Chapter 1423: Astonishing the Crowd
Blocking that strike, Zhang Ruochen retreated sideways over ten zhang without injury, then continued climbing upward.
Within the sacred mist, Ling Mi’s lively eyes revealed a hint of unusual expression. Her graceful figure then shot out swiftly, climbing upward while launching another attack at Zhang Ruochen.
Su Qingling appeared on Zhang Ruochen’s other side, laughing: “For the sake of the Divine Envoy position, I won’t hold back!”
Su Qingling unleashed powerful sword intent, controlling two sacred swords to attack both Zhang Ruochen and Ling Mi simultaneously, while her true body focused entirely on climbing upward.
Su Qingling’s attainments in the Sword Dao were extremely high. Although she hadn’t cultivated the *Wordless Sword Manual*, the offensive power she unleashed was in no way inferior to a Sword Saint.
Zhang Ruochen dared not underestimate Su Qingling, but he also had no intention of using the power of time and space. Instead, he unleashed the sword intent of Sword Seven, executing nine sword techniques in succession.
“Swish, swish.”
Nine figures appeared in succession, the nine sword techniques striking almost simultaneously, finally knocking away one of Su Qingling’s sacred swords.
Zhang Ruochen had just executed the complete Nine Lives Sword Technique. The sword technique’s power was already formidable, and when combined with Sword Seven, it became infinitely more profound and mysterious.
“What marvelous sword techniques! It seems you’ve also reached the realm of sword intent entering sainthood. After the Divine Envoy competition, we must have a good sparring session.”
Su Qingling smiled charmingly, winking at Zhang Ruochen from above in a manner that was particularly alluring.
At this moment, Su Qingling had charged to the forefront, reaching a height of four hundred zhang, only a few dozen zhang away from the sacred sword.
The battle atop the Guanghan Divine Palace was fierce.
Yet some noticed a rather strange scene: Tree God’s successor, Wen Shucheng, was still standing at the base of the Guanghan Divine Palace.
He was unhurriedly bowing to the palace, appearing extremely respectful, gentle, and refined.
After performing the three kneels and nine prostrations, Wen Shucheng straightened up, looked toward the sky, and murmured: “It seems I’m still in time.”
Wen Shucheng pointed a finger toward the sky.
“Whoosh—”
Immediately, over a dozen golden vines appeared around his body, radiating dazzling light like over a dozen divine ropes. They rapidly grew upward along the walls of the Guanghan Divine Palace.
“Boom, boom.”
In an instant, six True Saint peak-level powerhouses were entangled by the golden vines, pulled down from the palace, and crashed heavily to the ground.
Now, only Ji Kongpo, Bu Ji, Ling Mi, Su Qingling, and Zhang Ruochen remained atop the Guanghan Divine Palace.
However, they too were under attack from the golden vines.
“Wen Shucheng is truly a troublesome fellow, launching long-range attacks at us,” Bu Ji roared, tearing apart a golden vine with a claw. But in an instant, the vine regrew, becoming more numerous and tougher.
“He cultivates Spiritual Power and has comprehended the Way of Life. His advantage lies in long-range attacks,” Ling Mi said.
Ji Kongpo snorted coldly: “If I were within ten zhang of him, I could pierce a bloody hole in him with one thrust of my spear.”
“Then why don’t you go down and deal with him?” Su Qingling chuckled.
At the Ten Thousand Saints Assembly, all the saints of Guanghan Realm were stunned.
One Supreme Saint remarked: “I always thought Wen Shucheng’s strength was on par with Su Qingling’s. I never imagined he could single-handedly contend with over a dozen powerhouses.” Wu Hao’s eyes showed a hint of a smile: “In long-range attacks, Wen Shucheng has always been the number one at the same realm. But saying his strength far surpasses Su Qingling and Ling Mi is an exaggeration. The reason Su Qingling, Ling Mi, and the others are being held back is that they’re unwilling to jump down from the Guanghan Divine Palace to engage Wen Shucheng in close combat.”
The older saints present nodded in agreement with Wu Hao’s view.
One of Wen Shucheng’s vines extended toward the sacred sword, wrapping around its hilt.
Just as everyone thought the sacred sword would be taken by Wen Shucheng, a mass of cyan flame flew out, striking the golden vine.
“Hiss, hiss.”
The golden vine burned like a fiery snake, turning to ashes in moments.
“How is that possible? Those golden vines were condensed from Wen Shucheng’s Spiritual Power and Life Rules. How could a single flame burn them to ashes?”
Countless eyes fixed on the Tongtian Realm saint who had unleashed the flame.
Even some Great Saints who had been resting with closed eyes opened them to look toward the top of the Guanghan Divine Palace.
“Purifying Divine Flame. This is getting more and more interesting,” one Great Saint murmured with a smile.
Wen Shucheng was also slightly surprised. He then mobilized all his other golden vines to attack Zhang Ruochen.
The tip of each vine had grown a three-foot-long spike.
Zhang Ruochen opened the seven apertures of his hands and clapped forward, sending out a vast wave of Purifying Divine Flame that burned all the golden vines to ashes.
Then, Zhang Ruochen turned and charged rapidly toward the sacred sword.
“I underestimated you earlier. It turns out you’re quite a formidable figure.”
Ji Kongpo roared, thrusting his Golden Scale Serpent Spear at Zhang Ruochen’s heart: “Breaking Kill Third Style, Divine Form Annihilation.”
At the same time, Su Qingling, Ling Mi, and Bu Ji also launched their attacks from three other directions at Zhang Ruochen, who was closest to the sacred sword.
With the battle at this stage, no one could hold back any longer. All unleashed their strongest techniques.
Su Qingling channeled her entire sacred Qi, sending out two Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact-level sacred swords, unleashing their semi-perfect power.
Ling Mi took out a dragon pearl, holding it in her palm. A massive ice dragon flew out from the pearl.
“Zhang Ruochen, move aside quickly! I’m going to unleash the full power of the Great Saint Battle Soul.”
Bu Ji let out a lion’s roar, sending golden ripples outward. Behind him, a dozen-zhang-long golden lion battle soul rose, erupting with a profound Great Saint aura.
If Zhang Ruochen didn’t retreat, he would surely fall into the peril of being surrounded on all sides.
But Zhang Ruochen refused to back down. He summoned the Buddha Emperor Relic, holding it in his palm, and activated its internal source power.
“Whoosh—”
A Buddha shadow and a dragon shadow appeared simultaneously, surging forward and colliding with the attacks of the four experts.
“Boom.”
The attacks of the four experts were held back for a single breath’s time by the relic’s source power.
In that single breath, the Devouring Demon Flower, which had shot out from behind Zhang Ruochen, wrapped around the sacred sword’s hilt and pulled it free from the gap between the two sacred stones.
By the next breath, the four experts’ attacks broke through the relic’s defense and surged forward.
But before that, Zhang Ruochen had already leaped down from the over four-hundred-zhang-high Guanghan Divine Palace, falling straight down.
“Boom.”
Zhang Ruochen landed at the center of the Ten Thousand Saints Assembly, kneeling on one knee. A ring of sacred Qi rippled outward in all directions.
Then, Zhang Ruochen retracted the Devouring Demon Flower into his body, grabbed the sacred sword’s hilt, and raised it above his head.
A Tongtian Realm initial-stage saint had seized the sacred sword!
The entire venue fell silent.
No one was not surprised.
Everyone had witnessed this Tongtian Realm saint’s strength. He had fought against all five of Guanghan Realm’s most powerful True Saint experts, especially in the final strike, where he held back the attacks of four experts for a single breath.
The key question was: how could a Tongtian Realm initial-stage saint possess such immense power?
Ji Kongpo, Su Qingling, Bu Ji, and Ling Mi stood atop the Guanghan Divine Palace—some sharp and aggressive, some beautiful and lively, some robust and masculine, some ethereal like immortals. Each wore an expression of disbelief.
Wu Hao gently stroked his chin, his eyes finally showing a hint of excitement.
It was the look of someone who had found a worthy opponent.
Sitting at the highest seat of the Ten Thousand Saints Assembly, Emperor Ji Mie smiled: “Not bad. With him and Wu Hao, the Saint-level Merit War might actually be worth fighting.”
Nine Spirit Great Saint nodded approvingly and announced: “The Divine Envoy for the Saint-level Merit War is Zhang Ruochen. With this, the Ten Thousand Saints Assembly is officially concluded. The chosen Realm Sons and Divine Envoys are to remain. All other saints may now exit the venue.”
After the saints departed, only the three giants, Wu Hao, Zhang Ruochen, and the two other Saint Kings, remained in the venue.
Those two Saint Kings were the Realm Son and Divine Envoy of the Saint King-level Merit War.
Nine Spirit Great Saint first handed over the rewards to the two Saint Kings, gave them some instructions, and then the two Saint Kings left first.
Zhang Ruochen and Wu Hao stepped forward, bowing together to the three giants: “Greetings, Great Saints.”
Nine Spirit Great Saint nodded, signaling them to rise. He then took out two Sacred Jade Bottles from his sleeve and sent them flying.
Zhang Ruochen and Wu Hao caught the Sacred Jade Bottles and put them away. Without needing to guess, they knew the bottles contained ten thousand drops of Condensed True Sacred Dew.
Nine Spirit Great Saint said: “The Saint-level Merit War battlefield you’re heading to is Ancestral Spirit Realm. Your enemy is the Rakshasa Clan of the Hell Realm. The entire Merit War will last three months. As for the detailed rules, you’ll learn them when the Saint-level Merit War officially begins. I’m telling you this now so you know what preparations to make.”
Zhang Ruochen frowned and asked: “Hasn’t the Ancestral Spirit Realm already been destroyed?”
Nine Spirit Great Saint was very patient: “The Ancestral Spirit Realm has indeed been shattered into several pieces, with many realms reduced to ashes and entering the Doomsday Battlefield phase. As a result, all Rakshasa Clan powerhouses above the Saint King level have already withdrawn.”
Zhang Ruochen asked again: “What is the Doomsday Battlefield phase? What is the Rakshasa Clan? Why have all powerhouses above the Saint King level withdrawn?”
Nine Spirit Great Saint smiled knowingly: “You can ask Qingling about this. She can answer those questions. Here, I must give you a few more important reminders.”
(End of chapter)