# Chapter 541: One Million One Hundred Thousand Military Merit Points
Iron Lady's eyes were like two bright cold stars as she looked down at the bloodstains on her hand, revealing a cold, mocking smile: "As expected of the number one on the Heavenly Ranking, your reaction speed is quite fast."
"Your strength isn't weak either."
Zhang Ruochen touched the bloodstained mark on his neck, his gaze gradually turning icy.
Iron Lady's speed was astonishingly fast, her attacks vicious, every move a killing technique.
When facing such an enemy, one must be cautious and careful; the slightest negligence could lead to death with no burial place.
Orange Moon Star Envoy stood behind Zhang Ruochen, reminding him: "Iron Lady is the tenth-ranked assassin of the Blood Cloud Tower. She once assassinated a powerhouse at the fifth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, and she successfully completed that assassination mission. However, in that battle, she was also severely injured, with almost all the bones in her body shattered by her opponent."
"A half-saint from the Blood Cloud Tower used silver-molybdenum iron to reconnect her bones and forge a new body for her, making her strength even greater than before."
"One could say that half of her body is made of silver-molybdenum iron."
Zhang Ruochen nodded, finally understanding. No wonder when he had stabbed Iron Lady with his sword earlier, she felt no pain.
Such a half-human, half-metal assassin was indeed not easy to deal with.
Iron Lady looked coldly at Orange Moon Star Envoy and said, "Orange Moon Star Envoy, your betrayal of the Black Market is unforgivable. Once you return to the Kunlun Realm, you will be hunted by all evil path cultivators in the world. Your submission to Zhang Ruochen has already ruined your bright future."
Orange Moon Star Envoy smiled disdainfully: "Iron Lady, your body is indeed powerful, and your cultivation is not weak, but killing you is not a difficult task for me."
"As expected of a former Star Envoy, such big words."
Iron Lady snorted coldly, placed the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Vase into the metal groove at her waist, and slowly spread her feet apart. Her metal boots scraped against the ground, causing sparks to fly from the warship fragments.
Her two iron hands clenched tightly together as she said, "Orange Moon Star Envoy, if it were before, I would have feared your status and dared not fight you. But now, if I cut off your head, I can bring it back to the Black Market to claim credit. Killing you is worth more than killing ten saints."
"Is that so? A Star Envoy is still a Star Envoy, and an assassin will always remain just an assassin. If you fight me, you will die a miserable death."
Orange Moon Star Envoy shook her head with a smile and began to circulate her true qi, her ten jade-like fingers emitting a chilling cold aura.
Between the two of them, two powerful streams of true qi surged forward simultaneously, colliding with each other.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, Iron Lady and Orange Moon Star Envoy both stomped their feet simultaneously, turning into two afterimages that shot into the air, rapidly exchanging blows in a fierce battle.
"Bang! Bang!"
In the blink of an eye, the two women exchanged dozens of moves.
On the warship fragment, Ao Xinyan pulled out the Azure Water Dragon Pattern Sword, looking up at the two fighting in the air, and said, "Team Leader, should I go help Orange Moon?"
"No need. If she can't even deal with a mere Iron Lady, she wouldn't have become one of the seven Star Envoys of the Black Market," Zhang Ruochen said.
Orange Moon Star Envoy had only recently entered the second transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, her accumulation was still insufficient, and she hadn't cultivated several profound ghost-level martial techniques. However, Zhang Ruochen had full confidence in her.
As a Star Envoy carefully selected by the Black Market, meticulously nurtured by saints, and ultimately rising to prominence, shouldn't she possess such strength?
Zhang Ruochen raised his voice and said, "Orange Moon Star Envoy, if you can kill Iron Lady and help me retrieve the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Vase, I will reward you generously."
"Thank you, Young Master," Orange Moon Star Envoy said with a smile.
Fighting against a powerful evil path cultivator like Iron Lady, Orange Moon Star Envoy could still speak in response. It seemed she was handling it with ease.
"Swish! Swish!"
Suddenly, from a distance, came the faint sound of water.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze turned backward, and he saw seven Red Ru Beast heading in their direction.
Three of them were flying in the air, like three small blazing suns. The light radiating from their bodies was blinding.
The other four Red Ru Beasts were swimming in the water.
"Since Iron Lady has already appeared, other evil path experts must be nearby, ready to rush out from the shadows at any moment. You must be on guard. I'll go deal with those seven Red Ru Beasts."
Zhang Ruochen instructed Ao Xinyan and Huang Yanchen, then picked up the Abyssal Ancient Sword, jumped off the warship fragment, stepped on the water's surface, and charged toward the seven Red Ru Beasts.
Facing seven Red Ru Beasts alone was indeed a considerable challenge.
But Zhang Ruochen showed no fear; instead, he was extremely excited.
Because in his eyes, they were not just seven Red Ru Beasts but a massive amount of military merit points.
Four Red Ru Beasts at the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm and three at the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm totaled one million one hundred thousand military merit points.
Zhang Ruochen's primary goal was to break through to the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
Now, he was getting closer and closer to this goal.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen couldn't fight the seven Red Ru Beasts at close range. If he did, he would have no chance of winning.
After all, Red Ru Beasts had extremely strong defenses. Spiritual power attacks couldn't kill them. If he didn't hit their vital points, even a sacred artifact like the Abyssal Ancient Sword couldn't kill one with a single strike.
"Whoosh!"
When the nearest Red Ru Beast was still a hundred zhang away, Zhang Ruochen unleashed the Dragon-Locking Chain.
Under the activation of its inscriptions, the Dragon-Locking Chain gradually thickened, turning into an iron cable as thick as a bowl's opening, emitting electric light and flames, and wrapping around the left wing of the foremost Red Ru Beast flying in the sky.
That Red Ru Beast was at the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
The moment its wing was entangled by the Dragon-Locking Chain, it immediately flapped its wings, unleashing a powerful force that pulled the chain taut.
"Clatter!"
How could Zhang Ruochen's strength match that of a fourth-transformation Red Ru Beast?
He felt a tremendous pulling force from the Dragon-Locking Chain, dragging him off the ground and hurling him toward the Red Ru Beast.
The claws beneath the Red Ru Beast's abdomen extended—three claws in total, like sharp hooked spikes—reaching upward to strike at Zhang Ruochen's chest and abdomen.
Zhang Ruochen somersaulted in midair, flying over the claws.
At the same time, he swiftly thrust his sword, striking at the Red Ru Beast's left eye.
"Pfft!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword pierced through the Red Ru Beast's eyeball and into its skull. A fierce sword qi erupted, shattering the flesh and brain inside the Red Ru Beast's head into a mushy pulp.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his sword and flew over the Red Ru Beast's head.
"Splash!"
The corpse of that Red Ru Beast fell into the sea.
"Clatter!"
Without any pause, Zhang Ruochen immediately unleashed the Dragon-Locking Chain again, striking at another Red Ru Beast at the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
That Red Ru Beast had no time to dodge before the chain wrapped around it more than twenty times.
Its wings were tightly bound, preventing it from flying, and it began to fall downward.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two golden sacred swords flew out from the storage ring, piercing through its two eyeballs and entering its body.
When the two sacred swords flew out again, the blood vessels and organs inside that Red Ru Beast's body were already completely shattered.
In just an instant, Zhang Ruochen had killed two Red Ru Beasts in succession. The key reason was that he had found their weakness.
The weakness of Red Ru Beasts was their eyes.
Of course, another crucial point was that Red Ru Beasts had low intelligence.
Although they were both fifth-level savage beasts, Red Ru Beasts had far superior defenses compared to Red Cloud Python Flood Dragons, but their intelligence was far inferior.
"Croak!"
With two Red Ru Beasts dead, the remaining five became utterly enraged. They flew toward Zhang Ruochen, surrounding him in the center and launching a frenzied attack.
"Bang! Bang!"
The Dragon Pearl emitted a dazzling light, protecting Zhang Ruochen within a golden light circle.
At the same time, six golden sacred swords hovered around Zhang Ruochen's body in six directions. Under the control of his Sword Intent Heart, the six swords continuously attacked the five Red Ru Beasts.
"Space Rift."
Seizing an opportunity, Zhang Ruochen mobilized his spatial power, concentrating it at his fingertip, and slashed at one of the Red Ru Beasts.
In front of his finger, a two-zhang-long space rift tore open, striking the Red Ru Beast's head.
In an instant, the scales on the Red Ru Beast's head shattered into pieces, and its skull broke into two.
Another Red Ru Beast fell into the sea.
...
...
Not far from the battlefield, within the white mist, stood two evil path martial artists dressed in black robes. They were Huo Wuji and Huo Guang.
Huo Wuji's eyes were fixed on the distant battlefield where Zhang Ruochen was fighting the Red Ru Beasts. His voice was hoarse: "Zhang Ruochen is using spatial power. Every time he mobilizes that power, a strong spatial fluctuation emanates from his fingertip."
Huo Guang said, "It seems Zhang Ruochen is hiding quite a secret. If we can capture him and force out the secret of spatial power, why would we need to bow to Green Robe Star Envoy in the future?"
Huo Wuji nodded, clenching his hands, and said, "If I could obtain the Dragon Pearl inside Zhang Ruochen's body, I might be able to break through to the half-saint realm in my lifetime."
"Grandfather, should we make our move now?"
Huo Guang held the six-foot-long Silver Bone Bow in his hand, staring at the distant battlefield, looking eager to try.
Huo Wuji glanced at him and said, "Now is not the best time. Look, Zhang Ruochen appears strong, having killed four of the seven Red Ru Beasts. But whether it's activating sacred artifacts or using spatial power, it must consume a tremendous amount of true qi."
"Moreover, Zhang Ruochen is using several sacred artifacts simultaneously. Under such circumstances, even if he can kill all seven Red Ru Beasts, he will surely exhaust his true qi."
Huo Guang's eyes lit up as realization dawned, and he smiled: "Grandfather means that after Zhang Ruochen kills the seven Red Ru Beasts and his true qi is nearly depleted, we strike?"
Huo Wuji smiled like a master strategist: "This is called 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.' By then, capturing Zhang Ruochen will be as easy as turning over one's hand."
Huo Guang looked in another direction, fixing his gaze on Huang Yanchen and Ao Xinyan.
However, Huo Guang only glanced at them briefly before withdrawing his gaze. He didn't take them seriously—just two little girls, nothing worth mentioning.