Chapter 2339: Flower Dance of the Mortal World, Earth Burial Seven Evils
The world condensed by talisman dao was vast and boundless, filling Zhang Ruochen’s field of vision. Its terrifying and unparalleled might seemed intent on suppressing and killing him, burying him deep beneath thick soil.
Before the suppression and killing, it first seized his heart and soul.
Zhang Ruochen’s protective sacred qi was deformed by the pressure of the talisman world, and his body uncontrollably slid backward.
“Boom!”
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, and a spatial domain a hundred zhang in diameter silently manifested around him.
His hands spread wide, forming a winnowing basket shape, then swiftly came together, forming two palm seals.
“Roar!”
The sounds of dragon roars and elephant trumpeting shook heaven and earth.
Three dragon souls and three elephant souls flew out simultaneously, merging with the palm force surging from the two seals, clashing head-on with the talisman world.
An earth-shattering explosion spread outward from before Zhang Ruochen’s palms.
The talisman world shattered and crumbled.
Yet, the moment the talisman world broke apart, the resulting shockwave sent Zhang Ruochen’s body flying back dozens of miles.
Protected by the spatial domain, Zhang Ruochen was as light as a fallen leaf, landing back on the ground without a speck of dust, gazing up at Yan Zhexian, who hovered in the sky like a startled swan, beautiful as a fairy. He thought to himself, “Such formidable talisman techniques. One talisman is more powerful than a ninth-rank grand formation. In the past thousand years in the Hell Realm, has there been a talisman master stronger than her?”
At the very least, the talisman dao attainment of Yu Huang, a talisman earth master, fell far short of hers.
Of course, even if Yan Zhexian’s talisman techniques were incredibly powerful, Zhang Ruochen was not afraid, only filled with intense astonishment.
One must know that an array earth master required a long time to set up a ninth-rank grand formation successfully. But Yan Zhexian, as a talisman master, spent almost no time, casually drawing a “Realm” talisman that could match the power of a ninth-rank grand formation.
Any Great Saint encountering such a marvel would likely be shocked.
There were only two explanations:
First, Yan Zhexian’s spiritual power intensity far exceeded sixty-fifth rank, allowing her to instantly draw a great talisman to contend with a top-tier powerhouse like Zhang Ruochen, who rivaled a Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint.
Second, Yan Zhexian had spent a great deal of time preparing talismans in advance, storing them on her person, and now merely activated them.
Talismans were easier to preserve than formations.
Zhang Ruochen felt the second explanation was more likely.
Given Yan Zhexian’s age, reaching sixty-fifth rank in spiritual power intensity was already astonishing. After all, many gods had not reached seventieth rank in spiritual power intensity.
If her spiritual power had reached the god level, how embarrassing would that be for those gods whose spiritual power still lingered in the sixtieth rank?
Zhang Ruochen had achieved sixty-fifth rank in spiritual power in a short time, but he had benefited from the Sundial, the Ultimate Burial Gold Qi, the Divine Wood Heart, and various other opportunities. Each of these opportunities was incredibly precious, treasures that even gods sought.
Yan Zhexian’s achievements in spiritual power and talisman dao had reached a level that even Zhang Ruochen admired.
However, even if it were the second case, it was no easy feat.
Because the more powerful a talisman, the more precious the materials needed to craft the talisman paper that could bear it. Not only was the talisman paper difficult to make, but the ink used for drawing talismans also had high requirements.
On the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, it was no easy task for Yan Zhexian to solve these two issues.
Talisman earth masters and array earth masters could be either extremely powerful or very weak. Given enough time and materials, with thorough preparation, their combat power had almost no upper limit.
Conversely, with insufficient time and materials, their combat power was greatly diminished.
“Swish! Swish! Swish…”
The talisman world shattered, but Yan Zhexian’s expression remained unchanged, steady as a mountain. She launched a second round of attacks, her posture graceful as she danced. The brush in her hand moved like a dragonfly skimming water, continuously dotting out, condensing into Heavenly Halberd talismans.
Each talisman was a heavenly halberd.
The heavenly halberds, like ten thousand arrows piercing the heart, turned into dense black dots, striking Zhang Ruochen on the ground.
Zhang Ruochen did not dodge. His ten golden wings spread out, turning into a streak of golden light, charging straight into the rain of heavenly halberds.
A hint of surprise finally appeared on Yan Zhexian’s face. She had never expected Zhang Ruochen to be so fierce and powerful, treating her heavenly halberd talismans as if they were nothing.
“Bang, bang.”
On the ten golden wings, the ancestral blood patterns emitted a crimson light, like heavenly golden blades, shattering the heavenly halberds one by one.
The heavenly halberd talismans were not pre-prepared talismans, but with Yan Zhexian’s talisman dao skill, each talisman could threaten a Great Saint.
Zhang Ruochen broke them all like cutting paper butterflies, charging right up to Yan Zhexian.
“Now take a punch from me.”
He threw a punch, and countless fist dao rules surged along his arm toward his five fingers.
A phantom of a heavenly river automatically appeared, swirling behind Zhang Ruochen, exuding a majestic and imposing aura.
With Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation, a full-force Luo Water Fist Art strike would be hard for even strong warriors like Xu and Yanhong Great Saint to withstand.
Yan Zhexian dared not take it head-on either. For a spiritual power Great Saint who primarily cultivated talisman dao, such a close-range, powerful attack was a fatal threat.
However, her mental fortitude was strong, and she remained calm under pressure. The brush in her hand extended, drawing a massive circle one hundred and twenty zhang in diameter. The circle contained a devouring and absorbing aura.
The Luo Water Fist Art seemed soft but was actually full of dominance, with an unstoppable momentum.
But just as Zhang Ruochen was about to shatter all of Yan Zhexian’s defenses with one punch, his body was pulled into the circle. His vision went dark, and when he regained his sight, he found himself back where he started, still standing on the ground.
“Boom.”
The punch he had thrown struck the ground, sending sand and stones flying, raising a large cloud of black dust.
Zhang Ruochen naturally understood what had happened. The circle Yan Zhexian had drawn was similar to a space wormhole mirror, teleporting him from one spatial coordinate to another, effortlessly neutralizing his fist technique.
It was a space wormhole mirror created using talisman techniques, extremely ingenious.
Zhang Ruochen also finally saw clearly that Yan Zhexian’s talismans were hidden in the green sacred brush in her hand. That brush was extraordinary, containing endless mysteries.
No one knew how many talismans she had stored in that brush.
“If you want to play with space power, I’ll play along.”
Zhang Ruochen’s tone was cold as he looked up. Yan Zhexian danced with the green brush, like a heavenly maiden gracefully moving.
The ink splashing from the brush tip turned into a rain of flowers filling the sky.
Under the influence of the talisman technique, the sky turned dark red.
A stunningly beautiful flower descended from the dark red clouds.
That extraordinary flower looked very much like the legendary Moon Fall Divine Flower, its petals like silk, thousands of fine threads.
Yan Zhexian stood at the center of the Moon Fall Divine Flower, continuing to draw talisman patterns. Instantly, more flowers appeared in the sky, turning a region hundreds of miles wide into a sea of flowers.
The sea of flowers kept descending, the atmospheric pressure increasing, pressing in on Zhang Ruochen from all directions.
“What kind of technique is this?”
Zhang Ruochen propped up his spatial domain, a hundred zhang in diameter, to resist the atmospheric pressure, gazing at the magnificent and beautiful sea of flowers in the sky. It was truly a breathtaking sight.
Unfortunately, it contained a deadly killing intent. The more beautiful it was, the more deadly.
“Flower Dance of the Mortal World, Mournful Burial of All Beings.”
“If this talisman technique were used elsewhere, the Moon Fall Divine Flower would shine like a bright moon in the sky, its light reaching a hundred thousand miles, and the sea of flowers would stretch for thirty thousand miles. But here, limited by the dao locks, you can only see eight hundred miles of flower sea.”
Yan Zhexian’s voice was beautiful, ethereal like a song.
“A beautiful woman like you should just do the Flower Dance of the Mortal World. Don’t go around burying all beings.”
Zhang Ruochen’s body erupted with earth-shattering sacred might. Tens of millions of space rules surged out wildly, and in an instant, the spatial domain expanded from a hundred zhang in diameter to a thousand zhang.
The Moon Fall Divine Flower and Yan Zhexian inside it both fell into the spatial domain.
To expand the spatial domain to a thousand zhang, the space sacred phase had to be integrated into it. Such a thousand-zhang domain was very unstable and could collapse at any moment.
Previously, Zhang Ruochen only used this move at critical moments of life and death.
But now, with his increasingly profound space dao skill, his control over the thousand-zhang domain had become more adept, and it would become his standard approach.
“Flower Dance of the Mortal World, beautiful and moving. Please, Miss Yan, also watch my sword dance.”
“Space Sword Dance.”
In the domain, invisible swords appeared—swords that only a spiritual power Great Saint could perceive, condensed from space itself. There were exactly thirty-six of them.
The swords in space were like wind blades in the air, ice knives in water.
The moment Yan Zhexian fell into the spatial domain, her pretty face turned pale. She quickly bit her arm, using her sacred blood to stain the white brush bristles.
“Swish!”
The thirty-six space swords wove into a sword net, slashing toward her.
“Bang, bang.”
Yan Zhexian drew a blood talisman, blocking the space swords while driving the Moon Fall Divine Flower, trying to escape the spatial domain.
Zhang Ruochen’s five fingers, controlling the swords, suddenly clenched.
The thirty-six space swords merged into one, piercing through the blood talisman and the Moon Fall Divine Flower, flying past Yan Zhexian’s neck.
The sharp sword qi tore through space and also cut her skin.
Yan Zhexian flew sideways, falling awkwardly to the ground. Blood gushed from her neck, staining her white clothes mostly red. The sea of flowers in the sky, attacked by space power, withered completely, annihilating into specks of light.
The space swords reverted to thirty-six, flying back into the thousand-zhang spatial domain, hovering around Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen walked forward, the swords following like shadows.
“The facts prove you are no match for me. However, you are indeed strong. Surviving the space swords means your strength is at least two notches above Xu and Yanhong Great Saint without their supreme sacred artifacts.”
Yan Zhexian stood tall and straight, proudly glaring at Zhang Ruochen. “Don’t speak to me in the tone of a victor. This battle has just begun. Soon, you will fall at my feet.”
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
…
Figures appeared around Zhang Ruochen, each holding a white talisman seal with both hands.
A total of sixty-one Great Saints, all with spiritual power exceeding the sixtieth rank, and all trained in talisman dao.
Yan Zhexian’s heroic bearing surpassed before. The green brush in her hand grew to nine feet long, turning into a spear, and she fiercely struck the ground. The earth shook violently, and space trembled intensely.
“Rumble.”
Mountain peaks broke through the soil, rising from the ground.
Yan Zhexian’s red lips were as bright and clear as gems. “All the talisman cultivators of the Yama Clan are here, joining me in preparing a great talisman specifically to suppress and kill you.”
“Earth Burial Seven Evils.”
Including Yan Zhexian, a total of sixty-two Great Saint talisman masters continuously drew talisman patterns.
Some talisman patterns flew into the sky, others sank into the ground.
Seven mountain peaks emerged from the ground.
Each one was ferocious and glaring, taking the form of ghostly evils. They grew taller and taller, their might becoming more and more astonishing, squeezing Zhang Ruochen’s spatial domain down to only a hundred zhang in diameter.
It was still shrinking.
Clearly, the talisman masters of the Yama Clan had long tampered with this area, combining it with their talisman dao.
Zhang Ruochen was certainly not arrogant enough to single-handedly fight dozens of Great Saint talisman masters, especially with Yan Zhexian presiding over the talisman formation.
The Earth Burial Seven Evils sealed off seven directions.
Each evil released an overwhelmingly powerful spiritual pressure, looking down on Zhang Ruochen.
“I must not let the Earth Burial Seven Evils talisman take form, or I will surely die today.”
Zhang Ruochen drove the thirty-six space swords, turning into a golden streak, charging toward the strongest point of the talisman formation—the position where Yan Zhexian was.
“How does Zhang Ruochen know that my position is both the strongest and the weakest point of the Earth Burial Seven Evils?”
Just as Yan Zhexian was about to mobilize the power of the Earth Burial Seven Evils talisman, she was shocked to find Zhang Ruochen’s body performing a space jump, instantly arriving before her, the space sword thrusting straight at her brow.
“It’s over.”
Yan Zhexian had witnessed the power of the space sword and knew she could not block it. She sighed inwardly, thinking that Zhang Ruochen was indeed a peerless figure as outstanding as Yan Wushen, and dying by his sword would not be unjust.
The space sword broke through the talisman patterns and pierced through her brow.
But she did not die, nor was she even injured. Only a cool sensation came from her brow. That space sword was like a gentle breeze brushing across her snow-white forehead, carrying no killing power.
Yan Zhexian touched her brow with her finger, utterly incredulous.
Zhang Ruochen had actually spared her?
He could have killed her with one sword strike, but at the last moment, he had reverted the space sword back into space.
Zhang Ruochen had already flown over her head, like a heavenly dragon, a wild goose, a cloud, rushing toward the direction of Sleeping Buddha Mountain, turning into a small blood-red dot on the golden, radiant earth.
“Zhang Ruochen, this place is guarded by two thousand seven hundred Great Saints of my Yama Clan. No matter how great your abilities, you will die without a burial place.” Yan Zhexian stared at the distant blood-red dot, shouting sharply.
“Thanks for the reminder.”
The wind carried back Zhang Ruochen’s indifferent voice.
The blood-red dot vanished into the air, as if swept away by the wind.
A Great Saint talisman master came to Yan Zhexian’s side. “Zhang Ruochen is too terrifying. Although the Earth Burial Seven Evils did not fully take form, it was not something a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint could split open with one sword. Yet he did it.”
“What do we do now?” another Great Saint talisman master asked.
Yan Zhexian’s gaze was cold. The green brush shrank and was inserted into her silk belt. “The path to the Dragon Assembly Copper Temple won’t be easy. We’ll chase after him and stop him no matter what.”
Then, she looked up at the golden Buddha light being devoured by black clouds. “The sky has changed. Could it be that Yan Wushen has seized the opportunity?”
A bolt of lightning flashed, and the sky turned completely dark. The Buddha light was entirely swallowed by the darkness.
“Boom!”
Immediately after, a deafening thunderclap sounded, though it was unclear whether it came from the sky or the ground.