by the people from the Demonic Sect. They wanted to kill us to bury the truth. That's why I fought with them."

Gai Tianjiao unflinchingly stared at his eyes and asked, "Did you see Qi Feiyu talking to someone from the Demonic Sect?"

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, "No, I didn't."

He added. "Perhaps when I got there, she had already gone."

It was true that Zhang Ruochen did not see Qi Feiyu there with his own eyes, but he and Gai Tianjiao had both chased after Qi Feiyu and saw a Monk from the Demonic Sect there. It was more than just a coincidence.

From her ever-changing facial expression, it was apparent that Gai Tianjiao had a lot of important thoughts surging in her mind.

After a while, she stared at Zhang Ruochen again. "What happened tonight is between you and me. Do you understand?"

"Why? What if Qi Feiyu is undercover for the Demonic Sect?" Zhang Ruochen asked curiously.

Gai Tianjiao snorted and said, "You know nothing. Without definite evidence, whoever brings it up will die. Qi Feiyu is the heiress of the Qis. If you say she works for the Demonic Sect, you are saying all of the Qis are working for the Demonic Sect.

"The Qis have been an Aristocratic Family since the Middle Age. They have a close relationship with the Yin and Yang Sect. Do you know how much influence the Qis have in the Sect? Do you know how many Half-Saints and Saints come from the Qis?

"If you want to stay alive, you'd better keep your mouth shut. For people like you who do not have an influential background, the Qis can easily kill you before you become a Half-Saint no matter how talented you are."

Gai Tianjiao left and headed to the Ancient Gods Mountain.

No matter what, she had to tell Moon-burier Sword Saint about this matter.

As for Lin Yue, Gai Tianjiao did not harbor undue suspicion about his identity. First, Lin Yue had been chosen by Patriarch Taiyi who would definitely not overlook the wrong people given his cultivation and ability to see through people.

Moreover, Lin Yue and the Demonic Sect were hostile to each other. If she had not arrived in time, Lin Yue could have died.

"Qi Feiyu has such an extensive influence in the Yin and Yang Sect." Zhang Ruochen's eyes darkened with worry.

Zhang Ruochen had thought that he could pin Qi Feiyu down if he had enough evidence in hand.

Gai Tianjiao's words made Zhang Ruochen realize that he had been too naive. Since the Qis had great power in the Yin and Yang Sect, Qi Feiyu could have easily wiped him off the face of the earth if she had really meant to.

Qi Feiyu had appreciated his talent and tried to win him over in the past. That was the reason why she had not made a move yet.

It would no longer be the case in the future.

"If I can break through the Sixth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm, I can open my third holy meridian and the holy Qi inside my body will be thicker. Then I will be able to maintain Lin Yue's image for a month.

"Then I can hide in the Sword Pavilion.

"Even though the Qis are influential, they would still not dare to offend Moon-burier Sword Saint."

Zhang Ruochen felt pressure, so he entered the Scroll World where he took out the Xuanwu Sacred Blood and began to refine it. He wanted to break through the Sixth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm as soon as possible.

By Zhang Ruochen's estimation, he had to reach the Half-Saint Realm before he could completely refine the Xuanwu Sacred Blood.

Cyan Fire Xuanwu was a living creature that was comparable to the Saint Prince. Its corpse was like a treasure hall. It was actually a waste, having fallen into Zhang Ruochen's hands.

If it had fallen into the hands of powerful Saint families, it would have been fully maximized.

Three months in the Scroll World flew by in a flash.

Zhang Ruochen had refined three drops of Xuanwu Sacred Blood and his cultivation improved significantly to the Advanced Stage of the Fifth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm.

A disciple of Half-Saint Zixia brought word to Zhang Ruochen informing him to attend the qualifying match of the Grand Sword Contest.

The so-called qualifying match was a battle among the top ten Monks with a cultivation of the Eighth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm, after which the ranking table would be laid out.

The higher the rank, the more revered in the Yin and Yang Sect in the future, the greater the fame, and the more likely they would appear at the Sword Technique Conference.

However, all Zhang Ruochen wanted to do now was to break through the Sixth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm. He was in no mood to compete for rank.

He released himself from refining and went to see Half-Saint Zixia in person to tell him his reasons.

Half-Saint Zixia agreed readily when he learned that Zhang Ruochen wanted to seclude himself for refining. For young people, practice was the most important. Seeing that Lin Yue was aware of this, Half-Saint Zixia gave him his full support.

Half-Saint Zixia reminded Zhang Ruochen that he would be ranked at the bottom among the ten Monks with a cultivation of the Eighth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm if he did not compete in the qualifying match.

Zhang Ruochn did not mind at all.

On his way back to his yard from Half-Saint Zixia's mansion, he overheard some news:

"Sword Saint Xuanji issued a letter of challenge to Nine Serenity Sword Saint. He wants to have a battle of life and death at the Sword Pavillion on September 9."

"A battle of life and death?"

Zhang Ruochen was jolted. He was unsure whether this news was true or not.

Of course, he knew what a battle of life and death meant. It meant that only one of the parties involved would survive.

As the matter was very serious, Zhang Ruochen had to confirm it himself.

At noon, Mu Jiji and Xun Hualiu gleefully hurried back to Zixia Sacred Mountain. When they saw Lin Yue sitting in the courtyard, they looked at each other in surprise.

They walked over to him.

Mu Jiji was not inhibited at all, and he sat across Zhang Ruochen lightheartedly. "Boss, are you not in seclusion for refining? How come you went out early?"

"I didn't release myself from refining. I am here to wait for you."

Zhang Ruochen shifted his eyes between them while smiling faintly, "What happened? Why are you so excited?"