Chapter 1427: Battlefield Mirror Image

Entering the cultivation cave, Zhang Ruochen was the first to take out the Monument Shield and began studying it.

The shield was shaped like a tortoise shell, bulging outward in the center, with dozens of gems embedded along the edges. Each gem was extremely precious, containing unique energy fluctuations.

Inside the shield, there were over twelve thousand inscriptions, including both defensive inscriptions and lightning and fire elemental inscriptions.

Zhang Ruochen infused Sacred Qi into the Monument Shield, and the surface of the shield immediately emitted a glow of intertwined lightning and fire.

Zhang Ruochen did not dig out the Time-Space Crystal but left it embedded on the shield.

"Whoosh—"

Zhang Ruochen infused Sacred Qi into the Time-Space Crystal, and his body vanished from the cultivation cave, entering the inner space of the crystal.

"In the past, I treated the Time-Space Crystal as a spiritual cultivation ground, constantly absorbing the crystal's spiritual energy from the inner space, causing its energy to deplete and turn to ash. I must not make that mistake again."

Inside the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, Zhang Ruochen mobilized his Sacred Qi, continuously pouring it into the blood-red fist glove on his right hand. Immediately, the Hundred Saint Blood Armor manifested and attached itself to his body.

In that instant, Zhang Ruochen felt a hundred powerful wills surging toward him, landing upon him.

The spiritual wills of a hundred saints.

At the same time, a hundred vast streams of knowledge and Sacred Dao insights surged into Zhang Ruochen's mind like a hundred torrents.

The knowledge of a hundred saints.

Even though Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had reached the Heaven-Connecting Realm and his spiritual power was approaching the fifty-fourth rank, he still could not stand steady and nearly fell to the ground.

"So terrifying, so hard to endure."

Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth, supporting himself with his palm on the ground, and continued to infuse Sacred Qi into the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, trying to unleash the legendary power of a hundred saints.

The spiritual wills of the hundred saints and the terrifying ferocity of the blood armor both assaulted Zhang Ruochen's consciousness, as if trying to turn him into a slave of the armor.

"Roar!"

Zhang Ruochen's will was incredibly firm, his mental state comparable even to a Great Saint. Finally, he suppressed the spiritual wills of the hundred saints, let out a loud roar, and stood up again.

"Whoosh—"

The Hundred Saint Blood Armor emitted a ten-thousand-zhang blood-red light. Within the light, a hundred saintly figures of various forms appeared, filling the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal.

At this moment, the figures of a hundred saints also appeared in Zhang Ruochen's mind, practicing various martial arts and sacred techniques. Some wielded sword techniques, some performed fist techniques, some spat flames, and some shot beams of light from their eyes...

This was the Hundred Saints Martial Performance.

What Zhang Ruochen had now activated was only the first layer of power of the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, where each saintly figure could only unleash the power of a Lower Realm Saint.

Of course, the combined power of a hundred Lower Realm Saints, plus Zhang Ruochen's own strength, was still quite terrifying.

The second layer of power of the Hundred Saint Blood Armor was the power of a hundred Middle Realm Saints.

The third layer of power of the Hundred Saint Blood Armor was the power of a hundred Upper Realm Saints.

...

"Mastering the power of a hundred saints is no easy task. With my current cultivation, I can barely sustain the first layer of power of the Hundred Saint Blood Armor."

"If I break through to the True Saint Realm, I might be able to try the second layer of power."

Zhang Ruochen tested it. With his current cultivation level, he could only sustain the first layer of power of the Hundred Saint Blood Armor for half a quarter of an hour.

After half a quarter of an hour, due to the massive consumption of Sacred Qi, an intense feeling of weakness spread throughout his entire body.

"The consumption of Sacred Qi is too great. Unless absolutely necessary, I should not use the Hundred Saint Blood Armor. The Ten Saint Blood Armor is sufficient."

Zhang Ruochen could now activate the strongest form of the Ten Saint Blood Armor, and its power was still quite considerable.

Moreover, the defensive power of the Ten Saint Blood Armor was also astonishing, more than enough for battles below the Saint King level.

"Sizzle, sizzle."

As Zhang Ruochen withdrew his Sacred Qi, the Hundred Saint Blood Armor reverted into a fist glove, attached to his right hand.

Next, Zhang Ruochen, within the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, focused all his efforts on refining the Condensed True Sacred Dew.

Each day, Zhang Ruochen could refine about a hundred drops of Condensed True Sacred Dew. His cultivation skyrocketed, quickly breaking through to the middle stage of the Heaven-Connecting Realm.

Over the next twenty-plus days, Zhang Ruochen refined more than two thousand drops of Condensed True Sacred Dew in succession, pushing his cultivation all the way to the late stage of the Heaven-Connecting Realm.

There was no more time to refine Condensed True Sacred Dew. The Saint-Level Merit War was about to begin, so Zhang Ruochen had to stop his seclusion and step out of the Time-Space Crystal.

He would find another opportunity to improve his cultivation once he reached the Ancestral Spirit Realm.

Zhang Ruochen walked out of the cultivation cave and soon sensed dense Sacred Dao fluctuations all around. Countless saints were gathered on this land.

The Sacred Qi emanating from their bodies turned into beams of light, shooting up above the clouds, creating a vast and magnificent sacred cloud in the sky.

Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power for a preliminary investigation and discovered that the number of saints in the Guanghan Realm had actually reached one hundred thousand.

One hundred thousand saints gathered together.

Before Zhang Ruochen came to the Heavenly Court Realm, this was a scene he could not have imagined.

Mu Lingxi's pretty face looked somewhat solemn. "It's terrifying. The Guanghan Realm, ranked second to last among the Seven Realms of the Sanduo, has a hundred thousand saints. How powerful must the Great Demon Ten Directions Realm, ranked first, be? The number of saints in the Kunlun Realm is probably less than half of the Guanghan Realm's. The gap in strength is too great. How are they supposed to fight this merit war?"

After all, she had come from the Kunlun Realm, so Mu Lingxi naturally did not want the Kunlun Realm to become a battlefield, a sacrifice in the war between the Heavenly Court Realm and the Hell Realm.

But the gap in strength was too large. The Kunlun Realm had no chance of winning.

Xiao Hei, on the other hand, seemed indifferent. "After all, the half-saints of the Guanghan Realm have been cultivating in the Heavenly Court Realm. The resources and environment are on a completely different level. It's much easier for them to break through to the Saint Realm, Saint King Realm, and Great Saint Realm than in the Kunlun Realm. It's perfectly normal for their numbers to be double or even several times that of the Kunlun Realm."

Mu Lingxi looked toward Zhang Ruochen, but saw that he appeared quite calm, as if he had no psychological burden.

Zhang Ruochen walked over to Xiao Hei. "Xiao Hei, are you also participating in the Saint-Level Merit War?"

Xiao Hei showed a very disdainful expression. "This Emperor is an existence of such a high level, my cultivation has already reached a lawless and boundless level. How could I possibly participate in a Saint-Level Merit War? Even if I were to participate, it would be in a Great Saint-Level Merit War. However..."

"However, what?" Mu Lingxi asked.

Xiao Hei said arrogantly, "However, the Moon God personally received this Emperor and told me that I don't need to participate in the merit war. I am to stay behind in the Heavenly Court Realm along with those two old fellows who refine pills and brew wine. Mainly because this Emperor's strength is too great, I am the Guanghan Realm's biggest trump card and cannot be easily exposed."

Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi naturally did not believe Xiao Hei's words and could roughly guess some of the reasons.

It was very likely that Xiao Hei's true cultivation had indeed surpassed the Saint Realm, but letting it participate in a higher-level merit war might cause it to hold the Guanghan Realm back. That was why it was left behind in the Heavenly Court Realm.

See through it, but don't say it out loud.

Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi exchanged a glance, then shook their heads, both looking helpless.

"Look quickly, the battlefield mirror image of the Saint-Level Merit War has appeared."

Suddenly, in the sky above the Tongyou Saint Domain, an enormous light screen appeared, covering the entire sky.

On the light screen, the scene of the Ancestral Spirit Ruins Realm was displayed.

It was a magnificent great world, once full of life, with myriad races living there.

But now, the entire great world had shattered. Most of the world's plates had turned into dust, each grain of dust a lifeless rocky planet.

Of course, there were also four huge world fragments floating in the starry sky, not completely broken apart.

Each world fragment was roughly between twenty million and thirty million li in length, like four massive landmasses suspended in the universe.

Zhang Ruochen mobilized his spiritual power to observe the mirror image of the Ancestral Spirit Realm. The image grew closer and closer, and the things he saw became finer and finer.

Finally, his gaze settled on a human city in the Western World. The city was already dilapidated and ruined. On the street, a Rakshasa clan cultivator was holding a human head and gnawing on it. The scene was extremely bloody and cruel.

At that moment, Zhang Ruochen's eyes turned red. He could hardly control his emotions and wanted to kill wildly.

"The Rakshasa clan is too cruel. When we go to the Ancestral Spirit Realm, we must kill them all."

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"They dare to feed on humans? I will beat them until they are annihilated."

...

All the saints present, by mobilizing their spiritual power, could see the war happening in the Ancestral Spirit Realm. Of course, everyone's attention was focused on the major cities of the Ancestral Spirit Realm. Few paid attention to the desolate wilderness.

Jiemie Great Emperor, clad in a suit of sacred armor, flew above the multitude of saints, standing beneath the battlefield mirror image, looking majestic and imposing. "The Saint-Level Merit War is about to begin. You have all seen the fate of the Ancestral Spirit Realm. If you do not want the Guanghan Realm to end up like this, you must all go all out to kill the Rakshasa and earn more merit points."

"Kill!"

Earth-shattering battle cries echoed throughout the entire Tongyou Saint Domain.

Jiemie Great Emperor continued, "Do you see the battlefield mirror image above? Above every saint domain in the Seven Realms of the Sanduo, a battlefield mirror image will appear. In addition, above the Guanghan Realm, the Kunlun Realm, the Great Demon Ten Directions Realm... the seven great worlds, a battlefield mirror image will also appear."

"Therefore, all living beings of the seven great worlds are watching you. This includes cultivators from other worlds in the Heavenly Court Realm, and even some gods. They are all paying attention to this merit war. They can clearly see every battle you fight. You must not disappoint their expectations. Kill, kill, kill, show the might of the Guanghan Realm!"

"When the Guanghan Realm wins the merit war, this Emperor will surely take out the finest treasures to reward the bravest warriors with the greatest merits."

Just as Jiemie Great Emperor was making his speech, in the distant universe far from the Heavenly Court Realm, the battlefield mirror image appeared in the sky above the Kunlun Realm.

All the cultivators of the entire First Central Empire, as well as the various barbarian beast clans in the wild secret realms, all looked up to the sky, gazing at the blood-soaked Ancestral Spirit Realm.

A battlefield mirror image also appeared in the sky above the Guanghan Realm.

...

Who would be the savior of a great world, and who would be the bane of the Hell Realm? Everything would be determined by true strength. And all of this was witnessed by all living beings of the seven great worlds.

The Saint-Level Merit War officially began. Under the leadership of the three giants of the Guanghan Realm, an army of a hundred thousand saints marched toward the sacred path leading to the Ancestral Spirit Realm.