# Chapter 1680: Who Admits Defeat?
Nine chains were an extremely powerful sacred artifact, containing nine different types of power—one was icy cold to the bone, one burned with flames, one emitted deathly qi... Various forces intertwined, all aiming to bind Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen held the Abyssal Ancient Sword in his hand while simultaneously channeling his sacred qi to control over a dozen other Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts, forming an airtight defense around him.
"Boom."
On the wall, an eighth-rank killing formation activated, condensing into a blood-red beam of light that struck a shield-shaped Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact, shattering it into pieces. Fragments scattered across the carriage.
Zhang Ruochen immediately sent four Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts to bombard the formation, finally blocking its power.
However, those four Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts had all developed cracks.
Zhang Ruochen was secretly shocked. The formation that Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had set up was far too terrifying. If he were hit directly, he would either die or lose half his life.
There was no denying it—fighting against a Formation Saint Master was an extremely frightening experience.
"Sizzle."
"Clatter."
...
Inside the carriage, four more eighth-rank formations activated, locking onto Zhang Ruochen, ready to unleash devastating attacks at any moment.
In truth, Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had already calmed down. That earlier strike was merely meant to intimidate Zhang Ruochen; she had never intended to activate all the eighth-rank formations to kill him.
The reason Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had lost emotional control earlier stemmed from two main points.
First, she was worried that Zhang Ruochen had been bought off by Wu Shen Heavenly Son and Heavenly Beginning Fairy.
Second, on the Sacred Merit Ranking, Zhang Ruochen had surpassed her, taking away some of the glory that rightfully belonged to her. Moreover, when Zhang Ruochen had commented on her, he had said her state of mind was flawed and that she would be useless in the future. Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden naturally refused to accept this, believing Zhang Ruochen was too arrogant and self-righteous. Therefore, deep in her heart, she had always harbored the desire to compete with Zhang Ruochen.
Only by personally defeating Zhang Ruochen could the stifling knot in Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's heart be untied.
Starlight specks drifted like fireflies on a summer night.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's voice rang out from within the starlight specks, ethereal and elusive: "Zhang Ruochen, give up. You are no match for this Heavenly Maiden. If I activate all four eighth-rank formations, you will surely die."
"Is that so? I really don't believe it."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture and held it in his hand.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden said, "Don't bother trying to provoke this Heavenly Maiden. Inside the Star Radiance Sacred Chariot, I have many trump cards I can use. Just using the power of formations alone is enough to defeat you."
"Do you think these formations alone can force me to submit? You underestimate me far too much," Zhang Ruochen said.
The specks of starlight gathered together, condensing into Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's snow-white, crystalline immortal body as she revealed her true form.
She said, "Here, your space power is suppressed by more than half. I have divine patterns protecting my body and plenty of protective talismans. The sword path, palm path, and fist path you cultivate are utterly useless against me. Are you going to use the power of time against me? Time is even more profound and mysterious than space. With your Saint King realm cultivation, how much of it can you truly grasp?"
Zhang Ruochen sneered but said nothing.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's exquisitely beautiful face broke into a smile as she changed her tone: "Forget it. This Heavenly Maiden knows that the Heir of Time and Space needs to save face. How about this—I won't ask you to submit. Just admit defeat, and we'll be done."
"Why should I admit defeat? You haven't even defeated me," Zhang Ruochen said.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She felt she had already made a huge concession and given him a way out, yet this guy refused to take it.
"Do we have to fight to the death? To be honest, I really don't want to kill you right now," Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden said.
Zhang Ruochen replied, "We could have cooperated well. I never agreed to the terms Wu Shen Heavenly Son offered. It's your excessive desire for control and your competitive nature that have led to this outcome. I am Zhang Ruochen, the Heir of Time and Space, not like those other cultivators. I will not submit to any living being. Not even a god."
"It seems I have to thoroughly defeat you to break that arrogance of yours."
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden stood still, releasing her spiritual power. Instantly, the four eighth-rank formations began to spin rapidly, emitting increasingly powerful energy fluctuations.
The space inside the sacred chariot became more dangerous than a death trap.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen flipped open the Space-Time Secret Scripture, and a burst of silver light shot out.
The space inside the carriage was divided into multiple dimensions. Layers of silver space walls appeared, like book pages or light screens.
"Boom, rumble."
The four eighth-rank formations unleashed devastating attacks, colliding with the silver light screens, causing the entire Star Radiance Sacred Chariot to shake even more violently.
Fortunately, the Star Radiance Sacred Chariot was an eight-radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact, reinforced with defensive formation inscriptions laid down by Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden. Otherwise, it would have surely been shattered into dust.
The silver light screens were continuously shattered and then reformed.
After a stalemate lasting ten breaths, the attacks from the four eighth-rank formations finally ceased.
That was because Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had been swept into the multi-dimensional space.
Her spiritual connection with the four eighth-rank formations had been severed by the space walls. Naturally, the formations stopped operating.
Zhang Ruochen had been fully focused on controlling the Space-Time Secret Scripture, constantly pouring sacred qi into it. Only now did he breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"This woman is truly formidable. She forced me to use my final trump card, and I barely managed to hold her off."
Although Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden was only at the Third Step Saint King realm, fighting her was even more troublesome for Zhang Ruochen than battling Qiong Lin and Feng Jian, who were Sixth Step Saint Kings.
Moreover, Qiong Lin and Feng Jian were no ordinary Sixth Step Saint Kings—they were world leaders.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden was even more shocked. Her gaze fixed on the Space-Time Secret Scripture in Zhang Ruochen's hand as she asked, "What treasure is that?"
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn't tell her. "Now, you admit defeat! Actually, we can still sit down and have a proper discussion. You should know that while you hold my secrets, I also hold yours. If I were to spread the news that you possess the Truth Esoterica, even if you are the Heavenly Maiden of the Thousand Star Civilization, you would probably find it hard to escape death."
"Are you threatening this Heavenly Maiden?" Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden said coldly.
Zhang Ruochen corrected her, "You threatened me first."
"Do you think a book can imprison this Heavenly Maiden? You underestimate me as well."
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden mobilized her origin power, gathering it at her fingertip.
Her slender jade finger pointed at the silver light screen blocking her path, and her red lips softly uttered, "Return to Origin."
"Boom."
The silver light screen exploded, turning into particles invisible to the naked eye, as if it had vanished completely.
Zhang Ruochen's fingers quickly flipped through the pages of the book. The silver light screen that had been blocking Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden was now only one layer, but it became five layers.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden looked at the silver light screens that had suddenly appeared before her, her brow slightly furrowed. Once again, she mobilized her origin power toward her fingertip.
This time, Zhang Ruochen moved faster. He traced a time imprint, flicked his finger, and sent it flying toward her.
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly executed a movement technique to evade the time imprint.
Zhang Ruochen was surprised. "You can see the time imprint?"
"This Heavenly Maiden possesses the Origin Divine Eye, which can see through everything in the world. Even time cannot escape my sight." Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's red lips curled up slightly with a hint of pride as she continued to gather her origin power.
The reason Zhang Ruochen's time imprint had always suppressed his opponents was that even top-tier experts below the Great Saint realm, like Qiong Lin, couldn't see the time imprint and could barely perceive the power of time.
This was the foundation of his ability to overcome enemies!
But now, a freak like Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had appeared in the world, possessing the Origin Divine Eye that could see time. In certain aspects, she could counter Zhang Ruochen.
To be precise, the nine eternal paths all had a certain degree of mutual suppression and complementarity.
"Boom, boom."
Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden shattered two more layers of silver light screens, but there was no joy on her face. Instead, her expression grew increasingly solemn.
Because she was shocked to discover that the silver light screens she had previously struck back to their origin state had reformed.
This had never happened before.
Zhang Ruochen finally breathed a sigh of relief, then closed the Space-Time Secret Scripture.
All the silver light screens and Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden vanished together, drawn into the silver book in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had hesitated to do this because he was worried that Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's origin power might destroy the Space-Time Secret Scripture. But it turned out that with her current level of mastery in the origin path, she couldn't reduce the Space-Time Secret Scripture back to its origin state.
Zhang Ruochen opened the Space-Time Secret Scripture again and saw a stunning beauty portrait on one of the pages.
That beauty seemed as if it had been painted by the world's greatest master. It was lifelike, full of spiritual essence. Even if Painting Saint Chu Siyuan saw this image, he would probably have to admit defeat.
"Zhang Ruochen, this Heavenly Maiden still has many trump cards I haven't used. If you have the guts, release me. I only need one strike to turn you to ashes," the beauty in the painting spoke, her tone extremely unwilling.
Zhang Ruochen's finger gently touched the beauty's cheek, a warm smile on his face. "Use whatever trump cards you have. As long as you can break out of this book, I'll admit defeat immediately."
Zhang Ruochen knew very well that if he released her, she would probably immediately send a message to the blind man and the bearded man.
Those two had unfathomable cultivation levels. Zhang Ruochen had no confidence in dealing with them.
Zhang Ruochen's finger seemed to really touch Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's face, causing the beauty in the book to tremble slightly. Then, the silver page violently shook, and cracks appeared.
Zhang Ruochen was slightly startled.
What terrifying power had Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden unleashed to actually crack a page of the Space-Time Secret Scripture?
No.
It wasn't a crack, just a mark.
That mark quickly disappeared.
Zhang Ruochen calmed his mind and let out a long breath. He thought to himself, "False alarm. If even the secret scripture refined by Xumi Saint Monk could be breached, then Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden would be able to walk sideways across the entire Heavenly Court realm."
"How is this possible? The power that is invincible below the Great Saint realm can't even break through one of your books?" the beauty in the painting exclaimed in astonishment.
She actually possessed power that was invincible below the Great Saint realm?
Zhang Ruochen was filled with doubt and uncertainty. This Heavenly Maiden, who was at the same cultivation level as him, had brought him too many shocks.
In the past, at the same realm, Zhang Ruochen could easily crush any opponent.
But today, if it weren't for the Space-Time Secret Scripture, Zhang Ruochen would probably have suffered a major setback at the hands of Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden.
"Zhang Ruochen, I admit defeat." Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's voice rang out.
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. The proud and arrogant Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden had admitted defeat so quickly?
(Chapter End)