Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Prince Xia grew thoughtful. "It seems that the Hierarch Madame is a very powerful figure," he said. "I should go meet her and see just what kind of person she is."
After that, he had Elder Yuan Gui send a message to the wife of the Hierarch. He wanted to meet her personally. If they could work together to take down the Blood G.o.d Sect, it would be the best.
Elder Yuan Gui took out a communication rune. He carved some words and then added Holy Qi into it, sending it out.
Whoos.h.!.+
The rune turned into a streak of light. It flew past thousands of miles into the Ancient Snow Mountain, flying into Mo You Valley.
The Hierarch Madame sat cross-legged on a floating stone slab. Her long robe was as red as blood.
Her slender brows arched. Sensing the incoming communication rune, she extended two fingers and pressed forward elegantly. The next moment, a jade rune scroll appeared between her fingers.
Zhang Ruochen and Empress Moran stood below the stone slab. He watched quietly, wondering who would send a message to the Hierarch Madame.
After reading the content, the madame chuckled softly. "Prince Xia of the Huangtian Tribe actually wishes to meet me. What do you two think?"
The Hierarch's Madame trained her eyes on Zhang Ruochen, wanting to see his expression change. Zhang Ruochen was clear that the madame wanted to reveal all her cards to test his att.i.tude.
He immediately put on a suspicious expression. "Madame," he said softly. "You actually communicate with the Immortal Vampires?"
Red smoke flooded out from the woman. It transformed into a red cloud that covered her entire body. "You are not an outsider, so I can tell you. I am actually an Immortal Vampire. Deity, are you interested in joining?"
Without hesitating, Zhang Ruochen lowered onto one knee. "As long as you can help me become the Hierarch and gift me Mo Yin, I will do all I can for you, even if I die."
Empress Moran smiled mesmerizingly.
"You are quite clear about the current situation." Collecting the red smoke back into her, the madame said, "It's highly possible that Empress Chi Yao has died already. The human race's golden era has already pa.s.sed. The weak humans will become food and slaves. Only the strong humans are qualified to choose their fate—either join the Immortal Vampires or…die."
Zhang Ruochen's entire body shook. Fat beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, dripping onto the ground. Of course, this was all an act to numb the Hierarch Madame and Empress Moran.
"You need not be afraid. As long as you work for me dutifully, you will remain above the others. No one will dare to look down on you just because you are a human."
The Hierarch Madame crushed the communication rune.
"Since that Prince Xia wishes to work with me, how about you visit him for me?"
"Prince Xia wishes to see you," Zhang Ruochen said. "I'm afraid it's unsuitable for me to meet him."
"You are the Deity of the Blood G.o.d Sect, the future Hierarch. Your status is definitely qualified to speak to him. If they have rich conditions, we can indeed work together. Actually, we can control the Blood G.o.d Sect with our own abilities, but it'll be a bit harder. We'll have to take risks too."
Zhang Ruochen nodded and smiled. "I understand! If we work together from the inside and outside, we can clear out the conservatives of the Blood G.o.d Sect much easier. Then the sect will completely be in our hands."
"Correct," the madame said. "Go off now! I still have some things to instruct Mo Yin on. Later, she will go visit the cultivators of the Huangtian Tribe with you."
Zhang Ruochen retreated. He didn't let out a long sigh until he walked out of the cave residence.
Doubt entered his eyes. This Hierarch Madame isn't in the same group as Elder Yuan Gui. Then which tribe is she from? The Blood G.o.d Sect truly has deep waters. I could drown if I'm not careful.
The mere bits that Zhang Ruochen knew now were enough to make him feel depressed and unable to breathe. Just how shocking could the other secrets be?
In the cave residence, Empress Moran stood respectfully on the bottom. "I believe that Gu Linfeng has only submitted to you because he's worried about getting killed. He might not genuinely wish to join the Immortal Vampires."
"So what?" the Hierarch Madame said. "Once he joins us, he will never be able to turn back. Even if he does, the humans will see him as a traitor. They won't accept him."
"Master, you are correct," Empress Moran said. "We indeed should make him sink even deeper. In the end, he won't be able to leave even if he wants to. He can only continue to work for us."
"This time, I am sending you two to meet with the cultivators of Huangtian Tribe to test him further."
Cold light flashed past Empress Moran's eyes. "What if he has other thoughts and wants to spread news of our ident.i.ty?"
"If it's the first time, just give him a lesson. There's no need to kill him. After all, humans are no different from animals. They must all be tamed before they'll listen to you. He will become obedient after a few lessons. Just order him around like a dog. He won't dare to do anything to you."
Empress Moran nodded and smiled. "I will not disappoint you. I will do my best to tame that wild dog, Gu Linfeng."
She was already an upper Saint. It was naturally a simple task for her to deal with a Pre-Saint.
To the Hierarch Madame, with Empress Moran watching, Gu Linfeng wouldn't be able to do anything, no matter how powerful he was.
Zhang Ruochen and Empress Moran rode a blood-soul war chariot and rushed out of Mo You Valley. They flew into the air and disappeared between the white clouds in the blue sky.
The chariot was extremely fast. It crossed tens of thousands of miles soon, rus.h.i.+ng out of the Blood G.o.d Sect's territory.
Zhang Ruochen sat in the chariot and moved the curtains aside to look down. However, all he saw were rolling green mountains and overlapping peaks. There was no sign of civilization. It must be a primitive forest.
"Here it'll be!" Zhang Ruochen said to himself.
Empress Moran was studying Gu Linfeng who was sitting across from her. Hearing that weird phrase, she was taken aback slightly. "Deity, what do you mean?" she asked.
"The trial."
Zhang Ruochen opened his arms. Powerful Holy Qi surged out of him, instantly shattering the chariot.
Empress Moran was shocked. She thought that Zhang Ruochen wanted to attack her, so she quickly retreated. She also activated the Holy Qi within her.
Zhang Ruochen stood in the air, long hair flying. Powerful Holy Qi rippled out, forming a vortex that crossed dozens of miles.
The shards of the chariot flew in the vortex, whistling past.
The rules of the world became denser and denser above Zhang Ruochen's head. Closely after, it formed a pitch-black trial cloud. It scattered, covering hundreds of miles in the sky.
Thick bolts of lightning snaked through the clouds, unleas.h.i.+ng terrifying power.
"He's going through another trial?"
Empress Moran was shocked and incredulous. After all, only a few days had pa.s.sed since Gu Linfeng's first Pre-Saint Trial. Most cultivators wouldn't have stabilized their cultivation in a few days, but Gu Linfeng was already starting his second trial.
"This guy is way too crazy. Pre-Saint Trials aren't so easy to pa.s.s. The second trial will be much stronger than the first too."
Empress Moran felt unsafe. Worried that she would be swept into the thunder, she retreated again.
She didn't stop until she was 500 miles away, standing at the edge of the trial cloud. She looked inside with her saintly eyes. She really wanted to know if Gu Linfeng could pa.s.s the second trial successfully or not.
Actually, Zhang Ruochen was under a lot of pressure and had been forced to undergo the second trial. Only this way was he confident in opening the last aperture and turning his physical body into a Saint.
Once his body was a Saint, his combat ability would also improve greatly. He would be able to counter Empress Moran.
Plus, he needed a Saint body to bear the Universe World.
Once the scroll world evolved into the Universe World and became one with his physical body, he would be able to manipulate the power of the Universe World and Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. He'd be a figure connected to the heavens and earth—fearless.
With his current condition, he naturally knew that he was too impatient with the second trial. Thus, he was very careful. He tried hard to clear all his thoughts. Holy Qi flowed faster and faster through his Saintly Meridians.
Kaboom.
A thick bolt of lightning stretched out of the cloud like a divine spear. It went straight for Zhang Ruochen's head.
The image was so shocking that one would think Zhang Ruochen would be shattered the next instant.
The lightning struck Zhang Ruochen's head and pierced his entire body. Some lightning surged out of the pores on his neck, chest and arms. More lightning flew out of his feet and landed on the ground.
Zhang Ruochen's entire body was penetrated by lightning.
Boom, boom!
The lightning that fell to the ground split a 2000-meter-tall mountain into a sea of lava. It flooded out in all directions.
The second Pre-Saint Trial had 72 bolts of lightning. Each bolt was more menacing than the last.
This was only the first bolt!
Despite being hundreds of miles away, Empress Moran still felt great pressure. "Gu Linfeng's Pre-Saint Trial is too terrifying," she muttered to herself. "If my trial had been like this back then, my soul would have flown away with the first bolt. Can Gu Linfeng really take 72 bolts?"
