Chapter 215: False God Body
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen executed the perfected Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow movement technique, spinning once as his body split into nine, transforming into nine afterimages that simultaneously swung their swords outward.
His figure seemed to split like nine flower petals, falling in nine different directions.
"Boom!"
The three Earth Extreme Realm evil-path martial artists screamed in agony as they were all sent flying backward.
Two of them were directly decapitated, their life force extinguished as they crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, unable to withstand even a single strike from Zhang Ruochen's sword.
The third was the old man called "Old Xu," whose cultivation had reached the Great Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm. Although he had dodged the fatal blow, he was still wounded. A foot-long bloody gash had been carved across his chest by the Abyssal Ancient Sword, with blood gushing out unceasingly.
Old Xu stared at the sword wound on his chest, a look of terror flashing in his eyes as he let out a long howl.
The howl was like a signal.
The evil-path martial artists who had been surrounding the foot of the mountain all surged out, rushing toward the summit at top speed, encircling Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen.
Hua Qingshan took the lead, walking at the front, and said with a smile, "Princess, long time no see?"
"Hua Qingshan, you are truly arrogant. If you anger my father, with just one command from him, he could annihilate the Poison Spider Merchant Guild," Huang Yanchen said.
Hua Qingshan was fearless, saying, "The Qianshui Commandery is indeed a powerful nation with countless experts. Ten Poison Spider Merchant Guilds combined would not be a match for the Qianshui Commandery. But the Poison Spider Merchant Guild is a force within the Black Market. Are you sure the Qianshui Commandery can destroy the Black Market?"
Shen Feng lay in a pool of blood, staring at Hua Qingshan, his voice weak as he said, "Young master... save... save me..."
With both legs severed, Shen Feng's martial arts cultivation was essentially ruined. Even if his injuries healed, he would only be a cripple.
Hua Qingshan glanced at Shen Feng, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and said, "To think you could defeat Shen Feng—I underestimated you. But tonight, this young master has set up a heaven net earth trap. Even if you grew wings, you couldn't fly away."
"That's not necessarily true."
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, glanced at Xiao Hei, and said, "It's up to you now!"
Xiao Hei let out a dry laugh. Cracking sounds came from within his body as his bones and flesh shifted, his form swelling until he was a full four meters tall, resembling a massive black tiger.
Two bulges swelled on his back, gradually unfolding into a pair of black wings over ten meters long.
Huang Yanchen was shocked to discover for the first time that Xiao Hei could transform. Of course, she was only startled for a moment before she immediately leaped onto Xiao Hei's back.
"Xiao Hei, let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen vaulted up as well, landing on Xiao Hei's back, his body pressed close to Huang Yanchen's.
"Meow!"
Xiao Hei flapped his wings, turning into a black shadow that shot into the snow-filled night sky.
Hua Qingshan's expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected Zhang Ruochen to actually be able to sprout wings and fly away. His face twisted in fury as he roared, "God-Slaying Arrows!"
With the mountaintop as the center, four God-Slaying Crossbows were positioned in four directions.
The crossbow mechanisms were a full zhang long and required two Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artists to operate together to draw them back.
The four God-Slaying Crossbows had originally been kept as a backup, but now they were actually put to use.
"Whoosh!"
A piercing sound of air being torn rang out.
Four God-Slaying Arrows soared into the air, each three zhang long with shafts as thick as a bowl's rim, the arrowheads blazing like massive flames.
From a distance, it looked like four firestones had risen from the ground, dragging long tails as they shot toward the rapidly flying black cat.
"Those are God-Slaying Arrows, ten times more powerful than Chariot-Breaking Arrows, specifically designed to take down martial arts experts. If there were enough God-Slaying Arrows, they could even kill a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial arts myth," Huang Yanchen said, her heart tightening once more.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen could have entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal. That way, Xiao Hei could shrink his body and dodge the God-Slaying Arrows more easily.
But if they did that, the Time-Space Crystal would definitely be exposed.
From then on, Zhang Ruochen would have no more trump cards.
Zhang Ruochen released his Space Domain, preparing to use the power of Space Distortion to alter the trajectory of the God-Slaying Arrows.
"Just four God-Slaying Arrows—how could they possibly trouble this emperor? Zhang Ruochen, don't use your Space Domain. Leave it to this emperor," Xiao Hei said with great confidence. Bolts of lightning flickered within his body as his speed surged again, and he actually managed to evade all four God-Slaying Arrows.
Huang Yanchen gripped Xiao Hei's long fur tightly with both hands, a look of confusion in her beautiful eyes mixed with excitement. "This cat is no ordinary barbarian beast. Zhang Ruochen, how about selling him to me?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile and looked behind him, saying, "The Poison Spider Young Master is catching up!"
"What?"
Huang Yanchen also looked back and saw the Poison Spider Young Master with a pair of light wings condensed on his back, flying through the air at a speed even faster than Xiao Hei's.
"He's using a Wind Wing, and it's a mid-grade Wind Wing, capable of reaching a speed of two hundred meters per second. Damn it, that mid-grade Wind Wing must be mine," Huang Yanchen said angrily, punching Xiao Hei's back hard.
A mid-grade Wind Wing required five thousand contribution points to exchange, worth over five million silver coins.
Even Huang Yanchen had only exchanged for one.
When she was imprisoned in the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, that mid-grade Wind Wing had been taken from her.
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly, saying, "You had a mid-grade Wind Wing, yet you were still captured by the Poison Spider Merchant Guild?"
"Those evil-path martial artists are very cunning. They used a combined attack formation, and even with a mid-grade Wind Wing, I couldn't escape from the formation," Huang Yanchen said.
The Poison Spider Young Master drew closer and closer, soon closing to within a hundred zhang, and said with a laugh, "You can't escape. Why not just surrender?"
"Hua!"
The Poison Spider Young Master swung his arm, sending a curved blade flying to slash at Xiao Hei, who was flying ahead.
Zhang Ruochen immediately stood up on Xiao Hei's back, swung his sword, and knocked the curved blade away.
"It seems I have no choice but to fight with all my strength today."
Zhang Ruochen gripped the sword hilt with one hand and held the blade with the other. A flame-shaped mark appeared on his forehead. In his Qi Sea, the Sword Heart Illumination emitted a dazzling light.
Under the control of the Sword Heart Illumination, the Abyssal Ancient Sword floated directly in midair.
Seeing this, both Huang Yanchen, sitting on Xiao Hei's back, and the Poison Spider Young Master, chasing from afar, showed expressions of astonishment.
"Sword Heart Illumination," the Poison Spider Young Master exclaimed.
"Cut!"
Zhang Ruochen pointed his finger, and the Abyssal Ancient Sword shot forward, turning into a streak of light that slashed at the Poison Spider Young Master.
The Poison Spider Young Master retrieved his curved blade and blocked horizontally.
Just as he deflected the Abyssal Ancient Sword, Zhang Ruochen redirected it, sending it flying from another direction to strike at Hua Qingshan again.
"Bang, bang!"
In just an instant, Zhang Ruochen unleashed over a dozen strikes, forcing the Poison Spider Young Master into a flustered state.
"Using the Wind Wing, my speed can reach two hundred meters per second, but my ability to react becomes very weak. And he has reached the realm of Sword Heart Illumination, able to control his sword to kill enemies from afar. If I keep fighting like this, it will be very disadvantageous for me."
If they were on the ground, the Poison Spider Young Master was fully confident he could defeat Zhang Ruochen.
Even with Sword Heart Illumination, it wouldn't stop him.
But flying in midair, the Poison Spider Young Master was already at a disadvantage. Coupled with the mystery of Sword Heart Illumination, defeating Zhang Ruochen was nearly impossible.
Though extremely unwilling, the Poison Spider Young Master finally stopped, hovering in midair, staring coldly and sharply at the black cat flying farther and farther away.
"He didn't chase after us after all." Zhang Ruochen let out a long sigh of relief and retrieved the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
He immediately sat cross-legged on Xiao Hei's back, holding two spirit crystals in his hands as he began to recover his true qi.
After a night of consecutive battles, Zhang Ruochen's true qi had been heavily depleted. He simply couldn't continue fighting.
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had been on the verge of true qi exhaustion, barely holding on by sheer willpower. If Hua Qingshan had chased for even a moment longer, Zhang Ruochen would definitely have been exposed.
Fortunately, by unleashing the power of Sword Heart Illumination, he had intimidated Hua Qingshan, who had never seen sword-controlling techniques before. Otherwise, escaping today would have been very difficult.
Huang Yanchen glanced at Zhang Ruochen, gently biting her lip. Seeing that he was cultivating, she held back the questions she wanted to ask.
Her true qi was also heavily depleted, so she began to circulate her technique to recover.
"Hua Qingshan is a triple-absolute genius with cultivation at the Great Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm. I need to break through to the late stage of the Earth Extreme Realm to fight him head-on. How can I reach the late stage of the Earth Extreme Realm as quickly as possible?"
As he cultivated, Zhang Ruochen pondered.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. An ancient secret technique came to mind: the False God Body.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes lit up. "Next month is the sacrificial ceremony. Perhaps I can use that secret technique to seize the sacrificial power. Not only could I break through to the late stage of the Earth Extreme Realm, but I might even reach the Small Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm."
Martial artists who cultivated that secret technique could use their own Martial Soul to condense a False God Body. During the sacrifice, releasing the False God Body would allow them to seize the sacrificial power.
Of course, that ancient secret technique was extremely difficult to cultivate and required the assistance of a special spiritual medicine.
If he could find that spiritual medicine, there was still a chance to successfully cultivate the False God Body in a short time.