For figures like Zhu Lingshan and Lord Ku Yan, refusing to deny something was tantamount to a tacit admission. So in the Shattered Sky, leveraging Lord Ku Yan's fearsome reputation, Zhu Lingshan was an enormously influential figure even without being an Eighth-Order cultivator.
"Zong Zheng!" Zhu Lingshan suddenly snorted coldly.
Granny Jiu and the Purple Night Boy both paused slightly.
"I heard that Zong Zheng once obtained a treasure with the ability to substitute for death. Now it seems that rumor may well be true."
Only a handful of people knew about the Heaven and Earth Spring. Xia Linlang and that Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator would never be foolish enough to volunteer such a monumental secret. The three of them hadn't leaked it either. That left only one possibility — Zong Zheng wasn't dead, and he was the one stirring up this maelstrom across the entire Shattered Sky.
Even if he had possessed that life-substitution treasure and survived the Purple Night Boy's sneak attack, he must have been severely injured. He no longer had the strength to compete for the Heaven and Earth Spring. In that case, he might as well spread the news far and wide — if he couldn't obtain it, he certainly wasn't going to let the Purple Night Boy and the others benefit either.
The Purple Night Boy's expression grew subtly complicated, while Granny Jiu watched him with undisguised schadenfreude.
Offending a peer of the same rank was no laughing matter — especially when it involved a life-or-death grudge. If Zong Zheng really was still alive, the Purple Night Boy would need to watch his back from now on. Who knew when Zong Zheng might come seeking vengeance?
Granny Jiu truly had no one left in the world. Leaking such a secret would bring her no benefit whatsoever. And as for Zhu Lingshan — she had intimate ties to Lord Ku Yan. If she had wanted to leak the information, all she needed to do was find an opportunity to tell Lord Ku Yan directly. Why would she let the entire Shattered Sky find out?
So the situation now was almost certainly exactly as Zhu Lingshan had described: Zong Zheng was not dead, and he had been the one to leak the news about the Heaven and Earth Spring.
The Purple Night Boy, who looked like a child, felt a phantom toothache. Back then, he had been entirely focused on pursuing Xia Linlang and that Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator and hadn't had time to inspect the Blessed Land Zong Zheng left behind after his apparent death. If he had checked back then, he could have confirmed whether Zong Zheng was truly alive or dead.
It was pointless to regret it now. The damage was done. He couldn't very well apologize to Zong Zheng the next time they met. In any case, they were both Seventh-Order cultivators — the Purple Night Boy wasn't afraid of Zong Zheng. If it came to it, they would simply settle things with their fists.
During their rapid flight, Zhu Lingshan suddenly halted.
Granny Jiu and the Purple Night Boy both turned to look at her.
Zhu Lingshan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and spoke. "The news of the Heaven and Earth Spring has already leaked, and the entire Shattered Sky has been drawn in. There's no longer any point in the three of us working together. We'd be better off acting alone — perhaps we can still pluck the prize from the flames. I'll take my leave now!"
With that, Zhu Lingshan changed direction and sped off toward a different course.
Granny Jiu and the Purple Night Boy watched her retreating figure in silence, making no move to stop her.
After a long moment, the Purple Night Boy let out a derisive laugh. "That woman is probably going to find her paramour."
Granny Jiu said lightly, "Understandable. She originally wanted to find a way to monopolize the Heaven and Earth Spring, which is why she kept it hidden from Lord Ku Yan. But now that the news has spread, Lord Ku Yan will certainly have learned of it. She knows that even if she manages to obtain the Heaven and Earth Spring, it will ultimately end up in Lord Ku Yan's hands. So naturally, she's choosing this course of action."
"What about you, Granny?" the Purple Night Boy asked, turning to look at her.
Granny Jiu smiled. "I'm well along in years. I've enjoyed all the blessings this life has to offer and have no regrets. A treasure like the Heaven and Earth Spring is certainly worth fighting for. If I can get my hands on it, I won't be able to break through to the Eighth Order, but living a few more years and enjoying the sights of this Shattered Sky would be just fine."
The Purple Night Boy nodded and replied with a smile, "Granny has the right mindset. In that case, I'll accompany you. With the two of us working together, if we do manage to obtain the Heaven and Earth Spring, we can divide it between us afterward!"
"Good!"
With a few brief words exchanged, the two continued their pursuit without delay.
Deep within the Shattered Sky, a fierce battle raged on. Blinding radiance burst forth from one divine ability and secret technique after another. Under the sweeping force of cosmic power, the Pear Blossom Palace was hard-pressed, its light flickering wildly.
During this flight, Yang Kai and Xia Linlang had encountered no small number of powerful enemies. But relying on the Pear Blossom Palace, they had been able to repel even Upper-Rank Open Heaven cultivators in their path and continue their escape.
This time, however, their luck had run out. Three Upper-Rank cultivators happened to be searching for their traces nearby. Once one of them managed to pin them down, the other two converged almost immediately.
A great battle erupted.
Countless restrictions and formations within the Pear Blossom Palace were shattered. Its defensive capability plummeted. By the time they finally managed to break through the encirclement, the Pear Blossom Palace had been battered into a ruinous state, on the verge of collapse.
Xia Linlang's face had gone pale — partly from heartache over her beloved palace, and partly from the immense toll the fighting had taken.
Qin Fen and the others wore expressions of sheer terror. They had spent most of their lives cultivating within the Pear Blossom Grotto-Heaven, seldom venturing out. When had they ever faced such a perilous situation? They had never imagined that one day they would find themselves hunted by the most powerful cultivators of the entire Shattered Sky.
"The Pear Blossom Palace can't hold up anymore!" Yang Kai's expression, on the other hand, remained fairly composed. After all, this wasn't his first time going through something like this. In the course of his cultivation, he had been through countless battles large and small and had found himself in desperate situations more times than he could count. Never mind the distant past — even recently, when pursued by Xia Linlang and her group, he had been trapped with no path to heaven and no passage to earth. When it came to experience handling this kind of situation, Yang Kai was more seasoned than anyone.
"If we go through another round like this, the Pear Blossom Palace will definitely be destroyed. It is a traveling Artifact, after all — and the legacy of Lord Pear Blossom. We should put it away for now," Yang Kai advised.
Xia Linlang sat cross-legged on the ground and devoted all her effort to recovering her strength. At his words, she gave a nod.
The reason she had been desperately channeling the Pear Blossom Palace to flee was primarily because of Qin Fen and the others. With the palace's protection, there was at least a defensive barrier. But without it, Qin Fen and the rest would have no way whatsoever to withstand an attack from those powerful enemies.