Chapter 2390: Detection
To cast a curse on a single person, one must obtain something from that person. It could be a drop of blood, a strand of hair... or clothes they have worn.
Without these things, to cast a curse on an enemy, one must use spiritual power or eye contact to lock onto them first.
If they cannot be locked onto, the power of the curse naturally diminishes greatly.
Just like earlier, Yan Wushen used Buddhist light to easily purify the curse that had invaded his body.
Wu Jiang's spiritual power was unmatched across the entire Heaven Hunting Battlefield. No other cultivator could compare to him. Zhang Ruochen had teleported more than twenty times in a row, yet still could not escape his spiritual lock.
In the end, Wu Jiang cast the Death Heart Curse while also casting the Nether Light Curse, completely trapping Zhang Ruochen.
"What a bizarre curse."
Standing within a circle of dark green Nether Light, Zhang Ruochen was not panicked, but his heart had stopped beating.
Even though his physical body was highly immune to curses, it could not withstand such powerful curse energy.
His body temperature plummeted rapidly, reaching freezing point.
The flow of his blood slowed.
More terrifyingly, his heart had lost all sensation, as if frozen by ice or turned to stone. Even with his spiritual power at the sixty-fifth level, he could not protect it.
"Many gods of the Hell Realm are probably watching me. If I use the Heart of Truth, I will definitely be exposed."
By activating the Heart of Truth, Zhang Ruochen was confident he could break the Death Heart Curse.
But he dared not use it directly.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen could also retreat into the Purple Gold Gourd and use its supreme power to resist the Death Heart Curse. However, doing so would save his life but mean abandoning the Heaven Hunting Battle, effectively trapping himself.
In a single thought, Zhang Ruochen considered several counter-strategies, but all were rejected one by one.
"There's no other choice."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes sharpened. He released the million-fold masculine energy he had been suppressing, and then the Purifying Divine Flame and the divine flame contained in the Blazing God Leg also became violent and fierce.
His body instantly turned fiery red.
"Thump, thump."
His heart resumed beating.
Zhang Ruochen's entire body burned with divine flames, his two eyeballs turning into fire orbs that scorched the dark green Nether Light trapping him, causing it to warp slightly.
"Blood Mill Embers."
A blood-red millstone gradually took shape above his head.
Starlight from the Truth Realm Form radiated out, spreading around his body, pushing the Nether Light away and converging continuously toward the blood-red millstone. The destructive aura emanating from the blood-red millstone grew stronger and stronger.
Wu Jiang's expression tightened. He transmitted his voice to one hundred and thirty-two Great Saints of the Underworld Clan: "What Zhang Ruochen is using is Xue Jue War God's famous technique from his Great Saint days, Blood Mill Embers. He has integrated the Way of Truth into it, probably trying to trigger a tenfold attack power."
"Everyone, listen to my orders. Those who can manifest the Gate of Destiny, mobilize the power of fate to suppress Zhang Ruochen."
"Zang Wentian, Zang Wenhai, Wuji Great Saint... the ten of you, enter my Nether Realm and form the Ten Directions Nether Realm Formation."
Beneath Wu Jiang's feet, the eerie and terrifying Nether Realm manifested, expanding for hundreds of miles. Inside were White Bone Demon Mountains, blood-colored lakes, majestic yin cities... all kinds of horrifying scenes.
On the Underworld Clan's home planet, half of the opportunity Wu Jiang had obtained was related to the "Nether Realm," doubling its power.
Moreover, given more time, Wu Jiang was confident he could evolve the Nether Realm to become even more mysterious. Even if he cultivated to become a god in the future, it would bring endless benefits.
Ten Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saints of the Underworld Clan rushed to ten positions within the Nether Realm, preparing to form the formation.
Once the formation was complete, even if Zhang Ruochen unleashed tenfold attack power, he would not be able to break through the Nether Realm's defenses.
"Amitabha! Excellent, the opportunity has finally come!"
The Great Saint Heavenly Slave Dao Yuan, using the "Bedrock Secret Art," turned his body as hard as a piece of star fragment stone, floating in that space, ready to ambush Zhang Ruochen at any moment.
However, Zhang Ruochen's mastery of the Way of Space was formidable, and he had never found the right opportunity.
Wu Jiang was fully focused on controlling the Death Heart Curse, Nether Light Curse, and Nether Realm when he suddenly sensed something and noticed a piece of star fragment stone flying rapidly toward him.
"Hmm? A stone? No."
Wu Jiang's expression changed drastically. He roared, "There's an ambusher, be careful!"
"Haha! Too late. Dust to dust, earth to earth, everything fades to smoke and disperses."
The star fragment stone transformed into Dao Yuan's form—a large bald head, a round face—radiating ten thousand feet of golden light as his flesh cracked inch by inch.
"Boom."
He self-destructed his Sacred Source.
The ten Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saints who were about to form the formation were the first to be caught in the core range of Dao Yuan's self-destruction. They all exploded into ten balls of blood mist, leaving only pieces of Great Saint bones flying out.
Dao Yuan was a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint. The destructive force of his self-destruction was too powerful, surging toward Wu Jiang and the more than one hundred Underworld Clan Great Saints.
Wu Jiang gritted his teeth, trembling with rage.
If he hadn't been fully focused on dealing with Zhang Ruochen, how could a mere Heavenly Slave have had the chance to self-destruct his Sacred Source before him?
The loss of ten Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saints of the Underworld Clan was too great. In the eyes of the Underworld Clan's gods, it would all be Wu Jiang's fault, and he would have to bear full responsibility.
Wu Jiang took a deep breath and pressed his palm forward.
"Whoosh."
In front of the Ten Thousand Curse Heavenly Bead, a circular Nether Light formed, like a shield, blocking the surging destructive force.
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected such a turn of events.
In fact, Dao Yuan had intended to ambush Zhang Ruochen, but seeing the gathering of more than one hundred Underworld Clan Great Saints, completely unguarded and ripe for a one-wave annihilation, he changed his strategy on the spot.
What fun was there in dying together with just Zhang Ruochen?
Killing more than one hundred Hell Realm Great Saints in one go would be far more satisfying.
"What a good opportunity."
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen shattered the Nether Light Curse, unleashing the tenfold attack power of Blood Mill Embers. It pierced through the destructive force formed by Dao Yuan's self-destruction and slammed into the circular Nether Light barrier before Wu Jiang.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the blood-red millstone, larger than a mountain, charging toward him, Wu Jiang's heart sank.
A brilliant wave of destructive light burst forth. The Nether Light shield shattered, and Wu Jiang, along with the more than one hundred Underworld Clan Great Saints, were all sent flying, each suffering severe injuries.
"In the end... I still lost..."
Wu Jiang's body was even more broken, and even his spiritual power suffered some backlash from the Ten Thousand Curse Heavenly Bead, causing damage.
"Chop!"
Zhang Ruochen pursued, swinging his hand to slash out a space rift.
Wu Jiang barely managed to raise the Ten Thousand Curse Heavenly Bead to block it.
"Chop!"
"Chop again!"
...
Layer after layer of space power descended. Wu Jiang finally couldn't hold on and fell into the shattered space, surrounded by nothingness and darkness.
Zhang Ruochen reached out with his large hand, grabbing the Ten Thousand Curse Heavenly Bead that was trying to fly away, quickly sealing it.
Another Supreme Sacred Artifact in hand.
In an instant, the space returned to flatness.
Zhang Ruochen felt a slight regret; he had ultimately failed to kill Wu Jiang.
For someone like Wu Jiang and Yan Huangtu, with their monstrous talents, it was easy to defeat them but extremely difficult to kill.
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had been focused on killing Wu Jiang, which had put himself in danger. So this time, he was decisive, directly sending Wu Jiang into the void space, forcing him to withdraw from the battlefield.
Now, there were more important things to do.
"Killing Yanhong Great Saint, and consecutively defeating Yan Huangtu and Wu Jiang—Zhang Ruochen's momentum is overwhelming."
"In the entire Heaven Hunting Battlefield, only Que can be his opponent."
"Have you forgotten Yan Wushen? Yan Wushen is also an Eon-level genius, definitely not weaker than Zhang Ruochen."
...
Countless cultivators across the Hell Realm were discussing Zhang Ruochen.
They also talked about Que, Lan Ying, Yan Wushen, and even Luo Shengtian. But the defeated Yan Huangtu and Wu Jiang were rarely mentioned.
The defeated were destined to become mere foils, dim and gloomy.
Yan Wushen's gaze was deep. "You didn't use your Sacred Intent in your fight with Wu Jiang. Is it because the Sacred Intent you've cultivated has reached a higher grade, making it impossible to perfectly merge with Sacred Techniques?"
To convert Sacred Intent into combat power, it must be combined with Sacred Techniques.
And this combination requires a lot of time for practice and refinement to achieve perfection.
Zhang Ruochen, his body burning with flames and battle intent boiling, gave Yan Wushen an ambiguous smile before vanishing from his spot.
He reappeared hundreds of miles away.
One Great Space Teleportation after another, rapidly approaching the White Divine Tree.
"It seems Zhang Ruochen has given up on spending a lot of time hunting Great Saint Heavenly Slaves and is instead preparing to rescue the Undying Blood Clan members hidden in the White Divine Tree. At the same time, he must have set his ultimate goal on Chi Emperor. Killing Chi Emperor will secure victory in the Heaven Hunting Battle."
"Moreover, Zhang Ruochen probably hasn't fully expelled the curse power from his body, and may even have suffered some damage."
Yan Wushen analyzed silently, then shouted, "Zhang Ruochen, don't run! Fight me!"
He also used spatial teleportation to pursue closely.
At the edge of the White Divine Tree, more than thirty Great Saints of the Death Clan each activated Monarch Sacred Artifacts, attacking Zhang Ruochen.
"Get out of the way!"
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Seven Star Ghost Lotus, which transformed into seven ghost lotus petals, slicing all the Monarch Sacred Artifacts away. Half of them were cracked and half-wasted.
Before a Supreme Sacred Artifact, Monarch Sacred Artifacts were utterly inadequate.
Then, Zhang Ruochen formed a divine fire hand seal and executed the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, sending all thirty-plus Death Clan Great Saints flying. The Purifying Divine Flame ignited their undying sacred bodies.
"Not good! It's Emperor-level Purifying Divine Flame! Quickly expel it from your bodies, or we'll be burned to ashes!" a Death Clan Great Saint exclaimed in alarm.
Zhang Ruochen ignored them and charged into the White Divine Tree.
...
Seventh Dark Star.
Luo Sha stood in the darkness, gazing at the Seventh Dark Star. "Have you found out? Where are the Yama Clan and the Upper Three Clans' cultivators hiding?"
A Rakshasa woman at the Great Saint realm stood behind her, looking nervous. She bowed and said, "We... we can't find them. They are hiding very secretly."
"How can there be no trace at all?"
Luo Sha felt even more uneasy and asked, "What is the situation on the Seventh Dark Star now?"
Another Rakshasa Clan Great Saint said, "All the Great Saint Heavenly Slaves are still gathered on the planet."
Luo Sha asked, "All of them?"
"The Great Saints of the six clans have them surrounded. How could they escape?" that Rakshasa Clan member said with a smile.
Luo Sha pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "No, something is wrong."
"Princess, what's wrong?" asked Dao Yu Huang.
Luo Sha said, "The last day is already half over. How can the Yama Clan and the Upper Three Clans remain so patient, still doing nothing? That's the first thing."
"Second, the sacred qi of those Great Saint Heavenly Slaves is almost exhausted. Why are they still waiting to die on the Seventh Dark Star?"
"There must be a problem. Investigate again."
The Rakshasa Clan and Undying Blood Clan Great Saints present exchanged glances and smiled, thinking Luo Sha's worries were unnecessary.
A soft, enchanting voice came from the darkness: "No need to investigate. The Yama Clan, the Upper Three Clans, and even the Heavenly Slaves on the Seventh Dark Star have all already left."
Mo Yin's graceful figure, moving with elegant beauty, leaped out and appeared before everyone.
"Impossible. I just checked closely. All the Great Saint Heavenly Slaves are still on the Seventh Dark Star," the Great Saint who had just reported to Luo Sha said firmly.
"If the Great Saint Heavenly Slaves, the Upper Three Clans, and the Yama Clan had all left, how could we have been completely unaware?"
Most of the Great Saints present showed expressions of disbelief.
Hearing Mo Yin's words, Luo Sha's face turned extremely ugly.
Mo Yin stared at the Rakshasa Clan Great Saint who had just spoken and sneered, "What you saw was just an illusion they left behind, meant to keep us on the Seventh Dark Star. For the Rakshasa Clan to produce such a fool as you, how much time have you wasted for us? Do you know that you are guilty of a capital offense?"
That Rakshasa Clan Great Saint's face turned pale, his legs weak, and he stepped back.
Because he was afraid of danger, he hadn't dared to approach the Seventh Dark Star too closely when investigating, so naturally, he couldn't see through the illusion on the planet.
If it really turned out that his actions had caused the Undying Blood Clan and Rakshasa Clan to lose the Heaven Hunting Battlefield, the consequences would be severe—quite possibly a capital offense.
Luo Sha didn't like Mo Yin, but she still asked patiently, "What exactly is going on?"
Mo Yin said, "I just went to the Seventh Dark Star. After breaking the illusion, there were two Space Teleportation Arrays left on the ground. The smaller one has already been destroyed. The larger one is very complex, completely different from the Space Teleportation Arrays the master has set up before. I don't know where it teleports to."
Luo Sha furrowed her brows, muttering to herself, "Setting up Space Teleportation Arrays on a dark star... I understand. It must be Yan Wushen. Only he could do it."
In an instant, Luo Sha figured out the entire sequence of events and made a judgment: "If I'm not mistaken, Yan Wushen set the stage for the final act of this Heaven Hunting Battlefield. They must have gone to the Undying Blood Clan's home planet. Yes, that must be it."
She immediately took out her rhombus mirror piece and found that the points hadn't changed much from yesterday.
"Snap."
She crushed the rhombus mirror piece.
"The Myriad Realm Divine Eye must be doing this on purpose, testing our wisdom in this final battle by not giving us any hints through the points." Luo Sha was so angry her teeth itched, her chest heaving violently.
From childhood to adulthood, she had always been the one to toy with others.
But today, she had been outmaneuvered by Yan Wushen.
The Undying Blood Clan cultivators were all horrified, unable to imagine how severe the consequences would be.
With only the Nine-Step Saint Kings and the few Great Saints on the home planet, how could they withstand the Great Saint army of the Upper Three Clans and the Yama Clan? The situation had already deteriorated to an unimaginable extent.
Dao Yu Huang's expression changed several times. "Let's go. We'll rush back now. It should still be in time."
"It must still be in time. Zhang Ruochen is on the home planet. If he wants to leave, no army can stop him. As long as he can take some clansmen away, our points won't be halved." Yi Xuan Great Saint said with a trembling voice.
With the Great Saints of four clans gathered, along with top experts like Yan Huangtu, Yan Wushen, and Wu Jiang, no one present actually believed Zhang Ruochen could escape.
The outcome of losing on the last day seemed already sealed.
All the Undying Blood Clan Great Saints' hearts were both angry and lost, filled with endless unwillingness.
Luo Sha called out to them, "Where are you going?"
"None of your business."
Dao Yu Huang was anxious and didn't want to waste words with her.
At the edge of the Seventh Dark Star, the Undying Blood Clan had left a Space Teleportation Array. This secret, of course, wouldn't be told to Luo Sha. However, getting from here to that Space Teleportation Array would take several hours.
Unfortunately, the Space Teleportation Array on the dark star was different from ordinary teleportation arrays. Only Yan Wushen could use it.
Even Mo Yin, with her spatial mastery, couldn't activate it.
Luo Sha had already calmed down, her beautiful eyes flashing with strange light. "If your Undying Blood Clan still wants to compete for the top spot among the ten clans, you'd better listen to my advice. Besides, there's a Space Teleportation Array right here on the dark star. Why go far away for a closer one?"