Chapter 2499: Origin Eight Techniques
Fei Zhong was stunned by Zhang Ruochen's single staff strike, sliding down from the pillar with a dazed and shocked expression.
How could Zhang Ruochen, at the Hundred Shackles Realm, be this powerful?
No.
Even if he were an Eon-level genius, he couldn't possibly be strong enough to casually knock away a Supreme Realm Great Saint. What was that tiger shadow behind Zhang Ruochen?
Though just a shadow, it made his Sacred Soul tremble.
Gong Nanfeng watched Zhang Ruochen's soaring figure, his heart trembling with excitement. "Brother Ruochen didn't continue to endure; he finally chose to act. Great, there's hope, there's hope!"
...
Inside the Ten Thousand Sound Heaven Spinning Grand Formation.
The remaining four Supreme Realm Great Saints exchanged glances, their eyes filled with indignation and a resolve to die.
"Divine Son, please take shelter in the inner space of the Extreme Ferocious Blade for now. Leave the rest to us," said Cang Saint, one of the four Supreme Realm Great Saints, coldly.
Xing Luo knew full well they intended to die together and smiled bitterly. "It's useless. Ji Fanxin's spiritual power is formidable. You are not Yue Ming Emperor; trying to self-destruct your Sacred Source right under her nose is impossible."
"Only I, using the power of the Ghost God Mask, can block her spiritual penetration and give you a chance. So, if anyone is to shatter together with her, it should be me."
"All of you hide in the inner space of the Extreme Ferocious Blade. I'll fight her one last time."
The Supreme Realm Great Saint with four eyes shook his head. "No, the Divine Son must not self-destruct his Sacred Source under any circumstances. If you die, the Destiny Temple will lose all control over this era."
Xing Luo said, "I am no longer the Divine Son. Whether I live or die has little impact on the temple. Rest assured, the temple has deep foundations; it won't collapse so easily. Once the new Divine Maiden and Que grow up, anyone trying to stir up trouble will find it hard to escape death."
If there were any other choice, how could Xing Luo be willing to perish together with the enemy?
If he didn't do this, all of them would be drained to death by the formation.
The four Supreme Realm Great Saints felt sorrowful and helpless.
Once upon a time, people like them would receive the highest honors when visiting any clan. Appearing on the Merit Battlefield, they could slaughter the Great Saints of the Heavenly Court side until they fled in disarray.
But now, they couldn't even self-destruct their Sacred Source.
"Is there really no other way?"
The four-eyed Supreme Realm Great Saint gritted his teeth, glaring angrily at "Ji Fanxin" amidst the sea of flowers.
Xing Luo said, "If we weren't trapped in the Ten Thousand Sound Heaven Spinning Grand Formation, I might have some confidence in leading you all to escape."
"In other words, if we can break the formation, our chances of escape will greatly increase?" Cang Saint took out a Formation Suppression Stone and said, "This Formation Suppression Stone was refined by a Formation Heavenly Master from the temple. It might be able to break the formation."
Xing Luo shook his head. "Once trapped in the formation, even if that Formation Heavenly Master from the temple came in person, it would be hopeless, let alone a mere Formation Suppression Stone. Unless a top-tier expert strikes from outside the formation, there's a chance to break Ji Fanxin's formation."
The four Supreme Realm Great Saints' expressions darkened. They all knew that for Xing Luo to call someone a top-tier expert, they had to be at least on the same level as him.
Such figures were rare even in the entire Hell Realm.
Where could they find one?
"Look, there's an expert from the Undying Blood Clan flying over," the four-eyed Supreme Realm Great Saint exclaimed in surprise.
Xing Luo had already prepared to self-destruct his Sacred Source, but upon hearing this, he felt somewhat surprised. He thought to himself, could the earlier battle have alerted an Undying Blood Clan expert passing nearby?
But it seemed there was no Eon-level figure among the Undying Blood Clan below the God Realm.
An ordinary Supreme Realm Great Saint coming would only be throwing away their life.
Xing Luo looked over, his expression turning strange. He said in surprise, "How could it be him?"
In the distant dark void, a dense blood cloud flew over.
Zhang Ruochen stood in the blood cloud with twelve wings on his back, his divine might vast and unmatched. He possessed both the divine might of a half-god body and the power of Zangjin Baihu, making him seem like a true god descending.
Bai Qinger glanced over and said, "You finally couldn't hold back and want to be my enemy?"
"You've already won. Why must you go to the extreme?" Zhang Ruochen's pupils were filled with Truth Rules and Zangjin Divine Patterns as he met Bai Qinger's gaze without a trace of fear.
Bai Qinger said, "The people I want to kill, no one can stop."
"Didn't I stop you when you wanted to kill Yan Huangtu and Yan Zhexian? This time, I want to try again."
The Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar flew out of Zhang Ruochen's hand. Driven by streams of divine qi, the pillar expanded, becoming thicker than a mountain. Golden light spread in all directions, turning into a golden ocean.
In the golden ocean, battle qi rolled like clouds and mist.
The Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar was pushed to its limit, unleashing an unparalleled supreme power. It shattered the sea of flowers in the void where Bai Qinger stood and struck down toward her.
Bai Qinger's gaze turned cold and sharp. "Is this the power Zangjin Baihu lent you? It's indeed strong, but your realm is too low. You can't comprehend its mysteries; you're just wielding brute force."
Bai Qinger didn't choose to clash head-on with the Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar. She took a step to the left.
Just one step spanned a hundred miles, easily dodging Zhang Ruochen's earth-shattering strike.
The Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar swept across and struck again.
Countless supreme inscription runes on the pillar, like the veins of heaven and earth, tried to fix Bai Qinger in space, forcing her to take Zhang Ruochen's attack head-on.
"Your attacks are too crude. No matter how powerful the weapon in your hand, it can't harm me in the slightest."
Bai Qinger turned into a wisp of green smoke, bypassing the Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar and dodging again.
While fighting Zhang Ruochen, her spiritual power still controlled the Ten Thousand Sound Heaven Spinning Grand Formation, suppressing the five Destiny Temple experts including Xing Luo, appearing relaxed and composed.
Zhang Ruochen struck dozens of times in succession, each blow incredibly fierce. Almost no one below the God Realm dared to take it head-on, but every strike seemed to sink into the sea, silently evaded by Bai Qinger.
The battle fluctuations here had already spread out and would surely be detected by other cultivators.
If Bai Qinger didn't want to be surrounded by a flood of cultivators, she would have to end the battle quickly and flee. Zhang Ruochen's intervention had caused her no small trouble.
"You've attacked for so long. Are you tired? Take a move from me."
"Yin-Yang Five Elements Palm!"
Bai Qinger struck out with a palm. A Taiji Diagram Seal resembling the Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent appeared, merging with the palm force and unleashing a power that could overturn mountains and seas.
Zhang Ruochen didn't know how Bai Qinger could simulate the Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent, but he knew this so-called Sacred Intent was just an empty shell.
Of course, coming from Bai Qinger, even an empty shell was no small matter.
Back then, Bai Qinger hadn't been this serious. With a casual grab, she could crush Hei Shi Sha, who was considered a half-god, from ten thousand miles away.
This strike was far stronger than the grab that killed Hei Shi Sha.
"This palm was created specifically for you," Bai Qinger said.
"Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror."
An ancient mirror flew out, unleashing demonic qi that stretched for a thousand miles.
Within the demonic qi, towering mountain ranges appeared, blocking Bai Qinger's palm print.
"Boom, boom, boom."
One demon mountain after another was shattered. Finally, the palm print collided with the surface of the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror. The mirror's surface sank like a layer of water, swallowing the palm print.
Bai Qinger let out a soft exclamation, then her gaze darkened.
She noticed that the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror was suspended there, but Zhang Ruochen had disappeared.
"Not good."
Bai Qinger turned around and saw Zhang Ruochen stepping out of space, appearing above the Ten Thousand Sound Heaven Spinning Grand Formation.
He held the Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar, his arms covered in dense Zangjin Rule Divine Patterns. A tiger shadow a thousand miles tall emerged on his body, unleashing a power that could swallow the Heavenly River.
The Dark Gold War Heaven Pillar struck down, collapsing a corner of the Ten Thousand Sound Heaven Spinning Grand Formation.
A bronze chime bell was sent flying, its clanging sound echoing through the universe.
Xing Luo used a star sea to wrap around the four Destiny Temple Supreme Realm Great Saints, taking the opportunity to escape through the gap in the formation. He burst out at over ten thousand times the speed of sound, fleeing into the sky.
"Thank you for saving my life. I will repay this debt in the future." Xing Luo's voice transmission echoed in Zhang Ruochen's mind.
Bai Qinger's true body emerged from the shattered space, merging with the doppelganger in the sea of flowers. Her gaze was colder than ever as she walked toward Zhang Ruochen, a hundred miles per step. "Zhang Ruochen, you've ruined my great plan. I can't let you live."
Bai Qinger didn't use the bronze chime bell. She pointed a finger.
Though she was hundreds of miles away, after her fingertip extended, it appeared directly in front of Zhang Ruochen, as if it had instantly pierced through space. Yet Zhang Ruochen felt no spatial fluctuation.
In desperation, Zhang Ruochen pressed out a palm.
The tiger shadow behind him raised a massive claw, following the same trajectory as Zhang Ruochen's palm, and pressed forward.
The palm struck Bai Qinger's fingertip.
Zhang Ruochen's hand was wearing a Monarch Sacred Artifact-level fist glove, covered in countless Zangjin Rule Divine Patterns.
Beneath the glove, his hand turned golden.
"Crack."
A crisp sound.
The Monarch Sacred Artifact-level fist glove couldn't withstand Bai Qinger's finger force. Three cracks appeared, and then with a "bang," it shattered into scrap metal.
Some fragments cut across Zhang Ruochen's face, leaving blood marks.
Zhang Ruochen retreated rapidly, his palm aching as if it were splitting. He quickly hid it behind his back. Blood seeped through his fingers.
Even the divine patterns couldn't block Bai Qinger's strike.
Zhang Ruochen looked closely and saw Bai Qinger already standing a dozen zhang away. The source light radiating from her skin overshadowed the divine qi on his body.
She was furious—not because Zhang Ruochen had let Xing Luo and the others escape.
She was angry because she had already decided to kill her way to the Origin Divine Temple, tempering herself while accumulating momentum through slaughter.
By the time she reached the Origin Divine Temple, her momentum would be at its peak.
With this momentum, she could break through her realm in one go and become a god on the spot.
But Zhang Ruochen had hindered her, breaking her momentum and making her state of mind extremely unsettled.
"Die!"
"Ten Suns Same Sky Seal."
Bai Qinger's long hair flew up. Her right hand formed a strange seal and struck out.
Around her five fingers, space caved inward, forming layers of spatial shockwaves.
At the center of the spatial shockwaves, ten bright light points appeared, like ten blazing suns spinning rapidly, releasing terrifying heat that could boil the sea and burn the sky.
"Roar!"
A tiger roar echoed.
"Zhang Ruochen, today I'll teach you a prehistoric divine ability, the Origin Eight Techniques."
"First Technique of Origin Eight: Taiqing Cloud-Pushing Hand."
As Zangjin Baihu's voice sounded, Zhang Ruochen felt the 670 million Zangjin Rule Divine Patterns in his Qi Sea automatically flow out, running through his body in a wondrous trajectory.
Running alongside the Zangjin Rule Divine Patterns was the divine qi that Zangjin Baihu continuously injected into Zhang Ruochen's body.
In that instant, Zhang Ruochen's body was somewhat out of control. His hands and feet automatically formed a strange posture, and he pushed his hands forward, striking at Bai Qinger's finger seal.
"Boom."
Bai Qinger's whole body trembled, and she floated backward, a look of shock in her eyes.
Since stepping into the Supreme Realm, Zhang Ruochen was the only cultivator who could push her back. Though she knew the source of that power came from Zangjin Baihu.
Zhang Ruochen spat blood and was sent flying dozens of miles away. The Ten Suns Same Sky Seal had punched three bloody holes in his body.
Each hole was the size of a fist.
Zangjin Baihu sighed. "It's no use. Still no match. Your half-god body is too far behind her Supreme Dharma Body. Besides, you only have 670 million Zangjin Rule Divine Patterns in your body."
"It doesn't matter. I've achieved my goal."
Zhang Ruochen deliberately pretended to be severely injured, using hidden force to wound himself further. After spitting out several mouthfuls of blood, he stood up weakly and smiled at Bai Qinger. "You don't dare kill me."
...
After fleeing for tens of millions of miles and reaching another starry sky, Xing Luo finally couldn't hold on and collapsed on a cosmic rock a hundred miles long.
"Divine Son."
Cang Saint quickly crouched down, trying to help him up.
"No need. I'll do it myself."
Xing Luo gritted his teeth and slowly sat up. He took a healing sacred pill to control the severe injuries in his body.
The four-eyed Supreme Realm Great Saint said with lingering fear, "I never thought it would be Zhang Ruochen who saved us in the end. We owe him a huge favor this time."
"Originally, when he cultivated the Second-Rank Sacred Intent and caused the ominous omen of 'life stream flowing backward, flooding the temple,' I was very hostile toward him. Now it seems it was probably a coincidence. Fortune and Blessing God Venerable didn't misjudge him," said a Supreme Realm Great Saint from the Judgment Hall.
Cang Saint looked suspicious and said, "Has everyone considered one question? Since Zhang Ruochen and Lord Zangjin Baihu could act, why didn't they join forces with us from the start to deal with that demoness? If we had joined forces from the beginning, we might not have lost. Yue Ming Emperor and Tianxu Sha might not have had to die."
"What do you mean? Are you suspecting Zhang Ruochen deliberately did this to weaken the Destiny Temple's strength? If so, why did he save us?" the four-eyed Supreme Realm Great Saint said angrily.
Cang Saint said, "I've checked Zhang Ruochen's relevant information. He has a close relationship with the Hundred Flowers Fairy Ji Fanxin."
"It's not certain whether that woman is Ji Fanxin," the four-eyed Supreme Realm Great Saint said.
"Stop arguing! Zhang Ruochen saved us—that's an indisputable fact. And I can roughly guess why he didn't act at the beginning," Xing Luo said.
Cang Saint asked, "Why?"
Xing Luo said, "First, you need to understand one thing: Zhang Ruochen and that woman must be enemies. Even if she really is Ji Fanxin, given what Zhang Ruochen has done in the Hell Realm, do you think she would still regard him as a close friend?"
"She would probably despise Zhang Ruochen to the extreme," the four-eyed Supreme Realm Great Saint said.
Xing Luo nodded. "Exactly. So Zhang Ruochen and Gong Nanfeng are essentially hostages for her to act recklessly in the Hell Realm. If a god is provoked, she can use them to protect herself."
"Why didn't Zhang Ruochen act from the start?"
"Probably for these reasons. First, Zhang Ruochen was hit by the Heavenly Dao Arrow and was severely injured himself. He wanted to act but lacked the strength."
"Second, he knew how powerful Ji Fanxin was. Even if he joined forces with us, there was no chance of victory."
"Even with Lord Zangjin Baihu acting, we had no chance?" Cang Saint was shocked.
Xing Luo sighed. "Though I'm reluctant to admit it, it's an indisputable fact. Although Lord Zangjin Baihu is a god, it's a prehistoric god, suppressed by the rules of heaven and earth. It can't act directly. If it uses too much power, it will suffer heavenly punishment."
"Didn't you see? Earlier, it transferred its power to Zhang Ruochen, who then acted, allowing him to fight Ji Fanxin."
"If Zhang Ruochen hadn't acted, Ji Fanxin might not have killed him for now. But once he acted, how could Ji Fanxin tolerate him? Zhang Ruochen must understand this, yet he still acted decisively to save us. Right now, he's probably facing a life-and-death crisis."
The four Supreme Realm Great Saints fell silent.
Cang Saint's expression changed, showing guilt.
Xing Luo continued, "Actually, there's a third reason: Zhang Ruochen has no connection with us. Why would he fight alongside us? He simply doesn't trust us. Remember, not long ago, the Judgment Hall was clamoring to kill him. If he doesn't hold a grudge, that's already good."
"Then why did he act later?" Cang Saint asked.
Xing Luo said, "I think there are two reasons. First, Zhang Ruochen wanted to use action to prove he hasn't betrayed the Hell Realm, hoping to gain our support if he's misunderstood in the future."
"Second, only by escaping can we unite various forces and make more thorough arrangements to deal with Ji Fanxin. Otherwise, no one would ever know Ji Fanxin's true strength, and no matter how many cultivators rush in, they'll just die."
Cang Saint nodded. "I've thought it over carefully. Ji Fanxin probably won't dare kill Zhang Ruochen easily. Zhang Ruochen likely stayed by her side deliberately to better contain her."
"Yes, that's what I think too. Zhang Ruochen is worth a thousand troops and horses. He's enduring humiliation for a greater purpose. If there's a chance in the future, I'd like to befriend him."
Xing Luo added, "Now we have three things we must do immediately."
"Cang Saint, go investigate the Hundred Flowers Fairy Ji Fanxin—whether she's in the Thousand Stamen Realm or the Heavenly Court. If she's in neither, then this Ji Fanxin is likely real."
"Four-Eyed Lord, investigate Ji Fanxin's true purpose. Why is she running rampant in the Hell Realm, killing without restraint?"
"Demon Cloud Sacrificer, go to the Aoyun Asteroid Belt as fast as possible. Inform the forces friendly to the Destiny Temple in advance, telling them not to act rashly. The enemy is several times, even dozens of times, stronger than they imagine."
...
After making various arrangements, Xing Luo sent out two Message Light Talismans to contact Yan Yu and Yuan Qianmo.
...
The day before yesterday, I recorded a video and posted it on WeChat Official Account, explaining to everyone the peak combat power below the God Realm, what an "Eon-level genius" is, and what an "Eon-level figure" is.
Everyone can follow the WeChat Official Account "Feitian Fish" and reply with the keyword "Below the God Realm" to view it.
It's my first time recording a video, so I'm a bit nervous. I spoke Sichuan-accented Mandarin. Many readers who aren't from Sichuan might not understand, so please bear with me.
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