Chapter 1545: Layers of Killing Intent
Liao Sang Jun was the sect leader of an ancient sect on the Ruiya Realm, his cultivation reaching the level of a Nine-Step Saint King.
The Ruiya Realm had always been a vanguard in suppressing the Guanghan Realm, and the enmity between the two realms ran deep. Two hundred years ago, Su Jing went to fight on the Merit Battlefield, where he was bullied and humiliated by Liao Sang Jun's son, Yin Ji. Unable to bear it any longer, Su Jing struck out in anger and killed Yin Ji, planting the seeds of their grudge at that time.
Back then, Liao Sang Jun had also mobilized a large force to come to the Shatuo Heaven Domain, seeking revenge for his son. However, Jiu Ling Great Saint was no pushover either—a being standing at the pinnacle of the Great Saint realm—and naturally repelled Liao Sang Jun.
That matter was thus left unresolved.
Now, two hundred years later, Liao Sang Jun suddenly came to the Shatuo Heaven Domain to seek revenge, even bringing the Heaven-Sealing Glass Cover. No matter how one looked at it, this carried an unusual undertone.
Wu Hao's heart was extremely tense. If Su Jing ever found out he was the traitor, he would likely be beaten until his soul scattered on the spot.
Fortunately, Su Jing's attention was entirely focused on Liao Sang Jun, and for the moment, he hadn't considered who had exposed their whereabouts.
"The Heaven-Sealing Glass Cover may be a sacred object that seals heaven and earth, but do you think I came completely unprepared?" Su Jing, after all, was a king in his own right. Even facing a great enemy like Liao Sang Jun, he remained quite composed.
Liao Sang Jun let out a loud laugh: "The Heaven-Sealing Glass Cover is a supreme treasure that conceals heavenly secrets and seals space. Even a Great Saint might not be able to break through it. With your cultivation, do you think you can crack it open?"
Zhang Ruochen's sacred energy surged rapidly within him as he mobilized spatial power, slashing his finger forward. Gradually, the extremely stable space of the Heavenly Court Realm was torn open, forming a small crack.
But the moment that crack approached the light barrier, the sacred dao rules flowing on the barrier erupted with dazzling sacred light, squeezing the spatial rift shut again.
"Even spatial power can't tear it apart."
Zhang Ruochen quickly withdrew his sacred dao power and retreated rapidly.
Liao Sang Jun laughed loudly: "Little brat, with your meager spatial attainments, you think you can break the Heaven-Sealing Glass Cover? How utterly overconfident."
"Although the Heaven-Sealing Glass Cover possesses the terrifying power to trap a Great Saint, it still depends on who is controlling it. With you in control, I might still be able to break it open." Su Jing let out a deep snort.
"With you, you dare to underestimate me?"
From within the evil clouds, two intimidating gazes emerged. Liao Sang Jun was now extremely furious.
The wings on Su Jing's back spread open once more, spanning over ten zhang in length.
Among the countless feathers of those wings, nine light points of different colors flickered.
They were nine feathers.
"Whoosh—"
The nine feathers detached from Su Jing's wings, hovering in midair, growing larger and larger, emitting a soul-shaking Great Saint aura that created nine vortexes in the surrounding space.
Liao Sang Jun let out a startled cry: "The nine life-bound feathers of Jiu Ling Great Saint."
"Break for me."
Su Jing's sacred power surged to its limit, dozens of electric serpents coursing through his body. He clasped his hands together, controlling the nine enormous feathers like nine massive blades, all simultaneously slashing toward the light barrier.
On the light barrier, those sacred dao rules manifested once again.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
Su Jing was mobilizing the nine life-bound feathers of Jiu Ling Great Saint. Within the feathers were sacred dao rules belonging to Jiu Ling Great Saint, with tens of thousands of rules flowing on each feather.
Gradually, the light barrier constructed by the sacred dao rules was indeed torn open, forming a rift several zhang long, through which the outside scenery could be seen.
Controlling the nine life-bound feathers of Jiu Ling Great Saint at his current cultivation level was clearly no easy task. His veins bulged across his body, his eyes were bloodshot, and he roared: "Go quickly!"
Everyone understood that Su Jing couldn't hold out for long. The rift torn open by the life-bound feathers was their only path to survival.
Escape.
Led by Wu Hao, Ling Mi, Mu Lingxi, and Wen Shusheng all activated their movement techniques and swiftly flew out.
Su Qingling stared at Su Jing, saying: "Father, what about you? Come with us—"
Su Jing, too, wished he could charge out with them.
But when his gaze fell on the life-bound feathers, a bitter and helpless expression appeared in his eyes. Only by going all out could he tear open a rift in the sacred dao rule light barrier. If he tried to escape, his sacred power would diminish, and the rift would close again.
All the other cultivators could flee, but he could not.
"Roar!"
From behind came Liao Sang Jun's furious roar.
Su Jing's eyes sharpened once more, filled with battle intent. He said: "Zhang Ruochen, take her and leave."
Zhang Ruochen gave Su Jing a deep look, said nothing, but simply nodded. Then, he grabbed Su Qingling's left shoulder and carried her through the rift in the light barrier, charging out.
"Swoosh."
The rift in the light barrier disappeared.
Zhang Ruochen looked back to see a towering green mountain behind him, peaceful and serene, with no sign of two peerless powerhouses battling within.
"Father... Father... Zhang Ruochen, let me go—"
Tears fell from Su Qingling's eyes. She gritted her teeth fiercely, erupted with sacred power, and attacked Zhang Ruochen, trying to break free.
Zhang Ruochen felt somewhat helpless and released the hand gripping her shoulder.
Su Qingling immediately lunged forward, but after only three steps, she slammed into an invisible spatial wall and was sent flying back.
"Boom, boom."
Su Qingling seemed to have gone mad, continuously unleashing attacks—punching with fist seals or slashing with a sacred sword—striking the transparent spatial wall and causing ripples to spread across it, but she could not break through.
Zhang Ruochen didn't try to stop her. Instead, he took out a Message Light Talisman, inscribed a plea for help, and sent it flying.
Their current location was still close to the Red Dragon Sacred Domain, so Zhang Ruochen was naturally sending the message to the domain's lord, Man Jian Great Saint.
But the talisman had only flown a few hundred zhang before its speed rapidly slowed and finally stopped completely. A large hand formed from purple mist materialized out of thin air and grabbed it.
"I knew it wouldn't be that simple."
Zhang Ruochen stared intently at that purple hand, as if he had anticipated that the enemy had more killing moves in store.
He just didn't know which other formidable figure had appeared.
Ling Mi and Wen Shusheng's expressions also turned grim. They had both used secret techniques to send distress signals to the great figures of the Guanghan Realm, but those techniques were all intercepted by an invisible force, preventing the messages from getting through.
"Begging for help is useless. None of you will escape today."
With a hoarse laugh, Hun Wang's figure gradually materialized on the ground. Half of his body was flesh, the other half a soul form, and he was draped in a loose purple robe that fluttered in the wind.
Hun Wang held a bone staff, which he thrust fiercely into the ground.
Immediately, with the bone staff as the center, a purple formation diagram over one hundred zhang in diameter emerged, enveloping Zhang Ruochen, Wu Hao, Mu Lingxi, Ling Mi, Wen Shusheng, and Su Qingling.
Within the purple formation diagram, countless ghostly shadows appeared, accompanied by the howling of vengeful spirits.
At this moment, only Zhang Ruochen could remain calm. He stared at the eerie man standing at the center of the formation and said: "So, you're the Hell Realm powerhouse who wants to kill me?"
"It's not that I want to kill you. The one who wants you dead is far more powerful than me."
Hun Wang's voice came out in overlapping layers, like hundreds of voices speaking at once.
His voice carried spiritual power attacks. Mu Lingxi, Ling Mi, and Su Qingling, who had the weakest spiritual power, all let out muffled groans, clutching their heads as their bodies swayed unsteadily.
"Such formidable spiritual power."
Zhang Ruochen felt a sharp pain in his head, and darkness swam before his eyes. He quickly bit his tongue, then took out the Buddha Emperor Relic, held it in his hand, and channeled sacred energy into it.
"Whoosh—"
The Buddha Emperor Relic emitted ten thousand zhang of golden light, along with thousands of Buddhist chants, quickly suppressing Hun Wang's voice.
Next, Zhang Ruochen brought out the Golden Step Dragon Chariot and boarded it first, saying: "The enemy has prepared thoroughly, intending to kill us all. Everyone, get on the chariot immediately and follow me to break out."
"That man is a heretic from the Soul Realm called Hun Wang. We can't contend with him. Listen to Zhang Ruochen—we must leave here as quickly as possible." Wen Shusheng, afraid that Su Qingling would refuse to leave, grabbed her and helped her onto the Golden Step Dragon Chariot.
Then, Wu Hao, Mu Lingxi, and Ling Mi also boarded. Under their full activation, the interior of the Golden Step Dragon Chariot resounded with earth-shaking dragon roars.
"Whoosh—"
Two waves of sacred power surged out, and the Golden Step Dragon Chariot erupted with the power of Two Radiance Perfection. The immense sacred dao force struck the purple formation diagram, causing it to twist and warp, as if it were about to be torn apart.
A curve formed at the corner of Hun Wang's mouth, and he said with a smile: "Wu Hao, why aren't you making your move? Do you really want to watch Zhang Ruochen escape like this?"
"What do you mean?"
Hearing this, Wen Shusheng, Ling Mi, Su Qingling, and Mu Lingxi were all stunned, momentarily losing their ability to think.
Standing on the Golden Step Dragon Chariot, Wu Hao's eyes were filled with malice. He was clearly displeased, feeling that Hun Wang shouldn't have exposed him. But since he was already exposed, he had no way back.
Truly, once you make a wrong choice, you can only keep walking toward the bottomless abyss.
"Boom."
Wu Hao locked onto Zhang Ruochen as his target, his body tensed like a bow. Then, he lunged forward, striking out with both palms toward Zhang Ruochen's back.
Wu Hao's attack was extremely decisive. Almost the moment Hun Wang exposed him, his palm strike was already launched.
Moreover, Wu Hao was standing right behind Zhang Ruochen, less than a zhang away. His palm strike, in the blink of an eye, would land on Zhang Ruochen.
But—
Wu Hao's palms only struck Zhang Ruochen's shadow.
"How could he dodge that? It's absolutely impossible."
Shock filled Wu Hao's eyes. His palm strike missed, and he couldn't retract his power, causing him to lose his balance and stumble forward.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen's voice came from beside him: "The moment Liao Sang Jun appeared, I knew there was at least one traitor among us. How could I not be on guard against you?"
Wu Hao's expression turned extremely ugly. He tried to activate a protective talisman to defend himself.
"Die for me." Zhang Ruochen roared in anger.
A heavy palm strike landed on Wu Hao's back, slamming him heavily to the ground, embedding him at the bottom of a handprint-shaped pit. Crimson blood gushed from Wu Hao's body.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen was back on the Golden Step Dragon Chariot, his robes spotless. He cast a cold glance at the handprint pit, didn't bother to check whether Wu Hao was alive or dead, and directly drove the Golden Step Dragon Chariot, charging toward Hun Wang at the center of the formation.