chsdbacks Chapter 178: One can seek refuge in the Phoenix Demon Kingdom.
Chapter 178: One can seek refuge in the Phoenix Demon Kingdom.
Zhang Ping looked somewhat astonished, repeatedly confirming the woman's appearance before him.
Gradually, the image of the little beggar in my mind began to overlap with my own.
Even though it was confirmed to be the same person, Zhang Ping still found it hard to believe.
Amidst the overgrown ruins, a young girl stood gracefully.
Her features were exquisitely beautiful, and her large, bright eyes were fixed on him.
Her slender, white hands twirled in front of her, seemingly reflecting the turmoil in her heart.
Under the sunlight, the girl's shadow vaguely resembled a soaring phoenix, as if about to spread its wings.
Zhang Ping didn't notice the surprise behind the girl, his gaze casually sweeping over her chest.
Hmm, this confirms it again, it's that little beggar, what was his name again?
Ruan Qiuhe finally stopped stirring her hands, and her white cloud boots lightly touched the ruins before flying into the sky.
"My benefactor!"
Approaching Zhang Ping, her beautiful eyes filled with excitement, she bowed deeply in respect.
"It's been several years. Thank you so much for your kindness in Lingchuan County back then."
"You are...that little beggar? Ruan Qiuhe?" Zhang Ping remembered her name.
His expression showed some surprise, and he said, "There's no need to bring up the past; it was a trivial matter. Besides, you've already helped me with some things."
"I didn't expect to meet you in a place like this, and what about your cultivation level?"
Actually, meeting Ruan Qiuhe wasn't anything special for Zhang Ping; at most, he would just say it was a coincidence, a matter of fate.
What caught his attention most was the other party's current cultivation level, which even he couldn't see through.
The blood and qi flowing through his body were contained within, and could only be judged from a trace of aura that was inadvertently revealed. The strength of his blood and qi unexpectedly surpassed the level of the Marrow Entering Realm!
There was also an unprecedented force mixed in with it.
What a stroke of good fortune!
Zhang Ping was deeply troubled.
Ruan Qiuhe smiled somewhat shyly, with a hint of naivety.
Her body has now fully developed, and she has grown into a graceful young woman. But she is actually only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Although he had gained a lot of experience with his master in recent years, he found that some of the things he had learned were not applicable when he reunited with Zhang Ping.
She said, "Without your help, Qiuhe wouldn't be where she is today."
Seeing this, Zhang Ping waved his hand.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Did you wait for me here today specifically?"
Zhang Ping looked at Ruan Qiuhe with a puzzled expression.
He came out of the Western Poison Forest, and the other party happened to be here, seemingly expecting his arrival.
This made him somewhat suspicious.
Ruan Qiuhe nodded, her small face becoming serious, and said earnestly, "I know that my benefactor is going south to fight the Demon Lord, so I came here specifically to give him something."
"Oh?" Zhang Ping was slightly taken aback, then saw the girl reach her hand towards her lower back.
Almost instantly, a strange fluctuation of power appeared behind the girl. Zhang Ping saw that the front half of her hand disappeared into space.
When he reappeared, he had a scroll of animal hide in his hand.
space?!
Zhang Ping's pupils involuntarily contracted.
Ruan Qiuhe actually has a personal space?
"My benefactor, this is it!" Ruan Qiuhe handed over the animal skin scroll from a distance.
He showed no reaction whatsoever to Zhang Ping discovering his secret.
Zhang Ping quickly came to his senses, gave the girl a deep look, and then grabbed the animal skin scroll in front of him and opened it.
It was made from the hide of some strange beast, I don't know, but it felt incredibly smooth to the touch. Even though the surface was severely worn and had weathered the passage of time, one could still sense a lingering power emanating from it.
Ignoring the extraordinary nature of the animal hide scroll, Zhang Ping began to examine it carefully.
The above are not written records, but several pictures.
Or rather, it's a piece of history. It was recorded on it with drawings.
The content is very simple.
The gist is that a country was invaded by giants.
The first picture depicts a giant who is extremely ferocious, with a body larger than mountains and rivers, and whose stride can cover tens of miles!
The second picture shows a giant wielding an axe falling into a human city, killing everyone. The earth cracks open, and magma erupts from beneath.
The following scene is somewhat incomplete and blurry. It is vaguely visible that a group of small people surround the giant, defeat it with some kind of object, cut off its head, and seal it on a mountain.
Zhang Ping's gaze lingered on the picture for a moment, then moved on until only the last picture remained.
This picture doesn't record anything, but instead depicts a very peculiar mountain range with crisscrossing peaks and five prominent peaks in the middle.
Its overall shape looks like a giant hand standing upright.
"Demon Lord, only the sacred artifact can kill you."
Suddenly, Ruan Qiuhe spoke. But the voice she spoke was completely different from her previous shy and weak voice.
It was a dignified, mature woman's voice.
Zhang Ping suddenly looked up and realized that Ruan Qiuhe was standing less than two meters in front of him!
Upon realizing this, Zhang Ping vanished instantly, reappearing a kilometer away.
Standing on the boulder, Zhang Ping looked solemnly at the figure floating in the air.
The surrounding weeds swayed, and a long sword slowly materialized in her right palm. Ruan Qiuhe, her gaze and demeanor drastically changed, met his eyes.
"Who are you?"
"Do not be afraid of me." A phoenix phantom appeared behind Ruan Qiuhe, her eyes looking up like a deity, her hands clasped beneath the massive object in front of her chest.
Zhang Ping remained unmoved, but kept turning his head to scan his surroundings, golden light flickering in his eyes, and he thought to himself:
"Has a strange power appeared in the surrounding space again?"
In addition to the blood and qi energy emanating from Ruan Qiuhe, a strange power also appeared around her as she underwent changes.
At the same time, Zhang Ping looked at the phoenix phantom behind the other party. Thoughts raced through his mind.
"My disciple may not be able to explain it to you, so I will explain it to you," 'Ruan Qiuhe' spoke again.
"Do not fear my power; it is the power of divine sense. You will naturally understand it once you break through to the Divine Power Realm."
Finding that the other party seemed to have no hostility and claimed to be Ruan Qiuhe's master, Zhang Ping relaxed his vigilance slightly.
Another old monster!
But then he asked, puzzled, "Isn't the power of the Divine Realm forbidden under the seal of Heaven and Earth?"
The key to breaking through to the Divine Power Realm lies in the divine sense penetrating the blood and qi, but achieving this is no easy feat. Under the seal of heaven and earth, even the Demon Lord was suppressed at the critical level between the Body Refinement Realm and the Divine Power Realm.
Who exactly is this person, that they can use divine sense power?
Ruan Qiuhe shook her head, not wanting to explain further: "I am special, and I am incomplete."
"In the present-day Wei and Zhao territory, only you are capable of slaying the Demon Lord. Take the inscription on the animal skin and head south of the Southern Frontier to find the mountain—the Execution Platform. The sacred artifact seals the head of the ancient demon."
"Why aren't you making a move?" Zhang Ping frowned and asked immediately.
"I cannot access the sacred object," Ruan Qiuhe explained.
"The ancient demon's head has been sealed for millions of years, and its demonic nature has been completely eradicated. You may take the sacred relic and leave in March."
"The Demon Lord must be slain by March!"
Zhang Ping didn't speak, but frowned slightly, mentally organizing the information he had gathered.
Unexpectedly, this trip back to seek an opportunity to hunt down the Demon Lord led to another encounter with Li Fan and Ruan Qiuhe.
Furthermore, strange things began to happen to both of them.
Li Fan was possessed by the Wuxiang Soul, and the being inside Ruan Qiuhe also seemed to be not human.
The key point is that both of them want him to kill the Demon Lord. Li Fan still has something to ask for, while Ruan Qiuhe's existence seems to be simply to provide him with help.
Such a great favor was something Zhang Ping dared not accept.
Zhang Ping said, "The Demon Lord's true form is inside the ancient demon's corpse. I only need to go to the sealed space to kill it. Why do I need to break the seal on its head?"
Ruan Qiuhe shook her head: "Although I don't know where you learned this from, it is true. But killing the Demon Lord's true form in the sealed space is not something you can do now. Only by wielding a sacred artifact can you suppress the rules of the sealed space."
"If you can accomplish this, then go to the Thousand Phoenix Demon Kingdom to find me. At that time, I will reward you."
......