Chapter 1898: Invincible
"How could a human cultivate the Seven Orifices Blood Nether Palm to such a level?"
Seeing the Nether King's phantom manifest behind Zhang Ruochen, the Long-Faced Imperial Daughter was deeply shocked.
They had come to rescue the Nether King and naturally had thoroughly investigated everything about him, so they immediately recognized that Zhang Ruochen was executing the Nether King's signature technique.
However, as far as they knew, even the Undying Blood Clan found it extremely difficult to master the Seven Orifices Blood Nether Palm, let alone comprehend its true essence. How had Zhang Ruochen managed it?
Unfortunately, there was no time for them to dwell on it. They had to focus their minds on resisting the Seven Orifices Blood Nether Palm, whose mountain-crushing, sea-splitting momentum placed immense pressure on them.
"Boom, boom."
The Cloud Prince and the Long-Faced Imperial Daughter were both sent flying backward, unable to withstand the overbearing palm force.
"Pfft."
The Long-Faced Imperial Daughter spat out a mouthful of blood, her internal organs suffering varying degrees of damage.
"Not good."
Suddenly, her mind trembled violently.
The space around her had frozen, sealing her ability to move.
Without a doubt, this was Zhang Ruochen's doing. She had nearly forgotten that Zhang Ruochen was a master of time and space—his time and space techniques were his true trump cards.
Terror surged within the Long-Faced Imperial Daughter. She desperately channeled her internal power, trying to break free from the spatial freeze.
She had been careless. If she had remained vigilant, she wouldn't have ended up so passive.
Of course, she had also been misled by Zhang Ruochen. Throughout the earlier battle, he hadn't used any time-space abilities, causing her to unconsciously let her guard down.
Zhang Ruochen's figure appeared above the Long-Faced Imperial Daughter, and he struck down with his palm.
"Boom."
The Long-Faced Imperial Daughter's head exploded, her saint soul annihilated, and she died on the spot.
Unfortunately for her, she had just broken free from the spatial freeze and was about to activate a blood seal to defend herself, but she was too late.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen dug out her saint source and, along with the blood seal, stored them away.
Seeing the Long-Faced Imperial Daughter killed, the Cloud Prince was horrified and quickly said, "Retreat!"
Witnessing an imperial daughter perish before his eyes dealt a massive blow to his spirit, and he was almost certain that Zhang Ruochen was beyond his ability to defeat.
"Bang."
The Martial Realm Prince broke free from the magma and prepared to flee without hesitation.
Even the Gate of Destiny couldn't restrain Zhang Ruochen. If he continued fighting, he might end up like the Long-Faced Imperial Daughter.
"Pfft."
The Martial Realm Prince's body was severed in two, blood spraying everywhere.
The most humiliating scene from before repeated itself.
"Ah!"
The Martial Realm Prince let out a pained roar, his expression turning ferocious.
Thanks to his powerful vitality, he didn't die, but a deep sense of shame surged within him.
Being cut in half twice in a row—it was a joke.
The Gate of Destiny behind him completely collapsed, unable to reform.
"Die!"
The Martial Realm Prince roared, unleashing the chain with all his might.
Countless secret patterns emerged on the chain, radiating cold energy. Combined with his saintly rules and blood essence, the chain's power was fully unleashed.
Vaguely, the chain transformed into a massive ice dragon, releasing such intense cold that it extinguished large swaths of the Purifying Divine Flame.
In truth, the chain had been infused with the soul of a cold ice dragon, serving as its artifact spirit.
Facing the Martial Realm Prince's counterattack, Zhang Ruochen poured vast amounts of saintly energy into the Fire God Fist Gloves and Fire God Arm Guards.
Instantly, the gloves and arm guards ignited, revealing ancient patterns, and erupted with overwhelming divine power.
"Dragon-Elephant Piercing the Heavens."
Leveraging the divine power, Zhang Ruochen executed the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.
"Boom."
The dragon formed by the chain exploded, the supreme yang and firm force vaporizing the cold energy, causing the secret patterns on the chain to rapidly dim.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen pointed a finger.
Space energy surged, and the space around the Martial Realm Prince rapidly compressed.
"Ah!"
The Martial Realm Prince let out a miserable scream, his body instantly twisted beyond recognition.
No matter how strong his vitality, he couldn't survive under such circumstances.
Zhang Ruochen raised his hand to suppress the chain, then dug out the Martial Realm Prince's saint source, his expression calm, as if he had done something trivial.
Thus, he had killed two imperial princes and daughters of the Undying Blood Clan, and he had done so with ease.
With his breakthrough to the Nine-Step Saint King realm, his strength had indeed increased significantly. In his normal state, he could rival Dao Domain cultivators and even kill them.
He shifted his gaze but could no longer find the Cloud Prince, who had clearly taken the opportunity to flee.
"He escaped quickly enough."
Zhang Ruochen muttered, but he didn't take it to heart.
He was just a Dao Realm cultivator, no real threat. If he dared to show up again, he would simply be killed.
Meanwhile, the Undying Blood Clan army was rapidly retreating, clearly frightened by Zhang Ruochen's terrifying display.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Ruochen gathered the Zhenyu Ancient Clan cultivators and reestablished their defenses.
He knew very well that the Undying Blood Clan had only been testing them. The real battle had yet to begin.
He alone couldn't defend the Sword Grave. They had to unite all their strength and work together.
The Cloud Prince fled back to White Bone Mountain in panic, still shaken. "Zhang Ruochen has broken through and grown much stronger. The Martial Realm Prince and the Yue Imperial Daughter have both died by his hand."
"What a Zhang Ruochen. In just a few days, he managed to break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm. It seems I'll have to personally intervene." The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King's eyes blazed with murderous intent.
He had been brooding over Zhang Ruochen's escape last time and was determined to capture him this time.
Xia Wenxin pondered briefly before speaking, "Be careful. Don't be careless."
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King smiled confidently. "Don't worry. Once I make my move, Zhang Ruochen won't be able to stir up any trouble."
Without delay, he set off, eager to capture Zhang Ruochen and wipe out the Zhenyu Ancient Clan.
Shortly after the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King departed, another imperial prince appeared at White Bone Mountain, his expression grim. "The Nether Prison is heavily guarded. The four wardens are all formidable, and they command an army of Azure Flame Ghosts. We encountered resistance and suffered heavy casualties."
The Undying Blood Clan army had split into two groups when they attacked: one to eliminate the Zhenyu Ancient Clan and the other to assault the Nether Prison.
Both groups had achieved little, suffering significant losses instead.
"It seems the rumors are true. The Nether Prison is indeed guarded by four special lifeforms. The Azure Sky Blood Emperor failed to kill even one warden."
"The Sword Grave is filled with countless sword cultivators. Thanks to the Sword Grave's unique environment, their lingering spirits have survived, forming a powerful Azure Flame Ghost Army. They are indeed troublesome."
"Alright, let's focus on attacking the Zhenyu Ancient Clan first. Eliminate all obstacles."
Xia Wenxin thought carefully before making a decision.
Throughout it all, the Nether Immortal remained indifferent, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
His only target was the Star Chart. He could strike at any time and had no need to rush into the fray.
On the black plain, the Undying Blood Clan army surged forward again, advancing in a mighty tide, extinguishing all life in their path.
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King stood in midair, looking down at the Zhenyu Ancient Clan cultivators from on high.
His gaze was cold, treating them all as mere ants.
"Boom."
Countless formation patterns emerged from the ground, launching a slaughter against the Undying Blood Clan army.
"Break!"
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King roared and struck out with his palm.
A torrent of blood energy surged from his hand, unleashing terrifying palm force, like a star crashing down.
With that single strike, the ground shattered, and many formation patterns were erased, rendered useless.
"Zhang Ruochen, let's see where you can run this time." The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King locked onto Zhang Ruochen, his killing intent palpable.
Unfazed by the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King's murderous aura, Zhang Ruochen remained calm. He raised his hand and threw out a spatial scroll.
This was a Spatial Distortion Scroll. As it unfurled, it immediately created a distorted space, trapping a large number of Undying Blood Clan warriors.
Once trapped in the distorted space, escape would be nearly impossible.
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King could break the distorted space, but doing so would cause the chaotic spatial forces to kill all the Undying Blood Clan warriors trapped inside.
If he didn't act, the trapped warriors would eventually become lost in the distorted space and never find their way out, leading to the same fate.
In essence, the moment they were trapped, their doom was sealed.
On the other side, Zhang Ruochen activated a pre-arranged spatial formation, trapping another large group of Undying Blood Clan warriors.
"You're asking for death!"
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King was enraged and immediately attacked.
Behind him, the Undying Blood Clan army also advanced rapidly.
Seeing the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King charging at him, a faint smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen's lips. He produced the Space-Time Secret Scripture and quickly opened it.
A multi-layered space instantly formed, trapping the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King and over a thousand Undying Blood Clan warriors.
With Zhang Ruochen's current strength, the multi-layered space created by the Space-Time Secret Scripture was far more durable and not easily broken.
Spatial forces surged, and the Undying Blood Clan warriors trapped in the multi-layered space exploded one after another, leaving only their saint sources and weapons.
"Roar!"
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King let out a thunderous roar, unleashing power comparable to a Lin Dao realm cultivator, attacking wildly.
"Boom."
A layer of silver light shattered under his assault.
However, with dozens of silver light layers in place, breaking one wasn't enough to escape, and the shattered layers quickly repaired themselves.
"Zhang Ruochen, you dare ambush me? I'll tear you apart!" The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King roared in fury, his momentum steadily rising.
"Not good." Zhang Ruochen's expression suddenly changed.
Without hesitation, he tried to close the Space-Time Secret Scripture to truly seal the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King.
Inside the multi-layered space, the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King's nine eyes all opened simultaneously, unleashing a terrifying burst of power.
"Boom."
The power was so immense that it forcibly shattered dozens of silver light layers.
Just as the Space-Time Secret Scripture was about to close, the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King finally broke free.
However, he was in a sorry state. His Hundred Saint Blood Armor was damaged, and blood flowed from the wings on his back. Escaping had been no easy feat.