Chapter 2157: One Person Wielding Two Swords
The starry sky small world became extremely unstable, as the Mixed Origin Hell Yama Qi formed terrifying streams of energy that surged in all directions.
Each stream of energy was like a dazzling comet, and even a top-tier Nine-Step Saint King would likely be shattered into pieces if struck.
Yin Yuanchen retreated as far as he could, putting distance between himself and Yan Wushen while continuously dodging. Even with his strength, being hit repeatedly by these energy streams would not end well.
"Too strong. How can a Saint King be this powerful? This is the true Yan Wushen—unmatched, peerless, invincible under heaven." Yin Yuanchen's heart trembled violently.
He no longer dared to think about capturing or killing Yan Wushen. All he could think about now was how to escape.
Facing the unified good and evil Yan Wushen, even the mere aura he exuded made it difficult to muster the will to fight.
In Yin Yuanchen's estimation, even if he joined forces with Zhang Ruochen, they would likely struggle to withstand Yan Wushen. If things went wrong, both of them might end up dying here.
Above the blood cloud, Chi Kunlun was burning with anxiety, his eyes turning red, but he could do nothing.
"I told you to leave! Why don't you understand? I don't need you to save me. Go!" Chi Kunlun roared.
He believed that with Zhang Ruochen's abilities, if he wanted to leave, this starry sky small world probably couldn't trap him.
But if Zhang Ruochen stayed to fight Yan Wushen at his peak, the outcome would be unpredictable. No matter what, Chi Kunlun absolutely did not want Zhang Ruochen to die here trying to save him.
If that happened, he would live the rest of his life in guilt.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen had no leisure to concern himself with anything else. His full attention was fixed on Yan Wushen.
The stronger one's own power, the more one could perceive Yan Wushen's terror.
Even a random aura emanating from his body could shatter stars and crack heaven and earth.
"One hundred million Sacred Dao rules, ten Daos at Great Perfection. I never imagined that fusing good and evil bodies would produce such an astonishing transformation. I wonder if anyone in history has been more brilliant than Yan Wushen at the Saint King realm." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
At the Saint King realm, reaching one hundred million Sacred Dao rules would trigger all kinds of incredible changes—something every cultivator dreamed of.
But this step was like a heavenly moat. Even being one rule short made it impossible to cross.
Everyone understood that crossing this step and laying the most solid foundation for the Sacred Dao would have an immeasurably profound impact on future cultivation, perhaps even being the key to becoming a god and mastering Profound Meaning.
"Whoosh."
Drawn by a powerful force, all the Mixed Origin Hell Yama Qi rapidly gathered together, and the river of Sacred Dao rules also flowed back.
When everything returned to calm, Yan Wushen's figure reappeared.
Both the good and evil bodies had vanished, replaced by Yan Wushen's complete true form.
The Yan Wushen who now appeared had an unpredictable temperament—sometimes sacred, sometimes evil, like a god or a demon. He exuded an extremely dangerous aura, appearing very unstable.
Violent power swirled around Yan Wushen, shattering the surrounding space into fragments, creating a vacuum zone.
As expected, Yan Wushen had just fused his good and evil bodies and could not yet fully control this new power.
Yan Wushen stood in the dark void like an ancient divine demon crossing time and space to descend here, his gaze cold, looking down on heaven and earth.
"Zhang Ruochen, use all your strength and fight me." Yan Wushen said coldly.
As he spoke, Yan Wushen pointed a finger, releasing his Origin power.
Instantly, countless tiny particles were gathered together. Regardless of their original form, their Origin changed, transforming into dark golden metallic liquid that surged toward Zhang Ruochen.
Just as Zhang Ruochen tried to evade, the metallic liquid sealed all his escape routes, quickly solidified, and formed a giant sphere.
Then, this sphere compressed at extreme speed, its internal structure becoming increasingly dense.
The pressure inside the sphere was terrifying, and even an Immortal Sacred Body might not be able to withstand it.
This technique used not only Origin power but also Space power, perfectly combining the two to easily crush an ordinary Immortal Great Saint.
At this moment, Yin Yuanchen took out a silver-white long sword, fully infused it with Saint Qi, and unleashed vast Divine Power, condensing a ten-thousand-zhang-long sword light that slashed toward Yan Wushen.
At this point, he clearly could no longer stand idly by. If Zhang Ruochen was suppressed by Yan Wushen, his own fate would not be good either.
Yan Wushen glanced at Yin Yuanchen and waved his sleeve.
A powerful stream of Mixed Origin Hell Yama Qi flew out, transforming into a billion-zhang-long ink-green ribbon that displayed the momentum to sweep through all heavens.
"Crack."
The moment they made contact, the sword light shattered, and the Divine Power scattered.
Yin Yuanchen's expression changed. He quickly activated the sword in his hand with all his might while forming dozens of defensive light shields.
"Boom."
The ink-green ribbon was unstoppable, breaking through all of Yin Yuanchen's defenses and sending him flying.
"Pfft."
Yin Yuanchen coughed up blood. If not for his extremely extraordinary Sacred Robe and the large number of Divine Marks inscribed on his body, his physical form might have been torn apart by that attack.
A few more attacks of this magnitude would be enough to kill him.
Whether he liked it or not, Yin Yuanchen had to accept that his strength was simply not on the same level as Yan Wushen's.
"So strong. With Yan Wushen's current power, even the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Palace working together might no longer be a match." Yin Yuanchen's mind shook violently.
"Below the Great Saint realm, there are very few living beings who can survive a single strike from me. Your strength is not bad." Yan Wushen said this and did not continue attacking.
"Boom."
At that moment, billions of sharp sword energies burst forth, cutting the metal sphere into pieces from the inside out.
Countless crystal-clear flower buds appeared out of thin air, then slowly bloomed.
Flowers blooming in the void—it was a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
But after these flower buds bloomed, they released an incredibly powerful destructive force, turning all the metal fragments into ash, which was then swallowed by the void, leaving not even the most basic particles behind.
Zhang Ruochen's figure reappeared, surrounded by countless translucent sword lotuses, appearing completely unharmed.
Seeing this, Yin Yuanchen suddenly understood, "So this is Brother Zhang's true strength. He was deliberately holding back before."
Thinking about it, Yin Yuanchen realized what was going on. Zhang Ruochen had known all along that Yan Wushen had good and evil bodies, yet he still dared to fight. How could he only have strength equal to Yan Wushen's good body?
And this was undoubtedly good news. The stronger Zhang Ruochen was, the greater their hope of escaping.
Zhang Ruochen held the Divine Sword, mobilizing millions of Sacred Dao rules, with a million Sword Dao rules as the core, while the others were Sacred Dao rules related to the Sword Dao, including Truth Rules. He even mobilized the Truth Esoterica.
The sword hilt from the Sword Grave was too extraordinary, containing many secrets. Using the Truth Esoterica, he could forcibly unleash part of its power.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was solemn. Using the Earth Sword Soul, he entered a state of unity between man and sword, unleashing a sword strike without reservation.
"Whoosh——"
This was his strongest sword strike, containing all his insights and understanding of the Sword Dao, as well as his sincere and devoted heart to the Sword Dao.
The divine light that formed the sword body scattered, transforming into thousands of light swords, carrying an indescribably terrifying momentum as they slashed toward Yan Wushen.
"Come well."
Yan Wushen showed no fear; instead, he appeared very excited.
Vast amounts of Mixed Origin Hell Yama Qi surged out from Yan Wushen's body, all pouring into the fist gloves on his hands.
At the same time, a figure ten thousand miles tall appeared behind Yan Wushen, its head touching the sky and its feet stepping on hell, exuding immense authority.
"Yan God's Wrath, Blood Flows Like Rivers." Yan Wushen let out a long roar.
The Yan God shadow behind him moved, punching together with him.
A colossal fist imprint appeared, filling heaven and earth, as if it would knock down all the stars in the sky.
As this fist imprint appeared, extremely astonishing phenomena occurred within the starry sky small world—billions of living beings fell dead, and countless gods and demons bled, falling from beyond the sky.
Just this phenomenon alone could shake people's hearts and instill fear.
"Whoosh..."
The thousands of light swords Zhang Ruochen had unleashed all displayed peerless sharpness, cutting through everything, destroying the phenomena in the sky and shattering the massive fist imprint.
Correspondingly, all the light swords also shattered one after another, reverting to divine light and returning to the ancient sword hilt.
"Very strong sword technique, but not enough." Yan Wushen said.
Zhang Ruochen's heart sank slightly. Even his strongest sword strike couldn't threaten Yan Wushen—this was truly not good news.
Although he had many trump cards, very few could actually threaten Yan Wushen. Even the Sundial, Yan Wushen might already have a way to counter it.
Yan Wushen extended a hand and casually turned it over.
In an instant, the space where Zhang Ruochen was located underwent a great change. Heaven and earth overturned, and dozens of blood-red stars appeared around him.
With Zhang Ruochen at the center, a large area of space twisted violently, compressing and folding repeatedly, forming a cage that trapped him inside.
"The Space Dao at Great Perfection is truly terrifying. It can completely suppress my Space Dao." Zhang Ruochen was secretly shocked.
His Space Dao was not weak either, only one rule short of reaching Great Perfection. But that one rule difference made a world of difference in controlling space.
Zhang Ruochen put away the sword hilt. As his mind moved, the Time Sacred Aspect and Space Sacred Aspect appeared on either side of him. He brought his hands together, forming a strange hand seal.
His left hand condensed Time power, while his right hand condensed Space power. When the two collided, they immediately gave rise to incredibly mysterious changes.
Incredibly, the powers of these two eternal Daos rapidly fused together, transforming into a completely new power.
"Space-Time Annihilation."
Zhang Ruochen murmured, instantly releasing the Space-Time power he had condensed.
Given his current cultivation level, controlling Space-Time power was still very difficult. Even if he could condense it, he could only maintain it for an extremely short time. One misstep and he would harm himself.
In the void, the shadow of the River of Time manifested, flowing slowly, without beginning or end.
Countless Time Imprints flew out from the River of Time, causing the flow of time in this area to become extremely chaotic.
"Boom."
The dozens of blood-red stars all exploded, and the layered space around them was completely torn apart, forming a huge spatial fault like a dark abyss, swallowing everything.
Zhang Ruochen activated his phenomenon, using the Five Elements Chaos World to protect himself, and rushed out as fast as he could.
After expending great effort, Zhang Ruochen finally emerged from the spatial fault, but his phenomenon was still shattered, and the blood and Qi in his body churned violently, nearly spurting from his mouth.
Fortunately, the Flame God Armor and Divine Marks provided defense, along with his Five Elements Chaos Body cultivated to the extreme, allowing him to withstand it.
Yan Wushen watched Zhang Ruochen and said, "I'll give you one more chance. Serve the Hell Realm."
Yan Wushen truly admired a peerless genius like Zhang Ruochen and very much wanted to bring him into his fold.
Of course, if Zhang Ruochen remained stubborn, he would have no choice but to kill the genius.
Zhang Ruochen remained very calm, forcefully suppressing the boiling blood and Qi in his body without speaking. His determined eyes already showed his stance.
"What a pity." Yan Wushen shook his head slightly.
The next moment, Yan Wushen's aura surged violently. His long black hair flew, and an ancient book flew out from his body, hovering above his head, slowly opening.
Beams of Life and Death Mysterious Light flew out from the ancient book, interpreting the mysteries of life and death to the extreme.
Seeing the "Death Heavenly Scripture," Chi Kunlun bit his lip so hard it almost drew blood. He shouted at Yan Wushen, "Yan Wushen, I agree to become your disciple. Let Zhang Ruochen go."
Hearing this, Yan Wushen showed a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected Chi Kunlun, with his stubborn personality, to agree.
Then, Yan Wushen shook his head and said, "Kid, you're still too naive. Do you think this battle can still be stopped at this point? Zhang Ruochen and I represent this era. We must determine victory and defeat, even life and death. An era can only have one invincible warrior."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was calm as he looked at Chi Kunlun and said indifferently, "Yan Wushen is destined to be my defeated opponent. Why would you want to become his disciple? Just watch quietly from the side."
Anyone could hear the strong confidence in Zhang Ruochen's words.
"Hahaha, arrogant enough. Zhang Ruochen, let me see what other tricks you have."
Yan Wushen was about to launch a fierce attack when he suddenly sensed something and looked up.
"Boom."
A black and a red sword light flew in like meteors, breaking through the starry sky small world.
"Shua."
The two sword lights descended from the sky, appearing beside Zhang Ruochen, transforming into two ancient long swords. One was black and broad, the other blood-red and slender.
The two swords hovered in the air, containing Yin and Yang, life and death, as if they could seize the creation of heaven and earth.
They were the Abyssal Sword and the Blood Drop Sword.
Zhang Ruochen had a close connection with the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and even this starry sky small world couldn't completely block it.
Summoned by Zhang Ruochen, the Abyssal Sword and Blood Drop Sword immediately flew over from the Ziwei Imperial Palace, arriving at just the right time.
In harmony with the sword intent of the two swords, Zhang Ruochen's long hair flew, his entire being became extremely sharp, and his body emitted a five-colored chaotic light, as if he had transformed into a peerless Sword God.
With a flick of his sleeve, the Abyssal Sword and Blood Drop Sword both rose into the air, like lovers entwining around each other, full of affection, evolving into a Yin-Yang Taiji pattern that covered the entire starry sky small world, seeming to touch the edge of the world.
Since the battle at the Sword Grave, the Abyssal Sword and Blood Drop Sword finally had the chance to jointly execute the Liangyi Sect's strongest dual sword formation—the Yin-Yang Liangyi Sword Formation.
However, compared to that time, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation and strength had undergone astonishing improvements. His Sword Dao had reached Great Perfection, and the Abyssal Sword had transformed into a Monarch Battle Artifact.
Only by being extremely devoted to emotion could one be extremely devoted to the sword.
The emotion here was not between him and Chi Yao, but the emotion between the Abyssal Sword and the Blood Drop Sword.
"Hum."
At this moment, all the swords of the cultivators within the entire imperial city trembled violently, pulled by a powerful force, uncontrollably wanting to fly away.
For a time, countless cultivators were alarmed.
"What's happening? Why are all the Sword Dao rules in heaven and earth converging toward one direction?"
"Such a powerful energy fluctuation. Who is fighting in the imperial city?"
"This aura... it has far surpassed the Saint King realm. Could a Great Saint have descended?"