# Chapter 2291: Sudden Change
The Barbarian Sword Great Saint's heart was filled with overwhelming hatred. He struggled with all his might, trying to break free from Crimson Great Saint's suppression and self-destruct his sacred body.
Even if he couldn't die together with her, he would at least die to eliminate Zhang Ruochen's worries.
"Bang."
Crimson Great Saint struck out with a palm from afar, pressing him back into the cliff wall, suppressing him firmly. Her originally stunningly beautiful face now appeared extraordinarily ferocious.
"Just watch properly. Don't think about dying to escape."
She said with a tinkling laugh, her red lips pressed into a line.
In the brilliant starry sky, Source Fei Great Saint, Flame Charm Yin Ji, and the Great Senluo Emperor were all astonished. Who would have thought Zhang Ruochen was so formidable—destroying an entire city of the Ghost Clan and forcing Xu to activate a Supreme Sacred Artifact?
"Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen has only broken one shackle. I truly can't imagine how powerful he would be if he reached the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm," the Great Senluo Emperor said.
Source Fei Great Saint nodded, saying, "Our decision to kill Zhang Ruochen at all costs at this stage was very wise."
Only Bore remained silent, her gaze locked tightly on the direction of the Ghost Clan's home planet.
At this moment, cultivators across the Hell Realm and various Merit Battlefields all looked up to the sky. Some clenched their fists, their hearts nearly leaping from their bodies, worried for Zhang Ruochen.
Others were ecstatic, letting out hearty laughter.
"When a Supreme Sacred Artifact is wielded by a Great Saint, the power it unleashes is truly terrifying."
"At the same cultivation level, a Great Saint wielding a Supreme Sacred Artifact can instantly crush another Great Saint. And there's no escape—once locked on by a Supreme Sacred Artifact, even space is frozen."
"Zhang Ruochen this time... sigh..."
...
...
When Zhang Ruochen charged alone into the Ghost Clan's home planet, many cultivators held a pessimistic outlook.
Now that this moment had arrived, they still found it hard to accept, silently closing their eyes, unable to bear watching further.
In the central area enveloped by the Supreme Sacred Artifact's power, Zhang Ruochen remained calm despite the crisis. He slapped the Purple Gold Gourd at his waist, and the gourd flew up into his palm.
"Hiss."
As sacred qi and divine qi surged continuously from his palm, the spatial inscriptions on the gourd's mouth and the Supreme Inscription Runes inside were simultaneously activated, emitting an increasingly powerful aura.
Zhang Ruochen's body radiated golden light ten thousand feet high. The gourd in his hand rotated slowly, making him appear ethereal like a transcendent immortal.
The Annihilation Golden Sun had completely merged with the gourd. The Supreme Inscription Runes it contained were now also the gourd's Supreme Inscription Runes.
The difference was that the Supreme Inscription Runes manifested internally and were not exposed.
"Swoosh—"
Thirty-six million spatial inscriptions interwove into a circular grand formation spanning hundreds of miles in diameter, appearing above Zhang Ruochen's head like a magnificent blooming flower.
"It's useless. Before a Supreme Sacred Artifact, all power will be destroyed."
Xu let out a deep laugh, channeling the accumulated Supreme Sacred Artifact power.
Instantly, from the seven black ghost lotuses in the sky, seven rivers of black ghost qi surged forth, converging above Zhang Ruochen's head into a black waterfall cascading down.
Within the black waterfall, the aura was bone-chillingly cold, yet tens of thousands of lightning bolts as thick as water barrels gathered.
The seawater beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet evaporated instantly, revealing the seabed.
"Rumble."
At that moment, the space covered by the spatial grand formation—hundreds of miles in radius—suddenly collapsed, completely absorbing the black waterfall unleashed by the Seven Star Ghost Lotus.
Heaven and earth returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
Having the ability to kill an Eon-level genius like Zhang Ruochen, Xu felt an unprecedented sense of achievement. Unable to maintain his composure, he laughed wildly.
"Haha! Zhang Ruochen was killed by me, Xu. This era will surely have my glorious chapter... This... impossible..."
The laughter quickly died, as if Xu had been choked by the throat.
He stared at the area ten thousand miles away, where the sea had been completely evaporated by the Supreme Sacred Artifact's power, leaving it dry. Yet Zhang Ruochen's figure still hovered in midair.
"How is this possible? How could the Supreme Sacred Artifact's power vanish without a trace? Was it transferred elsewhere by his spatial power? No, impossible. With his spatial mastery, how could he possibly neutralize the power of a Supreme Sacred Artifact? Why? Why?"
Xu trembled all over, his heart filled with confusion and doubt.
Zhang Ruochen's strangeness had exceeded his understanding.
"Hiss."
The Purple Gold Gourd in Zhang Ruochen's hand became incredibly heavy, and he could barely hold it with all his strength. On the gourd's surface, large amounts of yin-cold lightning surged out, slithering like dragons and snakes.
Inside the gourd, flames and cold air circulated, forming a massive vortex that transformed the Supreme Sacred Artifact power contained in the ghost qi waterfall.
After a moment, Zhang Ruochen shouted coldly, "Return this to you!"
The gourd's mouth aimed at Xu ten thousand miles away.
"Boom."
From the gourd, a pillar of black ghost qi shot out, countless lightning bolts interweaving within it, attacking Xu ten thousand miles away.
Where the ghost qi pillar passed, the sea split open, forming a waterway.
Xu's expression changed drastically. He activated his fastest speed and immediately fled.
But the energy contained in the ghost qi pillar was immense and continuous. Under Zhang Ruochen's control, it pursued him like a ten-thousand-mile-long dragon.
In the end, Xu had no escape and had to form the Empty Sea Seal to block it.
"Rumble."
The Empty Sea Seal held for about ten breaths before shattering and disintegrating.
Taking advantage of those ten breaths, Xu successfully activated the Supreme Sacred Artifact power of the Seven Star Ghost Lotus again, colliding with the ghost qi pillar and averting the crisis.
Xu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "That was close... just a little more..."
Although the ghost qi pillar was powerful, it had traveled over ten thousand miles. Xu might not necessarily have been unable to block that power, but he would certainly have been severely injured.
Once severely injured, that would mean defeat at Zhang Ruochen's hands.
Though he had been somewhat disheveled just now, he had at least managed to block it.
"How is Zhang Ruochen's gourd so powerful? It can even absorb Supreme Sacred Artifact power? What in heaven and earth can it not absorb?" Xu was extremely frustrated, grinding his teeth in hatred.
"What a gourd! Could it also be a Supreme Sacred Artifact? No, that's not right—no Supreme Sacred Artifact power emanates from it."
Crimson Great Saint was very tempted, wanting to claim the Purple Gold Gourd for herself.
If she could possess such a treasure, what would there be to fear in the Heaven Hunting Battlefield?
Even top-tier experts like Wujiang and Luo Shengtian would probably have to be wary of her.
So, entrusting the task of guarding Barbarian Sword Great Saint to Ming, Crimson Great Saint transformed into a pink path of light, flying toward the sea area where Zhang Ruochen was.
"Let's attack together. Let's see how much power his gourd can absorb."
Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor's explosive shout rang out from the sky east of Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen looked eastward, seeing a mass of black ghost qi rolling between heaven and earth, with a huge ghostly figure faintly revealing its form.
To the south, Wing Ghost Emperor spread his wings, forming thousands of black wind pillars connecting sky and sea, sweeping large amounts of seawater into the sky.
To the west, Xu's ninety-nine-zhang Chaos Ghost Emperor body rode thousand-zhang-high waves, appearing eight hundred miles away, as if standing in the sky looking down at Zhang Ruochen in the sea basin.
To the north, Crimson Great Saint stood on the sea, the entire sea area turning pink.
On the water surface, beautiful bone flowers bloomed, forming a sea of flowers.
None of them approached within five hundred miles of Zhang Ruochen, clearly wary of the Purple Gold Gourd in his hand.
Surrounded by four Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saints, Zhang Ruochen naturally felt immense pressure. He looked up slightly, wondering why Yu Huang hadn't yet broken the Ghost Clan's home planet's protective grand formation.
Just now, when Xu mobilized the Seven Star Ghost Lotus's power to attack him, that was when the protective grand formation was at its weakest. With Yu Huang's formation mastery, she should have been able to find the formation's weak point and break it in one strike.
In Zhang Ruochen's plan, breaking the Ghost Clan's protective grand formation was a crucial step.
Once the protective grand formation was destroyed, with his extreme speed combined with the Way of Time and the Way of Space, even under siege by several Hundred Shackles Great Perfection powerhouses, he would have the confidence to advance and retreat freely.
But now, the plan had encountered a variable.
Currently, Zhang Ruochen was trapped in this corner of the Ghost Clan's home planet. Trying to withstand the siege of several Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saints alone would be an extremely difficult task.
In the void outside the Ghost Clan's home planet, Yu Huang had run into trouble. She was ambushed by the Corpse Clan's number one powerhouse, Purple Corpse, who was hiding on a fragment of a star. The two engaged in a spiritual power duel.
It was precisely because Purple Corpse was holding her back that Yu Huang lost the optimal moment to break the protective grand formation.
In another area of the void, Source Fei Great Saint, Flame Charm Yin Ji, and the Great Senluo Emperor were still watching the show, ready to reap the benefits.
"Who would have thought that the gourd in Zhang Ruochen's hand could actually counter the Supreme Sacred Artifact Seven Star Ghost Lotus? What origin does that gourd have?" Flame Charm Yin Ji's eyes showed a greedy smile.
Faced with such a treasure, any cultivator would be tempted, including gods.
Bore said, "Perhaps that too is a Supreme Sacred Artifact."
The Great Senluo Emperor was shocked, saying, "A Supreme Sacred Artifact? That shouldn't be possible! The gourd has been activated multiple times without releasing Supreme Sacred Artifact power. Besides, both Wind Queen and Blade Prison Emperor of the Undying Blood Clan are formidable figures—how could they let Zhang Ruochen wield a Supreme Sacred Artifact?"
Source Fei Great Saint also nodded, saying, "Every Supreme Sacred Artifact has a considerable reputation. Whether in the Heavenly Court or the Hell Realm, none match the gourd in Zhang Ruochen's hand."
Bore had some guesses in her mind, but seeing that everyone didn't believe her, she didn't say more.
She said, "On the Ghost Clan's home planet, there are definitely more than five Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saints gathered. Even if Zhang Ruochen has heaven-defying abilities, he is now doomed to die."
"Perfect. While he's holding off most of the experts, let's strike now and break the protective grand formation first. Even if we can't kill Crimson Great Saint, we must at least destroy the souls on the Ghost Clan's home planet, suppressing the Ghost Clan so they can never rise again."
Flame Charm Yin Ji smiled charmingly, saying, "I agree with Bore's decision. We should indeed strike immediately. Otherwise, all the good things on Zhang Ruochen will fall into the hands of the Ghost Clan and the Bone Clan—that would be the greatest loss. You can have the Yandao Sacred Fruit and the Quasi-Emperor Grade Sacred Intent Pill. I only want that gourd."
"With White Jade Mad Lion working from within, breaking the Ghost Clan's protective grand formation shouldn't be difficult," Source Fei Great Saint said.