708 The Chimes of the Bell

Zhang Ruochen kept striking with his palms. He forced the Demons Fierce pouncing on him to back away, one after another.

The Qi of the Demons Sly and his masculine Qi were diametrically opposite. In the tomb forest, the two Qis clashed with a loud boom.

There were at least 300 odd Demons Fierce. Each one was more powerful than a Monk of the Seventh Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm. If all of them gathered and struck together, they might even destroy a weak Half-Saint.

They were not, however, very intelligent. They could not use combined attacks or strike an enemy together. Their attacks were highly disorganized. This gave Zhang Ruochen a chance to break out from their encirclement.

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Ruochen had forced his way into the depths of the tomb forest.

After moving forward 2,000 meters, he finally edged to the last of the crowd of Demons Fierce.

"Ding!"

A sinister wind blew and a bell chimed.

At first, the chimes sounded pleasant, but soon, they became frantic and jarring. They became louder and louder, spreading dozens of kilometers around.

The sound of the bells pierced painfully into Zhang Ruochen's head. His eyes swam with dizziness.

"The chimes come from the ghosts. They assault a Monk's Martial Soul," warned Saint Lady.

Saint Lady's soul, purified by her Spiritual Power, had long ago turned into a Divine Soul. She was unaffected by the chimes.

Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul was not weak. Had he been another Monk of the Ninth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm, his soul would have departed his body, leaving him a zombie.

Zhang Ruochen mobilized the Qi of Saint Dragon and the Buddha spirit within his Dragon Pearl. They streamed to his Qi Sea, centered between his brows. The Buddha's light protected his Martial Soul and warded off the power of the chimes.

A green ring glowed faintly on Saint Lady's left pinkie.

"Hmmm."

When she saw her green ring glow, Saint Lady grew solemn. "The Exorcism Ring is warning us of the close presence of a very powerful Demon Fierce. It might even be a Death Messenger."

Blackie, who had always been brave, now looked quite frightened. "Some of the more powerful Demons Fierce can rival a Half-Saint. We can't even deal with one of them, let alone a Death Messenger. If we meet one, we're going to die here."

Zhang Ruochen now vividly recalled the Demons Fierce in the tombs. They were likely to have been resuscitated, thanks to the power of the thunderbolts.

So, he preferred not to use the chess piece with the powerful Spiritual Power. Doing that might draw even more Demons Fierce to them.

"Blackie, leave with Her Excellency first."

Zhang Ruochen gazed around, trying to locate the source of the chimes.

Saint Lady started and asked, "Aren't you leaving with us?"

"I'll keep them from coming after us," Zhang Ruochen replied.

Blackie understood that Zhang Ruochen had a trump card that he could not use in Saint Lady's presence. So he urged her to come. He said, "Women are nothing but trouble. Why fuss over something so trivial? Better leave at once with me, or you'll be a burden to him."

Saint Lady's gorgeous eyes glared at Blackie, but she knew very well that the fat cat was right. She could not help him in her present condition, even if she stayed.

She thought for a while before removing the Exorcism Ring on her finger. She handed it over to Zhang Ruochen and said, "Take this ring. It should help you."

Soon, she dashed off with Blackie and disappeared into the tomb forest.

Zhang Ruochen ran his fingers over the Exorcism Ring. A faint scent still lingered on it.

When he put the ring on, an invisible barrier immediately appeared around his body. It warded off the evil chimes of the bell.

"Saint Lady has so many amulet treasures. If it weren't for the Death Qi, even Saints would not succeed in attacking her, let alone Qi Hong."

The Death Qi was very peculiar. No amulet treasure could ward it off.

Even a Xuanwu, whose defense was supreme, could not resist its power. Even the Cyan Fire Xuanwu was subdued, and finally killed, by the Death Qi.

"DING! DING!"

The chimes became louder and louder. After a period of three breaths, Zhang Ruochen finally located their source.

In the distance, seven meter tall Cerberus emerged from the crowd of Demons Fierce.

A purplish black bell as large as a fist was strung around its throat.

It had the imprint of a skull, and strange inscriptions were floating on its glittering surface.

"Quite a different kind of Demon Fierce."

Zhang Ruochen could tell that the Cerberus was a hybrid of three very powerful Demons Fierce. The Yin Qi it emanated was horrific and shiver-inducing.

"ROAR!"

Completely wrapped in his Yin Qi, the Cerberus lunged at Zhang Ruochen.

The powerful Yin Qi from the Cerberus threw the other Demons Fierce to the sides. The strength erupting from the beast was truly terrifying.

"Dragon and Elephant Furnace, the seventh movement of Dragon and Elephant Palm."

Zhang Ruochen sank his feet into the ground, like a statue. He raised his arms and started mobilizing the Holy Qi and masculine Qi in his body

"Ch-ch!"

His body turned crimson, like a glowing piece of human-shaped steel.

He pushed both palms out and hit the Cerberus.

BOOM! Zhang Ruochen was thrown 100 meters away. He staggered backward, making 17 deep footprints on the ground before steadying himself.

The demonic Qi on the Cerberus crackled. Tt had been partially damaged by Zhang Ruochen's palm strike. The Cerberus staggered back three steps as well.

The Cerberus was quite powerful and brutal. Without the help of his martial technique or a Holy Weapon, a Half-Saint would just about draw even with it.

Although he was at a disadvantage, Zhang Ruochen had managed to force the Cerberus back. It gave his confidence a huge boost.

"I'm now of the Sixth Change in the Fish-Dragon Realm. With the help of the Shooting Star Invisible Cloak and my other trump cards, I should be able to take on the Cerberus."

Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and took out his Void Sword. He stood with it held horizontally across his chest and said, "Come! Let's see how powerful you really are."

The Cerberus's three pairs of eyes widened in fright when it saw the Void Sword. It backed away slowly.

Zhang Ruochen frowned. Surprised by the Cerberus's cowardice, he took the initiative and attacked.

"Sword One!"

Using the speed of the Shooting Star Invisible Cloak, Zhang Ruochen turned into a streak of light, soaring across to the Cerberus. He lifted his sword and hacked at its throat.

"SWOOSH!"

The Void Sword cut off the middle head of the Cerberus. It turned into a plume of Ghost Qi before hitting the ground.

The Cerberus did not retaliate. It escaped quickly into the crowd of Demons Fierce.

The Demons Fierce all started to retreat when they saw Zhang Ruochen brandishing the Void Sword, shrieking horrifically.

"So, they're afraid of the Void Sword."

Zhang Ruochen lifted the Void Sword after discovering their fear of it. He examined the sword carefully and found that the lights on its blade were glittering more rapidly than normal.

Were the wraiths in this tomb forest connected with the Thousand-Bone Empress in some way?

Successive battles had depleted most of Zhang Ruochen's Genuine Qi and Holy Qi. There was no Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in these medieval ruins he could use to replenish himself.

A feeling of weakness came over him.

Zhang Ruochen did not pursue and exterminate the demons. Since the Void Sword could hold them back, he was prepared to leave as well.

He suddenly saw the purplish black bell on the ground, the one formerly hanging from the Cerberus' throat. The bell had fallen to the ground after Zhang Ruochen cut off one of its heads.

Zhang Ruochen picked up the bell and grasped it tightly in his hand.

"BOOM!"

A chilling evil Qi crept into his body. He heard countless ghastly wails in his ears. His chest felt tight and he felt dizzy.

Suddenly, a green light poured out of the Exorcism Ring and dissipated the evil Qi.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes became clear once more. He mobilized the Buddha spirit within the Dragon Pearl to surround the bell. The evil Qi melted away like a flame doused by water.

"How evil this ghost equipment is! How was it even forged? And which human forged it? Was it forged by a ghost?"

Zhang Ruochen did not understand ghosts well. Saint Lady and Blackie, however, knew much more than he did. He would bring the bell back for them to explain.

After keeping the bell, Zhang Ruochen took out two Spiritual Crystals and gripped them. He absorbed their Spiritual Qi and replenished his depleted Genuine Qi. Then, he dashed into the depths of the tomb forest.

Soon, three figures entered the medieval ruins and quickly arrived at the boundary of the forest.

They were three Patriarchs of the Qi family--Qi Qiankun, Qi Dao and Qi Yun.

Already a Saint, Qi Qiankun was the headmaster of Demon Seal Compound, one of the 72 institutions of the Yin and Yang Sect. Qi Dao and Qi Yun were Half-Saint Patriarchs of the Sect. They all occupied important positions and were extraordinarily powerful.

Looking around forty years of age, Qi Yun was rather youthful. He led the other two into the tomb forest, and they soon discovered Qi Hong's body at the edge.

"Qi Hong is dead!"

Qi Dao's face changed color slightly. "When he sent us the message using his Sacred Thought, didn't he say Saint Lady was badly injured? Who killed him?"

Qi Qiankun's hair was parted into black and white sections. Grasping a wooden staff in his hand, hesaid hoarsely, "Qi Hong was too conceited. He dared to attack Saint Lady alone. The gap between a Saint and a Half-Saint is far beyond what he could imagine.

"Even though Saint Lady was careless enough to be injured in a sneak attack, she needed to lift just a finger to kill him."