Chapter 1947: Clash of Top-Tier Powerhouses Below Great Saint
The war fortress split open, and many Death Clan cultivators hiding inside suffered an undeserved calamity, mercilessly obliterated by the terrifying divine power released by the evil spirit.
For a time, numerous Death Clan cultivators fled from the war fortress in panic, appearing flustered and completely losing their composure.
"All forces, advance! Attack!"
Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and ordered the army to launch an offensive.
The many Heavenly Court cultivators on the four warships were stunned for a moment, then quickly snapped back to reality, flashing out from the ships and charging toward the Death Clan army.
At this moment, the Death Clan army was in complete disarray, undoubtedly the best opportunity for them to strike.
"What?"
Seeing a war fortress breached, the Death Clan divine sons all revealed expressions of shock.
They had originally planned to use the eight fortress-like military camps to block the Heavenly Court army outside, then slowly slaughter them clean.
They had been confident in the defensive power of the war fortresses, never expecting one to be breached so quickly.
"It's that divine python corpse—the divine python corpse is indeed under Zhang Ruochen's control."
Seeing the divine python corpse, Red Star Divine Son's expression turned especially ugly.
Back then, Pei Yutian had taken the Eon Sacred Medicine that belonged to him and hidden at the bottom of Life-and-Death Cliff. He had sent Black Flame General to retrieve it, but Black Flame General was captured by Zhang Ruochen and later killed by him.
When news of the divine corpse at the bottom of Life-and-Death Cliff spread, he had wanted to get involved but was stopped by Zhen Yuan, forced to watch the divine python corpse fall into Zhang Ruochen's hands.
In Red Star Divine Son's mind, both the Eon Sacred Medicine and the divine python corpse should have belonged to him, but in the end, he got nothing, instead becoming a laughingstock in the eyes of other Death Clan divine sons and divine daughters.
Now seeing Zhang Ruochen use the divine python corpse to breach the war fortress, Red Star Divine Son was undoubtedly even more furious, wishing he could immediately free himself to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
"That Zhang Ruochen has some skill after all." Source Demon Divine Son revealed a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Source Demon, you dare to be distracted while fighting me?" Xuan Yuan Lie Kong roared.
He continuously executed the Divine King War Heaven Fist, each punch more powerful than the last, as if possessed by an invincible battle god.
When Bi Yunhai fought, he could mobilize thirty percent of the heaven and earth rules within a seven-thousand-mile radius, while Xuan Yuan Lie Kong could mobilize fifty percent within an eight-thousand-mile radius—far surpassing Bi Yunhai.
In theory, the limit for a Saint King was to mobilize heaven and earth rules within a ten-thousand-mile radius.
But in reality, mobilizing rules within a six-to-seven-thousand-mile radius was already extremely rare, and those who could mobilize within eight thousand miles were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Source Demon Divine Son could also mobilize rules within an eight-thousand-mile radius, matching Xuan Yuan Lie Kong, so the gap in their strength was extremely narrow, and their battle was evenly matched.
"Don't think that breaching one camp means you'll win. Don't forget that Qi Yang is still here. You're doomed to lose." Source Demon Divine Son snorted coldly.
Qi Yang's strength was not inferior to his. On the Heavenly Court side, aside from Xuan Yuan Lie Kong, who could be his match?
And Xuan Yuan Lie Kong was already tied down by him. In a little while, the Heavenly Court side would surely suffer heavy casualties and flee in panic.
"Is that so? Then let's wait and see." Xuan Yuan Lie Kong said coldly.
Since Zhen Yuan trusted Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin that much, he could only choose to believe in them now.
Of course, he was not someone who liked to place his hopes on others; he trusted himself more.
He didn't need Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin to defeat Qi Yang—as long as they could hold him off for a while, once he defeated Source Demon Divine Son, everything would be settled.
In front of the broken war fortress, Ji Fanxin stopped toying with Crane Fall Commander and launched a fierce attack.
Her powerful spiritual power condensed into a rain of flowers that filled the sky, drowning Crane Fall Commander.
Moments later, the rain of flowers dissipated, and Crane Fall Commander fell stiffly from midair, completely devoid of life.
The next moment, Ji Fanxin appeared beside Zhang Ruochen, advancing with him toward the central area of Immortal Machine Mountain.
They had not come to Immortal Machine Mountain to fight and kill the Death Clan; seizing the trunk of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was their true goal.
At this moment, the Death Clan powerhouses were all retreating, intimidated by Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin's methods.
Soon, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, and Pei Yutian also gathered around.
Pei Yutian had not stood idly by; he had already joined the battle. Although his cultivation was only at the Rule Small World stage, with his current bone structure and physique, he was already capable of contending with Dao Domain realm powerhouses.
"Big brother, are we going to attack alone now? Should we help the other teams?" Xiang Chunan asked.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head: "No need. This situation is most favorable to us. Let's get closer to the Death Altar first. Clear out all those in our way."
"Alright, I can finally have a good slaughter." Xiang Chunan chuckled.
As he spoke, he had already launched his Metal Demon Crown, smashing it toward the severely injured Death General.
Feng Yan, meanwhile, activated his Divine Shadow, extending all six arms simultaneously to grab at the six Dao Domain realm Death Knights.
If not for the obstruction of the Death Generals, those six Dao Domain realm Death Knights would have already died by his hands.
The group of Death Generals had regrouped, maintaining the massive Death God Shadow, and now tried to obstruct Feng Yan once again.
"Dragon-Elephant Piercing Heaven."
Zhang Ruochen struck out, sending dragon and elephant shadows flying, exuding an overwhelmingly powerful aura. Within a two-thousand-mile radius, over fifty percent of the heaven and earth rules were mobilized.
"Boom."
The Death God Shadow condensed by dozens of Death Generals staggered backward, nearly shattered by the blow.
With a high-rank sacred art, Zhang Ruochen could now mobilize heaven and earth rules within a two-thousand-mile radius, surpassing ordinary Approach Dao realm powerhouses and matching Fire Slave.
But he could mobilize fifty percent of the rules, while Fire Slave could only manage forty percent, so even though Fire Slave had an advantage in cultivation, he could not overcome Zhang Ruochen.
When Zhang Ruochen employed Truth Rules, Fire Slave was even suppressed by him.
Of course, with his current strength, he was still far from matching Xuan Yuan Lie Kong, Source Demon Divine Son, and the like.
However, once his cultivation improved further—reaching Dao Domain, Heaven-Connecting, or even Approach Dao realm—who was stronger and who was weaker would only be known through battle.
Zhang Ruochen was currently only at the Rule Great World stage, with enormous room for growth. All he needed was time.
Without the obstruction of those dozens of Death Generals, Feng Yan smoothly captured the six Dao Domain realm Death Knights with his Divine Shadow.
Feng Yan showed no mercy, cleanly killing the six Dao Domain realm Death Knights and extracting six strands of sacred souls from their bodies.
With these six strands of sacred souls, he could exchange them for a large amount of merit points at the main merit relay station.
Just as Zhang Ruochen and the others were about to go on a killing spree, the battle between Bi Yunhai and Qi Yang suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse.
"Pfft."
Bi Yunhai was struck by a blade light slashed out by Qi Yang, leaving a deep wound on his shoulder, blood gushing forth.
With that single strike, Bi Yunhai was already heavily injured.
"Damn it."
Bi Yunhai roared, a sacred light glowing on his brow as a sky-blue gourd flew out.
The gourd was only the size of a palm, its surface engraved with numerous complex inscriptions, vastly different from those of a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact.
"Monarch War Artifact." Zhang Ruochen murmured.
The Azure Sky Bow and Daylight Arrow were Monarch War Artifacts, so he was very familiar with them.
Bi Yunhai actually possessed a Monarch War Artifact, which surprised Zhang Ruochen quite a bit.
As Bi Yunhai continuously infused sacred qi into it, the sky-blue gourd expanded rapidly, instantly exceeding ten zhang in height.
Over two hundred thousand king-level inscriptions emerged, and waves of monarch sacred power surged, causing slight ripples in space.
"Qi Yang, die!"
Bi Yunhai was furious, aiming the sky-blue gourd at Qi Yang.
"Boom."
A dazzling sky-blue sacred light shot out from the gourd, nearly distorting space.
Having suffered a loss earlier, Bi Yunhai was completely enraged. He no longer held anything back, using all his means to defeat or even kill Qi Yang and salvage his pride.
The power of a Monarch War Artifact was no small matter, especially when wielded by a top-tier powerhouse like Bi Yunhai—it was extremely terrifying.
"Whoosh."
A blood-colored blade light suddenly appeared, splitting the sky-blue sacred light in two.
"How can this be..."
Bi Yunhai's eyes widened, unwilling to believe this reality.
That was his strongest attack using a Monarch War Artifact—how could it be so easily neutralized?
At this moment, everyone saw Qi Yang holding a demon blade in his hand, its blade body glowing with an eerie blood light, an aura of supremacy spreading.
"Supreme Sacred Artifact."
For a moment, all the cultivators on the Heavenly Court side were shaken.
Bi Yunhai pulling out a Monarch War Artifact was already astonishing, but Qi Yang producing a Supreme Sacred Artifact was even more terrifying.
Even Zhang Ruochen's expression turned somewhat solemn. Compared to others, he was undoubtedly more familiar with Supreme Sacred Artifacts.
The moment he saw that demon blade, Zhang Ruochen was certain it was a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, and it seemed to have been forged not too long ago.
At this stage, the Kunlun Realm did not allow Great Saints to enter. Even native Great Saints of the Kunlun Realm had all withdrawn.
If any Great Saints still remained in the Kunlun Realm, they could only exist within awakened divine lands, sacred lands, or forbidden zones.
Once discovered stepping out, they would immediately be expelled.
The artifact spirits of Supreme Sacred Artifacts were generally at the Great Saint level and likewise could not enter the Kunlun Realm.
Thus, the only Supreme Sacred Artifacts that could enter the Kunlun Realm were those without artifact spirits or with relatively weak ones.
For example, the Blood-Dripping Sword had only become a Supreme Sacred Artifact a few hundred years ago, and its artifact spirit was far from reaching its peak, so it could still appear in the Kunlun Realm.
Similarly, the Interminable Hell Tower used by Blood Butcher back then was an ancient Supreme Sacred Artifact but had suffered severe damage, and its artifact spirit's power had not yet recovered, so it was not restricted.
As for the Annihilation God Cross Shield in Xia Wenxin's hands, for some reason, its artifact spirit had always been in a dormant state, as if it had none.
Once the artifact spirit awakened, it would inevitably be expelled.
The demon blade in Qi Yang's hands was a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, yet it could be brought into the Kunlun Realm, which could only mean its artifact spirit was still relatively weak.
But even if the artifact spirit was weak, the power a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact could unleash was still terrifying, enough to threaten an Immortal Great Saint.
"A mere Monarch War Artifact, and you think you can deal with me? Where do you get the confidence? Never mind—I'll use your blood to sharpen my Blood-Drinking Demon Blade. Being the first to die under this blade is your honor."
Qi Yang extended his tongue to lick the demon blade, his gaze turning extremely cold.