# Chapter 874: Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force
Being able to wield the power of wind to such a refined degree, one could imagine that Wind Bird must have a very deep understanding of wind dao rules.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was extremely grave. He summoned the Abyssal Ancient Sword back, gripping it tightly in his hand as he charged forward, landing on the ground and violently thrusting the sword into the earth.
"Chi!"
Dense sword qi surged out from the sword body, traveling through the void to form a sword qi domain.
In addition, Zhang Ruochen also released his space domain, overlapping it with the sword qi domain.
Dense wind blades struck the sword qi domain one after another, continuously shattering the sword qi and turning it into wisps of green smoke.
Suddenly, twelve figures rushed out from within the wind blades. Each one was clad in armor, ten zhang tall, and semi-transparent, all simultaneously charging toward Zhang Ruochen.
With a bang, the sword qi domain finally shattered.
At the center of the domain, Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had been struck by twelve fist seals, his body blasting backward. Fortunately, the space domain still provided some resistance, allowing him to quickly stabilize his footing.
"Space Distortion."
Zhang Ruochen struggled to control his space domain, causing the space around his body to twist one hundred and eighty degrees, sending all the wind blades flying back in reverse.
Seeing the wind blades flying back toward him, Wind Bird's tiger-like eyes narrowed sharply. He clapped his hands forward.
Centered on his body, the wind power between heaven and earth formed a giant bell twenty zhang tall, enveloping both him and the black giant scorpion inside.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was going all out in his magical duel with Wind Bird, Wanxiang King caught up from behind, thrusting his Thunder God Halberd Spear toward Zhang Ruochen's back.
Wanxiang King was a sixth-step half-saint. With a full-power strike, he naturally unleashed unparalleled speed and power, leaving Zhang Ruochen no chance to dodge.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen indeed had no way to evade, not even enough time to mobilize space power. He could only forcibly twist his body and execute the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, striking forward with one palm.
"Thousand-Hand Dragon-Elephant."
Though he only struck out one palm, it manifested as over a thousand hand seals.
However, how could a hastily struck palm seal from Zhang Ruochen block Wanxiang King's full-powered sacred artifact attack?
The Thunder God Halberd Spear, carrying dozens of electric lights, shattered all the hand seals and collided with Zhang Ruochen's palm.
A sinister smile curled at the corner of Wanxiang King's mouth: "Everything ends here. The one who kills the Heir of Time and Space will be me, Qi Sheng."
No matter how powerful a flesh-and-blood body was, how could it block a sacred artifact?
Moreover, the one wielding the sacred artifact had reached the sixth step of half-saint. Unless one was a saint, who could block it with bare hands?
The cultivators hiding in the shadows all held their breath, staring intently at Zhang Ruochen. In their minds, they could already picture Zhang Ruochen being pierced through by the Thunder God Halberd Spear.
As long as Wanxiang King killed Zhang Ruochen, he would surely become famous overnight, and wealth and glory would follow.
Many were envious and jealous, while a very few felt regret for Zhang Ruochen. After all, a genius like Zhang Ruochen appeared only once in ten thousand years. To fall like this was truly a pity.
"Even if Zhang Ruochen dies in battle, it counts as a glorious end. A Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator, besieged by three sixth-step half-saints, lasting this long—he is already the number one in history."
"It's truly tragic. When he gained the identity of Heir of Time and Space, it was destined that the whole world would be his enemy. Many would not allow him to grow up."
"There's nothing to pity. He is someone the Empress has ordered to be captured, which means he was doomed from the start. There's no way out."
...
Just as everyone thought Zhang Ruochen was about to die, they saw five-colored chaos qi surge out from within his body, forming a giant lotus flower that enveloped him at its center.
The five-colored radiance not only penetrated the ground but also shot up into the sky, dividing the entire heaven and earth into five parts, displaying the colors black, white, red, cyan, and yellow.
"Bang!"
The Thunder God Halberd Spear struck by Wanxiang King collided with Zhang Ruochen's five-colored palm, producing a metallic clang.
Zhang Ruochen slid backward, retreating dozens of zhang before crashing into a boulder over ten meters tall. Even the boulder shattered into pieces.
Blood dripped from his right palm, seeping into the soil.
Nevertheless, Zhang Ruochen stood firmly on the ground, not falling.
Seeing the five-colored light on Zhang Ruochen, Wanxiang King felt his scalp tingle as he squeezed out five words from between his teeth: "Five... Elements... Chaos... Body..."
Not only Wanxiang King, but the other cultivators also widened their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.
"Someone has actually managed to cultivate the Five Elements Chaos Body successfully."
"Heavens! The Five Elements Chaos Body plus the Fish-Dragon Tenth Transformation, and the ability to mobilize the power of time and space—once Zhang Ruochen becomes a saint, all the saints of Kunlun Realm will tremble."
"Is it really the Five Elements Chaos Body?"
"It must be the Five Elements Chaos Body. Otherwise, there's no way he could have blocked Wanxiang King's attack just now."
...
By activating the power of the Five Elements Chaos Body, Zhang Ruochen had indeed blocked Wanxiang King's attack, but he had still suffered considerable injuries. Both his arms were trembling slightly.
Li Min watched Zhang Ruochen's figure standing in the dust, her maiden heart completely shaken. This man before her was no lecherous uncle but a true overbearing warrior.
So young, yet able to contend with three powerful experts—even the unparalleled Wan Zhaoyi probably fell short compared to him.
Xiao Hei was quite worried about Zhang Ruochen's safety and immediately sent a telepathic message: "They're all ruthless characters, Zhang Ruochen. If you don't summon the Blood Moon Ghost King, we won't be able to break out."
Zhang Ruochen had no intention of summoning the Blood Moon Ghost King. If he needed her to solve every problem, what was the point of his cultivation?
However, Zhang Ruochen's gaze gradually turned icy cold. "Since you force my hand, I have no choice but to go on a killing spree."
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen moved, flying back onto Xiao Hei's back. With a finger gesture, a white sword light flew out and hovered before him.
It was the Skyward Sword.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze swept over Wanxiang King, Zhuang Xuan Kong, Wind Bird, and even the people hidden in the night. He said in a deep voice, "Tonight, I only want to leave this place. Whoever blocks me... dies."
"Heh, do you think having the Five Elements Chaos Body makes you invincible under heaven? Wait until you break through to the half-saint realm before speaking such arrogant words."
Wanxiang King snorted coldly, then grabbed his Thunder God Halberd Spear and attacked Zhang Ruochen again.
"Zheng!"
The Skyward Sword let out a ringing sound as it slowly rose into the air.
For every zhang it rose, the aura emanating from the sword body grew stronger by one degree. By the time the Skyward Sword reached ten zhang, the power fluctuations it released made even Wanxiang King's heart race with fear.
"That is..."
Sensing something was wrong, Wanxiang King immediately stopped and fled backward at top speed.
"Xiu!"
The Skyward Sword was like a bright sun, its aura magnificent, illuminating the night sky as if it were day.
As the sword slashed down, Wanxiang King's miserable cry was heard. With a bang, his body crashed into the ground.
By the time Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Skyward Sword, a sword path dozens of li long and three zhang wide had appeared on the ground, as if it had split the entire world in two.
On one side of the sword path lay a broken section of the Thunder God Halberd Spear and a large patch of red blood.
As for Wanxiang King, he lay at the bottom of the sword path, his body severed in two, twitching all over before finally losing all signs of life.
Silence.
The entire heaven and earth fell into utter silence.
After a long time, sounds of breathing could be heard. Zhuang Xuan Kong felt his scalp tingle as he involuntarily stepped back, muttering to himself, "Such a terrifying sword strike."
"Only a thousand-mark sacred artifact could possess such terrifying power."
"Haven't you recognized it? That is the Skyward Sword, ranked twenty-seventh on the Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact List. With Zhang Ruochen's cultivation, he can actually activate the Skyward Sword's artifact spirit and unleash the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force. How did he do it?"
Although hundred-mark sacred artifacts were extremely rare, for a half-saint, as long as they had enough spirit crystals, they might still be able to buy one.
But a thousand-mark sacred artifact was different. Even if you had countless spirit crystals, you couldn't buy one. Even saints found it difficult to obtain one.
Throughout the entire Kunlun Realm, every thousand-mark sacred artifact had a name.
The reason the imperial court compiled the Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact List and monitored thousand-mark sacred artifacts was precisely because they could unleash the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force.
Once the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force was unleashed, it could easily break through a city's protective grand formation and kill all the humans inside.
Of course, even if an ordinary cultivator obtained a thousand-mark sacred artifact, they would at most have a slightly more powerful weapon. They couldn't unleash the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force.
To unleash the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, at least two conditions had to be met.
First, the user had to be acknowledged by the artifact spirit and be able to activate it.
Second, the user's cultivation had to reach at least the seventh step of half-saint to barely execute the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force.
Once a seventh-step half-saint mastered a thousand-mark sacred artifact and activated the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, they would have a chance to kill an eighth-step half-saint, or even a ninth-step half-saint.
Of course, even a seventh-step half-saint could only unleash one strike before exhausting all their sacred qi.
It was precisely for this reason that Zhang Ruochen's activation of the Skyward Sword's artifact spirit and unleashing a single Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force strike shocked everyone.
Among those present, only Jian Kongzi remained calm.
His figure transformed into a sword light, cutting through the darkness, and flew to stand opposite Zhang Ruochen, reforming into human shape. He said, "Zhang Ruochen, at your level, being able to activate the Skyward Sword and unleash the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force is indeed quite astonishing to me. But do you still have the strength to unleash a second strike?"
Jian Kongzi had lived for nearly two hundred years and had sharp eyesight. He could naturally see that the previous sword strike had completely drained Zhang Ruochen's sacred qi. Zhang Ruochen could barely stand, let alone execute a second sword strike.