Chapter 1265: Siege, Sudden Change
The three icebergs happened to form a triangular area, and the iceberg where Zhang Ruochen and the others stood was at the center of this triangle, surrounded by three Death God Knights.
"Death God Light."
The three Death God Knights simultaneously infused their Saint Qi into their spears. From the three spears, three rings of blood-red light surged forth and overlapped. Within the light, death energy continuously accumulated, causing the space inside the light rings to seem to solidify.
"Death God Light again. They want to seal off the space to prevent me from escaping."
Zhang Ruochen smiled, unafraid of the powerful aura emanating from the Death God Knights. He looked around and added, "If I remember correctly, there should be a fourth Death God Knight. Why hasn't he appeared?"
The Death God Knights all wore the Ten Saint Blood Armor and emitted very similar auras, but different individuals always had subtle differences.
Zhang Ruochen had clashed several times with the first Death God Knight dispatched by the Undying Divine Temple and was very familiar with his aura. He was certain that knight was not among the three before him.
"Boom."
Suddenly, the iceberg beneath Zhang Ruochen and the others shook violently and then rapidly rose upward.
"Someone is below."
Qing Mo exclaimed softly, a look of fear appearing on her face.
A Death God Knight burst out from the seawater, with enormous blood wings on his back, emitting a chilling, sinister aura. He lifted the hundreds-of-meters-tall iceberg and charged rapidly into the sky.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen understood what was happening. The fourth Death God Knight had been hiding in the water, waiting for the three Death God Lights to be activated before launching a surprise attack on them.
The seawater here was cold enough to freeze Saint-realm beings to death, yet the Death God Knight could withstand that chill without freezing—truly remarkable.
"Zhang Ruochen, how will you escape this time?"
The Death God Knight roared, then clenched his five fingers into a fist and punched the bottom of the iceberg.
"Boom."
The iceberg, struck by the Death God Knight's fist, cracked with dozens of fissures like ceramic and then shattered into icy fragments with a loud crash.
The powerful fist energy formed a vase-shaped fist imprint, surging upward, piercing through the broken iceberg, and heading toward Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yanchen, Qing Mo, Ao Xinyan, and Xiao Hei.
At this moment, carried by the iceberg, Zhang Ruochen and the others had already flown several hundred meters into the air, surrounded by fierce Yin Extreme Gang Wind. If they were also hit by the fist imprint, even if they could withstand the blow, they would be flung even higher.
The higher they flew, the more dangerous it became.
Clearly, the Death God Knight's goal was not to kill Zhang Ruochen and the others with this punch but to use the power of the Yin Extreme Gang Wind to finish them off.
Qi Sheng stood with his arms crossed, his eyes glowing blood-red, watching Zhang Ruochen, who had been flung into the sky after the ambush, with a smile.
"In this battle, I must eliminate this great enemy," Qi Sheng thought to himself.
With Zhang Ruochen's combat reflexes, he naturally wouldn't let the Death God Knight succeed. Using all his strength, he slashed downward with his sword, tearing apart the vase-shaped fist imprint.
The sword energy pierced through the fist imprint but did not dissipate. The remaining force struck the Death God Knight.
"Clang."
Sparks flew from the Ten Saint Blood Armor on the Death God Knight, and then he rapidly fell downward, plunging into the Yin-Yang Sea with a splash.
"The speed of the sword strike and the flying sword energy is too fast!"
Demon Heaven Crown Prince was also a skilled sword cultivator, but seeing Zhang Ruochen's earlier strike made his scalp tingle.
If Zhang Ruochen executed that strike within a hundred zhang of him, he wouldn't be able to dodge it.
In other words, mastering this sword technique meant that within a hundred zhang of Zhang Ruochen was a death zone. Once someone approached, they couldn't escape. Only a Thorough Ground Saint might be able to block that strike.
Qi Sheng's expression turned grim. "It's not that the sword is fast, but that time within that space has slowed down. Zhang Ruochen has actually fused sword techniques with time. With this kind of swordsmanship, he can rival a Sword Saint. He must die. We can't let him grow any further; otherwise, eliminating him in the future will be as difficult as reaching the heavens."
The Undying Goddess glanced at Qi Sheng with a strange look.
In the past, no matter how outstanding the opponent Qi Sheng faced, he was always confident, exuding an air of arrogance that looked down on all beings.
But today, he had twice said that Zhang Ruochen must be eliminated, showing that in front of Zhang Ruochen, the once undefeated Qi Tian Crown Prince was losing confidence.
Before Zhang Ruochen and the others could land back on the sea surface, the Death God Knights positioned at three corners continuously launched Saint-level attacks, preparing to join forces and kill them.
The combat power of the Death God Knights was formidable, not far behind that of a Thorough Ground Saint. Except for Qing Mo, no one dared to take their attacks head-on.
Of course, even with Qing Mo's strength alone, unless she used the original power of the Silver Kitchen Knife, she might not be able to block the combined attacks of three Death God Knights.
The three Death God Knights had been building up power for their three Saint techniques, which were immensely powerful and could unleash dozens of times the normal attack force.
The three Saint techniques converged in the air, forming three blood-red mountains in a coordinated strike, leaving no escape for Zhang Ruochen and the others.
That was the "Blood Life Mountain Seal," one of the three seals of the Blood Life Death God Seal.
Qing Mo was already trembling with fear, completely panicked, as if she had forgotten her own powerful cultivation. She screamed as she fell.
In this life-and-death moment, Zhang Ruochen remained very calm. He grabbed the falling Qing Mo and said, "Use the Realm Prince Seal to break the space seal first."
"Alright."
Huang Yanchen and Ao Xinyan responded almost simultaneously, taking out their Realm Prince Seals and raising them with both hands.
Huang Yanchen felt a slight surprise and glanced at the Realm Prince Seal in Ao Xinyan's hand. She bit her red lips with her white teeth, showing a hint of annoyance and dissatisfaction.
Such a precious treasure, and Zhang Ruochen had given it to Ao Xinyan.
However, Huang Yanchen quickly suppressed her emotions, channeled her Saint Qi, and activated the power of the Realm Prince Seal. A golden imperial aura burst forth.
"Princess, let me help you."
Qing Mo pressed her small white hands forward, sending a beam of Saint Qi into the Realm Prince Seal, causing its power to surge dramatically.
A cyan heavenly river flew out from the seal, slashing horizontally toward two of the blood-red mountains.
That cyan heavenly river was a strand of Empress Chi Yao's hair, containing the Empress's Saint Dao rules.
Zhang Ruochen and Ao Xinyan controlled the other Realm Prince Seal, activating its imperial aura to collide with one of the blood-red mountains.
"Boom, boom, boom."
The power of the two Realm Prince Seals erupted, shattering the three snow mountains and then rapidly descending to suppress the three Death God Knights below.
"Extinction God Cross Shield."
Qi Sheng's Saint Qi flowed like a blood-red stream through his five fingers into the Extinction God Cross Shield. Then, with a flick of his arm, the massive cross, carrying a cloud of blood, collided with one of the Realm Prince Seals.
"Boom."
With a loud crash, both the Realm Prince Seal and the Extinction God Cross Shield were flung backward, breaking through the wall of Death God Light and landing dozens of miles away.
The Undying Goddess raised a fair arm above her head, spread her five fingers, and shouted softly, "Yin Extreme Gang Wind, heed my command."
"Whoosh."
The Yin Extreme Gang Wind above the Abandoned Deep Sea actually surged toward the Undying Goddess's palm, forming a vortex of Gang Wind.
At the center of the Gang Wind vortex, a semi-transparent giant condensed, thirteen zhang tall, with roaring sounds inside louder than thunder.
A humanoid Gang Wind.
The Undying Goddess launched the humanoid Gang Wind, striking at the other Realm Prince Seal.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the incoming humanoid Gang Wind and his expression changed slightly.
Earlier, when he had flown a hundred meters above the Abandoned Deep Sea, he had been attacked by a three-zhang-tall humanoid Gang Wind and had suffered some injuries.
The humanoid Gang Wind unleashed by the Undying Goddess was thirteen zhang tall, so its destructive power must be even greater.
"Boom."
The humanoid Gang Wind was terrifying. It pierced through the imperial aura surrounding the Realm Prince Seal, struck the seal itself, and pressed down on Huang Yanchen and Qing Mo along with it.
When Zhang Ruochen saw the Undying Goddess unleash the humanoid Gang Wind, he had already activated four thousand inscriptions on the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Break."
With the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, Zhang Ruochen slashed his sword downward from behind the humanoid Gang Wind, splitting it in two from top to bottom.
The shattered humanoid Gang Wind turned into thousands of wind blades, flying in all directions.
Qi Sheng and the Undying Goddess's attacks were aimed at the Realm Prince Seals, clearly trying to prevent Zhang Ruochen and the others from breaking the space seal of the Death God Light.
As long as the space seal wasn't broken, Zhang Ruochen couldn't escape.
"Keep attacking. Let's see how long he can hold out."
Qi Sheng's eyes were cold, and his killing intent grew stronger.
The three Death God Knights once again gathered their Saint Qi to execute a second Saint technique.
The Death God Knight who had fallen into the seawater emerged as a blood light, breaking the surface and landing at a fourth position, also gathering Saint Qi for a technique.
At the same time, Demon Heaven Crown Prince drew the Emperor Slayer Demon Sword. The acupoints on both his palms opened wide, unleashing vast Saint Qi that poured into the sword's body.
The inscriptions on the Emperor Slayer Demon Sword continuously emerged, and the aura it emitted grew stronger and stronger. Finally, it turned into a streak of light, charging toward Zhang Ruochen, who was hovering in midair.
In the distance, among the layered icebergs, nine Blood Saints of the Undying Blood Clan were collecting treasures from inside the icebergs while also watching the siege battlefield on the sea.
"Zhang Ruochen is now a turtle in a jar. He can't escape even if he wants to. Haha!" A withered Blood Saint laughed sinisterly.
"Even Chi Wansui, who commands a large number of imperial court experts, would think twice before engaging us. Zhang Ruochen is just a human fugitive, daring to challenge the entire Undying Blood Clan. Isn't that just asking for death?"
"Now it's a trapped beast's final struggle. He won't last much longer."
The withered Blood Saint withdrew his gaze and continued collecting treasures from the corpse.
The ancient corpse lying on the ice block was an old man wearing a golden python robe, appearing to be about sixty years old. No one knew how many years he had been dead.
Just as the Blood Saint reached for a jade pendant at the corpse's waist, the ancient corpse's pupils suddenly opened, shooting out two black beams of light that pierced through the Blood Saint's body, leaving two wine-cup-sized bloody holes.
"Ah... the dead corpse... came alive..."
The Blood Saint let out a terrified scream, then fell stiffly backward into the freezing seawater. Moments later, an iceberg rose on the sea surface, and the Blood Saint's corpse was frozen inside it.