Chapter 1601: Act Alone

Qing Xiao’s large frame stood below Mirror Fragrance Cliff with an extremely cold expression.

Perhaps because he spent most of his time in the military camp and was used to death, he could still remain reasonable and calm after learning that his junior brothers and sisters had been beheaded.

He believed that Zhang Ruochen wasn’t the type to get taken over by anger, but things were different now…

“I’ll undo the Saint-binding Chain after the side effects from the Emotion Pills disappear completely,” Qing Xiao said.

“The Emotion Pill will only affect my emotions,” Zhang Ruochen said. “It won’t affect my mind. Are you all that unconfident in me?”

Qing Xiao, Blackie, and the Nine Heavenly Maiden didn’t dare to let Zhang Ruochen free, because if he went to the Yin and Yang Palace, they wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen laughed. “Do you really think that the Saint-binding Chain can restrict me?”

Saint-binding Chains mostly locked up a cultivator’s Holy Qi so that it couldn’t flow through his meridians. It could also lock his Spiritual Power so it couldn’t rush out of his body.

Thus, cultivators would lose the ability to fight back once chained up.

In order to bring Zhang Ruochen back, Blackie hadn’t only chained him up with the Saint-binding Chain. It had also used a secret technique to seal up Zhang Ruochen’s 144 apertures.

This way, his physical power would also be forced to its minimum.

Sizzle, sizzle.

Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes and his skin alternated between blue and red. The sealed 144 apertures flashed in and out of sight.

“Oh, no! He’s actually using Divine Fire Jingmie to refine the seals I placed on the 144 apertures.”

Blackie rushed over immediately to fortify the seals.

“Too late!”

Zhang Ruochen roared and the seals were broken. Strands of blue fire spread out, wrapping around him as a fiery cloud.

Next, Zhang Ruochen’s body went from hundreds of feet tall to the size of a marble. This repeated three times and then there was a loud boom. The Saint-binding Chain around his body snapped into a dozen pieces.

Blackie, Qing Xiao, and the Nine Heavenly Maiden were all forced back by the wave of fire.

After the fire dissipated, everyone in the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo grew worried. They stared at the man in the center. No one could guess what he planned on doing.

Clearly, their worry was unnecessary.

Zhang Ruochen didn’t race toward the Yin and Yang Palace like a madman. Instead, he stood in place quietly as if thinking about something.

A moment later, Zhang Ruochen finally said, “Blackie, come with me to the Heavenly Capital Saint Market. Everyone else, stay in the dojo.”

“I want to go with you.” Ling Feiyu put away the Heaven-Burier Sword and shot to her feet.

“I want to go too.” Mu Lingxi also walked over with determined eyes.

The Nine Heavenly Maiden flashed and appeared before him. “Zhang Ruochen, the Yin and Yang Palace must be filled with traps now. You can’t be impulsive. This isn’t only your business. It’s also the business of Kunlun’s Field’s cultivators. How about you wait until everyone is here and plan for the long-term?”

“Junior Brother,” Qing Xiao said. “There were millions of Sacred Central Empire citizens behind you. They won’t want you to take risks like this. You’ll hurt your family and please your enemy.”

Zhang Ruochen stared at them one by one. “Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Sister, and dozens of Sacred Central Empire Saints have their saint souls sealed inside their skulls. They haven’t died yet. If I take the skulls back, I may be able to help them regrow a body.

“But if I continue waiting, Shang Ziyan will lose patience. The next step would be using the destruction of their saint souls to force me to appear.

“By then, I’ll have no choice but to fight with them.

“In that case, why should I continue waiting? I must hurry to the Heavenly Capital Saint Market and prepare beforehand. If I prepare well enough, I might be able to turn the tide and give them a hard hit.”

Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had clear logic and wasn’t overtaken by hatred, everyone was relieved. They also thought about his words.

Then Zhang Ruochen glanced at the Nine Heavenly Maiden and Qing Xiao. “This is my business,” he said. “I don’t need Kunlun cultivators to get involved. Go back to wherever you came from.”

The Nine Heavenly Maiden furrowed her slender brows. “Zhang Ruochen, they aren’t only your people. They’re also cultivators of Kunlun’s Field. Their heads are hanging on the gates of the Yin and Yang Palace. That is disgrace to Kunlun’s Field too. How can we not do anything?”

“They’re my junior brothers and sisters,” Qing Xiao said. “Now, they’re being tortured inhumanely, but you’re telling me to not get involved. Do you think it’s possible?”

“You can say that if you’re able to leave the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo.”

Zhang Ruochen rushed out as fast as lightning and crushed the space transfer formation in the dojo with a stomp.

Then he and Blackie rushed toward the outside of the dojo.

“No, he doesn’t want us to take risks, so he wants to trap us here and act by himself.”

The Nine Heavenly Maiden realized this instantly. She extended her left hand and it transformed into a dark vine to stop Zhang Ruochen.

Whoosh!

Zhang Ruochen used the spatial move and flashed to the side, dodging the vine. He charged out of the dojo, passed the Jiuling Blood Sea Formation, spatial maze, and time formation, and appeared a dozen miles away from the dojo.

He looked back and sighed softly.

He’d gone to the Yin and Yang Palace and knew how dangerous it was. If Qing Xiao, the Nine Heavenly Maiden, Ling Feiyu, and Mu Lingxi followed him, they probably wouldn’t be able to return.

Thus, Zhang Ruochen could only destroy the transfer formation and trap them in the dojo.

Blackie was very wise and obviously knew Zhang Ruochen’s intentions. “Actually,” it said seriously. “I’m just an owl saint instead of an immortal bird. I’m no different from them. I may die if I’m not careful. The Yin and Yang Palace is too dangerous. I can’t go…”

Zhang Ruochen shot a look at Blackie and it got goosebumps instantly. It couldn’t complete its sentence.

For the first time, Blackie realized how terrifying Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were.

“Legend says that there was a bird who studied with the Divine Sky-connecting Tree and created the Nine-Circle Life-Death Code and was known as the Immortal Bird. Do you know about this?”

Blackie immediately shook its head and replied indignantly, “I don’t know. I’m really just an owl saint.”

‘Ha, how about I kill you and test it personally?” Zhang Ruochen said coldly.

Blackie shrunk back in fear. “I was kidding,” it said hurriedly. “Actually, that Immortal bird is my ancestor.”

“It’s not you?” Zhang Ruochen asked suspiciously.

“How would that be possible? Do you really think I’m able to create something as amazing as the Nine-Circle Life-Death Code?”

Blackie clearly didn’t want to keep talking about this with Zhang Ruochen. It changed the topic immediately. “What are your plans? The Yin and Yang Palace will definitely be careful now, ready to fight against your attacks at any time. Under these conditions, I won’t be able to infiltrate and destroy the formations. If we can’t destroy the formations, going to the Yin and Yang Palace is no different from suicide.”

“Come with me.”

Zhang Ruochen built a space transfer formation one thousand miles away from the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dojo. He brought Blackie to a remote and ancient forest.

Crossing his arms, he stood under an ancient tree. Leaning against it, he said, “Build an invisibility formation here.”

Blackie didn’t know what Zhang Ruochen was planning, but it did so obediently.

With its formation skills, an advanced invisibility formation was established soon. It enveloped Blackie, Zhang Ruochen, and the space transfer formation on the ground.

Zhang Ruochen walked to the center and sent out the 12 Buddhist pearls in his hand into 12 spots.

Blackie was even more confused. “Do you have to be this careful?”

“There’s something that’s very important. I need you to look at it.”

There was a huge boom inside the formation. Dust rose up instantly.

Blackie choked on the dust and coughed. Then it looked toward the center of the dust. There was a 60-foot-tall broken Stele.

At first, Blackie hadn’t taken it seriously and thought that Zhang Ruochen was being dramatic.

After seeing the ancient words on the Stele clearly, it shuddered and pounced on it, eyes widening as large as marbles. “Zhang… Zhang Ruochen, this… Where did you get it from?”

Seeing how shocked Blackie was, Zhang Ruochen knew that it definitely knew about the Reverse God Stele. “You don’t have to know. Just tell me what exactly this is.”

Shock filled Blackie’s eyes. “You want to use this Reverse God Stele to defeat the demons of the Yin and Yang Palace.”

In Zuling Field, Zhang Ruochen had used the Reverse God Stele to change the rules of the world. It instantly turned Qiu Yu’s Mu Fire Bronze City into a pile of scrap metal, wiping away the runes inside.

Back then, Zhang Ruochen had been stunned. He realized that the Reverse God Stele was definitely a terrifying treasure and didn’t dare to use it in Heaven World.

There were too many strong cultivators in Heaven World. If a Supreme Saint or god sensed the Reverse God Stele, they might come and kill him for it.

Thus, before using it, he had to make sure what kind of commotion it would cause once exposed.

“If I use the Reverse God Stele, the formation runes in the Yin and Yang Palace will all disappear, right?” Zhang Ruochen said. “The weapons that they have will all become useless, right?”

Blackie circled the Stele. “I can only tell you that more than one god has died to get this Stele.”

“It seems to be even more impressive than I thought,” Zhang Ruochen murmured to himself.

“There are no Supreme Saints in the Heavenly Capital Saint Market,” Blackie continued. “Probably no one will recognize it. If you kill everyone in the Yin and Yang Palace and pull up the roots, the secret won’t be exposed. I can also do some things to cover up the aura.

“Of course, you know that even the best plan can have flaws. Have you thought of a way out if the Reverse God Stele is exposed?”

“Way out?” Zhang Ruochen said. “I have no way out anymore. I can only go forward.”

“If you get the Glass Heaven Cover from Ling Feiyu and put it over the Yin and Yang Palace, you can completely cover up the Reverse God Stele’s aura. But there are so many strong cultivators in the Yin and Yang Palace. Can you do it all by yourself? You can only ensure that there are no problems if you kill every single one,” Blackie said with a menacing look.

Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were a bit red. “They keep forcing me to go to the Yin and Yang Palace. How can I disappoint them? I’ll go and stir up a storm.”