Inside the private room, Zhang Ruochen’s gaze stared at Kong Hongbi and his two followers.
All three of the Ming Hall people, Kong Hongbi included, were trembling as an invisible pressure made them unable to breathe. There was no way, due to the vast difference in cultivation level, it would have been weird if they were not terrified.
After exerting enough pressure, Zhang Ruochen faintly said, “Hand over the Godstone!”
Yuan Che and Guo Song’s psychological aptitudes were slightly poorer, and their faces turned pale as paper as soon as they heard those words.
Kong Hongbi’s heart thumped hard, as his breathing became disordered as he said. “What do you mean, my lord?”
“If you’re asked to hand over the Godstone, hand over it quickly. What are you pussyfooting about?” Xiang Chunan snarled in annoyance.
“If it weren’t for the Godstone, would Hua Cangying of the Hall of Deific Scions invite you in person? If not for us saving you earlier, you would have been a dead man,” Murong Yue said icily.
Kong Hongbi was unable to keep his composure as he said in disbelief. “Impossible. How do they know that I have a Godstone on me?”
Murong Yue replied, “You don’t need to know about that! Since the Godstone is with you, hand it over immediately and present it to His Royal Highness.”
How could Kong Hongbi give away the Godstone willingly? “I’m the deputy hall master of the Central Region, and I cannot offend anyone of you. Nevertheless, the Saint Lord of Ming Hall is also not someone you can trifle with,” he said.
“You dare to threaten us!”
Xiang Chunan slammed the table as he stood up, and he walked toward Kong Hongbi with a clenched fist the size of a casserole.
Bam!!!
A fist slammed into Kong Hongbi’s face and sent him flying before he collided with the corner wall.
Kong Hongbi’s face swelled instantly and looked like a swine’s head.
Xiang Chunan walked over again and prepared to continue the beating.
“I’ll give… I’ll give it…”
Kong Hongbi felt a fiery pain on his face. As he got up from the ground, and took out an Ice Jade box, and handed it to Xiang Chunan.
Since the matter of him having the Godstone had been exposed anyway, it was better to just hand it over straight away.
However, what Kong Hongbi handed over was obviously the Godlight Stone, which was very similar to the Godstone. He only hoped that the other party would not recognize the genuineness of the Godstone.
“If you had handed it over sooner, wouldn’t you have avoided getting beaten?”
Xiang Chunan took the Ice Jade Box and opened it, suddenly a dazzling brilliance filled the room, and radiated a palpable divine might.
“It really is a Godstone. Where did these guys get their hands on such awesome stuff?”
A look of wonder appeared on Xiang Chunan’s face as he held the Godstone and walked toward Zhang Ruochen.
Kong Hongbi was overjoyed in his heart. Sure enough, they did not recognize the Godstone, and it seemed like using the Godlight Stone was enough to befuddle them.
“Sir, I’ve handed you the Godstone. Can you let us go now?” Kong Hongbi bowed and saluted Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen on the chair, and stretched out a hand to grab the Godlight Stone, and pinched it between his fingers.
Crack!
With his five fingers exerting force, the Godlight Stone cracked.
Xiang Chunan showed a look of surprise and said, “The legendary Godstone is so easily crushed?”
Kong Hongbi, Yuan Che, and Guo Song all realized that the other party had seen through their tricks, and their legs suddenly became weak as their whole body trembled, almost falling to a kneel on the ground.
“We have given you a chance, yet you have not cherished it. Death would be too kind for you.”
Chilling demonic energy radiated from Murong Yue’s body as the Bluelight Blunt Crescent appeared in her hand.
Xiang Chunan also snapped back as he realized that he had been bamboozled. He was so furious that his lungs almost exploded as he cursed, “You dare to lie to me! Let us see if I can beat you three to a pulp or not.”
Xiang Chunan clenched his two iron fists tightly and rained blow after blow on the three of them.
Bam! Bam!!
The sound of broken bones and screams rang out as if a pig was getting slaughtered.
A moment later, Kong Hongbi and the other two were so beaten up they could no longer get up. Their faces and body were now deformed.
“Enough!” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiang Chunan pulled back his fists as he glared at the three and spat, “If you three don’t tell the truth now, I’ll smash your bones to dust.”
Immediately after, Xiang Chunan found a storage pouch on Kong Hongbi’s body.
“Big Brother, is the Godstone within this pouch?” Xiang Chunan tossed the storage pouch over to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen used a technique of space and tore the pouch open as he searched it, but he did not find the Godstone.
“Where’s the Godstone?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Kong Hongbi did not dare to look at Zhang Ruochen as he lowered his head and stayed silent.
“Tough bones eh, seems like I need to use Marrow Extraction and Soul Refinement to get all of you to submit obediently.” Xie Chengzi was proficient in many dark arts and was ready to use them on Kong Hongbi and his clique.
Kong Hongbi’s expression moved slightly and said, “We have been instructed to deliver the Godstone to Yunwu Commandery and hand it to the Scion of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen. You should have heard of him, right? He’s a killing machine, a person who would challenge a god. If you were to take his Godstone, you think he’d let all of you go?”
Kong Hongbi knew that Zhang Ruochen had gained quite the reputation in the Celestial Court, and most cultivators would not dare to provoke that evil star.
Using Zhang Ruochen’s name was probably even more useful than the Saint Lord of Ming Hall’s.
Xiang Chunan was stunned at first, before laughing as he quickly helped Kong Hongbi up, as he said. “So it turns out to be a misunderstanding. Haha, Brother, don’t take it to heart. If you had told me that earlier, would Ole’ Xiang here have beat you up that hard?”
Kong Hongbi was overjoyed. It turned out Zhang Ruochen’s name was that useful.
If that was the case, he would make good use of this trump card.
Kong Hongbi continued, “Truth be told, Zhang Ruochen has a deep connection with the Ming Hall. The Saint Lord of Ming Hall is his childhood friend. That’s the reason why the Saint Lord agreed to give him the four Godstones.”
“So, it turns out there was such a relationship.”
Xiang Chunan patted Kong Hongbi’s shoulder lightly as he made an inviting gesture with a smile. “Come, sit. We can slowly talk about this.”
Kong Hongbi smiled and said, “No, I need to send the Godstone to Yunwu Commandery, and there can be no further delays.”
“What Yunwu Commandery? My big brother is right in front of you. Just give him the Godstone then?” Xiang Chunan bellowed.
Kong Hongbi was stunned at first, before realizing what was going on. His entire body felt like it was being struck by lightning while his lips trembled. “Zhang… Zhang Ruochen…”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Zhang Ruochen took off his mask and stared at Kong Hongbi.
Yuan Che and Guo Song fainted from the shock and fell back onto the ground.
Kong Hongbi took a deep breath, as he tried to keep himself calm and forced a smile that was even more hideous than a crying face as he said, “That… That’s… good! I’ll hand the Godstone over to you right away.”
Kong Hongbi quickly took out the four sealed Godstones from the sea of Qi at the center of his brow and carefully presented them to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen played around with the Godstone as he asked, “Where is the Ming Hall’s Saint Lord now?”
Kong Hongbi answered, “The Saint Lord has gone to the former site of the Peacock Villa.”
“The Peacock Villa has also become a land of awakening?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Kong Hongbi dared not hide the fact and said, “Yes.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “Take your people and return to the Central Region. If you are robbed again, you know what to say, right?”
“Understood, understood.”
As if he had received a royal pardon, Kong Hongbi fled from the Tianjue Pavilion with Yuan Che and Guo Song in tow.
After escaping, Kong Hongbi felt regretful again. He had just embarrassed himself before Zhang Ruochen like a fool. Why was he so afraid of him? What was so great about him?”
“Damn it, Zhang Ruochen must be deliberately toying with me.” Kong Hongbi gritted his teeth as anger and hatred roiled in his heart.
At this moment, a group of cultivators walked past Kong Hongbi and entered the Tianjue Pavilion.
The moment these group of cultivators arrived, they presence immediately calmed the noisy Tianjue Pavilion down as all of the cultivators were restrained by their aura, and dared not even breathe out loud.
The Drifter and the Wayfarer of the Fane of Youshen, Hua Cangying of the Shengze Realm, and several other cultivators no less famous than them all walked out of the private room on the fifth floor. Then, they went to the first floor to welcome those cultivators.
Zhang Ruochen naturally noticed this group of cultivators and said, “What sort of people would need to be personally greeted by the Drifter, the Wayfarer, Hua Cangying, and the like? Hey, it’s King Daxi of the Soul Realm.
King Daxi, name Lian Xi, was one of the fairies of the Nine Immortal Beauties. and had once tried to surround and kill Zhang Ruochen with Shang Ziyan and the others. If not for Zhen Yuan and Fairy Cihang intervening to rescue him, Zhang Ruochen would have definitely perished.
The nine fairies on the Nine Immortals Beauties were not only beautiful, but all of them were powerful and with profound backgrounds.
The same was true for King Daxi.
Xie Chengzi said, “Even Xie Canghai of the Blackdemon Realm is with them. It’s incredible.”
“Who is Xie Canghai?”
Before Xie Chengzi could speak, Luo Yi replied first, “The cultivation techniques practiced by the cultivators of the Blackdemon Realm are all from the thirty-six Demonstone Engravings, representing thirty-six different types of legacies. Xie Canghai is, below a Supreme Saint, the cultivator that had cultivated most profoundly the Demonstone Blood Axe engraving, and is extremely powerful. Even that amazing King Daxi, was nothing but a little girl, before him.”
“That powerful?” Xiang Chunan said.
Luo Yi nodded as he continued, “Demonlord Blackheart has given thirty-six cultivators, including Xie Canghai, a special task and asked them to find the thirty-six stone tablets of the Demonstone Engraving, and bring them back to the Blackdemon Realm. Accordingly, before they came to the Kunlun Realm, Blackheart Demonlord gave them all sorts of techniques and abilities. In short, none of these thirty-six cultivators are easy prey.”
“So this Xie Canghai person is the one they are meeting?” Xiang Chunan asked.
“No. In front of Xie Canghai, there’s another person… that person…” Zhang Ruochen frowned.
The person standing before Xie Canghai was extremely mercurial. He was clearly just standing there, and he could see his figure and appearance. But the moment he had a good look, Zhang Ruochen would forget about everything and have a tough time recalling exactly how he looked like.
Even Luo Yi, who could make Hua Cangying kneel, had a very difficult look on his face. Clearly, that person made him extremely leery.
“I still don’t believe it!”
Luo Yi mobilized his spiritual power, and opened his Heavenly Eyes directly, as he stared at that person.
At this moment, the person noticed it and no longer talked with the Drifter, The Wayfarer, and the likes as he raised his head and stared at the fifth floor, as a divine light flashed in his eyes.
Suddenly, Luo Yi made a muffled grunt in his mouth, as blood flowed out of his eyes, and almost fell headfirst onto the ground.
Zhang Ruochen hurriedly stretched out a hand to hold Luo Yi, feeling horrified in the process.
One needed to know that Luo Yi’s spiritual powers were definitely far beyond his, yet he could not block a single gaze from that person. How was this possible?
Who was that person below?
Luo Yi clutched his chest as pain permeated his Saint Heart and spoke quiveringly. “A Master… A Master…”