Chapter 921: Nine-Character Divine Annihilation Art
The Suanni was originally a primordial divine beast, said to have once carried a hundred thousand great mountains on its back, filling in the Western Sea. Even now, a considerable landmass remains on the vast surface of the Western Sea, known as Western Yue Ni Prefecture.
Over the course of millions of years, the Suanni clan had long since gone extinct.
Who could have imagined that the Second Prince had managed to obtain a Suanni and refine its beast soul into his own battle soul?
Thus, the Second Prince not only gained a portion of the Suanni’s power but also seized its fortune. Even with merely the cultivation of a Sixth-Step Half-Saint, he could effortlessly kill a Seventh-Step Half-Saint.
"Boom."
As the Second Prince stomped down, the Suanni’s phantom behind him extended a massive foot, piercing through the blood clouds and striking toward Zhang Ruochen’s head.
It was a simple stomp, yet it contained a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning sacred power. With Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation, there was no way he could block it.
.
Then, he soared up at an even faster speed, controlling the Abyssal Ancient Sword and slashing toward the Second Prince’s leg.
Compared to the Second Prince, Zhang Ruochen’s greatest advantage was speed.
Therefore, only by getting as close as possible, narrowing the distance with the Second Prince, could Zhang Ruochen gain more of an edge.
If they fought from a distance, Zhang Ruochen would undoubtedly lose.
Even though Zhang Ruochen’s physique and sword path were both top-tier, the Second Prince was no weakling either.
The Second Prince’s physique, even if inferior to the Five Elements Chaos Body, far surpassed ordinary sacred bodies. His sword path, though not reaching the unity of man and sword, had reached the peak of Sword Heart Illumination. He couldn’t control space, but with the Suanni battle soul, he could sweep through any peerless prodigy of his generation.
Zhang Ruochen had achieved the Supreme Extreme Realm four times across the four martial stages, giving him four minor realms more than other cultivators.
However, sacred path cultivation was a higher-level struggle, long since detached from martial arts.
Upon reaching the Half-Saint realm, the boost from four minor realms wasn’t that significant, at most equivalent to four spans: early Second-Step Half-Saint, late Second-Step Half-Saint, peak Second-Step Half-Saint, and early Third-Step Half-Saint.
Thus, the four-realm gap between Zhang Ruochen and the Second Prince wasn’t so easily bridged.
The Second Prince’s hand seals continuously struck out, unleashing earth-shattering power.
In midair, massive claw marks appeared, like patches of blood clouds scattering in all directions.
Zhang Ruochen wielded his long sword, weaving between the powerful energy surges unleashed by the Second Prince, executing one exquisite sword technique after another, dissolving the Second Prince’s power into nothingness.
The Second Prince’s power was indeed formidable, but his control over it wasn’t so refined—he wasted at least three-tenths of his full strength.
This wasn’t to say the Second Prince’s control was truly poor; after all, only a Saint could perfectly unleash one hundred percent of their power.
Among Half-Saints, being able to perfectly control seven-tenths of their full power was already a considerable achievement.
But compared to Zhang Ruochen, the Second Prince fell short.
Zhang Ruochen was different. Ever since his sword duel with Ling Feiyu, he had been diligently training to control his power, striving to maximize every ounce of strength to its utmost limit.
Now, even if he couldn’t perfectly control one hundred percent of his power, he was very close to that step.
From below, Zhang Ruochen appeared quite at ease facing the Second Prince’s attacks, each sword strike graceful and effortless, like a young Sword Saint battling an ancient ferocious beast.
In reality, facing the Second Prince’s fierce assault, Zhang Ruochen was not so relaxed—any minor mistake could plunge him into eternal damnation.
The two fought for half an hour, leaving the forest below utterly devastated. Some areas were ablaze with wildfires, startling the beasts within to flee in all directions. Other places were torn apart by sword qi, leaving neat, level sword scars.
Although the Second Prince had exposed some openings, his cultivation was too powerful, and Zhang Ruochen still had no chance to break through.
At least so far, Zhang Ruochen hadn’t found an opening where he could kill the Second Prince with a single sword strike.
"Zhang Ruochen’s strength is this formidable? He’s been fighting that Undying Blood Clan member for half an hour without losing ground," Pu Yuelin said, feeling quite shocked. After all, that Undying Blood Clan member had effortlessly killed Li Xian King.
How old was Zhang Ruochen? Could he be even stronger than Li Xian King?
"No wonder he dared to attack Zi Yong Pass. Zhang Ruochen’s strength is probably comparable to the Nine Realm Sons," Zhao Yue said.
As the battle dragged on, the Second Prince grew increasingly agitated, completely losing patience.
"Heaven overturns, earth spins—Nine-Character Divine Annihilation!" The Second Prince spread his arms, drawing a massive circle, at the center of which condensed an ancient character, "Mountain."
Though just a single word, it felt like a real great mountain, imbued with a blazing, fiery aura.
In ancient times, the characters created by humans were pictographic.
"Mountain" was a character formed based on the shape of mountain peaks.
Such characters possessed a powerful Dao resonance, pointing directly to the origin of all things in the world. If someone could combine the character "Mountain" with the rules of heaven and earth,
then lifting that character would be like lifting all the mountains under heaven.
The Nine-Character Divine Annihilation Art was a sacred technique of the Suanni clan, consisting of only nine characters, each profound and vast. Mastering any single character to its peak could kill a Saint or annihilate a god.
The Second Prince had cultivated for many years but had only reached the level of pictographic manifestation with the characters "Mountain" and "Fire."
Once, the Second Prince had used the character "Mountain" to force an Eighth-Step Half-Saint of the Undying Blood Clan back several miles.
Now, with his cultivation having grown further, unleashing the Nine-Character Divine Annihilation Art naturally produced even greater power.
"Zhang Ruochen, forcing this prince to use the Nine-Character Divine Annihilation Art is enough glory for a lifetime. But our battle ends here. Your fate was already sealed long ago."
The Second Prince crossed his hands.
The character "Mountain" between his hands trembled slightly.
Then, the mountains below gently shook, and even the rules of heaven and earth began to quiver.
One could imagine that if the Second Prince cultivated the Nine-Character Divine Annihilation Art to its pinnacle, he might even be able to disrupt some rules of heaven and earth.
The character "Mountain" flew toward Zhang Ruochen.
Though just a single word, it manifested the phantom of a hundred thousand great mountains. No matter where Zhang Ruochen retreated, he would surely be suppressed.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen finally felt a pressure of death, a genuine sensation.
By unleashing the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, he had a good chance of breaking through the Second Prince’s killing technique.
However, once he used the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, it would deplete all the sacred qi in his body, meaning he would lose to the Second Prince.
Zhang Ruochen refused to accept defeat, especially not to an Undying Blood Clan member.
"The stronger he is, the more likely he is to reveal an opening."
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was sharp. He stood still, his aura not diminishing but growing stronger.
It was a powerful spirit of "Under heaven, who else but me?"
In the meditation courtyard, Kong Lanyou’s beautiful eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen’s back, and she involuntarily stood up.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was too similar to the Zhang Ruochen of eight hundred years ago.
In that instant, she felt that perhaps her cousin really hadn’t died.
Zhang Ruochen’s body completely merged with the Abyssal Ancient Sword, reaching the true realm of unity between man and sword.
"Shua!"
Then, man and sword transformed into a pillar of light, shooting upward toward the phantom of a hundred thousand great mountains above.
It was a forward-charging momentum, refusing to return until the enemy was broken.
Seeing this, the Second Prince only let out a cold sneer. "Courting death."
Even an Eighth-Step Half-Saint, encountering this technique, would have to immediately dodge and deploy various defensive measures to possibly withstand it.
In truth, the Second Prince hadn’t used this sacred technique to kill Zhang Ruochen, only to force him to use the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force.
Once Zhang Ruochen used the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, he would completely lose the ability to continue fighting, becoming easy prey.
But Zhang Ruochen hadn’t used the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, instead choosing to clash head-on—wasn’t that seeking death?
The smile on the Second Prince’s face quickly froze, because he didn’t see the scene he had imagined.
Instead, Zhang Ruochen’s sword collided with the character "Mountain," tearing apart all the phantoms of the hundred thousand great mountains.
Not only that, but even space itself cracked with over a dozen fissures.
"He combined sword path and space power?" The Second Prince’s eyes widened in disbelief.
That was right.
Zhang Ruochen had indeed fused space power into his sword technique, breaking through space while shattering the Second Prince’s Nine-Character Divine Annihilation Art.
In truth, this was Zhang Ruochen’s first attempt at combining space power and sword path, and he wasn’t entirely confident.
It was entirely under the pressure of the Second Prince that he had to do so.
Of course, space power wasn’t easy to control. With the slightest mistake, even he could be swallowed by it.
If he hadn’t been honing his sword path with Ling Feiyu recently, reaching an astonishing level of control over power and sword techniques, he wouldn’t have dared to try this.
Zhang Ruochen had always grown stronger in adversity. Facing a powerful opponent, he could unleash unprecedented potential, breaking through the limits of his own power.
Having broken through the phantom of the hundred thousand great mountains, Zhang Ruochen now stood above the Second Prince’s head, raising his sword with both hands, activating the Thousand Ripple Annihilation Force, and slashing down with all his might.
This moment was the best opportunity.
"Hua!"
The pitch-black sword light connected heaven and earth, flying outward as if to split the world in two. (To be continued.)