Chapter 2863: Seventy-Fourth Order
“Is Wuma Jiuxing the Blade Venerable’s illegitimate son? He only became a god a thousand years ago, yet he was granted Blade Dao Essence.” Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor said with envy in his eyes.
Shang Hong cast a cold glance at him.
Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor’s expression changed, realizing he should not have lightly mentioned the title “Blade Venerable,” and quickly lowered his head.
A God Venerable must not be discussed recklessly!
All the gods were gazing at the sky, watching the blades flying in from all directions.
“With the Blade Dao Essence unleashed, that old man is probably…” Nether Flower Pavilion Master said with regret.
She had originally wanted to consult him on musical rhythm, seeking a breakthrough in her realm, but unfortunately, there was no chance now!
Essence was the most terrifying power in the divine world.
The amount of Blade Dao Essence Wuma Jiuxing controlled was considerable. Across the entire Xinghuantian, all the Blade Dao rules of that realm were drawn upon by him, enough to unleash combat power far surpassing his own cultivation level.
“Shush!”
Countless blades of various types descended from the sky, straight toward Zhang Ruochen, who sat cross-legged in the thousand-mile calm lake.
They pierced through the star river, broke through the divine glow.
Blades fell like rain.
Zhang Ruochen remained unflustered. With each strike of the wooden clapper, countless blades shattered into iron powder, turning into fiery specks that ignited the void, creating a magnificent scene.
Man and blade merged; blade and earth merged.
Earth and heaven merged; heaven and man merged.
Wuma Jiuxing’s long hair danced wildly, his gaze domineering. He once again combined the four stances into one, swinging his blade down.
Countless Blade Dao rules from heaven and earth merged with the Fourfold Blade Technique. His true form soared up, slashing straight down at Zhang Ruochen.
“Bang! Bang! Bang…”
The sound of the wooden clapper grew denser and denser.
Sometimes crisp, sometimes deep, sometimes like metal striking stone. Above Zhang Ruochen’s head, various phenomena manifested: lightning flashed, sound waves transformed into divine birds, and thousands of troops charged.
“You cannot block it. No matter how masterful your spiritual power, one blade shatters all techniques.”
Wuma Jiuxing cleaved through layer after layer of phenomena. The divine light radiating from his body blazed to its peak, visible even from the First Divine Maiden City hundreds of thousands of miles away.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly paused, stopping his strikes, and looked up at him.
At his heart, a violent pulse formed a powerful spiritual power light wave, spreading across the thousand-mile calm lake and crashing into the formation light wall ten thousand miles away.
Zhang Ruochen’s murky eyes suddenly blazed like two stars, bright and fierce.
“He broke through!”
Shang Hong was the first to sense it, a strange expression appearing on his face.
“Clearly already on the verge of death, with only a wisp of life fire left, yet he can still break through. This old gentleman is truly extraordinary.” Liu Qingcheng remarked with admiration.
In a small city not far from the battlefield, a handsome man with disheveled hair, like a martial arts fanatic, sat together with Yu Chenjing, peering into the distance beyond the sky. “This is reaching the seventy-fourth order of spiritual power!”
It was Yu Taizhen of the Thousand Star Civilization, one of the top-tier powerhouses of this eon.
Having said that, Yu Taizhen continued drinking his porridge.
With his protection, this small city, though close to the battlefield, remained peaceful and tranquil.
Yu Chenjing asked, “Tenth Uncle, does he have a chance to defeat Wuma Jiuxing?”
“For other seventy-fourth order spiritual power gods, trapped in a ten-thousand-mile heavenly and earthly cage, fighting Wuma Jiuxing who wields Blade Dao Essence, nine out of ten would die. But for him, it’s hard to say.”
“Why hard to say?”
Yu Taizhen looked up, a white film of porridge on his lips, and said, “For spiritual power cultivators, the most important thing is the application of spiritual power. The more skillfully it’s applied, the stronger the combat power.”
“It’s like with Supreme Realm Great Saints: some can only cultivate one trillion Sacred Dao rules, while others can cultivate thirty trillion, earning the title of eon-level representative figures.”
“At the same realm, combat power can differ by more than ten times, right?”
Yu Chenjing smiled, “I understand. That old man is the eon-level representative among spiritual power cultivators.”
“Eon-level representative of spiritual power? Haha, there’s no such term, but saying that isn’t wrong either. However…”
Yu Taizhen’s expression grew much more serious, “That old man absolutely cannot be some reclusive figure. You must know that the strongest in applying spiritual power are still spiritual power holy lands like Heavenly South Life-Death Ruins and Void Great Calamity Palace. Most of the formidable divine techniques come from these places.”
“When that old man was still at the peak of seventy-third order spiritual power, he could use musical rhythm to communicate with the Heavenly Dao, drawing on the power of heaven and earth for his own use. His understanding of the Five Elements is something even I feel inferior to.”
“For such a figure, if there is no supreme-level existence guiding him from behind, and he wasn’t born in a spiritual power holy land, then it can only be said that he is exceptionally talented. Forget eon-level representative of spiritual power; he might even be called an eon-level genius of spiritual power. If such a genius, how could he have decayed into such an aged state?”
Under normal circumstances, spiritual power gods at the seventieth and seventy-first orders correspond to false god-level combat power.
Spiritual power gods at the seventy-second order roughly correspond to lower-level god combat power.
A lower-level god with a solid foundation can generally cultivate a divine realm world within a thousand years, reaching the middle-level god level.
Even with slightly inferior talent and foundation, spending ten thousand years can still elevate them to middle-level god.
However, advancing from middle-level god to upper-level god is extremely difficult. More than half of middle-level gods cannot achieve this before their lifespan runs out.
Cultivating for a thousand years can make one a middle-level god; cultivating for a hundred thousand years can also make one a middle-level god.
Thus, the combat power span of middle-level gods is enormous. Therefore, spiritual power gods at the seventy-third and seventy-fourth orders correspond to middle-level god combat power.
Reaching the seventy-fifth order corresponds to upper-level god combat power.
Of course, these are not absolute, because spiritual power and martial arts are entirely different cultivation systems.
And there are too many factors affecting combat power, such as supreme sacred artifacts and divine-level weapons.
For example, Essence, formations, talismans.
For example, the level of spiritual power application, the strength of divine techniques and mystical methods cultivated.
Another example is the influence of environment on combat power, and the influence of mental state on combat power.
For someone like Yan Wushen, a lower-level god defeating a seventy-fifth order spiritual power god is entirely possible.
For a spiritual power god born in Heavenly South Life-Death Ruins, or a disciple of Tai Shang, breaking the combat power limits of spiritual power is not difficult either.
Realm is static.
Actual combat has too many variables.
Even the same two people, in the same place, fighting in the same way, may not have the same outcome. Just like Blood Absolute War God and Desolate Heaven, who have fought for years, but each has wins and losses; neither can always defeat the other.
After breaking through in spiritual power, Zhang Ruochen seemed to suddenly radiate vigorous vitality. The white hair on his head showed a tendency to turn black.
“Bang!”
Zhang Ruochen struck down once, the wooden clapper colliding.
The earth-shattering sound was like divine thunder, shattering all the blades in the sky.
Wuma Jiuxing was also impacted, bleeding from his seven orifices, his armor shattered, and even his skin cracked. The divine blood that flew out turned into a rain of blood.
But his will was firm, his battle intent strong.
The Welcome Heaven War Blade still slashed down toward Zhang Ruochen.
“Die!”
Wuma Jiuxing’s entire face had already split open, but his eyes were still sharp as blades. The blade in his hand pressed forward without looking back.
Zhang Ruochen involuntarily reached for his space ring, not taking out anything that would reveal his identity, but instead retrieving a stone cauldron. He used his spiritual power to control it, smashing it toward the sky.
“Boom!”
Wuma Jiuxing’s entire power had already been mostly dissolved by the earlier sound waves, leaving only a blade momentum with no turning back.
Struck by the stone cauldron, he was sent flying, barely able to hold onto his bronze war blade.
Zhang Ruochen’s aged body leaped up, grabbing the stone cauldron, and smashed it down again.
“Bang!”
Wuma Jiuxing was sent flying a second time, his already cracked body losing chunks of flesh and blood.
Zhang Ruochen’s physical body was supremely cultivated, and having passed through the divine tribulation, his strength was naturally not weak.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
…
Beaten flying again and again by Zhang Ruochen, Wuma Jiuxing had no way to recondense his divine power. Even the bronze war blade in his hand was sent flying.
Forced into a corner, Wuma Jiuxing had to release his seventieth-order spiritual power, condensing bolts of lightning to strike at Zhang Ruochen, who was chasing behind him.
Thus, the gods witnessed a shocking scene.
The white-haired old man, originally a spiritual power god, moved with swift steps, vigorous and energetic, carrying a huge stone cauldron, brutally beating Wuma Jiuxing with pure physical strength.
Wuma Jiuxing, originally a martial god, could only use spiritual power methods to defend himself.
“What’s going on? The old man already has one foot in the coffin, how is his physical body so strong? Could he also be a martial god?”
“The stone cauldron in his hand is unusual; it has the Sixth Patriarch’s Sanskrit script and the Udumbara flower mark.”
…
Wuma Jiuxing was beaten by the stone cauldron until his head shattered, divine bones broke, and his divine body was tattered. Finally, he seized an opportunity to take out the Zhoufan Bracelet and strike with it.
The Zhoufan Bracelet was a fate treasure Zhang Ruochen obtained in the ancient ruins of Fate Divine Mountain.
It was both a fate treasure and a time treasure.
Unfortunately, a thousand years ago, Wuma Jiuxing had seized it.
The Zhoufan Bracelet trapped Zhang Ruochen, and the area centered on him had its time forcibly altered by the power of fate, forming a special time field.
Zhang Ruochen was caught in a time loop, unable to escape.
Wuma Jiuxing finally caught his breath, but ignoring his injuries, he immediately mobilized Blade Dao rules, condensing a hundred-zhang light blade above his head.
“It’s all over!”
“Chop!”
The light blade slashed down.
But at the moment he swung the blade, he was shocked to see that Zhang Ruochen, who had been trapped in the time loop, had already escaped, holding the Zhoufan Bracelet, staring at him.
“You don’t even know how to use a time-type treasure. Let me teach you.”
Zhang Ruochen used his spiritual power to draw in the divine energy of heaven and earth, infusing it into the Zhoufan Bracelet. Dense fate light and time imprints appeared on the bracelet.
Fate light turned into a circular river.
Time imprint specks flowed along the circular river of fate, enveloping Wuma Jiuxing and the light blade he had slashed out.
Thus, Wuma Jiuxing fell into a true time loop, continuously swinging his blade, unable to stop, his divine power rapidly draining.
“What kind of treasure is this, so bizarre?” a god exclaimed in shock.
“Gentlemen, if we were in Wuma Jiuxing’s situation, what method would you use to break free?”
“This treasure is forged from two eternal powers, time and fate. I’m afraid the only way is to forcefully break through with cultivation. And the cultivation must far surpass that of the Zhoufan Bracelet’s master.”
“Forcefully break through? Not quite, right? That old man easily seized control of the Zhoufan Bracelet from Wuma Jiuxing. In my view, to break the time loop field, one only needs strong spiritual power.” Fourth Armor Blood Ancestor said.
The gods discussed among themselves.
Shang Hong’s expression turned serious, realizing the situation was bad. If this continued, Wuma Jiuxing would inevitably exhaust his divine power in the time loop field.
He released his divine might, pressuring the four pavilion masters of Goddess Twelve Pavilions, “Why don’t you immediately ask the Divine Master to withdraw the formation? Do you really want Wuma Jiuxing to die at that old man’s hands? The Blade Venerable’s wrath, who can bear… it…”
“Boom!”
A deafening explosion sounded from the battlefield within the formation, dust flying everywhere.