Chapter 2182: The Unbreakable Spine
"All cultivators retreat to the periphery. With your cultivation levels, facing Zhang Ruochen alone is no different from seeking death. Immediately join forces with the two formation masters to form a combined attack formation, adopting group-based defense and echelon-style offense."
Archangel Michael possessed exceptional mental acuity. Even though Zhang Ruochen had thrown the cultivators of the Heavenly Realm Faction into a state of panic and fear, he still managed to remain calm.
"Where are the twelve Judgment Envoys? Why have you not transformed into Judgment Light to assist me in slaying Zhang Ruochen?"
"Swish! Swish! Swish..."
Sounds of breaking wind rang out one after another.
The twelve Judgment Envoys of the Radiant Divine Temple transformed into twelve beams of resplendent holy light and appeared beside Archangel Michael.
Condensing into a battle formation, they turned into twelve halos hovering above Archangel Michael's head, showering down sacred radiance.
"Merge!"
Archangel Michael's aura surged step by step. The cross-shaped wound on his chest healed at a visible rate.
Originally, his strength was roughly sixty percent of Yan Wushen's evil body. But now, with the empowerment of the twelve Judgment Envoys, his power multiplied.
It was not as simple as one plus one equaling two.
In fact, the power fluctuations erupting from Archangel Michael's body had already surpassed Yan Wushen's good body. In his current state, even if he were to fight the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Palace, he would not lose by much.
The Radiant Divine Temple was one of the nine eternal ancient divine temples. Naturally, its methods were beyond the imagination of ordinary martial artists.
In a sense, the Radiant Divine Temple had cultivated the twelve Judgment Envoys solely to elevate Archangel Michael, aiming to push him to the height of being the number one powerhouse among the myriad realms of the Heavenly Court in this era.
Yin Yuanchen naturally felt envy and jealousy toward Archangel Michael. In the end, he turned his gaze to Zhang Ruochen and sneered inwardly, "Zhang Ruochen, only by killing you can my brilliance surpass Michael's. Everything he possesses should have been mine."
The next moment, tens of thousands of light threads surged from within Yin Yuanchen's body, transforming into Nether Ancient Annihilation Death Force and pouring into the divine corpse.
Then, a shocking event occurred. The blood energy within Yin Yuanchen resonated with the divine corpse, and the two merged into one.
Yin Yuanchen was executing a forbidden secret technique custom-created by his grandfather—the "Divine Corpse Blood Nurturing Art."
Because his bloodline was closest to that of his father's divine corpse remains.
By performing this secret technique, using his sacred blood to nurture the divine corpse, he could fully integrate with the divine corpse in a short time, unleashing unparalleled combat power.
"Boom."
A violent and extreme aura erupted from the divine corpse, enveloping the entire Heavenly Pond.
At this moment, the divine corpse was Yin Yuanchen. His power surged step by step, surpassing even Archangel Michael in his current state.
"How dare you ruin this lord's good fortune, Zhang Ruochen? How do you wish to die?" the Hundred Shackles Realm fallen cultivator coldly shouted.
As he spoke, surging demonic energy burst from his body, causing the space where the Heavenly Pond was located to tremble incessantly.
His name was Po Mo Jun, a prodigy of unparalleled brilliance from the Black Demon Realm a thousand years ago, possessing the potential to become a top-tier Great Saint.
Unfortunately, during a battle with the Rakshasa Clan Great Saint "Fan Qi Nian" of the Hell Realm, his sacred source was shattered, breaking his sacred form.
Even most of the sacred dao rules, sacred dao insights, knowledge, and wisdom within his body were erased by Fan Qi Nian's Burial Fire Bell.
It must be known that the sacred source is a crystal formed from a cultivator's sacred form and sacred qi, combined with their own insights and knowledge.
With the sacred source destroyed and his cultivation level knocked down, he could no longer be called a Great Saint.
At that time, Po Mo Jun had already broken forty-two shackles within his body, with a bright future ahead. It was easy to imagine how devastating that battle was for him.
The reason he participated in the Heavenly Realm Faction's plan was to obtain the opportunity to return to the Great Saint realm.
And seizing the Dripping Blood Sword was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity, which Zhang Ruochen had ruined. How could he not be furious?
Judging solely from the aura emanating from his body, Po Mo Jun surpassed even Archangel Michael and Yin Yuanchen.
This was only natural. Even a fallen Great Saint of the Hundred Shackles Realm could not be compared to any Saint King realm being.
Archangel Michael, Yin Yuanchen, and Blood Spirit Demon Lord—three top-tier powerhouses—formed a triangular formation, surrounding Zhang Ruochen and his two companions.
"The Paradise Realm truly is one of the ruling worlds. Its foundation is deep, and its methods are profound, far beyond what other major worlds can compare to."
Zhang Ruochen sighed softly, his gaze sweeping over the two sacred temples suspended in the sky. With them present, his Time Dao and Space Dao were completely suppressed.
This situation was very unfavorable for him.
"Zhang Ruochen, having lost your Time power and Space power, how much of your full combat strength can you still unleash? Try taking a sword strike from me."
Archangel Michael made the first move.
Under his control, the twelve Judgment Swords merged into one and slashed toward Zhang Ruochen.
Earlier, he had been severely wounded by Zhang Ruochen's single sword strike. Now, he undoubtedly wanted to reclaim his dignity.
"Whoosh—"
The Judgment Sword radiated sacred light, illuminating heaven and earth, as if it intended to purify all evil in the world.
Neither Archangel Michael nor the twelve Judgment Envoys had cultivated the Light Dao to the Great Perfection realm. But now, combined together, they could unleash power comparable to Great Perfection.
"Even without using Time power and Space power, you are still no match for me."
Zhang Ruochen's battle intent boiled over. His eyes were like lightning and torches. He soared into the air, swinging the Abyssal Ancient Sword in his hand, unleashing a sky-piercing sword light.
"Boom."
The two sword lights collided in midair, both shattering simultaneously, sending countless sharp sword qi flying in all directions.
Fortunately, this space had been completely suppressed. Even such a terrifying collision of power could not tear the space apart.
Archangel Michael retreated more than two hundred meters, thrusting his sword into the ground to stabilize his backward momentum.
Although this exchange had put him at a disadvantage, he was not injured. His confidence surged, and he thought to himself, "Zhang Ruochen doesn't seem invincible after all."
"Roar."
The evil spirit let out a roar, preparing to charge forward with A Le to share Zhang Ruochen's burden.
"You are not qualified to participate in this battle. Let this lord annihilate your divine forms."
Although Po Mo Jun had fallen, he still carried the majesty of a Great Saint and the momentum of an emperor within the sacred dao. He mobilized vast seas of blood demonic qi, condensing a sky-covering giant hand, and fiercely struck out.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure of heaven collapsing and earth shattering, A Le showed no fear. He released extreme killing intent, concentrated all his power into a single point, and thrust his sword forward.
The evil spirit also unleashed a large amount of divine power, its thick python tail lashing out fiercely.
"Bang."
The sky-covering giant hand was unstoppable. Both A Le and the evil spirit were sent flying, crashing into the Heavenly Pond.
With this single strike, A Le and the evil spirit were severely wounded. Sacred blood dyed a large area of the Heavenly Pond red, causing the icy pond water to boil.
It was not that they were too weak, but that Po Mo Jun was too strong.
A Great Saint who had broken forty-two shackles was no ordinary figure.
It must be known that for a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint, breaking one shackle increased the power of their immortal sacred body by one-tenth.
That is, breaking ten shackles could double their power.
If all one hundred shackles were broken, they could unleash ten times the power.
And this was only the enhancement of the physical body, not counting the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint's improvement in sacred dao insights and their enhanced ability to control heavenly rules and sacred qi.
Although Po Mo Jun had fallen, the power of his immortal sacred body, having broken forty-two shackles, was more than four times stronger than that of a peak Immortal Realm Great Saint.
Even without the support of Great Saint power, he was still not to be underestimated.
"When the realm is insufficient, power makes up for it."
"A fallen cultivator of the Hundred Shackles Realm is indeed vastly different from a fallen cultivator of the Immortal Realm," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Earlier, he had killed Tian Ling, who had once been a peak Immortal Realm Great Saint, without much effort. But now, Po Mo Jun was putting considerable pressure on him.
"Zhang Ruochen, you still dare to be distracted? Do you not know how to spell the word 'death'?" Yin Yuanchen, merged with the divine corpse, said.
At the same time, he had already closed in, swinging his divine sword to strike.
Zhang Ruochen glanced indifferently at Yin Yuanchen and waved his hand, summoning the Dripping Blood Sword.
At the same time, vast Five Elements Chaos Qi surged from within his body, merging with Truth Rules to evolve a vast and boundless starry sky.
The Time Sacred Temple and Space Sacred Temple could only imprison time and space, but they could not seal off his Truth Dao.
"Seal!"
Suddenly, a loud shout rang out.
Above Zhang Ruochen, twenty-four divine bones appeared, covered with numerous secret patterns interweaving, releasing a very special power fluctuation that enveloped Zhang Ruochen.
Immediately, the Truth Realm Form that Zhang Ruochen had condensed began to tremble slightly.
"Has the Truth Divine Temple also gotten involved?"
Zhang Ruochen's heart sank slightly.
Thinking about it, it was only natural. The Heavenly Realm Faction had a vast power structure, and naturally, they also had a strong presence within the Truth Divine Temple. Otherwise, how could they have obtained the secret method for condensing the Truth Realm Form for Archangel Michael?
Standing above the clouds was a person, a cold smile in his eyes as he looked down at Zhang Ruochen below.
It was none other than one of the ten divine disciples of the Truth Divine Temple, Dongfang Qingyu.
"It seems my master's guess was correct. The temple master did indeed teach Zhang Ruochen the secret method for condensing the Truth Realm Form. The twenty-four divine bones prepared for this purpose have come in handy," Dongfang Qingyu muttered to himself.
With the twenty-four divine bones personally refined by his master, even if Zhang Ruochen had condensed the "Unbounded Universe" Truth Realm Form, it would still be sealed, rendering it completely useless.
Not only the Truth Realm Form, but even the Truth Dao would be unusable.
In this way, Zhang Ruochen would become nothing more than meat on a chopping block, with no ability to resist.
However, in the next moment, Dongfang Qingyu showed a look of surprise. "What's going on? Why hasn't Zhang Ruochen's Truth Realm Form been sealed?"
The Truth Realm Form that Zhang Ruochen had condensed was inherently different from that of the Truth Divine Temple. Moreover, possessing the Heart of Truth, how could it be easily sealed?
"Yin-Yang Two Forms, seize heaven's creation."
Zhang Ruochen shouted in a low voice, mobilizing his Sword Dao Rules while simultaneously controlling the Abyssal Ancient Sword and the Dripping Blood Sword to evolve the strongest sword formation of the Liangyi Sect.
A massive Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram appeared, suspended above Zhang Ruochen, slowly rotating, giving rise to endless changes.
"Whoosh."
Streams of condensed sword light flew out from the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, attacking both Yin Yuanchen and Archangel Michael simultaneously.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen took out the ancient sword hilt from the Sword Grave, activating it with sacred qi, quickly forming a slender and delicate sword body, and actively slashed toward Po Mo Jun.
In his eyes, Po Mo Jun was the most important opponent.
Facing the suppression of three divine temple disciples and the attacks of three powerhouses alone, and still being able to launch an active assault—Zhang Ruochen, at the Saint King realm, could be said to have achieved what no one before him had ever done.
Po Mo Jun sneered, "Since you're so eager to die, this lord will grant your wish."
As he spoke, Po Mo Jun's form expanded, transforming into a hundred-zhang-tall giant. His demonic might grew even stronger. Brilliant demonic light bloomed from his four limbs, moving like dragons and snakes—this was the power of the forty-two shackles he had broken in the Hundred Shackles Realm.
One hundred shackles were distributed throughout the body.
Breaking shackles, like immortalizing the physical body, was often done from the easier to the harder.
The four limbs of a human cultivator each had ten shackles, relatively easier to break. Po Mo Jun had already broken all the shackles in his limbs, excavating the power of the human body's four extremities to the extreme.
"Heavenly Demon Tearing Sky Hand."
"Crack."
Po Mo Jun's large hand grabbed the sword light that Zhang Ruochen had slashed out, crushing it to pieces.
Then, his hand followed through, slapping toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Bang."
Even with the divine sword blocking in front, Zhang Ruochen still retreated more than ten steps, his aura becoming slightly disordered.
"Such formidable power," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Seeing Po Mo Jun attacking again, Zhang Ruochen quickly struck out with a palm, mobilizing millions of rules while simultaneously activating the power of the Flame God Armor.
Facing such a powerful opponent, he clearly had to be cautious and go all out.
From his palm, a cyan divine dragon flew out, growing larger as it caught the wind, its body burning with fierce flames, causing the temperature of the entire Heavenly Pond to rise sharply.
"Boom."
Although Po Mo Jun's attack was fierce, it was still blocked.
"Take another palm strike from me."
Zhang Ruochen shouted loudly, releasing vast sacred qi to condense a heaven-shattering, earth-destroying domineering palm seal.
"Bang! Bang!"
For a time, Zhang Ruochen and Po Mo Jun were locked in fierce combat, neither holding back, both launching full-scale attacks.
...
Seeing Zhang Ruochen engaged in fierce battle with the three powerhouses without falling too far behind, the cultivators of the Heavenly Realm Faction whispered among themselves, feeling their hearts pounding wildly.
Zhang Ruochen was only at the Saint King realm, yet he was already this hard to kill.
What would happen when he broke through to the Great Saint realm?
Yao Tian Gongzi turned his gaze toward the Yuanchu Divine Temple, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "I must capture Chi Kongle as quickly as possible."
To prevent any accidents, having Chi Kongle as a trump card was undoubtedly necessary.
Immediately, Yao Tian Gongzi, along with several other leaders, entered the Yuanchu Divine Temple.
Sensing the Heavenly Realm Faction's intentions, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden and the seventy-two palace female saints quickly protected Chi Kongle.
Xue Wuye also gathered with the other five Realm Sons and stepped forward. Regardless of whether their strength was sufficient, whether it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot or an egg trying to smash a stone, they would not shrink back from their responsibility.
Because he had refined the Divine Wood Heart, Xue Wuye's vitality and recovery ability were now extremely strong, far surpassing other Saint Kings.
He had been severely wounded by Fang Ze Wang earlier, but now he was mostly recovered.
Yao Tian Gongzi looked at the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden and sighed, "Why bother? The destruction of the Kunlun Realm is already inevitable. No matter how much you resist, it's useless—just a futile sacrifice. You have all seen the power of the Heavenly Realm Faction. Can Zhang Ruochen, no matter how strong he fights, break through the suppression of the three divine temple disciples? Can he break through the siege of two formation masters and hundreds of top-tier Saint King realm powerhouses? He is also human. He will get tired, exhausted, and run out of steam."
"Give up resistance and return with me to Tianquan Great World. That is the wisest choice."
"Swish."
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden raised her sacred sword, pointing it at Yao Tian Gongzi. "Yao Tian, if you want to be a dog, don't assume others do too. On one hand, you claim to want to help the Kunlun Realm, while on the other, you collude with the Paradise Realm, intending to destroy it. The Nine Radiance Divine Lord was upright and unparalleled—how could he have a despicable descendant like you?"
Canglan Wu Sheng had always been hot-tempered, unlike Shengshu Cainü, who was refined and elegant. She expressed any emotion directly.
From the very beginning, she had detested Yao Tian Gongzi, and now she loathed him to the extreme, wishing she could tear him into pieces.
Yao Tian Gongzi was not angered. He smiled faintly and said, "A wise man submits to circumstances. History is always written by the victors. As long as the goal is achieved, who cares about the means used?"
"Enough, stop resisting. I don't want to hurt you. As for these people from the imperial court, as long as they choose to surrender, I can step in and guarantee their lives."
"Pretty boy, what kind of dog fart are you spewing? It stinks, it stinks! My master, Lord Chen, is the unbreakable spine of the Kunlun Realm, forever able to hold up the sky. After he wipes out all of them, it will be your turn to die," Tun Xiang Tu said.
A terrifying killing intent surged in Yao Tian Gongzi's eyes. "What a sharp-tongued beast. Insulting this young master never ends well. Attack! Leave only Chi Kongle and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden alive. Kill every last one of the rest."