Chapter 1844: The Tower of Flames Is Lighting Up
The patio was at the center of the Tower of Flames, built of unknown materials. It was jade green, covered with ancient patterns of exotic beasts, weapons, herbs, and whatnot.
A divine pearl sealed the patio at the 333rd level of the Tower of Flames.
It was irregular in shape as if a ten-foot monolith. It had golden-colored metals inlay that formed the wriggling patterns, giving a mysterious feel to it.
Coming below the divine pearl, the dimension was congealed. Movement was difficult.
King Daxi stood behind Zhang Ruochen and looked in surprise. “It’s a Divine Core Peal! What a surprise to find such a treasure here!”
Chen Liuli stood at one side. “What is Divine-Core Pearl?”
King Daxi just kept mum.
She was Fairy Shadowless, most famous throughout the Celestial Court. So even though she was now a captive, she still had her pride. Why would she want to answer a question from a mere Saint?
She submitted to Zhang Ruochen because he had defeated her with his capability.
“The Divine-Core Pearl is mined from underground. It is rich with divine power and born with a large number of mysterious precepts. It is a precious treasure,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“Some scholars speculate that Divine-Core Pearl is a gemstone formed by the body of an ancient god. After the body was buried, compressed by the earth, forged by the heat in the earth and nourished by the divine energy of heaven and earth and light from the sun, moon, and stars, it became a treasured stone, the hardness of which is comparable to a supreme artifact.”
“Of course, another theory suggests that Divine-Core Pearl is life nurtured by the earth. Someday, an inborn divinity will burst out of the peal and rule over the earth.”
“This Divine Core Peal must be the inscription center of the Tower of Flames or the entire Eastern Region Sacred City.”
Zhang Ruochen found on the Divine-Core Pearl a recess that shaped exactly like the Seal of Flames. He took out the Seal of Flames and put it into the recess.
The seal matched the recess perfectly.
The flames were starting to become active on the patio.
Zhang Ruochen took three steps back and looked at King Daxi beside him. “Next, do what I say. Don’t do anything stupid. Otherwise, you are going to regret it.”
King Daxi was smart enough to know what he wanted her to do.
She had to obey because the consequence was not something she could afford.
She could only roll with the punches while thinking of a strategy to turn the tables and escape. She did not think that Zhang Ruochen would let her go after she helped him activate the Tower of Flames.
However, Zhang Ruochen had instructed Chen Liuli to take away all her gadgets and sealed her Saint Veins and Meridians with an occult technique.
It was impossible for King Daxi to rely on her spiritual power to get away.
Zhang Ruochen removed the seal to King Daxi’s spiritual power. “Infuse your spiritual power into the Divine-Core Pearl, activate the Tower of Flames, and control the ancient inscription.”
King Daxi’s perception instantly became clear; she could sense the physical structure and the precepts of heaven and earth in the surroundings.
She moved her slender fingers. “You are overconfident, don’t you think so, Zhang Ruochen? Do you really think I couldn’t fight back with only my spiritual power?”
“Well, you can try,” said Zhang Ruochen.
It was not his first time meeting King Daxi. He knew her ability very well.
The only thing that surprised Zhang Ruochen was her cultivation base in the Nine-Step Saint Kinghood.
King Daxing could probably challenge a Nine-Step Saint King of the Precepts of Heaven and Earth with her martial arts alone. If not for Zhang Ruochen’s breakthrough in Path of Dimension and usage of a Dimensional Grappling, he might not be able to apprehend her.
King Daxi’s spiritual power was potent, but she depended heavily on attacking the Saint Souls and controlling the ghosts. As long as Zhang Ruochen killed all the ghosts around her, and coupled with his powerful Saint Soul, she would not pose a threat.
Just like Gu Songzi, who had high spiritual power and expert in alchemy, was helpless in front of a One-Step Saint King.
If not for King Daxi encountering Zhang Ruochen, she could have defeated any fighters of the Precept Domain.
Spiritual power had some inevitable weaknesses.
This was the reason when Zhang Ruochen practiced martial arts, he did not choose to specialize in spiritual power.
King Daxi hesitated for a long while and gave up at last. Following Zhang Ruochen’s instruction, she struck out her right-hand fingers, and a mighty spiritual power rushed out at the Divine-Core Pearl.
A golden glow emanated from the golden metal inside the Divine-Core Pearl.
Following immediately, a large number of mysterious patterns that looked like tadpole text appeared and moved on the Divine-Core Pearl’s surface.
The flames in the patio became larger and rose higher.
The flames lit up the first level of Tower of Flames.
Following immediately, the second level lit up.
Then, the third level was also illuminated. At this time, a large number of ancient inscriptions appeared on the wall in the patio.
The ancient inscriptions started to spread in all directions from the Tower of Flames, and before long, it engulfed the entire Eastern Sacred City.
The cultivators in the city looked up and saw a light shield above the clouds.
Shadows of divine beasts were forming in the clouds and emanating powerful energy. They were winged dragons, gray wolves, golden pythons, and many others. The entire Eastern Region Holy City seemed to have traveled back to ancient times.
It did not take long before the fourth, fifth, and sixth level of the Tower of Flames lit up too.
There were more ancient inscriptions activated, and the air exuded by those shadows of the divine beasts became even more terrifying.
Meanwhile, at the sea, Mr. Shenya, Murong Yefeng, and Jiang Yunchong had stopped fighting and retreated to three different directions.
The array master was so powerful that even Murong Yefeng had to join hands with Jiang Yunchong and use the Cauldron of the Nine Phoenixes to rival him.
“This is great! It seems that King Daxi has made it; she has activated the ancient inscriptions. Eastern Region Holy City is under our control now. You two had better run!” Mr. Shenya stroke his long beard, his moodiness disappeared instantly.
Facing the frenzied attack of Murong Yefeng and Jiang Yunchong, Mr. Shenya had performed all his skills and barely stopped their advances.
If the battle continued, there was no telling what would happen.
But now, the die was cast.
Mr. Shenya began to think about how he was going to get rid of Murong Yefeng and Jiang Yunchong and send the Kunlun Realm into eternal doom.
“Are you sure it is your people that control the ancient inscriptions?” asked Murong Yefeng.
A triumphant smile spread across Mr. Shenya’s face. “You need at least 59-order spiritual power to drive the ancient inscription of Eastern Region Holy City.”
“Except for me and King Daxi, where do you find any other 59-order spiritual-power cultivators in Eastern Region Holy City? Even if you can find one, you don’t know where to find the ancient inscriptions.”
“Not good!” Murong Yefeng and Jiang Yunchong’s hearts skipped a beat.
…
There were 200,000 elite soldiers stationed in the principal city of Eastern Region Holy City, and the protection of the Nine Stratum Array left behind by the Chen ancestors. It was impregnable and one of the most secure areas of Eastern Region Holy City.
A city that even the Supreme Saints found it hard to take down was now reduced to a ruin. Thousands died and blood was dyeing the earth red.
Beautiful palaces went up in flames, engulfed in fire and black smoke.
Some Chen disciples were immobilized and kneeling on the ground. Some were stabbed to death and nailed on the walls with blood splattering all over the place. Some had formed a Joint-Attack Array and were struggling to resist the Saint-level fighters.
Mr. Shenya and others had been planning for this for a long time. Before the Chen Clan knew it, he had sent fighters infiltrating the royal court of the Eastern Region. With the collusion of the insiders, he successfully breached the Nine Stratum Array protecting the city.
Battle cries, screams of agony, voices of pleading combined to form a mournful song. There were three Precept-Domain fighters attacking the East Region Sacred City; each of them was akin to a demon. They hid in the dark and never revealed their true identities.
Apparently, they were not ordinary beings. They did not want to be identified.
Yet, when they struck, the gigantic palm could kill an army of cultivators at once.
Many forces in the Eastern Region Sacred City were coming to help, but the Precept-Domain fighter hiding in the dark ambushed them, killing nearly all of them with bodies piled up like mountains.
Other than the three Precept-Domain fighters, there were the Goers, Comers, and many more Nine-Step Saint Kings.
Without the protection of the Cosmic-orbit and the Nine Stratum Arrays, any Nine-Step Saint King could easily defeat the Chen Clan.
Nevertheless, Mr. Shenya had been taking serious precaution by sending a dozen Nine-Step Saint Kings, who were escorted by three mysterious Precept-Domain fighters. He was determined to wipe out the royal court of the Eastern Region.
There was a mountain about 100 miles from the principal city of Eastern-Region Sacred City.
Right now, the Fairy of Chutian, Butcher, and Fool[1] were standing at the top of the mountain, overlooking the battlefield in the distance.
Fool shook his head and sighed. “Why is there no one mediating? Where are the Emissaries Vigilant?”
The Fairy of Chutian seemed nonchalant. “Mr. Shenya has a solid backing of the Celestial Palace. Since he is determined to conquer Eastern Region Sacred City, he must have paid off the Emissaries Vigilant.”
“Justice for the weak is just an illusion. Only power can secure justice. It all boils down to the lack of powerful figures in the Kunlun Realm,” said Butcher.
“Imagine if Yan Wushen were a Kunlun cultivator; those buggers would not have dared to come to the Kunlun Realm with unbridled brutality.”
Fool quickly pressed his hand on his chest. “Stop mentioning Yan Wushen. My heart can’t take it! If not for the four heavenly kings of the Celestial Palace, I would not have dared to come to the Kunlun Realm.”
“Unfortunately, the War of Merits in the Kunlun Realm has come a little too early. If it were to happen a few years later, maybe they could—”
Before she could finish her sentence, she felt the Saint Qi of Heaven and Earth shake and quickly looked up at the sky.
[1] Formerly translated as Dumbo