Chapter 543: Jiang Zhuzhe
With the blood bridge successfully formed, Jiang Zhuzhe emerged from the blood demon and appeared in the Land of Buried Gods.
Jiang Tianxing, who had sunken deep within the blood demon, finally sighed in relief the moment his father arrived. He emerged from the blood demon’s head, descending to the ground to stand beside Jiang Zhuzhe.
Since six of the seven spirits that maintained the restrictive barrier that surrounded the Graveyard of Gods had been sealed by the Demon Sealing Tombstone, that barrier had been mercilessly destroyed.
As a result, the restriction on the Graveyard of Gods was no more.
That was the reason why Jiang Tianxing was able to build the blood bridge and help his father to enter the Graveyard of Gods.
Jiang Zhuzhe stood there looking calm and collected. He was a handsome man, and although he appeared middle aged, he still seemed dignified and reserved like a scholar.
Surprisingly enough, even though Jiang Tianxing was significantly younger, he was far inferior to his father. Whether it was a question of presence or poise, it seemed as if he had not inherited any of Jiang Zhuzhe’s genes.
Everyone could see that, based on appearance alone, this junior brother of Xue Li was truly extraordinary.
Xue Li’s demeanor, in comparison, was much poorer. Even his presence seemed a bit worse than Jiang Zhuzhe’s.
In Qin Lie’s opinion, out of all the higher realm martial practitioners he knew of, Li Mu was probably the only person that could compare to Jiang Zhuzhe.
Profound Heaven Alliance’s Song Yu, Xie Yaoyang, and Song Ni, and also Eight Extreme Temple’s Holy Master, weren’t even in the same league as this Jiang Zhuzhe.
“Swoosh!”
The Blood Progenitor’s body flew down from the edge of the frozen lake and shot toward Jiang Tianxing.
The Bloodthirsty Dragon, in its armguard form attached to the Blood Progenitor’s left arm, stared closely at the bloody bone fragment in Jiang Tianxing’s hands.
“The Blood Codex!” Qin Lie and Xue Moyan cried at the same time.
The bloody bone fragment that Jiang Tianxing held literally looked the same as the one that Qin Lie originally possessed.
The Blood Codex was divided into two parts: the first half and the second half. For the longest time, Blood Fiend Sect only possessed the first half of the Blood Codex. This half alone enabled Blood Fiend Sect to prosper and dominate the Land of Chaos for a period of time.
Yet despite Blood Fiend Sect’s ceaseless efforts to search for the other half of the Blood Codex, they never found it.
No one could have imagined that the second half of the Blood Codex was actually in the hands of Jiang Zhuzhe and his son!
The Blood Progenitor had broken free of Qin Lie’s control and charged at Jiang Tianxing because it had obviously detected the second half of the Blood Codex.
The Blood Codex was forged using a fragment of the Blood Progenitor’s bone and refined using his blood. It shared a miraculous connection with the Blood Progenitor and a wondrous resonance with Bloodthirsty Dragon.
“Oh? The body of the Blood Progenitor and the Bloodthirsty Dragon, the ultimate treasure of the sect? How wonderful!”
A look of joy appeared on Jiang Zhuzhe’s face when he saw the Blood Progenitor flying toward him like a ray of bloody light. He raised a hand, turning to grab the Blood Codex from Jiang Tianxing.
The moment the second half of the codex fell into Jiang Zhuzhe’s hands, a sudden surge of seemingly endless blood energy erupted from it.
“Eh!?” Jiang Zhuzhe exclaimed softly, a trace of surprise appearing in his intimidating, demonic eyes. “The first half of the Blood Codex is actually inside of the progenitor’s body!”
Using the second half of the Blood Codex, Jiang Zhuzhe immediately discovered that the other half lay within the Blood Progenitor’s body.
Jiang Zhuzhe had searched for the first half of the Blood Codex for many years after imprisoning Xue Li.
The Blood Progenitor’s remains, the Bloodthirsty Dragon, and the Blood Codex were all treasures of Blood Fiend Sect. They were the ultimate goal that Jiang Zhuzhe had been chasing for his entire life.
Now, in the that moment he entered the Land of Buried Gods, he discovered that all three of these treasures were in one place. How could this not fill him with delight?
“Phew…”
Jiang Zhuzhe suddenly flew into the air and dove into the blood demon.
“Grrrraaaaaaaaaugh!”
The blood demon unleashed a furious roar, unleashing an overflowing, fiendish blood aura. Numerous bloody tentacles reminiscent of an octopus’s limbs sprouted from its body, twisting and slipping into the remains of ancient elites like bloody pythons.
“Glug! Glug! Glug!”
The bloody pythons crazily devoured the blood that remained within those bodies.
—All of which flowed straight to the blood demon.
The fiendish blood aura emanating from the blood demon instantly became several times stronger than before.
“Boom!”
The Blood Progenitor’s body rushed to the blood demon, but the bloody pythons sticking out of the blood demon swatted it far to the side.
“Qin Lie!” Du Xiangyang exclaimed. “It seems like the Blood Progenitor’s body can’t channel the Blood Spirit Art and unleash its power without your control.”
The Demon Sealing Tombstone hovered high above the Land of Buried Gods, intimidating the Voodoo Progenitor, whereas the eight god heads simple rotated rotated where they hovered.
Then, all of a sudden, all eight flew toward icy mountains in the distance.
They seemed to be searching for the ice spirit’s whereabouts.
“Prakprakprak!”
Divine lights burst from the Demon Sealing Tombstone once more, streaking toward the Voodoo Progenitor and the blood demon that Jiang Zhuzhe merged with.
It was at this moment that Xue Moyan charged down the side frozen lake with gritted teeth, her eyes glittering with harsh light.
She leaped through the air, flying straight toward Jiang Tianxing and Jiang Zhuzhe, creating multiple graceful shadows.
Jiang Zhuzhe had hurt her entire family. Her father had been imprisoned for a thousand years, her mother suffered grievous wounds at his hands, and she herself was born with a short lifespan…
These were all consequences of the evils that Jiang Zhuzhe committed.
“You shouldn’t have entered the Graveyard of Gods, Niece Xue.”
Contrary to expectations, Jiang Zhuzhe sighed helplessly from within the blood demon as if he were regretting something.
A gentle bloody light shot from the blood demon’s chest, instantly wrapping around Xue Moyan’s petite body like a soft, bloody ribbon.
Bound in midair by that bloody ribbon of light, Xue Moyan swore and yelled. However, she couldn’t move at all.
“Senior Jiang!” Sen Ye cried out in surprise.
“You came here for the Arrow God’s body and the Sun Killing Bow. Have you obtained them?” Jiang Zhuzhe asked indifferently.
“We have!” Sen Ye exclaimed.
Jiang Zhuzhe laughed softly and said, “That’s good. Since you have achieved your goal, you no longer need to stay in this place. Leave using the directions I provided you as soon as possible.”
“B-but… there are still so many bodies of ancient elites here!” an eastern barbarian cried out greedily.
“You can take what you should take. You cannot touch what you should not take,” Jiang Zhuzhe said in a grave tone. “Leave!”
Sen Ye took a moment to gauge the situation, then he said, “Di Fei is hurt and Jia Yue has been possessed by the ice spirit. We…”
A blood light wrapped around Di Fei and tossed him over to where Sen Ye’s group at one edge of the frozen lake.
“Take him away,” Jiang Zhuzhe said impatiently. “But I am unable to separate the ice spirit from the white barbarian girl Jia Yue. Leave. Now!”
“What should we do, young master?” an eastern barbarian asked in a low voice.
The eyes of the remaining eastern barbarians were sparkling. They clearly still coveted after the remains of the ancient elites in the Land of Buried Gods.
Sen Ye hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and yelling, “Let’s go!”
Just like that, the eastern barbarians turned around and left.
“Jiang Zhuzhe!” Feng Yiyou yelled angrily. “You hid in Celestial Artifact Sect, earned our trust, requested our help to search for the Graveyard of Gods and fish all of the god corpses out of the sea to achieve your own goals, didn’t you?”
“I don’t need to explain anything to you.” Jiang Zhuzhe’s tone was cold and indifferent. “You must have gone through many hardships to survive up to this point. To give your father some face, I will remind you: don’t do something that you’ll regret. Question your father about the Land of Buried Gods once you get return. Don’t come to me for answers…”
Surprise covered Feng Yiyou’s face.
“Everything I’ve done is a part of an agreement between your father and I. He is well aware of my goals,” Jiang Zhuzhe said nonchalantly.
“H-how could he possibly know?” Feng Yiyou asked in confusion.
“Ask him yourself when you return.” Jiang Zhuzhe started growing more and more impatient.
Without warning, his figure emerged from the blood demon’s forehead, and he swept his gaze over the numerous remains strewn across the desolate plain below him. The moment his eyes fell upon Qin Lie, an odd light shone within them.
“Are you the one who obtained the acknowledgment of the Demon Sealing Tombstone, boy?”
Qin Lie frowned and nodded.
“Fluctuations of blood energy are coming from the Blood Progenitor’s body. Is it resonating with you?” Jiang Zhuzhe asked.
Qin Lie nodded again.
“The other half of the Blood Codex inside of the Blood Progenitor’s body… is it yours or Niece Xue’s?”
“It’s mine.”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhuzhe rubbed his chin and thought to himself for a moment, then suddenly said, “My senior brother said that a young man would help Blood Fiend Sect regain its former glory. You’re the young man he was referring to, aren’t you?”
This sudden change in topic startled Qin Lie.
“How is he doing? If I remember correctly, I should’ve only refined half of his soul back then? The other half of his soul should still be around, right?”
Shock filled Qin Lie’s face.
“So you actually knew…”