Chapter 1355: The Battle Between Realm Son and Divine Envoy
Wu Hao’s eyes blazed with intensity, like two clusters of burning flames, staring unblinkingly at Zhang Ruochen standing across from him.
Zhang Ruochen had no desire to fight. Ever since returning from the Merit Battlefield, he had kept a low profile precisely to avoid conflicts like this.
At the end of the day, he was not a native-born cultivator of the Guanghan Realm. The greater the glory he obtained, the more it highlighted the inadequacy of Guanghan Realm’s local cultivators. At times like this, staying low-key was the wisest course.
Su Qingling did not grasp the deeper meaning behind Wu Hao’s challenge to Zhang Ruochen. She simply thought it was a friendly spar between friends and grew excited, saying, “Great, great! Both the Realm Son and the Divine Envoy are top-tier proud sons of heaven. If you two fight, it will surely be earth-shattering and spectacular. Fight, you must fight!”
Zhang Ruochen shot her a look, signaling her not to stir up trouble.
Wu Hao rose to his feet, spreading his arms wide. Thunderous sounds rumbled from within his body as he laughed heartily, “Divine Envoy, do not overthink this. This is merely a normal spar, a contest of skill. Win or lose, the key is not to harm our friendship.”
Mu Lingxi saw through Wu Hao’s intentions. Though he called it a spar, he truly wanted to challenge Zhang Ruochen.
Win or lose, it would be disadvantageous for Zhang Ruochen.
If Zhang Ruochen lost to Wu Hao, people would say that in the Zuling Realm, Zhang Ruochen had relied on external forces to dominate, and his personal strength had not reached the top tier.
If Zhang Ruochen defeated Wu Hao, he would be an outsider who had beaten the strongest native of the Guanghan Realm. How would the cultivators of the entire Guanghan Realm feel? From then on, Zhang Ruochen would inevitably face some degree of ostracism in the Guanghan Realm.
Neither outcome was something Mu Lingxi wanted to see.
Mu Lingxi stepped forward on her own initiative, saying, “Since the Realm Son only wishes to practice Truth Rules, why not let Lingxi be your sparring partner?”
“After Fairy Lingxi became a disciple of the Moon God, your cultivation has indeed advanced by leaps and bounds. However, I am somewhat worried that you might not be able to withstand the power of the Truth Rules. If I accidentally injure you, wouldn’t that offend the Divine Envoy?” Wu Hao said with a smile.
After receiving the inheritance of the Ice Fire Phoenix, Mu Lingxi had cultivated a sub-perfect physique, only one step weaker than Wu Hao’s perfect physique. Coupled with her mastery of Extreme Yin Nether Ice Power and the personal guidance of the Moon God, if she truly fought, she might not be weaker than Wu Hao.
Yet Wu Hao still looked down on her, not even considering her a peer-level opponent.
Mu Lingxi was about to speak again when Zhang Ruochen stopped her, smiling, “Since the Realm Son wishes to practice Truth Rules, I will spar with him.”
“Good, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Wu Hao laughed heartily, then clasped his hands behind his back and strode out of the palace first.
Wen Shusheng and Ling Mi exchanged glances, both shaking their heads helplessly. In truth, neither of them wanted Zhang Ruochen and Wu Hao to fight.
Because once they fought, they would inevitably break ties.
Mu Lingxi grabbed Zhang Ruochen’s wrist, her voice soft and pleasant, “Let me fight in your place.”
“No need. This battle is unavoidable no matter what. Go and clear out all those Sacred Bright Central Empire half-saints outside the palace. Don’t let them stay here.”
Zhang Ruochen appeared quite calm, walking past Mu Lingxi and stepping out of the palace gates.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen and Wu Hao stood beneath the stone statue of Man Sword Great Saint, thirty zhang apart. A powerful saintly might erupted from both of them, causing the surrounding space to crackle with explosive sounds.
“Divine Envoy, are you not using your sword?” Wu Hao called out.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, “My attainments in fist and palm techniques are as strong as my swordsmanship.”
“Is that so? Coincidentally, my palm technique is not weak either.”
Wu Hao wore a pair of dark red war boots. As he took a step forward, a patch of fire clouds appeared beneath his feet. His legs suddenly exerted force, and in the next moment, his figure blurred, reappearing right in front of Zhang Ruochen.
That speed surpassed even some one-step Saint Kings.
Wu Hao spread his five fingers, pressing down with a large hand seal. Six fire snakes slithered in his palm, scattering sparks.
“What a Flame Shocking Palm! The Realm Son must have cultivated his palm technique to the realm of perfection.”
Su Qingling’s eyes widened as she cheered from the side.
Mu Lingxi’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, worried for Zhang Ruochen.
She was not worried that Zhang Ruochen would lose, and she knew well that Zhang Ruochen would hold back some strength. Even if he had to defeat Wu Hao, he would make it look dignified.
But facing Wu Hao’s aggressive assault, if Zhang Ruochen did not use his full power, would he get hurt?
Flame Shocking Palm was considered top-tier among low-rank sacred arts.
A Flame Shocking Palm cultivated to perfection could match half the power of a mid-rank sacred art.
The power of a mid-rank sacred art far exceeded that of a low-rank sacred art, much like the gap between a ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact and a thousand-pattern sacred artifact.
It must be known that cultivating or unleashing a mid-rank sacred art was no easy task. Under normal circumstances, a one-step Saint King would need decades to successfully cultivate a single mid-rank sacred art.
To unleash a mid-rank sacred art, one needed not only the vast saintly power comparable to a Saint King but also the ability to integrate sacred dao rules into the art. The more sacred dao rules integrated into a mid-rank sacred art, the greater its power.
Even the lowest-level mid-rank sacred art required the integration of ten sacred dao rules.
At present, Zhang Ruochen only had two sword dao rules within his body. Thus, with his current cultivation, he could not unleash any mid-rank sacred art.
For example, the eleventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was at the mid-rank sacred art level. Zhang Ruochen would need to reach at least the half-step Saint King realm, or even the one-step Saint King realm, before he could cultivate and unleash it.
At this moment, Wu Hao’s Flame Shocking Palm could unleash nearly half the power of a mid-rank sacred art. One could imagine how formidable that force was.
If this were just a normal spar, why would he use such a domineering technique on the very first move?
Zhang Ruochen remained calm, forming his hands into fist seals. Immediately, a winding, nine-bend great river appeared.
With one punch, the great river surged forward.
“Boom.”
Fist met palm.
The six fire snakes in Wu Hao’s palm transformed into six powerful streams of flame energy, violently striking the great river, shattering it into countless droplets of water.
Then, a force like an avalanche surged through Zhang Ruochen’s fist, sending him stumbling backward more than ten steps.
“Divine Envoy, what’s wrong? Are you not using your full strength? I haven’t even used the Truth Rules yet.”
Wu Hao laughed heartily, then spread both arms like an eagle spreading its wings, diving toward Zhang Ruochen’s position.
The six fire snakes reappeared, a hundred times thicker than before, like six fire dragons weaving around Wu Hao’s body.
At the same time, the sacred armor on Wu Hao’s body emitted a blazing light, revealing beast patterns that amplified his power.
Clearly, Wu Hao’s sacred armor was extraordinary, comparable to the Hundred Saint Blood Armor.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to stir up trouble, but he was not afraid of it either.
He would never deliberately lose to Wu Hao just to buy temporary peace.
“Roar.”
A deafening dragon roar erupted from Zhang Ruochen’s body. Immediately, a yang energy surpassing ten thousand times that of an ordinary person burst forth from his one hundred and forty-four acupoints.
“Dragon-Elephant Divine Furnace.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes sharpened, his long hair flying. His body seemed to transform into a bronze furnace, a layer of cyan flames appearing on his skin. He gathered all his power into a single point and struck out with a palm.
“Boom.”
The six fire snakes on Wu Hao’s body were all shattered. His body flew backward, landing somewhat clumsily on the ground, staggering back several steps.
Although Zhang Ruochen had not yet cultivated the eleventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, with his attainments in palm techniques, any random strike he used was stronger than Wu Hao’s Flame Shocking Palm.
If Zhang Ruochen ever succeeded in cultivating the eleventh palm, the power of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm would be top-tier even among mid-rank sacred arts.
“Good, the Divine Envoy has finally gotten serious. You haven’t disappointed me.”
Wu Hao’s gaze turned slightly cold, but his face still wore a smile masking his true emotions. As his saintly qi surged rapidly, divine marks appeared one after another.
Those divine marks were distributed all over his body, including his arms, legs, eyes, ears… and some even flew out of his body, like specks of starlight floating in all directions around him.
Each speck of starlight was a shadow of a divine image.
Wu Hao had reached the four supreme extremes in the four realms of martial arts, attracting the resonance of the gods four times. The shadows of the gods had condensed into divine marks distributed throughout his body.
Now, all those divine marks flew out.
The most divine marks gathered in his palm.
With one palm strike, countless divine marks flew out with it.
Zhang Ruochen grew serious. A large number of divine marks also flew out from his body. He raised both arms, supporting an elephant shadow and a dragon shadow respectively, and struck out with both palms simultaneously.
Seeing this, a strange light flashed in Wu Hao’s eyes. He secretly mobilized Truth Rules, merging them with his palm.
Instantly, his palm power increased severalfold.
“He really did mobilize the Truth Rules.”
Zhang Ruochen had been on guard all along. The moment Wu Hao unleashed the Truth Rules, he activated the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, covering his entire body.
At the same time, the power of a hundred saints was added to Zhang Ruochen’s body.
“Boom.”
This collision sent Zhang Ruochen flying backward like a scarecrow, almost falling off the Yuanxu Peak.
The Way of Truth was, after all, an eternal dao. Once integrated into a sacred art, it could greatly amplify the art’s power.
At the same level, only those who also mastered Truth Rules could counter that power.
Because the Truth Rules were so fearsome, the quotas for entering the Truth Divine Temple to cultivate were extremely precious. Countless cultivators would do anything to get in for a period of training.
“Divine Envoy, this is the Way of Truth!”
Wu Hao’s lips curled into a smile, a hint of pride in his tone.