Chapter 423: Cave of the Saint Ruler
After hearing Qian Yun’s warning, the other elder nodded his head and formed a meter long machete. With a wave of his hand, the blade came swinging down toward Jian Chen.
At the same time, Qian Yun had taken out his sword to attack him as well.
Jian Chen waved his own sword, causing the Origin energy to come flying out from the blade like a wave toward the two men. Brandishing his right hand, the Origin energy traveled toward the two elders with an azure and violet trail.
Heeding Qian Yun’s advice, the other Heaven Saint Master made sure he didn’t touch the azure and violet Origin energy coming at him. Retrieving his weapon, the elder leaped back for a moment before charging at Jian Chen with his machete flying at him in quick succession.
Jian Chen’s Origin energy completely smashed through the projectile Sword Qi sent by the elder and washed over the area with the remaining energy, ravaging the place with dust. Smoke filled the air and things in the palace were sent flying about due to the energy.
“All Devouring Sword Qi!” Qian Yun bellowed as his sword began to flash bright with power. In the next moment, a meter long piece of Sword Qi came stabbing through the sky before speeding toward Jian Chen.
An oppressing amount of pressure could be felt as the Sword Qi came out, locking Jian Chen into place. This one move from Qian Yun was evidently an Earth Tier Battle Skill.
Moving his body to dodge, Jian Chen saw that the All Devouring sword Qi had locked onto him. He couldn’t shake off the skill, meaning that Jian Chen could only try to destroy it.
Jian Chen’s eyes flashed once as he began to bend the fire element in the world to his control. Three swords materialized from the fire and began to bring the temperature of the area to a boiling point.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three blades zoomed through the air toward the All Devouring Sword Qi battle skill from Qian Yun.
“Bang!”
The two sides met with a loud explosion and blasted the entire area with the impact. Flames burst out everywhere in a spectacular sight, destroying parts of the palace and killing several nearby soldiers who were too close too the blast.
In the chaos of the palace, even the elite trained soldiers could easily lose their lives here. Diving for shelter to hide behind, the soldiers tried their best to survive.
Wrapping himself with the wind element, Jian Chen began to charge at Qian Yun with his Origin energy sword at the ready.
Qian Yun looked at Jian Chen for a moment before turning to look at the extremely damaged palace. Without hesitation, he flew away from the palace to lead Jian Chen away.
Jian Chen’s eyes flashed with the azure and violet glow once more with each color appearing in both eyes, giving him a bone chilling glare to whoever could see it.
Suddenly, the pieces of stone began to fly up into the air and shoot straight at Qian Yun with frightening speed.
Qian Yun had seen Jian Chen’s strength for himself when he was at the Pingyang Kingdom’s stronghold, so he didn’t dare belittle Jian Chen. Saint Force began to rush out of his body to serve as a protective shield to protect himself against the stones.
The azure and violet stones chased after Qian Yun with a terrifying amount of power. As they impacted against his Saint Force, the shield shook once before repelling the stones in succession.
Jian Chen’s Origin energy transformed into an azure light that began to surround all of the stones he had shot before. In a flash, they flew back toward Qian Yun and stabbed in between his eyes with the Origin energy aiding them.
Now that he was surrounded by the stones, Qian Yun had no other choice but to use his Saint Weapon to try and block Jian Chen’s strike.
“Ding!”
With a clear crack, Qian Yun’s Saint Weapon received two new jagged holes, causing Qian Yun to spit out a mouthful of blood.
As soon as his first strike landed, Jian Chen chased after him with a second strike, his Origin energy transforming into a stunning ray of light that was aimed between Qian Yun’s eyes with deadly precision.
Qian Yun’s face fell as he realized that he would have to use his Saint Weapon to defend himself once more to cover his retreat.
When the Origin energy slammed into Qian Yun’s Saint Weapon, another crack became visible. Following another mouthful of blood, Qian Yun’s protective barrier could no longer be sustained and disappeared instantly. As soon as it dropped, the floating stones nearby perforated into his body and stained his body with blood.
Qian Yun could only let out a howl of pain before dropping down from the skies.
“Qian Yun!” The other elder cried out in shock before chasing after Qian Yun’s body.
Jian Chen sneered as his killing intent spiked once more. Pointing his finger, all of the floating stones turned around and flew at the remaining elder.
Shouting out loud, the elder burst with Saint Force and used it to repel all of the incoming stones coming at him.
Jian Chen’s left hand unclenched, materializing a sword made from fire. With a flick of his hand, the intensely hot sword shot toward the elder’s barrier in an attempt to destroy it.
“Bang!”
After the smoke cleared away, the elder could be seen with blood dripping down from his pale face before falling down to the ground along with Qian Yun.
Jian Chen’s body flew down after the two with his Origin energy sword shooting for the two. His eyes were icily cold with killing intent apparent in them. It was clear to see that Jian Chen did not plan on letting the two go.
Seeing Jian Chen pursue them, the elder with Qian Yun had a desperate look on his face. After this exchange, he finally understood how strong Jian Chen was and how futile it was for him to try to defend himself against him.
“This is the consequence of your Qiangan Kingdom meddling in this war. Today your imperial palace will perish and your Qiangan Kingdom will fall.” Jian Chen spoke.
“Halt!” A panicked voice called out as a large group of people came rushing toward them. Judging from their clothes, they were all high ranking men, and the middle-aged man leading the charge was wearing an eye-catching dragon robe of purple and gold.
When the group saw the two heavily injured men, they all turned extremely grave in the face. The man with the dragon robe knelt in front of Qian Yun and asked, “Royal ancestor, are you alright?”
Qian Yun lay on the ground powerless with a vacant look toward the sky. “This is all my fault. If I had not coveted Chang Wuji’s Heaven Tier Battle Skill so much, then today’s events never would have happened.”
“Royal ancestor, don’t say such words. This is the fault of our Qiangan Kingdom being weaker than before.” The man wearing the dragon robe grew sad before turning to meet Jian Chen, “Senior, I know you came here in regards with the Gesun Kingdom. I, the King, will proclaim that our Qiangan Kingdom will no longer meddle with the Gesun Kingdom. So please forgive my ancestor for this slight.”
There was a cold smirk on Jian Chen’s face as he spoke, “Your words are of no use. Today I shall flatten your imperial palace and destroy what the Qiangan Kingdom stands for.”
Jian Chen’s words caused everyone to grow serious. By now, no one doubted that Jian Chen’s words were serious. After defeating two Heaven Saint Masters, an individual like this would be able to do as he said. There was no one left in this group that could go against an entity that could bend the world’s energy to his will like a Heaven saint Master.
Every person gathered here belonged to the higher echelons of the Qiangan Kingdom and supported the kingdom with their skills. If they were to all die, then the Qiangan Kingdom would truly be killed off in name.
Growing troubled, the king of the Qiangan Kingdom tried thinking of a solution. With a bright gleam of his eyes, he spoke, “Senior, if you spare my Qiangan Kingdom, then I will tell you a secret.”
At this, Qian Yun instantly knew what the king was speaking about. Panicking, he spoke, “No! You mustn’t tell him that!”
“Royal ancestor, if our Qiangan Kingdom were to disappear, then what is the point of us safeguarding this secret?” Even the king’s face had a helpless look to it, evidently he too did not wish to tell anyone this secret.
Jian Chen’s eyes flashed curiously, “What secret is that?”
“We know of the location of the cave of a Saint Ruler. Senior, if you promise to spare our Qiangan Kingdom and promise to not make any excuse to attack our kingdom again, then I will tell you of its location.” The king spoke with an anxious look.
Upon hearing of the fact that there was a cave of a Saint Ruler, Jian Chen’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. The killing intent began to recede from his body as he began to calm down.
With some hesitation, Jian Chen’s spoke, “If the location of this Saint Ruler’s cave is of some ravaged area, would I not be falling for a trick of yours?”
“Absolutely not!” The king had a serious look on his face. “The owner of this cave belonged to an Imperial Protector of our Qiangan Kingdom a thousand years ago. At the end of his lifespan, he died while meditating in the cave. But before he died, he had laid down an array to protect the cave’s entrance, meaning that no one has ever been able to enter the cave for a thousand years.”