# Chapter 1490: Locust Python King Talisman
The environment in this swamp was extremely strange, capable of interfering with cultivators' spiritual power. As a result, Zhang Ruochen and A Le had not detected that a large number of Rakshasa clan experts had gathered nearby.
Retreating now was clearly not an easy matter.
One must know that just those dozen or so first-class marquises alone each possessed the strength to fight a one-step Saint King. Moreover, the three individuals—Lingquan Shaojun, Yang Qi, and Qian Yu—were even more powerful than first-class marquises.
When Lingquan Shaojun, Yang Qi, and Qian Yu saw the Rakshasa Princess beside Zhang Ruochen, they all felt surprised in their hearts.
Earlier, they had received reports and thought it was saints from the Eight Divisions Realm coming to rescue Yuan Hun, so they had all surrounded them. After discovering it was the Rakshasa Princess, it was already too late for them to withdraw.
Now, how should they fight?
If they truly went all out and attacked, wouldn't they end up killing the Princess along with him?
But if they deliberately held back, Zhang Ruochen was no fool—how could he not see through it?
This situation left Lingquan Shaojun, Yang Qi, Qian Yu, and the others in a dilemma. For a moment, they did not launch an attack.
The Rakshasa Princess also felt frustrated, so angry she wanted to roll her eyes. Why did she always encounter such useless teammates?
At present, the Rakshasa Princess still needed to borrow Zhang Ruochen's power to help her break through the deepest barrier region of the Phoenix Nest, so she could not suppress Zhang Ruochen for now.
There might very well be a treasure within the Phoenix Nest that she had dreamed of obtaining. That item was of utmost importance and could not be lost.
The Rakshasa Princess's mind raced as she quickly thought of a way to break the deadlock.
Just then, the Rakshasa Princess saw Zhang Ruochen take out a sacred sword, and her pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
That sacred sword was the divine weapon Zhang Ruochen wielded.
The Rakshasa Princess had once played with this sacred sword. Although she had acted disdainful at the time, she was very clear that the divine power contained within the sacred sword was absolutely terrifying. At the very least, Lingquan Shaojun, Yang Qi, and the others certainly could not withstand that destructive force.
Once Zhang Ruochen unleashed that power, the Rakshasa clan would lose a large number of their top sacred realm experts.
The Rakshasa Princess quickly took out a purple jade talisman, pinching it between two fingers. On that talisman were strange blood patterns, very much like snake scales.
"I have a Locust Python King Talisman here. Once I release it, it will be enough to severely wound them."
As a princess of the Rakshasa clan and the commander-in-chief of the entire Ancestral Spirit Realm battlefield, the Rakshasa Princess naturally carried many powerful treasures on her person. Even divine weapons, she had more than one.
The power unleashed by the Locust Python King Talisman did not even rank in the top five among the trump cards she possessed.
Of course, the strongest talismans that spiritual power saints could refine could only reach the level of the Locust Python King Talisman. Higher-level talismans could only be refined by spiritual power Saint Kings. Such talismans could not be brought to the Ancestral Spirit Realm by saints from the Seven Realms of Shatuo.
"It is said that once the Locust Python King Talisman is activated, it has the power to suppress and kill a one-step Saint King." Although Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised, he did not find it strange.
After all, as the realm son of the Great Demon Ten Directions Realm, "Spirit Flame Demon Concubine" possessing a Locust Python King Talisman as a life-saving measure was a perfectly normal thing.
Yuan Hun must also have possessed similar trump cards; otherwise, this battlefield would not have been so shattered.
Since "Spirit Flame Demon Concubine" was preparing to use the Locust Python King Talisman, Zhang Ruochen temporarily put away his divine weapon and did not use it lightly.
The divine weapon's greatest use was to intimidate enemies; its value was greatest when not used.
Yang Qi guessed the Rakshasa Princess's intention and quickly shouted, "Everyone fall back! She's going to use the Locust Python King Talisman."
Yang Qi, Lingquan Shaojun, Qian Yu, and those first-class marquises all retreated into the evil demonic qi. Then, layer upon layer of evil demonic qi receded like a tide.
At the same time, seven or eight ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifacts flew out from within the evil demonic qi, all erupting with their full power.
"These Rakshasa marquises are quite alert, but wanting to block the power of the Locust Python King Talisman is not such an easy thing."
The Rakshasa Princess waved her arm, and the Locust Python King Talisman flew up to a hundred zhang in the air. Immediately, beams of purple light surged outward, and an overwhelming sacred power erupted.
That terrifying power made even Zhang Ruochen feel quite alarmed.
"Boom."
The talisman shattered, transforming into tens of thousands of locust python phantom shadows that flew in all directions, colliding with the dark red evil clouds.
Even the seven or eight ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifacts that had erupted with full power could not block the Locust Python King Talisman's force. They were struck and trembled incessantly, then flew out and crashed heavily to the ground.
Within the evil demonic qi, screams rang out one after another. Some Rakshasa marquises could not withstand the talisman's power and died on the spot, while the number of injured Rakshasa marquises was incalculable.
The Rakshasa Princess said, "Rakshasa clan first-class marquis-level figures all have powerful life-saving measures. From such a distance, the Locust Python King Talisman cannot kill them. Now, while they are in chaos from the talisman's power, we will break through separately and charge out."
"Whoosh."
The Rakshasa Princess was quite decisive and immediately charged in one direction.
"Meet at Qifeng Mountain."
Zhang Ruochen glanced at A Le, then grabbed the Abyssal Ancient Sword. In an instant, he reached the state of unity between man and sword, transforming into a black sword light that charged into the dark red evil clouds.
As soon as he entered the evil clouds, Zhang Ruochen was attacked by over a dozen Rakshasa marquises.
They all possessed at least the strength of Xuan Huang realm saints. A series of over a dozen attacks came down, pressing toward Zhang Ruochen's head from all directions.
Zhang Ruochen dragged out a sword light several dozen zhang long and slashed horizontally.
The attack power unleashed by the over a dozen Rakshasa marquises was all shattered. At the same time, the sharp sword light fell upon their bodies. The moment it touched them, it tore their bodies into bloody fragments.
Zhang Ruochen carried his war sword, passing through the blood mist as he continued charging outward.
With his current cultivation, unless he encountered a first-class marquis, no enemy could withstand even a single move from him.
After killing six groups of Rakshasa marquises in a row, Zhang Ruochen finally sensed a dangerous aura. Within his armor, all the hairs on his body stood on end as he felt the danger drawing closer and closer.
"Boom."
A tremendous force slammed into Zhang Ruochen's chest.
Even wearing the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, Zhang Ruochen was still shaken by that force, causing his blood qi to surge throughout his body. The injuries that had not yet healed deepened somewhat.
Zhang Ruochen was knocked back more than two hundred zhang by that force. He suddenly sank his legs, stomping into the ground, before finally stabilizing his retreat.
Only then did Zhang Ruochen see that what had attacked him was a golden, shining destruction arrow.
"Sacred Arrow Marquis."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened. He took out the Fengbei Shield and held it in his hand, then used a spatial displacement, disappearing from his spot and teleporting toward the direction from which the destruction arrow had come.
Sacred Arrow Marquis wore a suit of golden armor, his body reaching three and a half meters tall. Standing a hundred li away, he watched as Zhang Ruochen's figure kept disappearing and reappearing, rapidly approaching his position.
"As expected of the Heir of Time and Space. Even in the harsh environment of the Bipolar Swamp, he can still use spatial displacement techniques."
Sacred Arrow Marquis drew his three-meter-long golden-backed dragon bone bow again, and golden gales began to flow around his body.
"Twang."
Another destruction arrow flew out, trailing a hundred-meter-long golden tail.
Zhang Ruochen either used spatial distortion to change the destruction arrow's flight trajectory or used the Fengbei Shield to block the destruction arrow's attacks.
Although Sacred Arrow Marquis shot arrow after arrow with immense power, he could not stop Zhang Ruochen's advance.
By the time Zhang Ruochen was only a hundred zhang away from Sacred Arrow Marquis, the latter's expression finally turned ugly. While drawing his bow and shooting, he also flapped the pair of black wings on his back, fleeing into the distance.
"Still trying to escape."
Zhang Ruochen performed another spatial displacement, arriving directly above Sacred Arrow Marquis. He hurled the Fengbei Shield in his hand, smashing it heavily into Sacred Arrow Marquis's body, sending him plummeting straight down.
Then, Zhang Ruochen gripped his sword with both hands and swung it down in a slash, cutting from midair all the way to the ground.
"Boom."
This sword shattered the protective talismans on Sacred Arrow Marquis's body one after another, while his body crashed into the ground at an even faster speed. With a loud noise, the swamp below was smashed into a huge crater.
Before Sacred Arrow Marquis could climb out of the crater, Zhang Ruochen's Abyssal Ancient Sword, with a "puchi" sound, had already pierced into his chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Speak! Who is the person lurking beside me?" Zhang Ruochen said coldly.
Blood flowed from Sacred Arrow Marquis's mouth as he let out a hoarse laugh, a strange smile appearing in his eyes.
Zhang Ruochen sensed something was wrong, knowing that Sacred Arrow Marquis intended to self-destruct his sacred source and take him down with him. He quickly dragged the sword hilt, directly cutting Sacred Arrow Marquis's body in two, killing him completely.
"It's too difficult to extract valuable information from a first-class marquis's mouth. Being able to become a first-class marquis means they are already top-tier prodigies. Most have firm wills and will never yield or compromise. If I'm even slightly careless, I might be severely wounded by their deathbed counterattack."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself, "Since I can't get the answer from their mouths, why not make them voluntarily reveal the answer?"
Immediately, Zhang Ruochen performed the Formless and Faceless Thirty-Six Transformations. His body emitted a "crackling" sound from within, and his originally human form began to expand continuously. Finally, he transformed into a three-and-a-half-meter-tall, long-faced strongman. Even the aura of his temperament underwent an earth-shattering change.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen looked exactly like Sacred Arrow Marquis.
Zhang Ruochen carefully examined himself, confirming there were no flaws, before picking up the golden-backed dragon bone bow and five destruction arrows beside Sacred Arrow Marquis, carrying them on his back.
Then, with a flick of his finger, two balls of Purifying Divine Flame flew out, burning Sacred Arrow Marquis's two halves of his corpse to ashes.
From now on, he was Sacred Arrow Marquis.