Chapter 2156: Good and Evil United, Invincible Under Heaven
Seeing Zhang Ruochen swing his sword, Yan Wushen showed no fear; instead, excitement gleamed in his eyes. His nine-zhang-six golden body trembled, releasing vast golden blood qi.
Spinning his fists, Yan Wushen poured his power continuously into the fist gloves on his hands. The gloves blazed with dazzling golden light as countless supreme inscription runes surfaced, unleashing waves of supreme power.
In an instant, Yan Wushen threw over a hundred punches. The sky filled with majestic fist imprints, like ancient divine mountains crossing time and space to manifest in this realm.
The hundred fist imprints collided with the sword-qi world, like a hundred massive stars crashing into a world.
"Boom."
Space shattered like glass under the force, creating a destructive spatial storm that obliterated the courtyard, reducing it to ashes.
Even this sturdy starry sky pocket realm trembled violently. Massive spatial cracks spread across the starry sky, as if the entire realm was about to collapse.
The sword-qi world shattered but also ground all the fist imprints to dust.
Then, countless sharp sword energies erupted, engulfing Yan Wushen.
Each sword energy bore a spatial imprint, ignoring spatial barriers and cutting through anything.
"Clang."
The sword energies struck Yan Wushen's golden body with a metallic ring but failed to breach its defense, leaving only shallow white marks.
Yan Wushen pressed his palms together. A "卍" Buddhist seal appeared before him, radiating boundless Buddhist light, imperishable and indestructible. Ripples of golden light spread outward.
Where the golden ripples passed, all sword energies dissipated, and the violent (kuangbao) spatial forces calmed.
Soon, a vast expanse of space turned golden. Golden lotuses sprouted from the void. Ethereal Buddhist chants filled the entire realm, and a pure land of no calamity or tribulation seemed to emerge in the void, with countless Buddhas dwelling there, eternal and undying.
After a moment, all sword energies vanished. The "卍" seal shrank and sank into the chest of Yan Wushen's nine-zhang-six golden body.
"As expected of the Buddhist sect's ultimate golden body technique—truly indestructible," Zhang Ruochen praised without stinginess (linse).
That sword strike of his could have cut through even the immortal sacred body of a Great Saint, yet Yan Wushen emerged unscathed.
As Zhang Ruochen knew, even in the Western Buddha Realm, few could cultivate the nine-zhang-six golden body. The technique was too fierce and domineering; one misstep could destroy the cultivator.
Throughout history, those who had perfected the nine-zhang-six golden body at the Saint King Realm could be counted on one hand.
Yin Yuanchen's expression turned grave. "What a terrifying Yan Wushen. No one expected he still had such a trump card. The nine-zhang-six golden body is a secret art of the Buddhist sect. How did Yan Wushen obtain it?"
"Moreover, even with the cultivation method, without certain Buddhist auxiliary (fuzhu) techniques, it should be impossible to master. Could it be... he found some opportunity in the Kunlun Realm?"
The Kunlun Realm also had Buddhist traditions, with a long history and deep ties to the Western Buddha Realm.
Before this, no one had heard of Yan Wushen practicing Buddhism. Even when pursued by the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Palace, he never revealed the nine-zhang-six golden body.
This suggested Yan Wushen had only truly mastered it after arriving in the Kunlun Realm.
Yin Yuanchen then turned his gaze to Zhang Ruochen, surprise flickering in his eyes. "Such terrifying swordsmanship—even a Great Saint would struggle to achieve it. His sword path has reached such a profound level."
He knew Zhang Ruochen's swordsmanship was extraordinary, but he hadn't expected it to be this powerful.
Yin Yuanchen could clearly feel the might of Zhang Ruochen's sword strike. If it were him, he would either die or be severely injured.
Only Yan Wushen's nine-zhang-six golden body could withstand it unscathed.
"Zhang Ruochen, take this punch from me."
Yan Wushen stepped through the void and threw a straightforward punch.
"Whoosh."
Countless golden lights burst from Yan Wushen's body, condensing (ningju) into a thousand-mile-tall divine Buddha, solemn and majestic, also throwing a punch.
"Boom."
Golden light pierced through the void, shattering (fensui) everything, creating a dark vacuum zone.
"Be careful."
Chi Kunlun's face showed worry, and he couldn't help shouting.
In his perception, Yan Wushen now seemed like a supreme divine Buddha descending, his overwhelming might shaking Chi Kunlun's spirit.
Facing such a Yan Wushen, he didn't know if Zhang Ruochen could still fight back, but he hoped Zhang Ruochen wouldn't be hurt.
Despite the raging storm, Zhang Ruochen remained calm. He swung his divine sword, and countless time imprints appeared, covering the starry sky, resonating with the sword.
In an instant, a virtual time domain formed, drastically altering the flow of time in a large area, as if time itself had frozen.
A sword light streaked across the sky, faster than imagination, impossible to track.
"Crack."
The terrifying fist imprint Yan Wushen had thrown split apart, cut in two, then completely dissipated.
By then, Yan Wushen had closed in. He turned his fist into a palm and struck slowly.
His palm grew enormous, blotting out the sky (zhetian), carrying irresistible force as it pressed down on Zhang Ruochen.
At the same time, behind Yan Wushen, the golden Buddhist kingdom became more solid, as if about to descend from the void into reality.
Inside the kingdom, three thousand true Buddhas sat in meditation, their chanting endless, pouring boundless Buddhist power into Yan Wushen. The sky-covering (zhetian) palm's might grew, capable of plucking stars and moons with ease.
Zhang Ruochen stood still. Vast five elements chaos qi surged from his body, condensing (ningju) into a massive world, solid and real, indistinguishable from the real world.
This world evolved at an astonishing speed, with time rules, space rules, and five elements rules interwoven. Earth, wind, water, and fire churned endlessly.
After seventy-two days of enlightenment with the Imperial Emperor's Divine Ruler, Zhang Ruochen's Five Elements Chaos Body had truly reached perfection. One more step, and he could achieve Great Sainthood with his physical body alone.
The chaos world, over a thousand miles in diameter, rose into the air, colliding with the descending sky-covering (zhetian) palm.
"Boom."
The chaos world trembled violently but firmly held the sky-covering (zhetian) palm, preventing it from descending further.
The previously hidden "卍" seal appeared on the sky-covering (zhetian) palm, releasing world-suppressing power.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly looked up. He swung his divine sword, slashing out a cross-shaped solid sword light.
This cross sword light carried extreme sharpness. It effortlessly cut through the already frozen space, penetrating layer by layer into the deepest dark void.
"Clang."
The "卍" seal dimmed after the strike. The sky-covering (zhetian) palm trembled, then rapidly shrank.
Yan Wushen's eyes showed gravity. In their fight so far, he found he couldn't see through Zhang Ruochen's depth or find his limits.
His nine-zhang-six golden body was absolute power. Even an immortal Great Saint might not withstand his punch; their immortal sacred body could be shattered.
But against Zhang Ruochen, he couldn't gain any advantage.
If not for his perfected golden body, he might have been injured by Zhang Ruochen.
Yan Wushen had to admit that in these few months, Zhang Ruochen's improvement far exceeded his own.
Yan Wushen stared at Zhang Ruochen. "Sword path perfection, combined with such powerful swordsmanship—in terms of sword path alone, no one below Great Saint can match you. Even the legendary sword gods of history, at the same level, wouldn't be better."
"To freely combine the ways of space and time with the sword path—Zhang Ruochen, if you continue cultivating, you might one day rival or even surpass Xumi Saint Monk."
"It seems, after your battle with your evil self at Luo River, I shouldn't have given you so much time to grow."
Zhang Ruochen remained calm and composed. "Yan Wushen, even if you've perfected the nine-zhang-six golden body and are indestructible, your good self alone can't do anything to me. Why waste time? Let your evil self join the fight."
Hearing this, Chi Kunlun and Yin Yuanchen looked confused, unsure of the situation.
Good self? Evil self? Were there two Yan Wushens?
"Today, my cultivation is nearly complete. It's time to merge my two selves. Meeting an opponent as strong as you before achieving Great Sainthood makes me happy," Yan Wushen said with a faint smile.
As he spoke, the bloody starry sky trembled. Space rippled, and a tall, imposing figure appeared out of thin air, standing in the sky, looking down at everyone.
This figure looked exactly like Yan Wushen but exuded an extremely evil aura, as if it were the condensation (ningju) of all evil in the universe. Where it passed, even space turned pitch black.
"Another Yan Wushen."
Chi Kunlun and Yin Yuanchen showed shock.
Yin Yuanchen studied the new Yan Wushen carefully, then a flash of understanding crossed his eyes. "Everyone thought Yan Wushen was moody, often falling into evil, even his power attributes changing. It turns out people weren't seeing the same Yan Wushen."
Undoubtedly, the one who fought Zhang Ruochen at Luo River was this newly appeared Yan Wushen.
Secret arts to split the body existed, like the "Three Corpses Refining Dao" on the "Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking," which could split a person into three.
But Yin Yuanchen could see that Yan Wushen's good and evil selves were fundamentally different from the three corpses.
The three corpses could only exist briefly, not independently for long, and shared unified thoughts.
Yan Wushen's good and evil selves, however, seemed like two separate individuals, with different personalities, powers, and methods.
"One Yan Wushen can already match Zhang Ruochen. Adding another, does Zhang Ruochen still have a chance?" Yin Yuanchen worried.
With two Yan Wushens, even the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Palace would have to retreat.
Their combined combat power was far more than one plus one.
Yan Wushen's evil self sneered coldly. "Zhang Ruochen, we meet again. Your strength has grown so much—you haven't disappointed me."
Zhang Ruochen could sense that the evil self's power had also greatly increased, though not as much as the good self, it was still close.
Both bodies had cultivated multiple paths, including space and origin, to perfection. He wondered what transformation would occur after fusion.
According to Bore, once the two selves merged, Yan Wushen could perfect that forbidden Buddhist technique, reaching true peak and achieving legend.
"Zhang Ruochen, as you wish, I'll fight you at my peak," Yan Wushen's good self said.
As he spoke, he withdrew his nine-zhang-six golden body and retracted his space sacred form and origin sacred form into his body. He exchanged a glance with his evil self.
Then, both formed strange hand seals. Vast bright Yama qi and dark Yama qi surged from their bodies.
"Whoosh."
The two Yan Wushens moved simultaneously, turning into streams of light and colliding.
"Boom."
A terrifying force erupted, spreading in all directions, like a volcano dormant for billions of years suddenly exploding.
This collision was more violent than two massive stars crashing, carrying the might of world destruction.
Bright Yama qi and dark Yama qi intertwined, merging, complementing each other like yin and yang, achieving chaotic unity.
In an instant, a new type of Yama qi was born—ink-green, carrying chaotic aura (qixi), as if originating from the dawn of heaven and earth.
This was the legendary Mixed Origin Hell Yama qi of the Yama Clan, with infinite changes and uses. Few had cultivated it since ancient times.
"Rumble."
A river composed entirely of sacred dao rules surged from the Mixed Origin Hell Yama qi, mighty and majestic, like a divine dragon emerging.
In this river were a full one hundred million sacred dao rules, each solid and exuding intense immortal aura (qixi), surpassing many immortal Great Saints.
"One hundred million sacred dao rules? How is that possible?"
Yin Yuanchen's eyes widened in disbelief.
The limit of sacred dao rules a Saint King could cultivate was one hundred million, but those who achieved it existed only in ancient legends.
At least in the last hundred thousand years, no peerless genius across the myriad realms had cultivated one hundred million sacred dao rules at the Saint King Realm.
Achieving one hundred million sacred dao rules meant reaching perfect flawlessness at the Saint King Realm, a hundred times harder than perfecting a single path.
Yin Yuanchen then examined the rules in the river, growing more shocked. He found that Yan Wushen had perfected ten sacred paths, including space and origin.
For most, perfecting even one sacred path was extremely difficult.
But Yan Wushen had perfected ten, including two eternal paths. What did that mean? Even if told, few would believe it.