Zhang Rongfang remained silent.
He looked around; the blood had already filled and spread throughout the entire cave.
All the stone figures were corroded by the blood, constantly emitting white smoke, and crumbled to the ground.
Reaching his level, after unleashing the ability of blood summoning, he could endlessly transform the surrounding Essence Qi into blood.
He didn’t actually know what Essence Qi was, but in any case, it was an innate ability of his complete bloodline form, and he could make blood appear with just a mental call.
The ability was convenient and practical.
Moreover, this blood was not his Ancestral Essence Blood, but it also had the function of eroding and countering the gods’ and spirits’ Spiritual Line.
"Qiankun," Yue Dewen stuffed a paper ball, found from who knows where, into his nose to stop the bleeding. As he pressed acupoints hard, he attempted to stop the bleeding.
"You are already very strong...at this age, as you said, no one is stronger than you." He sighed, "In terms of talent, strength, and mindset, you are the strongest I’ve seen in history, except for myself."
He knew that Zhang Rongfang was already very strong and outstanding.
Or rather, he had far exceeded his expectations of excellence.
But unfortunately...time waits for no one, and the current era, the current situation... there was no more time left for him to grow.
"That guy said he’s waiting for me in the Great Capital," Zhang Rongfang suddenly spoke. "Although the old man said a lot, describing how formidable, powerful, and unstoppable he is.
Yet no matter how great the reputation, one must truly face off to know."
"Rongfang, you..." Yue Dewen still wanted to speak.
"Old Yue, don’t say any more. You’ve hyped him to be peerless, invincible for hundreds of years, already the pinnacle of all martial artists.
If I don’t go see, wouldn’t it be a waste of your praise and sighs just now?"
Zhang Rongfang smiled slightly.
"Since he has so many titles and is recognized as the world’s strongest, even you don’t compare. So, if I defeat him, won’t all these titles and reputations be mine?"
"When did I say I was not as good as him??" Yue Dewen snapped angrily, "I just didn’t dare to act rashly! Otherwise..."
"Alright, alright, you’re strong, you’re still the world’s best," Zhang Rongfang replied perfunctorily.
"Let’s go, let’s go! Save people first!" Yue Dewen, blocked, was fuming and picked up two stone statues to head towards the outside crevice.
Zhang Rongfang followed behind, his wings on his back quickly contracted, clinging to his skin, squirmed, folded, and disappeared.
Externally, he just seemed a bit stronger than the average person, with no other oddities.
’Are you really going? To the Great Capital?’ Bai Lin asked in his mind.
’Whether I go or not, there’s only one result. Isn’t there?’ Zhang Rongfang countered.
’Your master is right. Although your martial arts have broken through again, but, the Sacred Tour is different,’ Bai Lin said in a deep tone.
’What’s different about it?’
’You should know, projection possession, this is basically a power that only gods and spirits have.
Moreover, I observed the amplification intensity of him after possession. That intensity, even many powerful Bright Gods, can’t reach that level.
He has far exceeded human range, reaching another realm,’ Bai Lin explained.
Zhang Rongfang fell silent for a moment.
’That’s the way of the world. Either you become a speck of dust, unnoticed, neither known nor deliberately provoked by others.
Or, you become someone that others clearly know about but dare not provoke.
The former could be blown away and disappear by a slightly stronger breeze.
But the latter requires far too much in return...’
There was a sense of lament in his tone, yet a hint of expectation in his eyes.
The Blood Race’s Ancestral Complete Form was another form, separate from Blood Lotus and Final Form.
Strictly speaking, this was his true physical body at the moment. Now, the state of retracting his wings became a deliberately concealed disguise.
So...even in the Blood Race Ancestral Complete Form, he could unfold the Blood Lotus and activate the Final Form.
However, all this required some time for adjustments to reach the best state.
After all, with a major change in the body structure, many martial arts moves needed to be optimized to adapt.
He was impatient earlier, hastily made the breakthrough and rushed over here.
And now, with some free time, he could finally adjust his martial path before heading to the Great Capital.
The Sacred Tour is indeed formidable; just a projection almost killed Old Yue.
But when did he give his all, either?
*
*
*
Near the Great Capital, in a nameless desolate mountain.
On the nearly mountain top area, overgrown with weeds and fallen leaves, suddenly a vibration spread from the air.
A point of blue light exploded slowly from several hundred meters in the sky.
The blue light turned into a circle of blue rings, slowly descending from above.
Wherever the rings passed, a huge dark blue temple gradually emerged.
The entire temple was made up of countless blue crystals; the walls, bricks, and tiles were all translucent crystal material.
From a distance, the temple was more like a mountain range, with sharp peaks at the top, faintly having tiny blue light spots floating upward, evaporating.
The hundreds of meters wide almost occupied the entire mountaintop region of the desolate mountain.
With the rumbling sound of door opening.
The temple’s grand door slowly opened outward, revealing a bright interior with blue crystal tiles.
A golden passage resembling a dragon’s spine extended from the grand door to the massive square stone chair at the far end.
Slowly, a tall silhouette walked in from the door, holding a platinum scepter above their head, stepping toward the seat at the end.
As the figure progressed inside.
On the ceiling, walls, even on the ground of the golden passage, and supporting pillars, a large number of translucent figures began to appear on the surface.
Some had twisted faces; some were devout, some resentful, some angry, and some joyful.
All the illusory figures murmured at the incoming person.
The sound of whispered conversations constantly echoed within the temple. As if countless people were whispering.
Dense lines of sight and gazes, faintly focusing on the tall silhouette.
But the figure didn’t care at all and continued to walk forward step by step with the staff.
He wore a robe of blue and gold, and on his head was a spirit crown adorned with pure gold feather patterns.
The so-called spirit crown was similar to a crown but had a blue gemstone representing the eye of the heavens embedded at its center.
The materials for these spirit crowns were typically intertwined with feathers and golden threads.
The figure quickly reached the throne at the end, turned around, and sat down, revealing an old, wrinkled face.
It was precisely the Holy Patrol, the head of the three giants of Spirit Flying Heaven, who had exchanged blows with Zhang Rongfang and his master earlier.
"You’re back? How is the Sacred Dance?" A burly man in a blue robe with a scarf suddenly appeared on the side of the temple below, standing in the golden corridor, bowing in greeting.
This man was the Divine Shepherd who had just visited the Confucian sect.
"The Sacred Dance has fallen," the Holy Patrol said calmly. "The one who killed her was Yue Dewen and his disciple from the Great Dao Teaching."
The Divine Shepherd frowned and was silent for a moment.
"Yue Dewen and his disciple? Will it affect the overall situation?"
The Holy Patrol closed his eyes slightly.
"Not yet. Yue Dewen only has the power of one strike; it’s strong but cannot be controlled precisely.
And the others, his disciple, though he exhausted all his strength to shatter my projection, judging by his level, is still far from reaching the divide between man and god.
At that level, he’s just slightly stronger than other top Spirit Generals and cannot break the point of qualitative change to interfere with the overall situation."
The Divine Shepherd nodded.
"That’s good. The first stage over at the Sacred Dance has begun, and with her attracting attention, everything here has gone smoothly, and I have successfully completed the second stage.
Next, it’s over at the Holy Spirit Palace."
"Have the Spirit Guard Army been activated?" the Holy Patrol asked in a deep voice.
"Yes, sir. The Black Spirit Guard, Tadorra, Antler, and Canglang, all four legions have fully awakened," the Divine Shepherd replied respectfully.
"That’s good." The Holy Patrol sighed lightly, "Where is my Emperor Kun now?"
"It has been taken by the Reverse Time Society, where it’s located unknown for now. However, these little mice seem to be planning something big and will surely show their tails soon," the Divine Shepherd answered.
"Then, I’ll leave it to you here." The Holy Patrol said solemnly.
He grasped the staff and gently tapped the ground.
Tap.
A soft sound.
He, along with the staff, instantly turned into a black line and dissipated, vanishing into thin air.
The Divine Shepherd raised his head, turned and walked out of the temple, standing on the steps in front of the door, suddenly raised his right hand high.
"I shepherd the spirits of all living beings, punishing chaos on behalf of the heavens!"
Sss!
A blue-gold light cluster suddenly lit up from his hand, then rapidly expanded, exploding.
In an instant, countless dense blue-gold beams of light, like ribbons and meteors, shot off toward the distance.
Blue meteors rapidly plunged into the surrounding earth of the barren mountains.
The ground began to shake.
Sheets of dirt were slowly arched, raised, and scattered.
Poof.
A vast number of large black beasts burst forth from underground.
They were still humanoid, their skin showing moss-like textures, overall black and blue.
From afar, these beasts looked like bald giants with big bellies, holding massive wolf fang clubs, their abdomens layered with fat.
They also bore chaotic, bone-spike-like protruding spikes on their backs.
Their heads, compared to their over ten-meter-tall bodies, were small, without eyes, only two nostrils, and mouths full of serrated teeth.
"Go, my beloved Tadorra...." The Divine Shepherd smiled benevolently. "Clear the weeds of the earth, return the world to its purity."
He gazed down at the foot of the mountain, where hundreds and thousands of beasts roared hoarsely in unison, as if responding to his whisper.
*
*
*
Underground at Jade Void Palace.
On the edge of the great fissure, Zhang Rongfang grasped the hair of Cosimo and Daoist Qingyi with one hand, suspending them in the air.
With the other hand, supporting Yue Dewen, his wings flapped slowly, ascending lightly to the ground.
Just ascending, the ground around was in complete disarray.
The sea of trees had long disappeared, the ground filled with deep cracks.
Trees were sparse and scattered, pitifully few.
A breeze blew from afar, carrying a thick scent of blood.
Zhang Rongfang looked up at the stone pillars around him in the distance.
The surface of the stone pillars was riddled with holes, all remnants of the aftermath of battles.
The buildings on the tops were also damaged.
Not a single shadow of people could be seen.
"The people of the Twelve Sect Mansions and the Sensing Sect, all were brought in by me. It’s just that there were too many stone figures before." Yue Dewen sighed. "Let’s go, see how things are at Heaven’s Gate."
"Alright." Zhang Rongfang nodded, flapping his wings, accelerating towards the distance.
Along the way, the corpses and fragmented stone figures began to appear sporadically below.
The bodies lay scattered on the ground between the fissures, long devoid of breath.
Blood had stained the scant forest soil, adding a touch of tragedy to the entire Jade Void Palace.
Soon, Zhang Rongfang flew to the entrance of Heaven’s Gate.
The cliff was covered with corpses and broken stone fragments.
At that moment, more than a dozen people were examining bodies all over, searching for any survivors.
Among them, an old man three meters tall stood out most.
Zhang Rongfang recognized him at a glance; he was Shangguan Feihua, the head of the Twelve Mansion Masters.