Chapter 2692: Simply Arrogant
Zhang Ruochen's words were shocking, each sentence arrogant and each word like thunder.
All cultivators under heaven were stunned.
The entire ocean seemed to suddenly become calm.
A moment later, the crowd's emotions surged, feeling that Zhang Ruochen was exactly as the recent rumors described—arrogant and self-important to the extreme, as if he were about to explode from swelling pride.
An old Great Saint from the Destiny Temple, his hair bristling with anger, shouted, "Too arrogant! Who does he think he's looking down on? Lord Que, kill this madman!"
Those with grudges against Zhang Ruochen were overjoyed, never expecting him to court death so recklessly.
Perfect!
Self-inflicted doom is unstoppable.
In the distance, on a black island, Xia Yu was stunned.
This guy…
Hadn't they agreed he was just here to watch?
Although Xia Yu had speculated that Zhang Ruochen might act, she never imagined he would cause such a commotion.
Did he have to be this arrogant?
Was he planning to oppose all cultivators under heaven?
Fortunately, she hadn't ridden with him on the sub-god-level warship to charge in.
Nan Sheng's eyes blazed like torches, his insight sharp, and he laughed, "Zhang Ruochen, aren't you being too conceited? Do you truly think the heroes of the world are mere ants? If you want to be the Lord of Ten Realms, can you even handle the ten realms if they were given to you?"
Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze toward him and pointed rudely, saying, "I know you—a defeated opponent from a thousand years ago, nothing but a worthless piece of trash."
Given Nan Sheng's current status and position, who would dare speak to him like this?
The number one powerhouse of the Death Clan—did he not care about face?
Nan Sheng's smile faded, and a look of anger appeared on his originally refined face. He nearly charged forward to settle the score with Zhang Ruochen.
But he restrained himself.
If Zhang Ruochen dared to be so arrogant and reckless, he must have some backing. It was better to be cautious and not be the first to stick his neck out.
Zhang Ruochen was secretly disappointed that Nan Sheng could hold back.
He wasn't afraid of a fight; his greatest worry was that no one would give him the chance to fight or acknowledge his right to participate in the Ten Realms Battle.
If no battle ensued, that would be the most embarrassing outcome.
So, Zhang Ruochen continued to provoke Nan Sheng, saying, "I heard you won a match and secured the Dust Realm for the Hell Realm. The Dust Realm—just hearing the name, it should belong to me. Dare to come and fight? Let me see how much you've improved in this thousand years."
Nan Sheng's eyes grew cold and his face turned ashen.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is the heir of the Tiannan Shengsi Ruins completely spineless? You refuse to admit your strength is mediocre and your cultivation ordinary? If you don't dare to accept the challenge, then get lost and don't appear before me. Trash!"
"How dare you! Lord Nan Sheng is not someone you can insult!"
Nan Sheng was restraining himself, but the Great Saints of the Death God Temple could not bear it. Five of them unleashed their strongest battle weapons and struck at Zhang Ruochen from afar.
They were all Supreme Realm Great Saints, elders of the temple, each possessing vast divine powers.
Zhang Ruochen snorted heavily, waved his sleeve, and drew upon the power of heaven and earth. The five flying Monarch Sacred Artifacts were directly seized by him.
The five Monarch Sacred Artifacts spun once above Zhang Ruochen's head before flying back, crashing into the temple where the cultivators of the Death God Temple were stationed.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
…
Five consecutive loud noises.
The five Monarch Sacred Artifacts collided with the formation outside the temple, shaking the building. The cultivators standing outside stumbled and could not steady themselves, shouting curses in shock and anger.
How could Nan Sheng endure any longer?
He let out a roar, flew out of the temple, and released a dense aura of death energy, forming a black cloud covering a thousand miles.
Over thirty trillion Sacred Dao Rules flowed within the black cloud.
No one had expected that the first to challenge Zhang Ruochen would be Nan Sheng, not Que or Yin Yuan Chen.
But after a moment's thought, they understood. Nan Sheng wasn't trying to steal the spotlight from Que and Yin Yuan Chen; it was because Zhang Ruochen had pushed him too far, insulting him too harshly.
Nan Sheng was forced to accept the battle.
If he didn't, how could he maintain his influence in the Death God Temple and the Death Clan? Which Death Clan cultivator would still see him as a banner figure or a hero of the world?
The Death Clan cultivators watched Nan Sheng unleash his formidable power, like a god descending, and felt proud and excited.
"Zhang Ruochen is too ignorant of his place. Lord Nan Sheng, teach him a harsh lesson!"
"Kill this clown. This era is full of heroes, and it no longer belongs to him. He should have died a thousand years ago, and he deserves to die even more now."
…
Even though Nan Sheng had previously analyzed Zhang Ruochen's combat power as roughly equivalent to a quasi-Eon-level representative, he still dared not underestimate his opponent. After all, there were countless examples of Eon-level representatives suffering heavy losses at the hands of quasi-Eon-level representatives due to carelessness.
"Good, you've got some guts. Defeat you, and the Dust Realm is mine."
Regardless of whether Nan Sheng agreed, Zhang Ruochen shouted this first.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed at the void with his right hand and pulled it back.
"Whoosh!"
The space between him and Nan Sheng violently churned, and under the support of Space Rules and Space Essence, a special spatial passage appeared.
Nan Sheng was horrified to find himself falling into a rapidly spinning spatial passage. At the other end of the passage, he could see Zhang Ruochen standing there with his hand in a claw-like grip.
At the same time, a terrifying suction force fell upon him.
It was as if the entire space of heaven and earth was pressing down on him.
Nan Sheng was uncontrollably pulled toward Zhang Ruochen, as if falling into an abyss.
But Nan Sheng was, after all, an Eon-level representative, an extraordinary genius who had fought countless battles. He suppressed his panic, stopped resisting the suction, and released his Death Thought Power.
The Death Clan's strongest technique was Death Thought Power.
As the heir of the Tiannan Shengsi Ruins, Nan Sheng had not only reached the 69.5th level of spiritual power but had also cultivated Death Thought Power to a state of perfection. It would not be an exaggeration to call him the strongest spiritual power Great Saint beneath the gods of the Hell Realm.
Qingsi Xue's physical body was incredibly strong, and she had received the true teachings of the Truth Temple's master. Her mastery of the Way of Truth was at its peak, allowing her to unleash ten times the attack power at any time, and she was even proficient in Truth Secret Arts that could unleash twenty times the attack power.
But when she encountered Nan Sheng, she was completely suppressed by his powerful spiritual power techniques and ultimately suffered a crushing defeat.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Death Thought Power condensed into tens of thousands of demon butterflies, five-colored, with wings sharper than holy blades, rushing out along the spatial passage.
Zhang Ruochen's pupils contracted. A thousand years ago, when Nan Sheng was at the peak of the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm, the Death Demon Butterflies he condensed were only three-colored. Now, he could condense so many five-colored demon butterflies, indicating that his cultivation had increased exponentially.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew out and landed in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
Zhang Ruochen stepped into a bow stance, holding the sword hilt with one hand and supporting the blade with the other.
"Whoosh!"
Man and sword became one.
Sword and space merged into one.
The Sword Dao Sacred Intent "One" instantly fused with the person, sword, and space, turning into a brilliant and dazzling light that shot into the spatial passage at an unparalleled speed.
"Bang, bang!"
Where the sword light passed, the Death Demon Butterflies all exploded.
Finally, the sword light collided with Nan Sheng.
From Nan Sheng's body, thirty-six Great Saint Sacred Beast projections flew out—white-scaled flying dragons, true Hou giant beasts, red-feathered divine sparrows… Each Great Saint Sacred Beast projection merged with a talisman.
Even so, when Zhang Ruochen activated the Way of Truth and unleashed thirty times the attack power, all thirty-six Great Saint Sacred Beast projections shattered.
"Pfft!"
The sword light struck Nan Sheng's chest, and blood mist splattered.
The hundreds-of-miles-long spatial passage collapsed, and Nan Sheng was thrown out, a bowl-sized bloody hole in his chest. When he fell to the sea surface, he barely managed to mobilize a trace of power to control his center of gravity, his feet landing on the water.
The water surface exploded violently, sending spray flying.
Nan Sheng's skin was deathly pale and covered with dense cracks, like porcelain, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.
Only he could withstand this sword strike.
His talisman mastery was profound; he was a Heavenly Master, having long inscribed talisman patterns all over his body, integrated into his skin, muscles, bones, and blood. It was the protection of these talisman patterns that prevented his body from exploding, barely holding it together.
With just one sword strike, he had severely wounded an Eon-level representative who was also a talisman Heavenly Master.
The entire sea area fell silent. The clamor disappeared, leaving only the sound of wind and waves.
Even Que and Yin Yuan Chen's eyes narrowed in disbelief. They no longer believed the earlier rumor that Zhang Ruochen was only at the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm. Because even for them, severely wounding Nan Sheng with one sword strike was an extremely difficult feat.
Zhang Ruochen's sword strike was too stunning, like a star breaking through the sky or a blazing sun falling to the earth.
The cultivators of the Paradise Realm all looked at Shang Zihong, their faces showing doubt.
The news that "Zhang Ruochen is at the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm" had been spread by Shang Zihong, who also claimed that Zhang Ruochen had only cultivated ten trillion Sacred Dao Rules and had killed the Judgment Divine Envoy with the help of a hidden expert.
Now, with the facts before them, was Zhang Ruochen really a cultivator at the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm?
Even the cultivators of the Paradise Realm didn't believe it.
Because even Yan Wushen, who had cultivated a First-Rank Sacred Intent, was not this strong at the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm.
After a brief silence, an uproar followed.
"What a formidable Zhang Ruochen! Returning after a thousand years, he still astonishes the world. Nan Sheng couldn't even withstand a single blow from him."
"Zhang Ruochen must have reached the Supreme Realm. With his ability to cultivate a Second-Rank Sacred Intent back then, he now truly has the skill to compete with Que and Yin Yuan Chen."
…
Two Supreme Realm Great Saints from the Death God Temple flew to Nan Sheng's side, intending to support him.
"Get lost!"
A wave of death energy erupted from Nan Sheng's body, sending the two Supreme Realm Great Saints flying like scarecrows. He swallowed a quasi-emperor-grade healing pill, and his injuries rapidly healed.
Zhang Ruochen said, "It seems you're not convinced by your defeat, but you lost nonetheless. From now on, the Dust Realm belongs to me."
Before Nan Sheng could speak, Shang Zihong flew over on a five-colored auspicious cloud, standing above the sea surface, looking down at Zhang Ruochen. "Zhang Ruochen, you have no right to participate in the Ten Realms Battle, let alone become the Lord of Ten Realms. Your current behavior is utterly ridiculous, disrupting the order of the Ten Realms Battle. The cultivators of the Heavenly Palace and the Destiny Temple could kill you for this."
Zhang Ruochen understood Shang Zihong, and Shang Zihong understood Zhang Ruochen just as well.
Shang Zihong saw that Zhang Ruochen's behavior today was too abnormal, deliberately trying to provoke a fight. Naturally, he couldn't let him have his way.
…
Fellow students, don't ask again. There won't be any interruptions tomorrow.