Chapter 2097: Where the Sword Points
Drawn by the cursed altar, the blood-colored vortex spun faster and faster, streaks of blood-red lightning tearing through the sky, faintly illuminating an illusory passage that seemed truly connected to that distant Primordial Era.
Beyond the Primordial curses, it seemed something else also wanted to drill out from this illusory passage.
In an instant, a blood-colored whirlwind swept across heaven and earth, a torrent of blood rain pouring down, the ominous aura growing ever stronger, making one's scalp tingle.
Not only the experts of the Heavenly Court side, but even the experts of the Underworld Clan were now showing shock on their faces, having not anticipated that the Dark Son would unleash such a bizarre and terrifying means.
Especially the Seven Absolute Killing Gods of the Underworld Hall, who were now staring unblinkingly at the Primordial curses flying out from the blood-colored vortex.
Death Without End narrowed his eyes and said, "Big Brother, the technique to summon Primordial curses is a secret art not passed down outside our Underworld Hall. The Dark Son has long become a successor of the Darkness Temple, yet he was still able to receive this teaching."
The Underworld Hall was the supreme hall of the Underworld Clan, holding an extraordinary status and possessing many miraculous secret arts. Only those who received key training from the Underworld Hall had the chance to cultivate them.
Since Death Without End and the other six received the inheritance of the Seven Absolute Killing Formation and gained the foundation to become gods, they had become the focus of the Underworld Hall's cultivation, the leaders of the younger generation of the Underworld Clan.
"No need to be surprised. In fact, the Dark Son's talent in curses is extremely high. If he hadn't possessed a dark physique and been taken away early by the Darkness Temple, he would definitely have become a true disciple of the Underworld Hall."
"Few people know that a vice hall master of our Underworld Hall has already taken the Dark Son as a disciple. It's very normal for him to obtain the secret technique inheritance for summoning Primordial curses."
Xuanming Wushang explained calmly.
Hearing this, Death Without End, Blood Ripple, and the other six all showed expressions of sudden understanding, silently lamenting the Dark Son's fortune. Being able to receive the vigorous cultivation of both the Darkness Temple and the Underworld Hall's titans, combining the strengths of both, was something many Underworld Clan members envied.
"Buzz."
The void trembled slightly, and one by one, the Primordial curses broke free from the blood-colored vortex's restraint and flew straight toward Zhang Ruochen.
Although Zhang Ruochen did not recognize the Primordial curses, he could feel their terror. Once they entered his body, the consequences would definitely be far more severe than when the previous curse secret power had entered him.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen entered a state of unity between man and sword, slowly swinging the Abyssal Ancient Sword, aligning with a strange Dao trajectory.
Countless invisible sword qi burst forth, densely filling the space around him, forming crystalline flower buds, each only the size of a pinky finger.
"One flower, one world."
Zhang Ruochen murmured, driving all the flower buds with his sword intent to meet the incoming Primordial curses.
The flower buds seemed to truly contain a world within them. As soon as they approached the Primordial curses, they directly absorbed them.
In the blink of an eye, the Primordial curses that had broken free from the blood-colored vortex were all wrapped up by the spacetime sword qi transformed into flower buds.
However, these flower buds appeared very unstable, constantly vibrating, and emitting faint ominous auras from within, clearly unable to suppress the Primordial curses for long.
"One thought, flowers bloom; space-time annihilates."
With Zhang Ruochen's mental command, all the flower buds bloomed in an instant.
Flowers appeared in the void, beautiful and magnificent, but they also headed toward destruction in an instant.
"Boom."
The sword qi flowers annihilated, releasing terrifying power on a small scale, creating small pitch-black voids.
The improvement in his mastery of time and space caused the spacetime sword technique he had previously created to derive more variations, naturally making its power even more astonishing.
Even though the space for hundreds of miles around had been completely sealed, making it difficult even for a space-splitting slash to cut through, the moment the spacetime sword technique was unleashed, it caused considerable damage.
More importantly, all the Primordial curses had been completely annihilated, returning to nothingness, not even a trace of ominous aura left behind.
Turning his gaze, Zhang Ruochen looked at the massive cursed altar. How could he not see that the cursed altar was the key to breaking the situation?
Zhang Ruochen's gaze suddenly turned sharp. He mobilized time rules and space rules, combining them with his own sword intent, and struck out a mysteriously unmatched sword strike.
A hazy sword qi flew out, like mist, enveloping the entire cursed altar.
The cursed altar seemed to fall into another time and space, its connection with the blood-colored vortex above suddenly severed.
Instantly, the rotation speed of the blood-colored vortex above slowed, fewer Primordial curses flew out, and the illusory passage within showed signs of closing.
"Destroy."
Zhang Ruochen let out a low shout.
"Boom."
The hazy sword qi trembled, and the space-time within it immediately underwent a great destruction. The cursed altar was naturally no exception.
In an instant, the cursed altar shattered, turning into a vast dark curse power, but it could not dissipate out at all, quickly annihilating.
With the destruction of the cursed altar, the blood-colored vortex completely stopped spinning, and no more Primordial curses flew out from it.
"Shua."
Zhang Ruochen swung the Abyssal Ancient Sword, slashing out a sword qi hundreds of feet long.
"Whoosh."
The blood-colored vortex was cut open by the sword qi, split in two, and then completely collapsed.
With the destruction of the cursed altar and the blood-colored vortex, the curse space that had enveloped hundreds of miles naturally ceased to exist.
A powerful sword intent emanated from Zhang Ruochen's body, cutting off all the curse runes permeating the air.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen break the Dark Son's curse secret technique with such sharp methods, the onlookers all showed expressions of surprise.
Star Wuji's eyes flickered with strange light, saying, "I didn't expect Zhang Ruochen's mastery of the Way of Time and the Way of Space to have reached such a profound and unfathomable level, and he can even combine them with the Sword Dao. His talent in the Sword Dao is truly astonishing."
The Third Young Emperor and the Sixth Young Emperor exchanged glances, both seeing wariness in each other's eyes. Not to mention anything else, just the spacetime sword technique Zhang Ruochen had displayed, they had no confidence they could withstand.
Before this, although they knew Zhang Ruochen's strength was not weak, they thought challenging the Dark Son was still a stretch, a matter of impulse. But now, they no longer had such thoughts and began to look forward to a brilliant battle between Zhang Ruochen and the Dark Son.
"It seems the benefits he gained inside the monster's body are greater than I expected. I wonder how he managed to subdue that monster." Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden thought to herself.
She was actually very curious about what method Zhang Ruochen had used to deal with the monster king, allowing him to make the monster king submit so easily. But since Zhang Ruochen was unwilling to say, she didn't ask further.
However, she could roughly guess that such a method must not be used casually. Otherwise, why would they have suffered so much inside the monster king's body before, and been ambushed by the Dark Son?
Underworld Tiger True Lord stared intently at Zhang Ruochen, muttering, "To be able to cultivate the Way of Time and the Way of Space to such a level, he is indeed worthy of being the successor of Xumi Saint Monk. He does have the capital to be arrogant."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's performance, Underworld Tiger True Lord's inner attitude changed somewhat, at least finding Zhang Ruochen much more pleasing to the eye.
After all, only true experts could catch Underworld Tiger True Lord's eye.
"The Primordial curses were resolved so easily. I can no longer see through Zhang Ruochen at all." Linglong Fairy mused.
Ao Xukong said, "The Primordial curses were just a probe from the Dark Son. If Zhang Ruochen had to expend great effort to break them, this battle would probably be uncertain. Next will be their true confrontation."
From the current situation, even Ao Xukong could not judge the outcome of this battle, since no one knew what trump cards Zhang Ruochen and the Dark Son possessed.
Holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword, Zhang Ruochen faced the Dark Son from afar and declared loudly, "Dark Son, your curses are useless against me. Show your true skills and fight me."
The Dark Son walked forward slowly, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Zhang Ruochen, your strength has improved so much. It does surprise me a little and has finally piqued my interest. I hope you won't disappoint me."
"Bang."
A terrifying dark force suddenly burst out from underground, shattering the place where Zhang Ruochen stood into pieces in an instant.
However, Zhang Ruochen had sensed it early and instantly shifted dozens of feet sideways, avoiding the dark force's attack.
"You really are still this insidious and treacherous." A cold light flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
Earlier, inside the monster king's body, the Dark Son had been like this—one moment sharing hardships with you, the next striking with a deadly blow, utterly treacherous.
Having already suffered a loss at his hands once, how could Zhang Ruochen not be on guard?
"Hiss."
The dark force that burst from underground transformed into a massive Primordial snake, solid and lifelike, even the snake scales clearly visible.
The Primordial snake emitted an extremely fierce aura, opened its bloody mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and bit toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Hmph."
Zhang Ruochen snorted heavily and casually slashed out with his sword.
"Pfft."
A sharp sword qi flashed, and the Primordial snake was cut in two.
"Bang."
The Primordial snake's body automatically exploded, turning into countless small Primordial snakes scattered around Zhang Ruochen.
In an instant, these small Primordial snakes released a strange power, actually forming a powerful formation, trapping Zhang Ruochen inside.
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen's expression suddenly changed slightly as he looked down at his body.
On his body, dozens of small Primordial snakes had coiled around him without him noticing at all.
These small Primordial snakes existed between reality and illusion, like wisps of ghostly souls. Coiled around by them, the sacred qi within his body began to drain rapidly, beyond his control.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened. He released a powerful force, shattering all the small Primordial snakes coiled around his body.
But even so, the sacred qi did not stop draining. Even his blood qi was vibrating, showing signs of breaking out of his body.
The Dark Son walked step by step from afar, a smile in his eyes. "This Primordial Snake Great Formation condenses ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Primordial snake souls, including the sacred souls of nine Great Saint-level Primordial snake emperors, all refined into one. As long as you are trapped in the formation, your essence, qi, and spirit will drain rapidly. Zhang Ruochen, you can enjoy it slowly."
This was the Dark Son's style of conduct. He clearly possessed formidable strength, but he didn't like fighting openly and honestly. Insidiousness and treachery were deeply ingrained in his bones.
Now, the Dark Son wanted to use the Primordial Snake Great Formation to slowly drain Zhang Ruochen to death.
Even if Zhang Ruochen found a way to escape, he would surely be severely weakened. How could he then be a match for the Dark Son?
The Primordial snake was a very special creature born in the Hell Realm. Although most were weak, their population was extremely large, and they possessed a very terrifying ability—they could devour a cultivator's essence, qi, and spirit, gradually weakening them.
"Master, this servant can devour these Primordial snake souls."
Mo Yin's voice rang in Zhang Ruochen's mind, sounding quite excited.
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred. If Mo Yin could devour all the Primordial snake souls, not only would the Primordial Snake Great Formation be broken, but Mo Yin herself would gain immense benefits.
Mo Yin's cultivation had long reached the Lintao Realm, but continuing to improve was not an easy task, requiring a massive amount of nourishment.
Originally, the corpses of the thousand Underworld Clan experts were meant to be left for Mo Yin to devour, but unfortunately, the Dark Son had destroyed them.
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen sacrificed the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, activating it with space power.
Numerous supreme inscription runes appeared on the mirror's surface, causing strong spatial ripples.
However, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror did not launch an attack. Instead, it used its supreme might to forcibly suppress the Primordial Snake Great Formation.
At that moment, Mo Yin moved, extending countless roots that pierced into the ground and the void.
One by one, the Primordial snake souls were pierced by Mo Yin's roots, forcibly pulled out of the formation, and then quickly devoured, becoming Mo Yin's nourishment.
Sensing the changes within the Primordial Snake Great Formation, the Dark Son's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected that the Devouring Saint Flower Zhang Ruochen had cultivated could even directly devour Primordial god souls. He immediately wanted to retract the Primordial Snake Great Formation.
"Bang."
Zhang Ruochen burst out of the Primordial Snake Great Formation and swung his sword at the Dark Son.
A rainbow-like sword qi flew out from the Abyssal Ancient Sword, cutting through the sky like a comet streaking across the void, dazzlingly beautiful.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen mobilized time rules and pointed out a finger. A broad illusory River of Time appeared out of nowhere, its beginning and end unknown, pressing down toward the Dark Son.
Faced with such a fierce assault from Zhang Ruochen, the Dark Son did not dare to be careless. He abandoned the thought of retrieving the Primordial Snake Great Formation and quickly formed seals with his hands. Tens of millions of dark patterns emerged, interweaving to form a tough dark barrier, covering a hundred feet around.
Then, the Dark Son moved his hands, evolving a solid dark millstone. As it turned, space twisted violently.
"Bang."
The dark barrier held for a moment before being torn apart by the rainbow sword qi. Crushed by the River of Time, it shattered completely.
At that moment, the Dark Son pushed the dark millstone forward.
The millstone spun rapidly, releasing an extremely terrifying destructive force, instantly grinding the rainbow sword qi to pieces.
Then, the dark millstone collided with the illusory River of Time, even causing the River of Time to twist.
"Boom."
The illusory River of Time shattered, and the dark millstone also exploded, both returning to nothingness.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Ruochen had already arrived near the Dark Son, only a hundred feet away.
Intense five-colored sacred light appeared behind Zhang Ruochen, condensing into a massive illusory world. Within it, chaotic qi surged, pressing the surrounding space into trembling.
"Buzz."
Suppressed by the phenomenon of the Five Elements Chaos Body, the space for hundreds of miles around was sealed.
Zhang Ruochen exuded a strong battle intent, pointing his sword at the Dark Son. "One battle to decide life and death, to settle the enmity between us."