Chapter 2277: The Gourd Dispute
"Not good."
The two Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saints, fearing being sucked into the Purple Gold Gourd, abandoned their war swords and the Black Armored Corpse King. They unleashed two powerful clouds of death energy, using the rebound force from the clouds to send their bodies flying backward like cannonballs.
"Boom."
Within the region covered by the Space Grand Formation, Blood Cauldron Dan Ling, the Monarch Sacred Artifact war sword, and over three thousand Black Armored Corpse Kings were all sucked into the Purple Gold Gourd.
"That cauldron..."
In the reflection of Zhang Ruochen's pupils, Yan Hong Dasheng's Purple Cauldron flew toward him at extreme speed, but its size did not shrink.
With a "bang," the Purple Cauldron heavily struck the mouth of the Purple Gold Gourd.
At the same time, a massive amount of lightning surged from the cauldron's body, like dragons and snakes, crawling across the gourd's surface and striking Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's reaction speed was incredibly fast. In an instant, his ten golden wings bent forward, wrapping around his entire body, folding over each other, turning him into a golden sphere.
The Purple Gold Gourd and the golden sphere were blasted away by dozens of lightning bolts.
Yan Hong Dasheng's graceful figure emerged from behind the Purple Cauldron like a ghostly spirit. Her slender, long legs landed on the edge of the cauldron, and the red jade rings hanging from her ankles clashed together, producing a crisp, pleasant "ding-ding" sound.
"Thinking you can snatch my things? Not so easy."
The sky-filling lightning radiating from the Purple Cauldron turned a hundred-mile radius into a forbidden zone, casting Yan Hong Dasheng's form in a light that was both beautiful and eerie.
Suddenly, a scorching light surged from her pupils. She spotted the Purple Gold Gourd in the pitch-black space and immediately revealed a joyful expression. She reached out a snow-white jade hand, grabbing at it from across the void.
From over eighty miles away, the white hand shadow arrived in an instant.
"Boom."
Just as she was about to claim the Purple Gold Gourd, Mo Luo Zhandi swung his axe, severing her hand shadow.
Seeing Mo Luo Zhandi arrive and rapidly approach the Purple Gold Gourd, Yan Hong Dasheng let out a cold snort. With a light kick of her jade foot, the Purple Cauldron flew out to strike him.
On the other side, the two Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saints who had retreated into the distance, one from the Corpse Clan and one from the Stone Clan, fixed their eyes on the Purple Gold Gourd, overjoyed. They immediately activated secret techniques and flew toward it at top speed.
That gourd was a treasure in itself, and it had also absorbed three quasi-emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills.
Whoever seized the gourd would be the biggest winner in this pill competition.
After all, gods and countless cultivators from the Hell Realm were watching. Whoever performed brilliantly would gain higher status and fame in the Hell Realm from now on.
"Drip Blood Transform Corpse Emperor."
The Corpse Clan's Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saint cut open his right wrist, allowing a large amount of corpse blood to flow out. It condensed into a seven-zhang-tall Black Armored Corpse Emperor, which erupted with the aura of an Immortal Realm Great Saint.
"Don't try to compete with me. Zhang Ruochen's gourd is mine, Heiyu Corpse Emperor!"
Heiyu Corpse Emperor's true body shifted to the right, intercepting the Stone Clan's Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saint, "Qiang Zun," and a palm strike imbued with corrosive power slammed down.
At the same time, the Black Armored Corpse Emperor formed from corpse blood flew rapidly toward the Purple Gold Gourd.
The other cultivators of the Hell Realm hadn't expected such a turn of events. After a moment of stunned silence, they all erupted into excitement.
"Hurry, seize Zhang Ruochen's gourd—that's the real treasure."
"Taking the gourd means taking the three quasi-emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills."
"Zhang Ruochen has really lost out this time. He collected three pills, but in the end, he's just making a wedding dress for someone else."
The value of the Purple Gold Gourd was immense. Cultivators nearby all rushed over.
Yu Huang and Yi Xuan Dasheng were contending over a quasi-emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill whose dan ling resembled a peony but was dark green, with petals stretching over three thousand meters like a cloud of flowers. They were on the verge of successfully claiming it.
But Wu Jiang intervened, snatching it away.
Wu Jiang held the peony dan ling in his palm, his figure tall and handsome, grinning smugly. "I know you're not convinced, but you can't blame me. Blame Zhang Ruochen for taking the pill that was rightfully mine. You'll have to bear the cost."
Yi Xuan Dasheng and Yu Huang watched Wu Jiang vanish into the dark cosmic space, furious but restrained by the rules of the Heaven Hunting Battle, holding back from attacking.
"Wu Jiang is too strong. Even the two of us together might not be his match." Yi Xuan Dasheng sighed deeply, filled with disappointment, then added, "I'll still honor my promise to you."
Yu Huang stared in the direction Wu Jiang had left, saying, "The Myriad Methods Sacred Intent Wu Jiang just unleashed should be a third-rank top-grade Sacred Intent. Otherwise, he couldn't have suppressed the peony dan ling with a single strike, even though we had it under control."
"Are you worried that with the quasi-emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pill, he might fuse a second-rank Sacred Intent?" Yi Xuan Dasheng asked.
Yu Huang replied, "A second-rank Sacred Intent is as hard as reaching the heavens, but Wu Jiang's talent would make him invincible in any other era. With the pill's help, his chances have greatly increased."
Faced with someone like Wu Jiang, even Yu Huang, who held herself in high regard, had to admit there was a significant gap between them.
"Don't worry. Zhang Ruochen has already taken two pills. Once he reaches the Hundred-Shackle Realm, he'll definitely be able to counter Wu Jiang," Yi Xuan Dasheng said.
"Not good."
Yu Huang saw Zhang Ruochen and the Purple Gold Gourd being blasted away by Yan Hong Dasheng in the deep void of space, and her expression turned grim.
Yi Xuan Dasheng followed her gaze and said, "Our pill has been taken, and we can't get it back. Zhang Ruochen's Purple Gold Gourd has already absorbed the third pill. It absolutely cannot be taken."
"Let's go."
Yu Huang grew even more anxious, knowing that the Purple Gold Gourd was the Undying Blood Clan's only Supreme Sacred Artifact. If it were taken at the very start of the Heaven Hunting Battle, the entire Undying Blood Clan would become a laughingstock in the Hell Realm.
"Zhang Ruochen, that fool—doesn't he know when to quit? Why did he have to go after Yan Hong Dasheng? This is a huge mess!" Yu Huang was utterly exasperated. She spread her ten wings and pushed her speed to the limit.
"Besides Yu Huang, the Blood Heaven Tribe has another Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saint? When did Yi Xuan Dasheng break through?"
"Incredible! Yu Huang, Yi Xuan Dasheng, and Zhang Ruochen—the Blood Heaven Tribe has three top-tier powerhouses. Which of the Undying Blood Clan's ten tribes can match them?"
"If the Earth Fiend Ghost City continues to oppose the Blood Heaven Tribe this year, they'll be in for a big loss."
...
The exposure of Yi Xuan Dasheng's cultivation caused shockwaves everywhere.
Forces with conflicting interests with the Blood Heaven Tribe felt the pressure multiply.
Xu's ghostly eyes fixed on Yu Huang and Yi Xuan Dasheng as they rushed to aid Zhang Ruochen. He muttered to himself, "Hiding so deep—it seems this year's Heaven Hunting Feast, the Blood Heaven Tribe's ambitions are no small matter."
He opened his palm, holding the Seven Star Ghost Lotus, and struck out at Yu Huang and Yi Xuan Dasheng.
Even if he didn't seize the pill, he had to cut off Zhang Ruochen's reinforcements, leaving him isolated. At the same time, he was helping Yan Hong Dasheng take the Purple Gold Gourd.
Heiyu Corpse Emperor's Black Armored Corpse Emperor, formed from corpse blood, arrived first and reached out to grab the Purple Gold Gourd.
But before the black corpse hand touched the gourd, a surge of red-golden flame erupted from it, carrying a destructive, scorching force.
"Sizzle."
Even the Corpse Emperor's power couldn't withstand it. The flame melted the hand, turning it back into a mass of black corpse blood.
The red-golden flame was the power unleashed by the Purple Gold Gourd's artifact spirit.
After all, the artifact spirit's combat strength rivaled that of a Hundred-Shackle Great Saint.
Thirty miles away, Zhang Ruochen's true form emerged from the golden sphere. He reached out with a void hand, and the Purple Gold Gourd flew toward him automatically. But after flying a very short distance, it stopped.
Strands of hair were wrapped around the gourd, holding it fast and preventing Zhang Ruochen from retrieving it.
It was Yan Hong Dasheng's hair.
Each strand was as tough as a holy chain, containing sacred dao rules within.
Zhang Ruochen frowned. He took a step forward, stepping through a space gate, and used Spatial Displacement to appear directly beside the Purple Gold Gourd.
But Yan Hong Dasheng's skills were formidable. She quickly broke free from Mo Luo Zhandi, and pink light mist emanated from her hands, pouring continuously into the Purple Cauldron.
The Purple Cauldron flew above the Purple Gold Gourd, slowly rotating.
With the first rotation, it immediately stirred up fierce gale winds, forming a massive purple tornado.
With the second rotation, the winds grew even more terrifying, shaking space itself.
The third rotation...
The Purple Cauldron spun faster and faster, forcing Zhang Ruochen, who was using Spatial Displacement, out of the spatial rift and flinging him away, his body sliding through the void.
The power unleashed by the Purple Cauldron was astonishing. It swept across the sky and earth, with wind blades and lightning weaving through the tornado. The wind column rose a thousand miles high, and the central area became a death zone.
Even a Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saint dared not approach easily.
"Yan Hong Dasheng's methods are quite impressive." Having been bested by her twice, Zhang Ruochen reassessed her.
She was an extremely troublesome woman.
To become a candidate for the Destiny Temple's Divine Maiden, none were simple characters.
The Purple Cauldron's power was fully unleashed, with energy ripples surging outward like tidal waves. Everyone knew Yan Hong Dasheng was trying to claim the Purple Gold Gourd.
If she succeeded, the rules would prevent them from contending further.
Yan Hong Dasheng stood at the edge of the purple lightning storm, her hair strands swaying in the void, her robes fluttering, beautiful as a fairy. Occasionally, lightning bolts flashed past her, illuminating her sharp features, giving her an enchanting, demonic allure.
"Boom."
Mo Luo Zhandi, the strongest present—rivaling the top ten on the Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Ranking—swung his blood-colored war axe, striking fiercely at the Purple Cauldron.
The axe had been stained with the blood of an Undying Blood Clan god, imbuing it with powerful divinity.
"Such strength!"
Even Yan Hong Dasheng felt a hint of wariness. She struck the Purple Cauldron with a palm, drawing dozens of lightning bolts as thick as buckets, weaving them into a pillar of electricity to clash with the blood-colored war axe.
"Rumble."
The blood-colored war axe was a fourth-rank Monarch Sacred Artifact, while the Purple Cauldron was a fifth-rank Monarch Sacred Artifact.
Their collision shook the void for a thousand miles, turning everything upside down.
Mo Luo Zhandi's strike was repelled.
"Mo Luo Zhandi, if you help me take the gourd, I'll give you one of the quasi-emperor-grade Sacred Intent Pills inside," Yan Hong Dasheng said.
She needed time to claim the gourd.
But enemies surrounded her, all eyeing the gourd. At this moment, she could only seek allies to succeed.
"I want two," Mo Luo Zhandi said.
"Aren't you being too greedy?"
Yan Hong Dasheng was furious. If not for Mo Luo Zhandi's breakthrough to the Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Realm, boosting his combat power several times and making him a top-tier force, he wouldn't have been worthy of being her ally before.
"More and more cultivators are arriving. If you don't agree to my terms, be careful—you might end up with nothing," Mo Luo Zhandi said with a smile, confident she would compromise.
"That's my gourd. When did you two get to decide its distribution?"
Zhang Ruochen spread his hands, summoning a vast starry sky, fully manifesting his "Star Sea Without Shores" Truth Realm Form. He enveloped the Purple Cauldron, the Purple Gold Gourd, Yan Hong Dasheng, Mo Luo Zhandi, and all the Hell Realm cultivators in this void.
Without spatial constraints, the Truth Realm Form was perfectly displayed.
Within the form, each planet was enormous, evolving into landscapes of mountains and rivers, erupting with powerful energy fluctuations.
Zhang Ruochen's spread hands suddenly clapped together.
"Demon God Prison Suppression."
A massive phantom of a demon god appeared behind Zhang Ruochen, merging with the Truth Realm Form. Its aura fluctuated between sacred and majestic, and evil and sinister.
Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm, and the demon god phantom followed suit.
Within the Truth Realm Form, countless Truth Rules flew out, merging into the demon god phantom, causing its aura to surge higher and higher. By the time the palm strike hit the purple lightning storm, its explosive power had multiplied tenfold.
"Rumble."
The purple lightning storm was pierced through. The demon god phantom's hand clashed with the Purple Cauldron.
On the other side of the cauldron, Yan Hong Dasheng also formed a hand seal, activating all the king-level inscriptions within the Purple Cauldron, unleashing its maximum power.
Unfortunately, she had no time to summon the Gate of Destiny and had to rely solely on her own strength to counter the tenfold explosive power of Demon God Prison Suppression.
"Clang!"
Like a divine bell ringing, the Purple Cauldron shook violently, slamming into Yan Hong Dasheng and sending her and the cauldron flying far away.
Without the Gate of Destiny's weakening effect, no matter how strong Yan Hong Dasheng was, she was far outmatched by the tenfold explosive power of the Thousand-Question-level high-rank Sacred Art, Demon God Prison Suppression.
Yan Hong Dasheng spat out a mouthful of blood. Cracks appeared on her flawless, delicate body.
From the cracks, intense pink light radiated, as if her body were about to shatter.
That beautiful shell was nearly destroyed.
Although he had sent Yan Hong Dasheng flying, Zhang Ruochen didn't relax. He heard a roar from above: "Zhang Ruochen, take my axe!"
A war axe imbued with powerful divinity came crashing down.
On the axe's edge, blood-red light rain scattered, locking onto Zhang Ruochen below.
The force from the war axe compressed space, making it incredibly stable and hard to break.
So, Zhang Ruochen didn't use space power to escape. He grabbed the Purple Gold Gourd, flipped his body, and his left leg ignited, revealing ten million red divine rules.
He stomped out, turning into a blazing divine cloud that clashed with the war axe's edge.
After unlocking the third seal of the Blazing God Leg, Zhang Ruochen had fully refined the ten million divine rules, allowing him to unleash far greater power than before.