Chapter 2123: Like a God, Like a Demon
Yan Wushen, a name that made both the Heavenly Court Realm and the Hell Realm speak of with fear, was a symbol of invincibility below the Great Saint realm. No one had expected Yan Wushen to appear at Luo River at this moment. Was it a coincidence, or had he come specifically for Zhang Ruochen?
"What an evil aura. He can even erode the Awakened Divine Soil into Deadly Evil Soil. How many living beings has he slaughtered?"
"According to legend, Yan Wushen is both righteous and evil. Once he falls into the evil side, he goes on a mad killing spree. Even if cultivators from the Hell Realm provoke him, he kills them without hesitation."
"The Extremely Dark Yama Qi that Yan Wushen cultivates is becoming more and more terrifying. It's best to retreat far away. If you can't resist it and get contaminated, you can only die in hysterical madness."
…………
Cultivators from both the Heavenly Court Realm and the Hell Realm involuntarily retreated, filled with wariness towards this extremely evil Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen stood on the evil soil and black water, clad in pitch-black armor, his black hair flying. The evil aura emanating from his body grew stronger and stronger, like a demon god with boundless sins descending upon the world, looking down on heaven and earth.
In Yan Wushen's hand, he held a person, dripping with blood, with a large hole in his chest. It was unknown whether he was still alive.
Seeing this person, Zhang Ruochen's gaze darkened. "Jiang Yunchong."
He recognized this man. He was the mysterious master of the Tianjue Pavilion, Jiang Yunchong, and also the first Awakener he had encountered in the Kunlun Realm.
Back then, Shenya Xiansheng had wanted to attack the Eastern Domain Sacred City. It was thanks to Jiang Yunchong stepping forward that he was able to hold him off. Later, he joined forces with Murong Fengye to severely wound Shenya Xiansheng.
Jiang Yunchong's strength was formidable. He could contend with Shenya Xiansheng, who was a Formation Earth Master, and at that time, his strength had probably not fully recovered.
Zhang Ruochen never imagined that he would meet Jiang Yunchong again under such circumstances.
He could tell that although Jiang Yunchong was severely injured, he still had a breath of life left.
Yan Wushen turned his gaze to Zhang Ruochen and said, "When I heard the news that you killed the Dark Son, I knew that another Saint King realm being worthy of dying by my hand had finally emerged in this world. So, I specially came to the Eastern Domain to find you, the Eastern Domain King."
"I first went to the Eastern Domain Sacred City, but unfortunately, I couldn't find your trail. What was even more disappointing was that the vast Eastern Domain Sacred City had no decent experts at all. Only he was barely presentable."
"Judging by your expression just now, you should know him... Hmm... How about this? I'll give you a chance to prove your strength. If you can defeat me, I'll let him go. If you lose, I'll hand him over to Mara. You understand. The Heir of Time and Space shouldn't disappoint me too much, right?"
Zhang Ruochen had already heard of Yan Wushen's recent evil deeds. He had slaughtered hundreds of millions of humans in the Central Domain of the Kunlun Realm. Now, forcing his way into the Eastern Domain Sacred City, it was likely that rivers of blood had already flowed there.
Having received the Torch Order from Chen Yuhua, Zhang Ruochen had become the King of the Eastern Domain. Yan Wushen's mass slaughter in the Eastern Domain Sacred City was a huge provocation to him.
Since Yan Wushen had appeared here, it seemed the formations of the Eastern Domain Sacred City were also powerless against him. Just how strong had his strength become?
Zhang Ruochen suppressed the anger in his heart, trying to maintain the calmest state possible. "Yan Wushen, if you want to fight, I'll fight with you. Since the Eastern Domain of the Kunlun Realm is my, Zhang Ruochen's, territory, anyone who acts recklessly here must pay the price."
"Good, you have character. I like it." Yan Wushen nodded.
Ming Yao held the shrunk Minggu Curse Furnace in one hand and said, "Yan Wushen, this is a matter between our Ming Clan and Zhang Ruochen. You don't need to interfere."
Yan Wushen said indifferently, "I do whatever I want. Why do I need your permission? Besides, don't you two think you've already made enough of a fool of yourselves?"
Ming Fo frowned slightly and said, "Yan Wushen, we have no objection if you want to kill others, but Zhang Ruochen is our target. You can't touch him."
The face of the Ming Clan naturally had to be saved by the Ming Clan's own experts. Moreover, Ming Yao and Ming Fo had absolute confidence in their own strength to crush Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom."
The aura emanating from Yan Wushen suddenly surged. The Extremely Dark Yama Qi roiled, and behind him, a vague, extremely evil demon god phantom began to take shape.
In an instant, heaven and earth changed color. The void exploded, and thunderbolts filled the sky, as if the heavens above were enraged, about to unleash a world-destroying divine punishment.
Yan Wushen's body slowly rose into the air, looking down at Ming Yao and Ming Fo, and said in a grim tone, "Do you two want to fight me first?"
"You..."
Ming Yao's brows shot up, and he was about to flare up.
At the critical moment, Ming Fo reached out and pulled him back, transmitting his voice, "Don't provoke this Yan Wushen. If you really anger him, he'll do anything. Since he wants to deal with Zhang Ruochen, let him do it. We'll just watch from the sidelines. As long as we can eliminate Zhang Ruochen this time, that's enough."
Thinking of this person's style of conduct, he was indeed very difficult to deal with. Ming Yao's gaze contracted slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he finally calmed down.
Ming Yao let out a cold snort and then said nothing more.
"So domineering. It seems the rumors are true. Once Yan Wushen falls into evil, he becomes completely unscrupulous. Whoever provokes him will be in trouble."
Many cultivators present couldn't help but gasp, becoming even more wary of Yan Wushen.
Just then, Yan Wushen's gaze swept across the surroundings. With a flick of his sleeve, he sent all the cultivators in the distance flying away. Huge waves surged in the Luo River. Even Qingtian Sacred Dragon, Mo Yin, and Mara the Great Prince couldn't resist and were swept into the depths of the Luo River along with the waves.
"Bang, bang."
Some cultivators with weaker cultivation bases had their bodies directly explode into blood mist, including cultivators from the Hell Realm.
"Those who don't have the right to stay here had better get far away. I am about to fight Zhang Ruochen. How dare a bunch of ants spy on me?"
Yan Wushen's cold voice rang out.
Hearing this, all the cultivators present were horrified. Where would they dare to stay? They all fled at top speed. Even Ming Yao and Ming Fo retreated a considerable distance.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was fixed tightly on Yan Wushen.
A long time ago, he had heard the name Yan Wushen and many legends about it. Now, he had finally met the real person and was about to fight him. This made him very expectant.
"The strongest below the Great Saint in the Hell Realm, the synonym for invincibility. Yan Wushen, let me verify if you are truly invincible." Zhang Ruochen said with a glint of brilliance in his eyes.
In a battle at the same level, Zhang Ruochen feared no one, not even this Yan Wushen with countless legends.
Yan Wushen said, "Many people have had the same thought as you. But they all died in my hands, and you will be one of them."
No one could defeat him, Yan Wushen, before, and no one would in the future. No matter who he faced, his belief in invincibility would not waver.
Zhang Ruochen said nothing more, doing his utmost to adjust his state to the best.
Facing an opponent like Yan Wushen, he dared not be the slightest bit careless. He had to go all out.
Yan Wushen waved his hand, putting Jiang Yunchong away, and then lightly pointed a finger.
Space became like the surface of a calm lake, with ripples spreading from the tip of his finger. Where the ripples passed, the surrounding mountains and geography underwent earth-shaking changes. One mountain range after another rose up, wrapping Zhang Ruochen in layers.
Looking down from a height of ten thousand zhang, the land for ten thousand li around seemed to have turned into a scroll painting. The mountain ranges rising from the painting corresponded to the spatial ripples in front of Yan Wushen.
"Raising a hand to paint heaven and earth, moving a finger to change the universe. Yan Wushen's attainment in the Way of Space has actually reached this level."
Zhang Ruochen took action, mobilizing the Space Rules within his body, releasing powerful spatial force, creating an extremely mysterious fluctuation that resonated with the entire space.
There was no great commotion, but those mountain ranges rapidly disintegrated, turning into powder, scattering and falling from mid-air.
"Not bad."
Yan Wushen gave a sinister smile, raising the index finger of his right hand.
Immediately, the earth beneath his feet rolled up, surging thousands of zhang high. Flowers, trees, mountains, hills, rivers, lakes... everything rose up, reaching above the clouds, and rolled towards Zhang Ruochen.
This was a true reversal of heaven and earth!
Those cultivators standing in the distance, watching the battlefield, were all trembling. Could even a Great Saint achieve such a feat?
Not to mention them, even the Patrol Envoys outside the domain looked at each other, shocked in their hearts.
Zhang Ruochen spread his five fingers and pressed down towards the sky, uttering one word: "Break."
His five fingers seemed to turn into a palm-print world, emitting a dazzling holy light. The fingerprints and palm lines were like mountain ranges and rivers. The palm-print world collided with that piece of Eastern Domain land in the sky, producing a deafening sound. The entire Eastern Domain, spanning countless millions of li, trembled slightly.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the ground, looking up.
That ten-thousand-li land shattered. Countless mountains and rivers, rocks and scorched earth, all fell downwards. The whole world seemed to be destroyed.
"Not bad, not bad. It wasn't in vain that I personally came to the Eastern Domain to kill you."
Yan Wushen laughed loudly, put his hands together, and rubbed them.
Those falling mountains, rivers, vegetation, and mud and stone, under the influence of an invisible spatial force, rapidly gathered together. Under the rubbing of Yan Wushen's hands, they transformed into a planet suspended in mid-air, a thousand li in diameter, slowly rolling.
Each time the planet, created by Yan Wushen from ten thousand li of the Eastern Domain's land, rolled, it emitted a loud "rumbling" sound. The planet's surface was accompanied by the light of thunder and lightning, condensing into clouds, rosy clouds, and rain, as if a world was sinking out.
Zhang Ruochen was naturally not to be outdone. His gaze fixed on the outer realm, landing on a small planet floating near the Kunlun Realm.
Through spatial force, he grabbed it across the void.
That small planet, located a million li above the Kunlun Realm, plummeted down, passed through the atmosphere, and burned with blazing flames like a blazing sun, colliding with the planet Yan Wushen had condensed.
"Boom."
The two planets collided. The heaven and earth near the Luo River and Wangshan Mountain became completely dark. Countless firestones, like meteors, shot out in all directions.
Yan Wushen and Zhang Ruochen stood in this destructive battlefield, one like a demon, the other like a god.
At this moment, Yan Wushen's gaze finally became serious, and he began to regard this opponent before him.
"Swoosh——"
Zhang Ruochen took the initiative to attack. Powerful spatial force gathered at his fingertip, and he pointed out. An invisible spatial force, ignoring spatial barriers, instantly arrived in front of Yan Wushen.
"Rumble."
Immediately, the space where Yan Wushen was located underwent violent distortion, collapsing and compressing wildly, as if it were about to be compressed into a thin sheet of paper.
Yan Wushen's gaze was indifferent. He gently waved his finger, and even more violent ripples appeared in the space, like a gentle breeze brushing his face, disintegrating Zhang Ruochen's power inch by inch.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen moved simultaneously, using spatial techniques. Their speed was unimaginably fast, making it difficult to see clearly.
"Boom."
One space after another shattered, and destructive power spread, a truly terrifying sight.
This was a true pinnacle duel. Both Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen were masters of space. It was unknown who had the higher attainment in the Way of Space.
"Bang."
Zhang Ruochen revealed his form, rapidly retreating.
"Not bad, but still lacking."
Yan Wushen murmured softly and attacked again.
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed slightly. He flipped his hand and took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture to amplify the power of his spatial techniques.
He had currently cultivated a total of 680,000 Space Rules, which was already an extremely large number. Few in the Saint King realm could achieve this.
But the Space Rules Yan Wushen had cultivated were even more numerous, at least reaching 800,000. It wasn't that Yan Wushen's talent was higher than his, but that Yan Wushen had been cultivating for a longer time and had a more profound accumulation.
If he had more time, Zhang Ruochen was fully confident that he could cultivate his Space Rules to over 800,000.
For now, he could only rely on the Space-Time Secret Scripture to make up for this gap.
The surging Extremely Dark Yama Qi was released from Yan Wushen's body, then rapidly condensed into 999 doppelgangers. Each doppelganger was extremely solid, emitting a very powerful aura, comparable to a high-level Saint King.
"The Thousand Hands Thousand Bodies Yama Great Art, a forbidden art of the Yama Clan. It must be cultivated to the Great Saint realm to have a hope of success. Yan Wushen is truly terrifying."
Luo Sha's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
Although these doppelgangers were only condensed from Extremely Dark Yama Qi, they all possessed extremely terrifying power. United together, even an Immortal Great Saint would have to keep their distance.
Yan Wushen's true body, along with his 999 doppelgangers, simultaneously formed the same hand seal.
A thousand strange seals superimposed together, instantly condensing an ancient, mottled stone bridge, a thousand li long, spanning across the void.
On the bridge's body, three characters were carved in an unknown ancient script.
"The Bridge of Naihe."
A demonic voice sounded, echoing in the void.
Vaguely, countless soul shadows appeared on the mottled stone bridge, all extremely ferocious, struggling desperately to break free.
Zhang Ruochen clearly felt a strange force enveloping him, trying to pull his holy soul out of his physical body.
The mottled stone bridge moved, pressing down towards Zhang Ruochen.
At the same time, soul shadows rushed out from the stone bridge, letting out sharp howls, and madly pounced on Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was solemn. He guarded his mind tightly and released the pure white Purifying Divine Flame.
Driven by his holy Qi, the Purifying Divine Flame quickly turned into a sea of fire, covering an area of several hundred li.
"Pure white Purifying Divine Flame, this is the Emperor Flame. Legend has it that only those who have reached the Hundred Shackles realm or above have a hope of cultivating it. How could Zhang Ruochen have succeeded?"
For a moment, many cultivators couldn't help but show expressions of surprise.
The power of the Emperor Flame was extremely terrifying. As soon as those soul shadows approached, they were directly burned into nothingness, leaving nothing behind.
But that mottled stone bridge could not be burned and could even suppress the fire of the Purifying Divine Flame.
Zhang Ruochen held the Space-Time Secret Scripture, fully mobilizing his Space Rules, and executed the second level of Space Annihilation.
Hundreds of thousands of Space Rules merged into the space ahead, causing intense ripples, like water waves.
"Boom."
The space for several thousand zhang around instantly shattered and annihilated.
Although the mottled stone bridge was extraordinary, formed by Yan Wushen and his 999 doppelgangers working together, it still shattered directly.
"Bang."
A terrifying force struck Zhang Ruochen's body, causing him to stagger backward.
With a muffled groan, a trace of blood seeped from the corner of Zhang Ruochen's mouth.
Yan Wushen's body shook violently, and he also took a step back.
"Take another punch from me."
A thousand Yan Wushens shouted in unison.
Then, a thousand Yan Wushens moved simultaneously, releasing endless Extremely Dark Yama Qi. Behind each one, a ferocious demon god phantom condensed, and their bodies burned with fierce black flames, as if they could burn everything in heaven and earth.
After executing the Thousand Hands Thousand Bodies Yama Great Art, the power of Yan Wushen's true body had indeed weakened considerably.
But with a thousand Yan Wushens attacking at the same time, no matter what sacred art they used, its power would undoubtedly be multiplied.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze suddenly became sharp. His left leg released a vast divine might, turning completely red. Over a million thick Divine Rules emerged, like red chains.
"Let me see how powerful the Blazing God Leg is after unlocking the second seal." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen continuously injected his holy Qi into his left leg, activating the vast divine power like an abyss, and then executed the Divine Step Nine Heavens, releasing the power of the Blazing God Leg without reservation.
Unmatched divine power was released, surging and impacting in all directions.
In an instant, the Luo River for several thousand li around boiled and was quickly evaporated.
The land rapidly melted, becoming a huge lava lake.
"Boom."
The powerful sacred arts executed by the thousand Yan Wushens were all dissolved in an instant.
Except for Yan Wushen's true body, all 999 doppelgangers retreated backward, suffering a strong impact.
Zhang Ruochen's body swayed slightly. Activating the million Divine Rules of the Blazing God Leg instantly consumed all his holy Qi.
But the next moment, the Annihilation Golden Sun shook, releasing a vast amount of holy Qi, which quickly flowed through Zhang Ruochen's limbs and bones, replenishing the holy Qi in his body.
This holy Qi was compressed and stored in the Annihilation Golden Sun by Zhang Ruochen in advance, so that he could recover when his holy Qi was suddenly exhausted during battle.
"The holy Qi stored in the Annihilation Golden Sun can still restore me twice. Unless necessary, I can't fully use the Blazing God Leg again." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Although the power of the Blazing God Leg was extremely strong, its consumption of holy Qi was too great.
Although the Annihilation Golden Sun could store holy Qi, it had its limits. He couldn't squander it casually.
Of course, with the divine sun transformed from the Seven-Star Divine Ling's Sun Leaf, as long as his holy Qi was not completely exhausted, he could recover quickly.
"Is that leg of Zhang Ruochen a divine leg? How can it release such powerful divine power?"
"He can even block the sacred arts executed by a thousand Yan Wushens. Is Zhang Ruochen going to defy the heavens?"
"Is the history of Yan Wushen's invincibility going to be rewritten this time?"
"Others might not be able to do it, but Zhang Ruochen is the Heir of Time and Space. He has never been defeated in battles at the same level. Perhaps he can really create a miracle and pull Yan Wushen down from the altar of invincibility."