Chapter 2365: Saints Like Grass
"Rip!"
The blood-colored butterfly radiated dazzling red light, carrying a bloody scent, turning the white Snow Stone Ancient City into a blood-red hue. Before it, pieces of red crystal coalesced into a convex circular shield, larger than a palace, inscribed with mysterious ancient patterns and strange beast diagrams. Ten swastika-shaped azure dragon afterimages collided with the circular shield, erupting in a series of ten thunderous booms.
Space trembled.
Astonishingly, the shield withstood this wave of attacks without shattering.
Incredible!
One must know that Zhang Ruochen's palm strike was a full-power blow, unleashing the tenth stance of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, "Dragon Roaming the Nine Heavens," whose power was no weaker than a perfected Thousand-Question-level high-rank Sacred Art. How could a mere initial-stage Thousand-Question Great Saint withstand it?
Clearly, Qi Die had employed a spiritual power defensive spell. Only a sixty-sixth-order spiritual power could block Zhang Ruochen's full-force palm strike.
"Your spiritual power is indeed formidable. Your combat strength probably surpasses that of Zuo Mu Shengjun, the so-called strongest Thousand-Question Heavenly Slave. Killing you should earn me extra points."
Zhang Ruochen soared into the air, his battle intent blazing even fiercer. Although the Myriad Realms Divine Eye could not capture the scenes within the Dark Star's coverage, Zhang Ruochen refused to believe that the gods of the Hell Realm truly could not see what was happening here.
"Still want to kill me? Zhang Ruochen, take a good look. Your Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints are all destined to die here." The blood-red butterfly let out a venomous laugh.
Qi Die was far more lucid than the other Heavenly Slaves, never intending to leave the Heaven Hunting Battlefield alive. Since that was the case, the more Hell Realm Great Saints she killed, the more satisfying it would be.
Zhang Ruochen then noticed that the light emitted by Qi Die's spiritual power sacred form was identical to the power infused into the thirteen Sword South Realm Heavenly Slaves—both possessed bone-eroding properties.
"Not good, it's Bone-Eroding Blood Qi. Everyone be careful, don't let that red light touch you."
"Ah... it's unbearable. Bone-Eroding Blood Qi has invaded my body..." An Undying Blood Clan Great Saint clawed frantically at his chest, as if wanting to dig out his own bones.
"Those corroded by Bone-Eroding Blood Qi, stop fighting immediately and focus on refining it. Don't let it erode your marrow and blood."
...
Screams and curses rang out continuously.
In a short time, seventeen Undying Blood Clan Great Saints had been contaminated by the red light, losing combat effectiveness. They had to sit cross-legged and refine the invading Bone-Eroding Blood Qi.
Moreover, more Great Saints were falling victim one after another.
The morale of the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saint army was once again severely shaken.
"A sixty-sixth-order spiritual power Great Saint is truly terrifying. One can match a thousand troops. Let's go assist Ruochen Great Saint."
Yi Xuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi rushed toward Zhang Ruochen's location.
Zhang Ruochen's heart remained calm as he transmitted his voice to Yi Xuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi: "Leave this to me. You two, immediately lead the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints to break through the formation of those Saint-level Heavenly Slaves. Once the formation is shattered, no matter how many Saint-level Heavenly Slaves there are, they won't escape being slaughtered."
"But Qi Die's spiritual power is too strong!" Gu Chenzi was worried, afraid Zhang Ruochen couldn't handle it alone.
"Exactly! Qi Die's cultivation has also reached the Thousand-Question realm, dual-cultivating in divine and martial arts, with no weaknesses." Yi Xuan Great Saint was also concerned.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Follow my orders. Go do what you need to do."
Two million six hundred thousand Saint-level Heavenly Slaves were scattered throughout Snow Stone Ancient City. Apart from the one million controlling the blood-mark traps, another one million six hundred thousand were respectively controlling the defensive blood-mark formations and the offensive blood-mark formations.
At this moment, the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints had yet to even break through the blood-mark trap layer.
One million Saint-level Heavenly Slaves formed a sea of people. Even if they were chopping vegetables, it wouldn't be finished in a short time.
Further away, the one million Saint-level Heavenly Slaves controlling the offensive blood-mark formations had fully entered combat mode, manipulating one million stone swords to fly above all the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints.
"Swish, swish."
Sword qi crisscrossed, weaving into a net.
With such a massive number of stone swords, they posed a lethal threat even to Great Saints.
Gu Chenzi and Yi Xuan Great Saint realized that these Heavenly Slaves were not so easy to kill. If they didn't quickly break through the three major formations formed by the Heavenly Slaves, even if the Undying Blood Clan achieved ultimate victory today, their losses would be severe. A pyrrhic victory was still a defeat.
"Let's go!"
Gu Chenzi and Yi Xuan Great Saint chose to trust Zhang Ruochen.
No matter how strong Qi Die was, could she be stronger than Wu Jiang? She was definitely no match for Ruochen Great Saint.
Their only concern now was Zhang Ruochen's delay in taking down Qi Die.
The longer their top-tier battle dragged on, the greater the collateral damage to the Undying Blood Clan and the heavier the casualties.
They were even more worried that once Qi Die faced defeat and a dead end, she would choose to self-destruct. In the confined space of Snow Stone Ancient City, a Thousand-Question Great Saint with sixty-sixth-order spiritual power self-destructing would have disastrous consequences.
The key was that no one's spiritual power could stop Qi Die from self-destructing.
Gu Chenzi and Yi Xuan Great Saint were both anxious, hoping only that Zhang Ruochen could display his divine might and kill Qi Die in a short time, not giving her a chance to self-destruct.
Only then could the Undying Blood Clan win this battle with minimal cost.
"Come, a team with me. Kill southward and break through the formation of the Saint-level Heavenly Slaves controlling the offensive blood-mark formations." Yi Xuan Great Saint shouted this and was the first to push southward.
"I'll go with you."
"Count me in."
...
In an instant, over forty Hundred-Shackles Great Saints followed Yi Xuan Great Saint's lead, charging toward the southern city.
Nearly a hundred more Great Saints followed Gu Chenzi and Yue Tinghai, killing toward the north, intending to break the blood-mark defensive formation so that Dao Yu Huang and the Rakshasa Princess outside the formation could join the battle.
Zhang Ruochen was fully aware of how crucial his battle with Qi Die was to the overall situation.
He had to go all out and end it quickly.
With one hand, he lifted the Purple Gold Gourd above his head, channeling a steady stream of sacred qi to activate the Supreme Inscription Runes within the gourd.
"Boom!"
From the gourd, purple and golden dazzling light shot out, like thousands of lightning bolts weaving between heaven and earth.
A Supreme Sacred Artifact possessed the terrifying power to allow a cultivator to kill across realms. Sensing the fluctuation of Supreme power, Qi Die immediately stopped using Bone-Eroding Blood Qi against the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints and concentrated her spiritual power, condensing sharp, sword-like spiritual power light spikes to strike at Zhang Ruochen.
A sixty-sixth-order spiritual power Great Saint could control or kill an ordinary Immortal Realm Great Saint with just a glance.
The spiritual power attack launched by Qi Die at full force would make even the most top-tier Thousand-Question Great Saint flee immediately, not daring to clash head-on.
But Zhang Ruochen did not retreat.
Although his spiritual power was inferior to Qi Die's, it had reached the sixty-fifth tribulation level.
He might not be able to counterattack, but self-defense was no problem.
"Thunder Venerable!"
Zhang Ruochen manifested his spiritual power sacred form, formed from lightning, with a massive body identical to his own, like a thunderous divine mountain blocking in front of him.
The spiritual power light spikes collided with the Thunder Venerable.
A powerful spiritual power shockwave swept in all directions.
The Saint-level Heavenly Slaves nearby all bled from their seven orifices and screamed in agony.
Their spiritual power was shattered, their sacred souls scattered, and their sea of consciousness turned blank.
The spiritual power shockwave was so strong that even the spiritual power seals set by the gods dissipated.
Not to mention those Saint-level Heavenly Slaves, even the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saints were injured, terrified that they might become mindless idiots, and quickly fled into the distance.
They only wanted to escape as far as possible.
"Their spiritual power is too strong, even stronger than our clan's Supreme Realm Great Saint's spiritual power."
"Freaks! Their spiritual power must be at least sixty-fifth order."
"Thank goodness Zhang Ruochen is here to block her. Otherwise, who knows how many Undying Blood Clan Great Saints would die under her spiritual power."
"Wasn't the Heavenly Slaves' spiritual power sealed? Even the gods are this unreliable?"
...
The Thunder Venerable blocked Qi Die's spiritual power attack, buying Zhang Ruochen time to push the Supreme Inscription Runes of the Purple Gold Gourd to their limit.
"Boom!"
Like a volcanic eruption, a red-golden light pillar surged from the gourd's mouth, its scorching flames shooting straight at the tens-of-zhang-long blood-red butterfly.
Facing a Supreme Sacred Artifact, Qi Die knew she absolutely could not withstand it and would be obliterated, body and soul.
So, the blood-red butterfly flapped its wings, pulling up hundreds of thousands of blood marks from the ground, twisting them into a blood river. She channeled the power of the hundreds of thousands of Saint-level Heavenly Slaves controlling the blood-mark traps into herself.
The red-golden light pillar and the blood river clashed, and the violent power rapidly spread throughout Snow Stone Ancient City.
Even the outer blood-mark formation light barrier trembled violently, as if about to be torn apart.
The Supreme power continuously evaporated and melted the blood marks in the river. The two forces clashed for ten breaths, and tens of thousands of Saint-level Heavenly Slaves were turned to ash.
In such a confrontation, the lives of saints were like grass and ants, annihilated in droves.
It was for this reason that merit battles between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm did not allow Great Saints to enter the intra-realm battlefield. The destructive power of Great Saints was too terrifying, a catastrophe for ordinary beings.
Qi Die was utterly insane, caring nothing for the lives of those Heavenly Slaves, and laughed maniacally: "The power of a Supreme Sacred Artifact is indeed formidable, but in the starry space covered by the Dark Star, there is no spiritual energy to replenish physical consumption. Zhang Ruochen, how much longer can you hold out?"
Zhang Ruochen was indeed exhausted, his sacred qi severely depleted. Even with four sacred sources, he couldn't sustain it.
The consumption of sacred qi by a Supreme Sacred Artifact was simply too great.
"No need to worry. Killing you is more than enough."
Zhang Ruochen looked down and saw that Da Sen Luo Huang and over a hundred Undying Blood Clan Great Saints had already broken into the formation of the Saint-level Heavenly Slaves, slaughtering them in chaos.
Sacred blood flowed like rivers in the streets.
As large numbers of Saint-level Heavenly Slaves died, the power of the blood river Qi Die controlled gradually weakened.
"Mo Yin, you take control of the Purple Gold Gourd."
Zhang Ruochen shifted his body to the right, then burst forth with extreme speed, charging at the tens-of-zhang-long blood-red butterfly. While flying, he took out a sacred source, crushing it to pieces with his five fingers, turning it into a shower of sacred light.
He absorbed all that light into his body.
His severely depleted sacred qi was restored by more than half in an instant.
Mo Yin had fought alongside Zhang Ruochen in the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, devouring countless Heavenly Slaves, and her strength had risen to a new level. She was now two or three notches stronger than top-ten Hundred-Shackles Great Perfection powerhouses like Dao Yu Huang and Feng Hou.
To put it bluntly, if Wu Jiang hadn't obtained a great opportunity on the Yama Clan's home planet, he might not have had much advantage against Mo Yin in a fight now.
Zhang Ruochen had subdued the Devouring Saint Flower as a parasitic plant, preserved its spiritual consciousness, and provided it with a continuous supply of food precisely because he saw its potential. He valued that it could keep growing steadily before becoming a god.
Unlike other cultivators, it had various bottlenecks.
After becoming a parasitic plant, it could even share some of Zhang Ruochen's enlightenment results. He had cultivated various powers and various Dao methods, and it was somewhat proficient in all of them.
Such a Devouring Saint Flower was rare in the entire universe.
It was certainly worth Zhang Ruochen's all-out effort to nurture it.
Now was the time for the Devouring Saint Flower to truly realize its value.
Mo Yin's two snow-white hands pressed against the bottom of the Purple Gold Gourd, but she was sent flying backward by the force erupting from the blood river. After landing on the Snow Stone Street, she still slid backward.
But...
She had blocked it after all!
Mo Yin's long hair flew, and she severed over a dozen Saint King Heavenly Slaves trying to ambush her from behind into over a hundred pieces. Her enchanting, demonic face broke into a delighted smile: "I haven't tasted a sixty-sixth-order spiritual power Great Saint yet!"
"Not good."
Qi Die realized that the one wielding the Supreme Sacred Artifact had changed, and immediately sensed danger.
But it was too late.
With Zhang Ruochen's current speed, as long as his opponent made one mistake, they would die without a burial place.
"No need to look. I'm above."
Zhang Ruochen stepped on divine flame clouds, activating the power of the Blazing God Leg, descending from above and pressing down onto the back of the blood-red butterfly.
"Boom!"
The blood-red butterfly was Qi Die's spiritual power sacred form. Unable to withstand the force of Zhang Ruochen's kick, it exploded like a balloon, turning into a sky full of red light.
Zhang Ruochen's foot pressed down on Qi Die's true body, stomping her from the sky all the way to the ground.
"Rumble."
Snow Stone Ancient City was the main body of Lei Di, an ancient city. Every stone was as hard as sacred jade, making it an indestructible city.
But Zhang Ruochen's kick sank a large area of the stone ground.
Qi Die was not only a formidable spiritual power Great Saint but also a martial Thousand-Question Great Saint, so her physical body was naturally very strong. Yet, Zhang Ruochen's kick crushed her flesh and blood, piercing through her body, nearly breaking her in two at the waist.
Zhang Ruochen used divine flames to refine Qi Die beneath his feet.
"Once spiritual power reaches the sixty-sixth order, it's not so easy to kill. You can't kill me, you can't... Even if my physical body is destroyed, my spiritual power will not perish."
Qi Die let out a sharp laugh, then shattered her own body, splitting it into pieces.
Each piece of broken flesh seemed to possess its own consciousness. Every drop of blood spilled on the ground seemed to have an independent soul.
They all flew toward the same spot, reassembling into Qi Die's body.