Chapter 1795: Killing Tianjuezi
"Roar!"
Shi Kai was enraged to the extreme, letting out a long howl toward the sky.
Immediately, from his shattered palm and right foot, strands of white gas surged forth.
Guided by the white gas, countless pieces of rubble within thousands of feet rose from the ground, flying toward Shi Kai and reassembling on his body, reforming into stone hands and feet.
However, the Great Saint inscriptions on his palms had already been broken.
Shi Kai's strength had dropped significantly.
From that previous strike, White Suzaku had clearly consumed a vast amount of Saint Qi, unable to continue channeling the supreme power of the White Moon. Spreading her massive Suzaku wings, she dove down, wielding a sacred sword as she slashed at Shi Kai.
Shi Kai spat out a white beam of light from his mouth, within which was a piece of jade of unknown material. It clashed against the sacred sword swung by White Suzaku.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
The two top-tier experts fought to a standstill, with White Suzaku seemingly holding a slight upper hand.
Zhang Ruochen had long retreated to a distance, nodding slightly to himself. "The Stone Clan is one of the Upper Three Clans in the Hell Realm. Although their population is smaller than any of the Lower Three or Middle Three Clans, Stone Clan cultivators are exceptionally powerful at the same cultivation level."
"That Shi Kai, at the peak of the Eight-Step Saint King realm, should be able to challenge cultivators at the Rule Small World realm of the Nine-Step Saint King."
Of course, what surprised Zhang Ruochen even more was White Suzaku's strength. She had likely only recently broken through to the Eight-Step Saint King realm, yet her combat power was even slightly greater than Shi Kai's.
On the other side, the equally berserk Black Phoenix clashed head-on with Tianmingzi, causing mountains to collapse one after another and the ground to crack with dense fissures.
The other members of the Tianyuan Five wanted to assist Tianmingzi, but they couldn't get close to the battle circle, and even long-range attacks were difficult to intervene.
So, they turned their spearhead toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Damn cripple! If not for you, Black Phoenix and White Suzaku would have already been subdued by the Sacred Gu and become our concubines."
The duck that was already in hand had flown away. The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. Tianjinzi was furious, his pupils turning golden as a vast number of Sacred Dao rules flowed across them.
"Eye of Destruction."
Two golden beams shot from Tianjinzi's eyes, unleashing a powerful destructive force. Wherever they passed, the ground was carved into two deep trenches.
The Eye of Destruction was a refined-level mid-rank Sacred Art.
Combined with Tianjinzi's thirty thousand Sacred Dao rules integrated into the Sacred Art, it unleashed an unstoppable attack.
Zhang Ruochen opened the Eight-Dragon Umbrella, its canopy spinning as it met the two golden beams.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
The soil, rocks, and vegetation beneath Zhang Ruochen instantly melted into golden droplets.
At the same time, Tianjuezi raised his door-sized battle axe, bypassed the Eight-Dragon Umbrella, activated its Five Radiance Perfection power, and struck straight down at Zhang Ruochen below. The battle axe emitted five layers of light, each a different color, surging with destructive Sacred Dao power.
With one hand, Zhang Ruochen held up the Eight-Dragon Umbrella, resisting Tianjinzi.
With the other hand, he grabbed the Abyssal Ancient Sword, activating the inscriptions within it. Thirteen elephant souls emerged on his arm as he swung the sword in a fierce slash, clashing against Tianjuezi's descending axe.
Tianjuezi, as an Eight-Step Saint King, was three realms above Zhang Ruochen. This axe strike was immensely powerful, driving Zhang Ruochen deep into the ground.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen burst out from the ground behind Tianjuezi.
Even with the Text Armor protecting him, he was still wounded by the axe. Sacred blood flowed from his right shoulder, trickling down his arm and sword blade to the ground.
Tianjuezi spun around, snorting coldly. "You fight tenaciously, but I'll take your life within ten axe strikes."
With that, he once again activated the power of the battle axe, waves of sacred energy radiating outward.
White Suzaku, locked in combat with Shi Kai, saw Zhang Ruochen in danger and quickly sent a telepathic message: "Cripple, you're no match for them. Get out of here!"
Thinking the cripple was holding off Tianjuezi and Tianjinzi for their sake, she added, "Black Phoenix and I have broken free. If we want to leave, they can't stop us even together. Once I deal with Shi Kai, the Tianyuan Five will meet their end. Retreat quickly and save yourself."
Zhang Ruochen seemed not to hear White Suzaku's message, his gaze fixed on Tianjuezi ahead. "Ten axe strikes to take my life? You overestimate yourself."
He summoned Truth rules and merged them with Sword Eight, then launched an attack. The sword was like a startled swan, its aura soaring to the heavens.
This strike not only contained powerful sword energy but also unleashed a sixfold attack power.
"Hmph!"
Tianjuezi snorted with disdain.
But the next moment, as the battle axe clashed with the Abyssal Ancient Sword, Tianjuezi's expression changed.
The power erupting from the cripple's sword was like a divine steel mountain crashing into the giant axe.
Tianjuezi's entire body shook, and he was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
"Truth rules... it's Truth rules... unleashing sixfold attack power..."
Tianjuezi's eyes bulged wide as he spat out a mouthful of Sacred blood onto the battle axe. In an extremely short time, he activated its Six Radiance Perfection power.
Six Radiance Perfection power, though seemingly just one more layer of sacred energy than Five Radiance Perfection, was several times more powerful.
Suddenly, Tianjuezi found himself unable to move. The time around him seemed to freeze. He had already activated Six Radiance Perfection power but couldn't unleash it.
Meanwhile, the cripple, like a meteor, thrust his sword toward him.
"Pfft!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword pierced Tianjuezi's brow, shattering his skull into a cloud of blood mist.
Zhang Ruochen landed on the ground, holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Thud."
Tianjuezi's headless body crashed heavily to the ground.
The next moment, the headless body shot up from the ground, swinging the battle axe with Six Radiance Perfection power activated, aiming to cut Zhang Ruochen in half at the waist.
"Such strong vitality, and he's still not dead?"
Zhang Ruochen used Space Displacement to evade the axe.
"Boom!"
The axe swept past, and a thousand-meter-tall mountain in the distance was cleaved in two at the waist, collapsing with a roar.
Tianjuezi's Qi Sea had been shattered by Zhang Ruochen's sword strike. This axe exhausted the sacred energy stored in his physical meridians, and his headless body grew colder and colder until it was silent.
Tianjinzi, Tianshangzi, and Tianxuzi were all stunned. They hadn't expected that Tianjuezi, who had the upper hand, would be defeated and killed in an instant.
Zhang Ruochen first took Tianjuezi's Sacred Source, then produced a Yin Bottle to collect the fragments of Tianjuezi's Sacred Soul.
White Suzaku had been watching the cripple's battle with Tianjuezi. Seeing him kill Tianjuezi, a thoughtful look appeared in her dark eyes, and she vaguely guessed the cripple's identity.
Earlier, she had clearly sensed spatial fluctuations.
Tianjinzi roared, "Cripple! Hand over Senior Brother Tianjuezi's Sacred Source and Sacred Soul fragments, or today, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly. "Even Tianjuezi, an Eight-Step Saint King, died by my sword. Your cultivation hasn't even reached the Eight-Step Saint King realm, has it? Who gave you the guts to challenge me?"
Tianjinzi, Tianshangzi, and Tianxuzi were all at the peak of the Seven-Step Saint King realm. Even if the three attacked together, Zhang Ruochen had no fear.
Tianxuzi said, "Activate the Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation to suppress the cripple and avenge Senior Brother Tianjuezi!"
Tianjinzi, Tianshangzi, and Tianxuzi each took out a golden, gleaming armor piece, pouring all their sacred energy into it. Instantly, three massive sacred energy vortexes appeared in the sky.
The three vortexes collided, forming a Xuanwu dozens of feet tall.
The Xuanwu was merely a phantom, but the aura it emitted was even stronger than Tianjuezi, an Eight-Step Saint King.
In truth, the Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation required all six members of the Tianyuan Six to activate it at full power to unleash its maximum strength. With this formation, the Tianyuan Six had once killed a Nine-Step Saint King.
"Whoosh!"
A sound of wind breaking came.
Tianmingzi burst out of the night, rushing toward the Xuanwu phantom to join Tianjinzi and the others and personally take charge of the Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation.
Black Phoenix chased after Tianmingzi, shouting, "Cripple, stop him! Don't let him enter the Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation!"
Zhang Ruochen first used the Flying Sword Art to send the Abyssal Ancient Sword flying, turning it into a beam of light aimed at Tianmingzi. Then, he activated the power of the Flame God Armor, summoned Truth rules to unleash sixfold attack power, and struck out with a palm.
Tianmingzi merely flicked his finger, sending the Abyssal Ancient Sword flying away.
"An ant trying to stop a chariot? Die!"
Tianmingzi's eyes were bloodshot as he struck out with a palm, colliding with Zhang Ruochen's. He intended to kill Zhang Ruochen with this single blow.
"Boom!"
Indeed, the strike sent Zhang Ruochen flying like a scarecrow. The Text Armor scattered, and he coughed up blood. But soon, he landed on the ground, steadied himself, and slowly stood up, still alive.
Tianmingzi looked at his own palm, doubting whether his strength had weakened. How could he not even kill a Five-Step Saint King?
Zhang Ruochen wiped the blood from his mouth, thinking to himself, "If only I had broken through to the Six-Step Saint King realm. Then, facing Tianmingzi, I wouldn't have lost so badly."
Tianmingzi joined Tianjinzi and the others, also taking out an armor piece.
Instantly, the Xuanwu phantom solidified several times over. The range of the Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation expanded, truly possessing the might to swallow the clouds.
Black Phoenix landed beside Zhang Ruochen, first giving him a concerned look to check his injuries. Knowing he was fine, she said, "The Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation is already in motion. Only by using a combined attack formation with Sister Suzaku can we break it. The next battle will be even more dangerous. You should leave."
From not far away came the sound of a yawn.
The Butcher, as if waking from sleep, sat up from the ground, stretched lazily, and shook his dazed head.
He stood up and walked toward the massive Xuanwu phantom. The large chopping knife on his back flew out automatically, and he said imposingly, "Isn't it just a Six Armor Cloud-Swallowing Formation? I'll break it with one slash."