Chapter 854: Battle
"Rise."
Zhang Ruochen swept his arm, releasing his Space Domain to envelop Mu Lingxi and Han Qiu. He performed a Spatial Displacement, vanishing from the center of the street.
With a thunderous boom, a thick white pillar of light struck the ground.
A powerful shockwave, like white ripples, rapidly spread in all directions.
The stone slabs on the street shattered in an instant, turning into fine dust.
Immediately after, the surrounding buildings collapsed rapidly. Moments later, a full fifth of the entire Shentai City sank into the ground, kicking up a vast cloud of gray-black dust.
In midair, circles of tiny ripples appeared.
The figures of Zhang Ruochen, Mu Lingxi, and Han Qiu emerged from the center of the ripples, landing on the top of a broken tower.
The three looked down and saw a massive crater at the city's center.
Fortunately, the attack from the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon had struck the ground. One could only imagine what the consequences would have been if that blast had landed on them.
"Is this the destructive power of the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed, and a strong tremor stirred within his heart.
After all, Shentai City was a trading hub for outer disciples of the Liangyi Sect. Numerous defensive formations were arranged both within the city and underground.
Although most of the formations in Shentai City were already damaged, the city's foundation remained solid. Causing this level of destruction was no easy feat.
"Swish!"
Zhang Ruochen flicked his sleeve, and the Abyssal Ancient Sword shot out as a streak of black light, pushing the world's spiritual energy outward as it plunged into the white mist.
"Well met."
Cao Feng once again infused Saint Qi into the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon. A beam of light surged from the cannon's barrel, striking toward the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
He intended to use the power of the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon to destroy Zhang Ruochen's battle weapon.
With a thought from Zhang Ruochen, the Abyssal Ancient Sword suddenly shot upward, appearing above Cao Feng's head, and slashed downward.
The sword energy cascaded down like a curtain of water from midair.
Cao Feng knew Zhang Ruochen was no easy opponent, so he had never underestimated him.
Yet Zhang Ruochen's offensive power still far exceeded his expectations. Forced into a corner, Cao Feng had to abandon the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon, darting forward like a ray of light to flee the top of the city wall.
"Rip!"
The powerful sword energy split the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon in two.
A three-zhang-wide crack appeared in the center of the city wall, extending all the way to the ground. Even the ground bore a long sword scar.
Han Qiu was already stunned speechless. The battle before her had fully reached the Half-Saint level. One misstep could reduce an entire city to ashes.
Kunlun Realm had long established clear laws forbidding Half-Saints from dueling within cities, precisely out of fear that their terrifying power would harm innocent humans.
Even so, every year, some Half-Saints who cared nothing for human life defied the imperial decrees, turning cities into ruins.
Thus, the imperial court installed City-Protecting Grand Formations in every city.
In important cities, defensive formations were even laid beneath every street. Once the ground impact reached a certain threshold, the formations would activate automatically.
This minimized losses as much as possible.
For this reason, conflicts between major powers were generally resolved by sending younger disciples. Unless absolutely necessary, no power would initiate a Half-Saint-level battle.
Cao Feng landed on the ground and saw the Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon destroyed by the Abyssal Ancient Sword. His expression turned extremely grim.
After all, the resources spent to forge a single Earth Martial Saint Light Cannon could have trained two Half-Saints. To save his own life, he had lost one cannon. Even if he survived, he would face judgment from the Ministry of War.
Only by capturing Zhang Ruochen might he atone for his crime.
"Sevenfold Profound Ice Palm."
Cao Feng released his Sacred Soul once more, channeling the world's spiritual energy into his palms.
The air in all of Shentai City turned bitterly cold in an instant. Snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.
A powerful palm imprint swept toward Zhang Ruochen like a tidal wave.
Zhang Ruochen struck back with a palm of his own. The imprint seemed to contain shadows of fire dragons and fire elephants, dispersing the cold. It sent Cao Feng flying back, spitting blood as he crashed into a pit in the city.
Cao Feng flew up from the pit, disheveled and covered in dust, ready to attack Zhang Ruochen again.
"Stop." Wan Ji barked, "Fall back. You are no match for him."
Cao Feng was indeed gravely wounded. His legs gave way, and he knelt on one knee. He then took a pill and began to heal.
Wan Ji fixed his gaze on Zhang Ruochen and said, "To defeat Cao Feng at the Fish-Dragon Realm, and with such ease. Zhang Ruochen, your strength should be enough to contend with a Third-Step Half-Saint by now, shouldn't it?"
"With your cultivation, can you not see through my strength?" Zhang Ruochen countered.
Though Wan Ji's face showed no emotion, a strong shock stirred within him.
The power Zhang Ruochen displayed was astonishing. Even Wan Zhaoyi, at the peak of the Ninth Change of Fish-Dragon, had been slightly weaker than this.
And Wan Zhaoyi was hailed as the most outstanding genius of Kunlun Realm in the last hundred years.
Since the Wan Clan had already set themselves against Zhang Ruochen, they absolutely could not allow him to grow. Now was the best time to eliminate him.
A murderous intent flickered in Wan Ji's eyes.
Then, Wan Ji released his Sacred Soul Domain, which rapidly expanded outward from his feet.
"Not good."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned extremely grave. He spread his arms, rapidly contracting his Space Domain until it was only three zhang in diameter.
Wan Ji's Sacred Soul Domain collided with Zhang Ruochen's Space Domain, sending Zhang Ruochen and the other two flying backward.
However, the Space Domain did not shatter. It still tightly protected the three of them.
What was the most terrifying thing about a Half-Saint?
It was the Sacred Soul Domain.
A First-Step Half-Saint's Sacred Soul Domain, when applied to a Ninth Change Fish-Dragon cultivator, could exert a hundredfold gravitational pressure.
A Second-Step Half-Saint's Sacred Soul Domain could exert a thousandfold gravitational pressure on a Ninth Change Fish-Dragon cultivator.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen, Mu Lingxi, and Han Qiu all had special physiques and could manifest Dharma Forms. Against a Second-Step Half-Saint, the opponent's Sacred Soul Domain would not affect them at all.
But Wan Ji was certainly no mere First-Step or Second-Step Half-Saint. Based on Zhang Ruochen's estimation, this man's cultivation had reached at least the Seventh-Step Half-Saint, or even higher.
He wouldn't even need to strike. Just using his Sacred Soul Domain could crush a Fish-Dragon cultivator to death.
Wan Ji stared at Zhang Ruochen, a strange gleam in his eyes. "The power of space is indeed mysterious. To be able to withstand my Sacred Soul Domain is rather interesting."
Under the immense pressure, Zhang Ruochen was straining with all his might just to keep his Space Domain intact.
If Wan Ji's cultivation were any stronger, even the Space Domain might not hold against the pressure of his Sacred Soul Domain.
Seeing the sweat pouring down Zhang Ruochen's forehead, Wan Ji smiled faintly. "Pity your cultivation is too weak. Even if you can control the power of space, you can't stir up much of a wave."
Wan Ji didn't want to waste more words with Zhang Ruochen. He took a step forward, his body turning into a blur of afterimages, appearing at the edge of the Space Domain.
"Hiss, hiss!"
Wan Ji's hand was completely wrapped in Saint Qi. He slowly reached into the Space Domain, aiming for Zhang Ruochen's head.
Just then, Wan Ji saw a strange smile appear on Zhang Ruochen's face.
Smiling in the face of death?
Suddenly, a black pill appeared between Zhang Ruochen's fingers, shooting toward Wan Ji.
"Bang!"
The black pill exploded, turning into a cloud of Death Evil Qi that enveloped Wan Ji's hand.
The corrosive power of the Death Evil Qi was extremely strong. It quickly pierced through Wan Ji's Saint Qi and invaded the meridians in his arm.
Wan Ji's expression changed. He immediately retreated and, at the fastest speed, sealed the meridians in his right arm to prevent the Death Evil Qi from spreading through his entire body via the meridian network.
Wan Ji was indeed battle-hardened. Ambushing him was nearly impossible.
Still, making him suffer a small loss was no small feat. Zhang Ruochen naturally pressed the advantage.
"Sword Three."
Zhang Ruochen gripped the Abyssal Ancient Sword, charged forward, and thrust with all his might.
Tens of thousands of sword energies erupted, converging and merging with the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Wan Ji stopped in his tracks. He didn't strike back but stood still, continuously gathering his Saint Qi to his chest.
The tip of the Abyssal Ancient Sword was still three feet from Wan Ji's chest when it was blocked by an invisible force, unable to advance further.
"Boom!"
A surging power erupted from within Wan Ji's body, sending Zhang Ruochen flying backward.
Zhang Ruochen landed back on the ground, kneeling on one knee, supporting himself with his sword. Blood streamed from his palm, flowing down the blade and dripping onto the ground.
(Before midnight, there will be another chapter. Of course, roughly estimated, it should probably be updated around eleven fifty-something. Heh heh.) (To be continued.)