Chapter 1052: Tan Zhongli
“Even with the enhancement of the Ten Saint Blood Armor, you are no match for this king.”
Tan Zhongli, seeing the blood armor on Zhang Ruochen, was filled with rage. He immediately charged forward, thrusting an iron spear as thick as an arm toward Zhang Ruochen’s neck.
The neck area was relatively a weak point in the Ten Saint Blood Armor’s defense.
Zhang Ruochen neither dodged nor evaded. He mobilized all his saintly qi, channeled it into the Seven Kill Fist Gloves, and struck out with a palm, colliding with the spear’s tip.
That iron spear was merely a True Martial Treasure, standard equipment for Ruins Realm warriors. Could it withstand Zhang Ruochen’s palm force?
“Bang!”
The iron spear shattered directly, breaking into seven pieces that flew in all directions.
Tan Zhongli had not expected to kill Zhang Ruochen with a single iron spear. The moment the spear broke, his hand clenched into a fist, radiating a silver light.
A fist force condensed into the form of a demon blade.
Tan Zhongli had unleashed a sacred art-level fist technique, nearly mastering it to perfection, capable of unleashing twenty-seven times the attack power.
“Boom.”
Fist and palm clashed, sending layers of blood-energy waves rolling outward.
Zhang Ruochen’s figure rapidly retreated, all the way to the edge of the city wall, before he managed to neutralize Tan Zhongli’s fist force.
“No wonder he’s a top-tier expert among the peak Nine-Step Half-Saints. If I don’t use the power of space and time, with my current cultivation, fighting him would indeed be quite strenuous.”
Zhang Ruochen felt a sense of urgency, eager to break through to the Six-Step Half-Saint realm as soon as possible.
Once his realm advanced, dealing with cultivators of Tan Zhongli’s level, even without the Ten Saint Blood Armor, Zhang Ruochen was confident he could defeat him.
In that previous clash, Tan Zhongli had only retreated half a step, but he felt a deep shock. A mere Five-Step Half-Saint had actually blocked his punch without any injury?
After all, he had once used a single punch to annihilate both the body and soul of a Nine-Step Half-Saint.
In the southern part of the city, not far from the city gate, a squad of soldiers stood there.
That squad, numbering over thirty, all wore battle armor and held long blades, their spirit and energy brimming. They were the elite warriors of the Wan Clan.
Wan Huayu wore a set of Fire Phoenix Battle Armor, revealing two snow-white jade legs, a flat abdomen, and a slender neck, with only her chest, hips, and feet covered by the armor’s interior, appearing both seductive and valiant.
Standing at the forefront of the squad, her arms crossed over her chest, she gazed at the confrontation between Tan Zhongli and Zhang Ruochen, and laughed, “Who said the Blood God Sect’s Divine Son lacks brains? This man is not only exceptionally intelligent, but the combat power he unleashes is even more terrifying than a Realm Son at the same level.”
It wasn’t just Zhang Ruochen who had sensed the Undying Blood Clan’s conspiracy; Wan Huayu was also extremely clever. Thus, she too had noticed the anomalies among the three Ruins Realm warriors and led a portion of the Wan Clan’s forces to the southern city.
The power Gu Linfeng had unleashed indeed exceeded Wan Huayu’s expectations, making her realize for the first time that once this young man grew up, he might truly reach the heights of the number one on the “Half-Saint Ranking.”
Such a figure was no less impressive than that Heir of Time and Space.
The purple-robed elder stood beside Wan Huayu, now somewhat convinced, and said, “The Princess’s insight is indeed superior. This time, this old man truly misjudged him. I am quite curious—since he is so intelligent and possesses such formidable strength, why couldn’t he deal with a Shangguan Xianyan?”
Wan Huayu smiled, “I suspect he deliberately left the Blood God Sect; it wasn’t Shangguan Xianyan who forced him away.”
She continued, “He must have some secret he doesn’t want outsiders to know. That’s why he acted this way.”
At just the Five-Step Half-Saint realm, possessing such powerful combat strength—there had to be a huge secret.
The Heir of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen, could surpass the combat power of a Realm Son because he had cultivated the Five Elements Chaos Body, seized a divine destiny, and had the support of time and space powers.
What gave Gu Linfeng such strength?
Perhaps he had obtained the inheritance of some Great Saint, or even an ancient god.
“What exactly is that secret?” Wan Huayu was extremely curious, developing a strong interest in Gu Linfeng.
Tan Zhongli’s gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen. He thought to himself, with these two experts guarding the southern city, destroying the city-protecting grand formation was already impossible.
Moreover, a squad of powerful soldiers had appeared behind him, clearly also coming to deal with them.
Now, the question Tan Zhongli pondered was no longer how to destroy the grand formation, but how to escape from Yingsha City.
“Retreat immediately.”
Tan Zhongli issued an order, then flapped the four silver wings on his back, turning into a streak of silver light, charging toward the northern city.
The other two Undying Blood Clan members, Old Jin and Old Han, followed closely behind, trying to escape.
“We can’t let them get away.” Zhang Ruochen took out the Life and Death Mirror and infused it with saintly qi.
The mirror’s surface turned blood-red, flying above the three Undying Blood Clan members, locking onto their positions.
The Life and Death Mirror, a Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact modeled after the Blood Sea Demon Mirror, inherently had a certain restraining effect on the Undying Blood Clan.
“Whoosh!”
From the mirror’s surface, a blood-red light pillar, a foot in diameter, shot down toward the three Undying Blood Clan members below.
One of them couldn’t dodge in time and was struck by the light pillar, letting out a piercing scream.
“Bang!” That Undying Blood Clan member’s body exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
The Life and Death Mirror’s surface generated a suction force, completely absorbing the blood mist.
Then, the mirror began to gather power again, launching a second attack.
“Pfft.”
A second light pillar descended, and another Undying Blood Clan member’s body was shattered into blood mist.
Of the three Undying Blood Clan experts, only Tan Zhongli remained alive, charging rapidly toward the northern city.
“Gu Linfeng, by opposing the Undying Blood Clan, you will die without a burial place.”
Tan Zhongli glanced back at Gu Linfeng chasing behind him, his expression furious, his killing intent overwhelming.
Those two Undying Blood Clan members—one a Nine-Step Half-Saint and the other a Forty-Ninth-Step Spiritual Power Half-Saint—had not been easy to cultivate. Yet they had been killed by the Life and Death Mirror. How could Tan Zhongli not be enraged?
If the Yingsha City base weren’t too dangerous, he wouldn’t have chosen to flee; he would have killed Gu Linfeng with thunderous means.
Zhang Ruochen also exuded a killing intent, once again controlling the Life and Death Mirror to attack Tan Zhongli.
“Whoosh——”
A blood-red light pillar, a foot thick, carrying powerful energy fluctuations, struck toward Tan Zhongli’s head.
Tan Zhongli neither dodged nor evaded, simply raising the two pairs of silver wings on his back to shield his head.
The light radiating from the silver wings formed a massive silver sphere, actually blocking the light pillar from the Life and Death Mirror.
“No wonder he’s a descendant of the Tai Ge King; he’s truly no ordinary man,” Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Wan Huayu led the elite warriors of the Wan Clan, blocking the path Tan Zhongli had to take.
Those over thirty warriors were all at the Half-Saint realm, simultaneously unleashing a martial technique to attack Tan Zhongli.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”……
Some cultivators shot out lightning bolts, others condensed flaming hand seals, and still others slashed out with blade light and sword shadows. Each attack had earth-shattering power.
However, their attacks only left minor wounds on Tan Zhongli, failing to kill him.
“Block my path, and you die.”
Tan Zhongli’s strength was formidable. In an instant, he scattered the thirty-plus Half-Saints, including three Nine-Step Half-Saints who couldn’t withstand a single blow and were sent flying.
Wan Huayu and the purple-robed elder joined forces to attack, but Tan Zhongli didn’t engage them head-on. He used a bizarre movement technique, slipping past them from the side.
“Damn it.” Wan Huayu gritted her teeth tightly.
From the back of her Fire Phoenix Armor, two clouds of fire surged out, condensing into a pair of flame wings dozens of feet long. Wan Huayu lifted a broad flame war sword, soared into the air, and pursued Tan Zhongli.
For someone of Tan Zhongli’s level, with such formidable combat power, once he chose to flee, it was very difficult to kill him.
“Whoosh——”
Huang Yanchen activated her sacred sword, executing a Sword Four technique.
The sacred sword turned into a white streak of light, catching up to Tan Zhongli and striking his back, piercing through one of his silver wings.
Silver blood flowed from the wound on the wing.
Zhang Ruochen sprinted on the ground, channeling saintly qi into the Life and Death Mirror, once again forming a light pillar to strike at Tan Zhongli’s head.
This time, Tan Zhongli couldn’t fully block it, sustaining multiple wounds as blood flowed endlessly.
At the same time, Wan Huayu and the purple-robed elder attacked from two other directions, tearing Tan Zhongli’s flesh open, his body becoming tattered. A few more attacks, and he would likely fall.
Tan Zhongli managed to escape into the beast horde first, retreating behind a Beast King.
Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen immediately stopped, adopting cautious expressions, not rashly pursuing.
After all, a Beast King’s combat power was far more terrifying than Tan Zhongli’s.
That Beast King, from the Fire Golden Crow clan, had a humanoid body with an exceptionally handsome face and a crimson flame mark at the center of his brow.
Standing in midair, he resembled a flame god judging all beings.
Wan Huayu continued her pursuit, clashing with the Fire Golden Crow Beast King in a single exchange, but she spat blood and was sent flying back.
“Despicable humans, today, you will all die.”
The Fire Golden Crow Beast King’s gaze was icy. He extended a hand, pressing it toward Wan Huayu’s direction across the void.
“Sizzle!”
Above Wan Huayu’s head, flame power rapidly gathered, condensing into a crimson claw dozens of meters long, which slammed down.
“Princess.”
The purple-robed elder arrived just in time, swinging his arm, releasing saintly qi that formed a purple cloud, neutralizing the Fire Golden Crow Beast King’s attack and saving Wan Huayu. (To be continued.)