Chapter 328: Thousand-Zhang Heavy Prison
Zhang Ruochen was the first to pass through the Eight Directions Separation and Union Formation, charging directly toward the direction of the Life Gate.
A man who appeared to be in his early twenties walked out of the Life Gate, wielding a heavy saber, and advanced toward Zhang Ruochen. "Zhang Ruochen, I am under orders from the Young Master to take your life."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened slightly. "Can you stop me?"
"If I hadn't broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, I might not be your match. But now, I'm afraid we're no longer on the same level." The man was clearly very confident in his own strength.
Si Xingkong also rushed out of the Eight Directions Separation and Union Formation, arriving beside Zhang Ruochen, and warned, "Zhang Ruochen, this man is one of the seven great young experts of the Black Market, a disciple of the Xuan Ying Sect Leader, Murong Bairen. Wait until I take the Nirvana Fire Spirit Flower petals and break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm; I'll handle him."
"Si Xingkong, do you think you still have a chance to break through?"
Murong Bairen glanced at the remaining twenty-five Heavenly Extreme Realm initial-stage martial artists and said, "Everyone, listen up: anyone who breaks through the Eight Directions Separation and Union Formation is to be killed immediately. Leave Zhang Ruochen to me."
Just then, Si Xingkong swallowed the refined liquid of the Nirvana Fire Spirit Flower petals into his mouth, activated his technique, and began to fully absorb the medicinal power, charging toward the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
Zhang Ruochen stood beside Si Xingkong, holding his sword horizontally, and looked at Murong Bairen. "Murong Bairen, even if you break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, you are no match for me. Making an enemy of me is a path to death for you."
Murong Bairen laughed loudly. "Zhang Ruochen, you are far too arrogant. Do you really think that entering the top one hundred of the Earth Ranking means you can look down on other geniuses? If you have the skill, first take one of my saber strikes."
Murong Bairen shifted his steps, executing a Spirit-level mid-grade martial technique, "Eight Steps Chasing Cicada," and lunged forward one step, forming a human silhouette, then another silhouette three zhang away.
When he took his fifth step, he had already left five silhouettes behind.
And at that moment, he appeared behind Zhang Ruochen, swinging his saber diagonally downward.
Murong Bairen, known as one of the seven great young experts of the Black Market, was naturally a first-rate prodigy. Even at the Earth Extreme Realm, he possessed the strength to contend with Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists.
After stepping into the Heavenly Extreme Realm, he became even more formidable.
Even experts of the caliber of Guo Shisan or Jin Yeyun were far from his match.
For this reason, having reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Murong Bairen was bursting with confidence, believing he had entered the ranks of top-tier experts, and naturally did not take Zhang Ruochen, who was only at the Earth Extreme Realm, seriously.
Zhang Ruochen stood still, not even turning around, and directly struck out with a reverse palm strike.
Under the impetus of true qi, Zhang Ruochen's arm seemed to transform into a dragon's arm.
"Dragon-Elephant Returns to the Field!"
Zhang Ruochen's palm struck toward Murong Bairen's lower abdomen, the palm force surging forth with a vast, mighty power.
"His reaction speed is so fast; my saber probably won't even land on him before I'm sent flying by his palm force."
Murong Bairen's expression remained unchanged. He immediately activated his technique, channeling the true qi within his body, and erected a half-meter-thick layer of protective heavenly firmament.
Zhang Ruochen struck down with his palm, unleashing an extremely yang and rigid palm force, causing Murong Bairen's protective heavenly firmament to cave inward.
Just as the protective heavenly firmament was about to be shattered, Murong Bairen quickly blocked with his saber, gripping the hilt with his right hand and pressing on the blade with his left, sinking his legs and planting his feet into the ground, unleashing all his strength.
"Bang!"
The palm force shattered the protective heavenly firmament and collided with the war saber.
A force like an avalanche surged from the war saber up into Murong Bairen's arms, sending him sliding backward, leaving a half-meter-deep trench in the ground.
"What a powerful palm strike."
Murong Bairen's arms trembled with pain as he stared at Zhang Ruochen in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"I've already broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, so how can he still repel me with a single palm strike?"
Zhang Ruochen was also somewhat surprised, not expecting that his full-force palm strike just now had been blocked.
"As expected of one of the seven great young experts of the Black Market, he does have some skill. If I hadn't broken through to the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection, I might not have had the upper hand in a fight with him. But since my cultivation has reached the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection, dealing with him should not be difficult."
Zhang Ruochen remained standing beside Si Xingkong, guarding him, and did not pursue Murong Bairen.
During this time, two Heavenly Extreme Realm initial-stage martial artists attempted a sneak attack, but both were repelled by Zhang Ruochen's sword swings, and no one could get close.
Murong Bairen snorted coldly. "Zhang Ruochen, you do have some skill. It seems I need to get serious too."
"I'm also curious to see how strong you are when you're serious." Zhang Ruochen appeared very composed, smiling faintly.
"Thousand-Zhang Heavy Prison."
Murong Bairen clasped his hands together, releasing the vast true qi within his body, triggering a celestial phenomenon.
The spiritual energy in the water, influenced by Murong Bairen's true qi, converged toward him, forming a gravity prison covering a radius of a thousand zhang.
Within the gravity prison, everyone had to endure ten times the gravity, greatly suppressing their speed and strength.
Only Murong Bairen was exempt.
This was because Murong Bairen had only just broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, so he could only unleash ten times the gravity. If his cultivation advanced to the Heavenly Extreme Realm middle stage, he could make the "Thousand-Zhang Heavy Prison" unleash twenty times the gravity.
Against an ordinary army, Murong Bairen would need to do nothing but activate the "Thousand-Zhang Heavy Prison" to render tens of thousands of soldiers combat-ineffective.
For top-tier geniuses, only by stepping into the Heavenly Extreme Realm did they truly enter the hall of martial arts, crossing into a new realm of martial cultivation.
Murong Bairen had awakened a sixth-grade gravity divine martial mark, and his true qi contained a gravity attribute.
Thus, he possessed immense strength and could block one of Zhang Ruochen's Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm strikes.
"Zhang Ruochen, under ten times the gravity, how much power can you still unleash?"
Murong Bairen laughed loudly, lifted his heavy saber, and attacked Zhang Ruochen again.
Unaffected by the gravity, Murong Bairen's speed remained astonishingly fast, breaking the sound barrier in an instant.
"Bang!"
A sonic boom rang out.
Murong Bairen charged in front of Zhang Ruochen, a sinister grin on his face. He gripped his saber with both hands, thrusting it forward, the tip aimed at Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Ten times the gravity did have some effect on Zhang Ruochen, but since he had trained in the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm under thirty times the gravity, the "Thousand-Zhang Heavy Prison" Murong Bairen unleashed had little impact on him.
Murong Bairen was faster than Zhang Ruochen, so Zhang Ruochen could not dodge the strike and had to take it head-on.
Zhang Ruochen struck later but arrived first, swinging his sword in a slash. The war saber in Murong Bairen's hands snapped with a sound and fell to the ground.
Then, Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm, hitting Murong Bairen's chest, shattering his protective heavenly firmament, and sending him flying once again.
"How is this possible..."
Murong Bairen simply could not understand how Zhang Ruochen could still be so fast and so strong under ten times the gravity.
Zhang Ruochen showed no mercy, giving Murong Bairen no chance to counterattack.
He took two steps forward, gripped the sword hilt with both hands, channeled all his true qi, and swung his sword in a slash.
Although Murong Bairen was flying through the air with no leverage, a layer of cyan light appeared on his body.
"Whoosh!"
The cyan light condensed into a four-meter-tall bell, shielding him within its body.
"Bang!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword struck the bell, and ripples immediately appeared on the surface of the true qi bell.
A powerful impact force erupted, sending the bell flying, carrying Murong Bairen with it as it crashed into the crystal wall of the Dragon Palace.
The true qi bell dissipated, and Murong Bairen fell to the ground, his broken heavy saber also dropping.
"He has a protective treasure on him."
Zhang Ruochen charged again, swinging his sword in another slash aimed at Murong Bairen's neck.
Murong Bairen knelt on one knee, quickly pulling a golden short blade from his sleeve and swinging it upward, trying to block Zhang Ruochen's strike.
"Bang!" The Abyssal Ancient Sword struck the golden short blade, the force pressing down, and the back of the golden blade pressed directly against Murong Bairen's neck.
Murong Bairen felt as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt from the five elements. His right knee crushed the stone slab with a loud "crack," and centered on his body, a seven-meter-wide crater appeared in the ground.
"Boom!"
A surge of rushing water, propelled by the impact of true qi, spread out in all directions, shaking the more than twenty Heavenly Extreme Realm initial-stage experts of the Black Market, causing them to stagger and retreat repeatedly.
This showed just how powerful Zhang Ruochen's sword strike had been.
Clearly, the golden short blade Murong Bairen had taken out later was of a very high grade, as it withstood a blow from the Abyssal Ancient Sword without breaking.
Murong Bairen was still struggling to hold on, gripping the blade hilt with both hands to resist Zhang Ruochen's war sword.
If he failed to resist, his neck would be severed.
Qin Ya stood on the warship, gazing toward the Dragon Palace, and thought to herself, "Zhang Ruochen is indeed formidable. Without even breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, he can overpower Murong Bairen. It seems only if he and Xingling join forces can they suppress Di Yi."
Now, her greatest worry was that Di Yi would go on a killing spree in the Dragon Palace. With Di Yi's cultivation, even if Duanmu Xingling unsealed the seal within her body, she might not be able to defeat him.
But if Zhang Ruochen and Duanmu Xingling joined forces, dealing with Di Yi should not be difficult.
At this moment, Duanmu Xingling, Huang Yanchen, Chen Xier, Chang Qiqi, and the martial artists of the Duanmu Clan successively passed through the Eight Directions Separation and Union Formation, arriving at the square before the Dragon Palace, and gathered with Si Xingkong, who was charging toward the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
"They are all only at the Earth Extreme Realm. Just ten of us are enough to kill them all. The rest of you, go help Young Master Murong deal with Zhang Ruochen." An old man who had just broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage said.
The twenty-five Heavenly Extreme Realm initial-stage Black Market martial artists split into three groups. The five strongest among them were responsible for guarding the Life Gate; ten went to kill the Duanmu Clan martial artists who had just broken through; and the last ten charged toward Zhang Ruochen and Murong Bairen.