Chapter 332: Dragon-Elephant Prajna, Hell Ghost King
Even the number one on the Earth Ranking, Bu Qianfan, had only lasted three moves against him before losing.
Di Yi was eager to know how many moves Zhang Ruochen could withstand against him.
After steadying himself, Di Yi immediately raised both arms, spread his hands with palms facing downward, and curled his ten fingers into claw shapes.
"Crack, crack!"
The fingertips of the Black Dragon Ghost Claw Gloves were extremely sharp, embedded with ten blades like dragon claws.
He stopped trading palm strikes with Zhang Ruochen and switched to claw techniques instead.
"Hell Ghost King Claw."
Di Yi charged forward, his speed increasing by another fraction from before, approaching the speed of sound.
The Hell Ghost King Claw was a profound and unfathomable martial technique. It originated from the "Heaven-Earth Dragon Claw Hand" of the Ten Thousand Buddha Path, but was later modified by Black Market saints and evolved over tens of thousands of years into a Black Market martial art.
The "Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm" was the most powerful palm technique of the Ten Thousand Buddha Path, while the "Heaven-Earth Dragon Claw Hand" was its most formidable claw technique.
The "Heaven-Earth Dragon Claw Hand" had nine moves, while the "Hell Ghost King Claw" derived from it had a full thirty-six moves.
In comparison, the latter lacked some of the former's masculine dominance and slightly diminished in power.
However, the latter surpassed the former in sinister cunning and venomousness, with more variables and more eerie techniques.
As Di Yi executed the claw technique, a chilling wind arose, and the temperature plummeted.
The surrounding waters emitted a "hissing" sound under the cold air, eventually freezing into ice.
"Swish, swish!"
Countless claw marks flew back and forth within the ice, resembling human hands yet also dragon claws, accompanied by a "wooing" ghostly wail.
Zhang Ruochen, holding the unconscious Huang Yanchen with one hand, became slightly slower in his movements.
With a sudden "bang," caught off guard, Zhang Ruochen's chest was struck by one of Di Yi's claw marks. Even though he was wearing the Flying Fish Armor, he still felt intense pain in his chest, as if his internal organs had been grabbed from a distance.
From below the hill, another ear-splitting roar sounded.
Zhang Tiangui drove a war chariot flying three feet above the ground, cutting through the water waves and charging up the hill.
The war chariot's momentum was astonishing; wherever it passed, it instantly crushed rocks into powder.
Behind the war chariot followed dozens of Black Market martial artists, holding weapons and arranged in formation, surging toward the stone gate like a black tide.
"Zhang Ruochen, your time of death has come!"
Zhang Tiangui stood proudly atop the chariot, clasped his hands together, and released the true qi within his body, transforming it into a pillar of light shooting up from the top of his head, instantly triggering a celestial phenomenon.
A thousand-zhang sea of lightning.
"Crackle!"
Centered on Zhang Tiangui's body, all the spiritual energy within a thousand-zhang radius converged, condensing into strands of purple lightning. The lightning continuously darted and intertwined, forming an underwater sea of electricity.
Seeing the electric light surging toward him, Zhang Ruochen's heart sank, knowing that Zhang Tiangui had already broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
Only by breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm could one trigger such a powerful celestial phenomenon.
It was worth noting that before breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Zhang Tiangui was already a genius of the Four Extremes Half-Saint level. Now that his strength had surged, Si Xingkong, Chen Xi'er, and the others were no match for him.
But Zhang Ruochen was even more worried about the dragon soul inside the hill. If the dragon soul was disturbed, the consequences would be disastrous, and everyone present might die here.
Just as Si Xingkong unleashed the "Thousand-Zhang Sea of Lightning" celestial phenomenon, Zi Qian, who had the weakest cultivation, was struck by a bolt of lightning. With a "wah," her body flew backward.
More than half of Zi Qian's body turned charred black, with countless fine electric patterns flowing over her, leaving her severely injured.
Zhang Tiangui only saw Zi Qian wearing the clothes of an Underworld Gate assassin and assumed she was a Black Market martial artist. The earlier lightning strike was not intentionally aimed at her.
If Zhang Tiangui had intended to kill Zi Qian, that single strike would have reduced her to ashes.
Chang Qiqi and Si Xingkong charged out from two directions simultaneously, rushing to intercept Zhang Tiangui.
"Get out of my way."
Zhang Tiangui waved his arm, channeling true qi, and instantly two purple lightning bolts as thick as bowls struck Chang Qiqi and Si Xingkong, sending them flying.
Zhang Tiangui had only one enemy: Zhang Ruochen.
He knew this was his only chance to kill Zhang Ruochen. Once Zhang Ruochen broke through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, he would never have another opportunity.
Chang Qiqi and Si Xingkong had both activated the defensive inscriptions on their space rings. Although they were knocked back, they were not injured.
After getting up from the ground, they immediately chased after Zhang Tiangui again.
"We absolutely cannot let Zhang Tiangui join forces with Di Yi. If they combine their strength, Zhang Ruochen will be in grave danger."
"Form the formation!"
Si Xingkong kicked off the ground, leaped up, and landed on a high point of the hill. He took out a jade stone, infused it with true qi, and instantly activated the inscriptions within it.
Chen Xi'er, Duanmu Xingling, and Chang Qiqi also each took out a jade stone, activating the formation inscriptions to create a combined attack formation.
The four of them set up the combined attack formation and launched a single strike together.
"Whoosh!"
A beam of light half a meter in diameter shot out from the combined attack formation, striking Zhang Tiangui's war chariot.
The war chariot was an eighth-rank True Martial Treasure, but under their combined attack, it immediately overturned and rolled down the hill.
Zhang Tiangui looked quite disheveled as he tumbled down the hill with the chariot.
Immediately after, the combined attack formation of the four clashed with the formation set up by the thirty-six Black Market martial artists, instantly tearing the latter apart.
More than half of the thirty-six Black Market martial artists were killed or injured, and the rest fled down the hill.
In another direction, Zhang Ruochen and Di Yi were locked in a fierce battle.
"Ghost King's Wrath!"
Di Yi executed the seventh move of the Shura Ghost King Claw. As the technique unfolded, his body grew half a meter taller, muscles bulged, bones stretched, and his ten fingers doubled in length.
Di Yi transformed into a ghostly shadow and struck a claw at Zhang Ruochen's neck.
He aimed to pierce through Zhang Ruochen's Flying Fish Armor with this strike and capture him once and for all.
"Blood Condensation Nine Swords."
Zhang Ruochen spread his hands, and the blood qi within his body surged out, forming a blood mist that created a blood array beneath his feet.
The phantom images of nine war swords flew around his body, making "swishing" sounds. Then, the nine swords merged into one and shot forward.
Zhang Ruochen pushed his hands forward, and the sword qi burst forth.
"Boom!"
Sword qi erupted, and countless beams of sword light surged toward Di Yi, forcing him back.
At the same time, Si Xingkong, Chen Xi'er, Duanmu Xingling, and Chang Qiqi also charged up the hill, arriving beside the stone gate to join Zhang Ruochen.
Among them, Duanmu Xingling was carrying the severely injured Zi Qian in her arms.
Zhang Ruochen immediately turned around, inserted the dragon horn into the stone hole on the gate, and opened it.
As the stone gate opened, a golden light shot up from the cave.
"Whoosh!"
Not only the dragon palace, but the entire ten-thousand-li stretch of the Death River section turned golden, accompanied by the sound of ethereal Buddhist chants.
"Buddha relic, it must be inside the hill's core."
Di Yi's eyes blazed with fervent light. He unleashed all his power, and with his body as the center, water waves surged in all directions, sending the Black Market martial artists flying.
Di Yi charged toward the stone gate again.
Si Xingkong, Duanmu Xingling, and the others had already entered the stone gate. Zhang Ruochen pulled out the dragon horn, and the stone gate began to slowly close.
Zhang Ruochen stood in the center of the stone gate, legs apart, waist lowered into a horse stance, rapidly circulating the true qi in his body toward his right arm, turning it completely golden.
"Zhang Ruochen, I was only using half my strength earlier. Did you really think I couldn't kill you? Trying to stop me from seizing the dragon relic is nothing but a death wish."
Behind Di Yi, a ten-zhang-tall humanoid saint shadow emerged, radiating five-colored light, with eyes burning like fireballs.
At this moment, he seemed possessed by a saint, unleashing an aura far more powerful than before.
"Elephant Force Ninefold."
Zhang Ruochen raised his right arm and struck out nine palm prints in succession. The nine palms merged into one, unleashing nine times the power.
"Human King Pushes Mountain."
Di Yi channeled all the saint light on his body into his fist, striking down like a mountain crashing.
"Boom!"
Under the immense force, Zhang Ruochen's body swayed and flew backward.
Landing ten zhang away and regaining his footing, Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had been hit by a mountain, with his bones nearly falling apart. The skin on his right arm cracked with bloody lines, oozing drops of blood, revealing red flesh and blood vessels.
Of course, that strike had also pushed Di Yi back, preventing him from entering the stone gate.
By the time Di Yi launched his second strike, the stone gate had already closed.
"Bang!"
Di Yi's fist struck the stone gate, but was blocked by layers of golden inscriptions. A counterforce from the stone gate knocked him back again.
The entire hill shook slightly.
"Damn it."
Di Yi landed at the foot of the hill, staring at the stone gate with clenched fists, his mood at an all-time low.
Zhang Tiangui immediately approached and bowed, "Young master, what do we do now?"
Di Yi's face darkened. "Even if Zhang Ruochen gets the dragon relic, he'll have to come out eventually. We can seize it from him then."
Zhang Tiangui looked worried. "But I'm afraid that once Zhang Ruochen breaks through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, it will be hard for us to suppress him."
Di Yi's eyes turned icy cold, and he clenched his five fingers. "So what if he reaches the Heavenly Extreme Realm? As long as I reach the Heavenly Extreme Realm, I can still suppress him. However, that would mean I can't pursue the supreme extreme realm of the Earth Extreme Realm, which is a pity."
Since ancient times, how many had achieved the supreme extreme realm? Even with the Buddha relic, success was not guaranteed. Although Di Yi felt some regret, he was not overly fixated.
Moreover, he believed that if he couldn't reach the supreme extreme realm, Zhang Ruochen certainly couldn't either. So even if Zhang Ruochen broke through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Di Yi was still confident he could defeat him.
He, Di Yi, was born undefeated.