Chapter 2281: Number One on the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection Ranking, Que
“Whoosh—”
Lan Ying’s arm was severed and sent flying.
The distance was too great; no one could clearly see what method the black figure had used.
Every cultivator was shocked beyond words, their hearts trembling.
That…
That was Lan Ying.
The same Lan Ying who had single-handedly crushed the twelve great experts of the Yama Clan had his arm cut off in a single exchange.
Just now, Lan Ying had used the Life-Severing Bone-Scraping Sword Art. Since he dared to use his arm as a sword, it meant he had enough confidence that his arm was harder and sharper than a Monarch Sacred Artifact.
“How terrifying.”
Everyone who witnessed this scene had such a thought in their minds.
Lan Ying’s body was sent flying dozens of miles. With an incredulous gaze, he stared at the tall, thin black figure holding the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill. He had never imagined that on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, there would be a cultivator who could injure him.
“Sizzle.”
The severed arm emitted a brilliant light of nine colors and eighteen hues, then disintegrated into streams of energy that flew back to the wound on Lan Ying’s shoulder.
A new arm grew back.
“Interesting! Come on, who are you?” Lan Ying revealed a sinister smile and asked.
Clearly, he was not discouraged by the loss of his arm.
There was no response.
Silently, the black figure vanished.
Everything that had just happened occurred in an extremely short span of time. The black figure had truly appeared for only the blink of an eye.
Only a very few top-tier Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saints present had seen him, truly feeling his presence.
As for the cultivators watching the projection through the Myriad Realms Divine Eye, the vast majority had not caught sight of him and had no idea what had just happened.
Too fast!
“Did Lan Ying take the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill?”
“What just happened? I think I saw Lan Ying get knocked flying.” An Undying Realm Great Saint from Hell Realm who hadn’t attended the Heaven Hunting Grand Banquet stared at the projection in the sky, puzzled.
“Are you hallucinating? Lan Ying has been standing still the whole time. On the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, who could hurt him?”
“That’s true. It seems the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill has fallen into Lan Ying’s hands.”
…
At this moment, Lan Ying’s face was extremely grim. He let out a cold shout: “Trying to leave? Dream on.”
“Whoosh.”
Nine-colored light burst from Lan Ying’s body, illuminating the entire cosmic space. It turned into a nine-colored star cloud, instantly spreading for tens of thousands of miles. Many cultivators watching the projection were blinded by the glare.
Countless Heaven and Earth Rules became fully active, trembling slightly around him.
The ripples extended beyond a hundred thousand miles.
At the same time, Lan Ying’s eyes turned into nine-colored divine pupils. A vast amount of Shura Divine Qi took the form of dragons and snakes, flowing around his body. An overwhelmingly terrifying aura erupted fully.
Only at this moment did Lan Ying become serious.
While all the cultivators present used various methods to track the black figure’s trail, Zhang Ruochen, standing within the ninth-rank formation arranged by Yu Huang, immediately released his Truth Realm Form, Space Domain, and Virtual Time Domain.
“It’s him. He really did participate in the Heaven Hunting Battle. But who is he?” Zhang Ruochen was very puzzled.
With such formidable cultivation, there was no need to guess—he must be Que, ranked first on the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection Ranking.
Que did not mean “lack” but was a person’s name.
If that were the case, why hadn’t he appeared at the Heaven Hunting Grand Banquet? Why hadn’t he taken the seat of the first chief?
Because he was low-key?
Or perhaps he had another mission?
After all, entering the Heaven Hunting Battlefield meant hunting Heavenly Slaves, being conspicuous, and showing off one’s strength. Hiding one’s identity and deliberately staying low-key seemed too deliberate.
If not for the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill, he probably wouldn’t have shown up at all.
Yu Huang and Yi Xuan Great Saint were still in a daze. Other cultivators hadn’t understood what had happened, but with their cultivation levels, they had seen it clearly.
Below the Thousand Questions Realm, was there actually a cultivator who could sever Lan Ying’s arm?
Their first thought was: “Could that black figure be one of the Thousand Questions Realm Great Saints among the Heavenly Slaves?”
“Get ready. He’s coming!”
Zhang Ruochen shouted lightly, a hint of joy appearing on his face, but his eyes were filled with intense caution.
As expected, after seizing the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill, he was breaking through from this direction.
Even someone as powerful as Que dared not face so many Great Saint experts alone and had to flee.
In the nick of time, Yu Huang faintly sensed an extremely weak aura intruding into the formation she had set up.
The aura was as faint as a mosquito entering a planet a thousand miles in diameter.
Fortunately, this was the cosmic void, where such fluctuations were impossible. Combined with the pre-arranged formation, Yu Huang could sense it. If it were on a living world, Que might have appeared right in front of Yu Huang without her noticing.
Yu Huang released her spiritual power and formed hand seals. Immediately, the ninth-rank formation manifested, with dense formation inscriptions interweaving to create a sea of fire formed from Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame.
After all, Yu Huang was one of the top experts below the Thousand Questions Realm, and she had prepared in advance.
Even though Que was incredibly powerful, he was forced to reveal his figure by the formation.
“Haha! Zhang Ruochen, you’re amazing! This kid actually walked right into the formation.”
Yi Xuan Great Saint was not afraid but rather excited. He formed a palm seal with his right hand, releasing streaks of ice crystal patterns that spread like a frozen spider web.
In his view, no matter how strong you were, you were only at the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection. How much better could you be?
One-on-one, maybe he wasn’t a match.
But with him, Yu Huang, and Zhang Ruochen—none of them were easy to deal with!
With the combined strength of three top experts, could they not handle you?
Que remained just a black figure, his features unclear. He spoke in a cold tone: “To set up a formation here in advance and predict my movements, Zhang Ruochen, you haven’t disappointed me too much. Unfortunately, this formation is far from enough to deal with me.”
“Boom!”
Que pointed a finger, and the formation’s inscriptions snapped one by one, disappearing in large patches.
The ninth-rank formation, capable of suppressing an Undying Realm Great Saint, was like paper before him.
Yu Huang controlled the formation, condensing the Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame into a fiery storm and actively attacking Que.
The Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame was Yu Huang’s trump card—an extremely yin and evil flame. Amplified by the ninth-rank formation, its power was even more terrifying. Even experts like Wujiang or Yan Huangtu would likely avoid a direct confrontation.
Yu Huang’s combat power was already at the top below the Thousand Questions Realm, and the formation pushed it a step further.
Zhang Ruochen knew Que’s speed was terrifyingly fast, so he fully mobilized the power of space, time, and the Truth Realm Form to suppress Que’s speed and strength.
In the area of the ninth-rank formation, Zhang Ruochen had long twisted multiple spaces and set up space traps.
The power of time surrounded Que, slowing the flow of time there.
With such meticulous arrangements, Zhang Ruochen believed they were enough to deal with an expert like Lan Ying. But Que, standing in the formation, was unusually calm.
“Zhang Ruochen, with your current mastery of time and space, I still find it trivial. Before you condense the Time Sacred Intent and Space Sacred Intent, don’t show off in front of me, or I’ll only think less of you. Compared to that, Xia Yu’s Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame combined with the formation can at least earn a bit of my attention.”
Que turned into a black streak of light, flying straight through the ninth-rank formation, charging at the Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame storm.
“Bang, bang.”
The twisted spaces and space traps Zhang Ruochen had set up had no effect on him.
Even the power of time only halved his speed.
Halved speed was still far faster than Zhang Ruochen, Yu Huang, and Yi Xuan Great Saint.
Zhang Ruochen activated his Time Sacred Soul, mobilizing dense Time Rules. He kept pointing his fingers, striking at Que from a distance. If Que was hit, time in that space would briefly freeze.
Time freeze meant that no matter how fast Que was, he would have to stop.
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
…
The time power Zhang Ruochen unleashed was easily dodged by Que, unable to lock on.
Que’s figure collided with the Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame storm.
Everyone expected a earth-shattering impact, but the Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame seemed to be swallowed up, vanishing without a trace.
“This is impossible!” Yu Huang was shocked beyond words, blurting out.
Even for a Thousand Questions Realm initial-stage Great Saint, let alone mid- or late-stage, taking her attack was no easy feat. How could it be neutralized so silently?
Yi Xuan Great Saint, hiding behind the Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame, didn’t care about that. He struck out with the Ice-Seal Heaven and Earth Palm he had already condensed.
In front of the palm print, cold air surged, and massive ice crystals formed, creating chains of snowy mountain ranges extending toward Que.
They were real snowy mountains, with peaks, abysses, and bone-chilling palm wind killing intent.
Yu Huang and Yi Xuan Great Saint did not attack one after the other but used a combined attack, with no time gap, giving Que no chance to catch his breath.
Only in this way could they have a chance to defeat him.
But even with such tight arrangements, they were still too optimistic. As Yi Xuan Great Saint struck out, the snowy mountain ranges had just begun to surge when they shattered one after another.
Yi Xuan Great Saint felt a blur before his eyes. Without knowing what attack he had suffered, his chest felt as if struck by a divine mountain. He was sent flying, his ribs shattered, his body caved in, his internal organs turned to bloody mud, and he spat out large mouthfuls of blood.
Fortunately, he had reached the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection. If he were still at his previous realm, this blow would have exploded his body.
The third wave of attack, with no time gap, was launched by Zhang Ruochen.
“Sizzle.”
Zhang Ruochen activated the Blazing God Leg, turning into a crimson pillar of light, taking over from Yi Xuan Great Saint to attack Que.
Que simply punched, hitting Zhang Ruochen’s sole.
The divine power contained in the Blazing God Leg was instantly neutralized. A force like a tidal wave struck Zhang Ruochen, sending his body flying backward even faster.
“It’s not just the Void Dao; his strength is also terrifying.”
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, “Not good,” and immediately retracted the ten golden wings on his back, wrapping them into a golden sphere.
Sure enough, the next moment, an extremely sharp black light struck the golden sphere.
The golden sphere spun rapidly, accompanied by a layer of space light mist.
When the black light pierced the space light mist, its power was greatly reduced. When it hit the golden sphere, the sphere’s rapid rotation further dissipated part of the force.
“Boom.”
The golden sphere flew off, with drops of golden blood spilling out.
After flying three hundred miles, Zhang Ruochen finally neutralized the power of the black light. The golden sphere opened, revealing his figure. His face was extremely pale, and two of the golden wings on his back were bloody and mangled.
Although he had suffered significant internal injuries, they were not fatal.
In fact, in the eyes of many observers, Zhang Ruochen was already quite impressive. After all, even Lan Ying, caught off guard, had his arm severed by Que’s blow. Yi Xuan Great Saint, at the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection, was instantly severely injured.
It could be said that surviving a blow from Que was already a remarkable achievement.
Zhang Ruochen had his own analysis. Que was indeed powerful, but he was only at the Hundred Shackles Realm. If he were truly invincible, why would he flee immediately after seizing the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill?
This showed that the top experts at the Hundred Shackles Realm still had the strength to threaten him.
Even if he was ranked first, the gap between him and Lan Ying, Yan Huangtu, Luo Shengtian, Wujiang, and others might not be that large. The top ten experts might be able to contend with him to some extent. After all, none of them were simple characters; they almost represented the limit of power below the Thousand Questions Realm.
However, Zhang Ruochen still underestimated Que’s speed and the strangeness of the Void Dao.
And he mistakenly thought that Que’s strength would be his weakness.
Facts proved that Que’s strength far surpassed Moluo War Emperor after reaching the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection, easily defeating Zhang Ruochen’s Blazing God Leg. He was likely the number one in pure strength below the Thousand Questions Realm.
Moluo War Emperor was the representative of pure strength among Great Saints below the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection. Apart from a few cultivators, very few Great Saints dared to directly clash with him in strength.
Because of Zhang Ruochen and the others’ obstruction, Lan Ying, Yan Huangtu, Wujiang, Luo Shengtian, Xu, Yanhong Great Saint, Feng Hou, and Dao Yu Huang were already chasing from eight different directions.
Apart from them, no other cultivator dared to oppose Que.
Xu and Yanhong Great Saint had already formed an alliance, while Feng Hou and Dao Yu Huang were another alliance. Only by joining forces did they dare to attack, giving them some chance of seizing the Imperial Grade Sacred Intent Pill.
Que broke through the ninth-rank formation and immediately fled.
A sharp light flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. He condensed a Space Wormhole Mirror Surface, drawing in a large number of Time Imprint light points from heaven and earth, and sent them in.
Among them, a special Time Imprint condensed from Time Rules in his palm was hidden inside and flew out as well.
That Time Imprint light point was something he had only recently comprehended. It was not captured from heaven and earth but condensed from the Time Rules he had cultivated himself—a new time he had created.
It was his time.
Named “Absolute Self Time Imprint.”
“Whoosh.”
Behind Que, a Space Wormhole Mirror Surface appeared.
Countless Time Imprint light points, like a rain of light, flew toward him.
…
Yesterday and today, there was a major earthquake in the online literature world. Many books were banned. I also spent a lot of time modifying the earlier chapters of “Eternal God Emperor.” So, I missed the update yesterday. My apologies.