# Chapter 342: Eight Trigrams Sealing Cloud Disk
Within the illusion, Red Desire Star Envoy's body was crystalline as snow, delicate as lamb fat, with an exquisite and alluring form completely unclothed, even that pink undergarment had slid down, revealing her absolutely beautiful and graceful delicate body.
She possessed an angel's figure and a demoness's face, yet her attacks were extremely ruthless. Her fingers were sharp as blades, with true qi condensed into sword edges at her fingertips, and in an instant, she had already attacked before Zhang Ruochen.
Red Desire Star Envoy had taken the initiative to attack, indeed intending to help Zhang Ruochen buy time, allowing him to calm his mind and avoid dying at Di Yi's hands.
But at this moment, Red Desire Star Envoy was also attacking with full force, trying to kill Zhang Ruochen.
If Zhang Ruochen couldn't even pass her test, then he would be even less a match for Di Yi.
If that were the case, then Zhang Ruochen had no reason to live.
Whether he could survive depended entirely on whether Zhang Ruochen himself was strong enough.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen neither dodged nor avoided, swinging his war sword to slash at the enchanting woman opposite him, instantly breaking the illusion.
The illusion shattered.
Only then did Zhang Ruochen clearly see that what Red Desire Star Envoy had thrust at him was not a finger, but a three-section sword forged from Blood Dragon Pattern Steel.
The so-called "three-section sword" was divided into three sections, each three feet three inches long, totaling one zhang in length. It could be used as either a sword or a whip.
The three-section sword had more variations than an ordinary sword, with more bizarre sword techniques, but very few people could wield it with ease.
Red Desire Star Envoy had reached the peak of the Heart-Following realm in sword techniques.
She had also reached the peak of the Heart-Following realm in whip techniques.
With the three-section sword in her hands, her strength immediately advanced another step.
"Azure Void True Qi."
Zhang Ruochen pushed both hands forward, and a large expanse of cyan profound light surged from his palms, condensing into a true qi light shield before him.
The moment the three-section sword thrust by Red Desire Star Envoy touched the Azure Void True Qi, it immediately split into three, transforming like a crimson long whip, forming an arc to stab at Zhang Ruochen's back.
Zhang Ruochen was not flustered. He charged forward directly, forming a palm seal with his left hand to strike at Red Desire Star Envoy's chest.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen rushing toward her, Red Desire Star Envoy felt a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning force surging toward her chest, blowing her red gauze backward.
"Such speed."
Red Desire Star Envoy knew her speed was inferior to Zhang Ruochen's, so she did not evade. Instead, her five fingers retrieved an Eight Trigrams Compass from within her sleeve.
As her true qi infused the compass, it spun rapidly, emitting black and white radiance, manifesting a huge black and white Eight Trigrams light seal. Two yin-yang fish spun rapidly at the center of the light seal.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen's palm strike hit the center of the black and white Eight Trigrams light seal, immediately creating ripples. The powerful force transmitted through.
On the water surface, waves surged violently outward.
Standing atop the waves, Red Desire Star Envoy was sent flying backward by the palm force.
"Having reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Zhang Ruochen's strength has become so terrifying. If not for the Eight Trigrams Sealing Cloud Disk, that palm strike just now would have severely injured me." Red Desire Star Envoy was deeply shaken. Her seductive eyes stared intently at Zhang Ruochen, beginning to reassess this youth before her.
The Eight Trigrams Sealing Cloud Disk was a tenth-rank True Martial Treasure with immense power, capable of blocking attacks from Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists, yet it had nearly failed to withstand one of Zhang Ruochen's palm strikes.
It must be said that as one of the Seven Evil Star Envoys of the Black Market First Class Hall, Red Desire Star Envoy possessed many powerful battle artifacts. Any one of them taken out could serve as a nation's national treasure.
Even that three-section sword was a ninth-rank True Martial Treasure.
"When did Zhang Ruochen become so powerful that he can contend with the Black Market First Class Hall's Red Desire Star Envoy?"
"Red Desire Star Envoy is a quite formidable proud daughter of heaven. Although she is not a Sacred Body, she is not much weaker than one."
"Two years ago, when Red Desire Star Envoy was still an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist, she reached second place on the Eastern Domain's Earth Ranking. She once fought with the Earth Ranking's number one, Bu Qianfan. It took a hundred moves before Bu Qianfan defeated her. Before Di Yi appeared, she was the only expert who could contend with Bu Qianfan for a hundred moves at the same cultivation level."
"Although she lost to Bu Qianfan, she broke through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm before him, which counts as a comeback."
"For Zhang Ruochen to be able to exchange moves with her is truly remarkable! I never thought that Demon Ridge could produce such an outstanding talent."
...
In the distance, martial artists from various major powers of Demon Ridge were all astonished.
Some who had heard of Red Desire Star Envoy's fearsome reputation spread the word, causing great shock.
Although the rankings on the Earth Ranking changed every two or three years, being able to enter the top one hundred was already an impressive feat.
Moreover, Red Desire Star Envoy was among the top three.
Not to mention them, even Lei Jing, as Zhang Ruochen's master, was also extremely shocked at this moment. He knew Zhang Ruochen was strong, but he never expected him to be strong enough to contend with Red Desire Star Envoy.
"This kid is truly formidable. In the entire younger generation of the Eastern Domain, he probably counts as a notable figure!" Lei Jing felt very gratified, after all, Zhang Ruochen was his disciple.
The more outstanding Zhang Ruochen was, the happier he became.
With Zhang Ruochen's aptitude, he might truly be able to help him fulfill his wish.
"It's only been a little over a month, and you've already become this powerful. If I had known earlier, I would have killed you at any cost back then." Red Desire Star Envoy's eyes lifted slightly, her eyelashes curved, presenting a harmless, charming appearance, but her words carried an icy killing intent.
The next moment, Red Desire Star Envoy struck again, moving as fast as wind and thunder, charging to a position above Zhang Ruochen's head. She thrust out her sword, and in an instant, thirty-six sword shadows shot out simultaneously.
"Heaven Illusion Sword Technique."
Another spiritual-grade superior sword technique, created by a Half-Saint. Not only was it powerful, but it also integrated illusion techniques into the sword art.
If a martial artist with slightly weaker spiritual power encountered this, they would probably be pierced by the sword qi before they could react.
Although Red Desire Star Envoy was also at the initial stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, she had entered this realm a long time ago. In her Qi Sea, she had cultivated ninety-eight drops of true essence. Once she condensed two more drops, she could break through to the middle stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
Zhang Ruochen had just entered the Heavenly Extreme Realm, condensing twelve drops of true essence.
The true qi within his body was far less abundant than Red Desire Star Envoy's.
From the initial stage to the late stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm was a process of continuous accumulation, with no bottlenecks. As long as one cultivated enough true qi, they could break through their realm.
When the true essence in the Qi Sea reached one hundred drops, that was considered the middle stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
When the true essence in the Qi Sea reached ten thousand drops, that was considered the late stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
It seemed simple, but the speed of condensing true essence was extremely slow. Even if Zhang Ruochen operated thirty-six meridians simultaneously to absorb external true qi, supplemented by medicinal pills, breaking through to the middle stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm would still take a considerable amount of time.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen now had the Dragon Pearl within his body, constantly absorbing the Saint Dragon power from it. Even without consuming heavenly treasures and miraculous medicines, his speed of condensing true essence was quite fast.
After reaching the Heavenly Extreme Realm, a martial artist's physique and bone structure were almost fixed.
This was first manifested in the growth of speed.
In the Yellow Extreme Realm, Mysterious Extreme Realm, and Earth Extreme Realm, a martial artist's speed increased wildly, with almost every realm breakthrough bringing a significant boost.
Upon reaching the Heavenly Extreme Realm, this situation would no longer occur.
Even breaking through one realm would only increase a martial artist's speed by a small margin.
Therefore, even if a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist couldn't defeat their opponent, they still had a good chance of escaping. Because the opponent's speed was not much faster than theirs.
At the same time, upon reaching the Heavenly Extreme Realm, a martial artist's cultivation speed would also slow down. Even for talented martial artists, it would take a lot of time to cultivate their Martial Soul. Being able to break through one realm within two years was already quite good.
Red Desire Star Envoy wanted to cultivate her Martial Soul while at the initial stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, which was why her martial realm had progressed slowly over these two years. Otherwise, with her talent and the resources she could obtain, she should have broken through to the middle stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm long ago.
"Yin Meridian Sword Wave."
Zhang Ruochen stood on the water surface, looking up. He pointed a finger, striking at the center of Red Desire Star Envoy's sword technique.
In an instant, a freezing cold light pillar flew from Zhang Ruochen's fingertip, forming a huge energy ripple that spread outward in all directions.
On the water surface, with Zhang Ruochen at the center, an arc-shaped water wave appeared.
"Boom!"
The three-section sword in Red Desire Star Envoy's hand nearly flew out of her grip. A sharp pain came from her arm.
It could be seen that her flawless jade arm now had numerous sword qi blood marks. Her sleeve was completely shredded by the sword qi, turning into pieces of red cloth butterflies that floated down into the water.
"Now try receiving one of my moves."
The Azure Void True Qi within Zhang Ruochen's body surged out again. He raised both arms, and the black river water beneath his feet shot up into the sky, condensing into a water wall over twenty zhang high.
The scene was extremely shocking, like a black mountain range suddenly rising from the ground. Streams of water flowed down from the top of the water wall, like waterfalls cascading down, producing a "rumbling" sound.
"Ten Thousand Swords Flying Together."
Zhang Ruochen mobilized the power of his Sword Heart, and in an instant, water swords rushed out from within that water wall.
The water swords condensed into ice, becoming ice swords.
Tens of thousands of ice swords flew out, like a rain of swords, covering the sky and earth, all flying toward Red Desire Star Envoy.
With Red Desire Star Envoy's sword realm, she could also condense water into swords. But she could not simultaneously condense so many ice swords.
In terms of sword realm, she was far inferior to Zhang Ruochen.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen was not only using the power of his Sword Heart but also the power of Azure Void True Qi, combining two powerful forces together.
Red Desire Star Envoy retreated rapidly while propping up the Eight Trigrams Sealing Cloud Disk. A patch of red evil mist surged from her back, manifesting as a red flame cloud.
The cultivation technique Red Desire Star Envoy practiced was also extremely powerful. Having reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, she had also cultivated a special true qi, Crimson Cold True Qi.
"Boom!"
Countless ice swords, like raindrops, continuously struck the surface of that Eight Trigrams light seal, pushing Red Desire Star Envoy backward.
In the end, the Eight Trigrams light seal could no longer withstand the attack power of the ice swords. Its light grew increasingly faint, and some ice swords were already able to pierce through the light curtain, flying before Red Desire Star Envoy's face.