Chapter 1104: Entering the Ranks of Top-Tier Experts
His domineering killing methods left the human cultivators shocked, making them clearly realize one point: the Heir of Time and Space had already grown up, and from now on, capturing him would be no easy task for the imperial court.
At the same time, in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, there were very few beings who could suppress him.
On the scene, only Qingtian Crown Prince remained calm, with flames flickering in his pupils and the power within him surging upward. He said, "Zhang Ruochen, didn't you want to see my true strength? I'll grant your wish now."
Qingtian Crown Prince spread his arms, and surging blood energy rolled outward, forming a massive circle.
At the center of the circle, a character "Fire" condensed.
Just one character emitted a blinding light, as if it had transformed into a blazing sun, casting a red glow over the entire sky and earth.
Even some human Half-Saints, standing hundreds of miles away, felt as if they were immersed in boiling water.
The high temperature permeating the air was enough to cook living creatures alive.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the "Fire" character suspended in the sky and uttered, "Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art."
"That's right, it's the Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art of the Suanni Clan," said Qingtian Crown Prince.
Qingtian Crown Prince rose into the air, positioning himself beneath the "Fire" character. Behind him, the faint shadow of an ancient Suanni beast emerged.
The Suanni was a divine beast from the Primordial Era. Legend had it that it could carry a hundred thousand great mountains, fill oceans, and build continents.
The Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art was a sacred art of the Suanni Clan. According to legend, during the Primordial Era, the Suanni Clan's ancestor had indeed used this sacred art to slay a god.
Thus, the sacred art earned its name.
The Suanni Clan had long gone extinct, leaving only legends behind.
However, many years ago, Qingtian Blood Emperor traveled across distant oceans and arrived at the Western Yue Ni Prefecture. Legend had it that Western Yue Ni Prefecture was a continent created by the Suanni, though it could not compare to the Kunlun Realm continent, it was still extremely vast.
There, Qingtian Blood Emperor captured a Suanni that had just become a Saint.
That Suanni was a Primordial Relic.
Later, Qingtian Blood Emperor bestowed the Suanni's blood to Qingtian Crown Prince, its beast soul to the Second Prince, and its bones to the Third Prince.
The three not only gained part of the Suanni's power but also inherited the Suanni Clan's legacy.
The Suanni's blood was undoubtedly the most precious part.
It was from the Suanni's blood that Qingtian Crown Prince comprehended the Suanni Clan's cultivation technique, *Suanni Esoteric Sect*, thus embarking on the path of physical cultivation.
The rank of *Suanni Esoteric Sect* surpassed sacred scriptures, belonging to divine-level cultivation techniques.
Of course, Qingtian Crown Prince was not a true Suanni relic; he merely refined the blood of a Suanni relic and comprehended some fragments of *Suanni Esoteric Sect* from it, amounting to less than one-tenth of the complete technique.
This was not Zhang Ruochen's first encounter with the Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art. Back then, the Second Prince of the Qingtian Tribe had also used this sacred art.
That Second Prince had only cultivated the Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art to the level of "Image Manifestation into Reality," far from matching Qingtian Crown Prince.
Each time the Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art advanced a level, its explosive power multiplied.
"Nine-Character Divine Slaying, Fire Character Burns the Heavens."
Qingtian Crown Prince struck out with the "Fire" character, sending it toward Zhang Ruochen.
A massive fireball, seen from the ground, occupied a quarter of the sky, resembling a falling sun, suffocating all living beings.
The cultivators of the Undying Blood Clan had apparently received Qingtian Crown Prince's telepathic message in advance and had already retreated far away.
Zhang Ruochen pointed upward.
The space above him instantly shattered, forming a hole as large as the fireball, which rapidly collapsed inward.
Within the spatial hole was a void, emitting a powerful suction force that swallowed the "Fire" character.
The Primordial sacred art unleashed by Qingtian Crown Prince dissipated into nothingness in an instant.
Qingtian Crown Prince frowned and struck out with a "Water" character, forming a magnificent river. The river emitted a silvery-gray light, resembling a Milky Way suspended in the nine heavens.
However, Zhang Ruochen once again lightly pointed, using spatial collapse to neutralize the "Water" character sacred art.
"Your Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art is indeed formidable, with the power to destroy heaven and earth, but it cannot harm me," Zhang Ruochen said calmly.
Not long ago, Qingtian Crown Prince had found a way to counter Zhang Ruochen's spatial attacks and had said the same thing.
Yet now, Zhang Ruochen used spatial attacks to counter his strongest offensive methods.
At this moment, both Zhang Ruochen and Qingtian Crown Prince understood one thing: using spatial attacks and the Nine-Character Divine Slaying Art could not harm each other.
"Since you've attacked so many times, shouldn't you take one of my sword strikes?"
Zhang Ruochen raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword above his head, instantly achieving the unity of man and sword, and executed Sword Five.
Man and sword transformed into a beam of light, shooting into the sky.
"Whoosh—"
This sword strike was infinitely powerful, causing chaotic sword qi to gather between heaven and earth.
From Qingtian Crown Prince's back, four golden wings burst forth.
Then, a golden spherical light shield formed around his body.
At the same time, Qingtian Crown Prince took out a crystal-clear scepter and struck forward, sending out a blood-red beam of light.
"Boom."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword pierced through the golden light shield, and the sword tip collided with the crystal scepter, creating a ring of red-and-black energy ripples that surged outward beyond the sky.
Clearly, Qingtian Crown Prince's crystal scepter was no ordinary item. Inside the scepter, dense inscriptions emitted a crimson light, like blood vessels within a human body.
Qingtian Crown Prince's spiritual perception was extremely sharp. Sensing a change in the flow of time around him and realizing the danger, he immediately sank downward, falling toward the ground.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen used the Time Sword Art, slashing a sword from the edge of Qingtian Crown Prince's neck, cutting off a strand of hair.
Qingtian Crown Prince landed on the ground, with a shallow blood mark on his neck, from which a drop of blood slid down. He thought to himself, "That was close."
"What quick reflexes," Zhang Ruochen thought, somewhat disappointed that he hadn't managed to cut off Qingtian Crown Prince's head.
If he had succeeded, he could have used Qingtian Crown Prince's head to intimidate all the Undying Blood Clan in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm.
Qingtian Crown Prince ranked seventh on the *Half-Saint Outer List* for a reason—he had many exceptional qualities. Killing him was no easy feat.
"What's the fun in two people fighting? Mind if I join in?"
From beyond the sky came a earth-shaking dragon roar.
A vast expanse of black demonic clouds surged forward, rapidly approaching the Qingtian Tribe's camp.
Both Zhang Ruochen and Qingtian Crown Prince looked toward the direction of the demonic clouds, frowning.
The Devouring Demon Dragon had arrived.
"We'll fight another day."
Zhang Ruochen sheathed the Abyssal Ancient Sword and executed a Great Space Teleportation, instantly appearing dozens of miles away, leaving the already battered battlefield.
Zhang Ruochen was injured and not fit for a prolonged battle.
Moreover, he had just broken through to the Eighth-Step Half-Saint realm, and his cultivation base was still unstable. If he were to fight Qingtian Crown Prince and the Devouring Demon Dragon now, he would be at a significant disadvantage.
Thus, he chose to retreat.
"Your Highness, should we stop Zhang Ruochen?"
Zuotian Blood Saint's gaze was somewhat dark as he asked Qingtian Crown Prince for his opinion.
Zhang Ruochen's threat was too great; he had to be eliminated.
If Qingtian Crown Prince gave the order, Zuotian Blood Saint, even knowing he would surely die, would unseal his power and use Saint-level strength to perish together with Zhang Ruochen.
Qingtian Crown Prince naturally understood what Zuotian Blood Saint intended. He looked in the direction Zhang Ruochen had left and gently shook his head. "There's no need to fight to the death. It hasn't come to that yet. I still have one trump card left to play. If it comes to a life-or-death battle, the one who dies will definitely not be me."
"However, Zhang Ruochen has now officially entered the ranks of top-tier experts below the Saint realm. He has just stepped into the Eighth-Step Half-Saint realm, and his cultivation and strength will enter a phase of rapid growth. I must also intensify my training, striving to sanctify more acupoints. Otherwise, the next time I face him, I might suffer a great loss."
The Devouring Demon Dragon and a large number of beast kings were rapidly approaching. Qingtian Crown Prince did not want to linger here either, so he immediately led the Qingtian Tribe cultivators away quickly.
Zhang Ruochen and Qing Mo stood atop a hill, looking at the fast-moving blood cloud in the distant desert.
Within the blood cloud were the Undying Blood Clan of the Qingtian Tribe.
Their blood energy was so strong that it condensed into a massive cloud.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Why didn't you use your Boundless Saint Fire?"
"Ah?"
Qing Mo was momentarily stunned, looking somewhat dazed. "You didn't tell me to use it?"
"It's not too late to use it now," Zhang Ruochen said with a slight squint and a faint smile.
Qing Mo summoned the Boundless Saint Fire, which fell like a rain of fire from the sky, descending into the distant blood cloud and landing among the Undying Blood Clan cultivators.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
Even a tiny flame falling to the ground would melt a large area of yellow sand into red-hot liquid droplets.
In moments, the entire Qingtian Tribe was engulfed in boiling magma, accompanied by a chorus of screams. No one knew how many Undying Blood Clan members were burned to ashes by the Boundless Saint Fire.
Even the blood pool was evaporated by the Boundless Saint Fire, turning into a dry pit.
From within the blood cloud came furious roars.
"Who did this?"
Even Qingtian Crown Prince, with his profound state of mind, was enraged. He flew into the air, wanting to find the arsonist and tear them to pieces.
Zhang Ruochen and Qing Mo had already left, arriving hundreds of miles away.
Hearing Qingtian Crown Prince's roar from behind, Qing Mo shrank her head in fear, feeling guilty, afraid of being discovered.
Zhang Ruochen, however, was in a good mood, a smile on his face. "Your strength is so great, why are you so timid?"
"Boldness has nothing to do with strength. Besides, I'm just a cooking maid by the princess's side. How could I dare to do such violent things?"
Qing Mo was still very scared, even lowering her voice as she spoke.
"Zhang Ruochen!"
At that moment, a sharp shout came from not far away.
Qing Mo was startled, thinking Qingtian Crown Prince had caught up, and immediately hid behind Zhang Ruochen, curling up.
Zhang Ruochen looked toward the sound and saw Baili Princess descending from the air like a celestial being, surrounded by white holy light.
Following closely, the two quasi-saints of the Baili Cat Clan, Old Man Bai and Old Woman Bai, also caught up, appearing behind Baili Princess, glaring at Zhang Ruochen with hostile expressions.
"Zhang Ruochen, what exactly are you up to? Why did you take my memories?"
Baili Princess stood opposite him, hands on her hips, her chest heaving, biting her lip in anger.
"It seems she knows something," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The Baili Princess before him was completely different in temperament from the one before her memory loss.
The former Baili Princess was wise, noble, and elegant, a perfect cold beauty. This Baili Princess, however, was like a spoiled little girl.
Qing Mo poked her head out, glanced at Baili Princess, and looked puzzled, asking warily, "Young Master Zhang, why did you take her memories?"
Qing Mo's little expression was quite complicated. She suspected that Zhang Ruochen might have done something wrong to his princess. Otherwise, why would he take the memories of such a beautiful woman?
There was definitely a problem—and a big one at that.