Chapter 2522: Becoming Buddha
Entering the city for five days, Zhang Ruochen had offended all the major powers in the Hundred Clans Royal City, which was far from his intention.
The state of mind of "embracing all rivers and seas, encompassing all things" seemed to be understood in an instant. In reality, Zhang Ruochen had activated the Sundial in the Seven-Star Imperial Palace and comprehended for five years before his thoughts became clear and he achieved a spiritual transformation.
In other words, Zhang Ruochen had been in a mysterious state of enlightenment for these five days, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
As for the Hall-Protecting Spirit Venerable, Desolate Heaven, and the eighteen Ghost Kings, they had no independent judgment. They only followed the instruction Zhang Ruochen gave before entering the Seven-Star Imperial Palace: "Enter the city. Enter the city with a high profile."
Who knew why Zhang Ruochen had gone silent after entering the city?
By the time Zhang Ruochen finished his enlightenment and made a rough calculation, he realized so much time had passed. He immediately asked Desolate Heaven about recent events.
Desolate Heaven was just a lazy, sleepy lion-dog. As long as no enemies attacked, it couldn't even be bothered to open its eyes.
When Zhang Ruochen asked, it replied arrogantly, "The Seven-Star Imperial Palace is the War God's palace. No enemy dares to attack it."
Well, asking was the same as not asking.
Zhang Ruochen's mood was complicated, and he secretly decided that the next time he cultivated, he would bring one or two reliable cultivators out of the Qiankun Realm to serve as his external spokespersons.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a heavy blow landed on the top of the Seven-Star Imperial Palace.
The palace, which appeared to be over ten zhang tall, shook violently. Immediately, countless formation inscriptions manifested, automatically forming a square-grid-like defensive formation.
Desolate Heaven couldn't understand why some clueless fool would deliberately come to slap its face. It was both angry and furious.
With a sudden lunge, it stood up in front of the palace gates and let out a long howl toward the sky.
The steps, walls, tiles, pillars... of the Seven-Star Imperial Palace all flashed with divine light, revealing numerous Great Saint inscriptions and divine patterns, forming a second and third layer of defense.
At the same time, attack formations coalesced into shape. Blood-colored lightning, like flowing water, darted back and forth across the palace.
The Blood Absolute War God had given the Seven-Star Imperial Palace to Zhang Ruochen as a life-saving tool. The higher Zhang Ruochen's cultivation, the stronger his control over the palace, and the greater its defensive and offensive power.
The sudden change startled the cultivators who had been watching the Seven-Star Imperial Palace, and they quickly retreated far away.
Who would dare to attack Zhang Ruochen? Surely not an ordinary person!
Four white-robed figures, resembling humans, advanced toward the Seven-Star Imperial Palace in a formation of two in front and two behind. They were all living beings, yet their bodies exuded a deadly murderous aura.
The stone slabs of the long street and the buildings on both sides were instantly covered in a layer of black ice.
Although the onlookers knew that these four white-robed experts were undoubtedly powerful, none of them retreated far to avoid disaster.
The reason was simple: this was the Hundred Clans Royal City, a super holy city, even showing signs of transforming into a divine city.
A "holy city" was a gathering place for Saint-level cultivators.
To become a holy city, excellent cultivation conditions were only one requirement. More importantly, it had to ensure that battles between Saint-level cultivators could not cause major waves or destroy the city.
A "divine city," on the other hand, was a city that even battles between gods could not destroy.
Each of the ten major clans had only one divine city, built around their respective clan temples.
Since the Hundred Clans Royal City could be called a holy city approaching the level of a divine city, the materials used for its buildings must be at the Saint level, and every building was at least inscribed with Great Saint inscriptions.
The number of Dao locks and divine patterns in the city was incalculable.
As soon as the four white-robed experts released their Saintly Might, the Great Saint inscriptions, Dao locks, and divine patterns on the nearby streets and ancient buildings all appeared simultaneously, and pillars of formation light shot into the sky.
"Boom, rumble."
Without a word, they attacked the Seven-Star Imperial Palace directly.
All four wielded swords, which were of a grade surpassing Three-Yuan Monarch Sacred Artifacts.
Sword after sword fell. Although they did not break through the Seven-Star Imperial Palace's defenses, the ten-thousand-year-old indestructible bluestone street was cracked in many places, and many of the Dao locks in the world were severed.
Xuan Zehai leaned on the railing, his expression grim. "Which faction is making a move? They actually mobilized four Ten-Thousand Death One Life Realm Great Saints at once."
Mobilizing four Ten-Thousand Death One Life Realm Great Saints would require the combined strength of an entire world like the Guanghan Realm. It was undoubtedly a massive undertaking.
"These Great Saints are living beings, yet their killing intent is overwhelming. Could they be from the Shura Clan's Qinglu Divine Temple?" Xuan Qingying said.
Yan Huangtu watched the rumbling street for a moment, as if he had noticed something. He just grinned and looked around, searching.
Yan Zhexian furrowed her delicate brows. "When Great Saint-level experts fight in the city, doesn't the Hundred Clans Royal City's joint law enforcement team do anything about it?"
She wasn't worried about Zhang Ruochen's safety; she was just curious.
A battle between Great Saints in a holy city would inevitably cause destruction.
Xuan Zehai smiled bitterly. "The Hundred Clans Royal City is not like the holy cities in the central regions of the Hell Realm. Its rules and order are very loose. All one hundred thirty-seven clans have built sacred grounds within the city. Their core interests and wealth are all within those sacred grounds. As for the chaos outside the sacred grounds, they do intervene occasionally, but it depends on the person, the timing, and the stakes involved."
Yan Zhexian understood. The joint law enforcement team of the Hundred Clans Royal City would certainly punish Great Saints who fought in the city.
However, the four white-robed experts dared to attack Zhang Ruochen, which meant they had a significant background. The Hundred Clans Royal City simply didn't want to get involved, not wanting to offend either side.
More importantly, Zhang Ruochen had been too arrogant since entering the city. The various clans in the Hundred Clans Royal City were probably happy to see someone teach him a lesson.
"I'm quite curious how this Eon-level genius will respond," Xuan Qingying said, a look of anticipation in her eyes.
Although she had cultivated for thousands of years and had even seen gods, Eon-level geniuses were rarer than gods, so she naturally felt a bit curious. But when she remembered that Zhang Ruochen was only at the Hundred Shackles Realm, her anticipation diminished significantly.
The Seven-Star Imperial Palace's defenses were strong. If Zhang Ruochen hid inside and refused to come out, the four Ten-Thousand Death One Life Realm Great Saints might not be able to break in.
But Zhang Ruochen had entered the city arrogantly, treating the cultivators of the Hundred Clans as if they were nothing. If he acted like a coward hiding in his shell, wouldn't he be ridiculed by the entire city? The Blood Absolute War God and the Fortune and Blessing God Venerable would probably be disgraced because of him.
Zhang Ruochen's only choice was to fight back forcefully.
But these were four Ten-Thousand Death One Life Realm Great Saints, and their auras were extremely similar, indicating they possessed combined attack techniques. Against such a lineup, even Lan Ying, who was said to be able to defeat a Ten-Thousand Death One Life Realm Great Saint with a single sword, would probably choose to break through rather than fight head-on.
One-on-one and four-on-one were completely different.
More and more cultivators arrived upon hearing the news.
Apart from a large lion-dog howling at the palace gates, Zhang Ruochen was nowhere to be seen. Some cultivators from various factions began to mock him in low voices.
In particular, those who had been humiliated by Zhang Ruochen in the past few days had been holding a belly full of resentment. They directly shouted out loud: "The dog raised by the Blood Absolute War God is truly majestic!"
"Great Saint Ruochen, come out and fight! Let us witness the style of an Eon-level genius."
"Great Saint Ruochen, don't be afraid. This is the Hundred Clans Royal City. My Yecha Clan will definitely protect your life."
...
Although every word was true, when shouted out, even Yan Zhexian found them extremely grating. She secretly hated Zhang Ruochen for his lack of courage, daring only to show off on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
If she had known this would happen, she would rather have made the secret of the Blood Shadow Divine Mother public than bear the reputation of carrying Zhang Ruochen's child.
During that time, Zhang Ruochen had brought Lian Xi out of the Qiankun Realm. In the rear palace, he bathed and burned incense, then changed into a spotless white robe before leisurely walking out of the Seven-Star Imperial Palace.
Strangely enough, after his enlightenment, Zhang Ruochen's state of mind had become unprecedentedly calm and natural. No matter how powerful the enemy outside or how incessant the mockery, he was not flustered at all. It was even difficult for him to feel anger.
In a word, he had become somewhat Buddha-like.
He had called Lian Xi out, not to deliberately show off to the cultivators of the Hundred Clans Royal City, but to begin preparations for letting her go.
Zhang Ruochen didn't know if it was an overflow of compassion, but when he recalled his treatment of Lian Xi, he felt that he had been terribly wrong. The mistake wasn't in dealing with her, but in the way he had done it.
Since she wanted to leave, he would see her off.
When the exceptionally handsome Zhang Ruochen and the celestial-like Shadowless Fairy Lian Xi stepped out of the palace gates one after another, countless eyes from all around were drawn to them.
He didn't want to attract hatred, but he had pushed that hatred to another peak.
Taking a fairy with a far-spread reputation as a maidservant—who wouldn't be envious and jealous?
Zhang Ruochen's body radiated holy light, like a divine Buddha's lamp. Wherever the light shone, the hearts of all cultivators became peaceful, which was quite strange.
The four white-robed Ten-Thousand Death One Life Realm Great Saints all stopped attacking.
Zhang Ruochen was not angry at all. He smiled and said, "Zhang Ruochen is here. I wonder which faction I have offended? Is there someone in charge who can come out and talk to me?"
Que Shenzi of the Death God Temple, seeing Zhang Ruochen's true form appear, no longer hid. He walked out and said, "I thought Great Saint Ruochen wasn't in the Seven-Star Imperial Palace, or that he planned to hide inside for the rest of his life."
The four white-robed Death Gods had only been testing.
How could they possibly break through the Seven-Star Imperial Palace?
After much deliberation, Que Shenzi felt that the Death God Temple had no need to hide its actions against Zhang Ruochen. It was better to reveal their identity directly. So he came out in his true form, while other Great Saints of the Death God Temple also appeared nearby, creating a coordinated presence.
Zhang Ruochen smiled politely. "So it's the Great Saints of the Death God Temple. What are you doing? To be honest, I have a good relationship with Brother Yuan Qianmo of your Death God Temple. Could you do him a favor and withdraw? I am a magnanimous person and will certainly not hold today's incident against you."
Hearing this, the Great Saints of the Death God Temple all had expressions that shifted from pale to green. Yuan Benji nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.
A good relationship with Yuan Qianmo? Calling him Brother? You call yourself magnanimous?
How afraid of death must you be to say such shameless things?
...
Ah, let me mention two things. I've returned to my hometown. There are many things to do during the New Year, so updates will probably be unstable. The tree desires stillness, but the wind does not cease. Alas, I am still a slow typist.
Second, regarding Zhang Ruochen's personality. In the upcoming chapters, due to the condensation of two extreme Sacred Wills, his personality will split for a while. Everyone, be mentally prepared.