Chapter 876: Half-Saint
The Empress’s face was extremely blurry, and no one could discern her features clearly. However, the mere fact that she stood there unleashed a terrifying power that could overturn mountains and seas, carrying the oppressive might of an emperor, sweeping across a thousand miles.
In the shadows, some low-level Half-Saints, unable to withstand the surging imperial prestige, directly knelt to the ground, unable to rise.
Zhang Ruochen, standing before the Empress’s phantom, naturally bore an even greater pressure. His hair and the corners of his robes fluttered incessantly, and his legs trembled. Yet, Zhang Ruochen did not kneel; instead, he let out a loud roar from his mouth.
"Kill."
Within Zhang Ruochen’s body, the Divine Marks of the Gods emerged, swirling around him, resisting the pressure emanating from the Empress’s phantom.
His eyes filled with dense bloodshot streaks. Gripping the Sky-Soaring Sword, he kicked off the ground, leaped up fiercely, and swung the sword toward the three-hundred-zhang-tall Empress phantom.
Seeing this, countless people in the night were greatly startled, their hearts pounding with fear.
In the Kunlun Realm, even uttering the Empress’s true name was a grave disrespect. Yet, who could have expected that a mere Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator would dare to take up his sword and strike at the Empress’s phantom?
Did he not know that the Empress’s cultivation had reached a level that could pierce the heavens and earth? Even a mere phantom carried the imperial prestige and the Empress’s spiritual will. Perhaps, at this very moment, the Empress’s true body had already taken note of this rebellious brat through the phantom.
"To be so reckless before the Empress is nothing short of seeking death."
Jian Kongzi sneered, then slowly raised one of his palms and swiftly slapped it forward, striking the surface of the Po Sha Ling.
At that moment, the Empress’s phantom also raised its hand, pressing it down toward Zhang Ruochen’s head.
"Sword Three."
Zhang Ruochen poured the sacred qi from his body continuously into the Sky-Soaring Sword. Over a thousand inscriptions emerged on the sword’s surface, and the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force radiated out, merging into the sword technique.
The Sky-Soaring Sword collided with the Empress phantom’s palm, producing a deafening roar.
"Pfft!"
Zhang Ruochen spat out blood, plummeting from midair, and crashed heavily to the ground with a loud bang.
On the ground, a hundred-meter-long palm-shaped crater appeared, accompanied by a rumbling sound. Around the palm print, the soil bulged and spread outward in all directions.
Zhang Ruochen knelt on one knee at the bottom of the crater, using his sword to support his body. He was drenched in blood, with nearly all his skin burst open. The blood soaked the soil beneath his feet, turning it into bloody mud.
Seeing this, everyone’s faces showed mocking expressions, with no one feeling pity. They all thought Zhang Ruochen was utterly overestimating himself, daring to challenge the Empress—as laughable as an ant trying to challenge a god.
"Having taken a palm strike from the Empress’s phantom, even if Zhang Ruochen isn’t dead, he’s likely crippled, with no strength left to fight back." Zhuang Xuan Kong laughed.
With that, he took the lead and walked toward the palm-shaped crater.
Zhuang Xuan Kong had only taken five steps when a powerful surge of air erupted from the bottom of the crater.
"What’s this?"
Zhuang Xuan Kong’s expression changed. He mobilized his sacred qi, channeling it to his arms, and thrust his hands forward, forming a thick wall of sacred qi.
The fierce air current struck the sacred qi wall, sending Zhuang Xuan Kong flying backward.
Then, everyone saw Zhang Ruochen, holding the blood-drenched sword, slowly walking out of the crater.
Above Zhang Ruochen’s head, his martial soul radiated dazzling divine light. Within it, an exceptionally thick rule was slowly taking shape.
The martial soul already contained a very thick sacred dao rule, connecting his head and feet like a pillar supporting heaven and earth. That was an eternal dao—the Space Rule.
Now, the sacred dao rule being formed was equally thick, clearly another eternal dao—the Time Rule.
With the assistance of the Purifying Divine Flame and the Dragon Pearl, and further stimulated by the Empress’s phantom, Zhang Ruochen had finally grasped the true essence of time, comprehending the Time Rule.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen’s martial soul had already condensed over three hundred sacred dao rules.
Zhang Ruochen looked up, staring at the Empress’s phantom not far away. His gaze was sharp, filled with hatred and fury. "Since I’ve comprehended the Time Rule, it’s time to break through to the Half-Saint realm."
A drop of Dragon Emperor’s blood appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s palm, which he quickly swallowed into his abdomen.
"Boom!"
The Dragon Emperor’s blood exploded like a bomb in his stomach, releasing a vast amount of sacred qi that surged toward his five sacred meridians and thirty-six channels.
Zhang Ruochen’s aura rapidly ascended, growing significantly with each passing moment.
"Zhang Ruochen’s power is growing stronger and stronger; it seems he’s about to break through." Feng Qin said with a grave expression.
"Since he wants to charge into the Half-Saint realm, we’ll suppress him just as he’s about to break through."
Jian Kongzi’s expression was icy as he continuously poured his sacred qi into the Po Sha Ling.
The Empress’s phantom struck again, sending a palm imprint pressing down toward Zhang Ruochen’s position.
The enormous hand, like a patch of white cloud, enveloped the entire sky and earth, leaving Zhang Ruochen no chance to escape.
At that moment, the Divine Marks of the Gods flew out from Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea once more.
This time, the Divine Marks rushed toward his martial soul, merging with it. With each divine mark that fused in, Zhang Ruochen’s martial soul grew stronger.
When all the Divine Marks had fully merged into the martial soul, it underwent a fundamental transformation, becoming a sacred soul.
The transformation from martial soul to sacred soul was also the process from the Fish-Dragon Realm to the Half-Saint realm.
For others, charging into the Half-Saint realm might be extremely arduous. But Zhang Ruochen had accumulated a solid foundation, so breaking through to the Half-Saint realm came naturally.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen finally broke through to the First-Step Half-Saint realm.
With the breakthrough, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously converged toward him, entering the Divine Martial Mark between his brows. A massive vortex of spiritual energy formed around his body.
The spiritual energy entered his body and was immediately converted into sacred qi.
Having reached the Half-Saint realm, the energy flowing through his meridians was still sacred qi. However, the sacred qi became more refined and purer.
Absorbing the same amount of spiritual energy from a hundred-zhang radius, in the Fish-Dragon Realm, he could condense ten strands of sacred qi. But in the Half-Saint realm, he could only condense one strand.
Although it was harder for a Half-Saint to absorb sacred qi, the power unleashed when mobilizing it was far greater.
The same martial technique, when executed by a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator and a Half-Saint, would differ in power by more than tenfold.
Because spiritual energy could no longer easily satisfy a Half-Saint, they would go to great lengths to find sacred stones, absorbing them to replenish their expended sacred qi.
In the sky above, the Empress’s palm imprint had already descended, appearing above Zhang Ruochen’s head.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes blazed with extremely bright light. Using his sacred soul, he mobilized the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of several hundred miles, continuously pouring it into the Sky-Soaring Sword.
"Chi Yao, I know you can hear me. Listen well: one day, I will charge into the Imperial Palace and cut you down with my sword."
Zhang Ruochen roared loudly and shot upward.
The sword light of the Sky-Soaring Sword nearly merged completely with his body, achieving the unity of man and sword. The ground beneath him collapsed violently from his forceful leap.
Many thought Zhang Ruochen would flee, but they never expected him to dare contend with the Empress’s phantom again, even calling out the Empress’s name and vowing to cut her down with his sword.
Such rebellious words—even the Dead Zen Ancestor or the Demon Sect Leader wouldn’t dare utter them casually.
"Since he’s broken through to the Half-Saint realm, he should immediately flee, find a place to heal his injuries. Once fully recovered, it would be like a hidden dragon emerging from the abyss, with vast skies and open seas. Why must he confront the Empress?"
"After shouting those words today, Zhang Ruochen has thoroughly offended the Empress. Even if the Empress doesn’t act personally, those in the imperial court, to curry favor with her, will undoubtedly stop at nothing to capture or even kill Zhang Ruochen."
"A madman, truly a madman."
...
On the Sky-Soaring Sword, the inscriptions that emerged grew even more numerous.
The terrifying Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force erupted, colliding with the palm imprint from the Empress’s phantom, tearing the phantom apart and piercing through it.
After breaking through the palm imprint, Zhang Ruochen flew higher and higher, until he was above the Empress’s phantom’s head. He swung his sword again.
"Swoosh!"
A bright sword light traced an arc several hundred zhang long, slashing at the Empress phantom’s neck, severing its head.
Then, with a loud crash, the Empress’s phantom shattered.
At the same time, below, aside from Jian Kongzi, the other three kings—Feng Qin, Yin Diao Wang, and Zhuang Xuan Kong—all spat out blood and knelt on one knee.
(There were some matters yesterday, so no update was posted. It will be made up today.
Generally, when special circumstances arise and updates are delayed, Xiao Yu will give advance notice on the WeChat public account (feitianyu5) or Weibo (Feitian Yu’s Weibo). Everyone can follow for updates.
Additionally, the reason for not opening separate chapters for these announcements is that, each time a separate chapter is posted about such matters, the new chapter released the next day becomes disordered, and many readers cannot view it.)