Chapter 690: Battle
Seeing the scene outside the Taoist temple, Zhang Ruochen inhaled a cold breath and secretly went on guard. Then, his gaze fixed on the golden soft sword beside the corpse, and his eyes sharply contracted as he uttered three words: "Xu Changsheng."
The corpse on the ground was already unrecognizable, like a ball of crushed bloody mud.
However, that golden soft sword was definitely Xu Changsheng's personal sword; Zhang Ruochen had seen it before.
Even a top-tier expert like Xu Changsheng had been killed?
Xu Changsheng, having broken through to the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, possessed immense strength. Even a first-rank Half-Saint would need to expend considerable effort to kill him.
Zhang Ruochen instinctively felt that he had stumbled into a forbidden zone.
This place was extremely dangerous, and he had to leave immediately.
But just then, a man's voice rang out from within the Taoist temple: "The rain is so heavy, friend, won't you come in for a cup of hot tea?"
The voice was very calm, yet Zhang Ruochen clearly sensed a murderous atmosphere. Even the rain falling from the sky seemed to pause for a moment.
"What if I insist on leaving right now?"
Zhang Ruochen maintained a calm demeanor, but he had already gripped the Thunder Pearl in his hand, mobilizing all his spiritual power to transform it into the power of lightning.
From the Thunder Pearl, bolts of lightning surged out, coalescing into a purple thunder sphere three zhang in diameter that enveloped his body.
"Crack, crack!"
The wooden door of the Taoist temple slowly creaked open.
Firelight spilled out from within.
Zhang Ruochen fixed his gaze and, through the wooden door, saw a young man in green robes sitting inside the temple.
Illuminated by the firelight, the green-robed man's figure appeared faint and indistinct.
The green-robed man turned his head, glanced at Zhang Ruochen outside, smiled, and nodded. "A forty-fourth-rank spiritual power master, very impressive! At any other time, given your strength, I would let you leave. But since you recognize Xu Changsheng, you must stay here today, no matter what."
Two figures descended from above the Taoist temple, landing in front of and behind Zhang Ruochen.
The man standing in front of Zhang Ruochen was Wu Ba.
He had eight arms and eight legs, stood three meters and two inches tall, and his entire skin was pitch black, with only his eyes being golden.
Wu Ba revealed a cruel smile, staring at Zhang Ruochen across from him. "I, Wu Ba, have killed countless people, but I've never killed a forty-fourth-rank spiritual power master. I wonder what that feels like?"
The woman behind Zhang Ruochen was called Que Jiu. She had a very seductive figure and a pair of wings on her back. She chuckled, "Although a forty-fourth-rank spiritual power master is strong, at such a close distance, is there time to cast spells?"
Que Jiu's arms grew a layer of fine, cyan scales, and her ten fingers became extremely sharp. From the gaps between the scales, cyan flames surged out, transforming her hands into the claws of a savage bird.
Que Jiu's true form was a sixth-rank savage bird, the Cyan Wind Sparrow, which possessed the bloodline of the divine bird, Azure Luan. Although the divine bird bloodline was quite diluted, it still made her strength far surpass that of ordinary savage birds.
Now, Que Jiu's cultivation had reached the peak of the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, only one step away from crossing into the Half-Saint realm.
As a Cyan Wind Sparrow, she could harness the power of the wind attribute, so Que Jiu's greatest strength was her speed.
"Whoosh!"
With a flicker of her form, Que Jiu transformed into a cyan shadow and attacked Zhang Ruochen from behind.
But Zhang Ruochen's speed was much faster than she had imagined. He took a step forward, like a beam of light, darting past Que Jiu's side.
"Your speed is decent, but still a bit slow."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were cold and deep. He struck back with a palm aimed at Que Jiu's head.
Que Jiu's expression changed drastically. She had never expected that in the Fish-Dragon Realm, someone could be faster than her, and that person was a spiritual power master.
However, Que Jiu's reaction speed was extremely fast.
Just as Zhang Ruochen's palm descended, she immediately raised her wings, forming a layer of fiery light barrier to shield her head.
Zhang Ruochen's palm struck Que Jiu's protective Saint Qi, causing it to cave inward. With a "pop," the Saint Qi shattered.
Then, the powerful palm print landed on Que Jiu's wings, sending her plummeting downward with great force.
"Bang!" Que Jiu's body curled into a ball, half of it sinking into the ground as she rolled toward the Taoist temple, leaving a deep trench behind her.
"Not just a spiritual power master, but also a powerful martial arts cultivator."
Inside the Taoist temple, the green-robed man showed a surprised expression and finally began to scrutinize Zhang Ruochen carefully. Clearly, the strength Zhang Ruochen had displayed had caught his attention.
Spreading her wings, Que Jiu slowly stood up, licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, and stared in astonishment at Zhang Ruochen, who was standing not far away. "Your speed can't be faster than mine. You must be carrying some sacred object that enhances speed, right?"
Que Jiu guessed correctly. Zhang Ruochen was indeed wearing the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, which gave him such incredible speed.
Moreover, it was only by relying on this speed that Zhang Ruochen had managed to catch Que Jiu off guard and injure her.
Now that his speed had been exposed, the others present would certainly be on guard. It wouldn't be so easy for him to succeed again.
"What a formidable savage bird."
Seeing Que Jiu get back up, Zhang Ruochen's heart sank.
That palm strike had been delivered with all his strength and at his fastest speed, yet it had only inflicted a minor injury on her.
Just how strong was she?
At the very least, she was equivalent to five cultivators at the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
If Que Jiu alone was this powerful, how strong must Wu Ba be, who had yet to make a move?
Que Jiu and Wu Ba were clearly just underlings. The true experts were the eight men in the Taoist temple.
And how powerful was he?
The world was filled with countless experts. Zhang Ruochen didn't believe that with his cultivation at the fifth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he could be invincible below the Half-Saint level.
Leave!
This time, without any hesitation, Zhang Ruochen immediately mobilized his spiritual power, channeled it into his body, and executed the Thunderclap Technique, dashing out at full speed.
Que Jiu chuckled, quickly spread her fair arms, and shot out two cyan light pillars toward the direction Zhang Ruochen had fled.
The two cyan light pillars, imbued with powerful wind attribute energy, intertwined and formed a vortex a hundred zhang in diameter in the sky.
"Demon Wind Vortex."
The vortex spun rapidly, with hundreds of wind blades flying inside, making a "whoosh, whoosh" sound as they chased after Zhang Ruochen.
In the blink of an eye, the massive wind blade vortex had caught up to Zhang Ruochen.
Earlier, when Xu Changsheng had tried to flee, Que Jiu had used this same move to drag him back.
Now, Que Jiu was using the same trick against Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was not about to sit idly by. With a cold snort, he suddenly stopped, hovered in midair, and raised the Thunder Pearl above his head.
In an instant, bolts of lightning and pillars of fire surged from the Thunder Pearl, coalescing into a vortex a hundred zhang in diameter.
"Lightning Fire Vortex."
A third-rank spell, amplified by the Thunder Pearl, made this attack incredibly powerful.
From a distance, the two mountain-sized vortices in the sky collided, unleashing a violent burst of energy.
"Boom, rumble!"
Wind blades and lightning fire scattered in all directions. Some of the lightning bolts struck the ground, leaving blackened craters. Other wind blades slashed across the mountain peaks, creating cracks over ten meters long.
Que Jiu retreated thirteen steps back to the bottom of the stone steps before steadying herself. A look of wild joy appeared on her face, and she said excitedly, "So powerful in both martial arts and spiritual power. He's really a worthy opponent. His life is mine—don't anyone fight me for it."
Wu Ba revealed a sinister smile and said, "It's rare to see Que Jiu so serious. It seems she's really met her match."
Although Wu Ba had great confidence in Que Jiu's strength, he didn't dare to be careless, as the masked man was also a rare top-tier expert.
"Whoosh!"
Cyan Saint Qi surged from Que Jiu's body.
Her form transformed into a beam of cyan light, shooting up into the sky and disappearing into the thick black clouds.
The next moment, the clouds in the sky emitted a vast, oppressive aura of a savage bird, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth violently trembled. Faintly, cyan flames could be seen flickering behind the clouds.
Then, two cyan wings, dozens of meters long, emerged from the clouds. With a downward beat, they generated a powerful storm of air, shaped like an arc, that struck toward Zhang Ruochen.
Standing below, Zhang Ruochen looked up, his eyes seeming to pierce through the thick clouds. He murmured to himself, "A sixth-rank savage beast, the Cyan Wind Sparrow."
Facing the powerful storm surging down, Zhang Ruochen didn't dare to underestimate it. He summoned a Golden Snake Saint Sword, mobilized all his Saint Qi, and poured it into the sword body, fully activating the sword's power.
"Break!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword, sending a long sword aura slicing toward the oncoming storm, splitting it in two.
At that moment, a savage bird claw reached down from the clouds.
The scales on the claw blazed with scorching flames as it struck toward Zhang Ruochen's head. Illuminated by the firelight, Zhang Ruochen's face turned a deep red.
"Boom!"
The Golden Snake Saint Sword clashed with the savage bird claw, and the immense force transmitted to Zhang Ruochen's body.
"As expected of a divine beast descendant—such tremendous power."
Zhang Ruochen's arm trembled, and the next moment, his body plummeted vertically from midair, crashing into the ground and sinking into the mountain's interior.
Que Jiu thought she had dealt with Zhang Ruochen, so she transformed back into human form, landed on the ground, and looked into the pit. "Is he dead already?"
"Not that easy."
A voice sounded behind her.
Que Jiu didn't turn around, but a look of shock appeared in her eyes as she sensed a sword aura flying toward her from behind. She immediately spread her wings and shot forward at top speed.
It was an instinctive reaction to danger. If she hadn't retreated, she might have fallen right there.