Chapter 389: Suppressing the Army, Breaking the Prestige
"Supreme Extreme Realm?"
"Bu Qianfan once reached that legendary highest realm?"
"It can't be true, right? Since ancient times, very few have managed to achieve it."
...
A single stone stirred a thousand ripples. All the students on the Pilgrimage Saint Ladder were shocked, countless eyes converging on Bu Qianfan.
Bu Qianfan, however, remained calm and composed, staring unwaveringly at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was not surprised at all. After all, he himself had reached the Supreme Extreme Realm three times. This showed that the Supreme Extreme Realm was not as impossible to achieve as imagined. At the very least, it was attainable through human effort.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I think you might be mistaken. You don't need to prove anything about your strength. The reason I don't want to fight you is that the person you want to defeat is Di Yi, not me."
Bu Qianfan's brow furrowed deeply. His fists clenched suddenly, and a surge of energy erupted from within his body. "In that case, forgive my offense!"
In an instant, he took three steps forward, using his palm as a blade to strike at Zhang Ruochen's neck.
The Suppressing Army, Breaking Prestige Blade Technique.
This was a Ghost-level lower-grade martial technique, incorporating the most fierce and direct moves of blade arts: chopping, thrusting, wrapping the head, wrapping the body... Ultimately, it was simplified into just three moves.
Though it appeared to be only three moves, each one contained the essence of blade techniques, aiming for a single lethal strike.
In the military, only officers who had reached the rank of "Commander" were qualified to practice the Suppressing Army, Breaking Prestige Blade Technique. To master it, one had to constantly hone their skills on the battlefield. Only after killing ten thousand people could one possibly succeed.
The move Bu Qianfan executed was the first, "Suppressing Army Blade." Though it seemed like a simple arm strike, a crescent-shaped blade light phantom formed in front of his arm.
"Whoosh!"
Before Bu Qianfan's arm even descended, Zhang Ruochen could already feel the killing intent, sharpness, and ferocity it contained, as if it could cleave through any obstacle in its path.
Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to act. He pressed his index and middle fingers together, using his hand as a sword to execute a move from the Yang Yi Nine Swords—"Plucking a Chestnut from Fire."
Sword intent and true qi condensed at the tips of his two fingers as he thrust out rapidly, striking the side edge of Bu Qianfan's palm.
"Bang!"
The sound of blade meeting sword rang out as the two clashed head-on.
Bu Qianfan was quick-eyed and swift-handed. He surged his entire body's strength upward, using his torso's power to drive his arm in a rotation, immediately executing the second move of the blade technique.
"Breaking Prestige Blade."
The second move seemed even more terrifying than the first, its momentum astonishing. Even with the naked eye, one could see the shadow of a large blade above Bu Qianfan's arm, following the trajectory of his arm as it slashed toward Zhang Ruochen's waist and abdomen.
"Gazing at the Moon in Water."
Zhang Ruochen once again executed a move from the Yang Yi Nine Swords, blocking Bu Qianfan's second strike.
"Killing King Blade."
Without pause, Bu Qianfan unleashed the third move of the Suppressing Army, Breaking Prestige Blade Technique—also its strongest.
Vaguely, one could see a giant in armor standing behind him, swinging a blade down toward the top of Zhang Ruochen's head.
"Boom!"
It was as if one blade, or ten thousand blades, were falling simultaneously.
Three consecutive strikes, each linked to the next, one blade following another, with power increasing steadily.
Faced with the overwhelming blade qi, Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious. He took a step back to alleviate the pressure from the blade technique.
He mobilized the power of his sword intent, entering the state of Sword Heart Illumination. He brought his hands together, his entire body becoming like a sword, thrusting straight toward Bu Qianfan.
"Bang!"
Bu Qianfan was sent flying back, landing five zhang away. His arm trembled uncontrollably, and a drop of blood trickled from his sleeve.
Zhang Ruochen also retreated three steps back, his ten fingers aching and numb, as if he had just struck an iron mountain.
"Impressive. To block my three Suppressing Army, Breaking Prestige Blade strikes, no wonder you could defeat Di Yi."
Bu Qianfan's expression was grim. A layer of true qi radiance appeared on his arm, and in an instant, the flowing blood turned into blood energy, which he inhaled through his nose and mouth.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You are also very strong. I have used all my strength."
Bu Qianfan's eyes showed a hint of a smile. "All your strength? I think not. I've looked into your records. When you were at the Mysterious Extreme Realm, your spiritual power had already exceeded thirty ranks."
"The Suppressing Army, Breaking Prestige Blade Technique I practice focuses most on momentum. Once the blade technique is unleashed, it first shatters the opponent's spirit. Even a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist cannot remain completely unaffected in the face of this set of techniques, yet you remained expressionless throughout."
"So, I guess your spiritual power has reached forty ranks, making you a spiritual power master. If you were to unleash a spiritual power attack, your strength should be far greater than this."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Spiritual power at forty ranks? You're quite bold in your guesses."
Bu Qianfan seemed very confident and continued, "If your spiritual power weren't strong enough to a certain degree, how could you withstand the power of Di Yi's demon heart? With just your Sword Heart Illumination realm in the way of the sword, you couldn't have defeated Di Yi at the same cultivation level."
Then, Bu Qianfan added, "Even if you have spiritual power as a trump card, it doesn't mean you are invincible at the same cultivation level. I also have my own trump cards. If it were a life-and-death struggle, my chances of survival would be greater than yours. Because you have a weakness—one you might not even be aware of yourself."
Zhang Ruochen said, "What weakness?"
"Combat experience—the kind of combat experience gained on the brink of life and death."
Bu Qianfan said, "I grew up on the battlefield, having experienced no fewer than ten thousand battles, large and small. Among them, hundreds were on the edge of death, struggling in the throes of dying, crawling through piles of corpses, honing myself in blood."
"The battles I've experienced are ten times more than yours. Each time, it was either you die or I die. Even when Di Yi defeated me back then, he couldn't kill me. He could only watch helplessly as I walked away."
Zhang Ruochen's expression grew serious because what Bu Qianfan said was true. Compared to him, Zhang Ruochen's combat experience and life-and-death training were indeed somewhat lacking.
Of course, if it were a real life-or-death duel, Zhang Ruochen didn't believe he would be the one to die. Because Zhang Ruochen also had an unyielding belief.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I'm very curious. How did you lose to Di Yi back then? With your martial arts heart, could there still be a flaw?"
Bu Qianfan was silent for a moment, as if recalling something. Then, he shook his head, turned, and walked down the Pilgrimage Saint Ladder. "Zhang Ruochen, if you want the answer, come find me at the Ministry of War camp. If you want to make up for your weakness, you must come."
Zhang Ruochen watched Bu Qianfan's retreating figure and revealed a faint smile. "An interesting person."
Bu Qianfan was not a saintly body, but through constant tempering on the battlefield, he had broken through to the Supreme Extreme Realm, giving him the strength to contend with saintly bodies.
Not being a saintly body yet staying at the top of the Earth Ranking for three years—he indeed had qualities that ordinary people couldn't match.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Xu Qing, who was not far away. "Still want to fight?"
Xu Qing's injuries had almost fully healed. As his true qi circulated, his hands immediately turned into silver metal. He smiled and said, "Zhang Ruochen, there's no need for us to keep fighting. We can compete in something else."
"Compete in what?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xu Qing pointed at the Pilgrimage Saint Ladder. "Compete in who can climb higher. If you can beat me, our past grievances are settled. If you lose, you must kneel at the gate of the Xu Holy Clan for three days and apologize to our Xu Holy Clan. Kneeling before a saintly clan isn't shameful, is it?"
"Is it that simple?" Zhang Ruochen was skeptical.
He knew that the Pilgrimage Saint Ladder was suppressed by the power of the gods. The higher one's cultivation, the stronger the suppression.
Only martial artists with higher talent, stronger spiritual power, and more powerful martial souls could climb higher steps.
Xu Qing should have known that his greatest advantage was his higher cultivation level compared to Zhang Ruochen. So why would he abandon his advantage and instead compete in an area where he was at a disadvantage?
Although Zhang Ruochen felt that Xu Qing must have some scheme, he did not hesitate and agreed directly.
Xu Qing rushed out first, quickly reaching the fortieth step of the ladder, and continued upward at great speed.
Zhang Ruochen first rushed to the thirtieth step. After leaving his name on the jade stele, he stepped onto the thirty-first step, the thirty-second step...
In no time, Zhang Ruochen was standing on the fortieth step.
At this point, the invisible pressure had become immense, like forty times the force of gravity acting on his body. It wasn't just squeezing Zhang Ruochen's physical body but also his martial soul.
For an ordinary martial artist, they would have long been lying on the ground.
Zhang Ruochen looked up and saw that fifty-seven martial artists had already reached the fortieth step. Earlier, while the students from Demon Ridge were fighting with those from the Xu Holy Clan, other martial artists had also climbed the Pilgrimage Saint Ladder, step by step.
Among them, the most outstanding had already reached the sixty-fifth step.
That was a scion of a saintly clan, wearing a metal vest and revealing a pair of bronze-colored arms, making his physique appear especially imposing.
Three martial artists had reached the sixtieth step. The other two were also scions of saintly clans.
Eighteen martial artists had reached the fiftieth step.
Zi Hansha, who had been climbing the Pilgrimage Saint Ladder earlier, had already reached the fifty-fourth step.
But his potential seemed to have been exhausted. Standing on the ladder, he struggled to hold on, drenched in sweat, his body bent like a bow, unable to step onto the fifty-fifth step.
"Pfft!"
Zi Hansha forced himself to take a step, trying to climb the fifty-fifth step, but was sent flying by an invisible force. Blood spurted from his mouth as he rolled downward.
He tumbled all the way back to the fortieth step before stabilizing himself. He got up from the ground and happened to see Zhang Ruochen not far away.
"Damn it. That Zhang Ruochen kid is so formidable. I absolutely cannot lose to him."
Zi Hansha had naturally seen Zhang Ruochen's earlier battles with Xu Qing and Bu Qianfan. Now, seeing Zhang Ruochen ahead of him, he felt deeply unwilling.
So, gritting his teeth, he regrouped and chased after Zhang Ruochen, climbing upward once more.
(There is still one more chapter.)