Chapter 361: Blood Mist Rising
Without any further words, Zhang Ruochen attacked again.
"Elephant Force Ninefold."
The shadow of his martial soul nearly merged with Zhang Ruochen's body, strands of heaven and earth spiritual energy converging as he struck out with a palm, unleashing a ninefold attack power.
Nine surges of air, like ripples on water, layer upon layer, gathered before Zhang Ruochen's palm, forming a six-meter-long phantom of a divine elephant.
"Roar!"
As the force of the palm strike was released, a savage beast's long howl rang out, shaking the underground chamber and causing fragments of stone to fall.
Hua Qingye had no choice but to take it seriously. He spread his legs apart, bent his knees slightly, and assumed a horse stance, throwing a punch.
Unfortunately, he still underestimated Zhang Ruochen's current strength. That divine elephant phantom crashed into him like a small mountain. The moment they clashed, he was sent stumbling backward again, his blood and qi churning within, and his true qi in his meridians in chaos.
"How can he be this strong?"
In truth, Hua Qingye's strength was considerable; anyone who could step into the Fish-Dragon Realm was no weakling. However, with one arm severed, his combat power had dropped significantly.
Earlier, he had been caught off guard by Zhang Ruochen's sneak attack, sustaining serious injuries, which further diminished his fighting capability.
At his current state, he was probably only at about thirty percent of his full strength.
"Swish!"
Zhang Ruochen continued his assault, swinging his war sword and slashing toward Hua Qingye's head.
"Zhang Ruochen, do you think you're the only one with a martial soul?"
Being suppressed by a junior at the Heavenly Extreme Realm infuriated Hua Qingye, and he released his own martial soul.
He had held back, not using his martial soul's power out of pride.
But now it was different. If he didn't use his martial soul's strength, forget about suppressing Zhang Ruochen—he might end up being suppressed himself.
"Whoosh!"
A pillar of light shot up from Hua Qingye's head, and specks of light coalesced into a martial soul, hovering behind and above him.
With his martial soul unleashed, Hua Qingye's power finally erupted fully.
"Boom!"
With a single clash, both of them were sent stumbling backward.
"Clatter!"
Above them, fragments of stone continued to fall. The chamber seemed on the verge of collapsing from their battle.
"Zhang Ruochen, your strength is indeed impressive, but compared to a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist, you're still far off."
"Heavenly Union Combat Fist."
The bones in Hua Qingye's arm crackled as he unleashed a spirit-level upper-grade fist technique.
With the boost from his martial soul, Hua Qingye's power more than doubled. As he threw the punch, the entire underground chamber seemed filled with his force.
True qi not only flowed through the meridians in his body but also surged outward, forming a great river of true qi that swirled around his martial soul.
The Heavenly Union Combat Fist consisted of twenty-seven moves, and Hua Qingye struck with the first: Heaven-Splitting Hammer.
As his fist shot out, the heaven and earth spiritual energy mobilized by his martial soul converged almost entirely onto his arm, turning his fist a deep blue as it slammed toward Zhang Ruochen's chest.
"Is this the true power of a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist?"
Zhang Ruochen had a feeling that if he met this head-on, he might be severely injured by Hua Qingye's punch, or worse.
After all, Zhang Ruochen was only at the mid-stage Heavenly Extreme Realm. His ability to contend with Hua Qingye relied solely on his nearly abnormal martial soul power.
Now that Hua Qingye had also unleashed his martial soul's power, the situation had reversed, putting Zhang Ruochen at a significant disadvantage.
"Space Rift."
Zhang Ruochen raised both arms and parted his hands, as if opening a door to space before him.
It was a space rift, a gap filled with a hazy mist, from which a force surged that seemed capable of devouring everything in the world.
In an instant, the space rift swallowed the power of Hua Qingye's punch.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to press his advantage and use the space rift to eliminate Hua Qingye.
He pushed his hands forward, and under the guidance of his power, the space rift slashed toward Hua Qingye.
Hua Qingye had nearly suffered from the space rift earlier, so he was now more cautious. With a flicker of his body, he dodged it in an instant.
"Hiss!"
The space rift struck the stone wall behind Hua Qingye, devouring a large amount of rock and debris, leaving a pit over ten meters long.
Seeing the destructive power of the space rift, Hua Qingye was shocked. "Zhang Ruochen, what martial technique is that? How can it tear space?"
"If you can defeat me, you'll naturally know the answer," Zhang Ruochen said.
Hua Qingye's face darkened. "Do you think I, this old man, can't handle you?"
Hua Qingye reached into his bosom and pulled out a small, exquisite purple-gold bell. The bell was only about three inches tall, its surface engraved with mysterious inscriptions, emitting a faint chill.
Seeing that bell, Zhang Ruochen felt a sense of foreboding.
As Hua Qingye infused true qi into the bell, activating the inscriptions, it gradually grew larger, from three inches to three meters tall, transforming into a massive ancient bell.
"Whoosh!"
A purple-gold radiance burst from the ancient bell, forming a strange force that suppressed even Zhang Ruochen's martial soul.
Hua Qingye held the massive ancient bell in his palm and laughed. "Zhang Ruochen, this ancient bell is a tenth-rank true martial treasure called the Soul-Striking Bell, specifically designed to strike a martial artist's martial soul. Since your martial soul is so strong, let's see if it can withstand the Soul-Striking Bell's attack."
As he spoke, Hua Qingye swung the Soul-Striking Bell and attacked Zhang Ruochen.
The bell spun continuously, emitting a "humming" sound, and crashed toward Zhang Ruochen's martial soul.
Zhang Ruochen didn't engage Hua Qingye in a direct confrontation. Instead, he activated his movement technique and turned to flee.
No kidding—Zhang Ruochen's greatest advantage now was his martial soul. If he lost it, he would have no ability to contend with Hua Qingye.
The Soul-Striking Bell was specifically designed to counter martial souls. If Zhang Ruochen continued fighting Hua Qingye, he would suffer greatly.
"Whoosh!"
Bursting out of the chamber and back to the surface, Zhang Ruochen pushed the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow movement technique to its limit, fleeing into the distance. With each step, he covered over twenty zhang.
After breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, Zhang Ruochen's speed with the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow had increased.
After all, the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow was a spirit-level upper-grade movement technique, and only Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists could truly unleash its power.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen seemed to be walking on air, each step landing in midair without his feet touching the ground.
Of course, he wasn't truly flying; he was merely using the technique's finesse to borrow the wind, achieving brief aerial running.
Only by becoming a Half-Saint could one truly fly without relying on any external force.
Zhang Ruochen was still far from that level.
Close behind Zhang Ruochen, Hua Qingye also emerged from underground. Without hesitation, he swung his arm and launched the Soul-Striking Bell, aiming it at Zhang Ruochen in the distance.
Zhang Ruochen didn't turn around. He simply swung the Abyssal Ancient Sword behind him to meet the Soul-Striking Bell.
"Clang!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword and the Soul-Striking Bell collided violently, sending sparks flying.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew back and landed in Zhang Ruochen's hand.
"Damn it."
Hua Qingye retrieved the Soul-Striking Bell and also activated a movement technique to chase after Zhang Ruochen.
The movement technique Hua Qingye used was called "Flowing Cloud Steps," a spirit-level mid-grade technique.
Although his movement technique wasn't as advanced as the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow, as a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist, his natural speed gave him an advantage.
Hua Qingye charged forward, his speed slightly faster than Zhang Ruochen's.
Zhang Ruochen glanced back and saw Hua Qingye pursuing him from a hundred zhang behind, the distance gradually closing.
After about a quarter of an hour, Hua Qingye closed to within ten zhang of Zhang Ruochen and threw the Soul-Striking Bell again, aiming for Zhang Ruochen's back.
Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to stop and engage Hua Qingye once more.
"Thousand-Zhang Prairie Fire."
Zhang Ruochen unleashed a heaven and earth phenomenon. Within a thousand zhang radius, flames gathered into a vast sea of fire, enveloping Hua Qingye.
Inside the sea of fire, they exchanged over a dozen moves before Zhang Ruochen fled again.
And so it went: Zhang Ruochen fled and fought, from noon until nightfall, covering a thousand li and battling Hua Qingye thirteen times.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen's martial soul was struck by the Soul-Striking Bell, suffering significant damage, forcing him to retract it back into his body.
If the Soul-Striking Bell hit him again, his martial soul would be severely wounded, with consequences too dire to imagine.
"Zhang Ruochen, without your martial soul's power, do you think you can escape my grasp this time? Haha!"
Hua Qingye caught up from behind, blood continuously flowing from a wound on his chest. He seemed oblivious to the pain, his eyes venomously fixed on Zhang Ruochen as he snarled, "If you don't tell me the location of that ancient cave now, I'll make you experience the Black Market's ten great tortures. Let's see if you can endure them!"
Hua Qingye had been severely injured, and in his pursuit of Zhang Ruochen, he hadn't stopped to heal.
Now, his injuries were worsening, but he didn't notice, focused only on forcing the cave's location out of Zhang Ruochen.
A trace of blood hung at the corner of Zhang Ruochen's mouth, but he let out a long laugh. "Hua Qingye, if you don't treat your wounds now, your cultivation might regress."
Though his martial soul was damaged, Zhang Ruochen remained spirited and full of battle intent.
"As long as I can suppress you, this junior, what does a regression in cultivation matter?" Hua Qingye said.
"With your current state, you think you can suppress me?"
"What? You're still not convinced and want to keep fighting?"
Hua Qingye was well aware of Zhang Ruochen's condition. Without his martial soul's power, Zhang Ruochen was like an ant before him, easily crushed with a single finger.
"Whoosh!"
A cold wind, tinged with the smell of blood, blew in from the distance, brushing past Zhang Ruochen and Hua Qingye.
A strange thing happened.
From the forest not far away, a blood-red mist spread, surging in from all directions.
The blood mist churned and grew denser, obscuring their vision.
Both Zhang Ruochen and Hua Qingye were startled by the sudden change. They stopped fighting and stood still, alert to the blood mist around them.