Chapter 357: Fish-Dragon Tribulation
In the past, countless times, Zhang Tiangui had secretly thought about fighting Zhang Ruochen to a decisive battle, then using his own powerful strength to defeat Zhang Ruochen and reclaim his reputation as the number one genius of the Demon Ridge.
But now, standing together with Zhang Ruochen, he felt an immense pressure, as if the entire person was about to be crushed by that force.
Even with his strong martial will, a sense of terror arose within him.
Only at this moment did he truly understand how vast the gap between himself and Zhang Ruochen was. His so-called talent was utterly insignificant in front of Zhang Ruochen.
Looking at the queen lying in a pool of blood, Zhang Tiangui didn't even glance at her. Dead was dead—what was there to see? He still forced himself to stay calm and said, "Zhang Ruochen, I really want to know how you escaped the deadly trap set by Di Yi."
In Zhang Tiangui's eyes, Di Yi was an unfathomable existence. Even though Zhang Ruochen had become strong, he still didn't believe Zhang Ruochen could be a match for Di Yi.
Zhang Ruochen was already too lazy to say another word to Zhang Tiangui. He was determined to kill him, giving him no chance to survive.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's eyes filled with murderous intent, Zhang Tiangui's heart sank, and he immediately turned to flee.
"Can you escape?"
Zhang Ruochen's body moved, turning into an afterimage. In an instant, he caught up to Zhang Tiangui, appearing above and behind him.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen extended his hand, striking out a dragon shadow that hit Zhang Tiangui in the back.
Zhang Tiangui immediately infused his true qi into a jade talisman in his bosom, forming a protective light shield around his body, trying to block Zhang Ruochen's palm strike.
"Bang!"
The light shield shattered, scattering into specks of light.
That palm strike landed on Zhang Tiangui's back, leaving a huge bloody imprint and sending him flying.
"Ugh!"
Zhang Tiangui spat out a mouthful of blood, which contained fragments of flesh and organs, as if his internal organs had been shattered by the palm force and were being expelled from his mouth.
Lying on the ground, Zhang Tiangui quickly took a healing pill and slowly got up from the ground.
But he had already suffered internal injuries. Even with the healing pill, in his current state, he could no longer exert any power. Now, even an ordinary person could punch him to the ground with one blow.
Zhang Ruochen walked over step by step, the killing intent in his eyes reaching its peak.
"Zhang Ruochen, you're too arrogant. Do you really think I'm doomed to die today?"
Zhang Tiangui laughed loudly, his gaze fixed on a spot behind Zhang Ruochen.
At some point, a one-armed old man appeared three zhang behind Zhang Ruochen, hovering in midair. He had long, graying hair parted in the middle, revealing a wrinkled old face.
Zhang Ruochen naturally felt the terrifying aura of power coming from behind. It didn't feel like a person standing behind him, but rather like an ancient ghost from a thousand years ago.
In an instant, the cold, chilling aura from behind nearly froze Zhang Ruochen's entire body.
Like a reflex, Zhang Ruochen immediately mobilized all his true qi, forming a massive green light sphere that enveloped him.
The true qi Zhang Ruochen cultivated was Azure Void True Qi. The protective celestial armor formed by Azure Void True Qi was extraordinarily powerful, far more difficult to destroy than a city wall.
"Boom!"
In the blink of an eye, the one-armed old man struck down with his palm.
That palm was like a five-fingered mountain, shattering the true qi light sphere in an instant and pressing toward Zhang Ruochen's chest.
Just as the palm descended, a dazzling golden light burst from Zhang Ruochen's heart.
From the golden light came a resounding dragon roar, unleashing a tremendous force that neutralized the one-armed old man's power.
Even so, the powerful impact still sent Zhang Ruochen flying backward, crashing through an arrow tower and landing in the ruins of a collapsed wall.
"Who are you?"
Zhang Ruochen walked out of the ruins, brushing off the dust from his clothes, standing upright on the city wall, staring at the one-armed old man.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen could still survive after being struck by the one-armed old man's palm, Zhang Tiangui showed an expression of disbelief. "Zhang Ruochen, standing before you is the general leader of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild, Hua Qingye. With Senior Hua here, do you think you still have a chance to kill me today? Cough, cough."
Zhang Tiangui had always been proud and arrogant, not even putting martial overlords like the Four Directions Commandery Prince in his eyes. But in front of Hua Qingye, he dared not act recklessly.
Because Hua Qingye was a being who had surpassed the martial path, having reached the Fish-Dragon Realm.
Don't underestimate Zhang Tiangui, who was once the number one genius of the Demon Ridge. Even with his talent, he might not necessarily break through to the Fish-Dragon Realm in the future.
In the entire Demon Ridge, with its thirty-six commanderies, all the Fish-Dragon Realm martial artists combined probably numbered less than twenty. Each one was a being that even Heavenly Extreme Realm martial myths had to look up to—true grandmasters, the strongest among the strong.
In the Demon Ridge, there were three Half-Saints: the Kongkong Half-Saint stationed at the Martial Market Academy, the Han Jue Half-Saint of the Yuntai Sect, and the Lingxi Half-Saint of the Taiqing Palace.
However, Half-Saints spent most of their time not in the Demon Ridge but in various ruin realms' battlefields, expanding territory for humanity. They only returned to their sects occasionally. Even when they returned, they mostly went into seclusion to cultivate, comprehending the sacred path, and rarely interfered in the conflicts of major powers.
Thus, in the Demon Ridge, Fish-Dragon Realm martial artists were the most powerful existences, dominating the fate of all martial artists.
Di Yi placed great importance on the Yunwu Commandery, intending to use it as a foundation to unify the entire Demon Ridge's thirty-six commanderies and establish a high-level commandery under the Black Market's control.
With this goal in mind, he dispatched Hua Qingye to garrison the Yunwu Commandery, guarding against the Martial Market Academy's counterattack.
However, even Hua Qingye hadn't expected that before the Martial Market Academy's experts arrived, Zhang Ruochen would come first.
"Whoosh!"
Hua Qingye flew down from above, landing on the ground. His eyes were sharp and cold as he stared at Zhang Ruochen across from him. "You managed to block my palm strike. It seems you have an extraordinary protective treasure on you."
Ordinary protective treasures couldn't withstand a single blow from a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist. Only top-tier protective treasures worth over a million spirit crystals had such formidable defensive power.
Zhang Ruochen's protective treasure was the dragon pearl in his heart.
After learning the other's identity, Zhang Ruochen also showed a solemn expression. "Your cultivation should be at the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm."
"To be able to see through my cultivation level, you truly deserve to be a genius ranked in the top hundred of the Earth Ranking."
Hua Qingye raised the corner of his eye slightly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and laughed with a ferocious expression. "You don't think that just because I'm at the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, I can't deal with you? The gap between the Fish-Dragon Realm and the Heavenly Extreme Realm isn't something your talent can bridge."
Not to mention Zhang Ruochen, even a legendary Nine-Jue Genius at the initial Heavenly Extreme Realm, if they encountered a Fish-Dragon Realm expert, would only be instantly killed, with no power to fight back.
Moreover, Hua Qingye, having reached the Fish-Dragon Realm, was no ordinary martial artist. His own talent was already very high.
Zhang Ruochen still had one trump card—the Sarira. If he unlocked the first seal of the Sarira, he could temporarily gain power comparable to a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist, more than enough to kill Hua Qingye.
But Zhang Ruochen didn't want to waste the power of the Sarira's first seal on a Hua Qingye. That power was very precious to him, useful for saving his life, and he wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.
"I'll have to use the power of my martial soul."
Having reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, he had never used the full power of his martial soul before. Now was the time to show his true strength.
Zhang Tiangui didn't know what Zhang Ruochen was thinking at that moment, assuming he was thinking about how to escape. A mocking smile appeared on his face. "Zhang Ruochen, even if you want to escape now, it's too late. Your proud strength is weaker than an ant in front of Senior Hua."
Zhang Ruochen didn't waste words. He directly released his martial soul.
"Whoosh—"
That soul shadow stood behind Zhang Ruochen, emitting a green radiance. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged, forming a patch of green clouds above Zhang Ruochen's head.
Hua Qingye shook his head with a smile. "Even if you've cultivated a martial soul, it's useless. The power of a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist is beyond your imagination. Don't say you're only at the initial Heavenly Extreme Realm; even if you've reached the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, you still wouldn't be my match."
Earlier, Hua Qingye had witnessed Zhang Ruochen using powerful martial soul power to kill the Four Directions Commandery Prince, so he had some understanding of Zhang Ruochen's strength.
Even so, Hua Qingye still didn't take Zhang Ruochen seriously. The battle between Zhang Ruochen and the Four Directions Commandery Prince, in his eyes, was like children fighting.
But he didn't know that when Zhang Ruochen fought the Four Directions Commandery Prince, he had only used one-tenth of his martial soul's power.
Hua Qingye didn't want to say more. He suddenly charged forward, his speed surpassing the naked eye's ability to track. In almost an instant, he was in front of Zhang Ruochen, striking a palm toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
Zhang Ruochen's martial soul sensed Hua Qingye's move in advance, so he immediately mobilized the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, condensing it into a spiritual sword. With a "shing," he slashed horizontally.
"Bang!"
Hua Qingye casually crushed that spiritual sword with a single strike and continued to chop toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
Taking advantage of that brief moment, Zhang Ruochen quickly retreated backward, dodging Hua Qingye's attack.
"Shing!"
Zhang Ruochen condensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the Abyssal Ancient Sword and slashed out, thrusting toward Hua Qingye's abdomen.
This sword strike contained not only Zhang Ruochen's own power but also the spiritual energy of heaven and earth mobilized by his martial soul, completely surpassing the combat power of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist.
(One more chapter.)