Chapter 1900: Divine Power Clash
A graceful man with blood-colored hair appeared atop the God-Destroying Cross Shield, like a true god descending to the mortal world, truly peerless in elegance.
Looking at Xia Wenxin, Zhang Ruochen's expression shifted slightly.
Last time, this very person had intervened to prevent him from killing the Martial Realm Divine Son.
Now he was acting again, stopping him from dealing with Nine Eyes Heavenly King—truly infuriating.
Although he had wounded Xia Wenxin with his sword last time, Zhang Ruochen did not underestimate him because of that. That attack had been a surprise strike, and it had only grazed the skin, failing to pierce through his body.
If Xia Wenxin had been wearing the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, he might not have even broken the skin.
Zhang Ruochen could tell that Xia Wenxin was not someone to be compared with the Martial Realm Divine Son and the others. Even Nine Eyes Heavenly King was far inferior to him. This was a formidable enemy.
"First, heal your wounds and consolidate your cultivation. Let me deal with him," Xia Wenxin said with extreme calm.
Though burning with rage, Nine Eyes Heavenly King obeyed Xia Wenxin's words and immediately took out a blood pill to consume.
With Xia Wenxin blocking the way, Zhang Ruochen could no longer continue attacking Nine Eyes Heavenly King, missing the excellent opportunity to cripple him.
"Before even breaking into the Sword Grave, you've already suffered losses. You're truly useless." A very contemptuous voice suddenly rang out.
From behind the Undying Blood Clan army, a thick mass of black mist surged forward, quickly arriving at the front lines.
Seeing this black mist, anyone would feel an immense oppression, as if their mind was about to be sucked into it.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened, and he muttered, "Underworld Clan."
From the very beginning, when the curse had struck, he knew that an Underworld Clan expert was aiding the Undying Blood Clan, though he was unsure of their origin.
"Let me give you a hand."
The Underworld Immortal spoke again, sounding rather impatient.
"Whoosh."
The black mist churned violently, revealing countless ghostly warriors—a dense, murderous mass that blotted out the sky and covered the sun.
The ghost army charged forth with overwhelming momentum, striking fear into all hearts.
"These ghosts are manifestations of the curse. Don't let them get close," Zhang Ruochen warned as he began to counter.
A vast amount of Purifying Divine Flame surged from his body, forming a fire qilin that charged toward the ghost army.
At the same time, he activated the Space-Time Secret Scripture, creating a multi-layered space to trap many ghosts, then used space secret arts to annihilate them.
However, the ghost army was immense in number and attacked in all directions. Alone, he could not hold them back.
He wanted to use the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda, but Xia Wenxin was watching him like a hawk, and the God-Destroying Cross Shield was no mere decoration.
"Master Uncle, we'll help you."
Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works flew up, radiating boundless Buddhist light from their bodies.
The Buddhist sect was best at subduing demons and vanquishing evil, mastering many techniques to counter dark forces. This was the perfect time to use them.
Ji Fanxin also acted, releasing countless invisible pollen grains to block the ghost army.
From the Zhenyu Ancient Clan, many talismans were shot out, unleashing lightning and flames—pure, yang-aligned forces that were most effective against dark entities.
"Boom."
Just as everyone was busy dealing with the curse, countless intricate formation patterns suddenly appeared on the ruined earth, densely packed, forming high-level arrays.
Clearly, this was also the work of the Underworld Immortal. Besides being skilled in curses, he was also a formation saint master.
Without his help, how could the Undying Blood Clan have breached the Zhenyu Ancient Clan so easily?
"Excellent, excellent. Let me, the Daoist, deal with you." The True Wonder Little Daoist was very excited.
He too was a formation saint master, and now he could finally be useful.
Immediately, the True Wonder Little Daoist employed formation techniques to counter the Underworld Immortal.
"Let me show you my power."
The True Wonder Little Daoist shouted and launched seven Divine Throne Planets inscribed with formation patterns.
In an instant, the seven planets formed a ninth-rank formation, surging toward the black mist.
From within the mist, an ancient formation disk flew out, its surface covered with dense, intricate patterns, colliding violently with the ninth-rank formation formed by the seven planets.
"Boom."
The collision produced a terrifying shockwave that swept in all directions.
The black plains, already ruined, became even more devastated. Earth and stone crumbled, forming a massive crater as if struck by a meteor.
"Ah."
The True Wonder Little Daoist suddenly screamed, blood seeping from his mouth and nose.
"Spiritual power attack."
Ji Fanxin's eyes narrowed, and she appeared beside the True Wonder Little Daoist.
Immediately, she released her own spiritual power, forming a protective barrier around him.
Then, she launched a fierce counterattack, condensing her spiritual power into a sharp sword and thrusting it out with incredible speed.
She had already sensed that the opponent's spiritual power was extremely strong, which was why the True Wonder Little Daoist had suffered.
"Evil Spirit."
Zhang Ruochen called out in a deep voice.
The Evil Spirit, fused with the corpse of a Great Saint, appeared, exuding intense malevolence. A vast amount of evil qi emanated from its back.
Looking at the dense ghost army, the Evil Spirit let out a hoarse laugh: "All good things—all nourishment for me."
Without waiting for Zhang Ruochen's command, the Evil Spirit pounced forward, devouring the curse-manifested ghosts without any restraint.
With the Evil Spirit's intervention, the curse released by the Underworld Immortal was finally fully blocked, unable to harm the Zhenyu Ancient Clan cultivators.
Ji Fanxin, the True Wonder Little Daoist, and the Evil Spirit were enough to hold off the Underworld Immortal, freeing Zhang Ruochen to deal with Xia Wenxin.
From start to finish, his attention remained fixed on Xia Wenxin, wary of a sudden attack.
"It seems you're ready to fight me. I'm eager to see how strong you've become after your breakthrough," Xia Wenxin said with a faint smile.
Even on the battlefield, he remained completely composed, as if Zhang Ruochen posed no threat to him.
"The Divine Son Xia is finally making his move. How exciting."
"With the Divine Son Xia in action, the Zhenyu Ancient Clan will be swept away soon."
"What is the Heir of Time and Space? Before the Divine Son Xia, he's nothing but a chicken or a dog."
"The Divine Son Xia is invincible. He will sweep through the Kunlun Realm."
Seeing Xia Wenxin about to act, many Undying Blood Clan warriors grew excited.
In their eyes, Xia Wenxin was invincible. Anyone he wanted dead had never survived.
This time would be no different.
"What nonsense about a Divine Son Xia? Before my big brother, he's nothing but trash," Xiang Chunan couldn't help but roar.
No matter what, they couldn't let the enemy's momentum overwhelm them.
"Dark-faced freak, are you insulting the Divine Son Xia? Do you want to die?" A Saint King of the Undying Blood Clan immediately stepped forward to rebuke.
Xiang Chunan naturally wouldn't back down. He opened his big mouth and roared, "I'm insulting him. What are you going to do about it?"
"Kill!" The Undying Blood Clan Saint King attacked.
Seeing the enemy charge, Xiang Chunan grinned and suddenly threw an iron hat.
"Boom."
The iron hat erupted with supreme power, pressing down on the Undying Blood Clan Saint King.
"You..."
The Saint King's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, it was too late.
The iron hat instantly crushed him into a cloud of blood mist.
"Fighting me? Now you know my power." Xiang Chunan laughed as he retrieved the iron hat, looking very pleased.
There was no need to be polite with the Undying Blood Clan.
Why use fists and feet when he had a supreme sacred artifact? Did they think he was stupid?
Seeing Xiang Chunan's smugness, many Undying Blood Clan Saint Kings were furious. If not for the supreme sacred artifact in his hand, they would have swarmed him.
Xiang Chunan laughed loudly: "Anyone else not convinced? Come on over. Grandpa Xiang will teach you how to be human in no time."
Hearing this, the Undying Blood Clan Saint Kings grew even angrier. If looks could kill, Xiang Chunan would have died countless times.
"Boom."
At that moment, the earth for thousands of miles suddenly shattered. A vast surge of blood fiend qi erupted, as if some great evil had been unleashed.
It happened too suddenly. No one was prepared. In the instant the blood fiend qi exploded, many in the Zhenyu Ancient Clan died, their forms and souls obliterated.
Seeing this sudden change, Zhang Ruochen clenched his fists, his face turning extremely dark.
He had miscalculated. Xia Wenxin had not waited idly as he had assumed. Instead, he had been secretly activating the God-Destroying Cross Shield.
In Xia Wenxin's hands, the God-Destroying Cross Shield was ten or even a hundred times more powerful than when Qi Sheng had wielded it.
Giving this powerful war weapon to Xia Wenxin had been a grave mistake.
"Your opponent is me."
Zhang Ruochen roared, unleashing the full power of the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda.
Seeing the pagoda flying toward him, Xia Wenxin showed no surprise, remaining perfectly calm, as if detached from it all.
The God-Destroying Cross Shield trembled. Countless divine patterns emerged, forming a cross-shaped divine light that met the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda.
"Boom."
The cross divine light was overwhelmingly powerful. It struck the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda and actually dispersed the supreme power it had released.
Clearly, the God-Destroying Cross Shield was superior to the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda in essence. After all, it was a supreme war weapon that had once nailed gods to death.
After shattering the pagoda's attack with one blow, a blood shadow appeared within the God-Destroying Cross Shield—seemingly the spirit of a god nailed to it. Thousands of blood rays shot out from its body, streaking toward Zhang Ruochen.
At this moment, everyone could clearly feel a powerful divine might, oppressive enough to make one instinctively kneel.
As the target of the God-Destroying Cross Shield, Zhang Ruochen felt it even more acutely, as if a divine mountain was pressing down on him.
"Blazing God Leg."
With a low growl, Zhang Ruochen raised his divine left leg.
Crimson patterns appeared on the leg, and terrifying divine power radiated outward.
"Boom."
The crimson divine power swept out, annihilating the blood rays shooting toward him.
In the end, even the blood shadow shattered, unable to withstand the immense divine power unleashed by the Blazing God Leg.
After several years of seclusion, Zhang Ruochen had refined nearly half of the divine rules contained within the Blazing God Leg. He could now use it more flexibly, and its power was greater.
The God-Destroying Cross Shield had only activated a portion of its divine power, enslaving the remnant soul of a god. It was still somewhat lacking against the Blazing God Leg.