“What?”
Seeing a pair of arms escaping from a book and catching his Soulcrushing Ruler in the blink of an eye, Ancient Sage Mo Ling felt goosebumps rising all over his body.
He caught a whiff of the scent of danger.
He instinctively realized that the arms in the book were much stronger than him, such that he would not be a match for them even if he utilized his full strength.
Hula!
Without any hesitation, he drew his soul out from his glabella, and a massive body made out of soul energy appeared. A sinister aura swiftly filled the surroundings, leaving one with a chilling sensation that pierced right into one’s soul.
“Let go!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling roared furiously as he charged forward to grab the Soulcrushing Ruler, intending to pull it out of the grasp of the hands.
“Heh!”
However, Vicious had known that he would make such a move right from the start. With a flick of his wrist, the Soulcrushing Ruler ended up smacking heavily upon Ancient Sage Mo Ling instead.
Sila!
Struck on the head, Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s massive soul staggered and fell from the sky. It was only an instant, but he had already sustained severe injuries.
After assimilating his arms, Vicious had already reached Blood Reincarnation realm consummation. If not for the fact that he had not grown his flesh and blood yet, his strength would have been comparable to Sovereign Chen Yong back when the latter was at his peak. There was no doubt that Ancient Sage Mo Ling was powerful, but it was insufficient to deal with Vicious.
Seeing that he had managed to land a blow, Vicious immediately pressed forward, wanting to make use of this opportunity to slay Ancient Sage Mo Ling.
However, Zhang Xuan suddenly raised his arm and halted Vicious. “Wait a moment!”
Of course, it would not be too difficult for him to kill Ancient Sage Mo Ling at that moment, but if it drew the other Ancient Sages over, it could lead to a great deal of trouble.
Vicious did not dare disobey Zhang Xuan’s orders, so he quickly stopped his offense.
Zhang Xuan flicked his finger and swiftly created a dimension rift, intending to escape from the area. However, before he could make his leave, Ancient Sage Mo Ling suddenly stood up once more.
“Subordinate Mo Ling pays respect to the guild leader!”
“Guild leader?”
Taken aback by the remark, Zhang Xuan’s footsteps trailed to a halt. He turned around and looked at Ancient Sage Mo Ling in bewilderment.
“If I’m not mistaken, you aren’t an Otherworldly Demon but Zhang Xuan from the Master Teacher Continent, am I right? That also means that you are the guild leader of our Soul Oracle Guild!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling explained as he bowed deeply as a show of respect.
“You know of me?” Zhang Xuan was startled.
It was true that he had tamed the Seal of Souls of the Soul Oracle Guild, which effectively made him the guild leader.
However, he had already passed the Seal of Souls over to his student, Lu Chong, so it was not in his hand anymore.
“Jiang Fangyou has already informed me that there is a new guild leader for our lineage of soul oracles… A while ago, when Jiang Fangyou told me that you ended your life on the Master Teacher Continent, I thought that you might make your way over to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. From the looks of it, it seems like my guess was spot-on!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling explained respectfully.
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan fell silent. He suddenly recalled the history of the Soul Oracle Guild.
From Jiang Fangyou, he had learned that the past leader of the Soul Oracle Guild had chosen to accept his death so as to convince the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe of his betrayal of mankind, thus successfully infiltrating their ranks.
This was one of the top secrets of the Master Teacher Continent, which perhaps even the current generation in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters was unaware of. However, as one of the Ancient Sages of the Soul Oracle Guild, it went without saying that Mo Ling knew of this secret.
It was probably due to this that Mo Ling had immediately made the connection upon hearing that he had ended his life at the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters.
Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment before he swiftly fortified the isolation barriers in the area with a wave of his hand. Following which, he turned to Ancient Sage Mo Ling and asked, “What are you doing here at Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace?”
“Sovereign Chen Yong is simply too powerful. As long as he remains alive, it’s only a matter of time before mankind succumbs to him. Thus, I pretended to swear fealty to Sovereign Chen Ling and incited him to make a move against Sovereign Chen Yong!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling explained.
“You were the one who came up with the plan?” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in astonishment.
“I knew from the very start that Sovereign Chen Ling is a person of great ambition. All I did was give him a little push on the back by helping him liaise with the Hundred Schools of Philosophers!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling replied.
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in realization.
Previously, he had thought that it was bizarre how the Hundred Schools of Philosophers had paid a visit to the Jiang Clan to liaise with the soul oracles. After all, the soul oracles were serving as the spies of mankind among the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, and it seemed foolish to do anything that could potentially give them away.
However, from the looks of it now, it seemed like the soul oracles had been serving as the intermediary to relay messages between the Hundred Schools of Philosophers and the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. It was probably through this means of communication that they had been able to coordinate together to launch an ambush on Sovereign Chen Yong.
“I see… I understand the rationale behind your actions, but have you thought that if Sovereign Chen Ling hadn’t sustained severe wounds in his fight against Sovereign Chen Yong, you could have very well lost your life by now!” Zhang Xuan said grimly.
He had not really come into contact with Sovereign Chen Ling yet, but based on what he had heard so far, it seemed like Sovereign Chen Ling was an extremist who craved war.
It was true that Sovereign Chen Yong was a fearsome foe to deal with, but he was also the rational mind who had been keeping the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe from launching an attack of mutually assured destruction on mankind. If Sovereign Chen Ling really came to power, the situation would probably devolve into a bitter battle where both races fought down to the very last soldier until one side was utterly eradicated.
More importantly, the very fact that Ancient Sage Mo Ling was able to liaise with the Hundred Schools of Philosophers meant that the soul oracles were spies amid the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!
The reason that Sovereign Chen Ling had not dealt with them yet was probably because he wanted to make use of their strength and connections to bring down Sovereign Chen Yong first. Once Sovereign Chen Yong was down, they would be the next in line to be purged!
“I understand all of that, but I also knew that Sovereign Chen Yong has a trump card that he would eventually use to deal with Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing if he was forced to a corner,” Ancient Sage Mo Ling replied with a deep sigh.
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up in realization.
It was no wonder that the soul oracles were feared even among mankind. They were truly frightening opponents to deal with.
To actually be able to toy with the Three Sovereigns of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe and move them as if they were pieces on a chessboard… this was truly unbelievable.
Tossing aside his astonishment for the time being, Zhang Xuan asked, “How is Sovereign Chen Ling at the moment? Are his injuries severe?”
“Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing have sustained severe injuries, and they haven’t been able to recover from them yet. However, I’m not too sure about the exact circumstances. It seems like he is guarded against me, such that I haven’t even been able to get close to him ever since his return from the Temple of Confucius!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling said.
“I see… What about the appraisers? Why did he suddenly gather so many appraisers at his palace?” Zhang Xuan continued asking.
“I’m not too sure about the details, but if my deduction proves right, he’s probably intending to make an offering to the Spirit God!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling said with a grim look on his face.
“Make an offering to the Spirit God?”
“Indeed. With the severity of his injuries, it will take at least a thousand years for him to make a full recovery, but that’s clearly impractical. As such, his only course of action is to make some offerings to the Spirit God in exchange for power!”
“Isn’t the Spirit God on the same side as Sovereign Chen Yong?” Zhang Xuan asked in bewilderment.
Luo Ruoxin was the Spirit God, and she seemed to have a good relationship with Sovereign Chen Yong. If the other two Sovereigns dared make an offering to her, the chances were that she would kill them on the spot instead of granting them power.
“The Spirit God is an emotionless being. In her eyes, we are no different from insignificant ants. The only way that we can catch her eye is by making an offering to her, and she will bestow her favor upon the one who makes the greatest offering. It’s true that Sovereign Chen Yong had close ties with the Spirit God in the past, but with Sovereign Chen Yong going missing, he has already become completely useless to the Spirit God. As such, why should the Spirit God continue looking after him?” Ancient Sage Mo Ling coldly remarked.
The gods were emotionless beings. If they truly had feelings, how could they sit and watch countless injustices unfolding in the mortal world?
“Besides, Sovereign Chen Ling has already begun preparing the offerings and valuing them. He must be confident in its success before going ahead with it. He has never been a person to waste his time on meaningless pursuits!”
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan tightly clenched his fists.
He could not bring himself to believe that Luo Ruoxin was such a person, but with so much evidence to the contrary before him, he found his faith in her wavering a little.
No matter what, he had to find Luo Ruoxin once more and ask her in person!
“There are certain requisites that need to be met for the tributes offered to the Spirit God, so there’s a need to value them in advance so as to avoid incurring the Spirit God’s wrath. So, we still have some time on our hands… Speaking of which, guild leader, may I know why you were wandering around Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace earlier?” Ancient Sage Mo Ling asked with a frown.
“I’m looking for dragon blood, and I heard that there is some of that in Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace. Do you know where it is?” Zhang Xuan asked.
He had tried searching earlier but to no avail. However, if he could engage Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s help, this matter could very well come to be.
“You are looking for dragon blood?” Ancient Sage Mo Ling fell into a short moment of silent contemplation before he continued. “I have heard some rumors about it. I don’t know exactly where it is, but I have been to most parts of Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace and haven’t seen any signs of it thus far. If the rumors are true, it should probably be in Sovereign Chen Ling’s sleeping chamber!”
“Sovereign Chen Ling’s sleeping chamber…” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.
That was what he had previously deduced. It seemed like there was no mistake about it.
