Chapter 2008: Sword Slays Two Corpses
A terrifying killing intent surged in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, and the power emanating from the Abyssal Ancient Sword in his hand grew increasingly fearsome.
"Whoosh."
Seeing the Abyssal Ancient Sword about to strike his body, with no way to evade, Shang Zihong did not hesitate. The Flame Corpse and the Ice Corpse immediately separated, with the Flame Corpse, clad in the three-colored divine armor, stepping forward to bear the brunt of the sword.
The three-colored divine armor radiated a dazzling three-colored holy light, like three sacred rivers flowing slowly, encircling Shang Zihong in the middle, forming a barrier that kept others at bay.
Unfortunately, this barrier could not stop the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Boom."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword descended from above, slashing diagonally against the three-colored divine armor.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen had intended to sever Shang Zihong's head with a single strike, but the influence of the three-colored divine armor altered the sword's trajectory.
It must be said that this three-colored divine armor was indeed a precious treasure with boundless wonders. No wonder Shang Zihong, who cultivated the "Three Corpses Dao Refinement" and could split into three, only possessed a single set of this armor.
Although the trajectory of the Abyssal Ancient Sword had changed, the terrifying power it carried remained undiminished.
Even with the defense of the three-colored divine armor, a fearsome force still penetrated through, directly impacting the body of Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse.
Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse was sent flying backward at tremendous speed, as if struck by a meteor.
"Pfft."
As it flew, blood gushed from the mouth of Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse, mixed with large chunks of internal organ debris.
Anyone could see that beneath the three-colored divine armor, a large amount of blood was flowing out.
If the armor were removed, two intersecting, gruesome wounds would be visible on Shang Zihong's chest. One was so deep the bone was visible, and the other had directly severed the sternum.
Within both intersecting wounds, a terrifying sword intent had taken root, wreaking havoc and preventing the wounds from healing.
Zhang Ruochen did not continue attacking Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse. Instead, he turned and lunged at lightning speed toward Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse.
From using the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror to reflect the Five-Colored Merit Divine Light, severely wounding Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse, to using the Abyssal Ancient Sword to gravely injure Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse—everything happened in an instant. As a result, Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse was still flying upward, unable to stabilize its stance.
At this moment, the Primordial Corpse was injured, weakening its control over the Five-Colored Merit Divine Stele, which in turn weakened the stele's ability to suppress time and space.
Leveraging the power of the Flame God Armor, Zhang Ruochen successfully executed a Spatial Displacement, appearing instantly before Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse.
"Not good."
Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse's expression changed drastically, realizing the situation was dire.
However, even though it had reacted, it was too late to dodge.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were icy cold, and his sword strike was merciless.
"Clang."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword slashed down like lightning, its blade covered in terrifying crimson flames and flowing with mysterious purple light.
Although Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse was inscribed with divine patterns, it still could not withstand the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Pfft."
With blood splattering, a small portion of Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse's body was sliced open, and even its head was shaved off a piece.
At the critical moment, Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse shifted slightly sideways, avoiding being cleaved in two from the middle.
Of course, it was not out of danger yet.
Without any hesitation, Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse immediately took out an object and struck it toward Zhang Ruochen like lightning.
"Die!"
"Boom."
It was an ancient, somewhat damaged bronze oil lamp. As it flew out, it exploded violently.
In an instant, a terrifying sea of flames formed, completely engulfing Zhang Ruochen.
This sea of flames was extraordinary. The fire was a dark red color, and within it, faint, ferocious ghostly figures appeared, emitting mournful wails that sent chills down one's spine.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen engulfed by this sinister sea of flames, Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse revealed a cold, cruel smile, seemingly unconcerned about its own injuries.
"It's actually Soul Ghost Fire. Shang Zihong is truly vicious."
Seeing the dark red flames blazing in the sky, some observing cultivators exclaimed in shock.
"What is Soul Ghost Fire?" a cultivator asked curiously.
At this moment, most of the observing cultivators looked bewildered, completely unaware of what Soul Ghost Fire was.
The expert who recognized the Soul Ghost Fire had a somewhat grave expression and said, "Soul Ghost Fire is not a naturally occurring flame but one cultivated artificially. Legend has it that in a very ancient era, a certain evil god collected endless yin and baleful aura, using the corpse oil of gods as a catalyst, to cultivate an extremely insidious flame—this is the Soul Ghost Fire."
"Soul Ghost Fire does not target the physical body but the soul. Once contaminated, it clings like a parasitic bone worm, difficult to expel, causing the victim to suffer immense torment as their soul is slowly burned to nothingness."
"Later, this method spread, and people began using the corpse oil of Saints, Saint Kings, and even Great Saints to cultivate Soul Ghost Fire, which was equally terrifying."
"However, to this day, the method of cultivating Soul Ghost Fire has been lost, and few know of its existence. I only stumbled upon scattered records about Soul Ghost Fire in an ancient text."
"I never expected Shang Zihong to obtain Soul Ghost Fire, and it appears to be cultivated from the corpse oil of a Great Saint. Trapped in the sea of Soul Ghost Fire, Zhang Ruochen is in serious trouble."
Hearing this, many cultivators showed expressions of extreme shock, not expecting Soul Ghost Fire to have such a terrifying origin.
As the expert who recognized it said, Shang Zihong using Soul Ghost Fire against Zhang Ruochen was indeed extremely vicious.
Trapped in the sea of Soul Ghost Fire, Zhang Ruochen was not too concerned at first. After all, wearing the Flame God Armor, there were few flames that could threaten him.
But soon, Zhang Ruochen sensed something unusual. Several wisps of flame penetrated the Flame God Armor, invaded his body, and headed straight for his Sacred Soul.
Just as Zhang Ruochen tensed up, ready to intercept those wisps of flame, an even more unexpected situation occurred.
In his Divine Light Qi Sea, the divine sun formed by the sun leaf of the Seven-Star Divine Lingzhi began to spin rapidly, releasing an intensely pure and masculine aura, enveloping the invading wisps of Soul Ghost Fire.
Then, the wisps of Soul Ghost Fire emitted a sizzling sound, with thin strands of black smoke rising.
In an instant, the few wisps of Soul Ghost Fire vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a few strands of refined, pure energy.
"One thing subdues another, interesting." Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly.
Since the Soul Ghost Fire could not threaten him, he had no need to block it. He would let it invade his body.
Zhang Ruochen could sense that the energy left behind after the Soul Ghost Fire was extinguished was extremely pure and of very high quality, perfect for his use.
"Zhang Ruochen, struggle slowly in agony!" Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse laughed cruelly.
Although using the Soul Ghost Fire cultivated from a Great Saint's corpse oil was a pity, it was worth it as long as it eliminated Zhang Ruochen.
Shang Zihong was well aware of the terror of Soul Ghost Fire, so he did not believe Zhang Ruochen had any way to resist it.
"Whoosh."
Very abruptly, Zhang Ruochen burst out of the sea of Soul Ghost Fire, appearing directly before the severely wounded Shang Zihong Primordial Corpse.
Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse's pupils contracted sharply, fear appearing in its eyes, and it immediately tried to retreat.
But Zhang Ruochen gave it no chance. The Abyssal Ancient Sword slashed down cleanly and decisively.
"Pfft."
This time, Shang Zihong could not evade. His body was cleaved in two from the middle.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen extended his other hand. All seven acupoints in his palm opened wide, and surging blood energy burst forth.
The Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm was unleashed. The violent power slammed heavily into the two halves of Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse.
"Bang."
Without any suspense, the two halves of Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse exploded into a cloud of blood mist, its Sacred Soul completely annihilated.
Thus, Shang Zihong's Primordial Corpse perished.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen suddenly opened his mouth wide and swallowed the entire blazing sea of Soul Ghost Fire.
His injuries were not yet healed, and the Sacred Qi in his body had not fully recovered. These Soul Ghost Fires would serve as nourishment.
"Zhang Ruochen actually killed one of Shang Zihong's bodies and swallowed the Soul Ghost Fire in one gulp? What is going on?"
"Both are at the Dao Domain realm. How can Zhang Ruochen kill one of Shang Zihong's bodies so easily?"
"Shang Zihong was too careless. He thought the Soul Ghost Fire could deal with Zhang Ruochen, but he never expected Zhang Ruochen to be immune to it. He completely shot himself in the foot."
"Not even afraid of Soul Ghost Fire, what kind of monster is Zhang Ruochen?"
...
For a moment, the observing cultivators were all stunned, unable to believe what they had seen.
In their eyes, Zhang Ruochen was overwhelmingly powerful and unstoppable.
"Zhang Ruochen, how dare you..."
Both Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse and Ice Corpse showed furious expressions, nearly spitting blood.
With the Primordial Corpse slain, cultivating it again would be extremely difficult, perhaps even impossible. The loss was unimaginably great.
Zhang Ruochen held the Abyssal Ancient Sword, his gaze cold as he looked at Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse and Ice Corpse, and said, "Why wouldn't I dare? The 'Three Corpses Dao Refinement' gives you three lives, so I will slay you three times."
"I want you dead!"
Shang Zihong was enraged, his eyes turning bloodshot.
Immediately, the two remaining Shang Zihongs both moved, attacking Zhang Ruochen from two directions.
Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse produced an object out of thin air—a bone talisman with a strange luster.
As he approached Zhang Ruochen, Shang Zihong's Flame Corpse shot the bone talisman out at lightning speed.
The surface of the bone talisman lit up with numerous complex talisman patterns, frantically absorbing the power of heaven and earth, instantly forming a cage constructed from talisman patterns, trapping Zhang Ruochen inside.
Seeing that he had successfully trapped Zhang Ruochen, a smile appeared on Shang Zihong's face.
However, the next moment, Shang Zihong's smile froze.
The reason was that Zhang Ruochen's figure inside the cage rapidly faded and then disappeared.
Clearly, what the cage had trapped was not Zhang Ruochen's true body, but merely an afterimage.
Zhang Ruochen's figure appeared out of nowhere behind Shang Zihong's Ice Corpse. The Abyssal Ancient Sword slashed down casually.
Like the Primordial Corpse, Shang Zihong's Ice Corpse was cleaved in two from the middle, without even a chance to react.
(End of Chapter)