Chapter 1745: This Humble Daoist Shall Shake the World
Zhang Ruochen was also startled, never expecting that Zhen Miao, when enraged, could be so formidable.
It was no wonder Zhang Ruochen was surprised. From the moment he first met the little Daoist Zhen Miao, this old fellow had possessed profound cultivation, having reached the Seven-Step Saint King realm. Yet he was a coward, fleeing even from Zhang Ruochen, who had just stepped into the Saint King realm.
Not only had he been suppressed once by Zhang Ruochen and Xiang Chunan using the Demon Crown, he had also been sealed by the *Space-Time Secret Scripture*, and had nearly been beaten to death by the Flame King.
Because of this, Zhang Ruochen had greatly underestimated his strength.
However, ever since Zhang Ruochen had saved him from a half-dead state, Zhen Miao had become somewhat different. As he himself said, he had inexplicably recalled some strange and bizarre things.
This was Zhen Miao’s first transformation! The second transformation occurred after Zhen Miao obtained the Purple Gold Eight Trigram Mirror.
Ever since acquiring the Purple Gold Eight Trigram Mirror, this old fellow had become somewhat unfathomable, making it even harder for Zhang Ruochen to see through him.
The third transformation had taken place in the past year.
During this year, Zhen Miao and Xiao Hei had conquered all the training grounds in the Guanghan Realm.
When Zhang Ruochen emerged from seclusion and saw Zhen Miao again, he discovered that it was no longer afraid of Xiao Hei, who could unleash the might of a Great Saint. Its cultivation had advanced further, reaching the level of an Eight-Step Saint King.
All of this indicated that this old fellow was probably not just a simple hundred-thousand-year sacred medicine. There might be a huge secret hidden within him.
This secret was most likely related to the Purple Gold Eight Trigram Mirror.
“Today is the day this humble Daoist shakes the world! You ants, all come forth and receive your death!”
The little Daoist Zhen Miao, clutching the Purple Gold Eight Trigram Mirror, charged again towards the group of Saint Kings who were activating the Doom Staff. His momentum was overwhelming, his presence majestic and sacred, as if he had become a completely different person.
Xiao Hei, who was rescuing people, felt very displeased and muttered a curse: “What’s there to be proud of? Shake the world, my ass! If this emperor were wielding a Supreme Sacred Artifact, I could crush everything too. If I released my divine might, I could scare them all senseless.”
Seeing Zhen Miao’s battle spirit blazing, with an aura of “strength to uproot mountains and spirit to cover the world,” Zhang Ruochen grew too lazy to fight any longer. He split off several mental energy avatars to begin collecting the various sacred artifacts and weapons on the battlefield, as well as the storage vessels on the bodies of the Paradise Realm cultivators.
In particular, he went in person to retrieve the Judgment Life-Death Sword, a Sevenfold Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifact.
A Sevenfold Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifact was worth over a hundred million sacred stones, and even a Nine-Step Saint King might not possess one.
“Boom, rumble.”
The earth shook violently.
The Purple Gold Eight Trigram Mirror collided with the Doom Holy Staff. With a crackling sound, the holy staff developed fissures, shattered, and flew apart into pieces of crystal.
“The Doom Holy Staff… was destroyed…”
“Is a Supreme Sacred Artifact truly unstoppable?”
…
The purple light surging from the mirror swept towards the Saint Kings who had been activating the Doom Staff.
“Bang, bang.”
The bodies of those Saint Kings all shattered, turning into dust.
In the face of a Supreme Sacred Artifact, even Saint Kings were quite fragile, unable to withstand a single blow.
The surviving Saint Kings of Paradise Realm no longer dared to fight Zhen Miao. Including Kun and Yutian, they all fled towards the center of the island.
Zhen Miao pursued them, roaring, “This humble Daoist will kill you today to establish his might and become famous throughout the world! You stepping stones think you can escape?”
It was a rather bizarre scene: a Daoist the size of a fist was chasing a group of kings from Paradise Realm.
Especially Kun, whose massive body formed a stark contrast with the tiny Zhen Miao.
Seeing Zhen Miao getting closer, Kun roared, “Old-timers cannot act in the Truth Heaven Domain! That violates the rules of the Truth Divine Temple! You will die a miserable death!”
Zhen Miao’s cultivation was too profound, far surpassing theirs, which is why Kun thought it was an elder from the Guanghan Realm or the Kunlun Realm.
Gai Tianjiao also shouted, “Do you still have the rules of the Truth Divine Temple in your eyes? Senior, don’t fear them! They set a trap for us first. Even if you kill them all, the Truth Divine Temple won’t do anything to you.”
Even Gai Tianjiao thought Zhen Miao was a famous senior from the Guanghan Realm.
But Zhang Ruochen knew that Zhen Miao did not belong to any realm. It was a native hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicine of the Truth Heaven Domain, not bound by the rules the Truth Divine Temple had set for the various realms.
“Boom.”
A blast of supreme power struck Kun’s back.
“Crack.”
The Golden Zun Sacred Armor on Kun’s body developed cracks, and his mountain-like body was blasted dozens of miles away, crashing down towards the center of the island. Whether he was alive or dead was unknown.
Zhang Ruochen collected all the treasures before walking towards Xiao Hei, Gai Tianjiao, and the others.
All the surviving cultivators from the Kunlun Realm had been rescued, totaling fifty-three. Some, however, had died completely, turned into bloody mud or had their souls scattered.
Perhaps thinking Zhang Ruochen was omnipotent, Chi Wansui and the Divine Demon Mouse had gathered a pile of white bones and some severed hands and feet, placing them aside. They stared at Zhang Ruochen with pitiful eyes, as if they believed he could turn the bones back into living people or recreate the owner of a severed hand.
Zhang Ruochen naturally did not possess such power, not even with the Green Lotus Seed.
The fifty-three Kunlun Realm cultivators were all severely injured. They stared at Zhang Ruochen, each with a different expression in their eyes.
Some were joyful, some were reverent, some were ashamed…
Some of them had spoken rudely to Zhang Ruochen at the Heavenly Net Training Ground, claiming that whether or not Zhang Ruochen participated in the attack on the Xumi Training Ground made no difference—one more or one less of him wouldn’t matter.
But the facts proved that without Zhang Ruochen, they would all have died here.
Some of them might have even wished for death, subjected to brutal torture or the agony of having their souls drawn out and refined.
“Thank you… for your help…”
The first to speak was a young female saint with a clear, beautiful face. Her sacred robe was covered in blood, and a deep bloody gash marred her jade-white face.
This woman was named Wan Huayu, the only daughter of Wan Zhaoyi. She had some past interactions with Zhang Ruochen.
Once, Wan Huayu had been on equal footing with Zhang Ruochen, wielding influence in the Ministry of War. But over the years, the gap between them had become as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.
If before, Wan Huayu had only admired and appreciated Zhang Ruochen, now she felt a sense of awe towards him.
This was a man even more powerful than her father!
“Thank you!”
“Zhang Ruochen, this time I owe you a huge favor. I will repay it in the future.”
…
Those cultivators whose injuries were not too severe stood up one after another and bowed to Zhang Ruochen.
Bu Qianfan saw that some cultivators were critically injured and on the verge of death. He quickly stepped forward and said, “Save them, please. I believe they will remember your kindness. We are not enemies. In this unjust, unkind, and unmerciful foreign land, since we can fight side by side, we are comrades-in-arms.”
Bu Qianfan had witnessed Zhang Ruochen’s methods and knew he could save these people.
Zhang Ruochen gave Bu Qianfan a deep look. “This favor, you owe me.”
Bu Qianfan was not only an exceptionally talented genius; his character and mental fortitude were also extremely resilient. His future achievements would be limitless.
Zhang Ruochen had always regarded him, along with Han Qiu, A Le, Mu Rongyue, and a few of the Nine Realm Sons, as the outstanding figures of the human race in this era, mainly because of their strong mental will.
Bu Qianfan’s advantage lay in his mastery of military strategy.
In this regard, neither Han Qiu nor the others could compare, and even Zhang Ruochen fell short!
True great wars were not battles between a few individuals or brawls of dozens, but conflicts involving tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of cultivators. Someone like Bu Qianfan would be invaluable.
Such a talent, even if he couldn’t be recruited, should be made to owe a huge debt of gratitude.
When the time came to use him, how could he refuse to repay it?
Zhang Ruochen took out the Green Lotus Seed and infused it with sacred qi. The seed immediately became like a green lantern, emitting a light that was both bright and gentle.
In moments, the fifty-three severely injured Kunlun Realm cultivators all recovered. Their pain vanished, their spirits and energy were full, and the previous battle felt like a dream.
This sensation was quite magical!
Everyone looked at Zhang Ruochen again, their expressions somewhat different.
If before they had felt awe and gratitude, now they felt more admiration and heartfelt submission.
Just as they were about to speak words of thanks, Zhang Ruochen interrupted them. “Say nothing. Divine Demon Mouse, take them away from here.”
Wan Huayu said, “No! Father and most of the Kunlun Realm cultivators should still be fighting desperately deep within the island. How can we flee alone?”
“Without being able to activate ‘Equality for All Beings,’ staying here is useless. Going deeper into the island would just be throwing your lives away,” Zhang Ruochen said bluntly.
Wan Huayu said, “We can’t activate ‘Equality for All Beings’ because this isn’t the real Xumi Training Ground. It’s a fake training ground created by Paradise Realm using illusion techniques. Father and the others retreated into the island to find the real training ground.”
“Once we find the true Xumi Training Ground, we can activate ‘Equality for All Beings.’ If we find the supreme treasure left by Saint Monk Xumi, we can control the ancient space inscriptions and time imprints within the training ground. We might even be able to turn the tide and win.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “In an illusion, finding the real training ground is easier said than done. Huh… Why hasn’t the powerful cultivator who set up this illusion array launched an illusion attack?”
Logically, someone capable of setting up such a powerful illusion array must be a figure with extremely strong mental energy, able to use illusions to control the situation.
Yet, while Zhang Ruochen and Zhen Miao were slaughtering freely, they hadn’t suffered any illusion attacks, not even a simple disorienting illusion. This was truly strange.
Zhang Ruochen looked around but didn’t see Ye Honglei’s figure. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
…
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(End of chapter)