Chapter 2563: Sword of Wrath
Zhang Ruochen had long discerned that Nan Sheng's spiritual power had reached the sixty-eighth rank. For someone of his age, this was an extraordinary achievement.
Although Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power was also at the sixty-eighth rank, the combat effectiveness of a Great Saint who specialized in the Way of Spiritual Power and one who treated it as a mere supplement was vastly different. Moreover, Nan Sheng hailed from Tiannan.
If it came to a direct spiritual power confrontation, even ten Zhang Ruochen combined would be no match for Nan Sheng.
Thus, Zhang Ruochen had no intention whatsoever of engaging Nan Sheng in a spiritual power duel.
Extremely cautious, Zhang Ruochen took out the Ten-Thousand-Curse Heavenly Bead, channeled his spiritual power into it, using the Supreme Sacred Artifact to form a spiritual defense. He then activated the Flame God Armor, spread his twelve wings, and charged swiftly into the deathly thought-force dark clouds, closing in on Nan Sheng.
Only in close combat did Zhang Ruochen have a chance to win.
"His spiritual power has actually reached the sixty-eighth rank as well."
A faint smile curved at the corner of Nan Sheng's mouth. He closed his eyes and gently waved his arm. The deathly thought-force around him coalesced into a swarm of death demon butterflies.
Each butterfly was only the size of a palm, extremely illusory and beautiful, with tricolored wings.
"Swish, swish."
The butterflies shot out like flying blades, leaving trails of tricolored light. They continuously slammed into the Flame God Armor, producing sounds like metal striking stone.
Every butterfly that struck his body felt like a heavy punch hitting Zhang Ruochen.
Watching Zhang Ruochen draw closer, Nan Sheng frowned. His technique, "Death Butterfly Dance," was not primarily about the impact force of the butterflies. The real threat was the abundant deathly thought-force they contained.
Once a single butterfly struck the flesh, the deathly thought-force would instantly invade the body, corroding blood and flesh and devouring vitality. Even a Monarch Sacred Artifact-level sacred armor could not block his deathly thought-force.
Yet, the armor on Zhang Ruochen seemed to have a suppressive effect on the deathly thought-force, preventing it from penetrating.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen was within thirty zhang.
"Butterfly Emperor Breaks the Cocoon."
At Nan Sheng's command, a large mass of tricolored death demon butterflies gathered before him, forming a cocoon ball about one zhang in diameter.
Just as Zhang Ruochen swung his sword in a slashing strike, the Butterfly Emperor took shape inside the cocoon, extending a slender, five-colored light arm to block the edge of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Boom!"
The strike that could shatter stars and moons was blocked.
"Rip."
The cocoon ball burst open, revealing a massive Butterfly Emperor radiating five-colored light. Apart from three pairs of long, sharp five-colored light arms, its body was that of a completely naked, stunningly beautiful woman.
Its enormous butterfly wings spread out and fluttered gently, releasing five-colored specks of light that enveloped Zhang Ruochen.
These five-colored specks contained powerful spiritual energy capable of bewitching cultivators.
In Zhang Ruochen's eyes, the woman with the giant butterfly wings grew increasingly alluring.
Such illusions, of course, could not shake Zhang Ruochen's resolve.
He warily sensed Nan Sheng once again mobilizing sacred dao rules, condensing them into blades of light that flew from behind to strike him.
With the Butterfly Emperor ahead and a rain of blades behind, the situation was extremely perilous.
"It's over."
Nan Sheng believed he had already secured victory, and the smile in his eyes deepened.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his heart. The smile vanished from his eyes, replaced by a fierce roar: "Death Heart Curse."
The sacred heart, where spiritual power was stored, was attacked by Zhang Ruochen using the power of curses, severely disrupting Nan Sheng's spiritual power. Even the five-colored radiance on the death Butterfly Emperor, which he controlled with his spiritual power, rapidly dimmed.
Zhang Ruochen knew that his only chance for victory had arrived.
Without hesitation, he activated one of the seven soul swords suspended in his Qi Sea.
"Sword of Wrath!"
A bright sword light shot out from between Zhang Ruochen's brows, piercing through the Butterfly Emperor's body and then striking Nan Sheng's chest.
"Whoosh!"
The thirty-six beast diagrams and blood-red rune patterns on Nan Sheng's body all emerged simultaneously, but the sword light still pierced through him, sending him flying like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the ruins.
The seven soul swords corresponded to Zhang Ruochen's seven emotions: sorrow, love, desire, wrath, joy, hatred, and fear.
Among them, the Sword of Sorrow was the strongest, and the Sword of Fear the weakest.
However, the strength of the seven swords was also tied to the cultivator's emotions. If any emotion was intense enough, it could unleash unparalleled power.
If Zhang Ruochen was filled with immense fear, even the Sword of Fear, when unleashed, would be stronger than the Sword of Sorrow.
The power of the soul swords dealt severe damage to a cultivator's spiritual power, sacred soul, and emotions, while their effect on the physical body was relatively weaker.
"The power of the soul sword is so formidable that it even broke through Nan Sheng's physical defense." Zhang Ruochen was inwardly shocked, knowing full well that because he wasn't angry enough, the Sword of Wrath he had just summoned was actually quite mediocre.
It was like having a hundred million sacred stones but only being able to take out ten thousand to show off, while the rest remained inaccessible.
In the first instant, Zhang Ruochen launched the Abyssal Ancient Sword, sending it flying straight toward where Nan Sheng had fallen.
"Boom!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword was knocked back by a seal technique.
With a "swish," Nan Sheng burst out of the ruins, pressed a talisman onto himself, and threw another talisman toward Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works. Then, at an extremely fast speed, he fled into the distance.
His physical injuries, he believed, were bearable.
But the damage to his spiritual power and sacred soul was severe. Coupled with his inability to fathom the origin of Zhang Ruochen's previous strike, he decisively chose to flee.
Zhang Ruochen teleported in front of Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works, pressing his palm forward to execute a space-freezing technique.
"Boom!"
The talisman exploded with a power comparable to an Immortal Realm Great Saint self-destructing their sacred source. The frozen space was instantly torn apart.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed one in each hand, carrying Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works, and appeared ten li away. Looking back, the destructive force from the talisman's explosion was weakened and dissipated by the ancient divine patterns, but it still flattened a large area.
Nan Sheng's venomous voice came from an unknown direction: "Zhang Ruochen, I will remember this strike today. In the future, I will repay it tenfold."
Zhang Ruochen could roughly sense his location but did not pursue.
A figure like Nan Sheng surely carried many life-saving treasures. With his formidable cultivation, chasing him would offer little chance of killing him, and there was a risk of falling into an ambush and suffering a great loss.
"When you see me again, you will fear me as you fear a god." Zhang Ruochen said.
The Great Saints who had lingered nearby were all terrified and fled stealthily.
How terrifying! Nan Sheng had been defeated by Zhang Ruochen. If this news spread, it would surely shake the Ten Clans of Hell.
They refused to believe Zhang Ruochen was still at the Hundred Shackles Realm. They all thought he must have gained a great opportunity in the Origin Divine Temple and broken through to the Thousand Questions Realm.
"Uncle Master is so cool. I want to cultivate the Sword Dao." Grand Minister of Works said excitedly and passionately.
Zhang Ruochen put away the Abyssal Ancient Sword, took out two divine stones, and crushed them in his hand. "You're not suited for the Sword Dao. However, I can see that your and Second Minister of Works' physiques are quite special. What race are you exactly?"
"What race?" Grand Minister of Works was taken aback. "Aren't we the same? Oh, no, Uncle Master is half-human, half-Undying Blood Clan. Second Minister of Works and I must be pure-blood humans."
"Is that so?"
A sword-shaped sword qi flew from Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
The sword qi grazed the edge of Grand Minister of Works' round face, and as the blade touched his skin, a harsh scraping sound was heard, with specks of light scattering.
The skin was not cut.
Grand Minister of Works fell to the ground, clutching his face and screaming, "Uncle Master, can't we talk things out? Monks don't lie. I really am human."
"Does Uncle Master have some speculation?" Second Minister of Works asked calmly, his hands pressed together.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Forget it. Asking you will likely yield nothing. When I get the chance, I'll ask your master directly."
Grand Minister of Works got up from the ground, rubbing his chubby face and muttering under his breath, "Good thing I didn't get disfigured."
Zhang Ruochen sat down on a large rock. "Now, tell me what exactly happened. Why were you being hunted by cultivators from the Death God Temple? Where are Mo Yin, the Fairy, Shi Huang, Jian Huang, and the others?"
At that moment, Zhen Sha, Zhen Tan, and Zhen Wang dragged their injured bodies out of the murky ruins and bowed to Zhang Ruochen, Grand Minister of Works, and Second Minister of Works.
Their cultivation was formidable, and they hadn't been at the center of the explosion, so the talisman's detonation couldn't kill them.
Zhang Ruochen was about to take out Life Spring to help them heal when he saw them each pull out Eon-level sacred medicines and chomp on them like radishes.
Forget it.
They now possessed more various sacred medicines than Zhang Ruochen himself.
If the Death God Temple cultivators weren't hunting them, who would they hunt?
After taking the sacred medicines, Second Minister of Works began to recount: "After Uncle Master left, we stayed in that area full of sacred medicines, harvesting them all and reaping great gains. Hmm, by the way, not long after you left, a strange event occurred, and then the Fairy disappeared!"
Zhang Ruochen asked, "What strange event?"
"Flute music," Grand Minister of Works said.
"What flute music?"
Zhang Ruochen sat up straight, his expression turning serious.
Grand Minister of Works described vividly: "It was a melodious flute sound, incredibly beautiful. When the flute played, all the sacred medicines—whether tree-type, grass-type, flower-type—swayed along with it, emitting light ten times brighter than usual."
Second Minister of Works nodded. "That's when the Fairy disappeared."
"How could this happen? Flute music… it shouldn't be the Underworld King. Could it be that new god from the Kunlun Realm who's been following us?" Zhang Ruochen frowned, muttering to himself.
Like A Le, Zhang Ruochen had vaguely sensed that ever since the Hundred Clans Royal City, something had been following him.
At first, he thought it was an illusion and didn't take it to heart. But when he activated the Space Teleportation Array, the feeling became very clear.
Thus, he secretly speculated it was the new god of the Kunlun Realm that the Dragon Lord had mentioned.
If a god entered the Divine Realm World, even standing right in front of Zhang Ruochen, he would find it hard to perceive. Only by using the Heart of Truth could he detect a hint of abnormality.
"No, if the flute music was played by the new god of the Kunlun Realm, why would the sacred medicines respond? Could it be… that there's some strange creature in the Origin Divine Temple that has survived through the ages without dying?"
The more he thought about it, the more a chill ran down Zhang Ruochen's spine, and he grew deeply worried for Ji Fanxin.
Miao Shu Wu