Chapter 1617: Incentives and Penalties
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Yu Wenjing was skilled in Spiritual Power secret spells. Even under All Lives Equal, he could still hear the female Saint King sending a message to Zhang Ruochen.
Thus, he shot an intimidating glare at the female Saint King.
Boom!
As if struck by lightning, the female Saint King shuddered violently and took three steps back. Her Spiritual Power seemed to have been injured badly. She grew dispirited and the fear in her eyes thickened.
Yu Wenjing was only warning her and didn’t attack again.
So aggressive, but this person is indeed very strong. He has high attainments in the Martial Way and Spiritual Power.
Expression unchanging, Zhang Ruochen said, “I wish to ask if this is your own opinion or the Truth Godly Palace’s idea?”
Yu Wenjing stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen. “I’m only giving you a serious suggestion. After all, enough people have died today. If you continue killing, you’ll probably create even greater hatred.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen found it laughable.
He’d already killed many cultivators from three major worlds. Was he afraid of having more enemies?
He would never return a tiger back to the mountain.
But…
It was indeed not the right time to kill those Evil Way cultivators.
Zhang Ruochen purposely put on a thoughtful expression and glanced at Blackie and Demonic Sound. “Imprison these Evil Way cultivators in the Euphoria Underground Palace. I’ll think for a few days and then decide how to deal with them.”
Yu Wenjing smiled with satisfaction. With a slightly threatening tone, he said, “Those who understand the current situation can be the hero. I just hope you won’t make the wrong decision and hurt yourself and others.”
With that, Yu Wenjing left the Moon Goddess Dojo with hands behind his back.
In his opinion, since Zhang Ruochen didn’t kill those Evil Way cultivators today, then he would definitely obey the suggestions after considering the pros and cons.
Zhang Ruochen is a bit brash and can do anything on impulse. I have to challenge him some more.
Yu Wenjing was worried, thinking, I must notify those guys from the Black Demon Field and Thousand Devil Field so they can come and warn Zhang Ruochen.
Cultivators of the Black Demon Field and Thousand Devil Field had joined the Truth Heavenly Domain too. In fact, two powerful figures had already become disciples of a god.
To Yu Wenjing, Zhang Ruochen would be clearer about how to tread carefully if he was warned by three god disciples.
He would take care of Zhang Ruochen slowly after saving the cultivators from the three worlds.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Yu Wenjing’s receding back and a laugh flashed past his eyes. That Yu Wenjing is scarily strong. Unfortunately, he’s too proud and looks down on everyone. I’ll placate him by delaying things first.
The avengers present were all unsettled. Some other cultivators went up to persuade Zhang Ruochen to kill those Evil Way cultivators immediately, but Zhang Ruochen pushed them back.
In the distance, a half-step Saint King flashed. He rushed toward an Evil Way cultivator’s corpse and touched around. He found a storage bag and was ecstatic.
There really are people who dare to take advantage of the chaos.
Eyes turning cold, Zhang Ruochen disappeared from the spot and reappeared beside the half-step Saint King. He slapped forward.
Roar!
A deafening dragon’s roar came from his palm.
The half-step Saint King’s expression changed drastically.
He was about to block with his hand, but Zhang Ruochen’s palm force was so strong. Brilliant light shone from his hand, sending the man sprawling on the ground.
Overwhelming saintly might burst from Zhang Ruochen. “This is the Moon Goddess Dojo,” he proclaimed. “Every speck of dust here belongs to Guanghan Field. Don’t force me to kill you.”
There were many cultivators here. They didn’t come from the same world, so they weren’t united. Even though they were tempted, no one dared to be the first to attack Zhang Ruochen.
Plus, Zhang Ruochen had killed a dozen Yin and Yang Palace cultivators earlier. Even Queen Lian and King Yan together couldn’t defeat him. Who dared to steal from him?
Zhang Ruochen strode toward the half-step Saint King on the ground.
That Saint King’s eyes were filled with fear. He really was afraid that Zhang Ruochen would kill him. Scrambling up, he extended two scaly claws and offered up the storage bag. “Lord Ruochen…this…this is your storage bag.”
“Of course it’s mine.”
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the bag.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen didn’t kill him, the half-step Saint King was relieved. He suppressed his injuries and ran from the Moon Goddess Dojo.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t chase after him. I’ve only come to the Truth Heavenly Domain for two months, he thought. I’ve killed close to 100 strong cultivators. It seems that many people are scared of me. They probably see no difference between a murderous demon and me.
Sometimes, it was a good thing for others to be scared of you. It could prevent many unnecessary troubles.
Anyway, the Yin and Yang Palace was already destroyed. Some of the cultivators didn’t dare to offend Zhang Ruochen, so they retreated quietly and left the dojo.
With one leaving, there would be a second, a third…
There were many treasures in the Yin and Yang Palace, but there was no need to offend Zhang Ruochen now and get killed. More and more cultivators retreated.
Finally, only around 100 still remained in the Moon Goddess Dojo.
They exchanged glances, a bit afraid and unsettled. They discussed something with telepathic messages.
A moment later, they chose two strong figures and they walked toward Zhang Ruochen.
These two weren’t as strong as Queen Lian and King Yan, but they were comparable to the Gold Roc Prince. They were definitely at the top of their worlds.
Ling Feiyu walked toward Zhang Ruochen with her Heaven-Burier Sword. She looked at the two beings guardedly. Strong sword intent enveloped the dojo.
Clearly, if they dared to attack Zhang Ruochen, her sword would gut them without hesitation.
Zhang Ruochen released a spatial domain. An inch-long spatial crack hovered above his palm.
Across from him, the being on the left was shrouded in white mist. His figure went in and out of sight. “Zhang Ruochen, we are grateful that you helped destroy the Yin and Yang Palace. We obviously won’t steal the treasures and wealth here.
“But some women from all of our worlds were captured by the Evil Way cultivators and imprisoned in the Yin and Yang Palace. We plan on paying saint stones to buy them back.”
The being on the right seemed to be intelligent too. He added, “I hope you can be more reasonable with the price, considering we helped destroy the Yin and Yang Palace.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t lower his guard. After a pause, he said, “Okay, retreat from the Moon Goddess Dojo first and return in three days to pay the ransom. There are too many strong figures here and I feel great pressure. If anything bad happens, it won’t be good for anyone.”
The cultivators present all grew hesitant.
Zhang Ruochen scoffed. “I, Zhang Ruochen, want to continue staying in the Truth Heavenly Domain, so I won’t go back on my word. Don’t you trust me?”
The masked cultivators started communicating with Spiritual Power again.
Half a beat later, the being on the right said gravely, “Lord Ruochen is the priest of the Moon Goddess. Naturally, we trust you. Then, we shall meet again in three days.”
“Wait.” Zhang Ruochen walked to Zhan Yu’s corpse.
After Zhan Yu had died, his corpse turned into a seven-foot-long golden snake on the ground. It shone with golden light as if it was made out of gold.
Zhang Ruochen knocked around 100 dragon scales off of the corpse with the Abyss Ancient Sword. He scattered them into the hands of the cultivators present.
Everyone received a golden scale.
They were confused. Why did Zhang Ruochen do this?
“You all worked hard to destroy the Yin and Yang Palace and take the Moon Goddess Dojo back,” Zhang Ruochen said. “I am very grateful. Three days from now, use this dragon scale to enter the Moon Goddess Dojo and take away the female cultivators of your world. No need to pay me any saint stones.”
The cultivators had been worried that Zhang Ruochen would name an unreasonable price and conditions.
Hearing this, they were ecstatic. They never expected something so great would happen. They clenched the dragon scales tightly and put them away securely.
“Since Lord Ruochen is so kind, then we will leave the Moon Goddess Dojo now.”
“I hope Lord Ruochen will keep your word.”
“Thank you, Lord Ruochen. I hope we can still complete the exchange so happily in three days. Goodbye.”
…
Zhang Ruochen naturally had a reason for doing this.
Right now, Guanghan Field had few allies in the Truth Heavenly Domain and had to face the revenge from Shang Ziyan and the Yin and Yang Palace. He couldn’t keep making enemies. He should make some allies.
Since these cultivators dared to attack the Yin and Yang Palace, it proved two points.
First, it wasn’t highly possible that they were part of the dark force.
Second, they hated the Yin and Yang Palace, or else they wouldn’t have attacked.
Zhang Ruochen could take advantage of this chance to get them on his side, tied completely to his cause. Their worlds may be weaker, but if together, they were a strong force that could destroy the Yin and Yang Palace.
In the future, Zhang Ruochen would have more resources to use against Shang Ziyan.
Of course, allies had to be developed slowly. It wasn’t highly possible to have them fight Shang Ziyan now. But if they had similar enemies and interests, the alliance would become more and more stable.
It didn’t matter if he lost some saint stones. It was much more meaningful to rope in these cultivators.
They were only the top talents of their worlds now, but in the future, they would be the sovereigns.
For those who hadn’t attacked the Yin and Yang Palace, Zhang Ruochen would definitely treat them differently. They’d have to pay saint stones to free their girls.
When all the cultivators retreated from the Moon Goddess Dojo, Zhang Ruochen immediately sent the Eighteen Pole Earth-Burning Formation Flags into 18 different locations.
Next, he set up a spatial maze and time formation to prevent the Yin and Yang Palace cultivators from attacking again.
After setting up these two formations, Zhang Ruochen went to formally meet the Kunlun cultivators.
He knew that the cultivators from Kunlun’s Field definitely wouldn’t help him attack the Yin and Yang Palace for no reason.
For example, it would be weird if the Sky-swallowing Demonic Dragon came to help him. Other than Princess White Li and Luo Xu, the others didn’t seem to have good relationships with him either.