Chapter 494: Killing from a Thousand Miles Away
From afar, three powerful auras surged toward him. Zhang Ruochen looked over and saw three towering ancient trees rushing over at great speed, forming an encirclement to trap him.
"They're back so quickly!"
Zhang Ruochen chuckled and immediately struck out with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, using this martial technique to unleash the power of the Dragon Pearl. With a "whoosh," a pair of three-zhang-long golden dragon wings burst forth from his back.
With a single flap of his wings, Zhang Ruochen shot into the air like a massive bird, soaring into the clouds hundreds of meters high.
"Trying to escape? Do you think it's that easy?"
The four Tree Kings each controlled a thousand-year-old Fire Vine, striking out toward the sky.
The Fire Vines swelled to the thickness of a water barrel, stretching thousands of meters long as they shot upward, piercing through the clouds like four fiery dragons, lashing toward Zhang Ruochen.
The Fire Vine itself was a type of spirit creature, possessing intelligence and sentience. Combined with the power of the Tree Kings, it unleashed terrifying might.
Zhang Ruochen dared not clash head-on with the Fire Vines and could only dodge continuously.
"No good. Flying in the sky makes me a sitting duck."
Zhang Ruochen wove through the four Fire Vines, then dove downward, landing back on the ground.
He retracted his dragon wings, transforming into a human figure that dashed into the dense forest, disappearing from sight in moments.
"Tree Kings, I'll come back to spar with you tomorrow."
Zhang Ruochen's voice echoed between heaven and earth, but the four Tree Kings could no longer find his trace.
"He got away again. How infuriating!"
"He said he'd come back tomorrow. If so, we'll set up a heaven-and-earth net tomorrow and see how he escapes!"
"Exactly. Tomorrow, we'll set up the Heavenly Wood Absolute God Formation and make sure to kill that Outer Realm Death God."
The four Tree Kings gathered together, beginning to discuss their strategy for dealing with the Outer Realm Death God.
Zhang Ruochen was in high spirits. He had easily earned over a hundred thousand military merit points, bringing him one step closer to the million-point mark.
However, Zhang Ruochen did not let success go to his head. He understood clearly that his rapid accumulation of merit points was because the Treefolk were not skilled in combat and lacked high intelligence, allowing him to toy with them so easily.
If it were a human cultivator at the Fish-Dragon Third Change, they would have already reached the "Skin Refined to Gold" and "Bones Transformed to Jade" stages. Moreover, anyone who could reach the Fish-Dragon Third Change had been through hundreds or thousands of battles—they would not be so easy to deal with.
"Having suffered heavy losses for two consecutive days, the Treefolk will be much more cautious in the coming days. Since that's the case, I won't take any more risks. I'll focus on improving my own strength first, then slowly contend with them."
As for Zhang Ruochen's claim that he would return to fight the Tree Kings tomorrow, it was entirely a joke.
Truth mixed with falsehood, falsehood mixed with truth—keeping the Treefolk guessing about when he would actually strike was the best outcome.
Returning to the concealment formation atop the mountain peak, Zhang Ruochen took a sip of Wood Spirit Red Chan and began healing the injuries on his palms.
His injuries were not severe, only superficial wounds, and they healed quickly.
"Since I've broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Stage Great Extreme Position, I should be able to refine more Half-Saint Light and elevate my Martial Soul to an even higher level."
When he was at the Heavenly Extreme Stage Middle Extreme Position, Zhang Ruochen had used Half-Saint Light to strengthen his Martial Soul to a level comparable to a Fish-Dragon Sixth Change cultivator, reaching the limit his body could withstand.
If the Martial Soul became too powerful, the cultivator's body would not be able to bear it.
For instance, given Zhang Ruochen's current martial cultivation and physical strength, if his Martial Soul suddenly reached the Half-Saint level, his body would surely burst.
However, having broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Stage Great Extreme Position, his physical strength had increased significantly, allowing him to continue absorbing Half-Saint Light to make his Martial Soul even stronger.
If his Martial Soul could reach the level of a Fish-Dragon Seventh Change cultivator, he would be able to mobilize even more natural energy, greatly increasing his power. Even facing four Tree Kings at once, Zhang Ruochen would have confidence in victory.
The Half-Saint Light was stored within Zhang Ruochen's brow Qi Sea.
As Zhang Ruochen began absorbing the Half-Saint Light, white saintly light radiated from his head. Saintly light surged from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, converging above his head to form a white halo.
Orange Moon Star Envoy sat cross-legged within the formation, her eyes fixed intently on Zhang Ruochen as strands of saintly light flowed from his Qi Sea.
She was quite astonished: "Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea can actually store Half-Saint Light, and in considerable quantities. Could it be... could he have reached the Supreme Extreme Realm of some stage, drawing the resonance of the gods and forming a Divine Light Qi Sea?"
Orange Moon Star Envoy had also refined Half-Saint Light before to strengthen her Martial Soul.
But she had never directly stored Half-Saint Light in her Qi Sea, because an ordinary cultivator's Qi Sea was extremely fragile and could easily be torn apart by the powerful force of Half-Saint Light.
Only cultivators who had drawn the resonance of the gods and cultivated a Divine Light Qi Sea could withstand the power of Half-Saint Light.
Like Bu Qianfan.
Bu Qianfan had reached the Supreme Extreme Realm at the Yellow Extreme Stage and also cultivated a Divine Light Qi Sea, so his Qi Sea could also store Half-Saint Light.
"No wonder Zhang Ruochen is so powerful. He must have reached the Supreme Extreme Realm at least once. If he accumulates another thirty million military merit points, he can reach the Supreme Extreme Realm a second time. By then, who among his generation could rival him?"
Orange Moon Star Envoy's eyes shifted constantly as she pondered how to transmit this information. No matter what, the Black Market had to eliminate Zhang Ruochen and prevent him from growing.
Over the course of three days, Zhang Ruochen absorbed a large amount of Half-Saint Light, and his Martial Soul indeed strengthened to a level comparable to a Fish-Dragon Seventh Change cultivator.
He released his Martial Soul, letting it hover in the air.
The Martial Soul mobilized the natural energy within a ten-li radius, condensing it into a tens-of-meters-long Qi Sword.
"Swish!"
The Qi Sword shot out like a meteor streaking across the sky, flying an unknown distance before diving downward, crashing into the Treefolk army and shattering a century-old Treefolk into a pile of splintered wood.
With a thunderous boom, the century-old Treefolk's roots shattered, leaving a massive crater on the ground.
"A Martial Soul at the Fish-Dragon Seventh Change level, combined with the Sword Heart Illumination realm, can unleash such tremendous power. It can truly kill from a thousand miles away. However, this technique consumes too much true qi. After a single attack, my internal true qi is almost completely drained."
Killing from a thousand miles away might seem impressive, but it required several conditions to work.
First, a Martial Soul at the Fish-Dragon Seventh Change level.
Second, the Sword Heart Illumination realm.
Third, a Spiritual Power of at least the fortieth rank, allowing the opening of the Heavenly Eye. Only with the Heavenly Eye could one clearly see an enemy a thousand miles away.
All three were indispensable.
For a Heavenly Extreme Stage martial artist, achieving even one of these three points was an extraordinary accomplishment.
Even among Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators, those who could meet all three conditions were rare.
Due to the massive consumption of true qi, Zhang Ruochen felt a wave of weakness. He immediately took a sip of Wood Spirit Red Chan to restore his true qi.
Before long, he was back at his peak.
"Today, I must accumulate my military merit points to one million."
Zhang Ruochen stood up, his entire body brimming with battle intent.
"Group Leader, I want to go too."
Ao Xinyan, sword in hand, followed Zhang Ruochen out of the formation.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Ao Xinyan, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Have you already cultivated the Water Spirit Treasure Body?"
"Yes. Having cultivated the Water Spirit Treasure Body, my Half-Dragon Body has also improved significantly. Moreover, with the help of the Black Water Liuli Crystal, my cultivation has broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Stage Great Perfection. With my current strength, I am no weaker than Pei Ji back then. I won't hold you back, Group Leader." Ao Xinyan said.
With Ao Xinyan's current strength, she was indeed no weaker than Pei Ji, and perhaps even a bit stronger. Moreover, she had just broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Stage Great Perfection, leaving plenty of room for improvement.
If she accumulated more experience, she might even have a chance to break into the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking.
"Alright, since you want to go, let's go. With your cultivation level, you need more tempering." Zhang Ruochen said.
A delighted expression appeared on Ao Xinyan's pretty, egg-shaped face. She tightly pressed her red lips together, seemingly lost in thought, looking very pleased.
Then, she followed behind Zhang Ruochen, leaping down the mountain and heading toward the Treefolk army.
Before they even reached the Treefolk camp, Zhang Ruochen sent the Abyssal Ancient Sword flying, executing the Sword Control Art to strike first at the Mingyi Tree King, the second strongest among the four Tree Kings.
The four Tree Kings had long set up the Heavenly Wood Absolute God Formation, ready to make a big move and eliminate the Outer Realm Death God.
But they had not expected the Outer Realm Death God to be so untrustworthy. They had waited for three consecutive days without seeing him appear.
Just as the entire Treefolk army had let down their guard, a sacred sword suddenly flew in from the horizon, attacking Mingyi Tree King first.
Caught completely off guard, with a "bang," the Abyssal Ancient Sword pierced through the tree trunk, leaving a massive hole in Mingyi Tree King's body and spilling a large amount of blood.
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Another chapter tomorrow at noon.)