# Chapter 2099: Impossible to Escape Death
Struck by the impact of space-time power, the Dark Son was sent flying backward, the Dark Abyss behind him and its towering phantom both shattering into pieces in an instant.
"Pfft."
The Dark Son spat out a large mouthful of blood, his body covered in cracks on the verge of collapse, blood gushing forth as he became completely drenched in blood.
He was severely injured. If not for his body being nearly completely immortalized and inscribed with protective divine patterns, he would have already met the fate of divine form annihilation.
Time and space within several hundred miles had become chaotic, with countless time fragments and space fragments flying about, a sight that made people pale in shock.
Under the watchful eyes of the powerful figures from both sides, the Dark Son directly took out a dark golden sacred pill and swallowed it.
"That's... a King-rank Sacred Pill."
Qianxing Tiannü's pupils contracted sharply.
Vaguely, she could see a lifelike dragon pattern on the surface of the sacred pill, almost certain that it came from a Dragon Clan alchemy earth master, or perhaps even obtained from within the monster king's body.
The medicinal power of a King-rank Sacred Pill was astonishing, taking effect almost immediately. As soon as he swallowed it, the cracks on the Dark Son's body surface healed at a visible rate, and every inch of his skin radiated immortal brilliance.
"Roar."
The Dark Son let out a long howl toward the sky, and an extremely powerful immortal aura burst forth from within his body.
"The Dark Son has indeed broken through to the Immortal Great Saint realm."
Feeling this immortal aura, the hearts of the Heavenly Court side's cultivators couldn't help but sink.
The thing they least wanted to see had ultimately happened.
The Dark Son had only his heart left that hadn't been immortalized. As long as he was willing, he could break through at any time and forge a powerful immortal sacred body.
True Dragon Island was isolated from the world, and even divine thoughts couldn't probe inside. Breaking through to the Great Saint realm here required no scruples whatsoever.
With the Dark Son's accumulated foundation, after breaking through, his strength would far exceed that of ordinary Immortal Great Saints and could not be opposed by those below the Saint King realm.
With extreme tacit understanding, Ao Xukong, Xing Wuji, and the other top-tier powerhouses all moved at the same time, unleashing powerful sacred arts and sacred artifacts, all targeting the Dark Son.
None of them were foolish enough to wait for the Dark Son to sweep them away. The present moment was when the Dark Son was at his weakest, their only chance.
"Stop them."
As soon as the Heavenly Court side's powerhouses made their move, the Hell Realm side's powerhouses also charged out.
The Seven Absolute Death Gods of the Nether Hall and the Three Emperors Ten Venerables of the Bone Clan moved together, blocking Ao Xukong and the others, buying time for the Dark Son to increase his strength.
As long as the Dark Son could convert part of his power into Great Saint power, even with his severely injured body, he would be unstoppable.
The Dark Son stared unblinkingly at Zhang Ruochen, his eyes filled with venomous hatred. In a battle between peers, he had actually lost, and lost so miserably that he had to break through his cultivation just to save his life—this was a tremendous disgrace.
Originally, he had planned to become the number one powerhouse below Great Saint in Hell Realm, then break through to the Great Saint realm in the strongest possible posture. Now all his plans had come to nothing.
"To think you've even mastered space-time power. I truly underestimated you. If given enough time, perhaps you really could become the second Xumi Saint Monk. Unfortunately, you no longer have such an opportunity. Die."
The Dark Son's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he extended his dark great hand.
In a short time, he had already condensed a small amount of Great Saint power, now all poured into the dark great hand.
"Rumble."
The already unstable space immediately shattered.
"Zhang Ruochen, be careful."
"Team Leader, run quickly."
Seeing the Dark Son strike with lethal force, Qianxing Tiannü, Ao Xinyan, and others couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
Not to mention that Zhang Ruochen had already suffered considerable injuries from using space-time techniques, even if he were at his peak, he still couldn't withstand the Dark Son, who had already broken through to the Great Saint realm.
But Zhang Ruochen seemed frozen in place, standing motionless.
"Roar."
A massive strange beast suddenly appeared on the ruined battlefield, letting out repeated roars toward the sky.
The beast had a body like a demon wolf but possessed a huge dragon head, wings growing from its ribs, four tails of different colors behind it, and exuding a terrifying murderous aura—it was the monster king Zhang Ruochen had subdued.
"Since you've chosen to break through, your opponent is no longer me." Zhang Ruochen murmured calmly.
The monster king had been hiding nearby all along, waiting for his command to charge out and kill.
He had already publicly defeated the Dark Son of the same rank with absolute strength; there was no need to foolishly fight head-on against the Dark Son after his breakthrough.
The monster king opened its mouth, releasing a terrifying space storm that struck the dark great hand.
The Dark Son felt a sharp pain in his palm and quickly withdrew his dark great hand.
"Has Zhang Ruochen actually subdued this monster?" The Dark Son was secretly shocked.
Earlier, he had been very curious, wondering how Zhang Ruochen and Qianxing Tiannü had escaped from inside the monster. Now he had some answers.
But given the monster's power, how had Zhang Ruochen managed to subdue it?
However, the Dark Son didn't have time to think too much. The monster king glared fiercely, full of hostility toward him.
If he had already completed the power conversion and was in optimal condition, he naturally wouldn't fear the monster king. But at present, he felt a great threat.
"This monster is too strong. It's not wise to fight it head-on for now. Once my injuries heal and my power is fully converted, I'll deal with it later." With this thought, the Dark Son began to retreat.
Immediately, the Dark Son tried to retrieve the black sacred bell and withdraw.
But to his surprise, the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror was firmly suppressing the black sacred bell, keeping it immobile.
"Roar."
The monster king roared, its dragon cry shaking the nine heavens.
One after another, powerful divine forces erupted, condensing into space storms, time imprints, origin divine light, dark tides, and various other terrifying attack methods, all bombarding the Dark Son.
Forgetting to retrieve the black sacred bell, the Dark Son had to go all out to defend himself. Another fierce battle erupted.
"What's going on? Where did this strange beast come from?"
Seeing the monster king, the powerhouses on both sides were confused.
Only Qianxing Tiannü showed a smile, secretly letting out a long breath. She had almost forgotten that Zhang Ruochen still had this powerful trump card.
The monster king was extremely ferocious, flexibly using four types of divine power, completely suppressing the Dark Son.
Although it had been severely wounded by the God-Defying Stele, it had also gained some benefits—it could better control its own divine power, and its sacred soul had become more resilient.
"Ah."
After just over a hundred exchanges, the Dark Son let out a miserable scream. One of his arms was torn off, blood spraying everywhere.
Then, one of the monster king's tails, like a war spear, pierced through the Dark Son's chest, nearly pulling out his heart.
"Flee."
A trace of fear arose in the Dark Son's heart as he desperately tried to escape.
But the surrounding space had long been sealed by the monster king, greatly restricting his movement.
In the blink of an eye, another blood hole appeared on the Dark Son's body, front and back. The immortal sacred body he had just forged was nearly half-crippled.
The Dark Son stared fixedly at Zhang Ruochen in the distance. Suddenly, fierce black flames appeared on his body surface, temporarily freeing him from the space restraints as he crazily pounced toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Even if I die, I'll take you with me." The Dark Son's eyes were filled with madness.
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed. He sensed an extremely dangerous aura—the Dark Son intended to perish together with him.
If an Immortal Great Saint self-destructed their sacred source, probably not many present would survive—not just the Heavenly Court side, but the Hell Realm side as well.
"Fall back quickly."
Sensing the Dark Son's intention, the powerhouses from both Heavenly Court and Hell Realm immediately retreated.
"Damn it, does he want to destroy us all?" Death Without End said angrily.
Dying from the Dark Son's self-destruction would be an unjust death indeed.
Just then, the monster king's body suddenly disintegrated, transforming into four surging divine forces that swept out, engulfing the Dark Son.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen used Space Displacement, appearing a hundred miles away, suspending the Annihilation Golden Sun above his head as he defended with all his strength.
However, after waiting for a long while, there was no movement.
The four surging divine forces churned and reformed into the monster king's form.
Zhang Ruochen immediately understood that the trouble had been resolved. From now on, the Dark Son would no longer exist in this world.
The monster king was very clever. It used time divine power and space divine power to imprison the Dark Son, then used origin divine power and dark divine power to infiltrate, dismantling the Dark Son's sacred source with ingenious means, naturally preventing him from self-destructing.
Of course, it sounded simple, but in reality, it was extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake would have led to major problems.
"The Dark Son is dead, this..."
The powerhouses on both sides all stopped, complex expressions appearing in their eyes.
The rare genius of the Darkness Temple, rarely seen in ten thousand years, had just broken through to the Immortal Great Saint realm, only to end so dimly.
Once the news spread, it would likely cause a huge stir in both the Heavenly Court and Hell Realm, and Zhang Ruochen would once again be pushed to the forefront.
"The era of Zhang Ruochen has arrived."
This thought emerged in the minds of many powerhouses.
And with Zhang Ruochen's forceful rise, with his power alone, he might be able to change the pattern of the Kunlun Realm Merit Battlefield. He had now truly become the War God of Kunlun Realm.
With the Dark Son's death, the black sacred bell immediately fell silent, suppressed by the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror.
Looking at the black sacred bell, now only the size of a fist, Zhang Ruochen murmured, "A divine relic ancient artifact containing dark divine power. Perhaps Han Qiu can refine it."
Any powerful divine relic ancient artifact was not easy to refine, requiring recognition.
Previously, when he had suppressed Zhou Yu and Mo Sheng, he had obtained two divine relic ancient artifacts, but Zhang Ruochen couldn't use them and could only seal them away.
The divine power monster opened its mouth and spat out a beam of sacred light, which fell into Zhang Ruochen's hand, transforming into an ancient space ring.
Sweeping his spiritual power roughly over the space ring, a thick smile appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
As he had expected, the Dark Son hadn't handed over the treasures he had obtained to others for safekeeping but had carried them all with him, clearly never imagining he would be defeated.
Over a hundred million treasures, an enormous quantity, directly piled into a mountain of treasure.
"Zhang Ruochen, I've found that old fellow."
Xiao Hei's voice suddenly rang out.
Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred. He immediately put away the black sacred bell and space ring while secretly communicating with Xiao Hei through spiritual power.
After confirming the exact location of the short, thin old man, he didn't act rashly, avoiding alerting the enemy.
With a movement of his body, Zhang Ruochen appeared on the monster king's head, pointing his sword at the Seven Absolute Death Gods of the Nether Hall, and said coldly, "The Dark Son is dead. You should all stay here too."
"Leave immediately." Xuanming Wushang said in a deep voice.
Even the Dark Son, who had broken through to the Immortal Great Saint realm, had been killed by the monster king. Staying to fight it was simply seeking death.
The Seven Absolute Death Gods of the Nether Hall immediately formed the Seven Absolute Death Formation, using the Nether Lotus to shield their bodies, activating extreme speed.
At Zhang Ruochen's instruction, the monster king immediately began to run at extreme speed, directly chasing after the Seven Absolute Death Gods of the Nether Hall.
Behind an inconspicuous rock, the short, thin old man carefully looked around. His aura was completely merged with the rock, and his body had turned ethereal, making him impossible to detect.
"This kid is so formidable, he even subdued the Dragon Fiend Emperor among the five overlords. Good thing I escaped quickly last time. But it's a good thing if he kills more Hell Realm powerhouses. I hope he doesn't spare a single one." A hint of killing intent flickered in the short, thin old man's eyes.
Clearly, he was extremely disgusted with Hell Realm and was happy to see Zhang Ruochen slaughtering Hell Realm powerhouses.
But while the short, thin old man's attention was drawn to Zhang Ruochen, he didn't notice someone silently approaching him.
Ao Xinyan, Death Zen Ancestor, Heavenly Fate Corpse Emperor, and a group of Awakened Ones, holding formation flags specially refined by Xiao Hei, converged from different directions.
Relying on the power of the formation flags, Ao Xinyan and the others' forms and auras were all concealed.
"Now."
At Xiao Hei's command, Ao Xinyan and the others simultaneously threw the formation flags.
"Hum."
Countless complex formation patterns appeared on the surface of the formation flags, combining with each other to form a Heaven Net Earth Trap, completely sealing off the area where the short, thin old man was located.
"Damn it."
The short, thin old man's expression changed, and he immediately tried to escape.
But hindered by the formation, no matter what secret technique he used, he couldn't burrow into the ground, leaving him anxious and frantic.
A flash of red light, and Xiao Hei appeared within the formation, a mocking smile in his eyes. "Old slippery fish, pretty impressive, huh? Last time you hid me in a space fault, almost trapping me. How do you think I should deal with you?"
Seeing Xiao Hei, the short, thin old man's face immediately fell, knowing he was in big trouble.
He thought he had been careful enough, deliberately staying far from Zhang Ruochen, but he had still been trapped by the formation. Such a strange formation seemed tailor-made for him.
The short, thin old man was extremely frustrated. If he had known, he wouldn't have come to watch the excitement.
"Lord Saint, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Please don't attack. This old man knows many treasure-hiding places and can take you to get them anytime." The short, thin old man said fawningly.
Xiao Hei flapped his wing, directly knocking the short, thin old man to the ground, his eyes fierce. "I'm the one who always tricks others. How dare you trick me? Do you really think I can't deal with you? Hand over the World Gate Key immediately."
"This old man really doesn't know anything about a World Gate Key. How can I hand it over? Please don't make things difficult for me." The short, thin old man begged.
Xiao Hei flapped his wing again, hitting the short, thin old man, and snorted, "Stop putting on an act in front of me. I've already figured out your background. If you don't hand over the World Gate Key, I'll make you regret it."
Hearing this, the short, thin old man's mind trembled. His small eyes rolled around, a hint of anxiety appearing in them.
(Chapter End)