Chapter 1988: All of You, Come at Me Together
“Chi Sheng, you really are a brute. Don’t forget, Zi Hong said Zhang Ruochen must be kept alive. If you accidentally beat him to death, we won’t be able to explain ourselves.”
A voice as crisp and pleasant as a lark rang out.
The speaker was a petite young girl in purple robes, appearing to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. Her features were extremely delicate, almost perfect, giving off a harmless, innocent vibe, like a girl next door.
On the surface, the purple-robed girl seemed youthful, radiant, and full of vitality.
Yet her eyes were profoundly deep, carrying the vicissitudes of time that could not be concealed.
In fact, the purple-robed girl was older than anyone present, having already surpassed seventeen hundred years of age.
Anyone deceived by her appearance might not even know how they died.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze locked onto the purple-robed girl. He could faintly see a strange purple aura swirling around her, exuding an unparalleled nobility.
He was very familiar with the aura emanating from the purple-robed girl, having sensed it more than once. It was almost identical to the aura released by Zi Yang Saint King and Zi Feng Saint King, only fundamentally more powerful.
From this, Zhang Ruochen had already confirmed the girl’s identity in his heart. Barring any surprises, she should be the grandaunt of Zi Yang Saint King and Zi Feng Saint King, named Zi Linglong.
Legend had it that Zi Linglong possessed exceptionally high talent, hailed as a once-in-ten-thousand-years peerless prodigy of the Purple Heaven Hall. She had reached the Proximate Dao Realm in less than five hundred years of cultivation. If she wished, she could have broken through to the Great Saint Realm long ago.
The reason Zi Linglong had remained in the Proximate Dao Realm for the past twelve hundred years was that she was cultivating the most mysterious scripture of the Purple Heaven Hall, the *Purple Emperor Scripture*. This scripture was rumored to be related to a divine technique on the *Supreme Divine Technique Ranking*. Once mastered, it would allow one to cultivate the Purple Emperor Sacred Body, an immensely powerful form.
For tens of thousands of years, no one in the Purple Heaven Hall had been able to cultivate the *Purple Emperor Scripture* to its Great Completion.
With Zi Linglong’s unparalleled talent, she should have had a boundless future, yet she took the risk to cultivate the *Purple Emperor Scripture*. Such boldness was not something ordinary people possessed.
As for Chi Sheng, whom Zi Linglong had mentioned, his origins were also extraordinary. He was a top-tier powerhouse from another major force in the Ruiya Realm—the Overlord Hall. As a direct disciple of the Overlord God, his strength far surpassed that of Cang Long from the Nether God Hall. Thus, even though Zhang Ruochen had slain Cang Long outside the city earlier, Chi Sheng still did not take Zhang Ruochen too seriously.
Then there was Feng Gu Dao of the Soul Realm, the most insidious and cunning of the group, with extraordinary courage. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to ambush the Immortal Great Saint.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze shifted to an extremely ugly man. This man’s head was enormous, comparable to two or three normal heads, and his teeth jutted out prominently, his lips unable to cover them. He didn’t look human at all.
Seeing this man, Zhang Ruochen immediately thought of another person—Gu Feng, the space cultivator invited by the Heavenly Beginning Fairy when they entered the God-Sealing Platform. Gu Feng was equally ugly, with a very similar appearance.
Barring any surprises, this man and Gu Feng should be of the same clan, both hailing from the Cha Realm.
Feng Gu Dao, Chi Sheng, Zi Linglong, and this ugly man were undoubtedly no pushovers. Each of them had over seventy million Sacred Dao Rules within their bodies, with profound and unfathomable cultivation bases.
“Where is Shang Zi Hong? If he wants to deal with me, why doesn’t he come himself?” Zhang Ruochen demanded coldly.
Feng Gu Dao said calmly, “If you obediently surrender, you’ll see Zi Hong soon enough.”
“What? Is Shang Zi Hong afraid to face me?” Zhang Ruochen sneered.
Feng Gu Dao shook his head. “You’re wrong. Zi Hong has more important matters to attend to and has no time for you. However, Zi Hong left the four of us here specifically to deal with you. That shows he thinks highly of you. And indeed, you are very strong—far beyond our expectations. First, you killed Cang Long and Yan Ba, then you ambushed Mu Jian. If you’re allowed to keep growing, you’ll definitely become a major threat.”
“I’ll give you a chance. Choose one of us to fight.”
Although Zhang Ruochen’s recent battle achievements were astonishing, they weren’t enough to intimidate them.
After all, they were leaders of major worlds, prodigies of heaven, with their own pride.
More importantly, they had absolute confidence in their own strength.
Thus, unless necessary, they wouldn’t choose to join forces.
Capturing Zhang Ruochen would require all four top-tier powerhouses to act together. If word got out, wouldn’t it make them look utterly incompetent?
As for Cang Long, Yan Ba, and Mu Jian dying at Zhang Ruochen’s hands, they didn’t care much.
Even though they were all part of the Heavenly Realm Faction, there was still inevitable infighting among them.
For example, Chi Sheng, representing the Overlord Hall, was quite happy to see the Nether God Hall suffer losses. That way, the Overlord Hall’s status in the Ruiya Realm would rise even higher.
“Hurry up and choose. Don’t waste my time,” Chi Sheng said impatiently.
He didn’t have Feng Gu Dao’s patience. He liked everything clean and decisive.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze swept across the four top-tier powerhouses one by one, showing no sign of fear. He said calmly, “There’s no need to waste time. All of you, come at me together. Once I’ve dealt with you, I don’t believe Shang Zi Hong will still refuse to show himself.”
“Haha! Arrogant, very arrogant, and interesting. Zhang Ruochen, let me see if you really have the capital to be arrogant,” the ugly man laughed, his eyes filled with malice.
Zi Linglong said coldly, “Gu Tian Yin, I have no objection to you making a move, but I’ll remind you: don’t underestimate Zhang Ruochen. If something happens to you, we might not be able to save you in time.”
“What? Zi Linglong, are you worried about me? I’m flattered, but unfortunately, I’m not interested in you. I only like the young and tender ones,” the ugly man, Gu Tian Yin, sneered.
Hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Zi Linglong’s eyes, and a terrifying killing intent emanated from her. What she hated most was being called old.
Sensing this killing intent, Gu Tian Yin chuckled but didn’t dare to continue his teasing. Truly angering Zi Linglong would be very troublesome.
“Gu Tian Yin, you talk too much. Are you going to fight or not? If not, let me do it,” Chi Sheng urged impatiently.
Without a word, Gu Tian Yin’s eyes gleamed with a sinister smile. A vast amount of evil qi suddenly surged from his body, flooding toward Zhang Ruochen like a tidal wave.
Faintly visible within the evil qi were eerie shadows flickering, like malevolent spirits trying to burrow into Zhang Ruochen’s body.
“Is Gu Tian Yin planning to use dark arts to directly control Zhang Ruochen?” Chi Sheng muttered.
Gu Tian Yin hailed from an ancient evil cult in the Cha Realm, with a long heritage and deep foundations, housing all sorts of bizarre dark arts.
Anyone who encountered someone from Gu Tian Yin’s lineage would be extremely wary.
An incredibly sinister force enveloped Zhang Ruochen, directly targeting his Sacred Soul.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen felt his vision go dark, as if he had plummeted from the highest heavens into hell, his body turning cold and numb.
“Hmph.”
Zhang Ruochen let out a heavy snort. The Time and Space Divine Martial Mark on his brow spun rapidly, and the many Divine Marks imprinted in his Divine Light Qi Sea emerged, releasing a profoundly deep power that blocked all the evil force invading his body.
This was not the first time he had suffered a Sacred Soul attack, so he had already mastered the method to counter it.
Passively taking a beating was never Zhang Ruochen’s style.
He shook both arms, manifesting Great Saint-level Dragon Souls and Elephant Souls. All the acupoints in his arms and hands opened simultaneously, unleashing vast amounts of Saint Qi that poured into the Flame God Arm Guards and Fist Gloves.
Terrifying flames erupted from the Flame God Arm Guards and Fist Gloves, turning into two patches of fire clouds that caused even space to ripple faintly.
“Dragon-Elephant Reaching Heaven.”
Countless dragon and elephant shadows flew from Zhang Ruochen’s palms, covered in the fearsome flames released by the Flame God Arm Guards and Fist Gloves, as if they would fill the entire sky.
Dragon roars and elephant bellows resounded, shaking heaven and earth.
“Boom.”
All the evil qi surging toward Zhang Ruochen was shattered. A vacuum zone with a radius of ten li formed around him.
Then, Zhang Ruochen mobilized nearly a hundred thousand Truth Rules within his body, integrating them into his palm technique, boosting the power of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm eightfold.
“Rumble.”
All the dragon and elephant shadows became more solid, their aura surging sharply, expanding the vacuum zone to a radius of a hundred li.
“He hasn’t even condensed a Dao Domain, yet he’s already mastered a High-rank Sacred Art, and his Truth Path can amplify his attack power eightfold. Zhang Ruochen is indeed extraordinary. But no matter how strong he is, the outcome won’t change,” Feng Gu Dao said with a faint smile.
He himself was very strong, capable of controlling Nine-Step Saint Kings with ease, but he had to admit that Zhang Ruochen surpassed him in some aspects. At the very least, he hadn’t yet mastered a High-rank Sacred Art, and his Truth Path was far inferior to Zhang Ruochen’s.
Below the Great Saint Realm, being able to amplify attack power eightfold with the Truth Path was something even the divine disciples of the Truth Temple could rarely achieve.
But precisely because of this, Feng Gu Dao became even more interested in Zhang Ruochen. If he could enslave Zhang Ruochen, the value would far exceed that of enslaving an Immortal Great Saint.
He could even seize Zhang Ruochen’s physical body. After all, Zhang Ruochen possessed a supreme perfect physique and was a master of time and space. There probably wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t want such a body.
For a moment, strange lights flickered in Feng Gu Dao’s eyes as he stared unblinkingly at Zhang Ruochen, as if admiring a perfect work of art.
Zi Linglong’s eyes also glimmered with strange light. If she could master the *Purple Emperor Scripture*, she would also be able to wield a powerful High-rank Sacred Art, one that would be no weaker than Zhang Ruochen’s.
Throughout history, the disciples of the Purple Heaven Hall who had cultivated the *Purple Emperor Scripture* were never weak. Each of them reached the pinnacle of strength, capable of contending with or even defeating Immortal Great Saints.
Even if they still couldn’t match Yan Wushen or the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Palace, they wouldn’t be far off, and their level of strength would be infinitely close.
(Chapter End)