Chapter 1428: Seven Realms Saint Army
Before entering the Saint Path, Nine Lings Great Saint issued a storage pouch to every saint.
Inside the storage pouch were a map and two precious bottles.
The map depicted the four world fragments of Ancestral Spirit Realm, divided based on their locations into: Western World, Eastern World, Southern World, and Northern World.
The two precious bottles were used to collect Rakshasa blood and saint souls respectively.
Killing a Rakshasa did not require its corpse to exchange for merit points.
In fact, collecting just a drop of blood or a wisp of a saint soul was enough—the Merit Book's own consciousness could determine whether you had killed that Rakshasa.
Nine Lings Great Saint said, "Let me remind everyone again: the Saint Merit War lasts three months. On each of the four world fragments of Ancestral Spirit Realm, there is a Merit Book Wall. As long as you find a Merit Book Wall, you can exchange for merit points at any time."
"Furthermore, on the merit battlefield, you must not only guard against the Rakshasa Clan of Hell Realm but also against your competitors. Because they might also strike to snatch the blood and saint souls you have collected."
"Haha."
A laugh carrying immense saintly might resounded through the heavens and earth.
Immediately after, a vast expanse of white saint clouds surged forward like ocean waves, layer upon layer, rolling in from the distance.
Then, roughly one hundred fifty thousand saints rushed out from the saint clouds and landed on the ground.
They stood in orderly ranks, most of them carrying a saint saber on their backs, exuding a chilling and fierce aura.
Four figures hovered above the one hundred fifty thousand saint army. The saintly might erupting from them was on par with Nine Lings Great Saint, Jiemie Great Emperor, and Wu Zu.
Among them, one figure had a human body but seven silver dragon heads. He was a Great Saint-level giant of Blade Prison Realm, the Seven-Headed Dragon Venerable.
The Seven-Headed Dragon Venerable's seven dragon heads all laughed simultaneously, "Nine Lings Great Saint's words are somewhat unpleasant to hear. We Seven Realms of Shatuo have all stepped onto the battlefield to fight against Hell Realm and kill enemies together. How could we possibly strike at our own people?"
Nine Lings Great Saint snorted lightly, "In the merit war thirty years ago, if you hadn't ambushed Ancestral Spirit Realm, it might not have become a world battlefield."
The Seven-Headed Dragon Venerable said, "That was Ancestral Spirit Realm's own choice to become an enemy of Blade Prison Realm. What can be done? Guanghan Realm and our Blade Prison Realm are allies—how can they be compared?"
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Su Qingling stood to Zhang Ruochen's right and said to him, "They are from Blade Prison Realm, one of the Seven Realms of Shatuo. Their strength far exceeds Guanghan Realm."
"Thirty years ago, Blade Prison Realm and Purple Mansion Realm joined forces against Ancestral Spirit Realm. On the merit battlefield, they killed many saints and saint kings of Ancestral Spirit Realm. Even our Guanghan Realm was ambushed by them. They are ruthless—once we enter the merit battlefield, we must guard against them."
"This is too brutal," Mu Lingxi said.
Su Qingling looked Mu Lingxi up and down, revealing a bright smile with her white teeth, "Little sister, the merit battlefield is far more brutal than you imagine."
"Thank you for the reminder, Sister Su."
Mu Lingxi smiled charmingly, but her lively starry eyes also looked Su Qingling up and down.
The saints of Guanghan Realm clearly harbored deep hostility toward Blade Prison Realm. Cold light flickered in every cultivator's eyes.
Moments later, Purple Mansion Realm, which had close ties with Blade Prison Realm, also arrived at the entrance of the Saint Path.
Purple Mansion Realm's strength surpassed Blade Prison Realm, ranking second among the Seven Realms of Shatuo. It had three hundred thousand saints, three times Guanghan Realm's number.
Purple Mansion Realm's saint army directly merged with Blade Prison Realm's saint army, creating an immensely grand momentum. The saint light from all the saints connected, forming a vast sea of saints.
In Purple Mansion Realm, an old man in a purple robe stood in the void, laughing, "Nine Lings, how about our three realms join forces this time to deal with Kunlun Realm?"
From Blade Prison Realm, the Seven-Headed Dragon Venerable stepped forward again, saying, "Kunlun Realm was once a top-ten great world on the Myriad Realms Merit Ranking. It hides many extraordinary treasures. Only by turning it into a battlefield can we legitimately enter and seize those treasures."
Nine Lings Great Saint said, "Kunlun Realm is so weak. With your two realms joining forces, it's enough to annihilate them completely. Guanghan Realm has no need to intervene further."
The two Great Saints from Purple Mansion Realm and Blade Prison Realm did not press the invitation further.
After all, Nine Lings Great Saint was right—Kunlun Realm was too weak. With their two realms' strength, they could easily swallow it whole.
The reason they invited Guanghan Realm was merely to signal that their main target this time was not Guanghan Realm, hoping Guanghan Realm would not oppose them.
"Three hundred thousand saints—Purple Mansion Realm is too powerful."
Zhang Ruochen's mood grew heavy.
Other Guanghan Realm saints had only one task: kill more Rakshasa and earn more merit points.
But Moon God had given Zhang Ruochen another task: he must secure first place on the Saint Merit Ranking.
And the second-ranked Purple Mansion Realm alone was already this absurdly powerful.
How strong was the top-ranked Great Demon Ten Directions Realm?
Winning first place on the Saint Merit Ranking was clearly more than ten times harder than Zhang Ruochen had anticipated.
Not long after, Kunlun Realm's saint army also arrived at the entrance of the Saint Path.
The Great Saints leading Kunlun Realm's army were Chaos Army Master and Living Bodhisattva.
These two were juniors among Great Saints, nowhere near comparable to the giants of Purple Mansion Realm, Blade Prison Realm, and Guanghan Realm.
However, the number of saints from Kunlun Realm far exceeded Zhang Ruochen's estimate—there were actually sixty to seventy thousand.
Clearly, Chi Yao must have activated the Heavenly Wheel Seal, using thirty times the time flow to produce so many saints in a short period.
Still, sixty to seventy thousand saints was far less than Guanghan Realm's numbers. Surviving under the pincer attack of Purple Mansion Realm and Blade Prison Realm was nearly impossible.
Among Kunlun Realm's saint army, Zhang Ruochen spotted many familiar figures.
Shengshu Cainü, Canglan Martial Saint, Qiu Yu, Heavenly Fate Corpse Emperor, Chu Siyuan, Xue Wuye, Lidi Heshang, Wan Zhaoyi, Nine Nether Sword Saint, Burial Moon Sword Saint, Pei Yutian, Chen Wutian, Mind Art Buddha Master, Han Qiu, A Le, Senior Brother Qingxiao, Second Senior Brother Zhu Hongtao, Third Senior Brother Wan Ke...
All the saints of Kunlun Realm were in the army—some were Zhang Ruochen's enemies, some his friends, some his senior and junior brothers, and some his close companions.
Shengshu Cainü spotted Zhang Ruochen in Guanghan Realm's army. First, she showed a contemplative expression, then, as if she understood the reason, she let out a soft sigh.
The other saints of Kunlun Realm also saw Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi.
"Zhang Ruochen actually joined Guanghan Realm and is representing them in the merit war. Doesn't he know that if Guanghan Realm wins, it means Kunlun Realm loses?" Qiu Yu stood in the saint army, stirring up emotions, clearly targeting Zhang Ruochen.
"The only great world we might possibly defeat is Guanghan Realm."
"Zhang Ruochen is a traitor. He betrayed Kunlun Realm and is a common enemy of all Kunlun."
"Don't let me encounter him on the merit battlefield, or I'll kill him first."
Second Senior Brother Zhu Hongtao roared, "What are you all shouting about? My junior brother was forced out of Kunlun Realm by the Empress. He had no choice but to join Guanghan Realm. It's not his... who ambushed this saint..."
Before Zhu Hongtao could finish, he was attacked from behind, a bloody hole stabbed into his back.
Kunlun Realm's saint army fell into chaos. Anyone who dared to speak for Zhang Ruochen was targeted and insulted.
In the end, Chaos Army Master released his saintly might, intimidating the crowd, and finally silenced them.
Zhang Ruochen remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged, as if he could not hear the insults.
Gradually, the saint armies of Great Demon Ten Directions Realm, Eight Divisions Realm, and Heavenly Mother Realm arrived at the entrance of the Saint Path one after another.
Among them, Great Demon Ten Directions Realm was the strongest, with five hundred thousand saints, far surpassing the second-ranked Purple Mansion Realm.
Eight Divisions Realm was also quite powerful, with about two hundred sixty thousand saints.
Heavenly Mother Realm's strength fell between Blade Prison Realm and Guanghan Realm, with roughly one hundred thirty thousand saints.
In summary, Great Demon Ten Directions Realm belonged to the first tier; Purple Mansion Realm and Eight Divisions Realm belonged to the second tier; Blade Prison Realm, Heavenly Mother Realm, and Guanghan Realm belonged to the third tier; and Kunlun Realm belonged to the fourth tier.
"Moon God must be joking, right? Great Demon Ten Directions Realm is this terrifyingly strong, and she wants me to lead Guanghan Realm to first place in the Saint Merit War?" Zhang Ruochen felt a massive headache coming on.
However, Moon God must have had a reason for telling Zhang Ruochen to go all out for first place. Perhaps she knew some secret and was worried Guanghan Realm would end up last.
Zhang Ruochen began to think about how to secure first place in the Saint Merit War.
Using conventional methods was clearly hopeless.
After all, no matter how strong he was, he was just one person. How could he match the killing efficiency of hundreds of thousands of saints?
Zhang Ruochen kept shaking his head and finally gave up thinking, muttering to himself, "I'll worry about this headache-inducing problem once I'm on the merit battlefield."
A supremely sacred voice rang out from the sky above: "The Saint Path opens."
A massive vortex appeared before all the saints, eventually transforming into a circular sacred gate one hundred zhang in diameter.
Standing outside the sacred gate, one could see a long Saint Path inside.
The other end of the Saint Path connected to a reddish-yellow rocky planet. That planet was located above the four world fragments of Ancestral Spirit Realm, thousands of miles from the ground.
An hour later, all the saints of the Seven Realms of Shatuo arrived on the rocky planet.
That sacred voice sounded again: "Send the saints of the seven realms into the merit battlefield."
Immediately, two Great Saints from Heavenly Mother Realm—one male and one female—flew above the saints of Guanghan Realm.
Among them, the handsome male Great Saint waved his sleeve. Instantly, the one hundred thousand saints of Guanghan Realm lost control of their bodies and flew toward the four world fragments below, falling like raindrops toward the ground.
The four world fragments were so vast that all the saints of Guanghan Realm were scattered. Even the closest two saints were probably tens of thousands of miles apart, unable to gather together anytime soon.
At the same time, the saints of the other six realms also fell toward the four world fragments.
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(End of chapter)