711 The Gamble

Zhang Ruochen stole a glance at the Saint Lady and realized she was unfazed. She did not have the slightest hint of panic, so much so that Zhang Ruochen started to wonder if she still had a trump card?

Qi Qiankun took a good look at the Saint Lady and realized that her robe was dotted with blood. He said, laughing, "Your excellency, talented woman, aren't you tired of acting strong when you are already seriously wounded?"

Saint Lady batted her eyes, looking like she was about to laugh. "Do you really think I am merely acting strong?"

With a hoarse voice, Qi Qiankun said confidently, "If you were at your prime, you wouldn't need to hide in the Corpse River. You would've returned to Yin and Yang Sect about mobilizing more resources to deal with the Qis, instead of chatting here with me."

The Saint Lady nodded her head and said, "I can see from how you've analyzed the situation, that you are indeed very intelligent. Unfortunately, you've been blindsided by your intelligence, just like me. If I had not been complacent to think that I'm always in control, I wouldn't have been ambushed by Qi Hong."

Qi Qiankun narrowed his eyes, and grinned. "You should know that in the Deceased God Cemetery some rules get overlooked. If I were to kill you, the Empress might not find out about it."

"Are you that anxious to lay your hands on me? You're not very patient," said the Saint Lady.

"Are you trying to delay time? I'm not going to let you have a chance to escape."

Qi Qiankun was increasingly imposing in his manner. He lifted his wooden wand and struck it against the ground. Immediately the Tai Chi mark started to spin faster and faster. Seven to eight thousand streaks of sword Qi shot out from it.

"Sword Three!"

Each streak of sword Qi condensed into a meter-long sword, which in turn transformed into a torrential river of sword Qi that rushed to the top of the Corpse River with a sound like running water.

The people standing in the boat looked up.

Nearly eight thousand streaks of sword Qi darted across the sky and began falling down like a meteor shower. It seemed that they had lost all hope in escaping.

"Zhang Ruochen!"

Blackie transmitted sound to Zhang Ruochen, indicating for him to open the Yin Yang Wooden Graph so they could flee into it.

This attack was not something they could withstand.

Zhang Ruochen looked towards the Saint Lady. He saw that there was no fear in her expression, rather she was smiling faintly. It did not look like she was ready to die.

Unless...

Zhang Ruochen thought maybe there was a possibility of some other escape. He decided to observe first instead of using the Yin Yang Wooden Graph.

All of a sudden, the Saint Lady jerked her arm and the fan in her hands opened up as she waved it in front of her.

"Swoosh!"

Out of the folds of the fan flew over ten thousand characters of inscription that came to collide with the eight thousand streaks of sword Qi.

A series of explosions sounded as all the sword Qi shattered.

Saint Lady pressed her fan to her red lips and uttered one simple word, "Suppress."

The Holy Qi characters came together and lined themselves into a passage of sutra that came down on Qi Qiankun.

"Sword Four!"

Qi Qiankun pointed his finger towards the sky.

The black and white Tai Chi mark on the ground emitted brilliant light. It divided the heaven and earth into half night and half day.

A Holy Sword emerged at the boundary between night and day, and shot upwards. It exploded with a sharp force, tearing the sutra into a slit.

Qi Qiankun dodged and escaped through the tear. He was suspended in midair.

The Holy Sword did a full circle and then returned to Qi Qiankun's hand and condensed into a wooden stick.

It was completely flat. Its lower face was extremely sharp. It would be very difficult to discern that it was a sword if one did not look carefully. It was actually a Holy Sword.

Qi Qiankun was taken aback. "You're not injured?"

Zhang Ruochen and Blackie were also stunned. They did not realize the Saint Lady had regained her cultivation.

"I wasn't injured in the first place. I was avoiding you because my Spiritual Power was suppressed by an evil Qi. But now I've gotten rid of the evil Qi."

When she looked at Zhang Ruochen she saw the doubt in his eyes. He gave a shallow smile and said, "I have to thank you. If you hadn't given me the bell so I could study it, I wouldn't have regained my level of cultivation and would have fallen into their hands."

The Saint Lady took out the purplish black bell and shook it gently in her hands.

A ball of Death Qi was coursing through the inside of the bell.

Not only could this bell absorb a monk's soul, it had absorbed his death Qi as well. No one had any idea where Cerberus had gotten it from.

The bell ought to be rare, given that it could absorb Death Qi. Perhaps it was somehow related to Death Qi.

She put the characters back into the folding fan and turned to Qi Qiankun. "Qi Qiankun, it is possible for you to kill me today. The day I get out of Deceased God Cemetery will be the Qi's dooms day. Do you want to make a bet?"

"How do you intend to bet, Your Excellency, the talented woman?" Qi Qiankun asked.

The Saint Lady replied, "We would create a great commotion if we battled against each other. It would attract the attention of the Deceased God Cemetery's ghost king. I don't think this is something we want to do."

There were countless taboos in the Deceased God Cemetery. If a Saint were to violate them, he would be bringing about his own downfall.

Naturally, Qi Qiankun did not want to stir up any fuss. However, he knew there was no way to put off the battle between them today.

So how was she going to work this bet?

The Saint Lady pointed to Qi Yun and Lin Yue, saying, "While we ourselves can't fight, they can fight on our behalf."

Qi Qiankun had taken a certain interest in Lin Yue. His eyes came to rest on Lin Yue as he a reminiscent smile broke out on his face. "Your Excellency, talented woman. Why, would you send a monk of the Fish-Dragon Realm to cross swords with a Half-Saint from the Qis. What is your bet?"

Qi Qiankun could tell that Lin Yue had only reached the Seventh Change in the Fish-dragon Realm just by looking at him.

A Half-Saint did not even need to strike a move to kill a monk at the Seventh Change of the Fish-dragon Realm. They only needed to suppress the monk with Holy Aura to crush all five of his internal organs. The monk would be bleeding through his eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

Of course Qi Qiankun had no problem with the Saint Lady sacrificing a Fish-Dragon Realm Monk's life.

She seemed to have a lot of confidence in Lin Yue. "If Lin Yue wins, you have to surrender yourself and follow me back to the Yin and Yang Sect to face judgement."

Qi Qiankun laughed coldly and gave a scornful look. "It is impossible to make a saint surrender himself."

"Please listen to what I have to say first, before you make a decision."

The Saint Lady continued, "If Qi Yun wins, I will let you go. At least I won't be targeting you prior to the Sword Technique Conference. When the time comes for the Qis to be sanctioned, I will show mercy to the innocent among the Qis instead of annihilating everyone. How is that? I am only giving you this one chance to decide."

Qi Qiankun grew silent.

He was keenly aware that once she walked out of the Deceased God Cemetery, the Qis would have to face up to judgment regardless.

The crucial thing was the severity of the punishment.

Would it be to implicate nine generations of a family?

Or would they just kill the High-level family members who were in the know?

Qi Qiankun let out a dry laugh. "Looks like I have no other choice. Let it be then, I will gamble with Your Excellency, Saint Lady just this once."

Qi Qiankun immediately sent sound transmission to Qi Yun, saying, "Get Lin Yue under our control as quickly as possible. Only by seizing him can we fully escape. Moreover, we could make negotiations with his life and minimize our loss."

Qi Yun understood the importance of this battle. He nodded gently towards Qi Qiankun.

At the same time, the Saint Lady sent a sound transmission to Zhang Ruochen, saying, "Lin Yue, use the Spiritual Power in the chess piece to defeat Qi Yun. Kill him if you can."

He only needed to use one-fifth of the Spiritual Power in the chess piece to take Qi Hong's life.

The remaining Spiritual Power would be more than sufficient to strike down Qi Yun, who was a first level Half-Saint.

The Skyrocketing Boat moored alongside the river bank. The Saint Lady, Zhang Ruochen and Blackie disembarked and came onto shore.

"Wow, you reached the Seventh Change of the Fish-dragon Realm so quickly? You are indeed a Tao of the sword," said Qi Yun. "Unfortunately, for you to cross swords with a Half-Saint with your level of cultivation would be a far cry."

Naturally, Qi Yun despised Lin Yue. It was an embarrassment for a Half-Saint to battle with a Fish-Dragon Realm Monk.

Instead of using the Void Sword, Zhang Ruochen took out two Golden Snake Divine Rapiers, holding one in each hand. "It is said you spent a mere 82 years practicing and cultivating yourself to successfully reach the Half-Saint realm. You are a great talent too. It is an honor for me to cross swords with you."

Both the Saint Lady and Qi Qiankun had extraordinary sight given that they were Saints. Zhang Ruochen was afraid he would give himself away if he were to battle Qi Yun using the Void Sword.

Moreover, the sword spirit of the Void Sword had not been fully awakened. It would be more convenient for Zhang Ruochen to use Golden Snake Divine Rapiers instead.

Seeing that Zhang Ruochen was intent on using the two Holy Swords instead of the chess piece, the Saint Lady thought that perhaps he was not going to use Spiritual Power.

"Is this guy being too confident?"

Saint Lady began to worry. She was well-versed with the information on the geniuses within Kunlun's Field. There was indeed one incredible talent, who at the Fish-Dragon Realm, could resist a first level Half-Saint.

However, no one at the Seventh Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm had ever defeated a first level Half-Saint.

Saint Lady, unable to hold, cried out, "Lin Yue."

Zhang Ruochen turned towards her. "What is it, Your Excellency?"

"Are you confident?" she asked.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and answered honestly. "I'm not so sure."

This was the first time he would confront a Half-Saint relying solely on his abilities. It was hard to say for sure if he would be able to triumph.

The Saint Lady glared at Zhang Ruochen with her almond eyes, unable to grasp his mentality. He could clearly make use of her strength to strike down his opponent. Why was he adamant about relying on his cultivation to battle a Half-Saint?

Qi Qiankun let out a hoarse laugh. "Your Excellency, it's too late to change your mind now."

She smiled and stepped back.

However, she released her Spiritual Power in preparation to assist Lin Yue if the need arose.

She was not certain why she esteemed this Fish-Dragon Realm Monk so highly as she tried to convince herself saying, "Lin yue is afterall a Tao of the sword genius hand-picked by the Yin and Yang Sect. We can't allow him to die in the hands of Qi Yun because of a gamble."