# Chapter 1478: A True Saint King
Further away, the seventeen Saint realm powerhouses who had rushed over in haste encountered a major problem. Two of them had already been assassinated, dying on the spot and turning into two clusters of black particles.
Those at the pinnacle of the Ultimate Saint level had Saint Dao rules within their bodies that had already reached the "Utmost Truth and Utmost Extreme" level, possessing quite formidable life force. Yet they were killed in a single strike by the expert hidden in the shadows—this was an extremely terrifying matter.
"It's dark force. A terrifying figure who cultivates the Path of Darkness is attacking us."
A half-step Saint King with six purple eyes discovered the dark aura and immediately activated a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact, becoming vigilant.
"What? The Path of Darkness."
The other Saint realm powerhouses all showed expressions of fear, stopping in their tracks and quickly gathering together.
Han Qiu did not reveal herself, yet she seemed to be everywhere. From time to time, she would charge out and unleash a killing strike. Whether or not she succeeded, she would immediately disappear back into the darkness.
Fifteen Saint realm powerhouses were held back by her, making it difficult for them to reach the Saint Mansion in time to surround and kill Zhang Ruochen.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen immediately activated his movement technique and rushed toward the Saint Mansion.
"How infuriating. Where did Zhang Ruochen find so many powerful Saint realm experts? Every single one of them can stand on their own."
Fang Yi's gaze grew even colder. He was about to pursue and stop Zhang Ruochen.
Suddenly, a man in plain clothes appeared before him, holding a rust-covered iron sword, blocking his path.
This rather ordinary human man gave Fang Yi an extremely dangerous feeling.
However, at this moment, Fang Yi could not care about that. He had to intercept Zhang Ruochen.
If Zhang Ruochen were allowed to take the Saint Mansion again, Fang Yi would surely be so angry that he would develop inner demons.
"Get out of my way."
Fang Yi did not slow down. A beam of light flew out from between his eyebrows, shooting toward A Le.
A Le's figure flickered, disappearing from his original position and dodging the beam of light.
Not good...
Fang Yi sensed the danger growing even stronger. Without thinking, he immediately activated the ten protective talismans on his body, forming ten layers of defensive barriers in succession.
Almost at the same moment the barriers formed, ten consecutive explosive sounds rang out. A sword light pierced through the ten layers of defense, pointing straight at Fang Yi's forehead.
"White Micro Guarding the Heart."
From Fang Yi's forehead, a sacred power surged forth. The phantom of a star manifested, protecting his entire body.
"Boom."
Fang Yi was sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground.
In midair, a strand of his long hair was severed by the sword energy, slowly drifting down.
"I was careless. This ordinary-looking young man is actually an extremely dangerous figure. Fortunately, my reaction speed was fast enough; otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable," Fang Yi thought to himself.
A Le held his iron sword, expressionless, appearing once again in his original position. However, blood was flowing down his arm, sliding along the blade to the ground.
The power unleashed by the White Micro Star just now had inflicted some injuries on him.
...
...
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood that time was of the essence. Relying on just a few of them to confront dozens of the most top Saint realm powerhouses from two major worlds was clearly impossible. At most, they could only hold them back for a short while.
Therefore, after rushing to the base of the Saint Mansion, he immediately took out the Water Star Gourd and struck it upward.
Only the internal space of the Water Star Gourd could contain the Saint Mansion.
Under Zhang Ruochen's full activation, the Water Star Gourd grew larger and larger. From the gourd's mouth, a massive vortex erupted, enveloping the entire Saint Mansion.
Yet the Saint Mansion remained motionless, impossible to collect.
Instead, from within the Saint Mansion, a golden river of rules dozens of miles long flew out, shattering the storm vortex unleashed by the Water Star Gourd.
"Impressive. As expected of a Rule Emperor Artifact."
Clearly, ordinary methods could not shake a Rule Emperor Artifact. Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Water Star Gourd and immediately ascended the steps, charging into the Saint Gate.
The moment he entered the Saint Gate, Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had jumped into a golden ocean. Within the Saint Mansion, dense Saint Dao rules had turned into liquid form, surging in from all directions, a thousand or ten thousand times heavier than mercury.
Lightning rules, Sword Dao rules, Sharpness rules, Penetration rules, Wind Dao rules... Those Saint Dao rules were all extremely powerful, as if they wanted to melt Zhang Ruochen's body and assimilate him into part of the Saint Mansion.
"Whoosh—"
Zhang Ruochen took out the Buddha Emperor Relic, forming a ring of Buddha light to protect his entire body, resisting the surging Saint Dao rules.
At the same time, the Saint Qi within Zhang Ruochen's body burst outward like waves, quickly filling every corner of the Saint Mansion.
Lines of flame formed by Purifying Divine Fire also spread along with the Saint Qi, extending to the seventy-two directions of the Saint Mansion, wrapping around it.
"Take it for me."
Between Zhang Ruochen's eyebrows, the Space-Time Divine Martial Mark manifested and rapidly spun.
In his Qi Sea, the flow speed of the Tongtian River also doubled.
The Black Gold Ancestor had not left any Great Saint-level methods within the Rule Emperor Artifact. Under the refining of the Purifying Divine Fire, the Saint Mansion soon shook violently, then grew smaller and smaller, flying into Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen take away the Saint Mansion, the Saint realm powerhouses of Blade Prison Realm and Purple Mansion Realm all roared in fury.
"Retreat."
Zhang Ruochen drove the Golden Step Dragon Chariot, rapidly charging out of the underground cave. A Le, Han Qiu, Mo Yin, and Feng Mo all abandoned their opponents, turning into streaks of light and rushing into the Golden Step Dragon Chariot.
Feng Mo was covered in wounds, blood staining his battle robe, yet he still let out wild laughter: "Five experts charged into the Black Gold Saint Mountain, snatched a Rule Emperor Artifact from under the noses of dozens of top Saint realm powerhouses from Purple Mansion Realm and Blade Prison Realm. This time, Feng Mo will surely become famous throughout the entire Shatuo Heaven Domain. Awesome. Damn awesome."
The Golden Step Dragon Chariot was incredibly fast, far beyond what the Saint realm powerhouses of Blade Prison Realm and Purple Mansion Realm could catch up to.
Just as they were about to rush out of the underground cave, Zhang Ruochen's pupils suddenly contracted. Ahead, standing before them, was a half-human, half-beast bald giant.
The bald giant's body was seven zhang tall. His upper body was covered in muscles as large as water tanks, emitting a metallic luster. His lower body consisted of two beast legs covered in dragon scales, thick as millstones, scattering particles of crimson sparks.
His legs were spread apart, his arms crossed over his chest as he stood before the Golden Step Dragon Chariot. His pupils were like two blazing furnaces, his form as immovable as a mountain.
The aura emanating from him was terrifying, even a few points stronger than Fang Yi and Dongliu Sword Venerable.
"Yue Kong."
The smile on Feng Mo's face disappeared as he uttered the name: "He... he actually broke through to the Saint King realm."
Using his spiritual power, Feng Mo transmitted information about Yue Kong to Zhang Ruochen, A Le, Han Qiu, and Shi Shenghua.
At the half-step Saint King realm, Yue Kong's combat power could rank in the top ten of Purple Mansion Realm. His reputation was illustrious. Before entering the Ancestral Spirit Realm, Feng Mo had looked through his information and knew well that this man was a formidable opponent.
Now, Yue Kong's cultivation had stepped into the Saint King realm, enough to be called the number one powerhouse of Purple Mansion Realm.
Feng Mo and Han Qiu simultaneously flew out from the Golden Step Dragon Chariot, unleashing their most powerful attacks against Yue Kong.
"Ancient Tuo Power."
Feng Mo raised his iron staff with both hands. Immediately, tens of thousands of tadpole-like patterns crawled up its surface. The next moment, the iron staff's diameter exceeded one meter, its length surpassing one hundred meters, smashing down toward the top of Yue Kong's head.
"Dark Evil Lotus."
Han Qiu raised both hands. Between her ten fingers, strands of dark force condensed into a thirty-six-petal black lotus, which she struck toward Yue Kong.
Yue Kong spat out a mouthful of flame from his mouth, like a volcanic eruption, surging toward the thirty-six-petal black lotus.
The Dark Evil Lotus was indeed powerful, but it was continuously dissolved by the flame Yue Kong spat out, eventually disappearing completely.
"How is this possible?"
Han Qiu's two delicate brows tightly furrowed. The firelight coming from ahead reflected off her snow-white face, turning it crimson. She could even feel her skin stinging from the heat.
"Roar!"
Yue Kong seemed to have inexhaustible strength. With one hand, he grabbed the iron staff swung by Feng Mo, while his other hand, like a palm-leaf fan, struck toward Han Qiu.
"Bang, bang."
Han Qiu and Feng Mo were sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground, creating two human-shaped pits. Sacred blood spilled from their mouths.
"Is he this strong?"
Zhang Ruochen had never imagined that in just one exchange, Han Qiu and Feng Mo would be sent flying back by Yue Kong, and not lightly injured at that.
It was a complete crushing.
Yue Kong's massive body charged out from the sea of fire, extending two large hands to grab the necks of the two dragon souls pulling the Golden Step Dragon Chariot. He crushed the two dragon souls into pieces, turning them into specks of light.
Then, his iron-tower-like body directly charged toward the Golden Step Dragon Chariot.
The Golden Step Dragon Chariot was a Nine Radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact, but Yue Kong was also wearing a set of Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact-level battle armor, so he had nothing to fear.
"Boom."
Two powerful forces collided.
Yue Kong's body continuously retreated backward, the hard ground beneath his feet shattering with each step. After retreating more than thirty zhang, the Golden Step Dragon Chariot was finally forced to a stop by his brute strength.
"No wonder he's so powerful. This big fellow has actually cultivated to the point of achieving sainthood through his physical body."
Zhang Ruochen saw that on Yue Kong's body, one hundred and forty-four acupoints had emerged, like one hundred and forty-four stars embedded in his body.
Generally, there was some gap in combat power between an ordinary First-Step Saint King and a First-Step Saint King who had achieved sainthood through the physical body.
Yue Kong was the latter.
The moment the Golden Step Dragon Chariot stopped, Zhang Ruochen's finger traced forward, tearing open space.
A space rift over ten zhang long slashed horizontally toward Yue Kong.
Contrary to Zhang Ruochen's expectations, although Yue Kong's body was massive, his reactions were extremely agile. He executed a profound Dragon Clan movement technique, actually dodging the space rift and appearing on the side of the Golden Step Dragon Chariot.
His arms exerted force, lifting the Golden Step Dragon Chariot above his head. Then, he hurled it toward the underground cave.
The Golden Step Dragon Chariot rapidly flipped in midair. Inside the chariot, Zhang Ruochen quickly stabilized his center of gravity. The corner of his eye glanced downward, and he happened to see the figures of dozens of Saint realm powerhouses from Blade Prison Realm and Purple Mansion Realm, including Fang Yi and Dongliu Sword Venerable. A helpless bitter smile appeared on his face.
This was a big problem now.
...
(First of all, I wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day.
Secondly, I want to inform you of something. At noon 12 o'clock, Sister Yu will post a password red envelope on Weibo. On one hand, it's a small consolation for the single dogs. On the other hand, school is about to start, and many students are about to face their calamity. I feel a bit sorry for you all... Haha, why am I laughing shamelessly...
Alright, the Weibo account is called "Feitian Yu's Weibo." Everyone, please follow it. At exactly noon 12 o'clock, the password will be posted. First come, first served.
Additionally, after 12 o'clock, Brother Yu will send out a separate 520 yuan big red envelope. Only one. Prepared for those classmates going to a hotel on Valentine's Day. Whoever can grab it depends on luck!)