Chapter 1806: Encountering the Undying Blood Clan
The golden-armored giant stood before Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin, exuding an overbearing aura. "I'll give you one last chance. Leave this planet, or die."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Aren't you afraid the Patrol Envoy will discover you and bring down heavenly punishment for such blatant lawlessness?"
"Luo River is a strange place beyond your imagination. The Patrol Envoy cannot see this place," the golden-armored giant said.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "This planet is so vast, with countless sacred medicines born here and minerals buried underground. For the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince alone to try and monopolize it all—isn't that too greedy?"
He knew that the sacred medicines on this planet could directly increase the number of Sacred Dao Rules within a cultivator's body. Whoever could claim this place would rapidly grow stronger and train a large number of Saint King realm experts.
In the end, Luo River belonged to the Kunlun Realm.
Having such a precious land occupied by cultivators from another major world naturally made Zhang Ruochen quite displeased.
"This place already belongs to His Highness, to the Imperial Ancestor Divine Dynasty."
As the golden-armored giant spoke these words, the armor on all twenty-seven golden-armored imperial guards simultaneously emitted blinding light. Countless inscription patterns emerged, connecting them into a single whole.
Zhang Ruochen snorted. The Flame God Fist Gloves and Flame God Arm Guard on his right arm ignited, transforming into a sea of fire.
"Boom."
He struck the ground with one palm, and violent waves of fire spread outward in all directions.
The twenty-seven golden-armored imperial guards were knocked backward, and their combined formation instantly collapsed.
Then, Zhang Ruochen unleashed incredible speed, continuously striking with palm prints, sending over a dozen golden-armored imperial guards flying like scarecrows.
The renowned golden-armored imperial guards were utterly powerless before Zhang Ruochen.
The golden-armored giant roared in fury, raising a golden battle axe and bringing it down toward Zhang Ruochen's head with lightning speed. Countless bolts of lightning interwove behind him, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle.
Zhang Ruochen did not dodge or evade. He activated the original power of the Flame God Fist Gloves, striking out with both palms. A faint divine power surged forth, clashing with the golden battle axe.
He blocked it!
"Boom."
A powerful wave of sacred light burst forth between Zhang Ruochen and the golden battle axe. The earth trembled violently, sand and stones flying everywhere.
The remaining dozen or so golden-armored imperial guards were instantly sent flying, landing several miles away.
"What immense strength."
Zhang Ruochen mobilized all his power just to barely block this axe strike from the golden-armored giant.
Clearly, in terms of pure strength, the golden-armored giant could go toe-to-toe with a Nine-Step Saint King.
The golden-armored giant realized that this insignificant-looking human was not so easy to deal with. He activated even greater power, channeling all the lightning gathered behind him into both arms.
To Zhang Ruochen, it looked like a river of lightning surging toward him.
"Whoosh."
Zhang Ruochen used Spatial Displacement and vanished from his spot.
"Bang." The golden-armored giant's axe struck the ground, splitting it open with a crack dozens of miles long. The lightning released from the axe, like purple flood dragons, coursed through the earth for dozens of miles in every direction.
Zhang Ruochen appeared above the golden-armored giant's head and struck down heavily with one palm. The blow dented the golden armor slightly, and half of the golden-armored giant's body sank into the ground.
However, the golden-armored giant's defense was extremely powerful. He endured Zhang Ruochen's full-force palm strike with just a grunt, suffering no serious injury.
"Space power..."
The golden-armored giant's eyes moved. A millstone-sized gem on his chest shot out countless golden Sanskrit characters, enveloping an area of several hundred zhang.
Within this area, space became several times more stable.
This also made it several times harder for Zhang Ruochen to use Spatial Displacement and Space Rifts.
The golden-armored giant slowly rose from the ground, like a small golden mountain. With each step, the earth trembled slightly.
Ji Fanxin's gaze turned toward the horizon. She said to Zhang Ruochen, "Finish this quickly. The other three golden-armored giants will arrive soon."
"Alright."
Zhang Ruochen no longer held back. He summoned the Abyssal Ancient Sword and charged rapidly toward the golden-armored giant.
The golden-armored giant was also truly enraged, entering a berserk state. The lightning surging from his body melted the ground beneath his feet. Layer after layer of sacred power ripples emerged on the golden battle axe in his hand, unleashing the power of Sixfold Perfection as he continuously swung at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen refused to clash head-on, constantly dodging.
When he closed to within twenty zhang of the golden-armored giant, Zhang Ruochen merged with the Abyssal Ancient Sword, activating Sword Dao Profound Qi. He transformed into a beam of light and struck the gem on the golden-armored giant's chest.
"Bang."
The gem shattered, and the Abyssal Ancient Sword pierced into the golden armor.
The golden-armored giant clearly had not expected his golden armor to be penetrated. His expression changed drastically as he hurriedly channeled all the lightning in his body toward his chest.
"Whoosh."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword sank deeper, piercing another half chi.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword was originally forged from Creation Substance, and now it had reached the rank of a Sevenfold Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifact, making its penetrating power even stronger. An ordinary Sixfold Ten-Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifact would be shattered in one strike if it encountered the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Drip, drip."
Sacred blood flowed from the golden armor.
"Whoosh."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword sank another half chi, and the golden-armored giant's massive body trembled violently.
Even more sacred blood poured from his body.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen pulled back the Abyssal Ancient Sword and flew backward, landing a hundred zhang away.
"Bang." The golden-armored giant fell to one knee, clutching his chest with one hand and breathing heavily, as if he had just walked through the gates of hell.
Zhang Ruochen snorted coldly. "I have no intention of being an enemy of the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince. But if you dare provoke me again, you'll bear the consequences."
With that, Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin strode away, disappearing from the golden-armored giant's sight.
A moment later, Que Gonggong and the other three golden-armored giants arrived. Seeing the traces of battle, they were all shocked.
"That man and woman are that powerful? Third Brother, even you couldn't defeat them?"
A golden-armored giant with demonic patterns on his face spoke, then took out a large golden pill and handed it to the half-kneeling giant.
After swallowing the golden pill, that golden-armored giant slowly stood up. "Very strong. And they possess a sacred sword forged from Creation Substance that can pierce our golden armor and golden bodies. They showed mercy; otherwise, I would be dead."
The other three golden-armored giants were all shaken.
They knew that what they were most proud of was their golden armor and the golden bodies they had cultivated.
With their golden armor and golden bodies, they could act with impunity. Only when facing a Nine-Step Saint King with a Rule Grand Heaven could their defenses be breached, making them cautious.
Que Gonggong said, "It seems that man and woman are no ordinary opponents. We'll deal with them after the Crown Prince returns. For now, our greatest enemy is the Fourteenth Prince."
...
...
"Why didn't you just kill those golden-armored imperial guards and that golden-armored giant? You know the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince will never allow other cultivators on his territory," Ji Fanxin asked.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Right now, the Crown Prince's biggest opponent is the Fourteenth Prince. He probably can't spare the effort to deal with me. But if I killed those golden-armored imperial guards, I would become his number one enemy. If we fight, wouldn't that just benefit the Fourteenth Prince?"
"First, let's gather sacred medicines and improve our cultivation. That's the real priority. If I had reached the Seven-Step Saint King realm, I wouldn't have to be so restrained."
"Whoosh."
One hundred and twenty-eight Spiritual Power clones surged out from Zhang Ruochen's body, all flying into the black mountain range.
A moment later, the Spiritual Power clones returned, each carrying sacred medicines.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized Purifying Divine Flame to refine those sacred medicines into crystalline droplets, then swallowed them.
The Sacred Dao Rules in his Qi Sea grew rapidly.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they had increased by over two thousand.
Zhang Ruochen savored this process. If he could keep growing at this rate, he would break through to the Seven-Step Saint King realm in at most half a month.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Zhang Ruochen's brow, and his expression changed drastically.
"One of my Spiritual Power clones was destroyed. Who? Who did this?"
Zhang Ruochen quickly recalled all his Spiritual Power clones. If a few more were destroyed, his Spiritual Power would suffer severe damage.
Then, he used Spatial Displacement and rushed out.
He wanted to know what had happened to that Spiritual Power clone.
After traveling about two hundred li, Zhang Ruochen arrived at the base of a blood-red stone cliff.
The cliff was a thousand zhang tall, covered in many huge stone stalactites and stone mushrooms, with a rather strange geological structure. Clusters of light flickered on the cliff face, each cluster enveloping a sacred medicine.
Zhang Ruochen knew that if he gathered all those sacred medicines, refined them, and absorbed them, his cultivation would increase significantly.
But he was not in a hurry to gather them. Instead, he released his Spiritual Power and carefully probed the surroundings. A Spiritual Power clone had been destroyed here, meaning there was definitely some kind of danger.
Zhang Ruochen discovered something unusual behind a stone mushroom.
The other party was hiding very well. Even with Zhang Ruochen's peak fifty-seventh-rank Spiritual Power, he had not detected them. It was only by using his Space Domain that he had found them.
"Come out. What's the point of hiding any longer?"
Zhang Ruochen walked to the front of the stone mushroom. Silver vines grew from his back, branching out and covering the entire sky.
"Don't attack. We are golden-armored imperial guards under the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince."
A man and a woman, both golden-armored imperial guards, slowly emerged from behind the stone mushroom.
"Golden-armored imperial guards? Was my Spiritual Power clone destroyed by you?" Zhang Ruochen stared at the man and woman, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.
If he had not read the "Blood Clan Secret Records," Zhang Ruochen might have been fooled by them.
But with his current understanding of the Undying Blood Clan, only a Blood Emperor at the Great Saint realm personally changing his form could fool him. As for Undying Blood Clan members at the Saint King realm, very few could deceive him.