Chapter 2024: The Black Demon Realm's Retaliation
"Whoosh."
The four figures standing at the edge of the Endless Abyss all retreated like lightning, putting distance between themselves and Zhang Ruochen.
"When did Zhang Ruochen come out?" one of them said in a deep voice.
This person had a terrifying black hole phenomenon behind him, named Zhong Lin, hailing from the Black Demon Realm, cultivating the Heavenly Demon Black Hole Diagram from the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
The expressions of the other three were also not very pleasant. They had just been discussing Zhang Ruochen, and now the very person had appeared before them so quickly.
They had been ordered to enter the Endless Abyss to investigate clues about the treasures left by the Blood God. But they hadn't expected such bad luck, running straight into Zhang Ruochen, this god of slaughter.
What to do now?
Even escaping would not be an easy matter.
A trace of worry appeared in Mu Lingxi's eyes. "Why are people from the Black Demon Realm here? Could the Black Demon Realm be attacking the Blood God Sect again?"
If it was as she suspected, the situation would undoubtedly be very bad.
The Black Demon Realm had suffered a great loss before and lost face. If they were truly making a comeback, they would certainly be well-prepared, and the experts they deployed would be far more than last time.
"Don't worry too much. Don't forget, Xiao Hei is guarding the Blood God Sect. He is now a Formation Earth Master, controlling three ninth-rank formations. No matter who tries to force their way in, it won't be easy," Zhang Ruochen said reassuringly.
Of course, even as he said this, Zhang Ruochen also had some concerns in his heart.
In the past hundred thousand years, the Black Demon Realm was no longer the one that had to rely on the Blood God Sect. It had already entered the ranks of a powerful realm, cultivating a large number of top-tier Saint Kings, and should not be underestimated.
So far, although Zhang Ruochen had come into contact with some Black Demon Realm cultivators, none of them were among the most top-tier.
According to what Zhang Ruochen knew, the leader of the Black Demon Realm was named Mo, who simultaneously cultivated three Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions, with unfathomable cultivation and strength.
Although Mo was not as powerful as the Blood Demon from a thousand years ago, he was already extremely formidable. Moreover, if Mo could cultivate the three Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions to their peak, he might not be much weaker than the Blood Demon.
If Mo arrived, he would definitely be a formidable opponent.
"Zhang Ruochen, I advise you not to resist in vain. This time, you have no chance of winning. The foundation of our Black Demon Realm is far beyond what you can oppose. If you don't want the Blood God Sect to be completely destroyed, surrender obediently, hand over the four authentic Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions, and the Blood God's divine body," another person shouted coldly.
This person had a black star behind him, named Gong Yang, also from the Black Demon Realm, cultivating the Heavenly Demon Dark Star Diagram.
Zhang Ruochen let out a sneer. "Just you, daring to say such things to me? Then I'll start with you."
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen struck directly. Since they were enemies, there was no need for idle talk.
Zhang Ruochen slapped out with his palm, and a green holy light bloomed, condensing into a green dragon, lifelike, emitting a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering dragon roar.
Gong Yang's expression changed drastically. Even though this was just a casual palm strike from Zhang Ruochen, it made him feel a great threat.
Even though they were both at the peak of the Dao Domain realm, the gap between him and Zhang Ruochen was far more than a little.
"Break!"
The person with the blood sword phenomenon behind him shouted. A blood sword, condensed from vast blood fiend demon qi, flew out, meeting the green dragon Zhang Ruochen had struck.
His name was Ji Fan, and he was the strongest among the four.
The blood sword released a sky-high killing intent, as if it could cut through heaven and earth.
Vaguely, one could see a towering Heavenly Demon phantom condensing, holding the blood sword in one hand.
"Boom."
The blood sword could not withstand the terrifying power carried by the green dragon, shattering inch by inch.
Correspondingly, the power of the green dragon was also being continuously consumed, its form gradually becoming faint.
When the blood sword completely shattered, the green dragon also dissipated into nothing, leaving only a stream of green holy power, continuing to strike at Gong Yang.
At this moment, Gong Yang had already reacted. A surge of demon qi emerged from his body, condensing a demon hand, blocking the green holy power.
"Retreat quickly!"
Having truly felt the strength of Zhang Ruochen's power, Ji Fan immediately shouted.
Actually, there was no need for his reminder; the other three had already chosen to retreat.
The three had high cultivation, at the same level as Zhang Ruochen, and their strength could even compare to the Heaven-Connecting realm. But compared to Zhang Ruochen, they were completely on a different level.
"Thinking of leaving now? Don't you think it's too late?"
A cold gleam flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. Since they had appeared before him, how could he let them escape easily?
Raising his hand, nearly a hundred thousand Space Rules emerged, penetrating into the space before him.
With Zhang Ruochen at the center, ripples of space appeared, rapidly spreading in all directions, freezing a large area of space.
With Zhang Ruochen's current understanding of the Way of Space, he could use many spatial techniques with ease, and their power was astonishing. Even top-tier Nine-Step Saint Kings, if careless, could suffer greatly or even lose their lives.
"Zhang Ruochen is truly a freak. He has never gone to the Space Divine Temple to cultivate, yet his spatial attainments far surpass most Saint King disciples of the Space Divine Temple. No wonder even many gods don't want to see him grow up," Ji Fan thought to himself.
In the past, he had only heard others say how powerful Zhang Ruochen's spatial techniques were, and he thought it was exaggerated.
Now, experiencing it firsthand, he realized that Zhang Ruochen's spatial techniques were even more terrifying than the rumors.
Sensing the spatial power rapidly surging towards him, Ji Fan gritted his teeth and took out a palm-sized tortoise shell from his space treasure, striking out with it as fast as possible.
The tortoise shell looked extremely ancient, its surface covered with cracks, as if a light touch would shatter it.
However, under the powerful demon qi activation, the tortoise shell bloomed with brilliant holy light. An immortal holy power belonging to a Great Saint was instantly released, as if a dormant Great Saint had awakened at this moment.
After sacrificing the tortoise shell, Ji Fan immediately transformed his body into a sword, fleeing at high speed.
The tortoise shell was something he had obtained by chance, a true treasure. Unfortunately, it was severely damaged and could only be used once.
It was because Zhang Ruochen was too strong that he had to use this trump card. Otherwise, none of the four of them would have been able to escape.
"Crack."
A clear sound of breaking was heard.
Not only was the tortoise shell cracking, but the frozen space was also being forcibly torn apart.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to intercept the four from the Black Demon Realm, but the tortoise shell was hurtling towards him, forcing him not to ignore it. He could feel that the power contained in the tortoise shell was extremely terrifying. If he was careless, even he would suffer greatly.
"Let me try the full power of the complete Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror."
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen summoned the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror from his Divine Light Qi Sea.
Pouring holy power into it, the surface of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror lit up with densely packed Supreme Inscription Runes. Thick demon qi surged out from the mirror, condensing into black divine mountains, pressing down on the tortoise shell.
In an instant, the tortoise shell stopped cracking, and the released immortal holy power was also pressed back into the shell.
"Collect."
Zhang Ruochen commanded softly. The Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror immediately released a powerful suction force.
The power of the tortoise shell was still restrained, and it was easily drawn into the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror.
Recalling the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror into his hand, a look of satisfaction appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
Compared to the past, the power of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror had multiplied.
As a Supreme Sacred Artifact on par with the Blood Sea Demon Mirror, even if it was severely damaged, its power was far stronger than many newly refined Supreme Sacred Artifacts.
"There is a very strong power fluctuation from the Blood God Sect. I can vaguely sense many powerful auras," Mu Lingxi said with some gravity.
Leveraging the special environment of the Juegu Snow Mountain, Mu Lingxi's perception had become extremely sharp.
A cold light flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes as he toyed with the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror. "They are more eager to deal with the Kunlun Realm than their masters. Fine, old and new grudges will be settled this time."
Given Zhang Ruochen's deep hatred for the Black Demon Realm, even if they hadn't come to attack, he would have sought them out to settle old scores when the opportunity arose.
So, the Black Demon Realm attacking the Blood God Sect again was exactly what Zhang Ruochen wanted.
Without lingering too long, Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi transformed into two rainbows, streaking across the Juegu Snow Mountain, heading straight for the Blood God Sect.
At this moment, in the area of the Juegu Snow Mountain, several hundred elite members of the Black Demon Realm had gathered, all with cultivation above the Saint King realm.
The Black Demon Realm ranked among the top thousand of the many major worlds under the Heavenly Court Realm.
Even the Guanghan Realm, which was at the bottom, now had three thousand Saint Kings. How could the Black Demon Realm have fewer?
Unlike other major worlds that only sent some experts into the Kunlun Realm, the Black Demon Realm had almost emptied its forces, dispatching many elites below the Great Saint realm into the Kunlun Realm.
The reason the Black Demon Realm did this was nothing more than their past betrayal of the Kunlun Realm. They feared that if the Kunlun Realm rose again, they would come to settle accounts.
At the same time, it was also to collect the thirty-six authentic Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions, which were extremely important to the Black Demon Realm, as the foundation of the Black Demon Realm originated from the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
Once the authentic inscriptions were obtained, the Black Demon Realm would find it easier to cultivate experts.
More importantly, the gods of the Black Demon Realm could comprehend supreme profound meanings from the authentic inscriptions, which was their most desired goal.
For gods, cultivating divine power was only the lower level; mastering profound meanings was the true path to the peak.
However, profound meanings were extremely mysterious and not easy to grasp, often requiring external objects.
For the Black Demon Realm, this was the last chance to seize the authentic Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions, because once the Kunlun Realm was destroyed, some of the authentic inscriptions might disappear forever.
On a peak of the Juegu Snow Mountain, a man and a woman stood side by side, looking down at the Blood God Sect.
The man was small in stature, ugly in appearance, with sharp ears, two very prominent sharp teeth in his mouth, and a pair of thin fleshy wings on his back. He looked like a humanoid bat.
The woman, on the other hand, was extremely beautiful, tall, with fair skin, wearing a dark green gauze. Her graceful figure was faintly visible, arousing infinite imagination.
"The defenses of the Blood God Sect should have been completely dismantled. Why have they been set up again so quickly? And they are even stronger than before," the ugly man said with a frown.
The tall woman spoke softly, "To be able to set up three interconnected ninth-rank formations in such a short time, it must be a Formation Earth Master. Zhang Ruochen really has many capable people around him."
Facing a Formation Earth Master, anyone would find it troublesome.
It was said that some powerful Formation Earth Masters could even contend with top-tier Great Saints.
"We need to speed up. We can't fall behind those guys," the ugly man said urgently.
This time, the Black Demon Realm army had split into five routes, attacking the Blood God Sect from different directions.
Whichever route could break into the Blood God Sect faster would have the opportunity to claim the greatest merit.
The Juegu Snow Mountain route was led by the ugly man and the tall woman.
The four who had gone to explore the Endless Abyss also belonged to this route.
"Hmm? Why did Ji Fan and the other three come back so quickly?"
Suddenly, the ugly man turned his head, a look of surprise on his face.
The tall woman's expression changed. "Something's wrong. Ji Fan and the others look very panicked. That is... Zhang Ruochen."
The tall woman's gaze condensed, locking onto a figure rapidly approaching.
"Killing Zhang Ruochen would be a great merit," the ugly man said, licking his lips, his gaze towards Zhang Ruochen burning with heat.
Hearing this, the tall woman frowned. "Yan Ba and Cang Long both died at Zhang Ruochen's hands. He's not that easy to deal with."
"Luo Yu, you're actually so wary of Zhang Ruochen? That's not like you. Zhang Ruochen is indeed very strong, but if we join forces, we might have a chance to kill him. Such a good opportunity, are you going to give it up?" The ugly man's killing intent surged violently.
Luo Yu thought for a moment, and her eyes suddenly brightened. "Then let's take a risk. If we join forces, even if we can't kill Zhang Ruochen, we can at least protect ourselves. Teng Gu, same as usual, you take the lead."
"Hehe, no problem. I can't wait to taste the blood in Zhang Ruochen's body," Teng Gu said with a sinister smile.
Although he was not from the Undying Blood Clan, his craving for blood was no less than theirs.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen about to arrive, Teng Gu couldn't help but shout, "Form the formation!"
Immediately, the several hundred Black Demon Realm Saint Kings gathered here moved, forming two special formations.
In an instant, both formations condensed vast power, respectively enhancing Teng Gu and Luo Yu.
The Black Demon Realm Saint Kings who channeled their power into the two were those who cultivated the same Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions as Teng Gu and Luo Yu.
Because of this, they could use a secret technique to converge their power onto Teng Gu and Luo Yu.
"Boom."
Terrifying auras erupted from Teng Gu and Luo Yu, their auras rising step by step.
It could be seen that behind Teng Gu, a hideous thousand-zhang Yin Bat condensed, frantically absorbing the holy energy of heaven and earth.
Behind Luo Yu, a dark brown ancient zither condensed, extremely solid, emitting a terrifying power fluctuation, like a true treasure.
The thousand-zhang Yin Bat flew out first, opening its mouth to release a strange sound wave that could not be heard.
At the same time, the ancient zither flew in front of Luo Yu. Luo Yu gently placed her hands on the zither, slowly plucking the strings.
A soft, pleasant zither sound rang out, formless and intangible, surging like a tide towards Zhang Ruochen.
Sensing the anomaly, Zhang Ruochen immediately stopped, shielding Mu Lingxi behind him.
The strange sound wave and the pleasant zither sound both ignored the defense of the physical body, directly attacking Zhang Ruochen's sacred soul.
For most cultivators, the sacred soul was far more fragile than the physical body.
Once the sacred soul was damaged, no matter how strong one's strength, it would be greatly diminished.
"Sound wave attacks? Truly bizarre."
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed slightly. He quickly mobilized the Divine Martial Mark, firmly protecting his sacred soul.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen mobilized Space Rules, distorting the space around him, using spatial power to isolate part of the sound waves.
Taking advantage of the moment Zhang Ruochen was restrained, Ji Fan and the other three managed to escape and return to Teng Gu's side.
"Thank you, Brother Teng Gu, for saving us," Ji Fan, who had the blood sword phenomenon, said, cupping his hands to Teng Gu.
Teng Gu glanced at Ji Fan and the other three indifferently. "You were lucky to escape from Zhang Ruochen. Now, stand aside and watch how I and Luo Yu kill Zhang Ruochen."
Hearing this, Ji Fan and the other three quickly stepped aside. At this point, they could no longer intervene.