Chapter 1079: Hell on Earth
"The tenth palm, Dragon Roaming the Nine Heavens, has reached great perfection, able to unleash forty-two times the attack power. If I can cultivate it to the transformative stage, it should be able to increase even more."
Zhang Ruochen looked at his palm, feeling quite satisfied.
Refining the Sun Spirit Dew did not allow Zhang Ruochen to break through his realm, but it unexpectedly helped him open the thirty-six acupoints in his abdomen, waist, and internal organs.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen had planned to first cultivate the thirty-six acupoints in his legs to increase his speed.
Now, it seemed he could first sanctify the thirty-six acupoints in his abdomen, waist, and internal organs. In this way, his physical strength would become even more powerful.
Xiao Hei had already refined the Seventh-Rank Saint Yuan Pill and personally delivered one to Zhang Ruochen.
At the same time, it had also taken some of the various divine dews, claiming it wanted to use the divine dews and sacred flowers to refine a special type of pill.
"Should I cultivate the physical body first, or break through the realm first?"
To sanctify the thirty-six acupoints would require a great deal of time.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen chose to swallow the Seventh-Rank Saint Yuan Pill. As long as his realm broke through, his combat power could increase by a large margin. Moreover, the time spent would be less.
Breaking through to the Seventh-Step Half-Saint went very smoothly. Zhang Ruochen spent several days and successfully broke through.
Zhang Ruochen stood up. The skin on his face, neck, and hands all emitted a seven-colored radiance, with strands of powerful saint qi flowing in and out of his pores.
"With my current cultivation, compared to the beings on the Half-Saint Ranking, I wonder who is stronger and who is weaker?"
Zhang Ruochen gently waved his arm, and immediately, crackling sounds rang out in the air, with streaks of fire snakes spreading out.
With undivided attention, he stood beneath the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, practicing his palm techniques while contemplating the powerful realm he had just elevated to.
Inside Yingsha City, however, it was a different situation.
Three days had passed. As everyone had initially predicted, Gu Linfeng had not appeared, and thousands of human cultivators still knelt outside the city.
Because the wind and sand were too strong, half of their bodies were buried beneath the yellow sand.
"Gu Linfeng probably won't show up. They are definitely doomed," a young cultivator sighed.
Thousands of human compatriots were about to become blood food in the bellies of savage beasts, yet they were powerless to rescue them. Just thinking about it was quite tragic.
A beast king, transformed into human form, stood outside the city.
Its true form was a Red-Eyed Luo Zhang. After transforming into human form, it had a rat-like head and weasel-like eyes, a short stature, and long red hair on its head and chest.
The Luo Zhang Beast King sneered, "So-called Divine Son of the Blood God Sect, just a turtle hiding its head. Dares to act but not to take responsibility. Lord Demon Dragon only asked him to kneel and admit his mistake, not to take his life, yet he doesn't dare to show up. Truly as timid as a mouse."
Several other beast kings also transformed into human forms and laughed loudly.
One of them, a female beast king in black clothes, sighed, "It's understandable that the Divine Son of the Blood God Sect doesn't dare to come. But what does it say that tens of thousands of human cultivators in Yingsha City don't dare to come out and rescue them?"
"Humans, as a race, are actually a humble group. They are cold, selfish, bully the weak and fear the strong, and have no blood in them at all. They should have been exterminated long ago," another beast king said.
Noon was getting closer and closer.
The scorching sun in the sky was like a furnace, baking the earth.
Some beast kings cursed Gu Linfeng, while others used a sarcastic tone to belittle human cultivators.
Some human cultivators with stubborn personalities could not bear such humiliation. They rushed out of Yingsha City, wanting to fight to the death with the savage beasts outside the city.
However, as soon as they left the city, they were suppressed and killed, falling into pools of blood.
Their corpses were dragged away and thrown into the savage beast horde, where they were quickly devoured.
Outside Yingsha City, more than twenty beast kings had gathered. Each one had boundless combat power. Going head-to-head with them was undoubtedly like throwing an egg against a rock.
Inside the city, the morale of the human cultivators was quite low. Some cultivators with firm wills were enduring, not wanting to act impulsively and throw away their lives for nothing.
Other cultivators were mentally dispirited and extremely terrified of the savage beasts.
If there were a void world ship, they would have definitely fled back to the Kunlun Realm, hidden within the territory of the First Central Empire, and never dared to fight the savage beast clans again.
The purpose of those beast kings was to provoke the human cultivators and crush their will.
"Roar!"
The true body of the Devouring Demon Dragon flew over, shuttling above the clouds. Its massive dragon body released a terrifying and boundless powerful aura. Just a single dragon roar caused some human cultivators in the city to tremble with fear.
Compared to three days ago, the aura emitted by the Devouring Demon Dragon had become even stronger. It was clear that its cultivation had improved again.
The Devouring Demon Dragon let out a deep, rumbling voice: "Three days are up. The Divine Son of the Blood God Sect has not come to kneel before me and admit his mistake. Now you can select a thousand human cultivators and devour them."
A loud cheer erupted from the savage beast horde.
In contrast, there were the wailing and pleading sounds of those human cultivators.
"Please spare me. From now on, I can be your slave. I can do anything..."
"I don't want to die. Save me..."
...
Over the past three days, having suffered humiliation and beatings from the savage beasts, the spirits of some of the human cultivators were on the verge of collapse.
At this moment, they had finally completely abandoned their dignity, kneeling on the ground, begging the savage beasts, hoping to exchange for a chance to live.
Of course, there were also some cultivators with firm hearts who were neither humble nor arrogant, facing death calmly.
The weaker the human cultivators behaved, the more they were selected first by the savage beasts.
The savage beasts did not eat them immediately. Instead, they deliberately made them kneel on the ground, made them beg, made them wail, and let out humiliating laughter.
The Luo Zhang Beast King's furry big hand patted the head of a young cultivator kneeling before it. It looked towards Yingsha City and laughed, "Haha! Humans in the city, do you see? Your own kind is kneeling on the ground begging me to take him as a slave. Tell me, should I take him or not?"
In Yingsha City, those human cultivators were all furious to the point of madness.
"Boom."
A white sacred sword shot out of the city gate, turning into a stream of light and striking towards the Luo Zhang Beast King.
The Luo Zhang Beast King's expression changed, and it immediately dodged.
"Pfft."
However, the speed of that sacred sword was too fast. It still pierced through the Luo Zhang Beast King's right shoulder, severely injuring it.
One of the nine realm sons, Beigong Lan, rushed out of Yingsha City, grabbed the sacred sword, and slashed at the Luo Zhang Beast King again. With an overwhelming force, he cleaved the Luo Zhang Beast King's physical body in two.
Recently, Beigong Lan had also had a great opportunity. His cultivation had reached a higher level, and he now possessed the strength to kill a beast king.
The fall of a beast king enraged all the savage beasts.
Five beast kings attacked simultaneously, surrounding Beigong Lan, wanting to suppress and kill him.
Killing a realm son was their true goal.
Not long after, Beigong Lan was severely injured. The green clothes on his body were completely soaked in blood. Every step he took left a blood-red footprint.
In the end, Chi Wansui rushed out of Yingsha City and rescued Beigong Lan.
Of course, Chi Wansui was also hit by a claw from the Devouring Demon Dragon and was injured even more severely than Beigong Lan. When he returned to Yingsha City, he coughed up blood nonstop.
Killing a beast king did not boost the morale of the humans.
On the contrary, the severe injuries of the two realm sons plunged all the human cultivators into despair.
Outside the city, the sounds of miserable screams rose and fell one after another. A thousand human cultivators were all eaten alive, dyeing that entire stretch of land red.
Some savage beasts were even licking the blood on the ground.
That scene was even more terrifying than hell.
Sun Dadi stood in the distance, watching helplessly as a thousand living human cultivators were devoured by savage beasts like livestock. He trembled with rage.
He wanted to rush over and fight the savage beasts, but Huang Yanchen stopped him and pulled him back.
"Why are you stopping me?"
Sun Dadi's eyes were bloodshot as he let out a furious roar.
"Two realm sons almost fell. What difference is there between you rushing over and sending yourself to your death?" Huang Yanchen remained very calm, not blinking an eye from start to finish.
"How can you be so cold? I'm going to find the boss. He definitely has a way."
Sun Dadi clenched his fists, all the veins on his body bulging out. Suppressing a belly full of anger, he rushed back.
He contacted Xiao Hei and successfully entered the Scroll World, finding Zhang Ruochen, who was practicing palm techniques under the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
After listening to Sun Dadi's account, Zhang Ruochen was as calm as Huang Yanchen. He just nodded and said, "That's all? Nothing else?"
Sun Dadi said, "Boss, aren't you going to save them? We are all human cultivators, yet we are being bullied to this extent by savage beasts. Can you swallow this anger?"
Zhang Ruochen stared into Sun Dadi's eyes and let out a long breath. "Save them? How? By making me go kneel before the Devouring Demon Dragon and admit my mistake to it? Do you think that if I do that, the Devouring Demon Dragon will let those human cultivators go? It's not that I won't save them, but that I can't save them."
Sun Dadi thought it over carefully, gritting his teeth. "Let's go and fight them to the heavens and earth. If we kill one, we don't lose. If we kill two, we make a profit."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "Since the Devouring Demon Dragon dared to set up this trap, it means it has already made thorough preparations. Anyone who goes will only find death. Beigong Lan and Chi Wansui were able to keep their lives purely by luck."
"Then what do we do? Just watch those living human cultivators be devoured by the savage beasts? I can't do that. If you won't go, I will. Dying in battle is what I deserve."
A look of absolute determination appeared in Sun Dadi's eyes. He grabbed his iron staff, turned around, and prepared to leave the Scroll World.
"Bang."
Zhang Ruochen sighed and struck out with a palm from a distance, hitting Sun Dadi on the top of his head. The palm force surged out, knocking him unconscious, and he fell to the ground.
Letting him leave would be sending him to his death.
Just then, Xiao Hei sent a message to Zhang Ruochen, telling him a piece of information: "That beautiful princess of the Wan Clan has come to visit you again. Will you see her or not?"
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew the purpose of Wan Huayu's visit. After thinking for a moment, he finally carried the unconscious Sun Dadi and walked out of the Scroll World, intending to meet her once.