Chapter 1433: Slaughter Them All
Even a defensive ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact, when unleashing its full power, possessed a truly astonishing might.
The thunder and fire surging from the Monument Shield condensed into a giant stele over a thousand zhang tall, manifesting before the shield.
"Boom, rumble."
Zhang Ruochen was forced back dozens of li, the Monument Shield in his hand turning crimson red and emitting sparks, as if it were about to melt.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen withstood the lightning pillar unleashed by the Ninety-Nine Return-to-One Grand Formation, steadied his stance, and stood tall on the ground. Gradually, the Monument Shield cooled down as well.
"He... actually blocked the attack of the Ninety-Nine Return-to-One Grand Formation?"
All the Rakshasa Marquises were astonished.
The major powers of Yushan Realm, Yuanze Insect Realm, and Wancheng Realm found it hard to remain calm. They finally realized that Zhang Ruochen's strength had likely reached the pinnacle below the Saint King level.
He was undoubtedly a talent.
"A true top-tier expert. Keep a close eye on this man. Once he takes off that blood armor, we must find out who he really is."
"Probably some old fellow with deep reserves. Among young saints, those with such power are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."
...
The silver-haired lion-man's eyes showed a flicker of wariness. With a movement, he transformed into a streak of light and charged into the center of the Ninety-Nine Return-to-One Grand Formation.
From then on, he would personally control the formation.
The remaining dozens of Rakshasa Marquises also gathered near the formation. Now, only by relying on the formation's power could they hope to suppress the blood-armored cultivator.
"Whoosh, whoosh."
Zhang Ruochen stepped on a luan and a phoenix, constantly shifting his form, leaving behind afterimages as he rapidly approached the Ninety-Nine Return-to-One Grand Formation.
Though the formation was powerful, it simply could not lock onto Zhang Ruochen.
When he was only a dozen li away from the formation, Zhang Ruochen raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword with both hands, pouring his sacred qi continuously into the blade.
The sword radiated ten thousand zhang of light.
Each beam of light was a sword qi. Where they struck the ground, they created bottomless holes.
This time, Zhang Ruochen directly unleashed the full power of the Abyssal Ancient Sword. The sword's might emanating from the blade made the Rakshasa Marquises on the ground tremble with fear, their bodies shaking uncontrollably.
The silver-haired lion-man felt his scalp tingle and roared, "Activate the Ninety-Nine Return-to-One Grand Formation immediately! Launch the strongest attack—we must kill him!"
The power of the eighty-one Rakshasa Marquises combined. In moments, the world's spiritual energy violently churned, and the sacred qi erupting from their bodies transformed into a sea of interwoven lightning above.
Bolts of lightning, like pillars, shuttled between the sky and the lightning sea, painting a scene reminiscent of the world's creation.
Then, the eighty-one Rakshasa Marquises simultaneously extended a palm and pressed downward.
From the lightning sea, a purple hand hundreds of meters long emerged, striking toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Kill!" Zhang Ruochen roared.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword, at full power, condensed a giant sword's shadow and slashed down.
"Boom."
The purple hand was shattered by the Abyssal Ancient Sword. The terrifying sword qi tore through the lightning sea and struck above the Ninety-Nine Return-to-One Grand Formation.
The eighty-one Rakshasa Marquises barely held for a moment before the war sword pierced the light shield above them and heavily struck the ground.
"Pfft."
All eighty-one Rakshasa Marquises were sent flying by the sword qi wave. Twelve of them died on the spot, turning into bloody corpses.
"Run! Only by asking Second-Class Marquis Bai Yu to intervene can we suppress this man!"
After shouting this, the silver-haired lion-man spread a pair of three-zhang black wings on his back, turned into a beam of light, and rushed into the clouds, flying rapidly toward the space wormhole.
The other Rakshasa Marquises, terrified out of their wits, also soared into the air, turning into patches of dark red sacred clouds, desperate to escape.
Zhang Ruochen did not chase. He only called out, "Shi Shenghua."
Shi Shenghua burst out from Zhang Ruochen's back. Her vines grew thicker and longer, reaching above the clouds. Then, tens of thousands of branch vines sprouted, completely enveloping the sky and earth.
Looking up from the ground, one could no longer see the sky—only vines and leaves, along with lightning and flames interwoven among them.
Shi Shenghua's current strength was comparable to a Supreme Saint, so dealing with those low-level Rakshasa Marquises was no trouble.
Screams continuously echoed from within the vines.
Some Rakshasa Marquises were pierced through by Shi Shenghua's vines; others were wrapped in vines and leaves, squeezed tighter and tighter, until they turned into bloody pulp.
In terms of mass slaughter, Zhang Ruochen was no match for Shi Shenghua.
Of course, a few Fourth-Class Marquises used sacred artifacts to shatter some of Shi Shenghua's vines and leaves, escaping.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the Azure Sky Bow, nocked the Daylight Arrow onto the bowstring, and drew it to a full moon.
"Twang."
A sound like mountains crumbling and earth splitting rang out.
The Daylight Arrow flew out at a hundred times the speed of sound, trailing a tail hundreds of meters long, and struck a Fourth-Class Marquis. With a scream, that Marquis fell from the sky.
The Daylight Arrow contained a deathly force. Once it struck a living being, that force would follow the blood, invade the body, and devour its life force.
It could be said that the Daylight Arrow was an arrow of certain death.
"Twang."
"Twang."
...
Zhang Ruochen shot ten arrows in succession, killing all the Fourth-Class Marquises who had escaped.
Only the silver-haired lion-man, using a ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact, blocked two arrows and managed to flee the battlefield, though heavily wounded.
"A mere Third-Class Marquis can withstand two of my arrows without dying. I wonder how powerful a Second-Class Marquis must be?"
The silver-haired lion-man had already flown ten thousand li away. Even if Zhang Ruochen shot another Daylight Arrow, he could not kill him, so Zhang Ruochen put away the Azure Sky Bow and Daylight Arrow.
Zhang Ruochen surveyed the battlefield, filled with chaotic sacred power. Everywhere, there were corpses of saints, and even the soil was stained red by sacred blood.
"I thought that becoming a saint meant rising above all living beings, enjoying their worship and respect. But with greater power comes greater responsibility—I must fight for my home realm's survival. And in this battle, even the lives of saints are as insignificant as weeds."
Zhang Ruochen was deeply moved.
If he could, Zhang Ruochen would rather choose to live in seclusion in the mountains, drinking wine, rowing a boat, admiring the scenery, and preferably having a confidante by his side.
Imagination was always so beautiful, but the reality before him could shatter all his dreams.
Zhang Ruochen set aside his thoughts and sent the Abyssal Ancient Sword flying. The artifact spirit controlled the blade, flying over the ruined battlefield, beginning to refine the sacred weapons and war tools of the Blade Prison Realm saints and Rakshasa Marquises.
After all, over a thousand saint-level beings had fallen on this battlefield. Their sacred artifacts were of very high quality. If all were refined, the Abyssal Ancient Sword's grade could be greatly enhanced.
"Swoosh—"
The Hundred Saint Blood Armor covering Zhang Ruochen's body turned back into a fist glove.
Then, a sacred soul doppelganger stepped out from his body.
That doppelganger gradually condensed into a real body, identical to Zhang Ruochen's true form.
Zhang Ruochen had the sacred soul doppelganger carry two precious bottles to collect the blood and sacred souls of the Rakshasa Marquises, while his true form walked toward the two Supreme Saints of Blade Prison Realm.
The two Supreme Saints of Blade Prison Realm had taken healing sacred pills, and their injuries had mostly recovered.
The one-armed Supreme Saint had regrown his other five arms. All six arms emitted dazzling sacred light, and a slight clench of his fists produced thunderous sounds.
The red tiger Supreme Saint's external injuries had healed. He had recondensed into human form, becoming a burly giant with a broad back. Beside him stood a sacred blade as wide as a door plank, its edge radiating cold light.
The six-armed Supreme Saint, seeing Zhang Ruochen approach, realized how young he was and felt a hint of awe.
Which realm's young prodigy was he?
"Thank you, friend, for saving us," the red tiger Supreme Saint said with a cupped fist salute.
Zhang Ruochen coldly glanced at the two and said, "Don't thank me. I never intended to save you."
The six-armed and red tiger Supreme Saints had lived for over five hundred years and were extremely shrewd. They had long seen through everything, knowing that Zhang Ruochen had deliberately used Blade Prison Realm to weaken the Rakshasa clan's combat power. Otherwise, if he had stepped forward earlier to deal with the Rakshasa, how could Blade Prison Realm have been completely annihilated?
Yet the six-armed and red tiger Supreme Saints understood that with their strength, they were no match for Zhang Ruochen, so they could only play dumb.
The six-armed Supreme Saint smiled, "If not for your intervention, we two would have died under the Rakshasa's siege. We owe you this favor. In the future, if there's anything you need, friend, just give the order. We'll repay this debt even if it means giving our all."
Zhang Ruochen had no intention of being a good person or building a friendship. He said coldly, "Enough talk. Hand over your sacred blood and sacred souls."
The smiles on the six-armed and red tiger Supreme Saints' faces vanished, and their expressions turned grim.
What had to come, had come.
The red tiger Supreme Saint's body erupted with blazing flames, spreading a cloud of fire around him. He said sternly, "You're too overbearing! Do you think Blade Prison Realm fears you?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Hand over the sacred blood and sacred souls, and I'll let you live. If not, I'll kill you and take them myself."
"That won't be so easy! If I self-detonate my sacred source, we'll all die."
The red tiger Supreme Saint tried to intimidate Zhang Ruochen into backing down.
...
(Some readers asked about Zhang Ruochen giving the Ten Saint Blood Armor to Mu Lingxi. Let me clarify here: Didn't Zhang Ruochen kill many Death Knights and obtain many Ten Saint Blood Armors? There wasn't just one set, but many.)
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