Chapter 1905: Skyward Sword Lineage
"It seems one battle corpse isn't enough. I'll need another one. Since I can't take them out anyway, using them to delay Blood Butcher a bit is fine."
Watching Zhang Ruochen rush toward the snowy mountain at top speed, Luo Yi summoned another battle corpse.
In total, he had only found two Great Saint corpses within the secret realm. Now that he had used both, they should at least be able to hold back Blood Butcher Divine Son for a while.
The second Great Saint battle corpse was thin and frail, appearing extremely aged. It wielded a long sword in each hand, its attacks fierce and unmatched.
"Just two Great Saint battle corpses? You think that can stop me, the Divine Son? Turn to ashes!"
Blood Butcher Divine Son's body radiated dense blood fiend qi, transforming into blazing flames that merged with the Inescapable Prison Tower.
The reason he could control the Inescapable Prison Tower was that he commanded the flames of purgatory—a fearsome fire comparable to Purifying Divine Flame, one that few could master.
A torrent of purgatory fire surged from the tower, engulfing the two Great Saint battle corpses and incinerating them into ash, even their swords reduced to nothing.
"Boom."
A mass of purgatory fire shot out, forming a fireball that crashed into the secret realm where Luo Yi had been.
The mountain peak collapsed, but Luo Yi was nowhere to be seen.
Blood Butcher Divine Son did not bother searching. He steered the Inescapable Prison Tower and continued his pursuit of Zhang Ruochen and the others.
Deep within the secret realm, Luo Yi reappeared, muttering softly, "Zhang Ruochen, I believe you won't die so easily."
Meanwhile, just as Blood Butcher Divine Son was about to catch up, Zhang Ruochen and his group finally reached the foot of the snowy mountain.
"Why aren't you running anymore?"
Blood Butcher Divine Son looked down at Zhang Ruochen and the others, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
In his eyes, their halt was born of utter despair—nowhere left to flee.
Zhang Ruochen raised his head and declared, "Because from now on, you'll be the one running."
As he spoke, the Skyward Sword appeared in his hand, and countless sword dao rules converged toward him.
"I call upon all past ancestors to aid me against this great foe." Zhang Ruochen soared into the air, summoning the ancestral spirits of the Skyward Sword lineage.
At that moment, every sword on the ground pointed its tip toward Zhang Ruochen, trembling slightly as if paying homage to him.
This was the manifestation of a Sword Saint—ten thousand swords bowing in salute.
From within the layered clouds, an aged voice echoed: "Any Undying Blood Clan who dares set foot in the Sword Grave shall be slain without mercy."
Instantly, sixteen powerful auras materialized into sixteen humanoid shadows—the sacred souls of the sixteen ancestors of the Skyward Sword lineage.
"Sacred soul, merge!"
All sixteen ancestral sacred souls surged toward Zhang Ruochen, forming a thousand-zhang-tall humanoid sacred shadow, radiating majestic and awe-inspiring energy.
Zhang Ruochen hovered at the brow of the sacred shadow, enveloped by waves of powerful sacred qi, his entire being brimming with strength.
When he first came to the Sword Grave, his cultivation was merely a first-step Half-Saint, and he could only borrow the sacred soul of a single ancestor. Now, he could simultaneously borrow the power of all sixteen.
In the past, Ling Feiyu had borrowed the sacred soul of the Sky-Burying Sword lineage's ancestor to battle Qingtian Blood Emperor, sacrificing herself to stop the Undying Blood Clan from releasing the Underworld King.
Now, it was his turn to do the same—this was the duty of a sword bearer.
"Hmm?" Blood Butcher Divine Son showed a hint of surprise.
He could sense that, after merging with the sixteen sacred souls, Zhang Ruochen's aura had skyrocketed to rival an Immortal Great Saint.
"Yin spirits should stay buried in their graves. If you dare come out to hinder me, I'll erase you from existence entirely."
Blood Butcher Divine Son's eyes were contemptuous, his body radiating a terrifying killing intent.
Even though Zhang Ruochen had borrowed the power of sixteen ancestral sacred souls to reach the level of an Immortal Great Saint, Blood Butcher still dismissed him.
He had already defeated a true Immortal Realm Great Saint before. What was Zhang Ruochen, who relied on borrowed power to reach that level?
"All of you, fall back. I may not be able to protect you from here on." Zhang Ruochen's tone was extremely serious.
Everyone understood that if they intervened now, they would only burden Zhang Ruochen, not help him.
So, without hesitation, they retreated, clearing a wide battlefield for him.
The sixteen ancestral sacred souls continuously drew upon the world's spiritual energy, channeling it toward Zhang Ruochen, intensifying the power fluctuations within him until they formed a multicolored chaotic mist.
Having cultivated to his current realm, his Five Elements Chaos Body had grown far stronger, capable of bearing vast amounts of sacred power.
"Whoosh."
The sword spirit awakened.
The Skyward Sword emitted a blinding light, drawing in countless sword dao rules.
In an instant, with Zhang Ruochen at the center, the entire area transformed into a sea of swords. Ten thousand swords flew in unison, making Zhang Ruochen seem like the sovereign of the sword dao, supreme and unrivaled.
"So this is the power of a Great Saint?" Zhang Ruochen murmured, an uncontrollable surge of pride rising in his chest.
This was his absolute home ground. He would never allow Blood Butcher Divine Son to pass through here.
Raising the Skyward Sword, a powerful sword domain extended outward.
"Sword Nine."
Zhang Ruochen swung the Skyward Sword, unleashing Sword Nine.
Although he had not yet fully comprehended the final layer of Sword Nine's essence, its execution was still formidable.
All the ancient swords around him shot forth simultaneously, guided by his sword intent, converging into a torrent of blades.
Even with the same Sword Nine, borrowing the ancestors' power and enhanced by the Sword Grave's rules, its might was incomparable to what he could normally achieve.
Blood Butcher Divine Son stood atop the Inescapable Prison Tower, summoning a vast amount of purgatory fire from within his body and punching forward.
"Boom."
The flaming fist imprint collided with the torrent of swords, unleashing cataclysmic power.
The fist imprint began to crumble, and the torrent of swords also dissipated.
In moments, both the fist imprint and the sword torrent vanished completely, neither side gaining the upper hand.
"Purgatory Fire God Fist."
Zhang Ruochen muttered, his gaze locked on Blood Butcher Divine Son.
This fist technique, learned by Blood Butcher through the Inescapable Prison Tower, was overwhelmingly powerful—few of the same rank could withstand a single blow.
"True One Thunderfire Sword Art."
Zhang Ruochen did not stop. He struck again.
Borrowing the ancestors' power, it was only natural to use the inherited True One Thunderfire Sword Art of their lineage, as it was the most powerful.
After all, every past ancestor had cultivated this art to an extremely high level, allowing their sword intents to resonate.
Blood Butcher Divine Son continued to unleash the Purgatory Fire God Fist, a technique of unpredictable changes, each punch carrying earth-shattering, ghost-weeping power.
For a time, the two clashed fiercely, their terrifying forces rippling outward in all directions.
However, the Sword Grave's unique environment prevented even their intense battle from causing widespread destruction.
Otherwise, the Sword Grave would have likely sunk under their assault from the very start.
"Blood Butcher Divine Son is truly formidable. Even inside the Sword Grave, he can still display such strength." Bao Lie's expression was grim.
Ji Fanxin's eyes flashed with insight as she said, "Blood Butcher Divine Son is indeed strong, but the reason he can exert this level of power is the Inescapable Prison Tower. It's a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact with an immensely powerful artifact spirit, greatly reducing the Sword Grave's suppression."
"His Highness is a sword cultivator, and with the borrowed power of the Skyward Sword lineage's ancestors, he will surely defeat Blood Butcher Divine Son."
Murong Yue spoke, full of confidence in Zhang Ruochen.
Since she had begun following him, no matter how powerful the enemy, Zhang Ruochen had always found a way to deal with them.
"What a pity. If the Metal Demon Crown had an artifact spirit, I'd definitely crush that bastard." Xiang Chunan was anxious but helpless.
In the past, he had bullied others with his Supreme Sacred Artifact. Now, someone was using one against him.
Even among Supreme Sacred Artifacts, those with artifact spirits and those without were worlds apart in power.
A Supreme Sacred Artifact with an artifact spirit, in the hands of a top-tier expert, could even slay gods—like the God-Slaying Cross, which had once nailed a god to death.
Divine artifacts were too rare in the world. Most gods wielded only Supreme Sacred Artifacts.
Yet, for some reason, the Supreme Sacred Artifacts passed down in the Kunlun Realm had almost all lost their artifact spirits, rendering them far less effective.
"If Zhang Ruochen can't defeat Blood Butcher Divine Son, we may have to abandon the Sword Grave." Ji Fanxin's tone was grave.
If they truly couldn't win, they certainly wouldn't wait there to die.
As the saying goes, where there's life, there's hope.
Hearing this, Shi Qiankun's face darkened. He clenched his fists, his eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen.
As the patriarch of the Prison-Suppressing Ancient Clan, how could he face his ancestors if he let the Sword Grave fall to the Undying Blood Clan?
He could only hate that his clan had declined, lacking top-tier experts to protect the Sword Grave.
On a mountain peak, Xia Wenxin, Jiumu Tianwang, and others appeared out of thin air, watching the battle between Zhang Ruochen and Blood Butcher Divine Son from afar.
The Undying Blood Clan army had regrouped, waiting only for this fight to end before launching another assault.
"The Sword Grave runs deep. Good thing we didn't charge in first, or we'd be in trouble." Jiumu Tianwang frowned slightly.
In his state merged with the ancestral sacred souls, Zhang Ruochen was overwhelmingly powerful—beyond Jiumu's ability to contend.
Xia Wenxin smiled faintly and said, "The Sword Grave has six sword bearers, each capable of extraordinary strength within it. Zhang Ruochen is just one of them."
"The swords of the six sword bearers are also the keys to releasing Lord Underworld King. Back then, the ten great tribes of our Undying Blood Clan in the Kunlun Realm expended great effort to seize five of them. Only the Skyward Sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand remained."
"If all six sword bearers were present, jointly guarding the Sword Grave, that would be the real trouble."
Before attacking the Sword Grave, he had thoroughly investigated its situation, which was why he was certain that even Blood Butcher Divine Son could not easily breach it.
Since Blood Butcher was so aggressive, Xia Wenxin was happy to let him lead the charge. He wasn't afraid of Blood Butcher stealing the credit.
"Zhang Ruochen, you cannot stop me, the Divine Son."
Blood Butcher Divine Son growled, raising his hand and hurling the Inescapable Prison Tower.
Frustrated by his inability to kill Zhang Ruochen after so long, he had lost patience and refused to drag things out any further.
Even if Zhang Ruochen had merely borrowed the power of an Immortal Great Saint, even a true Immortal Great Saint would fall before his Inescapable Prison Tower.
Whoever stands in my way dies.