# Chapter 1000: Thirty-Six Times Power
The white-haired old woman knew that Zhang Ruochen's combat strength was formidable, and she also knew that several old demonic cultivators were lurking nearby with covetous eyes. To avoid complications, she had to end the battle quickly.
Therefore, she mobilized all her sacred qi and executed a sacred art from the Moon Worship Demon Sect.
"Thunder God Calamity!"
Within the surging demonic clouds, the white-haired old woman's withered sacred body was completely covered by purple lightning. Even every strand of her hair had electric light flowing through it.
Her wrinkled palms pressed forward.
Within a radius of several hundred li, densely packed lightning shuttles emitted a rumbling sound as they struck toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew how terrifying sacred arts could be. Therefore, instead of fighting the white-haired old woman head-on, he executed Space Displacement, leaping through the gaps between the lightning bolts while dodging.
The destructive power of Thunder God Calamity was astonishing. Even a single strand of it could melt gold and turn stone to vapor in an instant.
"Zhang Ruochen, do you think you can avoid Thunder God Calamity just by dodging?"
The white-haired old woman's hair stood on end, burning like a flame.
"The power of a sacred art is indeed formidable, but it also consumes a great deal of sacred qi. Even though you have stepped into the Saint Realm, how long can you sustain it?"
Zhang Ruochen said as he dodged.
A mocking expression appeared on the white-haired old woman's face. "Trying to exhaust a Saint to death? What a foolish little brat."
"It is true that executing a sacred art with Half-Saint cultivation consumes a large amount of sacred qi. But a Saint has condensed a Sacred Source and can absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, continuously converting it into sacred qi."
"Moreover, the speed at which a Sacred Source converts spiritual energy is dozens of times faster than a Half-Saint's Sacred Soul. Even if I unleash dozens of sacred arts in succession, I will not run out of sacred qi."
Although Zhang Ruochen had not stepped into the Saint Realm, he was very clear about the power of Saints. The reason he had said what he did was entirely to lull the white-haired old woman into a false sense of security.
The white-haired old woman still regarded Zhang Ruochen as a mere Half-Saint and did not take her opponent seriously.
The more this was the case, the more opportunity Zhang Ruochen had to catch her off guard and achieve a one-hit kill.
"Crackle."
The lightning attacks grew denser and denser. Zhang Ruochen showed an expression of exhaustion, unable to hold on, and executed Space Displacement to retreat backward.
Each time his body shifted, he could cross a distance of ten zhang.
"Trying to escape? I'm afraid it's too late."
The white-haired old woman let out a hoarse laugh, charged forward, and raised her right hand.
Under the guidance of sacred qi, a second mass of demonic clouds condensed, still filled with dense lightning shuttling through it. It hovered above Zhang Ruochen's head, radiating an aura of world-destroying power.
A hundred li away, by the shore of Black Water Lake, the ruddy-faced old man showed a look of shock. "Has Old Woman Qi already cultivated Thunder God Calamity to the Eighth Layer?"
Cultivating Thunder God Calamity to the Seventh Layer was already considered a Great Completion of the sacred art. Once executed, it could unleash thirty-two times the power.
Cultivating it to the Eighth Layer was enough to unleash thirty-six times the power.
The white-haired old woman being able to control two masses of lightning demonic clouds simultaneously was precisely a characteristic of the Eighth Layer of Thunder God Calamity.
The stunning demoness with three white fox tails stood on a branch of an ancient parasol tree that required five people to wrap their arms around. Her bare jade-like feet were exposed, and a playful smile appeared on her smooth, jade-like face. "Zhang Ruochen, you little brat, you'd better hold on. If Old Woman Qi finishes you off, how will big sister have her fun?"
If the white-haired old woman killed Zhang Ruochen, then she would no longer be able to snatch the Realm Son Seal and Sacred Source.
After all, she still did not dare to openly oppose the Demon Sect.
Only if Zhang Ruochen blocked the white-haired old woman's sacred art attack and successfully escaped would she have a chance to make her move.
The Realm Son Seal, the Sacred Source, and even the Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact-level Abyssal Ancient Sword were all treasures she greatly coveted.
Zhang Ruochen fled forward at top speed, turning into a streak of light as he landed on the ground. He spread his arms outward, releasing two golden Buddha lights that condensed into two golden palms hundreds of meters long.
He raised his hands, and the ground shook violently.
"Rumble."
The two enormous golden Buddha hands lifted a mountain covered in vegetation and hurled it at the pursuing white-haired old woman.
The mountain, nearly a kilometer high, was home to many barbarian beasts and birds. As the mountain soared into the air, those beasts and birds were terrified and immediately fled the mountain body, diving downward.
The next moment, a loud crash rang out.
Lightning surged down, smashing the mountain to pieces. Even the birds and beasts that had fled were reduced to wisps of black smoke.
The power of a sacred art could destroy everything. Even mountains and great rivers could not stop it.
The white-haired old woman thought Zhang Ruochen had escaped, but she soon realized something was wrong. From behind the shattered mountain, a golden human figure charged out.
"Thousand-Hand Dragon-Elephant."
Dragon roars and elephant trumpets rang out. Rings of sound waves spread all the way to a thousand li away, causing the barbarian beasts on this land to tremble in fear, thinking that a Dragon Clan Saint Venerable and an Elephant Clan Saint Venerable had arrived here.
Zhang Ruochen's hands struck forward simultaneously, meeting the oncoming lightning.
Although he only had two hands, behind Zhang Ruochen, thousands upon thousands of golden handprints appeared. At this moment, Zhang Ruochen looked very much like a thousand-handed Buddha.
"Boom."
Demonic qi and Buddhist qi collided, releasing a wave of energy that surged outward in all directions.
Those old demonic cultivators hiding in the shadows all used their Sacred Soul Domains to block the energy wave, avoiding injury.
Of course, they also revealed their positions, and Zhang Ruochen silently memorized each one.
"Zhang Ruochen actually shattered Old Woman Qi's sacred art attack. Could it be that he has also cultivated a sacred art?" The stunning demoness with three fox tails was slightly moved.
One must know that even among Ninth-Step Half-Saints, very few had managed to cultivate a sacred art to Great Completion. If someone had, they would definitely be a strong figure among Ninth-Step Half-Saints.
She found it hard to believe that a low-level Half-Saint could successfully cultivate a sacred art.
But if Zhang Ruochen had not used a sacred art, how could he have broken through Old Woman Qi's Thunder God Calamity?
One must know that even with her cultivation, she was not entirely confident in blocking the Eighth Layer of Thunder God Calamity.
Of course, some old demonic cultivators recognized that what Zhang Ruochen had executed was the Eighth Palm of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, Thousand-Hand Dragon-Elephant.
The purpose of martial techniques was to help cultivators unleash several times or even dozens of times their attack power.
Superior martial techniques could not only mobilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth but even resonate with the rules of heaven and earth, producing resonance. The attack power they unleashed would naturally be even greater.
Generally speaking, a martial technique capable of unleashing thirty times the attack power could be called a "sacred art," which was also a King-rank martial technique.
Back when Zhang Ruochen cultivated Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm to the Fifth Palm, "Elephant Strength Ninefold," his palm strikes could already unleash nine times the power.
When Zhang Ruochen cultivated the Ninth Palm of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm to Great Completion, the grade of this martial technique rose to Ghost-rank Upper Grade, capable of unleashing twenty-seven times the power, very close to the power of a sacred art.
Later, Zhang Ruochen refined the Saint-level Dragon Soul, opened the six acupoints in his hands, and used Divine Blood to sanctify the six acupoints. Naturally, his palm power reached another level.
Now, when Zhang Ruochen executed the Eighth Palm of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, he could already unleash thirty-three times the power.
If he executed the Ninth Palm, he could even unleash thirty-four times the power. Although it was slightly weaker than the Eighth Layer of Thunder God Calamity, it was not far off.
One must know that Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was still only Ghost-rank Upper Grade.
Once Zhang Ruochen refined the Elephant Soul of the Green-Armored Sacred Elephant, opened the Seventh Acupoint, and fully sanctified his hands, he would definitely far surpass the Eighth Layer of Thunder God Calamity.
"How... how is this possible..."
The white-haired old woman had never expected Zhang Ruochen to break through Thunder God Calamity. She was slightly stunned.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen transformed into a golden dragon dozens of zhang long and executed the Ninth Palm of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, Scale Growth Dragon Transformation.
The golden dragon extended its enormous dragon claw, striking toward the top of the white-haired old woman's head.
The power of this claw was even stronger than the Eighth Palm from before.
The white-haired old woman's expression changed. In her haste, she could not execute Thunder God Calamity and could only throw out three Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifacts in succession to meet the attack.
"Just Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifacts, and you dare to show them off?"
"Bang, bang, bang."
Three explosions rang out in succession.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew out, smashing all three Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifacts to pieces while simultaneously refining the fragments into its sword body.
"No..."
The white-haired old woman tried to mobilize her sacred qi to execute Thunder God Calamity again to block the dragon claw.
But it was already too late. The golden dragon claw mercilessly landed on the top of the white-haired old woman's head, swatting her from midair and sending her plummeting straight to the ground.
The power unleashed by the dragon claw drove her directly into the earth.
The ground, which was a hundred zhang thick, cracked with dense, broken patterns.
The white-haired old woman lay beneath the soil, propping herself up with her hands. The sacred blood within her body burned as she executed a secret art that consumed her life force, barely managing to block the dragon claw's attack.
However, the white-haired old woman was also severely injured. The skin all over her body had split open, revealing bloody flesh, making her look especially grotesque.
"Zhang Ruochen, you cannot... kill this Saint..."
"Shua."
A black sword qi descended from the sky, piercing through the white-haired old woman's Sacred Soul Domain and penetrating through her brow.
The white-haired old woman's Qi Sea and head split in two at the same time. The sacred qi throughout her body rapidly dissipated, and her corpse gradually grew cold.
Another Saint-level figure had fallen.
A Saint's vitality was indeed very strong, but once the Qi Sea was shattered, most of their cultivation was lost.
Therefore, the Qi Sea was the weakest point of a Saint, and also the most heavily defended. Ordinary attacks could not harm a Saint's Qi Sea.
But no matter how tight the defense, how could it block the Abyssal Ancient Sword?
Zhang Ruochen extracted the Sacred Source from the white-haired old woman's body and immediately executed Space Displacement. His body flickered slightly and vanished from the spot.
All the old demonic cultivators present were horrified. It was hard to imagine that a junior at the Half-Saint Realm could kill two Saint-level figures in succession.
Was this meant to intimidate the Demon Sect, or to intimidate all the Saints under heaven?
Saints were lofty and exalted, like gods ruling over the Kunlun Realm.
But now, someone was defying heaven and slaying Saints.
"Eh? Where did Zhang Ruochen go?"
The stunning demoness with three fox tails snapped out of her shock and sensed something was wrong.
Suddenly, a wave of icy cold air reached her back.
Startled, she immediately executed her movement technique and charged forward, using lightning-like speed to reach a distance of over ten li in an instant.
Even so, the sword strike Zhang Ruochen had just delivered had still cut off one of her fox tails.
Blood dripped from the demoness's buttocks. Pain and humiliation surged through her nerves simultaneously. Staring at the young man charging toward her, the anger in her heart blazed up. (To be continued.)