Chapter 870: Purifying Divine Flame
If Zhang Ruochen truly was attempting to break through to the legendary Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation, then Wanxiang King had to stop him at all costs.
"Boom."
The Silver Moon Dragon Elephant's four hooves pounded the ground as it charged forward at full speed, shaking the earth violently.
Xiao Hei stood atop the broken city wall, gazing at Wanxiang King on the Silver Moon Dragon Elephant's back, and grinned. "The strong ones from the Ministry of War have indeed arrived. Tonight is bound to be a bloody storm."
The sacrificial ritual would inevitably create a massive commotion, and being discovered by the Ministry of War's forces was actually within Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
Thus, he had long instructed Xiao Hei to repair the city-protecting grand formation of this ancient city, just in case.
"Activate the city-protecting grand formation." Xiao Hei let out a low roar.
The Devouring Rabbit and the Demon Ape stood inside two ancient formation towers. Upon hearing Xiao Hei's voice, they simultaneously channeled their Saint Qi into the towers.
"Sizzle."
From beneath the ancient city, streaks of formation inscription patterns rapidly emerged, surging toward the surrounding city walls and gathering at their bases.
Meanwhile, the Silver Moon Dragon Elephant had already charged outside the city.
Wanxiang King let out a low roar. With one hand, he grabbed a bronze long spear as thick as a bowl, then stomped off the Silver Moon Dragon Elephant's back, soaring dozens of zhang into the air. A cluster of purple lightning erupted from the tip of the bronze long spear, striking toward Zhang Ruochen atop the altar from a distance.
Suddenly, the ruined ancient city shot up over a hundred pillars of formation light, connecting into a hemispherical light shield that fully protected the entire city.
The bronze long spear struck the surface of the light shield with a thunderous explosion, pressing it inward.
Bolts of lightning surged from Wanxiang King's body, channeling through the long spear to continuously batter the defensive light shield.
After a stalemate lasting three breaths, the light shield's rebound force finally sent Wanxiang King flying backward.
The ancient city's city-protecting grand formation had long been shattered, and due to time constraints, Xiao Hei had only made simple repairs.
Now, the city-protecting grand formation could at most unleash one-tenth of its original power.
Therefore, Xiao Hei wasn't certain that the formation could definitely hold off Wanxiang King.
Seeing that the formation had blocked Wanxiang King's attack, Xiao Hei let out a long sigh of relief and muttered, "That was close."
Wanxiang King didn't stop. He launched another attack, relentlessly assaulting the formation, trying to break through and charge inside. His mount, the Silver Moon Dragon Elephant, let out a roar and rammed into the city gate.
"Boom, rumble."
Inside the ancient city, the already crumbling buildings continued to collapse, flattening into open ground.
"The strong ones from the Ministry of War have arrived?"
At the base of the altar, Li Min couldn't keep her footing and fell to the ground. She looked up at the lightning constantly falling from the sky, while the roars of beasts echoed in her ears.
At this moment, it truly felt as if the heavens and earth were collapsing.
The city-protecting formation was on the verge of collapse, likely to be breached at any moment.
From the dark horizon, a wolf howl rang out.
Northern Wolf King rode a golden giant wolf, charging toward the ancient city at full speed. His body radiated an awe-inspiring aura, kicking up dust dozens of zhang high across the Gobi desert outside the city.
Wanxiang King glanced at the golden cloud of light. When he made out the giant wolf and the man on its back, he let out a loud laugh. "I didn't expect you to be the first to arrive."
Northern Wolf King Zhao Shengyu wore a suit of golden armor, exuding a sharp killing intent. "Zhang Ruochen is in the city performing a blood-refining sacrifice. The celestial phenomena in the sky are growing stronger. It doesn't look like he's breaking through to the Half-Saint realm, but rather the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation."
"I think so too. You've come at the right time. Let's join forces and break through the city-protecting grand formation," Wanxiang King said.
"Agreed."
The two kings each summoned a Sacred Artifact, sending them soaring into the air. As Saint Qi poured into them, the two Sacred Artifacts radiated astonishing power fluctuations.
Wanxiang King's Sacred Artifact was the bronze long spear, inscribed with over five hundred patterns, all fully activated, forming hundreds of lightning bolts as thick as water buckets.
Northern Wolf King's Sacred Artifact was a crescent-shaped blade, suspended in the void, gathering power.
Though the two Sacred Artifacts had yet to descend, the city-protecting grand formation was already shaking violently.
"Wanxiang King and Northern Wolf King have arrived at the same time..."
Li Min stared at the two Sacred Artifacts hovering above and quickly recognized them as the war weapons of the two kings: the Thunder God Halberd Spear and the Half-Moon Sacred Blade.
For cultivators in Qingli Commandery, few were unaware of the fearsome reputations of Wanxiang King and Northern Wolf King. Li Min had never imagined she would one day witness both kings fighting together.
But for her, it seemed far from a good thing.
Once the two kings suppressed Zhang Ruochen, they would likely deal with her too.
The two Sacred Artifacts struck down simultaneously. The light shield of the city-protecting grand formation shattered like an eggshell in an instant.
"Boom."
The two Sacred Artifacts landed in the city, leaving two massive craters. The streets and buildings around the craters were flipped up and sent flying in all directions.
Two whooshing sounds rang out.
Wanxiang King and Northern Wolf King charged into the city, attacking the altar from two directions.
The Devouring Rabbit and the Demon Ape both leaped into the air to intercept them, trying to buy time for Zhang Ruochen to break through to the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation. If Zhang Ruochen were disturbed at this moment, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
"Get out of the way."
Wanxiang King stomped down, planting his foot on the Demon Ape's head. With a crack, a bloody fissure split open on the Demon Ape's skull.
However, the Demon Ape's arms tightly grabbed Wanxiang King's leg, dragging him down to the ground.
"Whoosh."
Xiao Hei turned into a black blur. A pair of large wings spread from its back as it lunged forward, swiping a claw at Wanxiang King's throat.
Wanxiang King extended an arm covered in iron armor, blocking Xiao Hei's claw. With a flick of his arm, he sent Xiao Hei flying.
"Interesting. I, the Emperor, will fight you to the bitter end."
Xiao Hei's body was practically indestructible. It quickly crawled out of the rubble and attacked again.
From the other direction, Northern Wolf King struck out with a palm, driving the Devouring Rabbit deep into the ground.
Then, his gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen atop the altar, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes. "Still dreaming of breaking through to the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation? Tonight marks the fall of the Heir of Time and Space. I, Zhao Shengyu, will etch my name in history."
Northern Wolf King rode the golden giant wolf, charging up the altar. He raised the Half-Moon Sacred Blade and slashed it down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
A dazzling blade light formed a crescent shape, cutting through the void.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, erupted with a layer of golden light from within his body, sending out ripples of energy in all directions.
Northern Wolf King felt as if he were a small boat on the vast sea, struck by towering waves. He was sent flying backward, tumbling off the altar.
The next moment, with Zhang Ruochen's body at the center, the phantom images of gods began spinning rapidly, forming a massive vortex that frantically absorbed the world's spiritual energy into his body.
Zhang Ruochen slowly rose to his feet, looking down at Northern Wolf King from above.
Northern Wolf King felt his heart tremble. At this moment, Zhang Ruochen seemed like a Saint—no, a god—standing before him, exuding an immense pressure.
"Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation, Divine Fate."
Northern Wolf King struggled to suppress the fear in his heart, telling himself that even if Zhang Ruochen had reached the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation, he was still just a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator, while he himself was a Fifth-Rank Half-Saint.
Could a Fifth-Rank Half-Saint be no match for a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator?
Zhang Ruochen, who had been standing above the altar, suddenly vanished.
"So fast. Where did he go?"
Suddenly, Northern Wolf King sensed an extremely faint spatial fluctuation above his head. He immediately mobilized his Saint Qi and struck upward with both palms.
"Boom."
Zhang Ruochen burst out from the spatial ripples, unleashing the seventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, the Dragon God's Tribulation. The powerful palm force descended, driving half of Northern Wolf King's body into the ground.
Rolling dust spread in all directions, and the ground was covered in dense cracks.
By now, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm had reached the Ghost-level Upper Grade. Each palm strike unleashed power comparable to a unique technique, far surpassing other Ghost-level Upper Grade martial arts.
"Zhang Ruochen, do you think mastering the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation makes you invincible?"
Realizing he wasn't injured, Northern Wolf King breathed a sigh of relief and regained his confidence. He burst out of the ground, raised the Half-Moon Sacred Blade, and slashed diagonally at Zhang Ruochen's neck.
"Life-Ending Strike."
Though it appeared to be a single slash, it created thirty-six blade shadows, each carrying thirty-six layers of power, one after another.
When the thirty-six layers of power fully overlapped, the energy fluctuation radiating from the Sacred Blade reached its peak.
The Life-Ending Strike was a supreme technique of the Ministry of War, possessing the killing might to sweep through thousands of troops.
Zhang Ruochen quickly retreated, dodging the blade Qi slashed by Northern Wolf King. Then, he flicked the dust off his robe and said, "Who said I've already reached the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation? It's only just beginning."
Zhang Ruochen raised both hands.
Above the sky, the blood-colored clouds spun rapidly, and clusters of fist-sized green flames descended, landing on Zhang Ruochen and entering his body.
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen's body became completely enveloped in green fire.
The green flames emitted astonishing heat, causing the ground beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet to rapidly melt into red-hot magma.
Northern Wolf King immediately retreated, pulling back a hundred zhang. He stared at Zhang Ruochen in shock. "That's... the Purifying Divine Flame..."
In the distance, Wanxiang King let out a loud roar. "The Purifying Divine Flame is tempering Zhang Ruochen's mortal flesh. Once the tempering is complete, he will truly reach the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation and gain a Divine Fate. We must kill him before that."
Wanxiang King was held back by Xiao Hei and couldn't get over.
Xiao Hei laughed loudly. "It's too late! Since Zhang Ruochen has already summoned the Purifying Divine Flame, with the power of the divine flame empowering him, he can unleash several times his normal strength. Can you stop him?"
"Even with the power of the Purifying Divine Flame, I'll still cut him down."
Northern Wolf King gritted his teeth and once again executed the Life-Ending Strike, slashing horizontally at Zhang Ruochen's waist, aiming to cut him in two.
Zhang Ruochen didn't dodge or evade. He activated the Phoenix Divine Seal Speed and charged forward. Before the blade could land on Zhang Ruochen, his palm strike had already imprinted itself on Northern Wolf King's chest.
"Crack."
The iron armor on Northern Wolf King's chest shattered, caving inward.
...
(Sigh, I overestimated my typing speed. I'm truly sorry, everyone. Crying.
Of course, since today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, not only are you celebrating, but Zhang Ruochen will also reach the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation on this moonlit night—a double blessing. Well, after all this rambling, I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday and a joyful reunion with your families.)