# Chapter 1345: Nine Stars Linked, Sweeping the World
Zhang Ruochen mobilized Space Rules, directly crossing a distance of dozens of zhang through space, appearing above the Death Knight's head, and striking out with a Saint-level Blood-Suppressing Talisman.
The talisman exploded, and white light enveloped the Death Knight's entire body, sealing his blood energy.
The suicide technique that had already been half-activated instantly stopped.
"No..."
That Death Knight had originally been determined to die, prepared to perish together with Zhang Ruochen, but now, having been interrupted, he was naturally quite unwilling.
He let out a loud roar, trying to break free from the suppression of the Blood-Suppressing Talisman.
With a bang, Zhang Ruochen struck down with full force using his palm. Sacred Dao power transmitted from the top of his head all the way to his legs, shattering the Death Knight's legs, forcing him to his knees, his body sinking into the earth, with only his head still exposed.
Shi Shenghua rushed out from Zhang Ruochen's body, rooted herself on the Death Knight, using him as nourishment, absorbing the blood energy and Saint Power within him.
That Death Knight let out a miserable scream, clearly enduring tremendous pain.
There was not a trace of pity in Zhang Ruochen's heart. When the Undying Blood Clan sucked human blood, they should have been prepared to be sucked themselves.
Seeing this scene, the joy on Yinghuo's face disappeared, and the sense of crisis in her heart grew stronger.
The appearance of the Blood-Suppressing Talisman was simply a catastrophic disaster for the Undying Blood Clan.
However, up to now, their understanding of the Blood-Suppressing Talisman was pitifully limited; they had no idea how to deal with it.
"Zhang Ruochen must be a key figure. No matter what, I have to capture him."
Yinghuo spat out a mouthful of blood, spraying it onto the Ten Thousand Beasts Treasure Mirror. Immediately, a powerful storm surged outward.
"Roar!"
At the center of the storm, a snow-white giant tiger lunged forward, charging out.
It was not a tiger, but a Qiongqi with partial Divine Beast bloodline.
The Qiongqi had a form similar to a white tiger, but its body was hairless, covered instead with white ice spikes, and it had a pair of large wings on its back.
Canglan Wusheng and Princess Baili's expressions became extremely serious, somewhat wary of that Qiongqi.
"Zhang Ruochen, lend me the Buddha Emperor Relic for a moment." Princess Baili said.
If they did not suppress the Qiongqi, they would certainly be unable to deal with Yinghuo. Therefore, without a moment's hesitation, Zhang Ruochen struck out the Buddha Emperor Relic, temporarily lending it to Princess Baili.
Seeing that the Blood-Suppressing Talisman could indeed stop the Death Knight's suicide technique, Guoguo was no longer afraid. Running on two legs, he let out an extremely arrogant roar: "Come, come, come, you scum of the Undying Blood Clan, dare to fight me? Watch me beat you until your divine forms are annihilated!"
At the same time, the Demon Ape lifted a mountain over a thousand meters high and smashed it down toward the Undying Blood Clan cultivators.
The great battle erupted in full force, like a battle between gods and demons, sending sand and stones flying for hundreds of li, with thunder and lightning flashing, Sacred Dao energy filling the sky, and the momentum was overwhelmingly grand.
The human cultivators standing outside Xianji Mountain, looking at that stretch of heaven and earth, all felt a sense of shock.
"Qingxiao Heavenly King, Canglan Wusheng, and Zhang Ruochen are joining forces to fight Situ Fengcheng, the Undying Goddess, and Zhu Qingyi. A life-and-death battle has erupted. It seems another batch of Saints will fall."
"Qingxiao Heavenly King and Situ Fengcheng are both meticulous military commanders with legends of a hundred battles without defeat. I wonder whose legend will be broken today?"
...
Someone transmitted the news back to the Central Domain, causing an even greater uproar.
Because the main combatants in this battle were all legendary figures who shook the world, possessing heaven-defying luck, leading figures of this era. The fall of any one of them would cause a huge stir.
Although the various forces were not in the Northern Domain, they were closely monitoring, collecting the latest information.
"What is Zhang Ruochen trying to do? Having killed over a dozen Blood Saints, he still won't stop? Is he really going to fight the Undying Blood Clan to the death?"
"Kill, turn heaven and earth upside down. Zhang Ruochen and Qingxiao Heavenly King are my idols." A human cultivator whose family had been destroyed by the Undying Blood Clan, upon hearing this news, was extremely excited.
"Canglan Wusheng is worthy of being the head of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens. She personally went to the front lines to fight. She is truly a role model for us female cultivators."
...
...
Inside the Lianzhu Mansion, court officials and Confucian Great Scholars and Saint Scholars were all somewhat bewildered. This great battle had come too suddenly, exceeding their initial calculations.
"Let's go to the Heaven and Earth Chess Game."
Led by Grand Chancellor Wang Shiqi, a group of old men wearing Confucian robes and official uniforms all arrived at the Ninth Mansion of the Lianzhu Mansion, surrounding a nine-foot-long chess platform, observing the changes in the chess game.
"Not only Qingxiao Heavenly King, Canglan Wusheng, and Zhang Ruochen, but Pei Yutian is also nearby."
On the chessboard, Shengshu Cainü discovered the chess piece representing Pei Yutian, and she breathed a slight sigh of relief. With this outstanding talent from the "Heroes Rhapsody" helping them, Zhang Ruochen and the others had a good chance of winning.
However, soon they discovered that some other chess pieces had also appeared near the southern cliff of Xianji Mountain.
Those chess pieces all had no names marked on them.
You see, once a living being reaches the Saint Realm, they immediately transform into a chess piece, appearing on the Heaven and Earth Chess Game.
Subsequently, the imperial court would send envoys to confirm that Saint's identity and mark their identity information on the chess piece.
The appearance of chess pieces without marked names made the outcome of this battle full of variables, impossible to predict.
Wang Shiqi's eyesight far exceeded that of the others, and he noticed something unusual. "The area around Xianji Mountain in the chess game is somewhat strange. I feel as if some extremely powerful figure has changed the Heaven and Earth Rules there, obscuring our observation."
"How is that possible? What kind of person has the power to influence the Heaven and Earth Chess Game?" Someone raised a question.
Shengshu Cainü's eyes stared intently at the chessboard. "A Spiritual Power Great Saint has that kind of power."
Chu Siyuan's gaze sharpened, revealing an expression of disbelief. "Miss Nalan, you mean the Undying Divine Temple Hall Master? A figure like that already stands at the very top of the Kunlun Realm. How could he possibly interfere in a fight among a group of junior Saints? Besides, isn't that Living Bodhisattva in the Earth Divine Temple always restraining him?"
Qin Sect Leader Mei Xiansheng pondered for a moment. "That level of confrontation is beyond our imagination. Sometimes, we only know what happened after the battle is over. But by then, everything is already too late."
Shengshu Cainü gently bit her lip, speculating. "Perhaps Zhang Ruochen, Qingxiao Heavenly King, Canglan Wusheng, or Pei Yutian—one of them—has obtained something extremely terrifying, something that even the Undying Divine Temple Hall Master fears or covets. Is that possible?"
Everyone was stunned, then began to think. Shengshu Cainü's speculation still had some plausibility.
Wang Shiqi's body erupted with a powerful Spiritual Power, and he said seriously, "The first thing to do now is to do everything possible to protect the lives of those few youngsters, and then investigate the cause."
"Everyone, act together. Activate the Nine Stars Linked. I myself will personally wield the Confucian Ancestor Sacred Book and launch an attack on the Undying Divine Temple. I've long wanted to meet that Hall Master of the Undying Divine Temple and see what kind of character he really is."
The Confucian Saints all began to act, each taking their positions in the nine mansions of the Lianzhu Mansion.
"Rumble."
Before long, the entire Central Imperial City shook slightly. All cultivators saw nine bright pillars of light rise from the Lianzhu Mansion.
In the sky, nine brilliant stars appeared, arranged in a straight line. Each star was half the size of the sun.
Not only in the Central Imperial City, but in many places across the Kunlun Realm, this strange phenomenon could be seen.
Wuding Mountain, the Demon Sect's High Priest stood atop the Star Observation Tower, gazing at the nine stars on the horizon, and let out a hoarse voice. "Nine Stars Linked! The Confucian Saints have finally made their move. Are they targeting the Undying Divine Temple Hall Master, or Qitian Blood Emperor?"
Barbarian Secret Realm, Jiuli Palace.
A woman with nine white cat tails stood atop a vermilion palace, stepping on clouds and mist, exuding an air of unparalleled charm. She smiled. "A fight between juniors has stirred up such a huge storm. How many big shots from the human race and the Undying Blood Clan have been dragged into this?"
...
At this moment, the people fighting at the Southern Cliff had no idea that, because of them, a series of chain reactions had been triggered. Many powerful figures had become involved, restraining and countering each other.
Some of those big shots didn't even know why the battle had started, but they were forced to take action.
Pull one hair and the whole body moves.
Zhang Ruochen locked his target onto Yinghuo, unleashing his extreme speed, thrusting his sword toward her brow.
"Don't you have any pity for the fair? Can you bear to kill me?"
Yinghuo did not dodge, only staring at Zhang Ruochen with a plaintive gaze. Her eyes were extremely beautiful and moving, her eyelashes long and slender. She blinked lightly, full of seductive charm.
Faced with such a breathtakingly beautiful face, even the most cold-blooded assassin in the world would hesitate.
But Zhang Ruochen did not hesitate at all. His sword pierced through Yinghuo's brow, tearing apart that beautiful face, shattering it into pieces.
The next moment, even those fragments dissipated with the wind.
"Not good... it's an illusion."
Zhang Ruochen quickly closed his eyes, using his Spiritual Power to perceive his surroundings. Immediately, he detected an extremely dangerous sword energy appearing behind him, the tip of the sword only three chi away from his back.
It was Zhu Qingyi.
At such a close distance, there was no way to dodge. So Zhang Ruochen formed a sword seal with his fingers, swiftly turning around, using his fingers as a sword, striking the tip of the sacred sword.
"Bang."
Zhang Ruochen retreated three steps backward, leaving three large craters in the ground. His two fingers transmitted a sharp pain.
Zhu Qingyi's cultivation was very profound. She had once blocked Pei Yutian's blade strike without dying. Among the Heaven-reaching Blood Generals, she was a top-tier expert, her combat power not much weaker than Zhang Ruochen's. With the assistance of the illusion realm, she posed a considerable threat to Zhang Ruochen.
(Chapter End)