Chapter 2214: The Struggle for Leadership
As soon as Zhang Ruochen's words fell, the Undying Blood Clan cultivators present all turned their gazes toward Yixuan Great Saint, Gu Chenzi, and Yu Huang, clearly feeling that the leader of the Blood Heaven Tribe could only be one of them.
After all, the "Three Supremes of Blood Heaven" were renowned far and wide. Not only were they the outstanding talents born in the past thousand years, but even the older Hundred Shackles realm powerhouses would likely find few who could match them.
Yixuan Great Saint laughed heartily and said, "Gu Chenzi, Yu Huang, it seems we cannot avoid a battle. Which of you will be my opponent first?"
Among the "Three Supremes of Blood Heaven," Yixuan Great Saint was the most battle-hungry, a well-known combat maniac. Apart from cultivation, his favorite activity was challenging the strong.
"You two can fight for it. I have no interest in being the leader," Yu Huang said calmly.
Hearing this, Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi were not surprised. Yu Huang had never been fond of conflict, especially in the past century, when she had hardly made a move. No one knew exactly how strong she had become.
Yixuan Great Saint said, "It's good that Yu Huang is not participating, so no one can say I'm too rough and don't know how to cherish the fairer sex. Gu Chenzi, let's have a spar. Let me see if you've mastered the Blood Transformation Heavenly Nether Finger."
Gu Chenzi stood up and said calmly, "It's been decades since we last fought. I also want to see how much you've improved over the years."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Yixuan Great Saint moved and flew straight out of the Hanhai Bieyuan.
There were too many cultivators inside the Hanhai Bieyuan to fight freely. Outside, the terrain was open and covered with numerous divine patterns, so there was no fear of damage, allowing them to unleash their full abilities.
Gu Chenzi did not hesitate and followed immediately.
Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi stood facing each other in midair. Before they even made a move, the wind and clouds surged, the sky and earth changed color, and the rules and sacred qi of the world converged from all directions, centering on the two of them.
An abyss-like aura of a Great Saint radiated from Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi, causing many weaker cultivators to tremble in their hearts, almost wanting to kneel.
"Gu Chenzi, take this palm first."
Yixuan Great Saint struck first, drawing vast amounts of world rules into his palm, as if to evolve a world of his own.
This palm contained an incredibly terrifying momentum of heaven and earth, as if it could suppress everything, leaving no room for resistance.
Gu Chenzi remained calm and composed. Behind him, eight enormous silver wings unfurled, absorbing heavenly sacred qi at an unimaginable speed, condensing tens of thousands of silver lightning bolts that twisted like spirit snakes, meeting Yixuan Great Saint's palm imprint.
"Boom."
The lightning and palm imprint collided, creating an extremely terrifying shockwave of power. The rules of heaven and earth immediately became chaotic.
Fortunately, the divine patterns were in place, preventing any damage despite the immense force.
Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi did not stop. They unleashed even more domineering and powerful techniques, engaging in fierce clashes.
Anyone could see that they were evenly matched, and it would be difficult to determine a winner in a short time.
At that moment, all the cultivators in the Hanhai Bieyuan were closely watching this battle. Such a peak-level duel was not something one could see every day.
Zhang Ruochen was also watching intently. Since he intended to become the leader of the Blood Heaven Tribe, he would inevitably have to fight one of them later.
As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. By first seeing what techniques Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi had, dealing with them would be much easier.
Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi fought fiercely, exchanging over a thousand moves in no time, yet neither gained the upper hand.
At a certain moment, Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi simultaneously stopped and distanced themselves from each other.
Gu Chenzi retracted the silver wings on his back and said, "Between you and me, unless it's a life-or-death battle, it's hard to determine a winner. Fine, I won't contend with you this time. Let you be the leader of the Blood Heaven Tribe."
"In that case, I will not decline—" Yixuan Great Saint did not refuse and was about to accept.
But at that moment, a very calm voice suddenly rang out: "I also want to test Yixuan Great Saint's skills."
Yixuan Great Saint immediately turned his head, locking his gaze on the speaker.
Not only him, but the other Undying Blood Clan cultivators also shifted their gazes.
When they saw who had spoken, many cultivators showed expressions of surprise.
"Ruochen cousin wants to challenge Yixuan Great Saint? This..." Blood Ningxiao was stunned.
The speaker was none other than Zhang Ruochen, which was why everyone was so astonished.
Zhang Ruochen was indeed extraordinary, having defeated Yan Wushen and achieved remarkable feats in the Kunlun Realm. But he had only just broken through to the Immortal Realm. How could he contend with Yixuan Great Saint?
Yet, after watching the fierce battle between Yixuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi, Zhang Ruochen still dared to issue a challenge. Did he really have confidence in defeating Yixuan Great Saint?
But was that even possible?
Under the gaze of many cultivators, Zhang Ruochen stepped out of the Hanhai Bieyuan one step at a time, approaching Yixuan Great Saint.
Blood Qi Great Saint fixed his gaze on Zhang Ruochen, a complex look flashing in his eyes.
Blood Qi Great Saint had always placed great importance on family honor. This time, he also wanted to earn merit and glory for the Blood Absolute Family, especially at such a special moment when Blood Jue War God had become the Grand Clan Chief of the Blood Heaven Tribe. The leader should come from the Blood Absolute Family.
But his strength was insufficient, too far from the "Three Supremes of Blood Heaven," and he was powerless to compete.
Now, Zhang Ruochen had stepped forward. Regardless of anything else, this courage alone had already changed Blood Qi Great Saint's perception of him deep down.
"Zhang Ruochen, Zhang Ruochen, if you can defeat Yixuan Great Saint and become the leader of the Blood Heaven Tribe, you will truly have a firm foothold in the Blood Absolute Family. From now on, no one in the family will dare to criticize you." Blood Qi Great Saint thought to himself.
Blood Qi Great Saint had heard all kinds of legends about Zhang Ruochen and was quite curious about his strength.
After all, Yan Wushen was not someone just anyone could defeat.
Of course, if Zhang Ruochen lost this battle, then he, Blood Qi, could take the opportunity to challenge Zhang Ruochen and seize the position of family leader.
The weak were not fit to lead the Blood Absolute Family.
Blood Butcher stared at Zhang Ruochen, his eyes full of anticipation.
He knew Zhang Ruochen better than any cultivator present, understanding most of his secrets—such as Zhang Ruochen possessing a half-god physical body and the legendary ten golden flesh wings, with countless trump cards. This battle would surely be spectacular.
In midair, Zhang Ruochen and Yixuan Great Saint stood facing each other, only a hundred zhang apart.
Yixuan Great Saint took a deep look at Zhang Ruochen, his mind shifting as he released an extremely powerful sacred might, directly pressing down on him.
With his cultivation and strength, even an ordinary Hundred Shackles realm Great Saint would find it hard to withstand his sacred might.
Zhang Ruochen stood unmoved, effortlessly dissolving Yixuan Great Saint's sacred might into nothingness.
Seeing this, Yixuan Great Saint became somewhat intrigued and said, "Zhang Ruochen, I've heard of your various achievements in the Kunlun Realm. I also want to see what techniques you have that allowed you to defeat Yan Wushen. Don't disappoint me."
"Yixuan Great Saint, please enlighten me." Zhang Ruochen slightly cupped his hands.
One should always show due respect to the strong.
Yixuan Great Saint's fingernails on one hand quickly lengthened, turning into sharp claws. A vast blood fiend energy surged forth, filling the surrounding space with a thick bloody scent.
"Swish."
As Yixuan Great Saint swung his claws, a blood claw a thousand zhang long materialized, directly grabbing at Zhang Ruochen.
If not for the divine patterns stabilizing the space in this area, the space would have already been torn apart.
Zhang Ruochen pointed a finger, and millions of space rules emerged, merging into the space around him.
"Crack."
Streaks of silver light flashed, and long, thin cracks appeared in the space.
The massive blood claw that Yixuan Great Saint had unleashed shattered into over a dozen segments, the cuts perfectly smooth.
The next moment, the shattered blood claw exploded, reverting to blood fiend energy. But it did not disperse; instead, it continued surging toward Zhang Ruochen.
In this process, the blood fiend energy churned violently, instantly transforming into a viscous sea of blood. It frantically absorbed the world's rules and heavenly sacred qi, expanding rapidly as if to drown the entire world.
Zhang Ruochen condensed powerful space energy at his fingertip, concentrating it into a silver light that gleamed with sharpness, as if it could cut through everything.
"Pfft."
The silver light flew out, slicing the sea of blood in half and preventing it from merging again.
Then, Zhang Ruochen took the initiative, charging out of the blood sea. He reached out a hand, opening seven acupoints in his palm, releasing a vast amount of blood qi.
Instantly, an extremely solid Nether King phantom materialized, towering between heaven and earth, full of majesty. It struck a palm toward Yixuan Great Saint.
In the unseen realm, a powerful divine might was imbued into the Nether King phantom, adding to its dignity and making it more lifelike, as if it were a doppelganger of the Nether King.
The Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm, created by the Nether King, was profound and mysterious, far more than just an ordinary sacred art.
As long as one's own blood qi was strong enough, the power of the Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm could be enhanced almost infinitely.
And in this regard, Zhang Ruochen had a clear advantage.
Being able to grow ten golden flesh wings, even Hundred Shackles realm Great Saints were far inferior to him in terms of blood qi.
For this reason, during his recent seclusion, Zhang Ruochen had spent considerable time specifically studying the Seven-Aperture Blood Nether Palm, cultivating it to a higher level.
As soon as the Nether King phantom appeared, the vast sea of blood instantly shattered, unable to maintain its form.
The world's rules and sacred qi all converged toward the Nether King phantom, as if completely under its control.
"Interesting."
Yixuan Great Saint chuckled lightly. Instead of retreating, he advanced to meet it.
As he swung his hands, the sky was filled with sharp claw shadows. The immense power caused large areas of space to show signs of distortion.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen locked in fierce combat with Yixuan Great Saint, many Undying Blood Clan cultivators showed expressions of surprise. They had not expected Zhang Ruochen to actually have the strength to fight Yixuan Great Saint.
After all, even at the same cultivation level, few could be Yixuan Great Saint's opponent. Crossing realms to fight him should not have been possible in theory.
"Such vigorous blood qi, such a powerful physical body, such keen combat awareness." Gu Chenzi's eyes gleamed with light.
His strength was great enough that his vision was naturally beyond ordinary people. He quickly saw through some of Zhang Ruochen's strengths and could not help but praise him.
Among the "Three Supremes of Blood Heaven," Gu Chenzi had the strongest blood qi. But in his view, Zhang Ruochen was even superior.
It was hard to imagine what had happened to Zhang Ruochen after he fell before the space rift, allowing him to undergo such a tremendous change.
Yu Huang's eyes also showed a hint of surprise, her gaze deepening as if she wanted to see through Zhang Ruochen completely.
"Ruochen cousin is too amazing! Even Yixuan Great Saint seems unable to do anything to him. Could he really become the leader of the Blood Heaven Tribe?"
Blood Ningxiao's eyes widened, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Blood Chen mused, "Zhang Ruochen is not an impulsive person. Since he dared to make a move, he must have confidence."
To be honest, Zhang Ruochen's strength had improved too quickly, so fast that Blood Chen found it hard to adapt.
When the Kunlun Realm first became a Merit Battlefield, Zhang Ruochen was still very weak. If they had met then, Blood Chen would have dismissed him with disdain.
But unexpectedly, in a short time, Zhang Ruochen had first leaped to become a top expert at the Saint King realm, and now he could contend with the "Three Supremes of Blood Heaven." Such a speed of improvement was terrifying.
Blood Chen was not surprised by Zhang Ruochen's combat power.
What he was more curious about was why Zhang Ruochen had stepped forward to fight for the position of "leader."
Zhang Ruochen had almost no sense of belonging to the Blood Absolute Family. It could not be for family glory. Moreover, based on Blood Chen's understanding of Zhang Ruochen, he might not even be very interested in the Heaven Hunting Grand Banquet.
Could it be the will of a god?
Only a god could influence Zhang Ruochen.
It was not just the cultivators in the Hanhai Bieyuan who were watching this battle. The gods of the Blood Heaven Tribe inside the Blood Jue Divine Palace were also paying attention, with most of their focus on Zhang Ruochen.
There was no helping it. Zhang Ruochen's identity was too special. If not for Blood Jue War God, Zhang Ruochen would have had no place to stand when entering the Blood Heaven Tribe world.
To survive in the Hell Realm, Zhang Ruochen first needed to gain the recognition of the Blood Heaven Tribe's gods. And the best way was undoubtedly to prove his value through strength.
This was also one of the reasons why Xue Hou had asked Zhang Ruochen to make a move.
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen and Yixuan Great Saint exchanged a palm strike, causing the sky to churn with blood qi.
The more Yixuan Great Saint fought, the more shocked he became. He had been continuously mobilizing the shackle power within his body, yet he could never gain the upper hand. Instead, he felt subtly suppressed.
"Zhang Ruochen, if you can take this palm, this battle will be considered your victory," Yixuan Great Saint said.
As he spoke, he fully mobilized the sacred dao rules he had cultivated, simultaneously releasing the powerful energy gained from breaking eighty shackles, all concentrated into one palm.
In an instant, the temperature within tens of thousands of li plummeted. Sacred lakes began to freeze rapidly, plants and trees were frozen solid, and large amounts of ice crystals fell from the sky. It seemed as if even this world would be completely frozen.
One palm strike, freezing the universe, leaving all things desolate.
With Yixuan Great Saint's cultivation and strength, unleashing a Great Perfection-level Hundred Shackles high-rank sacred art, its power was unimaginable.
Immediately, Qingsheng Great Saint activated the divine patterns in the Hanhai Bieyuan, isolating it from the outside world to prevent any collateral damage.
After all, there were many weaker Saint realm cultivators in the Hanhai Bieyuan who could not withstand this terrifying freezing force.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed slightly. He extended both hands simultaneously, forming mysterious and domineering palm imprints. An extremely terrifying yang energy surged from within his body.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen transformed into a massive furnace. Every inch of his skin turned red, as if he were about to melt.
Inside his Divine Light Qi Sea, the divine sun formed by the Seven-Star Divine Ling's sun leaf and the Annihilation Golden Sun both spun rapidly, releasing vast yang energy that combined with Zhang Ruochen's own.
The next moment, the yang energy Zhang Ruochen released exceeded that of an ordinary person by a million times, emitting an extremely terrifying aura of destruction.
"Dragon-Elephant World Annihilation."
Zhang Ruochen muttered inwardly.
"Roar."
Accompanied by earth-shaking dragon roars and elephant trumpets, three divine dragons and three divine elephants simultaneously flew out from Zhang Ruochen's palms. They were all enormous, with solid bodies, radiating an overwhelming pressure that seemed to suppress all heavens.
Both the divine dragons and divine elephants were covered in blazing flames, melting everything, as if they would burn the world to ashes.
"Boom."
The two opposing forces collided violently, unleashing an even more terrifying power of destruction.
Even though the space within the Blood Absolute Family was extremely stable, it now rippled violently, shattering in small areas. Countless black cracks extended in all directions, a truly horrifying sight.
Heat waves rolled across the sky and earth, melting all the ice, as if the land that had endured an ice age was finally seeing the sun again.
Under the impact of the immense power, Yixuan Great Saint could not help but take a step back, his blood qi churning violently.
Zhang Ruochen, however, stood tall and unwavering. No matter how the destructive force struck him, he remained unmoved.
For Zhang Ruochen, who possessed a half-god body, such an impact was nothing.
"Whoosh."
Letting out a light breath, Zhang Ruochen activated the Annihilation Golden Sun to regulate the violent yang energy within him, gradually calming it down.
It was fortunate that his physical body was now strong enough. Otherwise, releasing such vast yang energy would have injured him before even harming the enemy, possibly even burning his sacred soul to ashes.
Inside the Hanhai Bieyuan, many Undying Blood Clan cultivators widened their eyes, their gazes filled with deep reverence.
The Undying Blood Clan revered the strong above all else. Only powerful strength could earn their submission.
And now, Zhang Ruochen was undoubtedly a strong figure in their eyes. No one cared about his origins anymore; strength represented everything.