Chapter 356: Overwhelming Domination
Zhang Ruochen's martial soul had already been stronger than many Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists in his previous life. After undergoing three baptisms of divine resonance, his current martial soul's strength was countless times greater than that of the Four Directions Commandery Prince.
The stronger the martial soul, the more heaven and earth spiritual energy it could mobilize, and the more powerful the force it could unleash.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen had only mobilized one-tenth of his martial soul's power, using streams of heaven and earth spiritual energy to condense a twenty-meter-long true qi giant sword.
"Whoosh!"
The true qi giant sword slashed down, tearing apart the fiery vortex and landing above the Four Directions Commandery Prince's head. Before it even struck, the sword qi it emitted had already split the ground beneath the Four Directions Commandery Prince, creating a shattered sword path.
"No..."
The Four Directions Commandery Prince let out an unwilling roar.
The dazzling sword light engulfed the Four Directions Commandery Prince's body, wrapping it in a mass of radiance.
After a long moment, the sword light dissipated.
Everyone looked over and saw that the Four Directions Commandery Prince's martial body had been shattered by the violent and frenzied sword qi, leaving only a bloody, mangled corpse.
A martial overlord, a former commandery prince... had he just fallen?
In the distance, many martial artists drew in a breath of cold air, trembling from the shock of Zhang Ruochen's sword strike.
They were no strangers to the Four Directions Commandery Prince. He was a powerful Heavenly Extreme Realm martial myth, far stronger than the number one expert of the Yunwu Commandery.
Yet such a formidable figure had been chased by the Ninth Prince with no escape above or below, ultimately slain by the Ninth Prince with a single sword.
How utterly domineering was this?
"He... his strength has already reached such a level..." In the crowd, Lin Chenyu stared at Zhang Ruochen standing beneath the palace gate, utterly astonished.
Lin Chenyu grabbed Lin Ningshan and rushed out, arriving beside Zhang Ruochen.
Lin Chenyu knelt directly before Zhang Ruochen, his voice choked with tears: "Cousin, all the Lin clan members were killed by Zhang Tiangui, even Grandfather fell to his evil hands. I beg you to avenge him."
Lin Chenyu was a very shrewd man. In his heart, familial bonds weren't that important; what mattered most was eliminating Zhang Tiangui.
If Zhang Tiangui wasn't eliminated, his own life would be very difficult in the future.
In this world, who had the strength to kill Zhang Tiangui?
Without a doubt, that person was Zhang Ruochen.
Given the strength Zhang Ruochen had just displayed, he was far superior to Zhang Tiangui by countless streets.
Lin Chenyu was also someone who knew how to read the situation. When Zhang Ruochen was weak and ill, he would never lend a hand to help him; in fact, he would even step on him. But when Zhang Ruochen returned in strength, he unhesitatingly rekindled their relationship, even kneeling without a frown.
For a true petty person, what more could you ask for?
Lin Chenyu glared at Lin Ningshan and said, "Ningshan, why aren't you kneeling to beg your cousin? Only he has the strength to avenge us now."
Lin Ningshan sighed inwardly, taking a deep look at Zhang Ruochen. She couldn't read the expression on his face, only feeling a powerful martial aura radiating from him, surpassing many martial myth-level experts she had seen.
Once upon a time, this cousin had always stayed by her side, caring for her, looking after her, and admiring her. Unfortunately, she had been too obsessed with fame and fortune back then and had never taken him seriously.
Now, everything had drifted away with the wind. The young man standing before her had become an insurmountable mountain.
Urged by Lin Chenyu, Lin Ningshan finally knelt. Thinking of the bodies of her relatives in the courtyard and the blood flowing into the street, tears streamed from her eyes as she pleaded, "Cousin, please avenge Grandfather. You know very well that when we were young, Grandfather loved you the most."
Zhang Ruochen didn't spare Lin Chenyu or Lin Ningshan a glance. His eyes were fixed on Zhang Tiangui above the palace gate from start to finish. "You don't need to beg me. This vengeance, I will take."
Lin Chenyu was overjoyed inside, believing Zhang Tiangui was doomed today. But he was still worried that Zhang Ruochen might hesitate to kill his own brother out of familial bonds, so he quickly added, "Cousin, you must kill Zhang Tiangui. From what I know, he is not the Commandery Prince's biological son but a bastard born from the Queen and some other man."
Lin Chenyu had served as Zhang Tiangui's servant and knew many of his secrets, but this claim was merely his own speculation. He couldn't be sure that Zhang Tiangui wasn't the Yunwu Commandery Prince's son. He said this only to provoke Zhang Ruochen, hoping to use his hand to completely eliminate Zhang Tiangui.
But he never expected that his words would make Zhang Ruochen's gaze turn icy cold.
"Slap!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his palm, striking Lin Chenyu directly across the face. The blow sent Lin Chenyu flying off the ground, spinning in mid-air before crashing down with a thud, landing like a dog.
Zhang Ruochen and Zhang Shaochu had no intention of revealing that secret, wanting to preserve some dignity for the Yunwu Commandery Prince.
Yet this scandal was exposed by Lin Chenyu. How could Zhang Ruochen not hate him?
It was a disrespect to the Yunwu Commandery Prince and a trampling of his own dignity.
Zhang Ruochen would rather bear the infamy of killing his brother than make the truth public.
That slap was extremely harsh, leaving a bloody handprint on Lin Chenyu's face, even crushing his cheekbone.
"Cousin... spare me... I... I shouldn't have said that..." Lin Chenyu realized his mistake and immediately knelt to beg for mercy, kowtowing repeatedly to Zhang Ruochen.
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen grew even angrier. He struck down with another palm, knocking Lin Chenyu flat to the ground, unconscious.
"Brother... brother..."
Lin Ningshan rushed to Lin Chenyu's side, placing her finger under his nose. Feeling his breath, she sighed in relief, knowing Zhang Ruochen hadn't killed him and had spared his life.
Lin Chenyu's words had naturally been heard by other martial artists.
"Zhang Tiangui isn't the Yunwu Commandery Prince's biological son? So that's how it is."
"What's so surprising? I already guessed as much. When Zhang Tiangui ascended to the commandery prince throne, he killed off almost all the royal clan members. If he were truly the Yunwu Commandery Prince's son, that would be the real surprise."
...
Above the palace gate, Zhang Tiangui's face was ashen. If not for his fear of Zhang Ruochen's overwhelming strength, he would have rushed out to tear Lin Chenyu limb from limb.
But soon, Zhang Tiangui felt a pair of sharp, cold eyes fixed on him, as if trying to kill him with their gaze.
It was Zhang Ruochen.
What? Did he think he could single-handedly resist the palace-protecting grand formation?
Zhang Ruochen walked step by step toward the palace gate, his aura intensifying with each stride. "Zhang Tiangui, when you killed your father, did you ever think you would face retribution?"
"Haha! Zhang Ruochen, who do you think you are? I do as I please; I don't need your meddling!" Zhang Tiangui, relying on the protection of the grand formation, showed no fear of Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen less than ten zhang from the gate, Zhang Tiangui grew delighted and immediately ordered the formation masters to activate the formation's attack inscriptions.
"Whoosh!"
Under the formation masters' activation, streams of spiritual energy surged from the grand formation, condensing into a massive azure dragon body. A twenty-meter-long spiritual dragon claw rose from the formation and struck down toward Zhang Ruochen.
This single strike already surpassed the Four Directions Commandery Prince's maximum power.
Such was the might of a formation!
"Elephant Force Ninefold."
Zhang Ruochen unleashed nine palm strikes in succession, forming a massive twenty-meter-long palm that erupted with nine times the attack power.
He was using his own strength to directly confront the palace-protecting grand formation.
"Boom!"
The two forces collided, shaking the entire palace as if an earthquake had struck.
Zhang Ruochen only stepped back slightly before charging forward toward the grand formation.
"Zhang Ruochen, you're seeking death! The grand formation only unleashed one-tenth of its power just now. Now it will activate its full strength to crush you completely." Zhang Tiangui had great confidence in the formation. Not just Zhang Ruochen, even an ordinary Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist might not fare well against it.
"You won't have the chance."
Zhang Ruochen released his Space Domain and swung his arm, unleashing a "Space Rift."
In an instant, the grand formation was torn open by a two-meter-long, deep rift. Inside the rift was pitch black, like a monster's mouth or a netherworld eye.
"Whoosh!"
The space rift frantically devoured the grand formation's power.
When the space rift disappeared, a seven-to-eight-meter-wide hole appeared in the grand formation. Zhang Ruochen's body flickered, and he charged through, breaking into the formation.
Having reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Zhang Ruochen's space power had also increased significantly. He had only used a fraction of it just now.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm, shattering the palace gate into pieces.
Rushing through the gate, Zhang Ruochen's feet pushed off the ground, launching him into the air to land atop the palace wall. His eyes, burning like flames, locked onto Zhang Tiangui and the Queen standing not far away.
Until this moment, Zhang Tiangui and the Queen still wore expressions of shock.
They hadn't even understood what had just happened.
The grand formation's true power hadn't even been unleashed, yet how had Zhang Ruochen already broken through its barrier?
"Revenge for grievances, settle old scores. The National Master has already died by my sword. Do you have any last words to leave behind?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"You... you've already killed him..."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen, the Queen felt as if the sky were falling. Her eyes were filled with terror as she stumbled backward.
"Whoosh!"
Without any hesitation, Zhang Ruochen swung his hand in a slash, sending a sword qi flying. It passed through the Queen's neck, leaving a thin line of blood.
A moment later, the Queen's head flew up, a long spurt of blood rising from her neck, splattering onto Zhang Tiangui's face.