Chapter 346: Everything Is Under Control
The phantom images of a divine dragon and a divine elephant, condensed from blood energy, enveloped Zhang Ruochen's body, carrying a majestic aura as they rapidly flew toward Di Yi, who stood suspended above the crimson demon sun.
"Boom!"
...
Two beams of light shot from Di Yi's pupils, continuously striking the phantom images of the divine dragon and divine elephant, creating ripples upon impact and producing earth-shaking sounds. Yet, they could not stop Zhang Ruochen's advance.
No one knew why Zhang Ruochen's blood energy was so powerful. The two blood beast phantoms he had condensed were actually able to withstand the Sacred Body Demon 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, there was one called the "Blood Spirit Meridian."
The Blood Spirit Meridian connected the Qi Sea to the blood, making it a unique meridian.
It was precisely because of this meridian that Zhang Ruochen could continuously use true qi to irrigate his blood, constantly enhancing its spiritual nature.
Cultivating other techniques made this impossible.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had triggered the Resonance of the Gods three times, leaving the Imprints of the Gods on the walls of his Qi Sea. Thus, his true qi bore the brand of the gods, causing his blood to undergo sublimation as well.
Second, the Golden Dragon had passed its Dragon Pearl to Zhang Ruochen, embedding it into his heart.
In other words, the power of a Sacred Dragon had been integrated into Zhang Ruochen's blood, naturally 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 anyone 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 Demon Eye.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen reached Di Yi. He suddenly soared into the air, thrusting his sword toward Di Yi's heart.
Since Di Yi had a demon heart, Zhang Ruochen would destroy it first.
Di Yi's eyes narrowed, revealing a hawk-like smile as he slowly raised his right arm.
The ten-foot-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 from his palm, colliding with the incoming Abyssal Ancient Sword.
The two forces clashed, resisting and attacking each other, resulting in another stalemate.
From a distance, Di Yi appeared to be stepping on a demon sun, holding a five-colored sacred cloud, his radiance even brighter than the sun in the sky.
On the other side, the phantom of a giant dragon 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 violently.
Di Yi frowned and changed his tactics.
He withdrew his five fingers, forming a fist.
"Human King Pushes Mountain!"
Dozens of electric lights condensed in the void, crackling with sound, gathering on his fist before he struck out violently, aiming for Zhang Ruochen's chest.
"Bang!"
The golden light on the surface of the divine dragon and divine elephant shattered, and the blood energy scattered. The fist continued its assault toward Zhang Ruochen.
Feeling the immense power of that fist, Zhang Ruochen immediately struck out with a palm, unleashing a ninefold attack power.
Another forceful clash of power ensued, the fist and palm colliding with a thunderous roar.
Both bodies trembled slightly before retreating rapidly.
"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, both hands forming fists as he struck 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 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 be gravely injured, but Di Yi would certainly have his skull pierced by the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Zhang Ruochen, thinking you can die together with me? Impossible. Only you will die."
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 on the pendant activated, forming a light shield that protected him at its center.
With a protective treasure guarding him, it was enough to block the Abyssal Ancient Sword. Di Yi's fists pressed forward without hesitation, determined to crush Zhang Ruochen beneath them.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze locked onto the 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 counter-shock force slammed into Di Yi's fist.
"Roar!"
Di Yi seemed to hear a dragon's roar, piercing his ears and numbing his eardrums, his vision turning dark and blurry.
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 immediately 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 Sacred Dragon power but was also a powerful protective battle artifact.
Di Yi looked at his bloodied arm, clenching his fist again. Instead of anger, he was exhilarated, laughing excitedly: "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 the demon sun, soaring into the air again. He drew a white bone sword and thrust it toward Zhang Ruochen's heart.
Zhang Ruochen did not dodge. Instead, he condensed Azure Void true qi, forming fifteen sword blossoms as he thrust toward Di Yi's demon heart.
Just as the two were about to clash, Zhang Ruochen suddenly dodged slightly, lowering his body and plummeting downward, refusing to engage Di Yi head-on.
"Trying to evade? Not so easy."
A hint of a curve appeared at the corner of Di Yi's mouth. His sword energy fell like a curtain of water, slashing toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Rip!"
One of the sword energies broke through Zhang Ruochen's protective Heavenly Armor, 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.
To do that, he had to first remove Di Yi's protective treasure. Only then could he slay Di Yi with his sword before the Seven Evil Star Envoys could rescue him.
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 the pendant.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen stood on the water surface, condensing true qi at his fingertip. With a single point, he unleashed a sword wave.
"Bang!"
The sword wave struck the turtle-shaped jade pendant, shattering it into pieces.
"Damn it."
Di Yi was furious, roaring: "Zhang Ruochen, do you think I only have one protective treasure?"
"However many you have, I'll destroy 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, realizing something was wrong.
As Zhang Ruochen had said, the true qi in his body was indeed less than two-tenths remaining.
Zhang Ruochen continued, "Whether it's ghost-level martial techniques or the Sacred Body Demon Heart, while their power is extraordinary, they consume a tremendous amount of true qi. With your cultivation at the initial stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, you dared to waste true qi recklessly. Did you really think you could defeat me in three to five moves?"
Di Yi retorted, "So what? Using the Flying Sword Art also consumes a lot of true qi. The true qi in your Qi Sea must be nearly depleted as well."
"Are you so sure about that?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly, extending his right hand. A surge of surging true qi emerged.
True qi flowed from his palm like wisps of mist, scattering across the water's surface.
"Whoosh!"
As he raised his hand, nearly a thousand crystalline ice swords rose from the water, densely packed and covering the water within a hundred-zhang radius.
The sword tips pointed upward, the hilts downward.
A layer of azure light covered the surface of the ice swords, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud.
This was hardly the sign of someone whose true qi was about to run out.
Seeing this, Di Yi's expression finally changed. "How is that possible?"
The true qi in Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea had indeed been depleted by more than seventy percent, but besides the Qi Sea, he also had the Dragon Pearl.
The Dragon Pearl was connected to the Blood Spirit Meridian, functioning 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 advantages of his sacred body to quickly recover it.
Zhang Ruochen was not being arrogant. He indeed had several methods to defeat Di Yi. For example, 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 stronger than that of some weaker Fish-Dragon Realm martial artists. By using his Martial Soul to mobilize the world's spiritual energy, a single strike could obliterate Di Yi, body and soul.
Of course, if Di Yi had a protective treasure, it could block one strike. But Zhang Ruochen could deliver a second, third, fourth strike... until Di Yi's protective treasures were exhausted.
However, doing so would be 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 he might even be secretly harmed by some greedy individuals within the Martial Market Academy.
Even if he wanted to display his talent, it had to be within certain limits, not too heaven-defying.
Besides that, Zhang Ruochen could also use the power of space and the Sarira.
There were many ways to defeat Di Yi; Zhang Ruochen had simply chosen the most troublesome one.
Of course, although the battle was arduous, the continuous fighting allowed the Dragon Pearl to merge further with his body, continuously strengthening his physical form, blood energy, and cultivation.