# Chapter 425: Mutual Destruction
Zhang Ruochen stared at the white bone staff in the hands of Skeleton Remains Dharma King, puzzled. "Another Half-Saint staff? How could Evil Wood Palace have two Half-Saint staves?"
That staff had clashed with the Sacred Sword without being damaged, demonstrating its immense power—only a Half-Saint staff could achieve such a feat.
"The founder of Evil Wood Palace originally left behind two Half-Saint staves. One was personally carved from Purple Cloud Sinking Wood by the founder himself, who infused it with saintly power. At the same time, intricate and complex inscriptions were carved into the wood's layers."
"The other was refined from the founder's spine bone. Later, through successive generations of Evil Wood Palace masters adding their dharma power, its might surpassed the first. Naturally, this is the one I hold."
Skeleton Remains Dharma King continuously caressed the white bone staff in his hand, filled with admiration.
Suddenly, the smile in his eyes vanished, a cold gleam appearing in his pupils. Without warning, he stepped forward and attacked Zhang Ruochen again.
Although Skeleton Remains Dharma King cultivated dharma power, he had already reached the second transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, "Refining Skin into Gold," and had also cultivated a Wood Spirit Treasure Body.
Thus, his physical body was actually quite formidable.
Coupled with the Half-Saint staff in hand, he naturally dared to engage Zhang Ruochen in close combat.
"Whoosh!"
The Half-Saint staff merely trembled slightly, stirring the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy into a frenzy, like a violent storm, sending massive boulders flying from the ground.
Having suffered a minor loss in their first exchange, Zhang Ruochen naturally no longer clashed head-on with Skeleton Remains Dharma King. He immediately activated his movement technique, charging toward the mountaintop, intending to lure Skeleton Remains Dharma King into that corner of the Saint Formation.
"Still trying to flee?"
Skeleton Remains Dharma King snorted coldly, his murderous aura blazing as he pursued without hesitation.
It must be said, Skeleton Remains Dharma King's speed was indeed far greater than Zhang Ruochen's.
In an instant, he caught up behind Zhang Ruochen, leaped forward to close the distance further, and swung the Half-Saint staff downward.
Zhang Ruochen didn't need to look back to feel the destructive force surging from behind.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen hadn't stopped to block his attack, Skeleton Remains Dharma King smiled inwardly, believing the battle would soon end with Zhang Ruochen struck dead beneath the Half-Saint staff.
"Boom!"
The ground shook.
The Demon Ape burst out from underground, its fist striking toward Skeleton Remains Dharma King's chest.
Previously, Zhang Ruochen and the Demon Ape had used this same tactic—a sudden, unexpected ambush—to kill Ancestor Heart Dharma King.
They planned to use it again against Skeleton Remains Dharma King.
When the Demon Ape suddenly emerged, Skeleton Remains Dharma King was indeed slightly startled.
However, his reaction speed was extremely fast. In an instant, he redirected the Half-Saint staff, pressing it downward, channeling all his power into striking the Demon Ape.
"Bang!"
The Half-Saint staff collided with the Demon Ape's fist, sending the ape stumbling back over ten steps, breaking three bones in its fingers.
Skeleton Remains Dharma King's cultivation was already deeper than the Demon Ape's, and with the Half-Saint staff in hand, it was like adding wings to a tiger—naturally, he repelled the Demon Ape with ease.
"Haha! Zhang Ruochen, is this beast your trump card? You think you can ambush me with this? I was already using ambush tactics a hundred years ago—you're still too green!"
Though Skeleton Remains Dharma King had a violent temper, he was extremely shrewd. Zhang Ruochen had already tricked him once; tricking him a second time was nearly impossible.
"Roar!"
The Demon Ape erupted in fury, letting out a mighty roar as it charged forward, reaching Skeleton Remains Dharma King and attacking again.
Its entire body radiated black demonic light, brimming with destructive power.
"Courting death."
Skeleton Remains Dharma King's eyes turned sharp and cold as he poured all his dharma power into the Half-Saint staff.
The staff's surface manifested a layer of white phantom, swelling to the thickness of a bowl and ten zhang in length. He swung it at the Demon Ape, striking its chest.
This time, the Demon Ape was sent flying, landing over a hundred zhang away. Its massive body crushed a large swath of ancient trees, producing cracking sounds.
Zhang Ruochen, charging ahead, glanced back, his pupils contracting. "This old man's strength is terrifying—he's probably already close to the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm."
Another breath later, Zhang Ruochen finally reached the formation eye of the Saint Formation.
Skeleton Remains Dharma King followed closely, catching up, and said sternly, "You want to use the Saint Formation against me? My understanding of Saint Formations surpasses yours tenfold. When I arrived at Cracked Yin Mountain, I already noticed the Saint Formation wasn't completely destroyed."
Skeleton Remains Dharma King saw through Zhang Ruochen's intention and slammed the Half-Saint staff down fiercely.
A powerful surge of dharma power roiled on the staff, transforming into a waterfall of dharma energy, each strand like a flowing stream, as if it would crush the entire Cracked Yin Mountain.
Knowing he couldn't block this strike, Zhang Ruochen immediately mobilized spatial power, executing a Space Displacement, vanishing from his spot.
"Boom!"
Skeleton Remains Dharma King's staff struck the formation eye, producing a thunderous roar.
The formation eye of the Saint Formation was completely destroyed, and even the ground within ten zhang was shattered into pieces.
Executing Space Displacement, Zhang Ruochen appeared without warning behind Skeleton Remains Dharma King. Holding the Sacred Sword with both hands, he leveled it, moving with the sword like a meteor, thrusting toward Skeleton Remains Dharma King's back.
"Chi!"
The Sacred Sword tore through Skeleton Remains Dharma King's defenses, piercing into flesh. Blood gushed out like a fountain.
The sword tip penetrated inch by inch...
Skeleton Remains Dharma King gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. A mass of cyan light appeared in his abdomen.
The next moment, a powerful wood-attribute force surged from within his body, slamming into the Sacred Sword, sending Zhang Ruochen flying backward.
Both retreated simultaneously.
"What was that power?"
Zhang Ruochen supported himself with the sword, feeling as if all his bones had been dislocated by that force. His legs and arms went weak, unable to muster any strength.
If not for the Dragon Pearl protecting his body, that strike would have shattered hundreds of bones inside him into powder.
Skeleton Remains Dharma King was also in bad shape. A deep gash had been cut into his back by the Sacred Sword.
A surge of sword qi carrying saintly power rampaged through his body, constantly destroying his blood vessels, bones, and internal organs. Now, he could only use dharma power to forcibly suppress it.
"It seems I really shouldn't fight Zhang Ruochen at close range—he's too easy to ambush. What movement technique did he just use to appear behind me out of nowhere?"
The two faced off, neither immediately attacking again.
Zhang Ruochen squinted at Skeleton Remains Dharma King. "What power did you just use? With your cultivation, you shouldn't have such formidable dharma power."
Skeleton Remains Dharma King didn't answer, instead countering, "And what movement technique did you just use?"
Zhang Ruochen also didn't reply, simply smiling as he took a healing pill, circulating his true qi to recover.
Skeleton Remains Dharma King didn't attack either, immediately channeling his dharma power to dissolve the sword qi within him.
As Skeleton Remains Dharma King circulated his dharma power, Zhang Ruochen activated his Heavenly Eye to observe him. He saw a mass of cyan radiance floating in the area of Skeleton Remains Dharma King's abdomen.
That powerful wood-attribute force had erupted from that cyan radiance.
"What exactly is that thing?"
As Zhang Ruochen pondered, suddenly, a violent fluctuation came from the Qi Sea at his brow.
A scroll painting hovered at the center of his Qi Sea, radiating rings of light.
The Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
The scroll gradually unfurled, standing upright, revealing a magnificent world within the painting.
In the painting, that Sky-Connecting Divine Tree seemed to come alive, beginning to breathe and exhale like a cultivator.
The wood-attribute power that had invaded Zhang Ruochen's body was instantly absorbed cleanly by the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
"How can this be? Does that cyan radiance inside Skeleton Remains Dharma King have some connection to the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree? Otherwise, why would the Cosmic Divine Wood Map react like this?"
Since obtaining the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, Zhang Ruochen only knew it was a time-space treasure that could absorb the martial souls of warriors and savage beasts, but living creatures couldn't enter the scroll world.
Except for Xiao Hei.
Because Xiao Hei had been sealed in the Cosmic Divine Wood Map for a hundred thousand years.
Now, the Cosmic Divine Wood Map had finally shown some change, filling Zhang Ruochen with immediate joy.
He had to know that the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal was growing smaller and smaller. Based on his calculations, it could probably support his cultivation for about another year before exhausting all its energy and disappearing.
Having the Time-Space Crystal gave Zhang Ruochen three times the time.
It was this triple time that allowed Zhang Ruochen to catch up with other top geniuses, and even catch up to Chi Yao.
If the Time-Space Crystal disappeared, Zhang Ruochen would have to find a new time-space treasure.
Originally, Zhang Ruochen had his eye on the Heavenly Wheel Seal, but unfortunately, there were too many experts at Chaos Myriad Realms Mountain. With his current strength, obtaining the Heavenly Wheel Seal was impossible.
If he could open the world space of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, it would be an incredibly fortunate event, enough to replace the Time-Space Crystal.
The Cosmic Divine Wood Map was definitely more precious than the Time-Space Crystal and would be even more helpful for Zhang Ruochen's cultivation.
"No matter what, I must obtain that treasure inside Skeleton Remains Dharma King's body."
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground, countless thoughts flashing through his mind. Ignoring his injuries, he immediately mobilized his spiritual power, summoning a bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl to attack Skeleton Remains Dharma King.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Only while Skeleton Remains Dharma King hadn't yet recovered from his injuries did Zhang Ruochen have a chance to kill him.
At the same time, the Demon Ape charged forward again, attacking Skeleton Remains Dharma King.
The Demon Ape's physical body was extremely powerful. Though severely wounded by Skeleton Remains Dharma King earlier, it remained ferocious, forcing Skeleton Remains Dharma King to counterattack without even a chance to retreat.
"Damn it, what background does Zhang Ruochen have? Not only can he control flame power, but he can also control lightning power." Skeleton Remains Dharma King suppressed his injuries while fighting back.
In a sense, the spiritual power masters of the Kunlun Realm shared some similarities with the mages of the Five Elements Ruins Realm, though there were also many differences.
Three thousand great paths, all leading to the same destination.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power manipulated the heaven and earth spiritual energy, continuously converting it into lightning power, forming bolts of thick electric light that struck at Skeleton Remains Dharma King.
(One more chapter later, time will be late. Everyone is welcome to follow Feitian Yu's WeChat public account, WeChat ID: