Chapter 2177: Judgment Sword
Inside the Ziwei Palace, Yin Yuan Chen stood quietly, looking down at Zhang Ruochen and A Le in the sea realm. A cruel smile faintly appeared in his eyes.
No matter how vigilant Zhang Ruochen was, he had ultimately fallen into his trap, trapped within his treasure. Before long, he would be devoured completely by hundreds of millions of soul-devouring Gu insects.
"Where is Zhang Ruochen? Did you let him escape?"
Just then, a cold voice suddenly rang out.
"Whoosh."
Hundreds of figures flashed out from the depths of the Ziwei Palace, appearing around Yin Yuan Chen.
Everyone exuded extremely powerful auras, their cultivation levels all above the Nine-Step Saint King realm. Some of them even gave off an unfathomable feeling.
They all had extraordinary backgrounds, mostly from the various divine temples and great clans of the Paradise Realm, as well as various major worlds belonging to the Paradise Realm faction.
The Paradise Realm had established numerous divine temples, each founded by gods, often with more than one god stationed there. It was truly a place where gods stood side by side.
The one Zhang Ruochen was most familiar with was the Blood Battle Divine Temple, founded by Jia Tianxia. Among the many divine temples of the Paradise Realm, it ranked only sixteenth, not particularly strong.
Undoubtedly, the strongest divine temple was the Radiant Divine Temple, which inherited the eternal path. Figures like the Archangel Michael and Zhou Yu were all nurtured by the Radiant Divine Temple.
The one who had just spoken was an angelic clan man with eight blood-red wings. His face was stern, his body slender, and he wore a blood-red armor. The killing intent emanating from him was extremely intense, as if he had just walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Among the angelic clan, under normal circumstances, only Great Saint realm experts would have eight wings.
But this angelic clan man only had Saint King realm cultivation, though he faintly exuded the pressure of a Great Saint realm expert.
This man was named Tian Ling, from the Blood Battle Divine Temple. He had once been a very profound Immortal Realm Great Saint, but for some reason, his immortal sacred body had been shattered, causing his realm to fall.
Although he now only had Saint King realm cultivation, Tian Ling's strength was extremely formidable. Below the Great Saint realm, few could be his opponent.
Those who had fallen in realm almost all possessed sweeping, invincible strength at the Saint King realm.
However, without tremendous fortune, the fate of those who had fallen was often tragic. They would have no hope of rebuilding their immortal sacred bodies for the rest of their lives.
The Blood Battle Divine Temple had been the most active in dealing with the Kunlun Realm and Zhang Ruochen, but it had also suffered the most losses. The Scarlet Angel had been killed, the new generation leader had been killed, and even a god had nearly perished. It had lost all face.
Thus, this time, the Blood Battle Divine Temple had gone all out, sending its elite forces to salvage its reputation and avoid being mocked by other divine temples.
Yin Yuan Chen glanced at Tian Ling and said coldly, "With me personally taking action, how could Zhang Ruochen possibly escape? He is not far from death now."
As he spoke, Yin Yuan Chen revealed the world contained within his glove to Tian Ling and the others.
As an insider, breaching the Ziwei Palace and suppressing Zhang Ruochen—these two great achievements were enough for Yin Yuan Chen to stand tall and make everyone dare not look down on him anymore.
Once this matter was settled and he returned to the Paradise Realm, Yin Yuan Chen's status and position would undergo earth-shattering changes. He would finally obtain the glory and treatment that rightfully belonged to him, no longer needing to envy others, and could live with dignity.
"Master Yin Yuan's methods are truly extraordinary. Even someone as strong as Zhang Ruochen was easily captured. In this operation, Master Yin Yuan's contribution is unparalleled." A very beautiful woman smiled and flattered him.
She wore a dark green long dress, with a slender waist, a long neck, and skin as white as jade. Her eyes were extremely lively, giving off a strong sense of allure. If one met her gaze, it seemed their soul would be taken away.
The woman was named Bing Tong, a cultivator from the Soul Realm. She was the true leader below the Great Saint realm in the Soul Realm, far surpassing the current Da Xi Wang in cultivation and strength.
The guards outside the palace gate had been controlled by Bing Tong's methods, their sacred souls seized.
Her methods were extremely superb. If Zhang Ruochen had not refined the Heart of Truth, he probably would not have been able to see through any flaws.
Hearing Bing Tong's words, a smile appeared in Yin Yuan Chen's eyes. This was exactly the effect he wanted to see.
Yin Yuan Chen's gaze swept over Tian Ling, Bing Tong, and the others, and he asked, "Have you captured the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden? How is the situation at the Qinghong Pavilion?"
To be honest, the Paradise Realm's operation this time was mainly aimed at the Peach Tree. Dealing with Zhang Ruochen was only secondary.
"The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden inherited her ancestor's Nine Radiance Divine Tear, so she is naturally not easy to deal with. Although I used a secret technique to interfere with the power of the Nine Radiance Divine Tear, she still retreated into the divine temple where Empress Chi Yao once lived. That divine temple is protected by Empress Chi Yao's divine power and is inscribed with a large number of divine patterns, making it difficult to breach for now."
"However, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden has already been injured, leaving behind some blood. This blood has been collected and is enough to activate the space formation inside the Qinghong Pavilion. Once we can break through the Qinghong Pavilion's defenses, locking onto the space where the Peach Tree is located will be a simple matter."
The radiant and refined Yao Tian Gongzi stepped out from the crowd, a smile on his face, as if everything was under his control.
No one would have thought that Yao Tian Gongzi, representing the Tianquan Great World, would join forces with the Paradise Realm faction to launch an operation against the Kunlun Realm.
If Zhang Ruochen had heard Yao Tian Gongzi's words, he would have been very surprised. The Qinghong Pavilion was actually connected to the Peach Tree, especially since he had personally entered the Qinghong Pavilion before and had not noticed anything unusual.
"The formations inside and outside the Qinghong Pavilion were all arranged by the senior disciple of Xumi Saint Monk. They are extremely mysterious and profound. Breaking them will not be an easy task." A strong cultivator frowned.
Concerning the Peach Tree, it went without saying that the defenses would be extremely tight, making it difficult for anyone to succeed easily.
If not for these arrangements, the top experts of the Paradise Realm and the Hell Realm would have already locked onto the spatial coordinates of the Peach Tree, and there would be no need for such trouble.
Tian Ling turned his gaze to the sea realm in Yin Yuan Chen's palm and said, "The top priority is to eliminate Zhang Ruochen as quickly as possible to avoid complications."
Zhang Ruochen's existence was a highly unstable factor, extremely threatening, and had repeatedly disrupted the major plans of the Paradise Realm faction.
"Don't worry, the soul-devouring Gu insects will soon devour Zhang Ruochen clean." Yin Yuan Chen said.
Gu insects nurtured by a god were naturally extremely terrifying. Even a Great Saint might not be able to resist them.
Moreover, Yin Yuan Chen had been feeding them with his father's divine blood, making these soul-devouring Gu insects even more bizarre and fearsome.
Yin Yuan Chen knew that Zhang Ruochen's methods were formidable. If he released the soul-devouring Gu insects in the outside world, Zhang Ruochen might still have a way to escape. But now that he was trapped in the sea realm, there was no way to heaven and no door to earth—only death awaited him.
No matter how powerful Zhang Ruochen's space techniques were, he could not escape from it.
...
Inside the sea realm, Zhang Ruochen and A Le were being crazily attacked by hundreds of millions of soul-devouring Gu insects, which sealed off all their escape routes.
The soul-devouring Gu insects formed a soul-devouring barrier, enveloping Zhang Ruochen and A Le, combining their powers to display an unstoppable momentum.
"Buzz."
All the soul-devouring Gu insects flapped their wings together, releasing a strange and terrifying sound wave that vibrated the void and directly targeted the sacred soul.
At the same time, the soul-devouring Gu insects secreted a terrifying venom that permeated the air, silently seeping into Zhang Ruochen and A Le's bodies.
A Le remained expressionless, drawing his sword very calmly.
The iron sword traced a strange trajectory, vibrating slightly, releasing an extremely special fluctuation that actually broke the sound wave released by the soul-devouring Gu insects.
The fluctuation released by A Le was extremely terrifying, easily causing people to fall into its trap. Unbeknownst to them, their sacred soul would be dissolved.
As A Le acted, Zhang Ruochen also made his move. Using the Truth Esoterica, he activated the Flame God Armor, causing a sky-burning flame to rise. Combining it with the Purifying Divine Flame, it spread in all directions.
Now that he possessed forty-nine ten-thousandths of the Truth Esoterica, coupled with the Heart of Truth, he could undoubtedly unleash a stronger power from the Flame God Armor.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen's Fire Path had been cultivated to Great Perfection, undergoing a qualitative change. Any flame in his hands could unleash unimaginable terrifying power.
"Sizzle."
Under the divine flame's burning, the strange venom in the air was refined, making a faint sound.
"Boom."
Driven by Zhang Ruochen, the divine flame shot into the sky, like an ancient volcano erupting.
With the support of the Truth Path, the divine flame became extremely terrifying, as if it could burn the sky and boil the sea, melting all things, reducing heaven and earth to nothingness.
Instantly, the soul-devouring barrier formed by the soul-devouring Gu insects was forcibly broken through. A large number of soul-devouring Gu insects were burned to ashes, falling into the sea.
"Fire Path Great Perfection, plus the Emperor-level Purifying Divine Flame, and that Flame God Armor—there's something strange about it." Tian Ling said with some surprise.
According to the intelligence they had obtained, Zhang Ruochen should have only cultivated the Sword Path to Great Perfection. Although his other sacred paths were strong, they were still lacking.
Yin Yuan Chen's eyes narrowed. He had personally witnessed Zhang Ruochen's battle with Yan Wushen and thought he had fully understood Zhang Ruochen's methods and strength.
But now it seemed that the intelligence he had was clearly very different from the actual situation.
Somehow, Yin Yuan Chen felt that he could no longer see through Zhang Ruochen at all. It was as if a layer of mist shrouded him, and no one knew what terrifying methods he would unleash next.
"Who is the person with Zhang Ruochen? Such a strange Sword Path." Bing Tong said, her eyes gleaming with strange light.
"This person is named A Le, known as the Life-Seizing Swordsman. He is a key cultivation target of the Death God Temple. In recent years, he has been opposing our Heavenly Killing Organization, killing many of our people." From the shadows, a ghost-like figure stepped out.
This person wore a black robe and a ghost-face mask, his aura almost completely concealed. Even when approaching, it was difficult to sense his presence.
He was a Killer Heavenly King of the Heavenly Killing Organization, named He Lian Wu Sheng. He ranked very high on the Killer Heavenly King List, having killed countless Saint Kings, making his name feared.
He Lian Wu Sheng's identity was very mysterious. Almost no one had seen his true face. Whenever he was sent to assassinate a target, he had never failed.
The Heavenly Killing Organization hated A Le to the bone and had always wanted to eliminate him. They had sent multiple Killer Heavenly Kings to deal with him, but not only had they failed to kill A Le, they had all died at his hands instead.
Now, A Le's ranking on the Killer Heavenly King List was already very high, and he was regarded as a major threat by the Heavenly Killing Organization.
Yin Yuan Chen said, "No matter who he is, this time he can only die together with Zhang Ruochen."
As he spoke, Yin Yuan Chen injected a surge of death power into the sea realm.
Few people knew that his main cultivation path was the Death Path, and it was not an ordinary Death Path but the Ancient Extinction Death Force, the most bizarre and terrifying.
In the ancient era, a powerful cultivator had cultivated the Extinction Death Force to its extreme. When released, it could instantly kill all living beings in a major world.
Yin Yuan Chen used his father's divine corpse to train, absorbing death aura, and had already cultivated the Ancient Extinction Death Force to an astonishing level.
Inside the sea realm, the two halves of the Kun's corpse quickly merged together.
Driven by the Ancient Extinction Death Force, the Kun's body turned pitch black, and the surrounding seawater became as thick as ink.
"Roar."
With a roar from the Kun, it opened its bloody mouth, releasing a terrifying devouring force.
All the soul-devouring Gu insects, along with Zhang Ruochen and A Le, were instantly swallowed into the Kun's belly.
The Kun's belly contained a universe, vast and enormous. Whatever it had been before, it was now filled with deathly silence. Countless undead creatures emerged from the ink-like seawater, crazily rushing toward Zhang Ruochen and A Le.
"To have cultivated the Ancient Extinction Death Force to such a level, Yuan Chen, I have truly underestimated you." Zhang Ruochen murmured.
The sea realm had already exerted a very strong suppressive force. Now that they were inside the Kun's body, the suppression was even stronger, even affecting the circulation of sacred Qi.
A Le's gaze was cold, and surging killing intent burst from his body, faintly revealing the phenomenon of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Killing intent merged with the power of life and death, forming two strange eyes behind A Le—one black and one white, like black holes and white holes in the universe.
A Le held the iron sword's hilt with both hands, raising it high.
The two eyes behind him immediately changed. One eye released black sword Qi, and the other released white sword Qi.
The two streams of sword Qi converged, life and death rotating, forming a terrifying torrent of sword Qi that swept in all directions.
"Bang."
Wherever the sword Qi torrent passed, all the undead creatures exploded, their forms and spirits destroyed.
Normally, undead creatures were extremely difficult to eliminate, but the life-and-death sword Qi that A Le cultivated was precisely their nemesis, destroying them at their essence.
Silently, a soul-devouring Gu insect appeared behind A Le's neck.
One of A Le's hairs flew up, its sharpness flashing, cutting the soul-devouring Gu insect in half.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen was also attacked by soul-devouring Gu insects. In this special environment, they were extremely adept at hiding, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, making them hard to guard against.
Once a soul-devouring Gu insect burrowed into the body, it would be a huge trouble, possibly costing one's life in an instant.
"How annoying."
A cold light flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
Immediately, he mobilized his sacred Qi, continuously channeling it into his left leg, activating the millions of divine rules within it. At the same time, he mobilized his flame rules and truth rules.
"Boom."
An immense divine power of flame was released from Zhang Ruochen's left leg, sweeping across all directions. Everything turned to ashes.
Even the sturdyness of the Kun's belly universe could not withstand this divine power of flame, instantly collapsing.
On the sea surface, the Kun's massive body exploded with a loud bang.
The sea surface within ten thousand miles sank directly, the seawater evaporated by a hundred zhang, and it was still boiling.
Whether it was the undead creatures or the soul-devouring Gu insects, all were reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind.
The entire sea realm shook violently, the space becoming extremely unstable, revealing terrifying spatial cracks.
"Bang."
Yin Yuan Chen could not withstand this power. It was as if an ancient divine mountain was pressing down on him, his body bending. The hand wearing the glove was pressed directly to the ground, causing the hard floor to crack densely.
"How is this possible?"
Yin Yuan Chen's eyes were full of disbelief.
He had never imagined that, trapped in the sea realm, Zhang Ruochen could unleash such terrifying power, almost exceeding his ability to bear.
This kick could actually crush a world!
The expressions of the Paradise Realm faction's experts present also changed.
"Use the Judgment Sword to deliver a fatal blow to Zhang Ruochen."
A angelic clan expert with three pairs of platinum wings said solemnly.
Immediately, the eleven angelic clan experts behind him stepped forward.
These twelve angelic clan experts were all from the Radiant Divine Temple, cultivating the Light Path. Although their strength could not match that of the Archangel Michael and Zhou Yu, they were all top experts at the Threshold Dao Realm.
Most importantly, they were skilled in combined attack techniques, mastering the Twelve Judgment Swords. When they went all out, even the Archangel Michael was no match for them.
Thus, they were called the Twelve Judgment Envoys, in charge of punishment.
"Whoosh."
Twelve sacred swords, shining with brilliant holy light, flew out from the bodies of the Twelve Judgment Envoys. On the surface of each sacred sword, hundreds of thousands of king-level inscriptions appeared, their powers able to merge into one.
The twelve Judgment Swords themselves were a set. Combined, they formed a powerful Supreme Sacred Artifact, which had once been stained with divine blood in ancient times.
"Kill."
Driven by the Twelve Judgment Envoys, the twelve Judgment Swords flew into the sea realm.
"Whoosh whoosh."
In an instant, the sacred swords multiplied, from twelve to one hundred and twenty, then to one thousand two hundred, then to twelve thousand.
Finally, they became one hundred and twenty thousand.
It was truly a return of ten thousand swords, a grand spectacle.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. At this moment, besides Yin Yuan Chen, the sky also reflected twelve god-like figures, looking down upon this world.
Seeing the torrent of sacred swords descending from the sky, Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed into slits. He raised his arm and swung it out.
"Boom rumble."
Instantly, the sea surface shook. Millions of water droplets flew up, and under the influence of sword intent, they condensed into sharp sacred swords, shooting into the sky.
Having cultivated to Zhang Ruochen's level, all things could be turned into swords.
Moreover, he had also cultivated the Water Path to Great Perfection. Combined with the Great Perfection of the Sword Path, its power was unfathomable.
The water droplet sacred swords, like a meteor shower, shot into the sky.
"Bang bang."
The sacred swords in the sky collided with the water droplet sacred swords, continuously shattering.
The next moment, the true bodies of the twelve Judgment Swords were revealed again.
Attacked by the water droplet sacred swords, the light on the surface of the twelve Judgment Swords all dimmed, and the king-level inscriptions retracted.
"Crash."
The terrifying sword intent pierced through the sea realm, impacting into the bodies of the Twelve Judgment Envoys.
The Twelve Judgment Envoys' expressions changed drastically. Their bodies involuntarily retreated, and they spat out large mouthfuls of blood.
"How can he be this strong?"
The hearts of the Twelve Judgment Envoys were all filled with shock.
They had thought that, with the suppression of the sea realm, their combined attack would surely kill Zhang Ruochen. But they had never expected such a result.
Zhang Ruochen's level of strength had far exceeded their estimates.