Chapter 1607: Hundred Steps No Life
The man called Mr. Mu appeared to be over thirty years old, with thick eyebrows and a wooden crown on his head. His sharp eyes were fixed unwaveringly on the three figures locked in fierce combat at the center of the Sun-Moon-Star Combined Attack Formation.
"Youngsters still lack a bit of experience after all," Mr. Mu said lightly.
Mrs. Mu looked exceptionally young, with delicate skin and a beautiful, moving appearance, carrying a hint of a young matron's charm. She said, "In the application of sacred arts, we, as a couple, far surpass those two brats, Wang Xu and Zhan Yu. At the same cultivation level, we could defeat them within a hundred moves."
"However, that little fellow Zhang Ruochen is somewhat troublesome. He has nearly reached the pinnacle below the Saint King realm in almost every aspect, with no weaknesses."
Mr. Mu shook his head. "It's not that he has no weaknesses. Zhang Ruochen's attainment in the Way of Truth is still very shallow. If I'm not mistaken, he has only fully comprehended the second visualization diagram on the first floor of the Truth Divine Temple, allowing him to amplify his sacred arts by only three times."
"As for Zhan Yu, he has already fully comprehended the third visualization diagram, enabling him to amplify his sacred arts by four times."
"Wang Xu is even more formidable. I heard that he recently reached the realm of 'Flower is Not Flower' on the second floor of the Truth Divine Temple and successfully passed the fourth sea region of the Truth Sea. His attainment in the Way of Truth is only one step behind ours."
Mrs. Mu chuckled lightly. "Zhang Ruochen drank a sacred wine that amplifies his power, which is enough to compensate for his weakness in the Way of Truth."
"It seems we truly need to step in to finish this quickly," Mr. Mu said.
Before reaching the Saint King realm, Mr. Mu and Mrs. Mu had also made it onto the Sacred Merit Ranking, though their rankings were quite low.
Of course, they had already been cultivating at the Saint King realm for over a hundred years.
This century of cultivation had allowed them to comprehend a vast number of sacred dao rules, cultivate top-tier sacred arts, collect more powerful sacred artifact weapons, and hone more perfect combat experience.
For this reason, even when suppressed to the Half-Saint King realm, their combat power was still somewhat stronger than that of Wang Xu and Zhan Yu.
"Evil Bottle Finger."
Mr. Mu's right hand formed five fingers into a strange finger technique.
Strands of evil qi coiled around his five fingers, condensing into the shape of a precious bottle.
This was an ordinary mid-rank sacred art, but relying on his profound cultivation and the massive number of sacred dao rules within his body, Mr. Mu managed to mobilize nearly a hundred finger dao rules and integrate them into the sacred art.
Instantly, a vast evil qi erupted, transforming Mr. Mu's body into a black vortex.
It was worth noting that when Wang Xu performed a mid-rank sacred art, he could only mobilize twenty to thirty sacred dao rules at once, which was his limit.
Even with the same ordinary mid-rank sacred art, the power unleashed varied greatly depending on the number of sacred dao rules integrated.
As Mr. Mu turned into a black vortex and charged into the Sun-Moon-Star Combined Attack Formation, Mrs. Mu also executed a mid-rank sacred art, turning into a white vortex and rushing into the formation.
Within the formation, what had been a duel among three top experts had now become a clash among five.
To the onlookers, it seemed this battle would soon end with Zhang Ruochen's defeat.
But instead, a thunderous roar echoed from within, and the battle grew even more intense.
Outside the Yin-Yang Hall, hidden in the shadows, Ling Feiyu gripped the Zangtian Sword tightly, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the five combatants. If she hadn't known Zhang Ruochen's plan in advance, she would have already charged in.
As the five top experts clashed, the power fluctuations radiating outward grew increasingly fierce, putting immense pressure on the four Song siblings. The four ancestral artifacts in their hands trembled slightly, numbing their arms.
The surrounding evil path cultivators all exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes filled with doubt.
Was Zhang Ruochen really this powerful? Even with Wang Xu, Zhan Yu, Mr. Mu, and Mrs. Mu joining forces, they still couldn't take him down? Did he truly have three heads and six arms?
Gradually, Qiong Lin sensed something was wrong, feeling a growing danger.
"No, this isn't right. Earlier, Zhang Ruochen and Wang Xu were evenly matched. Then Zhan Yu joined, and the three of them fought to a stalemate. Then Mr. Mu and Mrs. Mu joined, and the five of them are still locked in an indecisive battle. How is this possible?"
Suddenly, Qiong Lin seemed to understand something, his expression shifting violently. He roared, "Watch out! Stay away from Zhang Ruochen!"
Within the formation, Wang Xu, Zhan Yu, Mr. Mu, and Mrs. Mu all felt a jolt in their hearts. As seasoned warriors, they too sensed something amiss and immediately tried to retreat from the Sun-Moon-Star Combined Attack Formation.
But at that moment, they saw a sinister smile curl at the corner of Zhang Ruochen's mouth.
Between the fingers of Zhang Ruochen's left hand, two talismans appeared.
To be precise, those two talismans had been in Zhang Ruochen's hand all along, but they had only just noticed.
Zhang Ruochen swiftly pressed one talisman onto himself and hurled the other outward, muttering softly, "Hundred Steps No Life."
The surface of the Hundred Steps No Life Talisman lit up with dozens of light patterns, then emitted a blinding sacred radiance.
Even cultivators far from the Yin-Yang Hall were dazzled by the light from the talisman, their eyes stinging. From a distance, it looked as if a light sphere a hundred zhang in diameter had appeared at the entrance of the Yin-Yang Hall.
"Boom, rumble."
A muffled explosion rang out.
The energy wave turned into a destructive storm, sweeping through the entire Yin-Yang Hall. If not for the Warp and Weft Heavenly Net Formation blocking it, the storm would have surged into the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market, destroying a large swath of sacred shops.
Wang Xu, Zhan Yu, Mr. Mu, Mrs. Mu, and the four Song siblings were the closest, within thirty zhang of Zhang Ruochen, and naturally bore the brunt of the most terrifying impact.
The protective talismans on the four Song siblings all shattered, their flesh exploding into scattered sacred bones. The four ancestral artifacts were also flung away, crashing into the light walls of the Warp and Weft Heavenly Net Formation, creating ripples.
If Mr. Mu and Mrs. Mu hadn't had their cultivation suppressed, they could have withstood the power of the Hundred Steps No Life Talisman, perhaps only suffering minor injuries.
But with their cultivation suppressed, they were not spared. They now lay in a pool of blood, grievously wounded.
Mr. Mu's chest had caved in, his left arm had turned into bloody pulp, and half his body was mangled.
Mrs. Mu fared even worse. Her once-beautiful face was now a bloody mess, most of her skull shattered, and a crack had appeared in her qi sea, with vast amounts of sacred qi leaking out.
Zhan Yu, with his powerful physical body, had survived the attack of the Hundred Steps No Life Talisman, barely clinging to life with a single breath left.
Only Wang Xu remained standing, though blood still dripped from the corner of his mouth.
It wasn't that Wang Xu was more alert than the others, nor that he was stronger. Rather, ever since Zhang Ruochen's time sword art pierced his brow last time, he had developed a shadow in his heart, knowing that time sword techniques were hard to defend against.
So, after returning to the Ruiya Realm, Wang Xu had sought out his father, who possessed divine-level cultivation, and had him inscribe defensive divine patterns on his body as a life-saving measure.
Before encountering Zhang Ruochen, Wang Xu had never wanted to have divine patterns inscribed on his body.
Because with divine protection, cultivators would lose their vigilance and sense of danger, which was detrimental to cultivation. The more proud and aloof a cultivator, the more they disdained relying on external forces for protection.
Only now did Wang Xu feel fortunate, overjoyed in his heart. "Thankfully, I asked my father to inscribe defensive divine patterns on my body. Otherwise, I would have been doomed today. I don't have Zhan Yu's freakish physical body."
Of course, after blocking the destructive force of the Hundred Steps No Life Talisman, the divine patterns on Wang Xu's body had dimmed considerably.
The god also didn't want his highly valued son to rely too much on divine patterns and lose his drive for progress. So, he hadn't set up permanent divine patterns, and they could only block ninety percent of the attack's power.
Besides Wang Xu, Zhan Yu, and the others closest to the blast, seventeen other evil path cultivators within a hundred zhang had been unable to retreat in time and were killed by the talisman's blast.
Dozens more evil path cultivators were injured.
The killing power of this single talisman was far more terrifying than the Heavenly Blazing Purple Fire Talisman, and Zhang Ruochen had deliberately lured Wang Xu, Zhan Yu, Mr. Mu, Mrs. Mu, and the four Song siblings close to him, once again dealing a heavy blow to the Yin-Yang Hall.
"A Hundred Steps No Life Talisman... it's actually a Hundred Steps No Life Talisman! How did Zhang Ruochen get his hands on such a talisman?"
"It really is a Hundred Steps No Life Talisman! Legend has it that this kind of talisman can only be found in the Daoist Dharma King's Tomb. Since its discovery, only a little over a dozen Hundred Steps No Life Talismans have been unearthed."
"Below the Great Saint realm, very few cultivators can afford a Hundred Steps No Life Talisman. Where did Zhang Ruochen get so many sacred stones to buy one? And who sold it to him?"
...
On the Star Observation Platform, Shang Zihong, who had been playing chess, turned cold and furious. "Isn't your Daoist sect going too far? Using a Hundred Steps No Life Talisman? Are you trying to provoke a bloody battle? If so, I can get a few Death God Arrival Talismans and bring them to the Truth Heaven Domain!"
The Daoist-robed man sitting across from him showed a contemplative expression. "This Hundred Steps No Life Talisman has nothing to do with the Daoist sect."
Shang Zihong was usually very composed, but his outburst just now showed just how furious he was.
"Nothing to do with the Daoist sect? Can the Guanghan Realm get its hands on a Hundred Steps No Life Talisman? Can Zhang Ruochen afford one? Besides, who would be willing to sell a Hundred Steps No Life Talisman?"
Shang Zihong didn't believe the Daoist-robed man's words at all. He immediately stood up, ready to rush back to the Yin-Yang Hall.
Who knew how many more talismans the Daoist sect had given Zhang Ruochen?
So, even if Shang Zihong didn't personally capture Zhang Ruochen, he at least needed to go back and tell Qiong Lin and the others not to bother capturing him alive. If necessary, they could kill him. That way, they wouldn't be held back and fall into Zhang Ruochen's trap.
The Daoist-robed man sat by the chessboard, smiling. "This Star Observation Platform is set up with the Four Symbols Sealing God Formation. Until the battle at the Yin-Yang Hall is over, none of us can leave. You'd better stay and continue playing chess with me. Remember, stay calm."
"I don't believe it!"
Shang Zihong took out a sacred lamp, pouring his vast sacred power into it, activating the lamp's Six Radiance Perfection power, and hurled it directly at the night sky.
The light from the sacred lamp grew brighter and brighter, like a blazing sun.
"Boom."
From the four directions of the Star Observation Platform, the phantom images of four divine beasts grew larger, rising up and blocking the sacred lamp.
Shang Zihong's brows furrowed tightly. He quickly withdrew the sacred lamp and fell into silence.
After a long moment, Shang Zihong seemed to think of something, a smile appearing in his eyes. He sat back down opposite the Daoist-robed man and said, "Fine, I'll stay and play chess with you. Let's see if Zhang Ruochen can hold out to the end with just a few talismans."
Seeing Shang Zihong smiling, the Daoist-robed man felt a strong sense of doubt.
Could it be that Shang Zihong had already guessed who was secretly helping Zhang Ruochen, and thus knew that Zhang Ruochen's talismans were limited, with only a few at his disposal?