Chapter 1172: All Cards on the Table
The three thousand inscriptions on the Abyssal Ancient Sword simultaneously emerged, resembling over three thousand chains connecting the sword body to the world's spiritual energy. Sword qi shuttled through heaven and earth.
Confronted with such overwhelming power and force, Liao Teng felt immense pressure.
Liao Teng also possessed a thousand-mark sacred artifact, but it only had two thousand inscriptions, incomparable to the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Zhang Ruochen stood midair, sword in hand, and said, "Palace Master Liao, are you still not going to use your true strength?"
"Junior, do not be so arrogant. No matter who you are, you will not escape death today."
Liao Teng snorted coldly. From within his body, dazzling blood-red radiance surged forth, and dense sacred dao rules rushed out, interweaving to form a hundred-zhang-tall sacred manifestation.
The sacred manifestation of a mid-level saint was far more formidable than that of a lower-level saint. It was not a mere phantom but resembled a massive statue carved from blood-red crystal, its momentum soaring, as majestic and awe-inspiring as a deity statue in a temple.
Liao Teng cultivated the palm path, and the rules interwoven within his sacred manifestation were primarily palm path rules. In addition, there were other minor rules. With every slight movement of the sacred manifestation, the entire heaven and earth trembled in response.
"Palm Seal Heaven and Earth."
Liao Teng commanded the sacred manifestation, mobilizing sacred dao rules to execute a palm technique sacred art, unleashing a thirty-sixfold attack power.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened. In an instant, he entered the state of unity between man and sword, executing Sword Five. Transforming into a streak of light like a meteor, he pierced through Liao Teng's Palm Seal Heaven and Earth with a bang.
The Ten Saint Blood Armor, the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and Zhang Ruochen's own power—three formidable forces converged and collided violently with Liao Teng's sacred manifestation.
With a thunderous roar, a large section of sacred dao rules at the sacred manifestation's abdomen shattered, producing cracking sounds.
Zhang Ruochen launched a second strike, then a third... After seven consecutive sword strikes, he finally pierced through the sacred manifestation. Swinging his sword in a diagonal slash, carrying the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, he aimed for Liao Teng's neck.
Liao Teng dodged the fatal blow, but his right shoulder was sliced off, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
"This kid is too monstrous. He can continuously unleash the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force without worrying about depleting his saint qi?"
Liao Teng shot upward rapidly, evading Zhang Ruochen's second sword strike.
He then retrieved a bottle, intending to drink the sacred blood inside to recover from his injuries.
This time, Zhang Ruochen did not give him the chance. Phantom images of a cyan luan and a fire phoenix appeared on his legs. Stepping on the two divine birds, he chased after Liao Teng at lightning speed.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword swung, aiming straight for Liao Teng's head.
Liao Teng dodged again, evading the Abyssal Ancient Sword's attack, but the bottle in his hand was struck and shattered, spilling all the sacred blood.
"Damn it! Do you really think I cannot kill you?"
Liao Teng's eyes bulged. Veins protruded all over his body, splitting his skin. His bones grew larger, fangs sprouted from his mouth, and his fingernails turned into sharp claws.
"Rip."
A pair of blood-red fleshy wings burst from his back, spreading out to over thirty zhang in length, radiating a vast, malevolent aura.
Seeing this, Ji Shui's heart trembled violently. "The deputy palace master of the Netherword Heavenly Palace, Liao Teng, is also an Undying Blood Clan member? Aren't the Undying Blood Clan infiltrators in the Blood God Sect far too numerous?"
For an ancient, established sect to have two saints who were Undying Blood Clan members was simply unimaginable.
"Finally showing your true form."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious. He knew that since Liao Teng had revealed his true identity, he would no longer hold back as before. The aura he emitted had grown significantly stronger.
"Swish."
Zhang Ruochen executed Sword Six, attacking Liao Teng with his full strength.
Although his Sword Six had not yet reached the state of great perfection, it was still extraordinarily mysterious, possessing the momentum to sweep across the world.
Liao Teng extended a hand and pressed forward.
In his palm, a silver bracelet spun rapidly, forming a vortex that actually blocked the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Immediately after, Liao Teng struck out with a swift palm, hitting Zhang Ruochen's chest.
"Boom."
All ten sacred soul phantoms shattered. Zhang Ruochen felt a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning force slam into him. His vision went dark, and his body flew backward uncontrollably.
Even though the Ten Saint Blood Armor blocked most of Liao Teng's power, Zhang Ruochen still sustained considerable injuries. His internal organs were displaced, and every bone in his body felt as if it had fallen apart.
"Earlier, I was restrained to hide my identity. Now, I must make you understand that the gap in cultivation level is not something you can bridge with a few powerful divine weapons and treasures."
Liao Teng's blood wings, like two sharp blades, sliced through the void, slashing toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
Zhang Ruochen raised both arms. One arm manifested a cyan dragon phantom, the other a cyan elephant phantom. He unleashed the tenth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.
"Dragon Soaring the Nine Heavens."
A dragon's roar echoed. Above the two palm prints, a dragon claw condensed and struck toward Liao Teng.
Liao Teng's blood wings collided with the dragon claw, cleaving through it from the center and striking toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
Zhang Ruochen raised his sword horizontally to block the blood wing's power. A sweetness rose in his throat, and blood trickled from his mouth as his body plummeted rapidly toward the ground.
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen crashed through a palace hall, disappearing into the rubble.
The magnificent hall collapsed, and even the surrounding ground was left in tatters.
Liao Teng flapped his wings, flying above the ruins, and hurled the silver bracelet downward, intending to completely annihilate Zhang Ruochen.
The silver bracelet was a thousand-mark sacred artifact with boundless power. If it struck, not even an iron mountain would survive, let alone a person.
"Clang."
A metallic collision sound rang out from beneath the rubble.
Immediately after, the silver bracelet rebounded.
Liao Teng was secretly startled. Could Gu Linfeng still have strength left?
He caught the returning silver bracelet and saw a shallow crack had appeared on it, causing some damage.
"What a sharp sword."
A flash of insight crossed Liao Teng's mind. He suddenly recalled someone whose methods closely resembled Gu Linfeng's.
That person was quite familiar, but for a moment, he could not remember exactly who it was.
Zhang Ruochen emerged from the rubble, carrying the Abyssal Ancient Sword. His entire body was encased in the Ten Saint Blood Armor, concealing his expression. "Even when I go all out, I still cannot withstand your attack. Palace Master Liao, did you really just break through to the mid-level saint realm?"
Unable to gauge how severely Gu Linfeng was injured, Liao Teng did not act rashly. "If it were a seasoned mid-level saint, you would have died long ago. How could you have lasted until now?"
"It seems I still need to work harder," Zhang Ruochen said.
Liao Teng replied, "It is good that you have such awareness, but unfortunately, you no longer have the chance to strive."
Liao Teng once again raised his sacred manifestation, swinging his palm. A devastating sacred force surged forth, aiming to deliver a fatal blow to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen looked up, calm and composed. He traced a line with his finger and murmured, "Open!"
A pitch-black rift appeared in the sky, as if a gate to the void had been opened. It directly split the sacred manifestation and flew toward Liao Teng.
"How is this possible? The space itself has been torn... I understand now... You are Zhang Ruochen..."
Liao Teng finally remembered. The current Gu Linfeng bore an uncanny resemblance to the Heir of Time and Space, Zhang Ruochen. They were very likely the same person.
The Undying Blood Clan's transformation technique was renowned throughout the world, and no one could see through it. But Liao Teng had not expected Zhang Ruochen's transformation technique to be equally formidable.
Not daring to touch the spatial rift, Liao Teng immediately dodged to the right.
Zhang Ruochen, having torn the space, had anticipated Liao Teng's rightward evasion. Thus, he used Spatial Displacement and appeared directly above Liao Teng.
"Zi Sword."
Zhang Ruochen executed the Zi Sword technique from the Twelve Hour Sword Art. Time imprints merged with the sword technique, causing the flow of time in the surrounding space to become extremely slow.
"Swish."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword swept across, severing Liao Teng's head.
The vitality of an Undying Blood Clan saint was indeed terrifying. Even with his head separated from his body, he still retained consciousness. Both parts of his body flew toward the same direction, attempting to rejoin.
"Again."
Zhang Ruochen conjured thirty-six sword qi streams in rapid succession, striking Liao Teng's body.
The sacred body instantly shattered into pieces, scattering in dozens of directions.
Liao Teng's head flew through the air, emitting strange sounds. Ripples of saint qi and sacred dao rules spread outward.
"Boom, boom."
The fragments of his sacred body all exploded, turning into dozens of clouds of blood qi that flew toward the location of his head.
"Even after being chopped up like this, can he still reshape his body?"
Zhang Ruochen was alarmed. He took out a half-saint-level blood-suppressing talisman, infused it with saint qi, and hurled it at Liao Teng's head.
As the blood-suppressing talisman neared Liao Teng's head, it exploded with a bang, transforming into a mass of white energy that enveloped the head.
The white energy resembled a white net, binding Liao Teng's head and sealing the blood qi within.
"What is this?"
Liao Teng roared. From the seven orifices of his head, powerful sacred dao force surged forth, shattering the white net formed by the blood-suppressing talisman and breaking free.
On the other side, the dozens of clouds of blood qi had already flown back, about to merge with the head.
"Impressive. Even with such severe injuries, he is still this strong."
Reluctant to use his only saint-level blood-suppressing talisman, Zhang Ruochen took out nine half-saint-level blood-suppressing talismans instead. Just as he was about to unleash them—
Liao Teng, evidently sensing the danger, activated a divine manifestation technique. His entire head ignited, erupting with power even more terrifying than at his peak.
"Zhang Ruochen, even if I fall back to the half-saint realm, I will still kill you!" Liao Teng roared.
Having activated the divine manifestation technique, Liao Teng was clearly beyond Zhang Ruochen's ability to contend with.
Zhang Ruochen, unwilling to waste the nine blood-suppressing talismans, put them away. Waving his hand, he said, "Forget it. Qing Mo, he is yours. I want him alive."