Chapter 2302: Fighting the Saints Alone
"Boom."
A palm strike wrapped in Purifying Divine Flame heavily landed on the pink skeleton's head. Even though she possessed a divine bone body, the impact caused her joints to crack and pop.
The bone fire in her eye sockets nearly went out.
A divine bone body was naturally not so easily shattered, but this palm strike had injured the pink skeleton's sacred soul and spirit. It made it difficult for her to mount an effective counterattack in a short time.
Zhang Ruochen did not give the pink skeleton a chance to escape or stabilize her soul. He performed a Spatial Displacement and appeared before her again, striking another palm into her chest.
A half-god body clashed with divine bones, sending divine fire splattering everywhere.
"Boom."
"Boom."
...
Each time he sent the pink skeleton flying, Zhang Ruochen would instantly catch up and deliver another heavy blow.
In the vast and boundless void, countless afterimages of Zhang Ruochen and the pink skeleton appeared, constantly shifting positions.
With each palm strike, the pink skeleton was tossed around like a rubber ball.
Given the pink skeleton's cultivation, combined with her Supreme Sacred Artifact and the divine power contained in her divine bones, she should not have been so passive. But from the very beginning, she had lost the initiative and could not gather her strength, leaving her without even a chance to fight back.
"I don't believe you truly have an undying body. As long as I scatter your sacred soul and extinguish your spirit, you won't be able to revive, will you?"
Zhang Ruochen had read the information on the pink skeleton. She had been killed three times by a Supreme Realm Great Saint and miraculously revived three times, earning her the title of the hardest Great Saint to kill in the Hell Realm.
It was precisely for this reason that Zhang Ruochen treated her with such caution, each strike delivered with full force.
If it had been any other Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saint, they would have died dozens of times over after receiving so many palm strikes from Zhang Ruochen. Yet, the pink skeleton's body still flickered with divine light, her spirit alternately condensing and dispersing.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's overwhelming strength, the Great Saints of the Ghost Clan exchanged uneasy glances, their hearts trembling with fear.
If not for the presence of Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor, Winged Ghost Emperor, and Night Permanence, they would have already fled.
"Although Zhang Ruochen is still alive, he didn't completely avoid the flash of light from Xu. His injuries are severe, and his aura is far weaker than before."
"Don't be afraid. Attack together."
Two Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saints from the Bone Clan, Full Moon Bull Emperor and Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone, launched their attacks first.
"Blood Moon Boiling."
Above the Ghost Clan's home star, a blood moon silently manifested, crimson and striking, accompanied by black death qi, growing larger and larger.
A mountain-sized bull skeleton stood at the center of the blood moon.
From the bull skeleton's one hundred forty-nine thousand gleaming bones, forty-two billion sacred dao rules surged out, merging with the blood moon to form a single entity.
"Rumble."
The blood moon absorbed all the death qi in the void, condensing it into scorching flames, as if transforming into a furnace of corpses.
Under Full Moon Bull Emperor's control, the blood moon spun rapidly and flew toward Zhang Ruochen.
Wherever the blood moon passed, a massive vortex storm formed.
Sensing the powerful energy fluctuations behind him, Zhang Ruochen turned his head and narrowed his eyes. His entire field of vision was a sea of blood-red flames, hundreds or even thousands of times hotter than molten lava.
The scorching heat waves made Zhang Ruochen's skin ache as if it were about to crack, especially at his wounds.
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had indeed failed to completely avoid the attack of the Flash of Light. He was severely injured, and even his half-god body had been pierced. However, on the surface, no wounds were visible.
Zhang Ruochen's cold eyes showed no trace of fear. He shouted, "Sword Ten."
A white soul shadow flew out from his body, transforming into a sharp, boundless sword light that shot straight toward the approaching blood moon.
Around the sword light, countless sword dao rules intertwined.
Each sword dao rule was a sword shadow.
If one's eyesight were strong enough, they would see that the sword light soul shadow looked exactly like Zhang Ruochen.
It was a sword soul.
The soul of sword intent.
"Boom!"
The awe-inspiring blood moon collided with Zhang Ruochen's sword light soul shadow.
The blood qi was shattered, and the blood moon shattered like a mirror, turning into a blood cloud that merged with the star mist in the void.
The sword light did not lose momentum and shot straight toward Full Moon Bull Emperor.
"How is this possible? Without a sword in hand, his sword soul is this powerful? My Hundred Shackles-level high-rank sacred art, Blood Moon Boiling, was shattered in one strike."
Full Moon Bull Emperor was shocked, gaining a deeper understanding of Zhang Ruochen's combat power. He was about to dodge immediately but found his body unable to move.
Moreover, from six directions around his body, six sword shadows had somehow formed, all pointing at him.
How could Full Moon Bull Emperor know that Zhang Ruochen's Sword Ten had integrated spatial power?
When the sword was unleashed, space had already locked him in place.
"Boom!"
The sword light soul shadow and the six sword shadows struck Full Moon Bull Emperor simultaneously, and faint bone-cracking sounds could be heard.
Full Moon Bull Emperor let out a mournful roar. The injury to his bone body was nothing, but the sword soul struck his sacred soul, which was the weakest point of a Bone Clan cultivator.
His sacred soul was severely damaged, nearly shattered. The light on Full Moon Bull Emperor's body dimmed, and for a time, he could no longer continue attacking.
"A Hundred Shackles Great Perfection powerhouse was rendered combat-incapable just like that?" Fire Charm Nether Lady in the distant starry sky was stunned.
In her eyes, Wujiang had always been an invincible existence among his peers, someone she admired and worshipped like a mountain.
Witnessing Zhang Ruochen's terror made her realize that there was always a higher mountain. If Zhang Ruochen reached the Hundred Shackles Great Perfection realm, how many moves could Wujiang withstand against him?
"Hmph."
Great Senluo Emperor drew the Ice Wood Divine Bow, and a bone-chilling cold spread out, forming numerous icebergs around him. He intended to use the Hundred Shackles-level high-rank sacred art "Dark Arrow Art" to ambush Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was already injured and surrounded by many Great Saints. With the Dark Arrow Art, Great Senluo Emperor had over seventy percent confidence in a successful ambush.
Bore's hand blocked the invisible and intangible arrow on the Ice Wood Divine Bow. "Don't act yet."
"Why?" Great Senluo Emperor asked, puzzled.
Bore said, "Four-Winged Ghost Emperor, Night Permanence, and Winged Ghost Emperor are all at their peak. The cultivators of the Middle Three Clans are still the most powerful force in this starry sky."
"If you ambush Zhang Ruochen now and fail, he will surely shift his hatred to us and might abandon the Middle Three Clans to attack us."
"Even if you succeed, once Zhang Ruochen dies, the beneficiaries will be the Middle Three Clans. Can we seize the various treasures from him?"
Great Senluo Emperor nodded slightly, finding her reasoning sound. At this moment, it was indeed better to sit back and watch the tigers fight, letting them wear each other out. So, he put away the Ice Wood Divine Bow.
"It's better to be cautious. Zhang Ruochen is no longer what he used to be. Killing him won't be easy. Letting the Middle Three Clans' Great Saints wear him down is the right strategy. Let's continue healing."
Source Fei Great Saint activated the Supreme Sacred Artifact "Virtual and Real Scroll," enveloping everyone and hiding them all in invisibility.
Facing a powerhouse like Zhang Ruochen, caution was necessary.
...
Before Zhang Ruochen could catch his breath after shattering the blood moon, Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's pair of divine bone wings slashed toward him like two pitch-black heavenly blades.
"Swish! Swish!"
The two divine bone wings flew crosswise, like a giant pair of scissors.
Inside the divine bone wings were not only Great Saint inscriptions but also sacred dao rules and king-level inscriptions. Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone had long refined them into battle weapons, turning them into Monarch Sacred Artifacts that could be used at will.
Full Moon Bull Emperor and Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone executed a combined attack without any gap, giving Zhang Ruochen no chance to use Spatial Displacement to dodge.
The two divine bone wings detached from Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's body and slashed toward Zhang Ruochen.
Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's main body stood over four hundred miles away.
Zhang Ruochen had no time to mobilize his sacred dao rules and sacred qi, nor could he activate the Purple Gold Gourd. If he relied solely on his physical body to clash with the strongest attack of a Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saint, he would suffer greatly.
In an instant, he devised the most correct countermeasure.
His feet stomped out lightning, retreating rapidly, forming a long electrical path. At the same time, the ten wings on Zhang Ruochen's back curled up, wrapping his body into a golden sphere two meters in diameter.
The ten golden wings acted like ten layers of defense.
"Boom! Boom!"
The two divine bone wings fiercely collided with the golden sphere. The sphere rolled rapidly, dissipating the power of the divine bone wings.
Golden and black energy ripples spread across the void for thousands of miles.
When the power of the two divine bone wings was nearly exhausted, the golden sphere created ripples in the void and disappeared into the center of the ripples.
"Damn it!"
Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone immediately sensed trouble. How could it have imagined that Zhang Ruochen's defense was so strong? Even severely injured, he could still block the combined attack of it and Full Moon Bull Emperor?
Just as Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone was about to retreat, spatial fluctuations appeared above its head, and the golden sphere flew out.
"Rustle."
The sphere split open, revealing the ten golden wings.
Zhang Ruochen, standing at the center of the golden wings, used the Blazing God Leg to stomp down heavily on Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's back.
"Boom!"
The moment they made contact, a sea of divine fire manifested.
Looking from the starry sky, the sea of divine fire was as dazzling as a blooming flower.
Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's greatest reliance was the pair of divine bone wings on its back, which did not belong to it but were bestowed by a Bone Clan deity. Its body was not made of divine bones.
Struck by Zhang Ruochen's heavy stomp, its body plummeted rapidly, its back caved in, and its hard sacred bones shattered.
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen stomped straight through Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's body, flying out from beneath its abdomen. A massive hole was left in Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone's body, its bone structure in tatters.
Worse still, the broken bones around the hole were ignited by divine fire, burning fiercely.
Heavenly Sparrow Divine Bone quickly fled into the distance while activating its techniques and various methods to refine the divine fire that had invaded its marrow, unable to continue attacking Zhang Ruochen.
Having severely wounded three Hundred Shackles Great Perfection Great Saints in succession, Zhang Ruochen's battle intent reached its peak, and he let out a long roar.
A dazzling golden light bloomed on his back, and a thousand-mile-tall Immovable Wisdom King sacred image manifested. Above its head were nine layers of heavens, beneath its feet a hell of ten thousand corpses, its long hair flying, its aura overwhelming.
The dozens of high-rank sacred arts unleashed by the Ghost Clan's Great Saints each possessed world-destroying power, but upon entering the space near the Immovable Wisdom King sacred image, they were shattered and scattered.
Zhang Ruochen stood at the brow of the Immovable Wisdom King sacred image, raised his arm, and struck a heaven-shaking giant handprint, colliding with the four ghost prisons unleashed by Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor.
"Rumble."
The four ghost prisons collapsed inch by inch, shattering and spreading into the distance, like four worlds being destroyed.
Four-Eyed Ghost Emperor staggered, retreating hundreds of miles.
Although Zhang Ruochen's battle might was unmatched and awe-inspiring, the Great Saints present and the cultivators watching through the Myriad Realms Divine Eye projection could all see the blood streaming from beneath his torn robes and the many wounds on his body.
Among them, the three wounds on his chest were the most shocking, piercing through his body and extending to his back.
These were the old injuries from being struck by the Flash of Light. With the fierce battle, the wounds had split open, and sacred blood flowed uncontrollably.
Many were puzzled. Why didn't Zhang Ruochen immediately rescue Man Sword Great Saint and flee?
If he continued to fight, his injuries would worsen, and he might even fall.
Only Zhang Ruochen persisted, his eyes resolute. In his heart, there was an emotion that others could not understand. This emotion could only be released through battle and slaughter.
"Rustle."
Winged Ghost Emperor, standing eight hundred miles away, swung the Ghost Head Whip. The whip extended from behind the shattered four ghost prisons.
The Ghost Head Whip was cold and unpredictable, very much like a sinister steel black dragon.
Zhang Ruochen's strength far surpassed Winged Ghost Emperor's. He reached out a hand, using the Immovable Wisdom King sacred image to grab the Ghost Head Whip, pulling it and dragging Winged Ghost Emperor toward him.
"How can his strength be so immense?"
Winged Ghost Emperor spread his wings, turning them into two ghost clouds, mobilizing all his power, but he still couldn't stabilize his form.
He grew closer and closer to Zhang Ruochen, from eight hundred miles to within thirty miles in an instant.
Zhang Ruochen held the Ghost Head Whip with one hand and clenched the other into a fist, punching toward the approaching Winged Ghost Emperor. At the same time, the thousand-mile-tall Immovable Wisdom King sacred image, mirroring Zhang Ruochen, also threw a punch.
If struck by that punch, even if Winged Ghost Emperor didn't die, his ghost body would surely explode.
"Heh heh, Zhang Ruochen, this time you might have miscalculated." The panicked expression on Winged Ghost Emperor's face vanished, replaced by a sinister, cunning smile.
Silently, a black shadow flew out from Winged Ghost Emperor's shadow, rushing toward Zhang Ruochen's fist.
The black shadow held a strange sword, its blade like a snake, pitch black, sometimes formless, sometimes tangible.
When formless, it emitted no power fluctuations, and even using spatial power to sense it, it was undetectable, as if it didn't exist in space.
When tangible, it radiated powerful divine force and curse aura.
It was Night Permanence, with his Amo Divine Sword.
...
When I was writing last night, I wasn't in a very good state, and I made a mistake regarding the Darkness Temple.
In a previous chapter, I mentioned that "the Darkness Temple is controlled by the Middle Three Clans." When I was writing last night, I didn't carefully check the earlier text and mistakenly wrote that the Darkness Temple represents the interests of the Upper Three Clans. So, I've deleted the descriptions of the Darkness Temple from both the earlier chapter and the previous one.
Regarding the setting of the Darkness Temple, my original idea was that it represents the undead. However, I never made a separate note of it, which led to me remembering it incorrectly when writing later. I'll carefully organize it later and compile the world view of the Darkness Temple separately.
Another point that might cause misunderstanding: Zangjin Baihu and Zi Qinglong are only prehistoric divine seeds, not beings that have lived for fifty thousand eons. For example, if a ten-thousand-year-old mammoth corpse is dug up from beneath the Antarctic glacier, future technology could clone a living mammoth.
Of course, prehistoric divine seeds are not cloned; their specific circumstances will be explained later. In short, they may not have the lifespan that everyone imagines, nor could they.