Chapter 423: Hundred Poison Divine Palm
"Zhang Ruochen, I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes."
Seeing the devastated scene before him, Divine Skeleton Dharma King trembled with rage, letting out a sharp howl from his throat. The mana within his body surged out like a violent storm and tsunami, causing sand and stones to fly, tree trunks to shake, and leaves to fill the sky in Cracked Yin Mountain, producing a howling sound.
Zhang Ruochen stood calmly at the edge of the cliff, his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the two men down the mountain in the distance. He said indifferently, "If you truly have that ability, then come and take my life."
His voice, seemingly very calm, was propelled by true qi, spreading out in layers like waves, clearly reaching the ears of Divine Skeleton Dharma King and Nie Wenlong.
"Arrogant junior."
Divine Skeleton Dharma King's heart burned with boundless fury, his face flushed red, his entire body seeming about to explode. He wanted to charge up Evil Wood Palace and personally slay Zhang Ruochen.
Nie Wenlong felt something was off and said, "Divine Skeleton Dharma King, you cultivate mana and are better at long-range attacks. If you are provoked by Zhang Ruochen and engage him in close combat, you might suffer a loss."
"What do you mean?" Divine Skeleton Dharma King raised an eyebrow.
Nie Wenlong said, "I have a feeling that Zhang Ruochen is up to something strange, as if he is deliberately luring us into Cracked Yin Mountain. He has probably set up some means to deal with us. If we both fall into his trap, wouldn't he get his way?"
"So, let me deal with Zhang Ruochen. You stay outside the mountain and stay alert at all times, to see what tricks he can pull. If I cannot kill this brat, you can step in later."
Divine Skeleton Dharma King gradually calmed down, feeling that Nie Wenlong's arrangement was indeed more foolproof. He nodded and said, "Alright, I will follow your advice."
In truth, only a small part of the reason was that Nie Wenlong found Zhang Ruochen's behavior abnormal and feared they would both jump into Zhang Ruochen's trap and be wiped out.
There was another, more important reason: he wanted to kill Zhang Ruochen with his own hands and claim all the credit for himself. He also wanted to obtain the treasures on Zhang Ruochen's body.
Nie Wenlong knew all too well how strong Zhang Ruochen was.
As long as he was careful and not ambushed by Zhang Ruochen, he was absolutely confident he could kill him.
During the first round of the Sacred Academy assessment, Zhang Ruochen was only slightly stronger than Xu Qing, and it was only after breaking through his cultivation realm that he defeated the heirs of the four Saintly clans.
He, Nie Wenlong, had trained in the Sacred Academy for ten years. His martial arts cultivation had long reached the limit of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, making him countless times stronger than those heirs of Saintly clans.
Killing a mere Zhang Ruochen would be as easy as turning his hand.
In his view, at least for now, Zhang Ruochen was far from being his match.
"How could Zhang Ruochen possibly kill two Dharma Kings with his strength?"
"Those two foolish Dharma Kings must have been ambushed by Zhang Ruochen and died as a result."
"Or perhaps Zhang Ruochen gathered a large group of disciples and formed a combined attack formation to kill the two Dharma Kings. Either way, Zhang Ruochen definitely has a formidable trump card. I need to be careful, lest I capsize in a ditch and fall into the hands of a junior."
Thinking this, Nie Wenlong walked step by step into Cracked Yin Mountain.
At the same time, he amplified his eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell to the utmost, trying to find Zhang Ruochen's trump card and guard against it in advance.
It must be said that Nie Wenlong was already very cautious. However, he did not know that the moment he took his first step, he had already entered Zhang Ruochen's Space Domain. It would be strange if he could detect anything unusual.
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly.
Originally, he had planned to lure both Nie Wenlong and Divine Skeleton Dharma King into that corner of the Saint Formation and use the power of the Saint Formation to suppress and kill them both.
Unexpectedly, they were so cautious that only Nie Wenlong climbed Cracked Yin Mountain alone.
It must be said that those who could cultivate to their level were indeed cunning old foxes, hard to ambush.
Although Nie Wenlong appeared to walk slowly, he was actually using a high-level movement martial technique. In just a few moments, he had climbed the mountain over a thousand meters high.
He stood opposite Zhang Ruochen, his posture straight, and said, "Zhang Ruochen, do you still remember me?"
Zhang Ruochen had long learned of Nie Wenlong's information from Xu Qing, and he had also seen him during the second round of the Sacred Academy assessment. How could he not recognize him?
"Nie Wenlong, ranked in the top ten thousand of the Heavenly Ranking, with one hundred and eighty thousand military merit points accumulated. Countless native experts have died by your hand. How could I not remember a strong man like you?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Nie Wenlong smiled and said, "If you could kill me, although it wouldn't get you into the Heavenly Ranking, it would certainly make your name famous."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Do you think I can't kill you?"
Nie Wenlong remained leisurely, smiling faintly. "Although you are called the king of the new generation, I am not that weak either. In three years, you will not surpass me."
Three years.
Saying this time frame, Nie Wenlong felt he was already thinking highly of Zhang Ruochen.
After all, in three years, he would also improve and would definitely break through to the Fish-Dragon Realm. For Zhang Ruochen to surpass him in three years was almost impossible.
Nie Wenlong continued, "Unfortunately, you don't even have three years to catch up to me now. Perhaps you don't know, but I have already cultivated the Wood Spirit Sacred Body. Even those geniuses ranked in the top thousand of the Heavenly Ranking might not be my match. I have already touched the threshold of the Fish-Dragon Realm and will break through within a year."
Zhang Ruochen was silent for a moment, then said, "Since you are so confident, let's fight. We'll see who laughs last."
Nie Wenlong laughed. "I know you have a trump card, but unfortunately, I am not Green Wood Dharma King or Patriarch Heart Dharma King. You cannot ambush me."
He added, "Actually, you don't have to choose a path to death. There is a way to live. If you hand over the Buddha Emperor's Relic to me, I will let you live."
The relic represented the inheritance of the Buddha Emperor, and Nie Wenlong naturally wanted to obtain it.
With the relic, Nie Wenlong wouldn't need to rely on the Xu Holy Clan; he could carve out his own path.
It was precisely because Nie Wenlong desperately wanted the relic that when the Three-Blade Half-Saint sent him to the Five Elements Ruins Realm to kill Zhang Ruochen, he agreed without hesitation.
Nie Wenlong said, "Anyway, even if you don't hand over the relic, after I kill you, it will still fall into my hands. I'll give you three breaths to consider. What do you say?"
A smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face. He looked at Nie Wenlong as if he were an idiot and said, "Do you believe I can defeat you in just three breaths?"
Nie Wenlong's gaze darkened. "You won't cry until you see the coffin."
"Hundred Poison Divine Palm."
"Swish!"
Nie Wenlong kicked off the ground, bursting forth at maximum speed, reaching twice the speed of sound.
The true qi within his body circulated rapidly, surging toward his palm as he struck out.
His palm turned a colorful, mottled color, and from his pores, a highly corrosive poisonous mist emerged, striking Zhang Ruochen's chest.
Zhang Ruochen spread his arms as if turning into a large bird, flying backward. Using his Protective Heavenly Gang, he continuously neutralized Nie Wenlong's palm force.
The Hundred Poison Divine Palm was a Ghost-grade lower-rank martial technique. It required refining hundreds of poisons into the body to successfully cultivate the palm technique.
For each additional poison added, the power of the palm technique increased by one point.
If a thousand poisons were refined into the body, one could cultivate the Thousand Poison Divine Palm, reaching the power of a Ghost-grade mid-rank martial technique.
Correspondingly, the Ten Thousand Poison Divine Palm reached Ghost-grade upper-rank.
When the palm technique was perfected, a single strike could destroy a city, or at least the poisonous qi contained in the palm wind could poison an entire city's living beings to death.
Nie Wenlong had already refined one hundred and seventy-three poisons into his body. Just the palm wind alone caused the surrounding grass and trees to wither at a visible rate.
His foot stepped on the ground, leaving a black, corrosive footprint that made the soil sizzle.
Zhang Ruochen had the Dragon Pearl protecting his body, so he was not afraid of his Hundred Poison Divine Palm.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Divine Skeleton Dharma King in the distance and decided to eliminate Nie Wenlong as quickly as possible, then slowly deal with that major enemy.
"Whoosh!"
A beam of light shot up from Zhang Ruochen's head, releasing his Martial Soul.
The Martial Soul hovered above Zhang Ruochen's head, rapidly mobilizing the world's spiritual energy.
Spiritual energy surged toward Zhang Ruochen like a frenzy, forming a massive vortex that continuously entered the Divine Martial Mark on his forehead.
Nie Wenlong's expression changed drastically. He exclaimed, "How can your Martial Soul be so powerful?"
Although Nie Wenlong had not released his Martial Soul, he could still feel the immense pressure generated by Zhang Ruochen's Martial Soul, as if it would force his own Martial Soul out of his body.
That was not a Martial Soul that a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist should possess.
Nie Wenlong could, of course, also release his Martial Soul and use it to mobilize spiritual energy to fight Zhang Ruochen.
However, doing so would only make him lose faster.
Nie Wenlong was experienced in battle and did not panic. He immediately circulated his true qi to protect his Martial Soul and retreated rapidly backward.
He twisted his body, kicked off the ground, and leaped off the cliff, charging down the mountain.
"Trying to escape? Isn't it too late?"
Zhang Ruochen followed, leaping off the cliff, continuously striking out with Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, activating the power of the Dragon Pearl.
With a whoosh, a layer of dragon scales appeared on his body, and a pair of huge golden dragon wings burst from his back.
With a flap of his dragon wings, Zhang Ruochen's speed increased sharply, catching up to Nie Wenlong from above and behind, pressing down with his palm.
"Dragon God's Tribulation."
From Zhang Ruochen's palm, dozens of electric lights surged out, shooting in all directions. Vaguely, a dragon shadow flew out amidst the lightning.
With the support of his Martial Soul, how powerful was Zhang Ruochen's palm strike?
Under the influence of the palm force, the scene before Nie Wenlong's eyes completely vanished. Only a giant golden dragon claw, hundreds of meters in size, descended from above like a Five Fingers Mountain.
Of course, it was not that Zhang Ruochen had actually struck out a dragon claw hundreds of meters in size; it was just an illusion created by the momentum of that palm strike in Nie Wenlong's mind.
(One more chapter)