Chapter 814: The Power of Thirty-Four Half-Saint War Corpses
On Jialuo Lan's face, all traces of a smile vanished, leaving only coldness and fury. "Truly remarkable. You actually managed to kill Jialuo Kong. Old Ancestor Wen was right—if you are allowed to grow, you could indeed contend with Empress Chi Yao."
"And so?" Zhang Ruochen said, holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword as he glanced at Jialuo Lan.
"Since you insist on opposing the Dead Zen Sect, you absolutely cannot be allowed to grow. Today is your day of death," Jialuo Lan declared.
"Your cultivation is not much stronger than Jialuo Kong's. I'm afraid you cannot kill me," Zhang Ruochen replied.
Jialuo Lan said, "You were able to kill Jialuo Kong not because your strength can rival a Third-Stage Half-Saint. Rather, it was because the Underworld lacks heavenly earth spiritual energy, limiting Jialuo Kong's power. Combined with your use of unpredictable spatial techniques, you managed to succeed."
"Isn't it the same for you?" Zhang Ruochen said indifferently.
Jialuo Lan shook his head. "Since Jialuo Kong has already used his death to teach us a painful lesson, do you think I would make the same mistake?"
"Whoosh!"
Jialuo Lan pressed his palms together and chanted a scripture. Behind him, the brows of fifty-seven Half-Saint puppets simultaneously emitted a golden Sanskrit character. Then, fifty-seven golden light shuttles flew out from the brows of the Half-Saint puppets and converged onto Jialuo Lan.
Originally, Jialuo Lan's cultivation was merely at the early stage of the Third-Stage Half-Saint. By combining the power of the fifty-seven Half-Saint puppets, the energy fluctuations radiating from his body became very close to that of a late-stage Third-Stage Half-Saint figure. From early Third-Stage Half-Saint to late Third-Stage Half-Saint was a gap of several times in power.
"That move again."
Zhang Ruochen showed no fear, instead calculating in his mind whether to summon Mu Lingxi, Hanxue, the Divine Demon Rat, and Xiao Hei to gang up on Jialuo Lan together.
After a moment's thought, Zhang Ruochen rejected the idea. After all, Jialuo Lan's strength far exceeded that of an ordinary Half-Saint, making him an extremely dangerous opponent.
In that case—
"Xiao Hei, he's yours!"
Zhang Ruochen summoned Xiao Hei from the Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
In addition, Xiao Hei brought out thirty-four Half-Saint puppets, arranged in a circular formation behind him.
Seeing this, Jialuo Lan's eyelids twitched. How could Zhang Ruochen also control dozens of Half-Saint puppets? "Have you also cultivated the Dead Zen Buddhist Dharma?"
No.
The one controlling the Half-Saint puppets was not Zhang Ruochen.
It was the rather plump black cat beside Zhang Ruochen.
A cat could learn the Dead Zen Buddhist Dharma?
Xiao Hei shot Jialuo Lan a disdainful glance, its round face twitching as its whiskers moved. "This Emperor has merely studied it a bit. I must say, that old ancestor of the Dead Zen Sect is indeed a remarkable genius, fusing together Buddhist Dharma, formations, and the secret art of corpse driving."
"How could a mere beast comprehend the true essence of the Dead Zen Buddhist Dharma?" Jialuo Lan scoffed.
A cat understanding the Dead Zen Buddhist Dharma?
"Foolish human, how dare you look down on this Emperor! I will teach you a lesson."
Xiao Hei put on a fierce expression and then also activated the Dead Zen Buddhist Dharma, drawing the power of the thirty-four Half-Saint puppets into itself.
To be precise, the thirty-four Half-Saint corpses standing behind Xiao Hei were not puppets but war corpses. In the Scroll World, Xiao Hei had already refined them once according to the records in the Dead Zen Buddhist Dharma, making each war corpse's power comparable to a First-Stage Half-Saint.
It could be said that the power of the thirty-four Half-Saint war corpses far exceeded Jialuo Lan's fifty-seven Half-Saint puppets.
The eyes of all thirty-four Half-Saint war corpses opened wide, emitting dark, eerie light. Wisps of yin-cold energy fluctuations surged from within their bodies, forming thirty-four clouds of corpse mist.
Even Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes, clearly sensing the immense power contained within the thirty-four Half-Saint war corpses. Although they were corpses that had been dead for many years, the aura emanating from their bodies was not far off from that of true First-Stage Half-Saints.
Thirty-four First-Stage Half-Saints—just the thought of it was terrifying. Even with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, encountering thirty-four First-Stage Half-Saints at once would force him to retreat immediately.
Of course, the thirty-four war corpses were still far inferior to thirty-four living First-Stage Half-Saints, as they were mindless dead things without intelligence.
"How did that guy Xiao Hei manage to refine them into war corpses?" Zhang Ruochen wondered inwardly.
Not only Zhang Ruochen, but even Jialuo Lan was startled. The creation of a single Half-Saint war corpse required various materials and a massive expenditure of resources. Suddenly seeing thirty-four Half-Saint war corpses appear—how could he not be shocked?
But before Jialuo Lan could think it over, Xiao Hei led the thirty-four war corpses in an attack.
The thirty-four war corpses clashed with the fifty-seven Half-Saint puppets, overwhelming them and shattering their formation in moments. Then, with Xiao Hei at the lead, the thirty-four war corpses surrounded Jialuo Lan, unleashing all kinds of attacks upon him.
"Xiao Hei, remember to keep him alive. I still need to question him about some matters," Zhang Ruochen instructed.
Zhang Ruochen did not join the battle circle but stood to the side, controlling his Space Domain to cover the area, preventing Jialuo Lan from escaping.
As the saying goes, fortunes change. The situation had completely reversed.
Although Jialuo Lan's cultivation was indeed profound, he could not withstand the siege of thirty-four Half-Saint war corpses. Soon, more than a dozen wounds appeared on his body.
"Zhang Ruochen's war beast is too heaven-defying. If I keep fighting, I might lose my life here today."
Jialuo Lan acted decisively, immediately producing a scroll of sacred edict. From the edict surged a mass of golden Buddhist Qi, wrapping around his body.
"This debt, this humble monk will remember. One day, I will repay it double."
With resentment burning in his eyes, Jialuo Lan used the power of the sacred edict to transform into a golden streak of light, shooting toward the sky above.
As long as he activated the sacred edict's power, even if he encountered an ordinary Saint, he had a good chance of escaping.
Unfortunately, Zhang Ruochen had been on guard all along. Just as Jialuo Lan flew up, a spatial rift forced him back, preventing his escape.
"Hehe, little donkey, you think you can run?"
Xiao Hei laughed loudly and led the thirty-four Half-Saint war corpses charging forward, engulfing Jialuo Lan. After a bout of beating, they battered Jialuo Lan until he was barely breathing, lying prone on the ground.
Moments later, Xiao Hei executed a secret technique called "God-Suppressing Finger," using its claws to strike Jialuo Lan one hundred and eight times in succession, drawing screams of agony from him.
By the time the set of God-Suppressing Finger strikes was complete, all of Jialuo Lan's sacred meridians and energy channels were sealed, leaving him powerless to fight.
"Zhang Ruochen, you go too far! If you have the guts, fight me yourself!"
Jialuo Lan roared in unwillingness.
Zhang Ruochen saw Xiao Hei binding a Twelfth-Grade True Martial Treasure-level iron chain around Jialuo Lan and walked over, saying calmly, "You can't even defeat a cat, so why do you think you deserve to fight me? To be honest, the cultivators of the Dead Zen Sect have really disappointed me. Not a single one of them is truly impressive."
To extract the information he wanted from Jialuo Lan's mouth, he first had to crush Jialuo Lan's confidence and break his spirit. Otherwise, a Half-Saint, even when captured, would never submit to a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator.
"Benefactor Zhang, do you underestimate the Dead Zen Sect too much?"
A ethereal voice came from the darkness.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen felt an extremely dangerous aura enveloping him. It was like a mortal being targeted by the God of Death.
"Haha! Heart Art Buddha Master is about to arrive. Zhang Ruochen, your death is near!" Jialuo Lan laughed loudly.
Zhang Ruochen's expression grew unprecedentedly grave. He glanced in the direction of the voice. "The opponent is still thousands of miles away, but he has used some sacred art to send his voice ahead."
Facing a figure like Heart Art Buddha Master, even fleeing into the Cosmic Divine Wood Map would be useless. Worse, if Heart Art Buddha Master obtained the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, with his cultivation, he might even refine the scroll. Then everyone inside the Scroll World would die.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen immediately produced a scroll of sacred edict, preparing to activate its power to escape.
Just as he gripped the sacred edict and looked up, he saw the dark sky suddenly filled with densely packed stars, radiating dazzling light.
Even more shocking, the countless stars were rapidly falling downward.
"What's happening? How can there be stars in the Underworld?"
Xiao Hei scratched its head, utterly confused.
Zhang Ruochen's face turned extremely grim. "Those aren't stars. That's the light from over ten thousand Buddhist artifacts on the Ten Thousand Treasures Kasaya. To prevent us from escaping, Heart Art Buddha Master has already thrown out the Ten Thousand Treasures Kasaya, wrapping the entire heaven and earth. Even using the sacred edict, we cannot escape."
Facing such a desperate situation, many would have fallen into despair, but Zhang Ruochen remained calm.
Jialuo Lan let out another sinister laugh. "Heart Art Buddha Master has made his move, and you still think you can escape? Zhang Ruochen, earlier this humble monk advised you to join the Dead Zen Sect, but you insisted on opposing it. Now, regret is too late, isn't it?"
The dangerous aura drew closer and closer, and the descending Ten Thousand Treasures Kasaya was about to engulf everyone.
But Zhang Ruochen keenly noticed that the Blood Moon Ghost King, who had been standing on the small island, plunged into the lake and sank to the bottom.
A flash of joy crossed Zhang Ruochen's face. "This place is the Blood Moon Ghost King's lair. She must have set up many escape measures. If we follow her, we might survive this calamity."
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Jialuo Lan and immediately plunged into the lake, chasing after the Blood Moon Ghost King.
Xiao Hei's eyes rolled around, and it collected all the Half-Saint puppets on the lake surface into a space ring before also diving into the lake.
(It's Monday again, so I'm here to ask for recommendation votes. Thank you!)