Chapter 3508: One Punch to Clean Up
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Nine Yao Ancestor didn't leave behind his own ancestral corpse? He actually possessed a Corpse Clan descendant!"
"What ancestor? All are exaggerations by later cultivators! Even at my peak in my previous life, I was still a million miles away from the Ancestor realm, utterly unreachable."
Chang He clearly felt that this extraordinarily talented young man was worthy of conversation, and seemed quite talkative. "I did leave behind a corpse back then, with some arrangements made. Unfortunately, times change—that forbidden domain was destroyed in some unknown era, and the corpse was long since obliterated!"
"The Three Calamity Emperor found some divine substance from that corpse and cultivated Chang He, giving me this chance to live another life."
"Pity that Chang He's talent is limited. My achievements in this life are destined to be unremarkable."
Zhang Ruochen said, "With your glorious past achievements, why descend into this era?"
"If given the chance to live another life, would you fight for it?" Chang He asked.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "I understand. Between life and death lies great terror; no one is willing to accept it. The obsession with immortality exists in everyone's heart. But since you've come to this era, you must be prepared to bear all terrible consequences. Your lifetime of cultivation insights is invaluable to the Boundless of this age."
Chang He said, "The struggle for resources has existed since ancient times. Hell cannot tolerate the Heavenly Court, the dead cannot tolerate the living, and the present cannot tolerate the past. Only by using any means necessary and surviving to the end can one laugh last."
"Well said—'any means necessary.' Is that how you justify cooperating with the Quantity Organization?"
Zhang Ruochen had considered recruiting some ancient powerhouses to strengthen the Sword Realm's forces.
But the remnant souls of these ancient powerhouses appeared too suspicious!
Logically, even if they had survived, they could only hide in corners of Lihentian, unable to descend into the real world.
Only when the rules of heaven and earth changed did they gain the opportunity to descend.
The key question was: did the rules change because of the will of heaven and earth? Does heaven and earth have a will? Will the rules change further?
Ultimately, these remnant souls of ancient powerhouses were no different from puppets—tools used by some force to wreak havoc before the Calamity of Quantities. Recruiting them was like placing ticking time bombs beside oneself, waiting for the inevitable backlash.
"People like us must first seek survival, then pursue distant goals. Ideals and visions died in our previous lives. As for the future, we can only consider it after gaining enough power. Zhang Ruochen, lend me your Earth Cauldron—I want to change my fate!"
Chang He's corpse aura spread for ten thousand miles, and the towering shadow of Cen Jiuyao manifested behind him as he launched a soul attack directly.
This was his advantage!
"Lend me your soul to aid my cultivation. Would you lend it?"
Zhang Ruochen stood motionless, the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram manifesting around him to block Chang He's soul attack.
"Then let's fight!"
Chang He leaped into the air, stomping downward.
Space collapsed as powerful divine force pressed down.
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword to meet the attack, and while doing so, he had the leisure to glance at the battlefield between Blood Leaf Sycamore and Wuji Heavenly Emperor.
He noticed that Wuji Heavenly Emperor was fleeing at full speed, already disappearing into the Void World.
Wuji Heavenly Emperor's compass and his lifetime of cultivation insights were, in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, far more valuable than Chang He.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen swept Mu Lingxi and Gong Nanfeng from the small boat into the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram, placing them beneath the Shaoyin "Jade Tree Dark Moon."
Wu Yue, wearing a loose black robe, stood beneath the jade tree, ignoring the shocked Mu Lingxi and Gong Nanfeng. "This Chang He is nothing to fear. The real threat is Feima Wang!"
Zhang Ruochen flew through the Void World, chasing Blood Leaf Sycamore and Wuji Heavenly Emperor. "Feima Wang is entangled with Xu Qiong. She won't break free anytime soon."
Wuji Heavenly Emperor kept crashing through the Void World, weaving between the tributaries of the Santu River. He wasn't fleeing blindly but seemed to have a clear direction, as if trying to lure Blood Leaf Sycamore and Zhang Ruochen somewhere.
"Chang He is catching up!" Wu Yue said.
Zhang Ruochen didn't slow down. Instead, he used his divine thought to activate spatial power, forming layers of spatial barriers behind him.
Chang He smashed through these barriers, each as thick as a major world, pursuing closely. "If Chen Divine Venerable, a young ancestral figure, has superior combat power, why not stay and fight?"
"I'm afraid of Feima Wang! So I need to deal with the one ahead before she catches up. If you keep chasing, I don't mind dealing with you too." Zhang Ruochen said.
Chang He didn't stop. "If Chen Divine Venerable is young and arrogant, you underestimate us old-timers too much!"
"Then make your move!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Wu Yue, standing beneath the jade tree, swept her black sleeve, sending a torrent of divine talismans flying out.
"Boom, boom..."
Chang He couldn't dodge in time and was caught in the talisman rain.
One divine talisman after another exploded, like countless divine sources detonating, cracking Chang He's corpse body with numerous fissures, sending fragments of flesh and bone flying.
"What a formidable talisman divine master!"
Chang He immediately activated his divine realm world, evolving defensive divine abilities. He held out for six or seven breaths before the divine talismans all turned to ash.
His corpse divine body was now riddled with holes, battered and broken.
When he looked toward Zhang Ruochen again, there was no trace—he had already fled to some distant spatial secret realm. Even the residual aura had been erased by that mysterious spiritual power expert.
"You can't escape."
Chang He stopped, reassembled his corpse body, his eyes sharp and intimidating.
...
Zhang Ruochen activated the power of the Ancestor Boots, appearing ahead of Wuji Heavenly Emperor, standing on the surface of a Santu River tributary.
"Crack!"
About a hundred zhang above the water, space split open. Wuji Heavenly Emperor had just burst out when he saw Zhang Ruochen blocking his path.
Without giving him a moment to think, Zhang Ruochen swung his sword in a horizontal slash.
The sword energy was like a crescent moon, sword intent soaring to the nine heavens.
Wuji Heavenly Emperor hurriedly raised his compass to block the sword energy.
But his body still flew backward, crashing into the Void World.
"Zhang Ruochen, you think you're the only one who can run fast? Don't try to steal my prey—he belongs to Feng Tian."
Blood Leaf Sycamore attacked from behind, slamming the Heaven Canopy Bell heavily onto Wuji Heavenly Emperor, sending him flying out of the Void World and into the Santu River tributary.
Wuji Heavenly Emperor was different from Chang He.
He had possessed a new spirit born from his previous life's corpse. Thus, his physical body was extremely powerful, but his soul wasn't particularly strong. Hit by the Heaven Canopy Bell, his divine body actually withstood it, showing no visible damage on the surface.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If it weren't for me, he would have escaped! Moreover, Lingxi and Gong Nanfeng would likely have fallen into enemy hands. Such a major failure—you'd better think about how to explain it to Feng Tian."
With that, Zhang Ruochen put away his divine sword, jumped into the Santu River tributary, and engaged Wuji Heavenly Emperor in close combat.
"Boom, boom!"
The Santu River tributary collapsed, and the surrounding space shattered, becoming chaotic and hazy.
Zhang Ruochen wore the Qilin Fist Gloves, activating the power of the Wind Thunder Pearl, Earth Thunder Pearl, and Blunt Void Stone within them. With a single punch, he cracked Wuji Heavenly Emperor's skull open. It was like a gourd developing a crack, corpse blood continuously seeping out.
The lightning power penetrated the corpse body, wounding Wuji Heavenly Emperor's soul.
"Tough indeed!"
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat disappointed that his punch hadn't exploded Wuji Heavenly Emperor's head.
Wuji Heavenly Emperor was suppressed into the Sun "Phantom Destruction Star Sea." Zhang Ruochen took the compass, holding it in his hands to study.
"Boom!"
Wuji Heavenly Emperor's body ignited as he activated a forbidden technique, his combat power instantly doubling. He crashed through the stars in the Phantom Destruction Star Sea, fleeing upstream along the Santu River.
"His soul is heavily wounded, yet he's still this formidable?"
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to give chase, he saw a divine tower, massive as a star, descending from the void, suppressing Wuji Heavenly Emperor beneath it.
"Boom!"
The divine tower rapidly shrank, but when it landed, heaven and earth still shook, time and space unstable.
Zhang Ruochen immediately sealed the compass, hiding it away, and bowed in salute. "Greetings, Feng Tian!"
Blood Leaf Sycamore also quickly bowed.
Feng Tian stood atop the Red Dye Tower, her white robes flawless. She gently waved her fingers, and pieces of flesh flew out from the Gate of Destiny behind her, landing before Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen looked. There was the head of the Three Calamity Emperor and the claw of Qiwa Mother Goddess—over a dozen pieces of flesh in total, all suppressed by Fate Divine Light.
These fragmented pieces of flesh still contained powerful divine essence and soul thoughts, struggling against the Fate Divine Light.
Zhang Ruochen's heart surged like waves. "These two Calamity Emperors were slain by Feng Tian?"
Feng Tian snorted coldly, clearly very dissatisfied. "I had a chance to use the dismemberment method to kill one of them, but where did you run off to? If you had followed at that time, would the result be like this?"
Zhang Ruochen was speechless.
Was this his fault?
But judging from the situation, even if the Three Calamity Emperor and Qiwa Mother Goddess had escaped, they were severely injured.
Both were at the All Heavens level, yet Feng Tian clearly surpassed them by far, not on the same level.
Feng Tian's gaze shifted from Zhang Ruochen, looking upstream along this Santu River tributary. Her divine thought probed outward, discovering a forbidden domain millions of li away.
It was pitch black and gloomy, shrouded in an unknown power. Even with her divine thought, she couldn't see through the secrets inside that forbidden domain.
Was that Wuji Heavenly Emperor's destination when fleeing?