Chapter 1841: Battle Against Great Xi King
"Boom."
Two figures in dark robes burst out from the ghostly mist, landing outside the tower gate of the Inheritance Fire Tower, sending dirt and rocks flying.
The one on the left was over three meters tall, wielding a three-pronged demon halberd, his body covered in iron-like muscles, with green flames burning in his eyes.
The one on the right had a pair of dragon horns on his head and black dragon wings on his back, yet walked upright on two legs, dragging a bone whip behind him like a supreme slaughter star.
These were two Ghost Kings who had undergone six lightning tribulations, having devoured billions of ghost souls to reach their current cultivation.
Among the Ghost Clan of the Ten Clans of Hell, a Six-Tribulation Ghost King was the most powerful existence below the Great Saint realm, having cultivated a solid ghost body and possessing intelligence as sharp as a human Saint King.
One step further, and they would become a Seven-Tribulation Ghost King, capable of contending with Great Saints.
The aura emitted by the two Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings caused Chen Liuli's face to turn pale—it was the intimidation of a higher-ranked being over a lower one.
The tower gate was blocked, making escape as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Chen Liuli took a deep breath, gradually calming herself, and said, "The Inheritance Fire Tower must never fall into the hands of foreign cultivators. Zhang Ruochen, use your space power to protect yourself. I'll deal with them."
Zhang Ruochen guessed what Chen Liuli intended to do and let out a soft sigh: "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, Senior, but even if you self-detonate your Sacred Source, you won't be able to kill a Six-Tribulation Ghost King."
"At least I can destroy the Inheritance Fire Tower," Chen Liuli said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Inheritance Fire Tower has stood in the Eastern Domain Sacred City for who knows how many tens of thousands of years. If it were so easy to destroy, it would have been gone long ago."
Chen Liuli bit her lip tightly, a self-deprecating smile appearing on her face. "Is reality really this cruel? Even wanting to perish together with the enemy is impossible."
"Reality is indeed cruel, but it is precisely this cruelty that tempers a person's will." Zhang Ruochen's arms began to burn, and crimson patterns emerged on the Flame God Armor's gauntlets and arm guards.
"Whoosh, whoosh."
The two Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings shot into the Inheritance Fire Tower like black streaks of light.
Along with them came a large number of ghostly shadows.
Those ghostly shadows exuded deathly yin energy, making wailing sounds as they flew through the tower.
The Six-Tribulation Ghost King wielding the three-pronged demon halberd swept his gaze over Zhang Ruochen and Chen Liuli, his voice hoarse: "Was Lord Canghai killed by you?"
Just one look from him made Chen Liuli feel as if she had fallen into an ice cavern, her delicate body trembling slightly.
The gap in cultivation was too great. The fact that Chen Liuli hadn't been crushed to her knees was already a testament to her strong will.
Zhang Ruochen radiated threads of flame light, blocking the ghostly qi emanating from the two Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings, and said calmly, "Since you know that Xie Canghai died outside, how dare you come in here to die?"
"Hmph!"
The Six-Tribulation Ghost King on the left activated the ghost fire within his three-pronged demon halberd and thrust it forward, aiming for Zhang Ruochen's heart.
"Bang, bang."
Explosive sounds rang out continuously, causing the airflow within the Inheritance Fire Tower to churn violently.
Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm, his palm center colliding with the tip of the three-pronged halberd. He sent all the ghost fire surging back, blasting it onto the Six-Tribulation Ghost King.
In addition, the flame power of the Flame God Armor's gauntlets erupted, surging out along with Zhang Ruochen's palm force, sending the Six-Tribulation Ghost King flying out of the Inheritance Fire Tower.
"Ah... fire... what kind of fire..."
Before the Six-Tribulation Ghost King could even land, he was burned to ashes by the flames released from the Flame God Armor's gauntlets, his soul scattered.
The Six-Tribulation Ghost King with dragon horns was greatly alarmed. He activated his utmost speed, fleeing the Inheritance Fire Tower and charging into the vast, surging ghostly mist outside.
"Whoosh."
A white arrow light shot out from the tower, chasing after him into the ghostly mist.
"Bang."
The dragon-horned Six-Tribulation Ghost King couldn't dodge in time. The Daylight Arrow struck him, shattering his ghost body into a mass of black, ink-like ghostly mist.
He wasn't dead. Soon, he reformed his ghost body, but compared to before, he had become much weaker. His gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen, who stood outside the tower gate, revealing shock and fear. He no longer dared to show any contempt.
That young human man was far too powerful!
"Zhang Ruochen has grown to such a formidable level?"
Chen Liuli's eyes showed an expression of disbelief.
Killing a Six-Tribulation Ghost King with one palm strike and severely wounding another with a single arrow—such achievements were hard to imagine. How many years had it been?
No wonder the Yuhua Ancestor had passed the Inheritance Fire Token to him. In this current era, perhaps only Zhang Ruochen could hold up the sky for the Eastern Domain.
"Whoosh."
The Daylight Arrow flew back, landing in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was commanding. He drew the bow again, and where the arrow tip pointed, the ghostly mist immediately surged backward.
"Wu Ying Fairy, won't you show yourself?" Zhang Ruochen called out loudly.
Thirty zhang above the ground, the ghostly mist parted, forming a path.
The one known as the "Wu Ying Fairy," Great Xi King, appeared in Zhang Ruochen's view.
Great Xi King was the leader of the new generation of the Soul Realm. She was elegant and otherworldly, with extraordinary talent and a mysterious aura. Even standing before Zhang Ruochen, she gave him the feeling that she might dissipate with the wind at any moment.
"Twang."
The bowstring sounded.
Zhang Ruochen acted decisively. The Daylight Arrow flew out, trailing a tail dozens of meters long, piercing through Great Xi King's chest.
Great Xi King's exquisite and unparalleled delicate body shattered like porcelain, merging with the surrounding ghostly mist.
But the next moment, Great Xi King's figure emerged from the ghostly mist again. Her jade-white fingers held the Daylight Arrow, and she said gracefully and calmly, "Zhang Ruochen, your rate of progress is truly astonishing. If you don't fall, your future achievements will be limitless."
"Thank you for the compliment, Fairy," Zhang Ruochen said.
Great Xi King's hand emitted a chilling cold, freezing the Daylight Arrow, and she stored it into the necklace around her neck.
She let out a soft sigh and said, "Unfortunately, you shouldn't have been born in the Kunlun Realm. The Kunlun Realm is destined to be destroyed, and you will become nothing more than dust in this history. Ten thousand years from now, perhaps even I won't remember that I once killed an outstanding talent named Zhang Ruochen. Without becoming a god, one cannot be eternal."
A smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face. "Fairy, you are far too confident. Do you really think I'm still as easy to handle as I was in the Truth Heaven Domain? Besides, even back in the Truth Heaven Domain, you seemed unable to do anything to me. I must thank you for allowing me to obtain Qing Jin's sacred soul to feed my evil spirit."
Great Xi King's face showed no emotional fluctuation, but a cold gleam flashed in her beautiful eyes.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen formed hand seals and struck toward the void.
Two sheets of fire clouds flew out, dispersing the vast ghostly mist and annihilating countless undead spirits and ghostly fiends.
Great Xi King summoned a crystal sacred staff. One end of the staff resembled a phoenix's tail, while the other was sharp as a spear, with a divine stone embedded within the phoenix tail.
Holding the crystal sacred staff, she thrust it into the ground.
Instantly, dense inscriptions, like earthworms, surged out from the staff, forming a formation thirty-three zhang in diameter.
The ghostly mist from heaven and earth converged toward the formation seal, transforming into a grand ghost array.
The two sheets of crimson fire clouds collided with the massive ghost array. The raging flames were swallowed by the ghostly mist, like stones thrown into a pond, disappearing without a trace.
"Great Xi King's spiritual power should have reached the fifty-ninth rank, and not just the initial stage."
Great Xi King was a spiritual power Saint King and a master at controlling ghosts.
However, spiritual power cultivators were most vulnerable to close combat. If Zhang Ruochen could force his way close to her, she might not be able to withstand it.
But with her formation protecting her, getting close to her was no easy task.
Zhang Ruochen strode forward, covering ten zhang with each step, charging toward the thirty-three-zhang-diameter ghost array. As he neared the array, he grabbed at the void with his finger. With a tearing sound, he ripped open a space rift over ten zhang long.
The space rift was like the maw of a giant beast—dark, hollow, and filled with immense danger.
Great Xi King seemed to have anticipated Zhang Ruochen's use of space power. Her five jade-like fingers pressed outward through the air, and from her crystal-clear red lips, she uttered a single word: "Close."
The ten-plus-zhang space rift had just entered the ghost array when it was suppressed by a powerful force and forced to close.
That force was bitterly cold.
"Although the Way of Space is formidable, there are forces in heaven and earth that oppose space. Zhang Ruochen, if you want to fight me, you'll have to show your true skills, or this battle will end within ten moves." Great Xi King's voice was ethereal and lingering.
"Very well. Today, I'll make sure you see my true power, Fairy."
Zhang Ruochen charged into the ghost array. Before him, the world turned dark and chaotic, his hand invisible before his face.
Ferocious and vicious ghostly figures attacked him from all directions.
"How dare mere ghostly fiends block my path?"
Zhang Ruochen released the Purifying Divine Flame, enveloping his entire body.
Then, a ring of fire surged outward. Every ghostly fiend that attacked him let out screams of agony as their ghost bodies ignited.
Gradually, his vision cleared, and Zhang Ruochen saw the graceful figure standing at the center of the ghost array. Beside her stood over fifty Ghost Kings.
Among them, there were as many as five Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings.
Led by the five Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings, all the Ghost Kings attacked Zhang Ruochen.
They weren't unarmed; they carried powerful yin soldier ghost artifacts.
"Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder."
Zhang Ruochen raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword, pointing it at the sky. A powerful sword intent erupted, and dozens of electric serpents condensed in the heavens above. Those electric serpents streaked across the sky, diving down to strike the Ghost Kings.
In an instant, thirteen Ghost Kings were struck, their souls scattered.
One of the Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings reached within five zhang of Zhang Ruochen and unleashed a chain engraved with ghost inscriptions. The chain spun in the air, forming seven rings.
The ghost-inscribed chain could bind a cultivator's sacred soul. Once ensnared, the cultivator would lose all combat power.
"Time Sword Art, Fourth Layer: Cyclic Reincarnation Sword Art."
Zhang Ruochen raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and around the sword, numerous time imprints condensed.
Dozens of time imprints, like specks of light, drifted along with the heavy sword.
Instantly, the ghost-inscribed chain and the Six-Tribulation Ghost King seemed to be struck by a paralysis technique, standing motionless in place.
"Pfft."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword cleaved the ghost-inscribed chain into segments, and the sword tip pierced into the Six-Tribulation Ghost King's brow.
The Purifying Divine Flame surged from Zhang Ruochen's palm, flowing through the heavy sword into the Six-Tribulation Ghost King's ghost body, burning it with crackling sounds until it turned into smoke.