Chapter 1799: Challenging a Nine-Step Saint King
A Nine-Step Saint King emanated saintly might, causing turbulent changes in the wind and clouds for a thousand miles.
In the sky, black clouds surged, blotting out the sun and sky.
On the ground, a fierce gale raged, and the world's sacred qi seemed to boil.
"Blazing Colorful Absolute Seal."
Zangxin Venerable's single arm turned into a riot of colors, striking the air until it bulged outward, transforming into rings of air waves that surged downward toward Zhang Ruochen below.
The Blazing Colorful Absolute Seal was a refined mid-rank sacred art, fused with the rules of the palm path, possessing truly boundless power.
Faced with this overwhelming strike, Zhang Ruochen could have used a spatial displacement to escape back to King Mountain. Even the cultivators of the Nether God Hall believed he would do so.
But Zhang Ruochen stood his ground without moving, the sacred qi within his body churning wildly.
Zangxin Venerable curled his lips, thinking to himself, "A few days ago on Tongming River, a casual palm strike I sent out—just the wind of the palm landing on Zhang Ruochen—was enough to inflict considerable injury on him."
"The Blazing Colorful Absolute Seal is a strike I've gathered my strength for. Its power is countless times greater than that palm strike from that day. And Zhang Ruochen actually wants to take it head-on. Good. This palm will shatter your sacred body into pieces."
"Whoosh—"
Zhang Ruochen stepped back with his right foot, pulling into a bow stance.
He unfurled the Eight Dragon Umbrella, and instantly, a brilliant golden light emerged on the umbrella's surface.
"Boom."
Zangxin Venerable's palm strike landed on the Eight Dragon Umbrella, like striking a world-quelling great bell. Rings of sacred dao energy spread outward, destroying everything around them.
Zhang Ruochen's form slid backward for several miles before he finally stabilized.
His entire body was embedded into the ground. The sacred qi in his meridians and sacred veins surged violently, the blood in his veins boiled, and his five organs and six viscera felt as if they had been displaced. Still, he had managed to block the strike.
"How is this possible?" Zangxin Venerable found it hard to believe.
If he, at the Six-Step Saint King realm, had gone all out with a palm strike but failed to kill a Three-Step Saint King, he too would have been quite shocked.
"Breaking through to the Six-Step Saint King realm has indeed greatly increased my strength."
Zhang Ruochen grew excited, letting out a loud laugh as all the sacred qi in his body surged toward the Eight Dragon Umbrella.
"Roar! Roar!"
Eight golden dragons burst forth from the umbrella's surface, counterattacking Zangxin Venerable.
Zangxin Venerable immediately flew backward, but the eight golden dragons pursued him closely, coiling and winding around him, striking out with dragon claws that caused the air to explode repeatedly.
"Hum."
Zangxin Venerable pushed his hands outward, and a bell-shaped phantom appeared, sending all eight golden dragons flying away.
"Now take a sword strike from me."
Zhang Ruochen gripped the hilt of the Abyssal Ancient Sword with both hands, dense sword dao rules surging from within his body. At the same time, the inscriptions on the sword blade continuously emerged.
The sword struck like a flowing light, instantly reaching Zangxin Venerable.
Without time to think, Zangxin Venerable unleashed a ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact-level circular shield, placing it in front of him. The shield spun rapidly, forming an increasingly massive vortex, with extremely chaotic forces interwoven within it.
During the two years Zhang Ruochen had been in seclusion, his sword dao had made significant progress.
Although he had not yet perfected Sword Nine to its peak, he had grown far more than two years ago.
Zhang Ruochen uttered a single word from his mouth: "Break."
"Crack."
That ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact-level shield shattered like ceramic, broken by a single sword strike.
"My Leaden Flower Shield Seal..."
Zangxin Venerable's eyes turned blood-red, unable to accept this fact. A six-radiance ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact-level shield—how could it be so fragile?
Over the past two years, the Abyssal Ancient Sword had refined a large number of sacred artifacts, evolving into a seven-radiance ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact.
On the altar, Feng Chengdao narrowed his eyes and said, "Legend has it that Zhang Ruochen's sword, along with Kunlun Empress's Blood Drop Sword, were forged using creation matter. With that sword in hand, he can sever all battle weapons in the world. Zangxin Venerable wanting to defeat Zhang Ruochen may not be an easy task."
The Faceless Man chuckled, "If Zangxin can't take down Zhang Ruochen, he'll surely become a joke in the Nether God Hall."
Feng Chengdao added, "Zangxin Venerable's own combat power among Nine-Step Saint Kings can only be considered the weakest tier. With one arm severed and his sacred qi circulation impaired, his strength has dropped even further. However, his greatest skill lies in controlling battle corpses. Dealing with a Zhang Ruochen should still be a simple matter."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword instantly absorbed the weapon qi and essence qi from the shattered shield. Then, Zhang Ruochen mobilized truth rules, fusing them into the sword body to unleash a sixfold attack power.
Zangxin Venerable continuously formed hand seals, creating layers of defensive light.
"Bang, bang."
After a series of explosions, the Abyssal Ancient Sword and Zangxin Venerable passed each other.
Zangxin Venerable raised his palm and saw that the white bone armor on his arm was shattered, and his five fingers were dripping with blood.
Even armor refined from a Great Saint's bones could not withstand the sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
Zangxin Venerable was furious to the point of madness. A dignified Nine-Step Saint King, in a direct confrontation, had been wounded by a Six-Step Saint King. Was there anything more shameful than this?
"War Dragon, War Tiger."
Zangxin Venerable took out a burial cloth and shook it in the void. Immediately, two battle corpses flew out.
These two battle corpses were refined from the bodies of beings whose cultivation was close to the Great Saint realm, infused with various precious metals and medicines, tempered through countless refinements. Either one of them possessed combat power no weaker than Zangxin Venerable himself.
He shook the burial cloth again, and dozens more battle corpses flew out.
Although these battle corpses were not as powerful as War Dragon and War Tiger, they were all at the Saint King level.
It was precisely because Zangxin Venerable possessed the means to refine and control battle corpses that his status in the Nether God Hall was even higher than Feng Chengdao, whose cultivation was close to the Rule Grand Heaven realm.
Facing him was like facing three Nine-Step Saint Kings, plus a group of Saint King realm experts.
An ordinary Nine-Step Saint King would still feel somewhat intimidated when encountering Zangxin Venerable.
"That old stick from the Nether God Hall has summoned so many battle corpses. Lord Chen is going to lose. Let's go help him."
The Devouring Elephant Rabbit wanted to charge out of King Mountain, but was dragged back by the True Wonder Little Daoist.
"Don't cause trouble. Zhang Ruochen may not necessarily lose." The True Wonder Little Daoist's gaze fixed on the black altar suspended in midair, contemplating whether to use the Purple Gold Bagua Mirror to blast it down.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the ground, staring at the dim sky and the ferocious-looking battle corpses, speaking to the air: "Leave these battle corpses to you. I'll go take Zangxin Venerable's life."
With a whoosh, Zhang Ruochen used spatial displacement and vanished from the spot.
A seductive and graceful beauty appeared where Zhang Ruochen had just stood—it was Mo Yin.
In two years, Mo Yin had refined a large number of sacred sources, reaching the Eight-Step Saint King realm. Her strength was even greater than that of an ordinary Nine-Step Saint King.
"Rustle, rustle."
Her strands of hair flew out, stretching hundreds of feet long like black whips, lashing all the battle corpses in the air and sending them tumbling to the ground in disarray.
Then, Mo Yin raised the seven-radiance ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifact-level Endless Blade, its blade surface igniting with Purifying Divine Flame, and gracefully darted forward.
"Devouring Saint Flower... Zhang Ruochen actually dares to let a Devouring Saint Flower parasitize his body..."
Zangxin Venerable recognized Mo Yin's true form and finally dared not underestimate Zhang Ruochen any longer. Instead, he felt a sense of wariness.
Zhang Ruochen appeared silently above Zangxin Venerable's head, condensing sword dao profound essence, dragging out a waterfall of sword light, and slashing downward.
On the altar, Feng Chengdao shouted, "Watch out!"
Zangxin Venerable also sensed the danger and immediately activated a defensive talisman.
"Boom."
The light shield formed by the defensive talisman was shattered by Zhang Ruochen's sword strike. Zangxin Venerable plummeted straight down, landing in the forest below, sending dust and dirt billowing up.
Feng Chengdao no longer stood by idly. He pointed a finger at Zhang Ruochen, and a beam of light shot out.
Knowing that the gap between himself and Feng Chengdao was vast, Zhang Ruochen did not confront him head-on. Instead, he used spatial displacement to evade.
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the altar above and laughed, "Junior and Zangxin Venerable agreed to a fair and just battle. Could it be that a senior figure like Mr. Feng intends to break the rules and join Zangxin Venerable in dealing with a junior like me?"
Feng Chengdao chuckled, "Zhang Ruochen, this old man does not care about reputation. Even if you say that, I will still make a move to kill you."
In an instant, Feng Chengdao's form leaped out of the black altar, appearing dozens of feet away.
Although both were at the Rule Small Heaven realm, Feng Chengdao was far more formidable than Zangxin Venerable. His form flickered continuously in the void, covering dozens of feet with each flicker.
He was getting closer and closer to Zhang Ruochen.
"Cultivators of the Nether God Hall really have no shame." The Devouring Elephant Rabbit cursed loudly.
Upon hearing this, the Nether God Hall cultivators on the black altar all showed anger.
The Faceless Man, holding a sacred staff, let out a laugh from his belly and then steered the black altar toward King Mountain.
The Faceless Man's spiritual power had reached the early stage of the fifty-ninth rank. Because of this, even with the obstruction of space formations and time formations, he could still sense the rich world sacred qi within King Mountain. It was very likely a place of awakened sacred land.
Any awakened sacred land was sure to contain abundant cultivation resources.
As for Zhang Ruochen, with both Zangxin Venerable and Feng Chengdao attacking together, he was certain to die, so there was no need to pay him any further attention.
The black altar, containing some mysterious and unfathomable power, broke through the space maze formation surrounding King Mountain. Even the time imprints were blocked by the black light emitted from the altar.
The sacred realm cultivators within King Mountain all fell into panic.
If a large number of Nether God Hall experts broke into King Mountain, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The True Wonder Little Daoist remained calm and composed, saying, "All of you, lend your sacred qi to me. I'll blast it down."
The sacred qi from the Devouring Elephant Rabbit, the Demon Ape, Xie Chengzi, and a host of saints and half-saints all surged toward the True Wonder Little Daoist. At the same time, the Purple Gold Bagua Mirror slowly rose, hovering in midair, radiating ten thousand feet of purple light.