Chapter 1432: Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation
This sacred-level battle lasted an entire night, with the battlefield spanning thirty thousand miles of land. The terrain was severely altered, with scorched earth everywhere, and the sky completely shrouded in black dust, devoid of any light.
Only three saints from the Blade Prison Realm were still holding on, not yet fallen, but they were also severely injured.
A Supreme Saint who originally had six arms was now left with only one, still swinging his blade continuously, slashing out streaks of blade light.
Another Supreme Saint had been beaten back to his original form, transforming into a massive crimson tiger. His body was full of bloody holes, and his sacred blood turned into wisps of blood energy, constantly dissipating outward.
There was also a True Saint, a middle-aged woman, whose chest and abdomen had been pierced through. She was utterly miserable, letting out a fierce roar: "I will take you all down with me!"
The middle-aged woman, like a final burst of life, suddenly erupted with extreme speed, charging into an area where more than ten Rakshasa Marquises were gathered.
Her body split open, radiating blinding beams of sacred light.
"Not good, she is going to self-destruct her sacred source. Fall back immediately!"
Those Rakshasa Marquises all exploded with their fastest speed, retreating backward like more than ten rays of light, scattering in all directions.
"Boom!"
The self-destruction of a True Saint was terrifyingly destructive. The entire ground collapsed downward.
Half of the more than ten Rakshasa Marquises were obliterated, their divine forms annihilated, while the other half fell severely injured, losing their combat ability.
The Supreme Saint with only one arm left had bloodshot eyes and roared, "Snow Ji..."
More than eight hundred and fifty saints, completely wiped out. Only the two of them, Supreme Saints, were still alive. It was too tragic.
The silver-haired lion-faced Third-Class Marquis stepped out from the black evil mist, sneering, "You two are already trapped. Do you want to self-destruct your sacred sources as well?"
The two Supreme Saints of the Blade Prison Realm exchanged glances, then mobilized the remaining sacred power within their bodies and attacked the silver-haired lion-man.
"Boom!"
The silver-haired lion-man took out an iron whip. With a flick of his wrist, tens of thousands of inscriptions appeared on the whip, striking the two Supreme Saints and sending them flying backward.
The terrifying power contained in the iron whip nearly snapped the bodies of the two Supreme Saints in half.
"Heh heh."
The silver-haired lion-man let out a sinister laugh and was about to strike again to finish them off when he suddenly stopped, raising his eyes sharply to look behind the two Supreme Saints.
He saw a figure clad in the Ten Sacred Blood Armor standing atop a lake of magma, walking forward step by step.
The silver-haired lion-man's eyes darkened. The iron whip in his hand emitted a dark red, evil flame. He said, "You've finally shown yourself. I thought you would stay hidden in the shadows forever."
"Whether hiding in the shadows or stepping into the light, it's all just hunting. What difference does it make?" Zhang Ruochen said indifferently.
The silver-haired lion-man snorted coldly, "Quite the bold talk."
"Whoosh!"
Another Rakshasa Third-Class Marquis arrived, flying through the air, holding a stone tower over ten zhang tall in his right hand, with tens of thousands of inscriptions floating on its surface.
The other Rakshasa Marquises also closed in, appearing within a thousand li, surrounding Zhang Ruochen and the two Supreme Saints at the center.
Of course, those Rakshasa Marquises did not dare get too close, fearing the two Supreme Saints might self-destruct their sacred sources and take them down with them.
A distance of a thousand li allowed them to attack or retreat, without worrying about a desperate last stand.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power enveloped an area of a thousand li. He detected that the number of Rakshasa Marquises was over one hundred and seventy, all brimming with battle intent, ready to unleash sacred artifacts and sacred arts to attack him at any moment.
The Third-Class Marquis flying in midair had murderous intent in his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Have you already killed Ni Yue and the others?"
"That's right," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Damn it!"
The Third-Class Marquis activated the half-perfected power of the stone tower. The tower grew larger and larger, reaching a height of a hundred zhang, then crashed downward with tremendous force.
Before the tower even landed, the ground was already sinking.
Zhang Ruochen could have dodged, but he chose not to. Instead, he drew the Abyssal Ancient Sword, also activating its half-perfected power, and slashed upward.
"Boom!"
The stone tower, a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact, was split in two.
The long sword energy flew into the sky, like a heavenly path.
"How is that possible?"
The Third-Class Marquis's eyes nearly popped out. The ancient Tongming Stone Tower had been destroyed with a single sword strike. That sacred sword was far too terrifying.
Zhang Ruochen's figure flew out from between the two halves of the stone tower, turning into a white light, and thrust his sword at the Third-Class Marquis.
"Sword Seven!"
The speed of this strike reached a hundred times the speed of sound, impossible to evade.
The Third-Class Marquis had already lost his stone tower, his protective artifact. He had to activate all his protective talismans. More than twenty layers of light shields emerged from his body, like an impenetrable fortress, guarding him at the center.
"Bang, bang."
The light shields shattered one after another.
Each time a layer of light shield broke, the power of the Abyssal Ancient Sword diminished slightly.
By the time Zhang Ruochen had pierced through all twenty-plus layers of light shields, the Third-Class Marquis had mobilized all his sacred energy to form a hand seal with both hands, managing to block the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Zhang Ruochen released his grip on the sword, then brought his palms together and struck forward, hitting the sword's hilt.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen and the Abyssal Ancient Sword pressed the Third-Class Marquis backward, sending him flying.
After flying dozens of li, the Abyssal Ancient Sword finally pierced through the hand seal between the Third-Class Marquis's hands, striking his body and penetrating it.
"Pfft!"
A hole the size of a washbasin appeared in the Third-Class Marquis's chest.
"Die!"
Zhang Ruochen formed a large hand seal and struck it down on his head. Instantly, the body of a Third-Class Marquis turned into a bloody pulp.
Killing this Third-Class Marquis took Zhang Ruochen only a single breath. The other Rakshasa Marquises had no time to rescue him.
The two Supreme Saints of the Blade Prison Realm exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
With just a few moves, he could kill a Third-Class Marquis, and the opponent couldn't even escape. Such strength could only be described as "terrifying."
The silver-haired lion-man was also shocked. He quickly retreated into the distance while issuing an order: "Attack together! Use the combined attack formation to kill him!"
Among the more than one hundred and eighty Rakshasa Marquises, eighty-one charged forward, entering within a hundred li of Zhang Ruochen.
They stood in eighty-one different positions, clasped their hands together, and their sacred energy surged out wildly, connecting as one to form a formation.
The power of the eighty-one Marquises merged together, releasing an aura stronger than that of a single Third-Class Marquis.
Outside the palace of the Yunwu Commandery in the Kunlun Realm.
Zhang Shaochu stared at the battle mirror in the sky and slapped his forehead hard. "It's over! It's over! Ninth brother was careless! He fell into the Rakshasa Marquises' combined attack formation. What do we do now?"
Some big shots from the Heavenly Court also shook their heads, believing that Zhang Ruochen and the two Blade Prison Realm Supreme Saints would have no way to escape today.
"The Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation, set up by eighty-one saint-level figures, can probably only be broken by the Realm Sons of the Seven Great Worlds."
"Only Wu Hao, Dongliu Sword Venerable, Bai Fang Yi, and Lingyan Demon Consort have the domineering power to break the Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation. A few old fellows from the Kunlun Realm might also have that strength."
...
Trapped inside the Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation, it was almost certain death. Among the saint armies of the Seven Great Worlds, fewer than twenty could contend with it.
However, at that moment, everyone was astonished to see the figure in the Ten Sacred Blood Armor appear outside the Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation.
"How is that possible? How did he escape the formation just now?"
"This is really strange. What kind of being is he?"
"Could he be a Qi Spirit cultivator, able to freely traverse any formation?"
Legend had it that some special gases could give birth to spirituality, develop intelligence, and condense into human-like bodies. Such cultivators were called "Qi Spirit cultivators."
Of course, Qi Spirit cultivators were extremely rare. A single great world might not produce even a few. Those who could cultivate to the saint level were even rarer.
Only the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm knew that Zhang Ruochen had used spatial means to directly teleport outside the Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation.
Having escaped the formation's confinement, Zhang Ruochen immediately launched a counterattack.
"Pfft!"
"Not good, dodge... too fast..."
"You..."
Zhang Ruochen wielded the Abyssal Ancient Sword, like reaping straw men. In just a few moments, he killed more than twenty of the Rakshasa Marquises who had set up the Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation.
However, those Rakshasa Marquises reacted quickly. Knowing the formation was broken, they immediately surrounded him.
But none could withstand even a single move from Zhang Ruochen. In just half an hour, another twenty-plus Rakshasa Marquises were killed, and more than thirty were severely injured.
Zhang Ruochen was simply invincible, forcing the remaining Rakshasa Marquises to flee, none daring to engage him.
"He's too strong. A human wave tactic can't suppress him."
"His cultivation must have reached the peak of Supreme Saint, invincible below Saint King."
...
Zhang Ruochen exploded with extreme speed, chasing down the Rakshasa Marquises. He killed seven more in a row. Among them, two Rakshasa Marquises self-destructed their sacred sources, trying to take him down with them.
Zhang Ruochen used spatial distortion to redirect the destructive power of the self-destruction elsewhere.
Self-destructing their sacred sources posed no threat to him.
"Such a powerful energy fluctuation."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed a dangerous aura and stopped his slaughter. He opened his heavenly eye on his brow and looked toward the eastern sky. He saw that four hundred li away, the Rakshasa Marquises had formed another Ninety-Nine Return to One Grand Formation.
Moreover, the formation was being fully activated by the eighty-one Marquises, unleashing a lightning attack.
It was a lightning pillar dozens of zhang thick, like a river of lightning, striking at Zhang Ruochen at a hundred times the speed of sound.
It was too fast; there was no time to mobilize spatial power.
Zhang Ruochen let out a long roar, activating the Hundred Saint Blood Armor. He spread his legs into a bow stance, grabbed the Fengbei Shield with both hands, and channeled all his sacred energy into the shield, activating its full power.
The shield released an endless stream of thunder and fire, colliding with the lightning pillar.
...
(Sorry for the late update today, but I've finally made up for it. Tomorrow's two chapters will not be missing.)
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