Chapter 1892: The Arrival of Nether Immortal
Having broken free from the suppression of the Annihilation Cross Shield, Zhang Ruochen immediately executed a Space Displacement and retreated at the fastest speed back to the area covered by the medieval divine patterns.
With a wave of his hand, he put away both the Abyssal Ancient Sword and the Azure Heaven Floating Tower. His gaze met Xia Wenxin and the others from afar.
"Zhang Ruochen, weren't you so arrogant? Why are you fleeing? Come out and fight me!" Nine Eyes Heavenly King roared angrily.
Having been exploited by Zhang Ruochen due to his carelessness, he felt extremely displeased.
If he had known this would happen, he should not have held back and simply killed him cleanly.
Zhang Ruochen sneered coldly, "Are you an idiot, or am I stupid? If you want to fight me, come in here first."
He was not foolish. With so many enemies outside, even with all his tricks, he would not fare well.
The only thing he regretted was that he had failed to kill the Martial Realm Imperial Son—just a little more.
He took a deep look at Xia Wenxin, then turned and entered the Nether King Sword Grave.
This person could truly unleash the power of the Annihilation Cross Shield; he should not be underestimated and was undoubtedly a formidable enemy.
The fact that he had managed to wound him earlier was entirely due to surprise. If they were to truly fight, he probably could not withstand even a few of his moves. The gap in cultivation was too great to easily bridge.
If he had not prepared the Space Shattering Scroll in advance, even escaping safely would have been a problem.
For now, he needed to break through his cultivation as soon as possible to deal with the coming crisis.
Boom! Nine Eyes Heavenly King struck out, sending a violent palm force toward where Zhang Ruochen had retreated. But it was a wasted effort—all the palm power was blocked by the medieval divine patterns.
Even though these divine patterns were already incomplete, their defensive power remained astonishing. Not even a Saint King at the Heaven-Connecting Realm, let alone a Great Saint, could easily break through them.
"Damn it!"
Nine Eyes Heavenly King clenched his fists, flames of anger blazing in his eyes.
The prey had slipped right out of his mouth; he had never felt so humiliated.
"It's fine. He can't escape. Once Nether Immortal arrives and breaks the medieval divine patterns, neither he nor the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan will get away," Xia Wenxin said calmly, as if it were nothing.
The sword wound on his chest had already disappeared, leaving not even a trace of blood, as if he had never been injured.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword had only pierced his skin. With Zhang Ruochen's current strength, it was nearly impossible to seriously wound him.
Hearing this, Nine Eyes Heavenly King quickly calmed down. "When will Nether Immortal arrive?"
Xia Wenxin smiled faintly. "He's already here."
"Hmm?"
Including Nine Eyes Heavenly King, everyone turned their gazes to the rear.
On the White Bone Platform, a figure stood, exuding a dense aura of darkness, like a black hole, sending chills down one's spine.
"Nether Immortal!" Nine Eyes Heavenly King murmured.
All the Imperial Sons and Imperial Daughters took a deep breath, their eyes filled with reverence.
Nether Immortal was a peerless prodigy of the Nether Clan, one of the Upper Three Clans of the Hell Realm. His cultivation was profound and unfathomable. More importantly, his spiritual power was exceptionally strong—he was a peak Array Formation Master, just one step away from breaking through to Array Formation Earth Master.
Nether Immortal had once fought an Array Formation Earth Master, going through eight rounds of contest, breaking the Earth Master's formations eight times. In the end, the Array Formation Earth Master had to exhaust great effort to defeat him, demonstrating his extraordinary formation mastery.
Led by Xia Wenxin, a group of prodigies from the Undying Blood Clan flew onto the White Bone Platform and appeared beside Nether Immortal.
"Nether Immortal, you've finally arrived. We've been waiting for you for a long time," Xia Wenxin said in a magnetic voice.
At this moment, only he appeared completely at ease. The others, including Nine Eyes Heavenly King, were somewhat uneasy—Nether Immortal gave them immense pressure.
Nether Immortal clasped his hands behind his back and glanced at Xia Wenxin and the others. "You've been unable to breach the Nether King Sword Grave for so long? You're truly useless."
Hearing this, Nine Eyes Heavenly King said in a deep voice, "Do you think the Nether King Sword Grave is an ordinary place? It's filled with numerous divine patterns that cannot be broken through. Moreover, there are formidable figures inside the Sword Grave—even Hundred Illusion Divine Son lost his life."
"Hundred Illusion Divine Son's strength was somewhat lacking, but his illusion and transformation techniques were extraordinary. Who killed him?" Nether Immortal asked coldly.
"The Heir of Time and Space," Nine Eyes Heavenly King replied.
Nether Immortal snorted, "Even that old bald monk Xumi was killed. What is his heir worth? The Undying Blood Clan has brought shame upon itself."
Hearing this, Nine Eyes Heavenly King's face turned extremely ugly. If he did not know how terrifying Nether Immortal's strength was, he would have turned hostile right then. No one had ever dared to mock him so openly.
Xia Wenxin shook his head. "Zhang Ruochen is not as weak as you think. His cultivation is lower, but he has many tricks. Anyone careless will suffer losses, especially since he possesses a Supreme Sacred Artifact."
"I didn't expect even you, Xia Wenxin, to make excuses. In the face of absolute power, any tricks are futile. A mere Eight-Step Saint King, even wielding a Supreme Sacred Artifact—how much power can he unleash?" Nether Immortal sneered, not sparing Xia Wenxin any face.
In his view, Xia Wenxin and the others, all with cultivation above the Dao Domain Realm, could not handle a single Eight-Step Saint King—it was a disgrace to the Hell Realm.
If they were members of the Nether Clan, he would have taught them a lesson.
Xia Wenxin smiled faintly and did not argue further. "You're right. Zhang Ruochen is indeed nothing to fear. Once we breach the Nether King Sword Grave, a hundred Zhang Ruochens will be at our mercy."
He, too, did not take Zhang Ruochen too seriously. If they truly fought, he could kill him with ease.
If they met again, no matter how many tricks Zhang Ruochen had, he would not escape his grasp.
"Nether Immortal, since you're here, break the medieval divine patterns first. Delay could lead to complications," said the third Divine Son of the Undying Blood Clan.
He cared about nothing else but breaching the Nether King Sword Grave as soon as possible.
So many Divine Sons, Imperial Sons, and Imperial Daughters of the Undying Blood Clan had come here for one purpose: to break the Nether King Sword Grave and release the Nether King.
Nether Immortal's eyes glowed with a dark light, becoming profoundly deep. The medieval divine patterns outside the Nether King Sword Grave were clearly reflected in his vision.
"The Star Diagram is truly mysterious. I'm looking forward to it more and more," Nether Immortal said, a glint of burning excitement in his eyes.
Unlike the Undying Blood Clan, releasing the Nether King had nothing to do with him. He only cared about one thing: the Star Diagram held by the Shen Clan.
Once he obtained the Star Diagram and comprehended its formation mysteries, his formation mastery would greatly improve, and breaking through to Array Formation Earth Master would be within reach.
"Before breaking the medieval divine patterns, let's give them a little gift." Nether Immortal's eyes turned icy. A large amount of black mist surged from his body and invaded the Nether King Sword Grave.
The medieval divine patterns were incredibly mysterious, rendering any attack ineffective. Yet the black mist emerging from Nether Immortal's body passed through them unimpeded, a very strange phenomenon.
"Curses!"
Nine Eyes Heavenly King's eyes narrowed as he stared at the black mist invading the Nether King Sword Grave.
Curse power was formless and intangible, eerie and unpredictable—unique to the Nether Clan. Even the medieval divine patterns could not block it.
It could be expected that soon, many within the Nether King Sword Grave would be afflicted by curses. Even if they did not die, their strength would be greatly reduced.
The Imperial Sons and Imperial Daughters could not help but shiver, their eyes filled with awe as they looked at Nether Immortal.
Even they would not fare well if they were contaminated by curse power.
Threads of black curse mist entered the Nether King Sword Grave, silently seeping into the bodies of the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan cultivators.
Inside the Sword Grave Palace, Zhang Ruochen had just returned from outside and was discussing important matters with the others.
"What is this power? When did it enter my body?" Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed something unusual and detected an anomaly within himself.
He could clearly feel that this power was devouring his own essence, growing stronger. Even when he activated the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture, he could not refine it.
"It's curse power," Ji Fanxin said.
Zhang Ruochen's face changed drastically. "Curse power? Has the Nether Clan arrived as well?"
As far as he knew, only the Nether Clan, one of the Upper Three Clans of the Hell Realm, could use curses. This clan evolved from the Ghost Clan of the Middle Three Clans, cultivating the Path of Darkness and being the most evil.
The Undying Blood Clan besieging the Nether King Sword Grave was already a dire situation. Now that the Nether Clan had joined in, the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them.
"This curse is very strong. The one who released it is no ordinary person," Ji Fanxin said, a look of gravity in her eyes.
"Reporting to the clan leader! Some clan members have suddenly died!"
A disciple of the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan rushed into the Sword Grave Palace in panic.
Behind him, two disciples carried in a corpse.
The deceased had no wounds on his body, only some black lines on his forehead, like a spiderweb.
"Clan leader, something terrible has happened! Many clan members have suddenly fallen dead for no reason!" Soon, another person burst into the Sword Grave Palace to report.
"This..."
Shi Qiankun's face changed drastically, and he could no longer sit still.
If this continued, the Undying Blood Clan's army might not even need to attack—the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan would be nearly wiped out.
"We've all been cursed. That power is growing and cannot be suppressed," Shi Ren said grimly.
He had tried to use spiritual power to expel the curse but failed. The curse power that had invaded his body was like a stubborn leech, impossible to remove, and it was still growing, essentially out of control.
"This curse is terrifying. I can only suppress it, not remove it," Luo Yi said heavily.
At that moment, Ji Fanxin extended her hand. A green divine light appeared in her palm, sealing a wisp of black mist that was constantly struggling.
"Zhang Ruochen, use the power of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree. Only the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree can quickly eliminate this curse," Ji Fanxin said with a frown.
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen immediately understood. The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree could eliminate Death Evil Qi, so it should also be able to eliminate curses.
Without hesitation, he communicated with the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree. Vast wood spirit energy surged from the Qiankun Realm, spreading rapidly throughout the entire Sword Grave.