Chapter 2293: Entering the Underground
Facing five Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saints simultaneously was completely different from a one-on-one duel, requiring consideration of too many factors. At this moment, even if Zhang Ruochen could break the Four Prisons of the Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor, he dared not use his full strength, and had to remain vigilant against the other experts who might strike at any moment.
Zhang Ruochen held the gourd in one hand while using the other to draw upon the space rules within his Qi Sea. He formed a seal with his five fingers and struck out.
"Boom!"
The palm imprint descended, shattering layers of space layer by layer, revealing patches of darkness and void zones, tearing apart the four ghost prisons.
The Mirror of Karma shattered, the copper pillar collapsed, the blood pond dissipated, and the hundred thousand stone tablets turned to dust.
"So strong?"
The Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor's heart trembled with fear as he quickly retreated to avoid the spreading shattered space.
His strongest attack was so easily crushed before Zhang Ruochen. This showed that Zhang Ruochen, a Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saint who had only broken one shackle, already possessed the strength to kill him, a Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saint.
"Take my whip!"
The Winged Ghost Emperor had long pushed the power of the Ghost Head Whip to its limit. The moment Zhang Ruochen unleashed his space power, the thousand-mile-long whip slashed out, combining the bone-chilling ghostly aura with the sharp whip force.
The Ghost Head Whip transformed into a blade, its power concentrated into a single line.
"The Winged Ghost Emperor has combined the Monarch Sacred Artifact-level Ghost Head Whip with the Severing Line Sacred Intent, achieving both ultimate softness and ultimate sharpness. This will be somewhat troublesome to deal with."
Zhang Ruochen sent the Thousand Ring Shield flying to clash with the Ghost Head Whip.
The two collided, yet there was no sound.
The powerful Thousand Ring Shield seemed to strike nothing but air.
A smile curled at the corner of the Winged Ghost Emperor's mouth. The whip body of the Ghost Head Whip bent and slashed toward Zhang Ruochen from another direction.
Zhang Ruochen stomped his right foot on the void, twisting the space beneath him. The slashing Ghost Head Whip brushed past him and redirected toward the Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor.
The Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor roared, "Winged Ghost Emperor, who are you trying to strike?"
The Winged Ghost Emperor never expected space power to be so mystical, allowing Zhang Ruochen to borrow force and redirect it. He quickly withdrew the Ghost Head Whip.
"Whoosh—"
Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen raised both hands above his head. Under the guidance of time rules, countless time imprint light points and the Time Sacred Aspect manifested simultaneously, condensing into a forty-meter-tall Time Grand Bell.
The Time Sacred Aspect was ethereal and formless.
At the same time, the space rules and Space Sacred Aspect within his Qi Sea were released, flowing around his body, turning a hundred miles of land into a massive space vortex, with countless space cracks flying within.
The Crimson Grand Saint sensed something amiss and said, "Attack immediately! Break his space domain and shatter the Time Grand Bell."
Xu mobilized ghostly qi, striking toward the sky and surging toward the Seven Star Ghost Lotus, intending to use the power of the Supreme Sacred Artifact to suppress space and time.
"Hum!"
A bell toll sounded.
Time imprints merged with sound, transforming into waves that spread in all directions at ten thousand times the speed of sound.
No one dared to touch the time imprints. They retreated while erecting sacred dao rules, constructing their own domains to defend against the invasion of time power.
The Sacred Intent that the Winged Ghost Emperor had fused was the fifth-rank Severing Line Sacred Intent. The domain he constructed was composed of countless sharp, thread-like lines.
"Boom!"
The thread-line domain blocked most of the time imprints but was pierced by the ensuing space storm.
"Damn it."
The Winged Ghost Emperor cursed under his breath, immediately spreading his wings and flying toward the sky.
"Slash!"
Zhang Ruochen, hidden within the space storm, transformed into a golden light and shot out. His ten golden wings slashed at the Winged Ghost Emperor. The Winged Ghost Emperor desperately blocked with the Ghost Head Whip, but the golden wings still broke through his defenses.
"Pfft."
The Winged Ghost Emperor's left wing was severed by Zhang Ruochen's golden wings.
Massive amounts of ghostly qi leaked from the severed area.
Blood fiend qi and ancestral power invaded the Winged Ghost Emperor's undying ghost body, destroying its mystical structure. Starting from the severed wing, the ghost body began to decompose, turning into black mist.
The Winged Ghost Emperor endured unbearable pain, letting out a scream: "Zhang Ruochen's power is strange, destroying this emperor's undying ghost emperor body. I'll leave him to you all. I need to find a safe place to refine this power."
With that, the Winged Ghost Emperor immediately fled.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm from a distance, sending a divine fire dragon that hit the Winged Ghost Emperor's back, cracking his undying ghost body with numerous fissures and worsening his injuries.
With a splash, the Winged Ghost Emperor's body fell into the sea a thousand miles away.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to pursue and finish off the Winged Ghost Emperor, a power fluctuation from above sent chills down his spine.
"The Supreme Sacred Artifact has been activated again!"
Zhang Ruochen glanced up, then rapidly descended, plunging into the seawater and diving deep into the seabed.
"You won't escape!"
The Crimson Grand Saint's soft, melodious voice emerged from her rosy lips.
She was quite irritated. With so many experts joining forces to besiege Zhang Ruochen, he had still managed to severely wound the Winged Ghost Emperor. She wondered if the gods watching through the Myriad Realm Divine Eye projection were deeply disappointed in her.
"Whoosh!"
The Crimson Grand Saint parted her red lips slightly and exhaled a puff of pink deathly cold qi. In an instant, the sea area where Zhang Ruochen was located froze into ice.
Zhang Ruochen's body was sealed within the ice.
The ice was extremely hard, like transformed black iron.
"Rumble."
Following that, the supreme power released by the Seven Star Ghost Lotus turned into a waterfall of ghostly qi, pouring down and striking the pink frozen sea below.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
The frozen sea was pierced through, and all the ice crystals vaporized.
At the critical moment, Zhang Ruochen propped up the Purple Gold Gourd, standing beneath it. Relying on the gourd's defensive power, he withstood this wave of Supreme Sacred Artifact attacks.
However, his body was blasted down to the seabed.
Before he could catch his breath, the dried-up sea floor sprouted a dense growth of pink bone flowers.
The bone flowers had thorns and contained deadly poison.
Billions of translucent bone flower petals flew toward him, emitting sharp, tearing sounds.
The space domain Zhang Ruochen had erected was gradually devoured by the bone flower petals. Although many petals withered, even more approached his body.
Just as the space domain was about to be completely consumed, the Crimson Grand Saint's stunningly beautiful figure emerged from the petals. Her delicate hands extended from her red sleeves.
Her ten slender, jade-like fingers formed two orchid gestures.
"Last time, you used the tenfold attack power of the Truth Path to wound me. I consider that a great humiliation. Today, do you dare to clash with me again?"
"Rustle."
Behind the Crimson Grand Saint, the Gate of Destiny manifested, with countless fate rules interweaving.
Zhang Ruochen really didn't want to clash head-on with the Crimson Grand Saint. He knew clearly that once she entangled him, he would be defeated today—no, he would be dead for sure.
He had to find a way to escape.
"Fine! Let's fight to our heart's content today."
Zhang Ruochen unleashed his Truth Realm Form. Countless planet silhouettes materialized, resisting the devouring of the pink bone flowers.
All the planet's light converged onto him. The light of his ten golden wings blazed brilliantly. The three dragon souls and three elephant souls within his arms manifested, and he struck out with both palms toward the Crimson Grand Saint.
"Death's Kiss."
The Crimson Grand Saint smiled seductively. Between her hands, a pink bone flower condensed and shot toward Zhang Ruochen.
Death's Kiss was a Thousand-Questions-level high-rank sacred art that the Crimson Grand Saint had cultivated. The condensed bone flower contained terrifying toxicity, enough to kill even a Great Saint upon contact.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen fall for the trap, the Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor and Xu both smiled and struck simultaneously.
The Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor unleashed a ghost artifact shaped like an eyeball, crimson like blood.
Xu channeled the power of the Supreme Sacred Artifact, condensing the supreme force into a hundred-zhang-tall black skeleton that descended from the sky, stomping down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
If Zhang Ruochen truly chose to clash head-on with the Crimson Grand Saint, he would inevitably be struck by their combined power, with no way to dodge. Even if he didn't die, he would likely be left with only half a life.
A strange scene unfolded. Although Zhang Ruochen had struck out with both palms, his body suddenly flew backward.
"Rumble."
The attacks from the Crimson Grand Saint, Xu, and the Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor all missed.
Breaking free from their power suppression, Zhang Ruochen was about to use a spatial displacement to enter the depths of the Ghost Clan's home planet. Suddenly, a chill ran down his back, and every hair on his body stood on end.
A sense of extreme danger surged into his heart.
"Not good."
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed drastically. His spiritual power sensed a scene that made his scalp tingle.
The shadow beneath his feet split in two.
One of the shadows circled behind him, thrusting a sword. The tip had already reached his back.
The shadow was a real shadow, and the sword was a real sword.
Without needing to guess, he knew that shadow was Night Constant, ranked eighteenth on the Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Ranking.
"When did Night Constant hide inside my shadow?"
Zhang Ruochen's mind flashed back through the battle process, vaguely finding the reason.
At the very beginning, Night Constant must have been hiding in the Crimson Grand Saint's shadow. It was during the moment of close contact between Zhang Ruochen and the Crimson Grand Saint that Night Constant slipped into his shadow.
One could imagine that if Zhang Ruochen had truly clashed with the Crimson Grand Saint, and Night Constant suddenly thrust a sword from the shadow, how could Zhang Ruochen have survived?
At this life-or-death critical moment, Zhang Ruochen's thoughts were clearer than ever. The ten wings on his back rapidly contracted, wrapping his body into a golden sphere.
"Boom."
Night Constant's sword struck the golden sphere, sending sparks flying.
The golden sphere wasn't knocked away. Instead, it rolled along the sword's edge, crashing toward the shadow on the ground.
"Boom."
The dried-up seabed was blasted into a large crater, with cracks spreading around its edges.
Xu, the Crimson Grand Saint, and the Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor flew to the edge of the crater.
The Crimson Grand Saint waved her red sleeve, clearing the dust from the crater. Inside, it was empty—no trace of Zhang Ruochen.
Night Constant's shadow appeared beside the Crimson Grand Saint, speaking in a somewhat weak voice: "Zhang Ruochen has fled deep into the underground of the Ghost Clan's home planet."
"How are your injuries?" the Crimson Grand Saint asked with concern.
Night Constant sighed, "Zhang Ruochen is indeed a formidable figure. Just now, with the five of us Hundred-Shackle Great Perfection Great Saints joining forces, it was almost a sure-kill formation, yet he broke it and even wounded me. However, he didn't fully defend against my sword strike. He must be heavily injured too."
The Crimson Grand Saint released her spiritual power to probe and indeed detected Zhang Ruochen's aura ten thousand meters underground.
"The underground of the Ghost Clan's home planet is rich in extreme metal-type substances, surely hiding great secrets. Knowing he can't escape, Zhang Ruochen is taking a risk by charging underground to seek a chance at survival," Xu said.
If Zhang Ruochen could detect the underground conditions, so could they.
"Whatever lies underground, Zhang Ruochen is now severely wounded. We can't miss this perfect opportunity to kill him... Wait, something's wrong. What's happening?"
The Crimson Grand Saint raised her fair head to look at the sky.
In the sky, thick black clouds had gathered, layer upon layer, obscuring the seven stars formed by the Seven Star Ghost Lotus. In an instant, the world turned pitch black, with no visibility.
The air was filled with howling, biting winds.
The entire planet trembled slightly.
"Someone is invading the home planet."
Xu's perception was even clearer. He sensed that the Seven Star Ghost Lotus, serving as the eye of the planet-protecting grand formation, was under attack by another Supreme Sacred Artifact.