Chapter 1503: Sword Dao Profound Gang
The floral fragrance contained illusionary poison. If an ordinary saint inhaled it into their body, they would immediately experience intense hallucinations, falling into an inescapable state.
Lingquan Shaojun inhaled a small amount of the fragrance, and instantly, his vision became blurry and hazy, as if he could vaguely see the figure of the Rakshasa Princess.
The "Rakshasa Princess" walked with lotus steps, just arriving before him, when she pointed a finger at his brow.
"Danger." Lingquan Shaojun's eyes widened, and a piercing evil light surged from his pupils.
The face of the "Rakshasa Princess" transformed into Mo Yin.
Mo Yin pointed a finger outward, her crystalline and translucent finger turning into a sharp demonic spike, reaching the center of Lingquan Shaojun's brow.
Just as the demonic spike touched his brow, strange divine patterns emerged beneath his skin, blocking the spike.
"Courting death."
Lingquan Shaojun struck out with a palm, unleashing a force that could overturn mountains and seas.
Mo Yin's long hair transformed into a hundred thousand purple lightning vines, rapidly swirling around her delicate body, weaving into a massive sphere. Lingquan Shaojun's palm force struck the sphere, shattering a large section of the vines.
A muffled groan escaped Mo Yin's lips as she was sent flying backward, retreating several miles before she could neutralize Lingquan Shaojun's palm strike.
Zhang Ruochen's form moved, bursting forth with extreme speed, arriving at Lingquan Shaojun's side. He raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword and executed a move from the Nine-Life Sword Technique, slashing diagonally downward.
Lingquan Shaojun, who had just repelled Mo Yin, had no time to turn and defend. However, he remained calm and composed, letting out a loud roar. Dense divine patterns emerged on his back.
"Boom."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword cut through the armor on Lingquan Shaojun's back, colliding with the divine patterns.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword was forged from Creation Divine Iron. Although its grade was not particularly high among ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifacts, its sharpness far surpassed other sacred swords.
This strike seemed as if it would break through the divine patterns and sever Lingquan Shaojun's physical body.
Feeling the intense pain from his back, Lingquan Shaojun worried that the divine patterns might not withstand the Abyssal Ancient Sword. He clasped his hands together, and the evil energy within his body surged rapidly, rushing into his back.
"Whoosh—"
A dark red array imprint burst forth from his back, shaking Zhang Ruochen backward.
Seizing the opportunity, Lingquan Shaojun quickly turned and struck out with both palms simultaneously. In his palms, imprints of a sun and a moon appeared, and the forces of yang and yin surged forward together.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. He quickly raised his sword to block, and a seven-zhang-tall divine bell of sword energy condensed before him.
"Boom." A divine sun and a demonic moon struck the divine bell of sword energy, shattering it.
The force was unstoppable, sending Zhang Ruochen flying several miles away.
After stabilizing his form, Zhang Ruochen felt his arms aching as if they were about to break, all his bones feeling as though they had snapped.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen finally understood why Dongliu Sword Saint, despite his formidable strength, could not even harm a single finger of Lingquan Shaojun and was instead injured by a single punch.
Lingquan Shaojun's defensive power was truly monstrous, to the point where even the Abyssal Ancient Sword could not breach it.
It seemed that only spatial rifts or spatial collapse could pose a threat to him.
Lingquan Shaojun seemed aware of this as well, which was why he had used the purple divine mountain to stabilize space beforehand, preventing Zhang Ruochen from using spatial power.
"With Lingquan Shaojun's current cultivation level, even if the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden were united, they might not be his match. Perhaps only Chu Siyuan, having reached the Saint King realm, could suppress him."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze swept across the sea surface, searching for Chu Siyuan, but he found that the old man and Qiu Yu had both disappeared.
"As expected, this old man is unreliable. At a critical moment, he pulls a disappearing act." Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly.
The contempt in Lingquan Shaojun's eyes had vanished, replaced by increasing seriousness.
After the brief exchange, Lingquan Shaojun had roughly gauged the strength of Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin. Neither was an easy opponent, and both posed a considerable threat to him.
In particular, Zhang Ruochen had forced him to activate the array imprint on his back.
That array imprint was a gift from a god, his most powerful defensive measure. It could only be used ten times, equivalent to having ten lives.
Each use felt like losing one life.
However, the reason for this was that Mo Yin had used illusionary poison to confuse Lingquan Shaojun for a single moment, allowing Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin to seize the initiative and catch him off guard.
Now that Lingquan Shaojun was fully alert, Zhang Ruochen and Mo Yin would not have such an opportunity again.
In the distance, Dongliu Sword Saint, Xue Lingfeng, and Li Mu were under siege by nearly eight first-class marquises, their situation precarious and on the verge of falling.
Zhang Ruochen glanced in their direction and thought to himself, "They're about to reach their limit. They'll likely try to break through and escape soon. Once those eight first-class marquises are free, combined with the terrifying combat power of Lingquan Shaojun, my situation will become extremely dangerous."
Then, Zhang Ruochen's gaze shifted to the Merit Record Wall.
The Merit Record Wall floated on the water's surface, and atop the wall stood two towering first-class marquises, each with a dark red vortex of evil energy swirling above their heads.
Lingquan Shaojun had used the Merit Record Wall as bait, forcing Zhang Ruochen and the others to stay and fight. If they chose to flee, they would be abandoning the Merit Record Wall.
With two first-class marquises standing on the Merit Record Wall, snatching it away in a short time would not be easy. If they failed to take it quickly, Lingquan Shaojun and the other marquises would surround them, turning the one attempting to seize the wall into a trapped beast, doomed to die.
Lingquan Shaojun saw through Zhang Ruochen's intentions and laughed, "It's useless. Today's situation is a dead end. Unless you give up the Merit Record Wall, you might carve out a path to survival."
A cold gleam flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. "Mo Yin, how long will it take you to deal with the two first-class marquises on the Merit Record Wall?"
"If I only need to take the wall from them, half an hour. If I have to kill them both, it will take more effort," Mo Yin replied.
"Good. I'll hold off Lingquan Shaojun for half an hour."
Zhang Ruochen activated the Hundred Saint Blood Armor. Blood-red armor plates spread from his gauntlets, covering his entire body. The Abyssal Ancient Sword also erupted with black sacred light, plunging the surrounding hundred-zhang area into darkness.
Mo Yin knew time was precious and immediately charged toward the Merit Record Wall.
Lingquan Shaojun said, "Zhang Ruochen, you're too naive. If I, the young master, were held back for half an hour by a true saint at the peak, wouldn't I become a laughingstock among the entire Rakshasa Clan? How could I ever show my face again?"
Zhang Ruochen replied, "Half an hour, an hour, a day... as long as I'm willing, I can hold you back."
"Pointless bickering. Let's fight and see the result... Hmm, another expert." Lingquan Shaojun sensed a fluctuation in sword energy and turned to look at the top of the purple divine mountain.
At some point, a stooped old man had appeared at the mountain's peak. His skin was like tree bark, his hair nearly gone, and he looked half-dead.
Yet, it was this half-dead old man that made Lingquan Shaojun sense a hint of danger.
"Nine Nether Sword Saint," Zhang Ruochen murmured.
Not long ago, the Nine Nether Sword Saint had mistakenly entered a time formation, losing a vast amount of his lifespan and was now close to death.
The Nine Nether Sword Saint seemed unafraid of death, a smile appearing on his face. "Zhang Ruochen, you're someone who can contend with gods. Don't be as humble as Xuanji Sword Saint. Let me teach you to speak with more authority. What do you mean by 'hold him back for half an hour'? If it were me, even if I weren't his match, I'd shout a bold declaration: within half an hour, I will cut you down."
The moment the word "you" left his mouth, the Nine Nether Sword Saint's murky eyes became incredibly sharp.
"Shua."
The Nine Nether Sword Saint's body transformed into a beam of sword light, his speed exceeding a hundred times the speed of sound. The seawater beneath the sword light was torn apart by the sword energy, forming a long path of swords.
Lingquan Shaojun raised his right hand, executing an extremely domineering sacred art. He struck forward with his palm, and behind him, a several-hundred-zhang-tall true shadow materialized, like a world-covering demon god.
He had even unleashed his true shadow, showing that Lingquan Shaojun regarded the Nine Nether Sword Saint as a significant opponent.
"Boom." A sword light pierced through the palm technique's afterimage, striking Lingquan Shaojun's palm and forcing him to take a step back.
Surprise flickered in Lingquan Shaojun's eyes. The divine patterns on his palm had been pierced by the sword light, and the sword tip slowly penetrated his flesh.
"How is this possible? Sword Dao Profound Gang."
A drop of blood flowed from Lingquan Shaojun's palm.
The strike from the Nine Nether Sword Saint was no longer ordinary sword energy or sword-intent swords, but Sword Dao Profound Gang, also known as "Sword Gang."
Sword energy, sword-intent swords, and Sword Dao Profound Gang were three different levels.
Any sword cultivator could refine sword energy, unleashing the power to split mountains and sever peaks.
Sword-intent swords, however, could only be executed by a sword saint, greatly increasing their offensive power. A saint's defensive measures were as fragile as paper before a sword saint.
As for Sword Dao Profound Gang, it required someone who had cultivated Sword Eight to great perfection to condense it, making its penetrating power even more terrifying. If a sword cultivator's cultivation was strong enough, a single strike of Sword Dao Profound Gang could pierce through a planet.
A half-step Saint King had actually cultivated Sword Gang. How could Lingquan Shaojun not be shocked?
After all, even among Saint Kings, those who could cultivate Sword Gang were rare.