Chapter 2114: Halberd Dao Sacred Will
Zhang Ruochen steadied his body, the blood and qi within him churning violently, almost bursting out of his body. Fortunately, the Flame God Armor blocked most of the attack's power, allowing him to remain unharmed.
Through that collision, Zhang Ruochen truly felt the terror of an Immortal Middle Stage Great Saint. Their application of power and comprehension of sacred arts were far beyond what a Saint King could match.
Yet, even so, Zhang Ruochen showed no sign of backing down. Instead, he released an even stronger battle intent, causing the Flame God Armor to surge with more vigorous flames.
"Zhang Ruochen, do you still want to struggle? It seems I must make you suffer a bit," Jinhui Great Saint said, a cold gleam in his eyes.
He had thought that after he made his move, Zhang Ruochen would obediently surrender. But he never expected Zhang Ruochen to be so unaware of his limits, which stirred a deep anger within him.
As his words fell, an even more vast power of the Great Saint surged from Jinhui Great Saint's body. The heaven and earth rules within ten thousand miles all converged toward him.
In an instant, an even more expansive golden ocean appeared in the dim starry sky, filled with countless blazing Sun Golden Flames, seemingly intent on burning the entire starfield into nothingness.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately turned his palm into a fist, mobilizing the rules of the Fist Path and the Water Path to evolve the Eleventh Layer of the Luo Water Fist Art.
A sacred image of the fist path, taking the form of the Heavenly River, appeared, over a hundred miles wide, spanning the starry sky, vast and surging, flowing endlessly.
With the tremor of the Heavenly River, a wide range of heaven and earth rules were also mobilized, rapidly converging, making the Heavenly River itself even more massive.
Performing the Luo Water Fist Art in the starry sky was vastly different from doing so in the Kunlun Realm. Zhang Ruochen vaguely sensed that the Heavenly River he had evolved seemed to form a very subtle connection with the Heavenly River flowing outside the Heavenly Court, gaining an extra measure of grandeur and majesty.
"Rustle, rustle."
The Heavenly River flowed, sweeping up many fragments of stars, like a massive divine dragon, charging toward the golden divine sea, unstoppable.
In this process, Zhang Ruochen once again mobilized the Truth Rules, triggering a ninefold increase in attack power.
With his current level of attainment in the Way of Truth, triggering a multiple attack boost was now a very easy task.
If he could condense a Truth Realm Form, he could use the Way of Truth at will. As long as he manifested the Truth Realm Form, without needing to deliberately mobilize the Truth Rules, any sacred art he used would have its attack power multiplied.
Zhang Ruochen had refined the Primordial Water, so the Heavenly River he evolved naturally contained the characteristics of the Primordial Water, capable of extinguishing all kinds of flames in the world.
"Sizzle."
Eroded by the Heavenly River, the radiance of the golden ocean instantly dimmed considerably.
"Boom."
As the saying goes, water and fire are incompatible. The two extreme forces collided, instantly exploding, releasing a terrifying destructive impact.
Under this impact, the previously shattered asteroids were now completely annihilated, turned into powder.
A large area of the starry sky shattered, revealing a pitch-black void space, extremely deep, a truly horrifying sight.
Although Zhang Ruochen was far away, he still suffered a considerable impact, flying backward like a meteor streaking across the sky for hundreds of miles.
Although the Heavenly River was already fragmented, it still swirled around him, helping him dissipate the powerful impact.
Jinhui Great Saint's body shook violently, nearly stumbling backward. Part of the Immortal Sacred Light enveloping his body even cracked and split.
"He can still block it? How can this be?" Jinhui Great Saint was inwardly shaken.
This attack, Jinhui Great Saint had held nothing back, using his full power, even mobilizing the heaven and earth rules within ten thousand miles. He had thought it would severely wound Zhang Ruochen, but he never expected to be blocked again.
Having used two High-rank Sacred Arts in a row and still failed to suppress Zhang Ruochen, all while being watched by the many cultivators at the Merit General Post Station, this infuriated Jinhui Great Saint.
If this continued, when other Patrol Envoys arrived, what face would he have left?
A sharp glint flashed in Jinhui Great Saint's eyes. He gripped his Square Sky Halberd, and his entire aura instantly changed, becoming sharp and aggressive, tearing through the starry sky.
"Jinhui Great Saint is enraged. He's finally going to use his Monarch War Artifact. With his Halberd Dao Sacred Will, executing his domineering and unparalleled halberd technique, it's definitely not something Zhang Ruochen, a mere Saint King, can withstand," Xing Yuan couldn't help but smile.
Chen Hu also laughed, "Zhang Ruochen is too arrogant, insisting on challenging Jinhui Great Saint. He's just asking for trouble. Watch, maybe Jinhui Great Saint won't be able to hold back and will cleave Zhang Ruochen in two with one strike."
At this moment, Ji Kongyuan's eyes were filled with deep worry. The situation had evolved to this point, something he had never anticipated.
"Jinhui Great Saint has condensed an Eighth-Rank Halberd Dao Sacred Will. The Square Sky Halberd in his hand is a Monarch War Artifact, and he has cultivated a halberd technique at the High-rank Sacred Art level. Combining all this, can the Divine Envoy still hold out? And for how long?"
Like High-rank Sacred Arts, Monarch War Artifacts can only unleash their true power when wielded by a Great Saint.
Even if a Saint King activated a Supreme Sacred Artifact, they might not be able to contend with a Great Saint wielding a Monarch War Artifact.
After all, although Supreme Sacred Artifacts are powerful, how much of their power can a Saint King actually unleash? Perhaps not even one percent.
And Jinhui Great Saint's highest achievement was in the Halberd Dao. With an Eighth-Rank Halberd Dao Sacred Will and a Monarch War Artifact, it was hard to imagine how terrifying the power of his halberd technique would be.
As Jinhui Great Saint swung the Square Sky Halberd, a startling phenomenon appeared in the starry sky. A halberd shadow a thousand miles long spanned the void, drawing in the heaven and earth rules from ten thousand miles around, stirring up a surging tide of energy.
For a moment, Jinhui Great Saint seemed to become the master of this starfield. Everything was under his control, and the momentum contained in all things was used by him.
Caught in this starfield, Zhang Ruochen felt a rather strong repulsion, and even the circulation of his sacred qi was slightly affected.
"Finally decided to use your strongest move? I want to see just how strong an Immortal Middle Stage Great Saint who has cultivated a Sacred Will really is, and whether they can truly crush all Saint Kings." Zhang Ruochen was not afraid; instead, a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes.
There are very few Saint Kings who truly have the chance to fight an Immortal Great Saint, and even fewer who have faced an Immortal Middle Stage Great Saint.
The so-called three strongest levels below Great Saint are only divided according to certain standards, such as how large a range of heaven and earth rules and heaven and earth yuan qi one can mobilize. But everyone's situation is different, so their strength naturally varies, and sometimes this difference can be enormous.
Theoretically, Zhang Ruochen now had the strength to kill the weakest Immortal Great Saint, but exactly how strong he was needed to be verified.
In Zhang Ruochen's view, Jinhui Great Saint, an Immortal Middle Stage Great Saint, was undoubtedly the best target to help him verify his strength.
The *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* began to circulate. Five-colored sacred light flew out from Zhang Ruochen's body, rapidly condensing into a world behind him, filled with dense chaotic qi.
Based on the phenomenon of the Five Elements Chaos Body, a strange space domain was derived, covering an area of three thousand miles.
In fact, with Zhang Ruochen's current spatial attainments, the space domain he could manifest could easily cover ten thousand miles. But if he did that, his control over space would be far less than it was now.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen summoned the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror to further stabilize the space.
Seeing the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror, Jinhui Great Saint said in a deep voice, "In the face of absolute power, even a Supreme Sacred Artifact can't change anything. Halberd Splits Stars."
As he spoke, Jinhui Great Saint suddenly executed a halberd technique.
Driven by the Great Saint's power, the Square Sky Halberd fully awakened, and hundreds of thousands of thick King-level inscription patterns clearly emerged.
A sharp halberd light a thousand miles long appeared, like a comet dragging a long tail across the starry sky, tearing a huge black rift in the starfield.
Seeing Jinhui Great Saint launch such a terrifying attack, Zhang Ruochen naturally dared not be careless. He immediately mobilized the Space Rules, releasing a powerful spatial force, compressing it intensely, and condensing it into a silver sharpness.
"Whoosh."
As the silver sharpness flew out, it completely split the starry sky ahead, revealing a deep layer of void space, seemingly capable of piercing through the universe and reaching any major world.
"Bang."
The thousand-mile-long halberd light shattered, rapidly annihilated by the violent spatial force.
Struck by this force, the space domain Zhang Ruochen had constructed was mostly destroyed in an instant. Only by relying on the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror was he able to withstand it.
Jinhui Great Saint did not stop. Instead, he continued to execute even more powerful halberd techniques, filling the entire starfield with countless sharp halberd lights.
A sharp glint also appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. With the Space-Time Secret Scripture in hand, he freely used his time and space techniques.
"Boom."
A fierce battle erupted. Sacred light flashed in the starry sky, blooming like fireworks.
Relying on his time and space techniques, Zhang Ruochen managed to stabilize his position, engaging in a series of fierce battles with Jinhui Great Saint, and was gradually shifting from passive defense to active attack.
With the wonder of the Eternal Dao, even against a Sacred Will, it was not impossible to contend.
In fact, most of the strongest beings below the Great Saint level in the first tier had cultivated an Eternal Dao, or a power comparable to it. That was why they had the hope of killing the weakest Immortal Great Saint.
In the Merit General Post Station, cultivators from all realms were stunned.
In their view, as long as Jinhui Great Saint took things seriously, he would easily suppress Zhang Ruochen. But the current situation was far from that, and they could hardly believe what they were seeing.
"Jinhui Great Saint must still be testing him, deliberately toying with Zhang Ruochen," a weaker Saint said, very uncertainly.
A top-tier Saint King shook his head seriously, "No, Jinhui Great Saint has already used his full power, even his Halberd Dao Sacred Will. It's just that Zhang Ruochen's strength is too great, leading to this situation."
"Hiss."
Many watching cultivators couldn't help but gasp.
A Saint King going head-to-head with an Immortal Middle Stage Great Saint was simply a fantasy. But it was happening right before their eyes, making everyone feel very unreal.
Watching the two figures locked in fierce battle in the outer starry sky, Xing Yuan and Chen Hu's faces turned somewhat gloomy. Zhang Ruochen's strength had far exceeded their expectations.
"In such a short time, how has Zhang Ruochen's strength increased so much? What kind of monster is he?" Chen Hu said indignantly.
Calculating the time, it hadn't been that long since the battle outside Peacock Manor, just a few months.
For a Saint King-level powerhouse, this time passed in the blink of an eye, not even enough for a single closed-door session.
And a few months ago, although Zhang Ruochen's strength was not weak, he might not have even been able to defeat them.
But in the blink of an eye, Zhang Ruochen had reached the peak of the Saint King realm, defeating the Son of Darkness, and was now able to contend with Jinhui Great Saint. Such a speed of strength improvement was truly terrifying.
Xing Yuan said in a low voice, "Zhang Ruochen is indeed a scourge. He absolutely cannot be kept. We must find a way to eliminate him. Otherwise, once he becomes a Great Saint, or even a god, both the Heavenly Court and Hell will be thrown into chaos by him."
"But now, even Jinhui Great Saint seems unable to do anything to him. If he stays in the Kunlun Realm, who can threaten him?" Chen Hu frowned.
The Blood Battle Divine Hall had repeatedly suffered losses at Zhang Ruochen's hands, and they naturally wanted to eliminate him, but they had no way to do so.
Given the terrifying strength Zhang Ruochen had just displayed, even those peerless monsters of the Heavenly Realm Faction dared not claim they could definitely deal with him.
A strange light flickered in Xing Yuan's eyes. "Hell Realm actually wants to get rid of Zhang Ruochen even more than we do. Since the Kunlun Realm became a Merit Battlefield, many geniuses from Hell have died at Zhang Ruochen's hands. The Death Clan, Underworld Clan, Undying Blood Clan, and Bone Clan must all hate him to the bone. Just wait. Those monsters from these clans who rarely appear on the Merit Battlefield might all find a way to enter the Kunlun Realm."
Hearing this, Chen Hu's expression changed slightly. Many god-like and demon-like figures immediately flashed through his mind.
Hell Realm can contend with the entire Heavenly Court Realm, and even holds a considerable advantage. Its foundation is naturally unfathomable.
The strength of any one of the Ten Clans of Hell surpasses that of a single ruling world.
The Hell Realm powerhouses recorded in the *Ten Clans of Hell, Ten Thousand Evils Record* are those more familiar to the Heavenly Court side, but they are far from encompassing all the Saint King powerhouses of Hell Realm.
For example, the Underworld Clan naturally wouldn't only have the Son of Darkness and the Seven Absolute Assassins of the Nether Hall. Otherwise, how could it be considered one of the Upper Three Clans of Hell?
Not to mention those extremely low-key monsters, just on the surface, the Underworld Clan still has top Saint King powerhouses like the Underworld Demon and the Underworld Buddha, whose strength surpasses even the Son of Darkness.
In fact, the Underworld Immortal who died in the Sword Grave was a peerless monster on par with the Underworld Demon and the Underworld Buddha. Unfortunately, his strength had not yet reached its peak before he was killed by the Blood Drop Sword.
As for the Bone Clan, its top Saint King powerhouses are not limited to the Three Emperors and Twelve Venerables. The strongest of this generation is the Bone Nether Emperor.
Legend has it that the Bone Nether Emperor possesses a demigod-level bone body. Relying solely on his bone body, he can crush the vast majority of Nine-Step Saint Kings.
Even the combined forces of the Bone Clan's Three Emperors can only fight the Bone Nether Emperor to a draw, unable to gain a significant advantage.
"With Zhang Ruochen's terrifying rise now, Hell Realm is indeed unlikely to let him continue to grow. After the True Dragon Island battle, the Bone Clan's Bone Nether Emperor, the Underworld Clan's Underworld Demon and Underworld Buddha, and other monstrous geniuses, even Yan Wushen, might not be able to resist making a move against him," Chen Hu said solemnly.
Any one of these peerless monsters from Hell Realm appearing would be enough to influence the direction of a Merit Battlefield.
Xing Yuan squinted his eyes. "That may be true, but I would still rather see Zhang Ruochen fall into the hands of our Heavenly Realm Faction. He hides many secrets and possesses all kinds of treasures. How could we let them fall into the hands of Hell Realm people for nothing? I really hope that Archangel Michael can break through his seclusion soon."
Hearing the name "Michael," Chen Hu's heart trembled. A figure of immense majesty appeared in his mind, involuntarily stirring a sense of reverence within him.