Chapter 2735: Assassination
Outside the city, the boy’s grandfather was buried.
“What is your name?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Ye Luochen.”
Hearing this name, Zhang Ruochen instinctively frowned.
Luochen?
What did it mean?
What an unlucky name.
Zhang Ruochen somewhat understood why Huang Yanchen had once taken offense at the character “Chen” in his own name. If his name had been “Zhang Luochen” back then, given Huang Yanchen’s temper, who knew what she might have done.
Ye Luochen asked, “Master, is there something wrong with this name?”
“No, nothing wrong.”
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, why was his life so entangled with the character “Chen”?
Fate.
It seemed there was indeed some fate between him and this boy.
Ye Luochen said, “Master, when will you teach me the method of cultivation?”
“No rush! Have you awakened your Divine Martial Mark?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“Not yet.”
“We’ll talk about cultivation once you’ve awakened your Divine Martial Mark.”
Ye Luochen asked again, “When can I cultivate to the level where I’m qualified to negotiate with the Blood Absolute Family?”
“You’ll have to prove to the gods of the Blood Absolute Family that your existence is more valuable than the entire Jiannan Realm, and that you are utterly loyal to them. At the very least, you must reach the Thousand Questions Realm and be listed in the Divine Reserves Scroll. In the Hundred Shackles Realm, the Sacred Intent you condense must reach at least the third rank. And that’s just the foundation!”
The three of them walked along the bank of a night-lit river dozens of feet wide.
On the water’s surface floated duckweed emitting purple-white light, like sparkling gems embedded in a long black cloth bag.
Zhang Ruochen strode ahead.
Ye Luochen had to jog to keep up, panting heavily. “How many years will it take to reach the Thousand Questions Realm?”
“Even the most top-tier geniuses in the universe need a thousand years,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“I can’t wait a thousand years… huff… ha… a thousand years from now, my enemies will probably be dead! Master… huff… I need to cultivate to the Thousand Questions Realm as fast as possible—a hundred years, no, ten years. In ten years, I must reach the Thousand Questions Realm!”
Ye Luochen rushed ahead of Zhang Ruochen, spreading his thin arms to block him.
“Ten years? Ha! Impossible. Not even I could do it, let alone you. Even if the Undying Divine Temple poured all their resources into you, there’s not a shred of possibility,” Zhang Ruochen said with a laugh.
Ye Luochen was drenched in sweat, gritting his teeth. “Then a hundred years!”
“A hundred years is also impossible,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ye Luochen knelt before Zhang Ruochen, his hands pressing into the damp sand of the riverbank, speaking to himself, “Master, I beg you. I can’t wait a thousand years. A thousand years is too long. Who knows how many beings of the Jiannan Realm will become blood food for the Undying Blood Clan? How many humans like me will lose their families and live in agony?”
“The days of being ruled and enslaved by the Undying Blood Clan must come to an end. I want the common people to see hope, to live without fear.”
“Master, help me. I’m willing to endure any hardship, bear any burden.”
“Even death?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Ye Luochen’s eyes were red, but he held back his tears, his expression resolute. “Even death does not frighten me.”
His ten fingers sank into the sand, clenching tightly.
“There is one method that could let you reach the Great Saint Thousand Questions Realm within ten years. But it’s extremely dangerous, and you’ll suffer a great deal—more than ordinary people,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Without a second thought, Ye Luochen said, “I am willing to try.”
Mo Yin guessed what method Zhang Ruochen was referring to and said, “That’s too dangerous! Master has finally taken a disciple. Why resort to such an extreme approach?”
“The universe is changing, heaven and earth are in turmoil. A thousand years is indeed too long. He needs to grow quickly. This method, though extreme, is still feasible,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Zhang Ruochen was on the verge of breaking through to the God Realm and needed to cultivate one or several strong individuals to become the top combat power in the mortal world.
Matters that gods could not intervene in, they could handle.
Cultivation in the God Realm was important, but interests in the mortal world were equally crucial—someone needed to guard them.
Suddenly, the ground trembled, and the river water boiled.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed. He grabbed the kneeling Ye Luochen from a distance, and without time to use Spatial Displacement, he spread his golden wings and shot backward like a streak of light.
“Boom!”
A flaming giant sword, a thousand meters long, descended from the sky, striking the spot where Zhang Ruochen had just stood.
The river instantly dried up, all the water evaporating.
A bottomless pit appeared on the ground, and the land for hundreds of miles melted into a golden-red lake of magma.
Mo Yin was slightly slower than Zhang Ruochen. Even though she raised a five-colored light shield, the force from the flaming giant sword shattered it, injuring her.
A foot-long sword wound appeared on her chest and abdomen, blood pouring out.
A thousand miles away stood a gray-robed old man.
His name was Chu Han, a False God.
Chu Han retracted the flaming giant sword and sighed softly. “What a pity. Such a perfect opportunity, and Zhang Ruochen still dodged it. His vigilance is terrifying.”
This was the Hell Realm after all. If he missed his strike, he had to retreat immediately.
Otherwise, if a True God arrived, he would surely die.
Chu Han concealed his aura, turned invisible, and was about to slip away.
But as soon as he took a step, he stopped, staring in shock at Zhang Ruochen, who stood before him. His proud invisibility divine ability seemed utterly useless against this opponent.
“Since you’re here, don’t leave.”
Zhang Ruochen unleashed the Epoch Unification Dao Domain. Instantly, space and time in this region became chaotic, and clusters of star-like halos floated in the space, forming a boundless ocean of stars.
Chu Han dispelled his invisibility divine ability, revealing his true divine body, and sneered, “I underestimated you, the mortal world’s myth. In truth, if I had struck from close range earlier, I could have killed you in one blow.”
“But you chose the conservative approach—wanting to assassinate me, yet fearing you couldn’t escape quickly if you failed. With such hesitation, of course, you could only fall short,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Mo Yin flew over, hovering a hundred feet above the ground behind Chu Han. Tens of thousands of five-colored vines shot out from her body, covering the sky and earth.
Countless space rifts flew between the vines.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Assassinating me wasn’t your true purpose in coming to Jiannan Realm, or you wouldn’t have made just a hasty strike. A False God could have set up a much more elaborate killing formation. Tell me, what is your real goal in Jiannan Realm?”
Chu Han raised the flaming war sword in his hand and slashed downward.
But it wasn’t aimed at Zhang Ruochen—it was meant to tear open space and escape into the void.
However, within Zhang Ruochen’s Epoch Unification Dao Domain, how could he succeed?
He barely split space open a crack before it closed again.
“Summer Sword!”
Zhang Ruochen thrust his sword, and flames filled the sky, the temperature soaring as if the scorching summer sun had arrived.
In Chu Han’s eyes, it wasn’t a sword coming at him, but a blazing sun crashing toward him. He mobilized his divine Qi to his eyes, barely making out the sword’s body and its trajectory.
This was the Time Sword Art—the Four Seasons Sword Technique.
“Bang!”
Even though Chu Han was a False God, he was struck by this ultimate sword. His divine body was pierced through, leaving a bowl-sized bloody hole in his chest and back.
The sixth level of the Time Sword Art, with its profound time power, was beyond the comprehension of an ordinary False God.
“Summer Sword!”
Relying on the advantage of his Dao Domain, Zhang Ruochen moved with incredible speed, giving Chu Han no chance to catch his breath and heal.
He used the same sword technique again.
The Time Sword Art emphasized speed.
Speed that could not be broken.
And each strike cut away lifespan.
“Summer Sword!”
“Summer Sword!”
…
Zhang Ruochen launched seventeen consecutive strikes, all with the same move, beating Chu Han until he had no power to retaliate. His divine body was riddled with holes, and divine blood soaked the land for a thousand miles.
Where the divine blood fell, the ground turned into a fiery plain.
“Enough!”
Chu Han roared in fury.
This divine roar did not escape Zhang Ruochen’s Dao Domain; otherwise, all life within tens of thousands of miles would have perished. Jiannan Realm was not the Heavenly Court—once a divine-level battle erupted, it would be a catastrophic disaster.
Chu Han’s divine body expanded, becoming a thousand zhang tall, radiating brilliant divine light like a glowing human-shaped mountain.
A vast, surging divine might burst forth like a tidal wave.
“Zhang Ruochen, you brat, do you really think I’m no match for you? Fight! Today, I will kill you here at any cost.”
The wounds on Chu Han’s divine body healed at a visible rate, and he raised the thousand-meter flaming war sword with both hands.
“Shush!”
Countless sword qi appeared in the sky and earth, flowing around him like a river.
The Epoch Unification Dao Domain began to show signs of shattering under the overwhelming power erupting from his body. The land within the Dao Domain completely melted, leaving a thousand miles of scorched earth.
The opponent was a False God after all, so Zhang Ruochen did not dare to be careless. He activated the Flame God Armor and said, “So you’re a god from the Sword God Realm! Sneaking into the Hell Realm and coming to Jiannan Realm—you must have quite a scheme.”
“No matter. Since you’re here, I’ll take your Divine Source for my own use.”
“Arrogant!” Chu Han swung his sword and slashed downward.
Zhang Ruochen knew that a False God’s internal power was as vast as a star. A furious strike like this was no small matter, so he did not dare to clash head-on. Instead, he took a diagonal step, shifting dozens of miles to the side, easily dodging.
The Dark Gold War Staff, the Red Son Sword, the Golden Moon Wheel, and the Mountain-Hiding Demon Mirror—four Supreme Sacred Artifacts—were all pushed to their limits by Zhang Ruochen. Four surges of supreme power erupted, bombarding Chu Han from all directions.
In just a quarter of an hour, Chu Han’s divine body was shattered three times, and his aura plummeted rapidly.
Chu Han had never imagined that a Saint-level cultivator could be so powerful, nor that a Saint could possess four Supreme Sacred Artifacts. He never expected that he, a god, could not break through a Saint’s Dao Domain.
Pushed to this point, Chu Han cast aside all restraint, channeling his divine Qi toward his Divine Source.
“Zhang Ruochen, you bully a god too much! You want my Divine Source? Fine! Take it—let’s die together!” Chu Han’s massive divine body ignited, illuminating a corner of the dark continent.
“Foolish! A mere third-rate False God thinks he can die with me? I still have great use for your divine body—I won’t let you destroy it.”
Wearing the Flame God Armor, Zhang Ruochen hovered in midair, not fleeing, calm and composed, as he uttered: “Rage Sword!”