Chapter 3711: Awakening of Ancient Powerhouses
From the blood mist formed by the exploding head, the sharp howl of the Fengxian Sect Leader rang out.
The sound was piercing, and various thoughts flew outward.
Immediately, the Soul-Controlling Ghost Seal, which had fallen among the ruins, trembled violently, as if trying to break free from the suppression of the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower.
At the same time, the thirteen skulls let out howls in unison, forming a chain as they flew in from beyond the heavens, hurtling toward the Dragon Lord.
A look of wariness appeared in the Dragon Lord's eyes. He struck out with a palm, the force vast and majestic, piercing through the headless divine body of the Fengxian Sect Leader, shattering his organs.
Ignoring the need to break the Fengxian Sect Leader's Dao, the Dragon Lord soared upward, unleashing ten thousand divine dragon shadows from his body, like ten thousand dragons emerging from the sea.
The divine dragon shadows coiled around the incoming thirteen skulls, preventing them from approaching the Fengxian Sect Leader.
The Dragon Lord transmitted his voice to Zhang Ruochen, his tone slightly urgent: "Break the formation quickly and use the Earth Cauldron to suppress the Fengxian Sect Leader."
Just as Zhang Ruochen was wondering why the Dragon Lord, having successfully ambushed and severely wounded the Fengxian Sect Leader, was still so tense—
The Dragon Lord's voice came again: "This old bastard is about to go all out! Those thirteen skulls are the heads of thirteen sect leaders from Fengxian Sect's history, each containing a Qi Sea and Divine Source. Fengxian Sect has a secret art passed down through generations: the Fengxian Sect Leader can sacrifice his own blood energy to gather the divine power of those thirteen sect leaders into himself. At that point, no one will be able to defeat him."
Zhang Ruochen's heart chilled. He silently remarked that these old monsters who had lived for a million years indeed all had heaven-defying trump cards.
If they were truly pushed to the brink and forced to fight desperately, even the Twenty Heavens would have to retreat.
Without the Fengxian Sect Leader presiding over it, the power of the Ghost Tuo Yin Sha Formation sharply declined. Zhang Ruochen transformed into the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal and slammed into the formation's light barrier. Moments later, he broke through and entered the formation, flying straight toward the Soul-Suppressing Palace.
The Fengxian Sect Leader barely managed to reform his head, his face still covered in cracks, when he saw a primordial world descending from the sky.
This primordial world was derived from the Earth Cauldron, radiating the light of the Origin Divine Source.
Who didn't know the fame of the Nine Cauldrons?
The Fengxian Sect Leader was naturally filled with dread. While releasing his Divine Realm World to resist the primordial world, he roared, "If you don't act now, I'll have no choice but to self-destruct my Divine Source. Then the Soul Realm will be destroyed, and we'll all die together."
"Crack!"
Beneath the ruins of the Soul-Suppressing Palace, the ground swelled and split with many fissures.
From the cracks, a bone-chilling corpse aura was released, accompanied by a muffled roar.
"A Divine Realm giant from the Corpse Clan?" the Dragon Lord said, his eyes turning cold.
"With the convergence of past and present heavenly secrets, their soul is powerful and their corpse body domineering. It should be an ancient powerhouse who has taken over their own corpse."
Zhang Ruochen unleashed his full power, stepping on the Earth Cauldron, using the primordial world to suppress the Fengxian Sect Leader's Divine Realm World. He forced the Fengxian Sect Leader to raise both arms just to barely hold it up, his legs trembling, struggling immensely.
Having been repeatedly wounded, his combat power was far from its peak.
Now, he had to both resist the Earth Cauldron and control the thirteen skulls to deal with the Dragon Lord—how could he possibly hold on?
"Boom!"
The Divine Realm World was crushed by the Earth Cauldron.
Zhang Ruochen raised the Pure Yang Divine Sword with both hands, channeling Heavenly Venerable Divine Qi, and executed the One-Word Sword Art, slashing straight down.
"Bang! Bang!"
The Fengxian Sect Leader unleashed dozens of war weapons—halberds, swords, axes, battle-axes... but even the Supreme Sacred Artifacts shattered upon contact with the Pure Yang Divine Sword, then melted into droplets.
The flames released by the Pure Yang Divine Sword could easily incinerate gods.
With a "pfft," the Pure Yang Divine Sword split the Fengxian Sect Leader's divine body, divine blood splattering all over the ground.
With just this one strike, a significant amount of his divine substance and soul was worn away.
Zhang Ruochen activated the Earth Cauldron, preparing to suppress the Fengxian Sect Leader inside it.
If successful, even if the Fengxian Sect Leader self-destructed his Divine Source, it would no longer be a threat.
"Boom!"
A thick serpent tail swept across horizontally, countless rules rising and falling on the snake scales, sending the Earth Cauldron flying as it flew toward Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing the serpent tail clash physically with the Earth Cauldron, Zhang Ruochen was stunned.
The Earth Cauldron flew hundreds of miles away, deeply embedded in the ground, creating a towering mountain range from the impact.
Zhang Ruochen changed his position three times in succession to avoid the serpent tail, then looked over.
He saw a Xuanwu the size of a divine mountain crawling out from beneath the ruins of the Soul-Suppressing Palace, its body shrouded in corpse fiend aura. On its turtle shell were many complex and eerie divine inscriptions, like the patterns of the great Dao of heaven and earth.
The black serpent coiled on the turtle's back had a serpent crown and a pair of blood-red eyes. The moment Zhang Ruochen met those eyes, he felt his consciousness blur and his soul about to leave his body.
"It's the Xuanwu True Ancestor, a half-ancestor from the history of the Demon God Realm. Don't meet its gaze; its soul is powerful, and it's skilled in soul-capturing divine arts."
The Dragon Lord used divine dragon shadows to forcibly pull the thirteen skulls into his Divine Realm World, temporarily suppressing them. Then, he summoned a Demon God Stone Pillar, held it in his hand, and flew straight toward the Xuanwu True Ancestor.
"Boom!"
He swung the stone pillar, bringing it down heavily.
The Xuanwu True Ancestor's turtle shell lit up with dense divine inscriptions, displaying extraordinary defensive power as it withstood the Dragon Lord's strike.
The land for ten thousand miles around sank hundreds of meters.
That ancient powerhouses would appear in the Soul Realm was within Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
After all, this place connected to Lihentian, was extremely suitable for the remnant souls of ancient powerhouses to cultivate, and was far from the Heavenly Court, allowing them to quietly restore their cultivation.
The Xuanwu True Ancestor was different from Di. It had returned with its remnant soul, merged into its own corpse from back then, and embarked on the Corpse Clan's path of cultivation. Its strength hadn't even reached the Indestructible Infinite level, let alone half-ancestor.
Of course, thanks to the toughness of its half-ancestor corpse body and its various exquisite defensive divine abilities, even after the Dragon Lord struck dozens of times in succession, he couldn't harm it.
Instead, its serpent tail, like a more flexible rod, nearly hit the Dragon Lord.
"Dragon Uncle, catch the sword!"
Zhang Ruochen threw the Pure Yang Divine Sword, then transmitted to the Blade Venerable: "Senior Blade Venerable, there must be other ancient powerhouses in the Soul Realm. Stop slacking off and finish this quickly."
With that, Zhang Ruochen chased after the Fengxian Sect Leader.
The Fengxian Sect Leader had already fled the Soul-Suppressing Palace, turning into a blood cloud, flowing along a corpse river toward the entrance of the Santu River.
"Sect Leader, where are you going? Fengxian Sect has done every evil deed imaginable over the years, becoming the number one cancer of the Heavenly Court. Now it's time for a reckoning. Do you think you can escape?"
With every step, Zhang Ruochen crossed space, closing the distance with the Fengxian Sect Leader.
At the same time, he derived Dao techniques. In the sky, clouds raced, and a massive Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal condensed, shining brighter than the sun.
The Fengxian Sect Leader's furious voice came from the blood cloud: "Don't be so smug, brat! Do you think everything is going according to your plan? You're wrong. The Soul Realm will be your grave."
Not far from the entrance to the Santu River, the Fengxian Sect Leader suddenly stopped. His green robe billowed, and all the blood energy in the sky flowed into the robe. Countless rule divine patterns filled the void, as if he were preparing for a final showdown with Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen sensed danger and stopped on the opposite bank of the corpse river, saying, "I wonder which senior is sleeping in the corpse river?"
An expression of disbelief flashed deep in the Fengxian Sect Leader's eyes.
This brat Zhang Ruochen's perception was so strong? It was almost comparable to an Indestructible Infinite. He simply couldn't be outmaneuvered.
"Splash!"
The corpse river boiled, bubbling up with bubbles the size of washbasins.
A rotting angel flew out from the corpse river, its aura powerful, increasing the air pressure in the surrounding space by more than a thousand times.
The wings, which should have been pure white and flawless, had decayed to gray over millions of years.
The face, which should have been handsome and noble, was now all rotting flesh and white bones.
There was no light aura, only the cold, decaying corpse aura.
It was unclear which ancient powerhouse from the Angel Clan's history this was, but the aura and momentum released from his body were not much weaker than the Xuanwu True Ancestor.
"Who are you, daring to disturb my absorption of soul power in the corpse river? Do you know this is a capital offense?"
The Corpse Angel's eyes emitted white light, and light rules appeared around him, blending with the corpse aura in an extremely eerie way.
Bright, yet evil.
Zhang Ruochen ignored the Corpse Angel and looked at the Fengxian Sect Leader, saying, "Sect Leader, you don't naively think that a dead man can protect you, do you? Even if he's strong, he has no Profound Meaning and no powerful divine artifact. How could he possibly be a match for me, the Elder?"
"What if we join forces?" the Fengxian Sect Leader said coldly.
He never dreamed that one day he would be pushed to such a desperate point by a brat he once regarded as an ant. A lifetime of reputation was utterly ruined!
Zhang Ruochen's long hair danced in the dark wind. The Earth Cauldron hovered above his head, and countless lightning bolts surged around him. With full momentum, he said, "Forgive my bluntness, Sect Leader. You've been repeatedly wounded, your combat power has dropped sharply, and you've lost trump cards like the thirteen skulls. You're really no threat to me. Why not self-destruct your Divine Source and die together with me?"
"Brat, you insult me too much."
Both the Corpse Angel and the Fengxian Sect Leader were enraged, simultaneously unleashing offensive techniques.
The Corpse Angel used his arm as a blade, releasing divine power from his body, and the world darkened.
As his arm swung down, one strike shattered mountains and rivers, piercing through the Soul Realm and the Void World.
The Fengxian Sect Leader performed a divine ability, and an altar formed from death rules pressed down toward Zhang Ruochen.
He was the main god of the Path of Death, controlling over ten percent of the Death Profound Meaning.
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn't choose to fight two against one. After using Spatial Displacement to evade their first wave of attacks, his figure appeared above the Corpse Angel's head.
"Whoosh!"
A brilliant silver light bloomed from his palm, and the Xutuohuan White Silver Tree shot out in an instant, transforming into the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, trapping the Corpse Angel.
On the ground, the Fengxian Sect Leader saw the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation and knew things were bad. He immediately fled toward the Santu River.
"This brat is about to become invincible! Two powerhouses simultaneously released their soul auras but couldn't lock him down. The divine abilities they struck were easily dodged by him. The First-Rank Divine Path is too incredible. How can we still fight?"
In his current state, the Fengxian Sect Leader was definitely no match for Zhang Ruochen. He could only flee.
In the sky, the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal, which had long been condensed, pressed down, locking the Fengxian Sect Leader at the center of the diagram. Countless time imprint light points appeared throughout the diagram.
Fearing that the Fengxian Sect Leader would self-destruct his Divine Source, Zhang Ruochen immediately rushed over with the Earth Cauldron, from top to bottom, taking the Fengxian Sect Leader into the cauldron.
The entire process happened in the blink of an eye.
By using the time power contained in the Wuji Divine Dao, Zhang Ruochen suppressed the Fengxian Sect Leader's reaction speed. Otherwise, the result would most likely have been mutual destruction.
"Boom!"
The Earth Cauldron rang out from a strike by the Fengxian Sect Leader, and waves of force spread outward, causing sand and stones to fly for tens of thousands of miles.
"Zhang Ruochen, I'll tear you apart limb from limb. You won't escape the Soul Realm today!" the Fengxian Sect Leader roared from within the cauldron.
Zhang Ruochen pressed down on the Earth Cauldron with his hand wearing the Qilin Fist Gloves, releasing lightning into the cauldron, and said, "Sect Leader, even after falling to this state, you can still speak so harshly. Truly worthy of being a sect leader. I admire that!"
In the brief exchange, this land had been shattered into pieces, with the Real World, Void World, and Santu River coexisting.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the void floating with countless fragments of rocks and mountains. The Santu River flowed eternally, coming from nowhere and going nowhere. A contemplative look appeared in his eyes.
"The Fengxian Sect Leader was actually suppressed just like that?"
The Blade Venerable never expected Zhang Ruochen to be so formidable. It could no longer be described as "promising for a youth"; perhaps only "young ancestor" was fitting. For a moment, he felt his old face was dishonored. He looked at Xun Yangzi with a very unfriendly expression.
Xun Yangzi turned and fled, rushing toward the entrance to Lihentian.
"Old friend, you'd better stay and keep the Fengxian old monster company!"
The Blade Venerable raised his short blade above his head.
Instantly, all the blade Dao rules in this starry sky where the Soul Realm was located converged toward him.
Above his head, layers of dark clouds appeared.
In the clouds, countless blade lights flew.
"Whoosh!"
The Blade Venerable slashed out with his blade, and the ground beneath his feet split open, continuously spreading to the horizon.
The entire Soul Realm seemed about to be split in two.
Xun Yangzi's face changed drastically. He stared at the starry sky and said, "Blood Talisman Evil Emperor, if you don't act now, today's defeat will be irreversible for everyone!"
Above the clouds, outside the Soul Realm in the starry sky, stars flickered.
Then, these stars transformed into talismans, becoming a sea of blood-red talismans. Instead of helping Xun Yangzi deal with the Blade Venerable, they flew into Lihentian before him and disappeared.
Fled!
The Blood Talisman Evil Emperor, who had been outside the Soul Realm helping to conceal the heavenly secrets of this starry sky, had actually fled just like that!
Xun Yangzi didn't even have time to feel despair. The blade light was already upon him. He couldn't block it, and he definitely couldn't dodge it. He had no choice but to retreat into the Immortal Gold Sun-Moon Wheel.
"Boom!"
The Immortal Gold Sun-Moon Wheel was sent flying by the blade light, smashing through space and falling into the depths of the Void World.
The Blade Venerable chased into the Void World, ready to finish him off.
Zhang Ruochen suppressed the trembling Earth Cauldron under his Divine Realm World and also chased into the Void World. Other cultivators could escape, but Xun Yangzi could not.
His Gold Dao Profound Meaning was something Zhang Ruochen badly needed.
Moreover, the Immortal Gold Sun-Moon Wheel, this divine artifact, was also something Zhang Ruochen coveted. He couldn't let the Blade Venerable have it cheaply.
The Blade Venerable had been slacking off, not using his full strength, always observing Zhang Ruochen's power, and certainly wanting to see how many experts Zhang Ruochen had hidden in the shadows.
"Elder Ruochen, go help Ji Wang deal with the Xuanwu True Ancestor. A mere Xun Yangzi, I can handle!"
"No, Senior Blade Venerable, you're fighting too hard. Let me, your junior, lend you a hand."
(End of chapter)