763 Hidden Danger

After Jialuo Gu and the Third Royal Prince left, dead and injured respectively, things calmed down. The Heir Banquet was finally back on the right path.

Monk Lidi had purposefully killed someone, breaking the rules of the Heir Banquet, but the Saint Lady didn't drive him away from Scroll Mountain.

"It is logical in the Buddha Way to kill traitors. It doesn't count as breaking the rules," the Saint Lady said.

Clearly, she'd met Monk Lidi long ago and was sure that he would be one of the nine Heirs. Thus, no matter if Monk Lidi's actions were understandable or not, he would definitely be able to sit in an Heir Seat.

After that, Monks began to stream up Scroll Mountain again, fighting for seats in the Talent, Conquer, King, and Heir sections.

Beigong Lan abruptly stood up from the second King Seat. She began climbing up to the Heir Seats.

Her injuries were actually completely healed.

She'd brought the holy medicine Withered Pill from the Saint Academy. This pill was made from a withered ten thousand-year-old tree. It contained extremely strong medicinal powers.

As long as a Monk was still breathing, no matter how badly injured they were, they would recover within two hours of taking the Withered Pill.

Beigong Lan's abilities were actually powerful enough to be the top fighter of the Saint Academy. If the Third Royal Prince hadn't been wearing the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, he wouldn't have been a match for her at all.

At the same time, other young Monks who'd been sitting in the King Seats and were relatively confident in themselves left their seats as well. They went up to fight for the Heir Seats.

The intense banquet had only just begun. It was still uncertain who exactly would keep their Heir Seat.

However, Zhang Ruochen looked extremely calm. He sat cross-legged on the ground and put all his strength into healing himself.

"What's going on?"

Zhang Ruochen abruptly felt the world spin. He felt something in his heart, so he opened his eyes slowly. The scene before him really was upended. He couldn't see the Scroll Mountain at all or any people. It was as if he was inside an inky scroll.

At first, Zhang Ruochen was confused, but he quickly understood what had happened. He recovered his composure and continued sitting cross-legged on the ground. "As expected from a mental power Saint," he said. "You can change the entire world with just a thought. I have to be impressed."

Whoosh!

In the near distance, a ball of black smoke flowed quickly. It regrouped and formed a gentle and beautiful girl. She wore plain clothing with a silver belt, making her waist and figure look slim and slender.

It was the Saint Lady.

Her eyes were extremely bright and each eyelash was clear. However, her eyes were troubled. "With your talent and abilities, you can definitely get an Heir Seat. Why are you willing to only be a guard?"

"My Saint, did you bring me here just to ask me this?" Zhang Ruochen laughed self-deprecatingly. "As the saying goes, heroes have difficulties going past beauties. I, Lin Yue, may not be a hero, but I still can't get past this challenge. Princess Yanchen was discriminated against by the three heirs of the Eastern Region Saint Mansion. As her pursuer, how can I just stand by?"

The blacks and whites of the Saint Lady's eyes were clear. She stared unblinkingly at Zhang Ruochen as if trying to see through him. "Can you really give up everything for someone you love?" she asked. "Is it worth it? Do you know what the Heir represents? Do you know why the empress sent the order to choose nine Heirs?"

Zhang Ruochen shook his head as if he didn't care. The Saint Lady sighed, but she didn't give up. She wanted to continue persuading Lin Yue because she'd decided long ago that he must be one of the three Heirs.

"With your cultivation realm, you must not know some of the secrets," she said. "For the past centuries, the imperial court has dispatched soldiers many times. After countless huge battles, they finally drove the beasts of the five territories out. The human territory has never been so vast before."

"On the surface, Kunlun's Field has entered a golden age. All the Saints are in harmony, many talents have been produced, Martial Arts is growing, and the human race's power has never been so strong before.

"In reality, there are many dangers hidden behind this vibrant scene. Take the netherworld of the tomb forest, for example. It is recorded that the territory there is boundless with countless dead spirits and evils. Even a Saint might never return after entering it.

"Can you imagine how horrible the consequences may be if the spirits or evils escape from the netherworld?"

Zhang Ruochen nodded. He obviously knew how dangerous the tomb forest was. Thankfully, there was a mysterious force there that repressed all the spirits and evils. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Or take for example the Savage Barren Territory. The beasts of the five territories may have been driven out, but the beasts within the Savage Barren Territory are innumerable. If the empress hadn't charged into it 300 years ago and killed the eight beast emperors, intimidating the beast race, the five territories wouldn't have been so peaceful either."

Actually, Kunlun's Field had been a savage land in ancient times. Even after the human race was born, it was made up only of small tribes. Later, some tribes grew stronger and cut out a small territory in the savage land, which developed into cities and countries.

Even now, the five territories of the human race put together was still only a small piece of land. More of Kunlun's Field was still controlled by savage beasts. Thus, it was known as the Savage Barren Territory.

Eight hundred years ago, the five territories of humanity were only half of their current size. Internal conflicts were endless, while people also had to worry about beast attacks.

In recent centuries, the human race had been developing fairly quickly.

Zhang Ruochen knew how terrifying the Savage Barren Territory was. A slight mishap could destroy the human civilization.

Eight hundred years ago, the human race had three emperors and three empresses. However, there were dozens of beast emperors in the Savage Barren Territory.

Thankfully, the various beast races were also caught up in internal conflicts and weren't united. This was why humans could become the rulers of Kunlun's Field.

If the beast races united, it would be a nightmare for the humans. The flourishing five territories would instantly turn into a living hell.

Three hundred years ago, Empress Chi Yao discovered that a dark force was uniting the beast races of the Savage Barren Territory. They wanted to invade the human race's territory.

Thus, she decided to charge into the Savage Barren Territory. She killed eight beast emperors in a row and finally foiled their conspiracy before it began. The beast races could only submit to her.

"With Empress Chi Yao ruling Kunlun's Field, we naturally don't have to worry about threats from the Savage Barren Territory," Saint Lady said. "But what if something happened to her?"

Zhang Ruochen chuckled. "Who can threaten her with her current cultivation?"

"Heaven's laws," Saint Lady answered.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. He quickly understood what Saint Lady meant.

"In the middle ages, the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree was snapped. Kunlun's Field no longer had any humans or beasts who could become gods. Some say that that's because something changed in heaven's laws. Anyone close to becoming a god would be killed."

"Now, the Empress' cultivation is infinitely close to that of a god…"

The Saint Lady didn't dare utter the second half.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes hardened. Clenching his hand into a fist, he said, "Is the Empress choosing nine Heirs because she believes the danger from heaven's laws is coming?"

All this time, Zhang Ruochen's biggest motivation for becoming stronger had been to take revenge on Chi Yao. If she was killed by heaven's laws, who could he take revenge on?

Saint Lady didn't answer Zhang Ruochen's words. After a long silence, she finally said, "It isn't only because of the tomb forest and the Savage Barren Territory. There's also the boundless abyss. There are also many uncertainties overseas, such as the Death Zen Sect and the Vampires. There are unknown dangers in the Void World battleground, too, which may even threaten the fate of the entire Kunlun's Field."

Saint Lady looked to Zhang Ruochen again. "Lin Yue, do you know how important the nine Heirs are now? Don't you want to receive the cultivation resources that every Saint dreams about?

"For example, the chance to cultivate in the Tianlun Print, or the Thousand-Pattern Weapons, the Ten Thousand-Pattern Weapons, divine pills, divine medicine… If you had these resources, your cultivation would definitely skyrocket, leaving everyone else in your dust. If you miss this chance, the gap between you and the nine Heirs will stretch wider and wider until they are in the sky and you are on the ground."

"Plus, even without these resources, don't you wish to do something for humanity?"

The Saint Lady reached out a slender snowy-white hand. With a whoosh, white holy light emerged. The next moment, a bean-sized pill was in her palm.

"This is a Withered Pill. If you promise me you'll fight for an Heir Seat, I'll give you this pill to heal your injuries."

Her pretty and divine eyes carried anticipation. She stretched her hand to Zhang Ruochen, waiting for him to make a choice. After all, with her status, she'd never done something like this to a Monk in the Fish-Dragon Realm.

She thirsted for true talent, but there was also something else.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and looked away from the Withered Pill. "I'm sorry for having you waste your affections on me. Since I'm already Princess Yanchen's guard, I will not fight for an Heir Seat. I have already decided. Please do not try to persuade me anymore."

The Saint Lady was both extremely disappointed and confused. She'd already said so much, but she still couldn't move him? Why?

However, she could see that Zhang Ruochen truly was repulsed by the Heir status, so she didn't continue.

The Saint Lady sighed gently and pursed her lips. "You're badly injured. Please take the Withered Pill."

Even if Zhang Ruochen wouldn't compete for the Heir Seat, the Saint Lady had already prepared to give him the Withered Pill.