Chapter 345: Everything Is Under Control...
The blood-condensed phantom images of divine dragons and divine elephants enveloped Zhang Ruochen's body, carrying a majestic aura as he rapidly flew toward Di Yi, who was suspended above the crimson demonic sun.
"Boom!"
Two beams of light shot from Di Yi's pupils, continuously striking the phantoms of the divine dragons and elephants, creating ripples upon impact and producing earth-shaking sounds. Yet they could not halt Zhang Ruochen's advance.
No one knew why Zhang Ruochen's blood energy was so powerful, allowing the two blood beast phantoms he condensed to actually withstand the Sacred Body Demonic Heart.
Zhang Ruochen, however, had a general idea of the reasons. First, he cultivated the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, and among the thirty-six meridians he had opened, one was called the "Blood Spirit Meridian."
The Blood Spirit Meridian connected the Qi Sea and the blood, serving as a unique meridian.
It was precisely because of this meridian that Zhang Ruochen could continuously use true qi to nourish his blood, constantly enhancing its spiritual nature.
Cultivating other techniques made this impossible.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had three times drawn the resonance of the gods, leaving the imprints of the gods on the walls of his Qi Sea. Thus, his true qi bore the brand of the gods, causing even his blood to undergo sublimation.
Second, the Golden Dragon had passed its Dragon Pearl to Zhang Ruochen, embedding it into his heart.
This meant that the power of a Sacred Dragon had merged into Zhang Ruochen's blood, making his blood energy even stronger. As he continued to refine the Dragon Pearl, Zhang Ruochen's blood energy and physical body would grow increasingly powerful, even surpassing many dragon clans.
If one observed closely, they would notice that the phantom images of the divine dragon and divine elephant enveloping Zhang Ruochen's body carried a layer of golden light, like a luminous mist armor, blocking the power of Di Yi's Demonic Eye.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen charged before Di Yi, suddenly leaping up and thrusting his sword toward Di Yi's heart.
Since he had a demonic heart, Zhang Ruochen would first shatter that heart.
Di Yi's eyes narrowed, revealing a hawk-like smile as he slowly raised his right arm.
The ten-zhang-tall five-colored sacred shadow that had been suspended behind him immediately transformed into a five-colored sacred cloud, appearing in his palm.
With a single palm strike, five-colored sacred light shot forth from his palm, meeting the thrust of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
The two forces clashed, resisting and attacking each other, yet again ending in a stalemate.
Looking from afar, Di Yi stood atop the demonic sun, holding the five-colored sacred cloud, his radiance even brighter than the sun in the sky.
On the other side, a giant dragon phantom coiled around Zhang Ruochen. As he thrust his sword forward, it was as if the divine dragon extended a claw, striking the five-colored sacred cloud and causing it to tremble incessantly.
Di Yi's brow furrowed as he changed his tactics.
He withdrew his five fingers, forming a fist.
"Human King Pushes Mountain!"
Dozens of bolts of lightning condensed in the void, crackling with sound, gathering onto his fist before he violently struck out, aiming for Zhang Ruochen's chest.
"Boom!"
The golden light on the surface of the divine dragon and divine elephant was shattered by the punch, the blood energy dispersing as the fist continued toward Zhang Ruochen.
Sensing the immense power in that fist, Zhang Ruochen immediately struck out with a palm, unleashing a ninefold attack power.
Another forceful clash of strength occurred as fist and palm collided, producing a thunderous roar.
Both bodies trembled slightly before rapidly retreating backward.
"Elephant Force Ninefold."
Zhang Ruochen charged forward again, unleashing nine consecutive palm strikes. The nine palm imprints overlapped, unleashing ninefold power.
"Human King Suppresses the World."
Di Yi surged forward, forming fists with both hands and striking simultaneously—one fist aimed at Zhang Ruochen's palm, the other at his chest.
Just as Zhang Ruochen seemed about to suffer a severe blow, a sword's cry rang out. The Abyssal Ancient Sword descended from above Di Yi's head, aimed at his crown.
If Di Yi's fists continued their assault, Zhang Ruochen would surely be gravely injured, but Di Yi would also be pierced through the skull by the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Zhang Ruochen, thinking you can die together with me is impossible. The one who dies is only you."
A mocking smile appeared on Di Yi's face as he infused true qi into a turtle-shaped jade pendant hanging at his waist. The inscriptions within the pendant were activated, forming a light barrier that protected him at its center.
With a protective treasure shielding him, it was enough to block the Abyssal Ancient Sword. Di Yi's fists pressed forward undeterred, determined to crush Zhang Ruochen beneath them.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze fixed on that turtle-shaped jade pendant, a look of realization dawning on his face. "So that's Di Yi's protective treasure."
"Boom!"
Di Yi's left fist struck Zhang Ruochen's chest. Just as he was secretly gloating, a golden light suddenly burst forth from Zhang Ruochen's chest.
A powerful rebounding force slammed into Di Yi's fist.
"Roar!"
Di Yi seemed to hear a dragon's roar piercing his ears, numbing his eardrums and darkening his vision.
At the same time, the impact transmitted through his arm sent him flying backward.
That force had been unleashed by the Dragon Pearl.
The moment Di Yi's fist struck, Zhang Ruochen had infused true qi into the Blood Spirit Meridian, activating the Dragon Pearl's power to counter Di Yi.
The Dragon Pearl was not only imbued with the power of a Sacred Dragon but was also a powerful protective battle artifact.
Di Yi looked at his bloodied arm, clenching his fingers again. Instead of anger, he grew excited, laughing wildly: "Zhang Ruochen, you really did obtain the Dragon Relic. I will tear open your heart and dig out what rightfully belongs to me."
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat speechless. Since when did the Dragon Relic rightfully belong to him?
This man's possessiveness was far too strong.
Di Yi stepped on that demonic sun, soaring up again, drawing his white bone sword and thrusting it toward Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Zhang Ruochen did not dodge. Instead, he condensed his Azure Void True Qi, forming fifteen sword blossoms as he thrust toward Di Yi's demonic heart.
Just as they were about to make contact, Zhang Ruochen suddenly dodged slightly, lowering his body and plunging downward, refusing to clash head-on with Di Yi.
"Trying to evade? Not so easy."
A hint of a curve appeared at the corner of Di Yi's mouth as his sword energy cascaded down like a curtain of water, slashing toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Rip!"
One of the sword energies tore through Zhang Ruochen's protective Heavenly Gang, cutting into his left shoulder and leaving a half-inch-deep bloody gash.
Just as Di Yi was gloating, Zhang Ruochen's sword lightly grazed his waist, severing the turtle-shaped jade pendant hanging there.
The turtle-shaped jade pendant was an extremely precious protective treasure, usable nine times. So far, Di Yi had only used it twice.
Zhang Ruochen's goal was not just to defeat Di Yi but to kill him.
Thus, he had to first remove his protective treasure, ensuring he could slay Di Yi with his sword before the Seven Fiend Star Envoys could come to his rescue.
This was not only to fulfill his promise to avenge Zi Qian but also to eliminate a future threat.
Seeing the turtle-shaped jade pendant severed, Di Yi's expression darkened. He immediately struck out with a true qi palm, reaching down to retrieve it.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen stood on the water surface, condensing true qi at his fingertip. With a single point, he unleashed a sword wave.
"Boom!"
The sword wave struck the turtle-shaped jade pendant, shattering it into pieces.
"Despicable."
Di Yi's fury blazed like a wildfire as he roared: "Zhang Ruochen, do you think I only have one protective treasure?"
"No matter how many you have, I will break them all," Zhang Ruochen said.
Di Yi sneered coldly, "Do you think you're capable of that?"
Zhang Ruochen countered, "How much true qi is left in your Qi Sea? Two-tenths?"
Di Yi's expression darkened as he sensed something amiss.
As Zhang Ruochen had said, the true qi within his body was indeed less than two-tenths remaining.
Zhang Ruochen continued, "Whether it's Ghost-level martial techniques or the Sacred Body Demonic Heart, though immensely powerful, they consume a tremendous amount of true qi. With your cultivation just breaking through to the initial stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, you dared to waste true qi recklessly. Did you really think you could take me down in three to five moves?"
Di Yi retorted, "So what? Using the Flying Sword Art also consumes a great deal of true qi. The true qi in your Qi Sea must be nearly depleted as well, right?"
"Are you so sure about that?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, extending his right hand. A surge of vast true qi emerged.
True qi gushed from his palm like wisps of mist, scattering across the water's surface.
"Whoosh!"
As he raised his hand, crystalline ice swords flew up from the water, nearly a thousand in number, densely packed and covering the waters within a hundred-zhang radius.
Sword tips pointed upward, hilts downward.
The surface of the ice swords was covered in a layer of azure light, extremely sharp, capable of cutting through iron like mud.
Did this look like someone whose true qi was nearly exhausted?
Seeing this scene, Di Yi's expression finally changed. "How is this possible?"
Zhang Ruochen's true qi in his Qi Sea had indeed been depleted by over seventy percent, but besides his Qi Sea, he also had a Dragon Pearl.
The Dragon Pearl, connected to the Blood Spirit Meridian, had become like an inner core, providing Zhang Ruochen with an endless stream of energy.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Di Yi, I have at least four ways to defeat you, but I chose the most troublesome one."
"I didn't realize you were even more arrogant than I am," Di Yi sneered disdainfully.
Di Yi did not believe Zhang Ruochen had the ability to defeat him. Even if his true qi was heavily depleted, he could still rely on the advantage of his Sacred Body to recover quickly.
Zhang Ruochen was not being arrogant. He indeed had several methods to defeat Di Yi. For instance, the most direct and simplest method was to use his Martial Soul.
Zhang Ruochen had now reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm and could fully mobilize the power of his Martial Soul.
Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul was even stronger than that of some weaker Fish-Dragon Realm martial artists. By channeling the world's spiritual energy through his Martial Soul, a single strike could obliterate Di Yi's divine form.
Of course, if Di Yi had protective treasures, they could block one strike. But Zhang Ruochen could deliver a second, third, fourth... until Di Yi's protective treasures were exhausted.
However, doing so would be far too shocking. Not only would the Black Market want to kill him, but even the saints of the Martial Market Academy would likely come out to study him personally.
At that point, Zhang Ruochen would have no secrets left and might even be secretly harmed by some greedy individuals within the Martial Market Academy.
Even if he had to display his talent, it had to be kept within certain limits, not too heaven-defying.
Beyond that, Zhang Ruochen could also use the power of space and the Relic.
There were many ways to defeat Di Yi; Zhang Ruochen had simply chosen the most troublesome one.
Of course, although the battle was arduous, through continuous combat, the Dragon Pearl was fusing more deeply with his body, and his physical form, blood energy, and cultivation were all steadily strengthening.