# Chapter 2035: Zhang Ruochen vs. Mo
"Whoosh."
Zhuogu struck first, his Purple Gold Demon Spear thrusting out like lightning, tearing through space and producing a piercing sonic boom.
Seeing this, Luo Chen did not dodge. Holding the Nether Moon Blade, he actively met the attack.
"Clang."
Blade tip met spear tip, colliding with dazzling light.
A powerful shockwave erupted, sending both Zhuogu and Luo Chen staggering backward. Neither stopped there; they immediately charged forward again, swinging their weapons and engaging in fierce combat.
Because both were extremely fast, many could only see the afterimages they left behind, unable to clearly capture the scene of their fierce battle.
Clearly, Luo Chen and Zhuogu's fighting style differed from the three previous gambling battles, leaning more toward using weapons in a free-flowing, intense clash.
Seeing Luo Chen actually fighting Zhuogu to a standstill, Mo couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow.
From the current situation, the intelligence gathered about Luo Chen during the Peacock Villa battle seemed not entirely accurate.
In just a month and a half, Luo Chen's strength had clearly improved significantly, and his control over the Nether Moon Blade far surpassed before.
Mo had thought Zhuogu would win this battle quite easily, but now it seemed it might become a hard-fought struggle.
Zhang Ruochen, meanwhile, revealed a smile and said, "It seems that during the previous seclusion, Fourth Senior Brother has completely refined the Nether Moon Blade and comprehended the mysteries of the Blade Dao from it. This blade truly suits Fourth Senior Brother well."
"That's a Monarch Sacred Artifact! Anyone who obtains it can greatly increase their strength. I need to find a way to get one too." Jin Yu said with great envy.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Actually, I still have a set of bow and arrows at the Monarch Sacred Artifact level on me. But this set is somewhat special, in a self-sealed state. The power it can unleash is actually less than the set I gave you earlier, Third Senior Brother."
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen took out the Azure Heaven Bow and White Sun Arrow.
With his own strength increasing, Zhang Ruochen had not used this set of bow and arrows for a long time.
Jin Yu reached out to take the Azure Heaven Bow and White Sun Arrow and carefully examined them.
After a moment, Jin Yu returned both to Zhang Ruochen, shaking his head. "This set of bow and arrows is indeed strange. The seal on it is no small matter. It seems I have no affinity with it. Little Junior Brother, you should keep it."
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen put away the Azure Heaven Bow and White Sun Arrow, planning to find a way to unlock its hidden secrets later.
On the battlefield, Luo Chen was still locked in fierce combat with Zhuogu. Both had ignited their true fighting spirit, exchanging blows tit for tat.
"Bang."
Zhuogu swung the Purple Gold Demon Spear, the shaft heavily striking Luo Chen's chest.
Luo Chen, in turn, took the opportunity to slash down with the Nether Moon Blade, cutting into Zhuogu's neck.
He had deliberately exposed a flaw, aiming to create an opportunity to cut off Zhuogu's head with one strike.
"Pfft."
Luo Chen flew backward, blood spraying from his mouth.
Although protected by the Flowing Light Merit Armor, the force carried by the Purple Gold Demon Spear was too terrifying, still causing Luo Chen some injury.
Between Sacred Bright City and Peacock Villa, Zhang Ruochen had killed multiple top experts of the Heavenly Realm Faction and thus obtained several pieces of Flowing Light Merit Armor.
Zhang Ruochen himself already possessed the Flame God Armor, plus one piece of Flowing Light Merit Armor bestowed by the Merit Divine Hall. The extra pieces were of no use to him.
Moreover, those people had all entered the top ten thousand of the Heavenly Court Realm Saint King Merit Ranking for over five hundred years. Even if they died, the Merit Divine Hall would not take back the Flowing Light Merit Armor.
So Zhang Ruochen distributed all the Flowing Light Merit Armor he obtained to those around him—Mu Lingxi, Kong Lanyou, Luo Chen, and others all received a share.
"Hmm?"
Luo Chen's expression changed slightly.
That slash just now had clearly struck Zhuogu's neck accurately, yet Zhuogu's head was not severed. There was only a shallow wound, which was rapidly healing at a visible rate.
"That slash just now was not bad. If not for my physical body being comparable to an ancient relic and inscribed with Divine Marks, you might have actually succeeded." Zhuogu said in a grim tone.
Having nearly had his head cut off, Zhuogu was completely enraged.
At the same time, Zhuogu began to regard Luo Chen more seriously as an opponent, because he truly possessed the power to threaten him.
Luo Chen's brow furrowed. If not for using a Monarch Sacred Artifact, that slash might not even have broken through Zhuogu's defense. This person's physical body was truly ridiculously strong.
Moreover, Zhuogu's attacks were extremely overbearing, like a human-shaped violent dragon, difficult to withstand.
No wonder he had become the second strongest below Great Saint in the Black Demon Realm.
"Again."
Zhuogu roared, sweeping out with the Purple Gold Demon Spear.
Seeing this, Luo Chen did not retreat but immediately met the attack.
Facing such a powerful enemy, if he showed weakness, he would likely be suppressed and have no chance to turn the tables.
The two fought fiercely, but the destruction they caused was not great. This showed that both had reached an astonishing level of control over their power, wasting almost no energy during their attacks.
Of course, if someone broke into their battle circle, even the residual shockwaves would be enough to kill an ordinary Nine-Step Saint King.
At their power level, if they were fighting in outer space, stars would be blown apart.
"Clang."
After a series of fierce exchanges, Zhuogu knocked the Nether Moon Blade out of Luo Chen's hand with a spear strike, completely gaining the upper hand.
A ferocious look appeared in Zhuogu's eyes as he continuously infused his demonic Qi into the Purple Gold Demon Spear.
At the same time, a startling vision appeared behind him—a towering Heavenly Demon phantom, holding a divine spear, piercing the sky.
In an instant, the vision merged with Zhuogu himself, making him seem to transform into the invincible Heavenly Demon.
"Die."
Zhuogu coldly shouted, thrusting out with a supremely overbearing spear.
Over two hundred thousand King-level inscriptions surfaced on the Purple Gold Demon Spear, revealing peerless sharpness, tearing through space.
"Bang."
The spear tip fiercely struck Luo Chen's chest. A terrifying force transmitted through the Flowing Light Merit Armor to Luo Chen's body.
"Pfft."
Luo Chen immediately spat out a large mouthful of blood, mixed with many fragments of internal organs.
Yet, having suffered such a heavy blow, a strange smile instead appeared in Luo Chen's eyes.
Seeing this smile, Zhuogu's heart immediately felt a sense of unease.
Just as Luo Chen was flying backward, a thunderous vortex ten zhang in diameter appeared behind Zhuogu, releasing a terrifying devouring force.
Before Zhuogu could react, the thunderous vortex directly swallowed the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription beside him.
"Not good."
Zhuogu's face changed drastically. He immediately tried to break the thunderous vortex and retrieve the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
But he was too slow. The thunderous vortex disappeared instantly, causing his spear thrust to hit nothing.
At the same time, dazzling thunder light bloomed in Luo Chen's eyes as he spat out a black stone tablet.
Seeing the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription fall into Luo Chen's hands, Zhuogu's face turned extremely gloomy. He thrust his spear backhandedly.
"Roar."
A sharp spear light flew out, transforming into a ferocious black dragon, roaring repeatedly as it pounced toward Luo Chen with claws bared.
Luo Chen was already severely injured. In this situation, he could neither avoid Zhuogu's attack nor defend against it.
"Whoosh."
Just as the black dragon was about to reach Luo Chen, a space rift several zhang long suddenly appeared, instantly swallowing the black dragon.
At the same time, a figure appeared beside Luo Chen, his gaze icy cold—it was Zhang Ruochen.
"Zhuogu, don't you know the rules of the gambling battle?" Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen step in, Zhuogu couldn't help but frown and let out a cold snort.
Zhuogu gripped the Purple Gold Demon Spear tightly, furious in his heart. He had been careless, not expecting Luo Chen to have such a method, taking advantage of his inattention to seize the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
It could only be said that Luo Chen was meticulous in his thinking and ruthless enough with himself, willing to pay the price of severe injury to create an opportunity to seize the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
According to the pre-agreed rules of the gambling battle, whoever could seize the other's Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription would be considered the victor, with no need to fight to the death.
Perhaps from the very beginning, Luo Chen had already planned to use this method to seize the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription.
Just as Zhuogu was fuming, Mo suddenly appeared beside him, staring at him with an icy gaze.
Zhuogu's heart trembled, and he quickly said, "Senior Brother Mo, I..."
"Losing is losing. I don't want to hear any excuses. You have no further business here." Mo said coldly.
Zhuogu glared fiercely at Luo Chen, then quickly retreated back to the Black Demon Realm camp.
This battle was truly frustrating for him. He hadn't lost in strength but had been defeated by Luo Chen's scheming.
When he had the upper hand, Zhuogu couldn't resist wanting to severely injure or even kill Luo Chen, never expecting that this would give Luo Chen an opportunity.
Anyone could see that Zhuogu was in an extremely bad mood, so all the Black Demon Realm experts remained silent, not wanting to invite trouble.
"Little Junior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother didn't let you down."
Luo Chen clutched his chest and handed both Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen immediately took out a small bottle of Life Spring and handed it to Luo Chen. "Fourth Senior Brother, you've worked hard. Go heal and rest. Leave the rest to me."
Luo Chen said nothing. He took the jade bottle containing Life Spring and quickly flashed back to his own camp.
On the empty battlefield, only Zhang Ruochen and Mo remained, facing each other.
"Zhang Ruochen, I didn't expect you to have so many capable people around you. It's quite surprising." Mo said calmly.
Zhang Ruochen chuckled lightly. "Surprised? That's because you underestimate the Kunlun Realm too much. It's only natural. The Black Demon Realm obtained a superficial inheritance from the Kunlun Realm and became inflated, thinking it could trample the Kunlun Realm underfoot."
"Saying these things is meaningless. If you have the ability, take these two Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions from my hands." Mo said.
As he spoke, Mo took out two Heavenly Demon Stone Inscriptions at once. One was the Heavenly Demon Greedy Wolf Diagram that Mo had first produced, and the other was the Heavenly Demon Yin-Yang Diagram, engraved with a supreme Heavenly Demon dividing Yin and Yang with both hands, overturning heaven and earth.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen facing off against Mo, the surrounding spectators all revealed looks of surprise.
"What's going on? Zhang Ruochen is actually going to fight Mo?"
"Mo is a top-tier expert at the second level below Great Saint, not comparable to Canglong or Yanba. What is Zhang Ruochen thinking?"
"With Dao Domain realm cultivation, he dares to challenge a top Lin Dao realm expert? Isn't Zhang Ruochen too crazy? It's only been a month and a half since the Peacock Villa battle. How much stronger can he get?"
"Zhang Ruochen is not an impulsive person. Since he dares to accept the challenge, he must be confident. Let's watch. The answer should be revealed soon."