Chapter 1537: Powerful Enemy Approaches
The Soul Realm was also one of the subordinate mortal realms of the Heavenly Court Realm, ranking within the top hundred in the Western Universe. Even if all the Saint Realm experts of the Sha Tuo Seven Realms joined forces, they would likely be no match for the Soul Realm.
The Soul-Holding Grand Art, even within the Soul Realm itself, was considered a terrifyingly formidable technique, falling under the category of forbidden secret arts.
Wu Hao walked over, his expression solemn, and said, "Are you sure it's the Soul-Holding Grand Art?"
"There should be no mistake. The pupils of Senior Wu Qingkong and Senior Li Zhi are dim and lifeless, completely covered by a mass of dark purple light. Clearly, a top-tier expert from the Soul Realm has taken control of their Saint Souls, turning them into puppets to assassinate the Divine Envoy."
Wen Shusheng's heart was pounding rapidly; he could even hear the "thumping" sound from within his own body.
His Saint Eyes swept across the surroundings, as if searching for something.
Everyone present drew in a breath of cold air.
The Saint Soul of a Saint King contained powerful spiritual will. Only if a top-tier expert from the Soul Realm had arrived would it be possible to control the Saint Souls of two One-Step Saint Kings and turn them into puppets.
Moreover, that top-tier expert must have achieved extremely high mastery in cultivating the Soul-Holding Grand Art.
Zhang Ruochen noticed Wen Shusheng's unusual behavior and asked, "What are you looking for?"
Wen Shusheng forced himself to calm down and said, "Using the Soul-Holding Grand Art has a distance limit. Controlling the Saint Souls of two Saint Kings is no easy task, so I suspect the caster should be near the Yuanxu Peak Sacred Land."
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes. His Spiritual Power transformed into specks of light, radiating outward from Yuanxu Peak Sacred Land in all directions.
The plane level of the Heavenly Court Realm was far higher than that of the Kunlun Realm, so a cultivator's Spiritual Power would also be suppressed. Of course, even with this suppression, with Zhang Ruochen's current Spiritual Power strength at the fifty-fourth rank, he could still probe a region spanning a thousand miles.
After a moment, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his Spiritual Power, looked at the others, and shook his head gently.
Su Qingling's face paled slightly, and she said, "Since the enemy can control the Saint Souls of two One-Step Saint Kings, can they also control our Saint Souls?"
Mu Lingxi was also quite worried and said, "Given Zhang Ruochen's Spiritual Power strength, he couldn't find the person. The opponent must be a truly fearsome figure. Since he has broken into the Red Dragon Sacred Domain, why don't we ask Manjian Dàsheng to take action and kill him? What do you think?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. Then, he walked to the front of the Manjian Dàsheng statue, bowed respectfully, and recited a passage of sacrificial sacred words.
"Hua—"
Above the statue, clouds rapidly gathered, forming a sacred cloud shining with ten thousand rays of light.
Immediately after, a powerful sacred might erupted from within the statue. Zhang Ruochen and the others could withstand that Dàsheng aura, but the Half-Saints of Yuanxu Peak Sacred Land all knelt to the ground.
The originally motionless statue opened its eyes and parted its stone lips, saying, "Zhang Ruochen, why have you summoned my manifestation?"
"Greetings, Dàsheng."
Zhang Ruochen bowed respectfully, then pointed to the two One-Step Saint Kings tied to the statue, and said, "Please, Dàsheng, first take a look at their condition."
"Oh... it's the Soul-Holding Grand Art."
Clearly, Manjian Dàsheng was also somewhat surprised, not expecting that an expert from the Soul Realm had infiltrated the Red Dragon Sacred Domain and taken control of the Saint Souls of two Saint Kings.
"Huala."
A ring of sacred light surged from within the statue, striking the two One-Step Saint Kings.
Immediately, two wisps of purple mist seeped out from within the two Saint Kings' bodies. The purple mist lingered in the air for only the span of a single breath before dissipating completely.
"What just happened?"
"My head hurts badly... my Saint Soul has suffered severe damage... No, why am I tied to the statue?"
The two One-Step Saint Kings regained consciousness, but they appeared dazed and confused, their minds in disarray, unaware of what had just occurred.
Only after they fully recalled what had happened and calmed down did Zhang Ruochen retract the two Binding Saint Chains and release them.
...
A thousand miles from Yuanxu Peak Sacred Land, there was a mountain range called "Gui Ling."
The mountain range stretched over ten thousand miles, running through the Red Dragon Sacred Domain and the Li Ku Sacred Domain. Dense ancient trees grew in the mountains, and Saint Beasts and Saint Birds, born from absorbing the Heavenly Court Realm's heaven and earth sacred qi, occasionally revealed themselves, making this place seem exceptionally dangerous.
At this moment, deep within Gui Ling, led by Shang Zihong, more than a dozen figures stood on a stretch of bluish-green mountain foothills, gazing in the direction of Yuanxu Peak.
A layer of purple light emanated from beneath their feet.
If one observed closely, they would find that it was a network of purple fine lines, like earthworms. All the fine lines connected to form a massive formation diagram with a diameter of one hundred and sixty-nine zhang.
Standing inside the formation, the entire world appeared purple.
A tall, thin man in a purple robe stood at the center of the formation. His age was impossible to tell, but half of his body was flesh and blood, while the other half was purple gas, making him appear exceptionally eerie.
Half-human, half-soul.
In his hand, he held a blood-dripping bone staff, standing at the formation's center.
The bone staff was refined from a complete spine, with each bone joint clearly visible. At the top of the staff was a skull emitting phosphorescent light, with long black hair draped over it.
Both the bone staff and the half-human, half-soul man in the purple robe gave off a chilling, eerie sensation.
The man in the purple robe let out a hoarse voice: "Wu Qingkong and Li Zhi are not weak in cultivation. Even if they encountered a slightly weaker Two-Step Saint King, they could exchange a few moves. But Zhang Ruochen captured them easily. Heh, this Zhang Ruochen is not weak, huh."
Shang Zihong stood tall and straight, with silver-white long hair, wearing a vermilion three-feather crown. He exuded an air of elegance and refinement, holding a jade scroll in his hand as he said with a smile, "If he were a weakling, I wouldn't have asked you to come."
Behind Shang Zihong stood two beautiful and ethereal women, both at the One-Step Saint King realm, named Tianshu and Tianmiao.
Tianshu had a refined temperament and said softly, "Does that mean Zhang Ruochen already has the strength to contend with a Two-Step Saint King?"
"I'm afraid there's still some gap."
Shang Zihong continued, "Wu Qingkong and Li Zhi were turned into puppets after all, so the combat power they could unleash was certainly greatly diminished. If the two of them had joined forces and were at their peak, it would not have been easy for Zhang Ruochen to win."
Tianshu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good then. With my strength, I should be able to suppress Zhang Ruochen."
As a Saint King who had emerged from the Merit Divine Temple, Tianshu was confident she could easily defeat Wu Qingkong and Li Zhi, so dealing with Zhang Ruochen would naturally not be difficult.
"Although Wu Qingkong and Li Zhi failed to kill Zhang Ruochen, they did test his true strength, so it wasn't entirely without value," Tianmiao said in a somewhat cold voice.
Shang Zihong shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, even those two couldn't force Zhang Ruochen to use the legendary Time Sword Art."
"Time Sword Art—strike and kill. That saying has already spread among the circle of Saint Realm prodigies, being exaggerated to the point of myth. It makes me want to personally experience it." A laugh came from a mass of purple light, carrying a hint of disdain.
Shang Zihong glanced at the purple shadow and chuckled, "Xiao Xu, you haven't broken through to the Saint King realm yet, have you? What rank are you on the Saint Merit Ranking?"
"Seventh. Originally, I was sixth, but that Zhang Ruochen snatched too much merit value in the Ancestral Spirit Realm, suddenly jumping to first and forcibly pushing my rank down one spot."
Clearly, the man called "Xiao Xu" did not truly acknowledge Zhang Ruochen's strength. He felt that Zhang Ruochen had only seized merit value, like a nouveau riche, incomparable to the merit value he had accumulated step by step.
"You will definitely have a chance to fight him," Shang Zihong said.
"I'm just afraid you'll act too quickly, killing him early on, leaving me no chance to make a move." A laugh came from the purple light.
Tianshu's eyes showed a hint of doubt, and she said, "Lord Hun, with your methods, since you could control the Saint Souls of two One-Step Saint Kings, why not directly control Zhang Ruochen's Saint Soul?"
The man in the purple robe, called "Lord Hun," let out a sinister chuckle: "Zhang Ruochen is no ordinary person. He ranks first on the Saint Merit Ranking, and his spiritual will is incredibly strong. Not to mention me, even if my senior sister came, it would probably be difficult to control him. The more talented someone is, the harder they are to control."
"Wu Qingkong and Li Zhi are different. Although their cultivation has deepened with age, they have never been able to break through to One-Step Saint King. In fact, their spiritual will has grown weaker and weaker, even inferior to those Saint Realm prodigies from the Guanghan Realm. Controlling their Saint Souls is naturally much easier."
"I see." Tianshu showed a look of understanding.
Lord Hun continued, "My Soul-Holding Grand Art is ultimately not profound enough. Even controlling those two old wastes, Wu Qingkong and Li Zhi, required the assistance of a soul formation. If it were my senior sister, with a flick of her finger, she could make them obediently kneel on the ground and turn them into two soul slaves."
"Da Xi Wang wouldn't deign to kill a mere Saint. Even if you invited her, she wouldn't come." Xiao Xu's laugh came from the purple light.
"Hua—"
At the peak of Yuanxu Peak, a dazzling sacred light surged forth, so bright that it was somewhat blinding even from three thousand miles away.
Shang Zihong's expression turned slightly serious, and he said, "Manjian Dàsheng has manifested and is probing for our traces."
Lord Hun let out a laugh: "Manjian Dàsheng's strength is indeed considerable, but his attainments in Spiritual Power can only be considered mediocre. I have brought the Heaven-Breaking Dao Talisman passed down by our patriarch. Even if his true body descended, he might not be able to find us."
The purple-robed Lord Hun spread his right hand, and three thousand strange golden patterns appeared on his palm.
He pressed his hand down to the ground, and the Heaven-Breaking Dao Talisman merged with the purple formation.
Sure enough, the sacred light radiating from Manjian Dàsheng's statue swept over the purple formation but failed to detect their aura or traces.