Chapter 3853: On the Santu River
The Santu River had countless tributaries, spread throughout the universe, like roots and tendrils, buried deep within every life-bearing planet and world. It seemed to be a new world opened up beyond the Void World, the Real World, and Lihentian.
This special new world was complex and intricate, with many layers of time and space, so much so that even the Twenty Heavens could not fully explore and understand it.
Precisely because of this, the Santu River concealed countless great secrets, including some cultivators who were not tolerated by the world.
Many of the remnant souls of ancient powerhouses who descended into the Real World were hidden within the Santu River.
The battle between Yan Jun and Zhang Ruochen, with its intense fluctuations of divine power, shattered sections of the Santu River's tributaries.
Space was crushed, merging with the Void World, becoming fragmented and chaotic.
The Wu Cauldron, Earth Cauldron, Heaven Cauldron, and Hong Cauldron flew about over the Santu River.
Each cauldron was ten thousand zhang tall, exuding a profound ancient aura, as heavy as a star, with majestic power.
"This child is truly formidable. If he were to break through to the Indestructible Infinite realm, I would certainly not be his opponent."
Zhang Ruochen's combat power exceeded Yan Jun's expectations, filling him with shock. Even the Great Demon God and the Heavenly Demon, at this same cultivation level, could not have possessed such strength.
Surpassing the Primordial Ancestor at the same realm.
Yan Jun controlled the four demon banners, stirring up an endless cosmic hurricane across the universe. He lifted a sea of stars from the Real World and hurled it at Zhang Ruochen, who was chasing behind him.
"Boom! Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen did not dodge or evade. He charged straight ahead, smashing through the stars in the star sea one by one, closing in relentlessly.
However, he remained vigilant in his heart.
Yan Jun's combat power was clearly above his own, yet he kept fleeing, refusing to engage in a direct confrontation.
This was hardly the bearing of a generation of demon lords!
Zhang Ruochen's divine voice echoed long and deep: "Yan Jun, where are you trying to lead me?"
"Afraid? If you're scared, then stop chasing!"
Yan Jun's laughter resounded across the Santu River. He continued, "You've left marks in space, waiting for the Heavenly Gods of Hell Realm to arrive and besiege me together. To be honest, this does make me feel a sense of crisis. Perhaps my current actions are merely an attempt to scare you off?"
"In that case, Yan Jun, don't leave!"
"Clank! Clank!"
Zhang Ruochen dragged the Heavenly God Chains and struck out with the Dark Hand.
Divine Qi surged, activating the spatial power of the Universe Cauldron and the Myriad Forms Formless Seal. Instantly, a tributary of the Santu River spanning tens of millions of li broke apart with a thunderous roar.
The world barriers of the Real World, Lihentian, and the Void World were all shattered, creating a spatial hole tens of millions of li in diameter.
"You'd better not let me escape, or you will regret it deeply."
Yan Jun rapidly distanced himself from Zhang Ruochen to weaken the power of the Myriad Forms Formless Seal, using the four demon banners to block the residual shockwaves.
Even so, his body was sent flying backward tens of thousands of li.
"The power of this Myriad Forms Formless Seal has touched upon the order of space. I absolutely cannot clash with it head-on."
Yan Jun thought to himself as he stabilized his form. But then he saw Zhang Ruochen closing the distance between them, wielding the Demon Ancestor Zi Wu Halberd and striking down with a heavy blow.
Yin and Yang Qi descended, breaking through Yan Jun's demonic rule domain.
"Haha!"
Yan Jun laughed wildly and struck out with a palm.
As an Indestructible Infinite peak cultivator, his physical strength was many times greater than Zhang Ruochen's. For Zhang Ruochen to engage him in close combat was to seek death.
Clearly, his earlier threatening words had worked. Zhang Ruochen was now desperate to keep him here at all costs.
His palm force was like layers of water ripples, colliding with the Demon Ancestor Zi Wu Halberd.
"Boom!"
With the clash, Zhang Ruochen was sent flying backward, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.
This injury was nothing to Zhang Ruochen.
His goal was clear: to do whatever it took to pin Yan Jun down here.
As long as any one of Void Heaven, Undying War God, Stone Heaven, or Gong Xuanzang arrived, Yan Jun would find it much harder to escape.
After repelling Zhang Ruochen, Yan Jun flashed forward and pursued him.
His right arm seemed to transform into a pillar reaching the heavens, his five fingers like five demon mountains.
His hand seal descended like a black cloud, crashing down heavily.
"Whoosh!"
A silver-white radiance flickered around Zhang Ruochen.
The Ten Thousand Buddha Formation surged out from Zhang Ruochen's body. A forest of Suddhodana Silver Trees blocked the five palm-formed demon mountains.
Yan Jun's eyes turned cold. He hadn't expected Zhang Ruochen to have so many trump cards.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was only at the Great Unbound Infinite peak, and his spiritual power was only at the eighty-ninth rank. He couldn't utilize these trump cards to their fullest potential.
Otherwise, a breakthrough in either martial arts or spiritual power would rewrite the battle's outcome.
"Formations are always external objects. Before absolute cultivation, they are utterly fragile."
Yan Jun showed no fear. Carrying the four demon banners, he charged directly into the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, uprooting the Suddhodana Silver Trees one after another, rapidly closing in on Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen activated the power of the Blissful World, suppressing Yan Jun's divine soul, cultivation, and spiritual will.
"All beings are equal."
Standing on the gnomon at the center of the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation, Zhang Ruochen held the Mani Pearl. His divine Qi surged forth overwhelmingly, driving the formation and pressing strands of Buddha light onto Yan Jun.
"All beings have never been equal. How can you, a mere Great Unbound Infinite, subdue a lord of the demonic path?"
Yan Jun broke through the suppression of the "All Beings Equal" power, sending the four demon banners out to lock onto the four directions of the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation.
His form moved swiftly through the forest, reaching the base of the gnomon in an instant.
The Time Divine Sea manifested by the gnomon could not stop him; he crushed it underfoot.
"If Buddha is one foot tall, the demon is ten feet tall. Zhang Ruochen, you should be proud to have fought me to this extent!"
"Reincarnation Demon Wheel!"
Yan Jun's hair and beard flew wildly. He spread his hands wide, and endless demonic rules and demonic Qi condensed into a millstone-like demon wheel.
The demon wheel spun, forming a spatial vortex that ground toward the gnomon.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was grim as he activated the Dark Hand and struck with the Myriad Forms Formless Seal.
However, the Heavenly God Chains connecting the Dark Hand were pulled by the vortex created by the demon wheel, twisting and tangling, making it impossible to lock onto Yan Jun.
The disadvantage in cultivation was evident. Even with powerful trump cards in hand, he lacked the ability to lock onto his opponent.
After restraining the Dark Hand, Yan Jun pointed one hand to the sky and unleashed an even more powerful divine ability.
"Thousand Spirits Blood Fiend!"
This was the most powerful divine ability created by the Great Demon God!
Among all the divine abilities still passed down in the present age, it could definitely rank among the top, a legacy left by the Primordial Ancestor.
Strands of blood-red demonic fiends descended from the sky, pouring into the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation and landing on Zhang Ruochen, continuously eroding the Buddha light on his body.
Zhang Ruochen unfolded the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal to protect himself and activated the Brahma Fire within the Mani Pearl.
"You cannot break the Thousand Spirits Blood Fiend. This divine ability incorporates the order of the demonic path, which your current cultivation cannot analyze."
"Blood Fiend Enters the Soul!"
"Today, I will use the blood fiend to assimilate your divine soul and refine you into a demon slave. A future Primordial Ancestor? Merely my servant!"
Yan Jun's demonic voices penetrated Zhang Ruochen's ears.
The blood fiend, in the form of order, pierced through Zhang Ruochen's various defenses and directly invaded his divine soul.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen's vision, mind, and divine sea all turned blood-red.
Zhang Ruochen did not panic. He stabilized his spiritual wisdom, mobilized his spiritual power to guard his soul, and said calmly, "If you want to break my spiritual will and assimilate my divine soul, your current cultivation is not qualified. If you were restored to your peak, you might have a chance."
The Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal began to rotate slowly, absorbing the blood fiend.
But the absorption speed was extremely slow, far less than the rate at which the blood fiend was devouring his divine soul.
"Why hasn't Undying War God and Void Heaven arrived yet? Could they be pinned down at the Shura Star Pillar Realm? Then I can only rely on myself."
"Brahma Fire Burns Self, Tempering the Spirit."
Zhang Ruochen directly drew the Brahma Fire from the Mani Pearl and sent it surging back into his own body.
The Primordial Ancestor Kashyapa had gathered the six desires of the human world, refined them into six treasures, and forged them together with the Brahma Fire into the Mani Pearl.
Brahma Fire entering the body was extremely dangerous.
But Zhang Ruochen had no other choice. He had to use the Brahma Fire to temper his spiritual power, taking the most radical path to elevate his spiritual power to the next level, thereby breaking through the boundary of Heavenly Circle Without Deficiency.
Yan Jun sensed the spiritual power tide emanating from Zhang Ruochen, and his expression gradually turned serious. "Is he forcibly assaulting spiritual power to the ninetieth rank?"
Yan Jun was naturally worried that Zhang Ruochen would succeed in breaking through.
It must be known that the ninetieth rank and the eighty-ninth rank were worlds apart. The increase in spiritual power was not merely a single rank.
For other cultivators, even breaking through to the ninetieth rank would not overly concern Yan Jun.
But if Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power reached the ninetieth rank, his utilization of the "Emperor Talisman" and the "Ten Thousand Buddha Formation" would undergo a qualitative change.
Although Yan Jun felt it was impossible for Zhang Ruochen to break through to the ninetieth rank in such a short time, he dared not gamble.
Demonic Qi gathered on his arm, and Yan Jun punched heavily toward the gnomon.
"Boom!"
Circles of divine formation light patterns spread outward from the gnomon, turning into waves of time imprints that dissipated most of Yan Jun's fist force.
"This..."
Yan Jun found it unbelievable. Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power had clearly been withdrawn into his body to guard his divine soul. How could he still activate the formation inscriptions on the gnomon?
Moreover, these formation inscriptions were extremely profound, clearly originating from that formation grandmaster of the Kunlun Realm.
"Whoosh!"
A Divine Illumination Lotus flew out from the space, hovering above Zhang Ruochen's head.
The divine light of the Divine Illumination Lotus was dazzling and brilliant. At the center of the lotus, the silhouette of a stunningly beautiful woman could faintly be seen.
"Fanxin!"
An indescribable emotion surged within Zhang Ruochen, a warm current flowing through his heart.
He had never expected that the first to arrive would be Ji Fanxin.
"I sensed you entering the Santu River and immediately pursued you. Void Heaven and Undying War God are temporarily unable to break away. I'll help you break through to Heavenly Circle Without Deficiency!"
The Divine Illumination Lotus was the incarnation of the origin of heaven and earth. Its greatest function was to assist in cultivation, even helping cultivators comprehend Profound Meaning and order.
The Divine Illumination Lotus began to burn, its life force continuously draining away.
The specks of light formed by the burning scattered onto Zhang Ruochen, causing his spiritual power to grow at an even faster rate.
Zhang Ruochen understood that Ji Fanxin was burning her own life force to help him break through.
At this moment, there was no need for any pretentious words. Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, and instantly, strands of ancient spiritual power surged from the Blissful World where the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation was located, converging toward him.
"Primordial Divine Illumination Lotus! Excellent. If I obtain it, my chances of assaulting the Heavenly Venerable rank in the future will be much greater."
Yan Jun used his divine ability to continuously tear apart the divine formation beneath the gnomon, step by step approaching Zhang Ruochen.