962 Making the Move

The unknown depth of the second gradient and the Blood Qi left by the Blood Empress sparked fear and curiosity. 

The Saint Lady was not a typical scholar who was conservative and restrained. In fact, she had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

The more dangerous the matter was, the more she wanted to conquer and explore. 

Zhang Ruochen detected a flicker of interest in her eyes, and asked, "You would like to check out the place where the abnormal blood red light glowed?"

"Yes." The Saint Lady nodded lightly and said, "I have a feeling, the place that was glowing blood red was somehow related to the origin of the blood beast."

The Saint Lady was not an ordinary mortal. She was a saint of Spiritual Power. 

The instinct of the saints who possessed the Spiritual Power was different from a mortal's. They could see things the mortals could not subconsciously, things that were beyond time and space. 

Of course, the power the saints possessed was limited. Most of the time, they could only catch a short glimpse. Comparatively, the Time and Space Descendent would fare better in terms of seeing things across the time and space.

That said, Zhang Ruochen's instinct was relatively more accurate. 

For instance, he had an uneasy feeling that the Saint Lady might encounter danger during her visit to the Shangguan Clan. Indeed, that visit was a near-death experience for her.

His gut feeling also told him that the Saint Lady might not be dead, hence he went undercover in the Blood God Sect to investigate.

Once again, his instinct was proven accurate.

These instincts could be images of the future which he had seen through time and space using his Spiritual Power.

However, he could not pick up the images accurately as his Spiritual Power was too weak and his understanding on the time and space was still at a shallow level.

Eventually, those images faded and resided in his subconscious, and welled up as gut instinct instead.

These feelings were triggered occasionally, and he had no control over it. 

Perhaps when his Spiritual Power had gotten stronger, as well as his understanding of Time and Space got deeper, he could use this power to find out about more things. 

The saints of Spiritual Power had the ability to predict the future too. The stronger the Spiritual Power, the more accurate the skill would be. 

There was, of course, limitation. 

Taking the Saint Lady as an example, if she could anticipate one's misfortune and good fortune, why couldn't she anticipate hers?

Nevertheless, there were too many unpredictable factors in the future. It was more practical to have a strong and powerful cultivation, rather than relying on an uncertain prediction. 

Zhang Ruochen nodded, then asked, "How much has your Spiritual Power recovered?"

"Twenty to thirty percent, I think!" the Saint Lady replied.

Though she had only recovered a third of her strength, she was as good as those who had just turned a saint. 

Never underestimate the Saint Lady's ability.

Zhang Ruochen stared straight into an endless darkness, then said, "Before we check out the place, we need to defeat the enemy first. I heard the howling of the blood beast, that means King Xianlan will be here soon."

The Saint Lady's eyes flickered, and her long lashes fluttered. "Instead of waiting, why don't we make the move first. This place has a unique energy where it degrades a monk's cultivation and suppresses his strength. Your body does not get affected, giving you an advantage as you will be on par with King Xianlan."

"Furthermore, I have a trick that might be useful."

Zhang Ruochen turned to a side and asked, "What kind of trick?"

"I can play the zither for you."

The Saint Lady smiled faintly and extended her hand, showing off her fair skin. Something glowed from between her fingers.

It was a miniature jade zither. Despite its tiny size, each strand of the strings was well crafted.

The zither grew bigger to a size of a standard zither, and she had to hold it with both her hands.

Its body was flat and shallow with a smooth curve at the edge, taking after the shape of a phoenix. The craftsmanship was remarkable, and the material used seemed unusual. One could tell this was not an ordinary zither. 

Zhang Ruochen knew the string instrument was not meant for leisure. 

Among the four sects of Confucianism, the leading sect – the Zither Sect was the school of string music. With a strum of the zither, the practitioner could kill someone, tame a beast, or even set the Rules of Heaven and Earth. 

A zitherist who had achieved the saint level could defend against a thousand soldiers with his music.

In this place where darkness was the only thing known, everything seemed more enjoyable when there was music played by a beauty to keep him company.

Yet he could not enjoy the pleasure when there was danger lurking somewhere in the darkness.

Zhang Ruochen and the Saint Lady had decided to set up a trap to lure King Xianlan. In order to do so, much preparation was needed.

Launching a sneak attack on the King was the best option, since this would take the least time.

The previous howling of the blood beast did alert both the King Xianlan and the Second Prince. 

Rather than rushing over immediately, King Xianlan chose to stay put. He had always been extremely cautious. 

His cover in the Ancient Race of Prison Guardian of almost a century had never been blown showed how meticulous he was. 

"If I could hear the howl, so could Zhang Ruochen and the Saint Lady. It's possible that they have gotten there before us," said King Xianlan. 

"Wouldn't it be better if they have? Aren't we worrying about how to find them?" said the Second Prince. His eyes were twinkling in satisfaction and his lips curled upward.

"We should be more careful. Do not underestimate Zhang Ruochen and the Saint Lady. If the Saint Lady has recovered, I might not be able to take her down."

King Xianlan looked worried. Never once did he dare to lose focus. 

"Yes, the Saint Lady is very powerful. But she was severely wounded when she left. It's only been a day. How could she have recovered?" the Second Prince replied.

"In fact, this is the best time to go after them. If we continue waiting and the Saint Lady recovers, we wouldn't even stand a chance."

King Xianlan was convinced. What the Second Prince said was reasonable.

He sped up and flew toward the source of the howl.

As he got closer, he could feel the temperature get colder. There was a steep-sided black canyon of a few thousands meters in height blocking him from advancing forward. The steep surface was bizarrely smooth as if it was carved by a sharp object. 

"There are traces of the mortals."

King Xianlan paused and looked down. There were trails of footprints left by two men, and it was not difficult to guess they were Zhang Ruochen and the Saint Lady.

The Second Prince looked pleased and exclaimed, "That's great! Follow the trail and we'll be able to find them. Father will be pleased when I bring them back."

The Second Prince was under pressure due to the Royal Prince. He could not wait to win his father, Blood Emperor Qingtian's, heart to secure his title.

On the other hand, King Xianlan hesitated. He sensed something and had been keeping an eye on the footsteps. 

His instinct told him that a fatal attack was coming from the right. And true enough, the space area on his right started cracking and shattering like glass, and the cracks quickly expanded outward to within his reach.

The area that was cracked shattered into pieces. There was no other power that could stop it from breaking. 

"It's a trap!"

Intuitively, King Xianlan struck his palm against the Second Prince, pushing him into the shattering space.

The push propelled King Xianlan to the left and thus avoided the shattering space.

The Second Prince who was thrown into the shattering space was grinded into pieces. 

Eventually, he was swallowed completely and nothing of him was left.

The Second Prince did try multiple defensive spells to protect himself, but they lasted only for a second before he vanished completely.

King Xianlan inhaled deeply and let out a roar, "Zhang Ruochen, show yourself!"

Zhang Ruochen's voice echoed in the dark. "What a strategic sacrifice! I spent much effort to set up this trap but you avoided it effortlessly."

King Xianlan sensed the sarcasm.

But he could not care less. "You are the one who killed the Second Prince. I have nothing to do with this."

"How can I not take the blame when you have already said so?"

In the dark, Zhang Ruochen kept changing his location by performing the Spatial Move in his Shooting Star Invisible Cloak.

His constant movement made it difficult for King Xianlan to locate his whereabouts.

Instead of trying to locate Zhang Ruochen, he was detecting the Saint Lady.

The Saint Lady must be somewhere nearby if Zhang Ruochen is here.

Indeed, King Xianlan found her sitting a few hundred miles away. 

She had a jade zither on her lap, looking calm, as if she'd been enveloped in a peaceful mist. 

Zhang Ruochen will definitely show himself if I attack the Saint Lady, King Xianlan thought.

Three ivory divine swords sprung out from the forehead of King Xianlan.

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Two of the swords flew toward the Saint Lady at full speed.

But the Saint Lady did not seem to bother. She strummed the zither, moving her fingers gracefully between the strings. 

Something came out of the zither: a loud shriek, followed by a shower of sparks.

The sparks then ignited fire, which went straight to the incoming swords. 

The fire howled as it swirled around and turned into a phoenix. It bounced back the incoming swords, with bright sparks exploding like fireworks. 

The impact was not as strong as it should have been. 

If she had played the zither at ground level without the suppression from the surrounding energy, this single strum could have wiped out an area of a hundred miles. 

…

Author's Note: Thank you for your support and understanding!