Chapter 1688: The Heavenly Emperor Above
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, without contempt or arrogance, as if stating something trivial: "You are too ignorant!"
"What did you say?"
A thick killing aura surged from Yuwen Jing's body.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I said you are ignorant. Do you think I am still at the Saint realm, and using divine bones can prevent me from using spatial power?"
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen stomped hard on the ground, causing space to tremble and a spatial ripple to spread outward in all directions.
The divine bones suspended in the twelve directions of the Daoist temple all trembled violently, as if about to be shaken away.
Yuwen Jing's expression shifted slightly. He quickly mobilized the sacred qi within his body, transforming it into twelve pillars of sacred qi that flew toward the twelve divine bones. Immediately, the divine bones grew larger, with numerous inscriptions and rule patterns surfacing on their surfaces.
"Twelve Palace Divine Formation."
The twelve divine bones began to rotate, forming a massive vortex. Within the vortex, various forces interwove, erupting into powerful waves of energy.
From a distance, it looked like a thick tornado rising from the Daoist temple into the sky.
Zhang Ruochen felt a slight surprise and said, "They actually inscribed formation inscriptions on the divine bones, using the formation to draw out the various rules within the bones, thereby borrowing the power of heaven and earth. The formation saint master who refined this formation is highly skilled!"
Within a god, the rules are endless. Even a single divine bone contains a vast number of rules, far beyond what a Saint King could hope to achieve.
However, after a god falls, the rules within the divine bones become dormant.
Using formation inscriptions to activate the rules within divine bones is an extremely formidable technique, achievable only by some ancient great teachings in top-tier powerful realms.
A formation refined with divine bones as its foundation is undoubtedly immensely powerful, capable of suppressing an entire ruin realm.
This formation was bestowed upon Yuwen Jing by the leader of an ancient great teaching in the Yin-Yang Realm when he became a divine disciple of the Truth Divine Temple, a sign of great expectations.
Yuwen Jing said, "Now do you still think these twelve divine bones of mine can suppress your spatial power?"
"They cannot," Zhang Ruochen shook his head.
"Unrepentant until death."
Yuwen Jing grew angry, extending a finger and pointing it at Zhang Ruochen opposite him.
The twelve divine bones seemed to come alive, like twelve divine beasts, releasing dense sacred dao rules that interwove into a massive light sphere, flying toward Zhang Ruochen.
Within the light sphere, at least three thousand sacred dao rules had gathered.
Zhang Ruochen clenched his five fingers, activating the power of the Flame God Armor fist gloves, his right hand turning into a blazing fireball as he punched out.
"Boom."
The light sphere shattered, its power dispersing without even injuring Zhang Ruochen's fingers.
Zhang Ruochen charged swiftly toward Yuwen Jing, raising his fist again as flames spread outward.
"Zhang Ruochen's cultivation is only at the Three-Step Saint King realm. How can the power he unleashes be so strong?"
Yuwen Jing gritted his teeth, and within his meridians, a rushing sound echoed as he accelerated the operation of the twelve divine bones.
From each divine bone, over four hundred rules surged out, like twelve rivers converging before him into a divine seal the size of a millstone.
The divine seal flew out, colliding with Zhang Ruochen's fist.
"Boom."
Yuwen Jing could not withstand that force and was pushed backward.
However, the divine seal did not shatter and remained suspended before him.
Yuwen Jing stared at the man whose hands were burning with flames, utterly shocked. "How is this possible? He still managed to repel me."
Using the Twelve Palace Divine Formation derived from the twelve divine bones, Yuwen Jing, at the Four-Step Saint King realm, could unleash peak Six-Step Saint King combat power. He had thought he could easily suppress Zhang Ruochen.
But...
Zhang Ruochen's flame fist gloves were too powerful, a true offensive weapon. It would likely take a Seven-Step Saint King to suppress him.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If you have any other tricks, bring them out."
Yuwen Jing was naturally unwilling to be suppressed by a Three-Step Saint King. His eyes turned cold, and he said, "Very well, today I will show you the power of a divine disciple of the Truth Divine Temple."
"Truth Realm Form, The Heavenly Emperor Above."
Yuwen Jing dispersed the divine seal, standing upright with his hands clasped together. A large amount of truth rules surged from the top of his head, merging with the sky. The heaven and earth rules in the sky became active.
Above Yuwen Jing's head, a yellow-brown cloud condensed, like an independent sky.
Zhang Ruochen felt an inexplicable, formless force pressing down on him. His expression turned serious as he muttered to himself, "Is this the legendary Truth Realm Form?"
Ordinary cultivators who practice the Way of Truth can only comprehend truth rules, enhance their combat power, deepen their understanding of the sacred path, and perfect the structure of their own sacred path.
Only divine disciples of the Truth Divine Temple can cultivate the Truth Realm Form.
The four Truth Realm Forms—"The Heavenly Emperor Above," "The Houtu Below," "The Star Sea Without Shore," and "The Universe Without Bound"—each more powerful than the last.
Even cultivating the lowest level, "The Heavenly Emperor Above," allows one to sweep through opponents at the same cultivation level.
"Zhang Ruochen, dying under my Truth Realm Form should be enough to satisfy you."
Yuwen Jing raised his arms, and the yellow-brown sky above his head condensed dense lightning, like dragons and snakes dancing, crashing down toward Zhang Ruochen in overwhelming force.
Zhang Ruochen took out the "Space-Time Secret Scripture" and held it in his hand.
He waved it upward, and the pages flapped rapidly, making a rustling sound.
It was a gentle breeze!
But each gust of wind tore open a rift in space. Finally, the breeze transformed into a powerful storm of spatial cracks, shattering the yellow-brown sky above Yuwen Jing's head into pieces.
"No... no... impossible. With the suppression of the twelve divine bones and the Truth Realm Form, how can he still use spatial power?"
Yuwen Jing could not accept this scene, which defied his understanding. After three hundred years of bitter cultivation, he had finally developed the Truth Realm Form "The Heavenly Emperor Above," only to have it easily crushed by a cultivator of lower cultivation. The blow to him was immense.
Zhang Ruochen burst into extreme speed, his fist burning with raging flames, striking fiercely at Yuwen Jing's chest.
"Boom."
Yuwen Jing once again mobilized the power of the twelve divine bones, forming a divine seal to clash with Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's punches were ferocious, each blow forcing Yuwen Jing backward. His blood and qi churned within him, and his internal organs felt as if they were about to split apart.
"This guy is like a war god incarnate! I can't hold him off."
Forced into a corner, Yuwen Jing had to recall his eight golden flood dragons.
These eight golden flood dragons were all primeval exotic species, each having reached the Saint King realm.
The eight golden flood dragons coiled around Yuwen Jing's body, each spitting out a Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifact, unleashing their full power and continuously smashing at Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom, boom."
Zhang Ruochen's fists were overwhelmingly domineering, with vast amounts of Purifying Divine Flame erupting outward, shattering the flying Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifacts into scrap metal.
Yuwen Jing was terrified, knowing that continuing to fight Zhang Ruochen would mean certain death. So, he withdrew the twelve divine bones, left the fallen Qing Liaoya on the ground, and fled out of the Daoist temple.
Behind him, Zhang Ruochen's voice rang out: "Without the formation formed by the twelve divine bones, you will only die faster."
The voice followed him like a shadow, as if whispering in Yuwen Jing's ear.
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen's fist transformed into a massive fireball dozens of meters in diameter, catching up to Yuwen Jing and striking him in the back. The eight flood dragons tried to save him but were killed instantly by the fist's force, their bodies exploding into bloody chunks.
Yuwen Jing was drenched in cold sweat and roared, "Yan Wang, Lian Hou, save me!"
His voice echoed throughout the Dao Garden.
At the same time, he activated all his protective treasures.
"Boom."
The flaming fist descended, sending Yuwen Jing flying like a cannonball, crashing into a garden outside the Daoist temple.
The moment Yuwen Jing fell into the garden, he triggered the Dao technique within the Five Elements Earth.
With a thunderous explosion, Yuwen Jing's body was split into a rain of blood by a white light.
Thus, a divine disciple died, leaving no trace, his soul scattered.
Zhang Ruochen chased to the outside of the Daoist temple and saw this scene, his mouth twitching slightly. "The Dao technique within the Five Elements Earth is truly terrifying. I must never touch it."
He collected the twelve divine bones from the ground, returned to the Daoist temple, and stared at Qing Liaoya, asking, "Are Yan Wang and Lian Hou nearby?"
"That's right. Are you afraid now?"
Qing Liaoya slowly propped himself up, letting out a cold laugh.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Yan Wang and Lian Hou are indeed extraordinary figures, but I am not afraid of them."
Qing Liaoya said, "Killing a divine disciple at the Divine Enshrinement Platform—do you know what the consequences will be once the news spreads? Are you not afraid of Yan Wang and Lian Hou, nor of the Truth Divine Temple?"
Without any warning, Zhang Ruochen struck out with his palm, hitting Qing Liaoya.
"Boom."
In front of his palm, space collapsed inward, and Qing Liaoya was torn apart by the spatial force, his body cracking like ceramic.
Even with divine patterns protecting him, he could not withstand the spatial power.
Qing Liaoya was a highly valued junior in the Divine Capital. Who knew if he still had some powerful trump card that could threaten Zhang Ruochen's life?
Against a proud son of heaven like Qing Liaoya, Zhang Ruochen could only kill him with lightning speed. Otherwise, with Qing Liaoya's will, he might launch a desperate counterattack or even self-destruct his sacred source.
Zhang Ruochen waved his sleeve, collecting the characters scattered on the ground.
Those characters condensed into an armor in his palm.
Zhang Ruochen did not study the character armor immediately. He stored it in his space ring and then swiftly flew toward the palm-shaped sacred tree, collecting the two Supreme Perfection Fruits from the tree into the Divine Wood jar.
"Unfortunately, Yuwen Jing and Qing Liaoya's bodies have already turned to ash. I wonder if the other three Supreme Perfection Fruits were on them?" Zhang Ruochen sighed inwardly.
"Oh, this is..."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze fixed on the tree trunk.
On the trunk, a small piece of tortoise shell fragment was embedded.
The tortoise shell fragment had been embedded there for who knows how many years, having fully grown into the sacred tree. If Zhang Ruochen had not observed carefully, he would never have discovered it.
"Wonderful, truly wonderful."
In the distance, True Wonder Little Daoist's eyes burst with dazzling light. After letting out two sharp cries, he rushed toward the sacred tree, intending to take the tortoise shell fragment embedded in the tree.