Chapter 1437: The God's Fiancé
Zhang Ruochen flew to the top of the Golden Step Dragon Carriage, his aura surging like a rainbow, his battle intent vast and mighty. He formed his hands into palm seals. Purifying Divine Flame burst forth from his palms, condensing into a giant dragon and a giant elephant, which he sent forward to attack.
Bai Yu was forced back repeatedly. After receiving thirteen consecutive palm strikes, he spat blood, and both his arms became a bloody mess.
"So formidable."
Bai Yu spread a pair of black wings on his back and retreated backward, trying to fly back inside the defensive formation.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Zhang Ruochen drove the Golden Step Dragon Carriage in pursuit, slapping his right hand forward, sending out a Divine Flame dragon dozens of feet long that charged toward Bai Yu's back.
Inside the defensive formation, a Nine-Nine Return One Grand Formation was rapidly activated. From the center of the formation, a massive amount of cold air surged out, condensing into a divine ice blade that slashed toward the Divine Flame dragon.
"Boom."
The two forces, one cold and one hot, clashed violently. The divine ice blade and the Divine Flame dragon dissipated simultaneously.
Bai Yu entered the defensive formation and immediately swallowed a healing sacred pill. Then he issued an order: "Activate the Purple Sun Morning Bell. We must suppress and kill him."
Below the spatial wormhole, inside a hundred-foot-tall stone palace, wisps of purple light radiated outward, like bridges of mist extending toward the horizon.
Over a hundred Rakshasa Marquises simultaneously channeled their sacred Qi into the stone palace.
The palace shattered into rubble, and a purple-gold ancient bell spun into the air, rising to a position several hundred feet above the ground.
Soon, the purple light covered a thousand-mile radius, releasing an extremely dangerous wave of power.
The Purple Sun Morning Bell was the sacred artifact that suppressed the teachings of an ancient sect in the Ancestral Realm. The number of inscriptions inside it exceeded thirty thousand, many times more than an ordinary ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact.
Combining the power of over a hundred Rakshasa Marquises was barely enough to activate the Purple Sun Morning Bell.
Zhang Ruochen sensed the power fluctuations emanating from the Purple Sun Morning Bell, and a great sense of crisis arose in his heart. It felt as if a Saint King was awakening.
"Break open for me."
Zhang Ruochen fully mobilized his spatial power, tearing open a massive rift and hurling it toward the last layer of the defensive formation.
"Boom."
The light barrier formed by the defensive formation shattered, and Zhang Ruochen drove the Golden Step Dragon Carriage charging inside, colliding with a Nine-Nine Return One Grand Formation.
"Boom."
The Nine-Nine Return One Grand Formation broke apart, and eighty-one Rakshasa Marquises were sent flying like scarecrows.
"What kind of war chariot is this? How can it be so powerful, even the Nine-Nine Return One Grand Formation couldn't stop it?"
"Everyone, retreat quickly! Take cover behind the attack formation."
...
Zhang Ruochen stood atop the Golden Step Dragon Carriage, unleashing a wave of Purifying Divine Flame that surged toward those Rakshasa Marquises.
"Sizzle."
As soon as the flames touched them, the Rakshasa Marquises' bodies ignited, turning into fireballs. Their mouths emitted miserable screams. Moments later, they were burned to ashes, not even their bones remaining.
While attacking, Zhang Ruochen also collected residual souls and blood.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen did not linger in battle. Instead, he charged toward the direction of the spatial wormhole. The wheels of the Golden Step Dragon Carriage spun rapidly, producing the sounds of wind and thunder.
"You think you can enter the wormhole that easily?"
A Rakshasa woman of the Third-Class Marquis rank stood beneath the wormhole, pointing her finger toward the Golden Step Dragon Carriage. Immediately, the Rakshasa Marquises controlled the Purple Sun Morning Bell and struck at it.
Zhang Ruochen's expression remained unchanged. He spread his hands, releasing his Space Domain to envelop the Golden Step Dragon Carriage, and shouted, "Great Space Teleportation."
Space trembled violently, and then Zhang Ruochen and the Golden Step Dragon Carriage vanished from their spot.
"Boom."
The Purple Sun Morning Bell struck the ground, cracking the earth for a hundred miles in all directions with dense fissures, then causing it to collapse. Some Rakshasa Marquises, unable to retreat in time, were severely injured by the shockwave of the Purple Sun Morning Bell.
When the Golden Step Dragon Carriage reappeared, it was already near the wormhole.
Zhang Ruochen glanced back at the land struck by the Purple Sun Morning Bell, a chill running down his spine. Fortunately, he could control spatial power; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
This battle had been dangerous but ultimately safe.
"Whoosh."
The Golden Step Dragon Carriage charged into the wormhole, leaving the Golden Jade Mountain Range.
The Rakshasa Marquises stared at this scene, all somewhat stunned. With so many of their strong warriors gathered, supported by over a dozen formations, they still couldn't stop a single young human?
Bai Yu's lips twitched, his eyes filled with cold light. "Immediately send a message to Her Highness the Princess. A human space cultivator has broken through our defenses and gone to the Giant Whale River Basin."
Dust and flames had been shrouding the sky around the wormhole, so outsiders couldn't clearly see the battle. They only saw Zhang Ruochen driving the Golden Step Dragon Carriage into the wormhole at the end.
One man against a group of Rakshasa Marquises—it was unbearably arrogant.
The cultivators of the Guanghan Realm were ecstatic, exploding with excitement. "The Divine Envoy is truly invincible! He broke through the encirclement and entered the wormhole."
"In the presence of the Divine Envoy, the Rakshasa Clan is truly pathetic. Hundreds of Marquises couldn't stop him alone."
The cultivators of the Blade Prison Realm fell into silence, too shocked to speak. They secretly wondered: if it were the Realm Son of the Blade Prison Realm, could he break through the Rakshasa army's heavy defenses?
"Six or seven hundred Rakshasa Marquises couldn't stop Zhang Ruochen. On the Merit Battlefield, who can still be his opponent?"
"No wonder Zhang Ruochen defeated Qiu Yu in three moves at Wuding Mountain. If they fought again now, Qiu Yu probably still couldn't withstand three moves from Zhang Ruochen."
"It's a pity that Zhang Ruochen's grudge with the Empress is too deep. Otherwise, he would definitely represent the Kunlun Realm in the Merit War. Sigh!"
"The grievances and love between Zhang Ruochen and the Empress are beyond our understanding. It's said that eight hundred years ago, their relationship was quite intimate. If not for the changes that occurred later, they would have become the most enviable divine couple in the Kunlun Realm."
...
Yushan Realm.
Saint King Yuan Ye entered the sacred hall and bowed to the Great Saint's doppelganger above. "Reporting to Your Imperial Majesty, the identity of that young human man has been verified. His name is Zhang Ruochen, and he was personally brought to the Heavenly Court Realm by the Moon God."
A sharp gleam flashed in the eyes of the Great Saint's doppelganger. "The Moon God's disciple?"
Saint King Yuan Ye shook his head. "Actually, Zhang Ruochen is not a native of the Guanghan Realm. He was born in the Kunlun Realm. Even more astonishingly, he cultivates both the Way of Time and the Way of Space simultaneously, known as the Heir of Time and Space."
A fierce sacred might erupted from the Great Saint's doppelganger. Clearly, the Great Saint was also experiencing intense emotional fluctuations. "So that's it, so that's it... The power of time and space. Such a prodigy actually exists."
Saint King Yuan Ye continued, "There's also a rather interesting piece of information. According to what my subordinates have gathered from the Kunlun Realm, Zhang Ruochen has an extraordinary relationship with that god of the Kunlun Realm."
"What kind of relationship?" the Great Saint asked.
"Zhang Ruochen was once that god's fiancé," Saint King Yuan Ye said.
The Great Saint's doppelganger was somewhat shocked. After a long silence, he said, "This involves two gods. This matter is no longer something we can meddle in. It's best to report it to the Great Yu Divine Ancestor and let him decide."
At the same time, other major worlds had also investigated Zhang Ruochen's background and were all startled.
"Haha, the Moon God is truly ruthless. She even snatched someone else's fiancé for the Guanghan Realm. But the Heir of Time and Space is so rare that if I, a god, encountered one, I might snatch him too."
"So this is the Moon God's trump card? Once this Heir of Time and Space grows up, the Guanghan Realm might be able to turn things around, and its ranking on the Myriad Realms Merit List could rise sharply."
"A mere saint actually has connections with two goddesses. It's unbelievable."
Zhang Ruochen's special identity gradually spread, alarming some gods and also some special forces of the Heavenly Court Realm, such as the Time Divine Temple and the Space Divine Temple.
More and more major figures began to closely monitor Zhang Ruochen's every move through battlefield projections.
Ancestral Realm.
At the other end of the wormhole, a large number of Rakshasa Marquises were also stationed, but they failed to stop Zhang Ruochen. He drove the Golden Step Dragon Carriage charging through, leaving a trail of corpses behind.
After traveling tens of thousands of miles, he arrived at the banks of the Giant Whale River. Confirming that no Rakshasa Marquises were following, Zhang Ruochen stopped the Golden Step Dragon Carriage.
The Giant Whale River was incredibly wide, with a gentle current, resembling a lake. The opposite shore was nowhere in sight.
White bones floated on the river's surface, and the water was blood-red, emitting a pungent stench. Clearly, a brutal massacre had occurred in the Giant Whale River Basin. Who knew if any living beings remained?
Zhang Ruochen stepped down from the Golden Step Dragon Carriage and gazed at the blood river before him, his eyes somewhat dazed.
After a series of fierce battles, the sacred Qi in Zhang Ruochen's body was nearly depleted. Although he still stood straight, a trace of fatigue appeared on his face.
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes, rested for a moment, and recovered some strength. Then he took out a map and spread it on the ground.
"The Giant Whale River stretches 1.4 million miles, located in the heart of the Southern World. Over ten billion humans live along its banks, nurturing a prosperous, great, and flourishing civilization."
"The Giant Whale River Basin is too vast. Finding Lingxi won't be easy."
Zhang Ruochen took out a Message Light Talisman, inscribed words on it, and asked for Mu Lingxi's specific location.
Then he infused a wisp of Mu Lingxi's sacred Dao aura into it, waved his hand, and sent the light talisman flying.
"First, find a safe place to recover my strength and sacred Qi."
Zhang Ruochen put away the Golden Step Dragon Carriage, then separated a sacred soul doppelganger, leaving it in place to wait for Mu Lingxi's reply.
Then, his true body jumped into the riverbed of the Giant Whale River, took out the Fengbei Shield, pressed his finger on the Time-Space Crystal, and entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal.
Inside the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, after staying for five days, Zhang Ruochen returned to his peak state and refined another six hundred drops of Condensed True Sacred Dew.
The Celestial River in Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea became increasingly real. When it flowed rapidly, it could even resonate with the rules of heaven and earth.
He was only one step away from the True Saint Realm.
"It's time to start breaking through to the True Saint Realm. Once I become a True Saint, even if I encounter Wu Hao or a First-Class Marquis of the Rakshasa Clan, I should have the strength to fight."
Zhang Ruochen's heart was eager. He took out a bottle of Condensed True Sacred Dew and swallowed it all.
...
(There's another chapter, but it's unlikely to be updated before midnight. It should be quite late. Everyone, get some rest early and read it tomorrow morning!)