Chapter 1660: A Divine Hand
After his injuries fully healed, Zhang Ruochen took out the True Marvel Sacred Fruit and swallowed it.
"Boom."
The energy contained within the True Marvel Sacred Fruit was countless times more potent than that of the Heart Moon Sacred Fruit. The moment it entered his throat, the fruit's violent power surged violently within his body, rushing like a tidal wave through his meridians, sacred veins, and internal organs.
Zhang Ruochen's meridians and sacred veins swelled up, resembling dozens of dragons buried beneath his skin, emitting a purple sacred light.
The specks of light within the True Marvel Sacred Fruit transformed into sacred dao rules, like earthworms, madly rushing into his Qi Sea and merging into the Celestial River, causing it to grow wider and wider.
Another stream of purple energy entered his Sacred Source, refining and cleansing his Sacred Soul.
Simultaneously, two other streams of energy erupted, merging into his physical body and Sacred Heart respectively.
With every instant, Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power grew stronger, as if being forged in flames, becoming tougher and more formidable.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground. As his cultivation technique circulated, even the Immovable Wisdom King Avatar manifested, towering over ten zhang tall, like a majestic divine shadow, intimidating the rotting corpses outside the Daoist temple into silence.
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen fully absorbed the energy of the True Marvel Sacred Fruit.
"Within the Celestial River, the number of sacred dao rules has reached twenty thousand three hundred and seventy-two. My meridians and sacred veins have expanded by a quarter, and both my spiritual power and Sacred Soul have greatly strengthened."
Zhang Ruochen's skin took on a purple-gold hue, shimmering with a metallic luster.
With a slight lift of his arm, his bones rubbed together, producing a thunderous sound. Without using any sacred art, he punched the air, sending a rotting corpse outside the temple flying several zhang away, its body shattering into pieces.
Xiang Chunan's big, dark face leaned in, asking, "How is it?"
"Not bad."
Zhang Ruochen revealed a faint smile, retracted the purple-gold light from his body, stood up, and said, "Let's go. Let's try activating the teleportation array."
The two of them, along with the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus, entered the teleportation array.
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious and cautious. He first released his Space Domain to cover the entire teleportation array, preventing any accidents during the teleportation process.
Then, he mobilized the sacred Qi within his body, injecting it into every node of the teleportation array.
This place might very well be a region where reality and nothingness coexisted. Using the teleportation array might not guarantee an escape, and if an accident occurred during the teleportation, it would be terrifying.
He had to be fully prepared.
"Swoosh—"
A circle of dazzling light emerged from the Space Teleportation Array, and Zhang Ruochen and the others vanished from the Daoist temple.
During the teleportation, cultivators could not perceive any fluctuations outside the array. However, as a Space Controller, Zhang Ruochen knew that during the teleportation, they had actually entered the Void Space.
In the Void Space, there were nodes connecting to another spatial coordinate.
This was a one-way teleportation. The spatial coordinate Zhang Ruochen had chosen was the exit of the cave leading into the forbidden zone. When they had arrived, he had calculated the direction and distance between the two points, giving him a certain degree of confidence.
"Boom."
Suddenly, the array patterns beneath their feet shook violently.
Xiang Chunan tensed up and asked, "What's happening?"
Zhang Ruochen's face grew grim. "It feels like we've collided with some kind of barrier. How is this possible? Such a thing shouldn't happen in the Void Space."
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus was terrified. "This is a forbidden zone. Even using spatial power, you can't come and go freely. We should go back. Even if we're trapped here, at least we can save our lives. If the array patterns beneath our feet shatter, we'll all fall into the Void Space and die without a burial place."
"Boom."
The array patterns trembled violently again.
Moreover, an overwhelmingly powerful aura appeared above their heads, causing Xiang Chunan and the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus to change expressions drastically.
Xiang Chunan looked up. Two beams of light shot from his eyes. It seemed he had seen something utterly terrifying. His voice trembled as he said, "A massive mountain shaped like a palm... floating above our heads... It's too terrifying..."
"How is that possible? There shouldn't be any matter in the Void Space."
Zhang Ruochen found it hard to believe. He reached out with both hands, parted the light curtain blocking his view, and looked up. He gasped sharply. "That is..."
What floated above their heads was not a mountain, but a severed hand—a hand as massive as a mountain, suspended in the Void Space, enduring without decay.
"That is the hand of a deity." Zhang Ruochen held his breath, hearing only the rapid pounding of his own heart.
It was the aura of a god, and Zhang Ruochen was certain of it.
That divine hand was enormous, tens of thousands of times larger than an ordinary mountain, suspended thousands of li above their heads, an incredibly awe-inspiring sight. The aura emanating from it was far more terrifying than any divine corpse Zhang Ruochen had ever encountered.
Streams of Qi flowed from the divine hand, each stream like a waterfall cascading downward, forming countless gaseous "waterfalls."
The array patterns had been blocked by one of these gaseous "waterfalls," preventing further teleportation.
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus clenched its teeth, its tongue moving cautiously as it asked, "Can we go back?"
Xiang Chunan looked around, a look of despair on his face. "I'm afraid we can't go back. Gaseous waterfalls surround us on all sides, blocking our path forward and sealing off our retreat."
"Bang."
The array patterns beneath their feet were struck by a stream of Qi and shattered.
"Ah... We're doomed... Junior Sister..."
"True Marvel, True Marvel, this poor Daoist doesn't want to die..."
Xiang Chunan and the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus both closed their eyes, letting out cries of despair.
They expected their bodies to be torn apart by the Void Space and turned into nothingness.
After a long moment, Xiang Chunan and the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus opened their eyes one after another, astonished to find that they were still alive, floating in the Void Space.
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus looked at its own hands and laughed wildly. "Haha! This poor Daoist's cultivation is truly heaven-defying. Even in the Void Space, I can leap and jump about. Who can kill me now?"
"The Void Space doesn't seem as dangerous as the legends say," Xiang Chunan joined in the laughter.
Zhang Ruochen's voice reached their ears. "You're both inside my Space Domain now. It's best not to move recklessly. If you step outside the domain's range, even I won't be able to save you."
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus and Xiang Chunan were both startled. They immediately threw themselves onto Zhang Ruochen, hugging him tightly.
The Space Domain was like a small space that could float in the void. Of course, with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation level, the Space Domain he had cultivated was still very fragile. A slight impact could shatter it.
Zhang Ruochen kept his nerves taut, manipulating the Space Domain and continuously performing Spatial Displacement, heading toward the originally set coordinate location.
When they encountered a gaseous "waterfall," Xiang Chunan and the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus would activate the Metal Demon Crown, drawing forth a strand of Supreme Power to forcibly tear open a gap.
The longer they stayed in the Void Space, the more Zhang Ruochen felt the power of nothingness devouring his Space Domain.
The Space Domain grew smaller and smaller.
"Faster, faster, faster."
Zhang Ruochen pushed forward with all his might, sweat pouring down like rain. Finally, a speck of light appeared in the pitch-black Void Space.
At the last moment, just as the power of nothingness was about to completely engulf Zhang Ruochen's Space Domain, he charged fiercely toward that speck of light.
"Swoosh."
Zhang Ruochen, Xiang Chunan, and the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus vanished from the Void Space. After a dizzying whirl, they reappeared in another pitch-black, boundless world, plummeting rapidly downward.
"Thud, thud."
They crashed to the ground one after another, dazed and dizzy.
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus was crushed at the bottom but didn't cry out in pain. Instead, it burst into laughter. "True Marvel, True Marvel! We finally escaped the Void Space. The feeling of hitting solid ground is wonderful."
Zhang Ruochen stood up, stomped on the hard ground, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Aren't you celebrating a bit too early?"
A cold voice sounded from the darkness.
"Chi chi."
A pair of blood-red wings appeared, floating several dozen zhang away, slowly moving toward them.
Zhang Ruochen looked around. This was indeed the exit of the cave in the forbidden zone. In the distance, the blood-red wings emitted an extremely powerful sacred dao fluctuation, accompanied by light footsteps.
"His cultivation is formidable."
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his smile, hiding his right hand behind his back, a spatial rift condensing in his palm.
Xiang Chunan, with his clairvoyant eyes, could see more clearly than Zhang Ruochen. He roared, "So it's you, you birdman. You've got some skill, escaping from that palace complex."
Gradually, the Four-Winged Blood Angel Nie Zhan appeared in Zhang Ruochen's field of vision.
In the palace complex, Nie Zhan had clashed with Xiang Chunan once and knew this dark, reckless fellow was quite powerful.
However, Nie Zhan still had some trump cards he hadn't revealed, confident he could suppress Xiang Chunan. That was why he walked out unhurriedly.
When Nie Zhan saw the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus beside Zhang Ruochen, a gleam of delight and greed flashed in his blood-red eyes. He spoke in a commanding tone, "Give me the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus."
The immense sacred might radiating from Nie Zhan did not intimidate Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen said to the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus, "Go. You should know what to do without me telling you, right?"
With half of its Sacred Soul in Zhang Ruochen's grasp, the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus had no right to resist. After letting out a long sigh, it puffed out its chest and walked toward Nie Zhan.
Seeing such a bizarre scene, Nie Zhan became uneasy. "Stop."
"What is it?"
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus asked confidently, its voice even louder than Nie Zhan's, continuing to walk forward.
The more Nie Zhan looked, the more something felt off. He raised the blood-red sacred sword in his hand, and sharp sword Qi flew out from the blade. "Stop immediately."
The Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus stopped, speaking impatiently, "You wanted this poor Daoist, and now you don't. Why are you so fickle?"
Nie Zhan sensed a dangerous aura from the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus. After a moment of thought, he took out a Saint-Binding Lock, flicked his wrist, and sent the lock flying to bind the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus.
"Mountain-Shifting Seal."
Two streams of purple Qi surged from the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus's sleeves, converging into a purple cloud. Tens of thousands of sacred dao rules flew from its palm, merging with the purple cloud. Then, a seal technique formed and blasted toward Nie Zhan.
Nie Zhan's expression changed drastically. He immediately discarded the Saint-Binding Lock, gripped his sword with both hands, and swung it forward.
"Bang."
The moment they clashed, Nie Zhan was sent flying by the seal technique from the Spirit-Connecting Sacred Fungus, with pieces of blood-red feathers falling off.
"Swoosh—"
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Ruochen swung his arm, sending the spatial rift in his hand flying in a graceful arc toward Nie Zhan.
(Chapter End)