Chapter 2385: Annihilating Yanhong
Two teams of Yama clan formation masters, driving two formation centipedes over three hundred miles long, soared above the battlefield where Yan Huangtu, the Pink Skeleton, and Zhang Ruochen were locked in combat.
The Eight Life-and-Death Sons hovered, their forms suspended atop the wall-like talisman inscriptions, adopting a defensive posture without attacking.
Yan Huangtu's facial flesh was entirely destroyed, exposing his teeth, cheekbones, and lower jaw, making him appear extremely ferocious. He said in a deep voice, "Continuously activating a supreme sacred artifact—how long can you sustain that?"
"Even if I fought like this for an entire day, I'd have no problem. What about you? When will your Yama qi and divine power run out?" Zhang Ruochen replied.
Whether it was the "Nine Dragon Divine Mark" on Yan Huangtu or the "Undying Divine Mark" on the Pink Skeleton, both required the divine power contained within their bones for support. Once that divine power was exhausted and the divine substance annihilated, even divine bones could not protect their sacred sources or sacred souls.
Seeing his weakness exposed by Zhang Ruochen, Yan Huangtu's originally composed heart stirred with a ripple of unease.
Because the divine power within his divine bones was indeed nearly depleted, unable to sustain him much longer.
In contrast, Zhang Ruochen remained full of vigor and spirit. Although Yan Huangtu didn't believe he could truly maintain such an intense battle for an entire day, he found Zhang Ruochen unfathomable, with no visible limits.
The Pink Skeleton fared even worse, unable to maintain peak combat power, her aura declining.
"After combining the demigod body with the Five Elements Chaos Undying Sacred Body, his physical form is incredibly strong. His combat endurance actually surpasses my Imperial Dao Divine Bones?"
Yan Huangtu sent a telepathic message: "All cultivators, attack together."
"Fight! Suppress and kill Zhang Ruochen."
The Eight Life-and-Death Sons immediately mobilized the power of the Book of Life and the Book of Death, transforming them into eight different forms—the Life Divine Tree, the Life Divine Lake, the Death Blood Stele, the Death Light Feathers, and others—striking at Zhang Ruochen from a distance.
The eight of them formed a formation, their aura and might stacking layer upon layer.
As they joined the battle, the already precarious wall talismans finally began to show signs of damage.
"Now is the time."
Zhang Ruochen unleashed the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image, rising a thousand miles high. A vast and overwhelming wave of power radiated in all directions, shattering the already crumbling wall talismans completely.
Over sixty Yama clan talisman masters spat blood, flying backward like scarecrows in all directions.
Knowing the power of Zhang Ruochen's sacred image, Yan Huangtu and the Pink Skeleton simultaneously retreated.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Zhang Ruochen had already prepared the Purple Gold Gourd.
At the gourd's mouth, seventy-two million spatial inscriptions all lit up, causing space within an eight-hundred-mile radius to tremble.
"Zhang Ruochen is finally using the Purple Gold Gourd! Fall back, as far as possible."
Yan Huangtu transformed into a streak of golden light, fleeing into the distance at top speed.
"There's no escape. Zhang Ruochen has planned this for a long time, deliberately waiting until now to use the Purple Gold Gourd, intending to catch us all in one net."
The Pink Skeleton, realizing the gap between herself and Zhang Ruochen, became much more composed, seeing things even more clearly.
Although Yan Huangtu was fast, he absolutely could not escape beyond the eight-hundred-mile range.
Zhang Ruochen had chosen this moment to use the Purple Gold Gourd because he had calculated that the divine power within their bones was heavily depleted, making it impossible for them to break free from the gourd's suction and spatial collapse force.
"Yan Huangtu, I'll help you escape. Remember your promise to me."
The Pink Skeleton's divine light surged, manifesting her true divine bone form, eighteen hundred miles tall. A Gate of Destiny appeared behind her as she charged toward the Purple Gold Gourd.
Mobilizing her remaining divine power, she threw a punch.
"Boom."
The eight-hundred-mile radius was covered by a spatial formation, then rapidly collapsed.
The eight attacks unleashed by the Eight Life-and-Death Sons were sucked into the gourd in the first instant, failing to harm Zhang Ruochen in the slightest.
One by one, Yama clan talisman masters also had their bodies uncontrollably pulled into the gourd.
If not for the Pink Skeleton using her massive divine bone form to block most of the spatial collapse force, the Eight Life-and-Death Sons would all have been collected into the gourd by Zhang Ruochen.
"What a pity. A perfect chance to catch them all, ruined by you."
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the divine bone skeleton charging at him with a punch.
Just one fist was like a blood-red mountain, densely covered with divine marks, carrying terrifying divine might.
Even the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image seemed dwarfed in comparison.
"Demon God Prison Suppression."
Zhang Ruochen summoned a demon god phantom, merging it with the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image. With his feet treading on hell and his head supporting nine layers of heaven, he unleashed a palm strike that collided with the Pink Skeleton's fist force.
"Tenfold attack power."
The Truth Realm Form rapidly contracted, fusing with the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image, amplifying the palm strike's power tenfold.
"Boom."
With irresistible force, the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image sent the eighteen-hundred-mile-tall divine bone skeleton flying backward, its divine light rapidly dimming.
The Eight Life-and-Death Sons had fled behind the Pink Skeleton, thinking they were safe.
Now, looking up at the divine bone skeleton flying overhead, their hearts trembled.
Before today, who would have believed that Yan Huangtu and the Pink Skeleton, working together, could be defeated so miserably?
Zhang Ruochen crossed space, catching up to the tumbling divine bone skeleton, and flicked his finger.
A drop of Dark Time-Space Matter flew out.
With his current level of cultivation, he could unleash even greater power from the Dark Time-Space Matter, allowing darkness, space, and time to erupt more perfectly.
"Boom."
The Dark Time-Space Matter landed on the divine bone skeleton's head, rapidly enveloping its two-hundred-mile-long skull.
The three eternal forces—darkness, space, and time—eroded the Undying Divine Mark on the divine bones, seeking to extinguish the Pink Skeleton's sacred soul hidden within the skull and kill her completely.
Zhang Ruochen had barely killed any Yama clan cultivators. Aside from not wanting to make more powerful enemies, the greater reason was that the Yama clan cultivators had never actively sought to kill him.
Even when they opposed him, it was due to competition, not personal enmity.
Moreover, the competition had been initiated by Zhang Ruochen himself.
But the Pink Skeleton was different. Before even entering the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, she had declared she would take Zhang Ruochen's life, scheming relentlessly to kill him.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Ruochen naturally intended to kill her as well.
The gods wanted him to be a blade. Now, that blade was drawn.
After striking three drops of Dark Time-Space Matter, the Undying Divine Mark on the Pink Skeleton's skull completely dimmed, losing all radiance. All fluctuations from her body fell into silence.
The entire cosmic void seemed to grow still.
"Yanhong the Great Saint, one of the three goddess candidates... just... just killed by Zhang Ruochen..."
"Zhang Ruochen has stirred up a huge disaster. Yanhong the Great Saint has immense backing in both the Destiny Temple and the Bone clan."
"I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Yanhong the Great Saint has an undying body. Even Supreme Realm Great Saints couldn't kill her. How could she die at Zhang Ruochen's hands?"
"If the Undying Divine Mark on her skull has been worn away, how could she still be alive?" a Bone clan cultivator sighed.
...
Zhang Ruochen flew above the planet-sized divine bone skeleton, released his spiritual power to inspect it, then struck out spatial inscriptions to bind it.
The eighteen-hundred-mile-tall divine bone skeleton gradually shrank...
Until it became the size of a normal human.
Zhang Ruochen sealed the ring-shaped supreme sacred artifact, then stored the Pink Skeleton into the inner space of a monarch sacred artifact.
Although the Pink Skeleton was dead, her divine bones were extremely valuable. The Undying Divine Mark on the bones also held great research value.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen vaguely sensed that, despite the erosion of three drops of Dark Time-Space Matter, there was still a strange region deep within the Pink Skeleton's skull that his spiritual power could not probe.
Perhaps she harbored a great secret.
Having done all this, Zhang Ruochen held the Seven-Star Ghost Lotus in one hand and the Purple Gold Gourd in the other, casting a domineering gaze toward Yan Huangtu in the distance. "What about your doppelganger? Aren't you going to use that trump card? Hiding in the shadows is useless. I'll find him soon enough."
"Zhang Ruochen, you are undoubtedly an Eon-level genius. But I, Yan Huangtu, will never admit defeat."
Yan Huangtu's true body had become like a golden skeleton, too severely injured for his flesh to regenerate quickly.
The Eight Life-and-Death Sons and the two formation centipedes quickly flew to Yan Huangtu's side. One by one, the Yama clan great saints had reddened eyes and blazing battle intent, ready to fight Zhang Ruochen to the death.
They refused to believe that Zhang Ruochen could truly single-handedly crush all the Yama clan's strong warriors.
...
...
Yan Wushen had set up a space teleportation array on the seventh dark star, a hundred feet in diameter, capable of mobilizing the dark force and space force within the star's core to achieve long-distance spatial teleportation.
Chi Di had some understanding of the Way of Space and confirmed that the array was indeed safe and reliable, not a trap set by Yan Wushen.
He waved his hand and said, "All great saint slaves, enter the array."
"No rush. We can wait a little longer," Yan Wushen said.
Bore glanced at Yan Wushen with a strange look.
Chi Di also cast a puzzled expression. "Why wait?"
Yan Wushen said, "The teleportation array on the Undying Blood Clan's home star has definitely been exposed and may even have been destroyed. We can't teleport to a fixed point. So we must wait until the Yama clan and Bone clan cultivators destroy the home star's protective grand formation. Otherwise, it will be quite troublesome."
Yan Wushen and Bore both stood three thousand steps away, also on a space teleportation array, its light flickering, ready to teleport away at any moment.
Clearly, facing a strong warrior like Chi Di, Yan Wushen was very cautious.
Survival came first.
Chi Di asked, "Haven't you received any message light talismans from the Yama clan? Haven't they informed you that the formation has been broken?"
Yan Wushen shook his head.
Bore looked at Yan Wushen again, a look of understanding dawning on her face.
Although Yan Wushen had not received news that the Undying Blood Clan's protective grand formation had been breached, he had received news of an unusual five-colored light emanating from the Undying Blood Clan's home star.
Without needing to guess, the protective grand formation must have been broken.
The five-colored light was most likely related to Zhang Ruochen.
Moreover, when setting up the array earlier, Yan Wushen had been moving at a steady, unhurried pace, as if he were in no rush at all.
From this, Bore deduced that Yan Wushen was deliberately stalling.
Stalling for time.
Why was he deliberately stalling?
He likely wanted to exhaust Zhang Ruochen and Yan Huangtu as much as possible, leaving them both severely wounded.
If one thought of the worst-case scenario, Yan Wushen probably wanted to use a borrowed knife to kill.
Borrow Zhang Ruochen's blade to kill Yan Huangtu.
No cultivator in the world understood Zhang Ruochen's power better than Bore and Yan Wushen. And it wasn't just his combat strength—it was his heart.
A heart that grew stronger the more it faced adversity.
The more desperate the situation, the more extraordinary the power he could unleash.
Yan Huangtu and the Pink Skeleton seemed to have every advantage and formidable strength, but in Bore and Yan Wushen's eyes, even combined, they might not be a match for Zhang Ruochen.
Bore thought to herself, "Everyone in the world thinks Yan Wushen is a martial fanatic without schemes or wisdom, that he can never outmaneuver Yan Huangtu. But a cultivator who could come and go freely on the Merit Battlefield—without schemes and wisdom, he would have died countless times. Besides, how could Yan Wushen not know of Yan Huangtu's jealousy toward him? Two tigers cannot share one mountain!"
Above the seventh dark star, Wu Jiang, Yuan Fei the Great Saint, and others stood within the Reality-Void Scroll, all astonished.
They never expected that Bore and Yan Wushen had actually convinced Chi Di to lead all the great saint slaves in a teleportation to the Undying Blood Clan's home star.
Yuan Fei the Great Saint said meaningfully, "I understand now! When two armies face off, envoys are not beheaded. Moreover, killing Yan Wushen and Bore would not be an easy task for Chi Di."
Wu Jiang pondered for a moment, then smiled. "I get it too! So, getting the great saint slaves to go to the Undying Blood Clan's home star isn't really that difficult. The key is having enough courage to negotiate with them. In terms of deep thinking, I'm far behind Bore and Yan Wushen. How did I only think of this now?"
"Over these dozens of days, all the great saint slaves, including Chi Di, have consumed a massive amount of sacred qi. They simply can't sustain a prolonged battle. After all, on the dark star, they can only keep consuming, with no way to replenish sacred qi. So, those great saint slaves want to leave the seventh dark star more than anyone else right now," Yuan Fei the Great Saint said.
Wu Jiang said, "The seventh dark star is now a cage, one they can't escape. Going to the Undying Blood Clan's home star, where the situation becomes complex and chaotic, is the only place where they might find a chance to flee."
"If Yan Wushen also promises Chi Di one or two things..." Yuan Fei the Great Saint said.
Wu Jiang nodded. "Yan Wushen deliberately waited until the last day because he knew that on the final day, all the great saint slaves' will to survive would reach its peak. They would no longer think they were doomed. With a strong enough will to survive, plus a glimmer of hope in despair, how could they refuse?"