# Chapter 944: One Against Three
The Blood God Sect Divine Son had already reached the mountaintop? With golden arms holding a black war banner, he stood imposingly at the peak, his gaze extremely dark, saying: "What a bold brat. Xianyan, should I make a move and teach him a lesson?"
The Blood God Sect Holy Maiden stood not far from Mei Lanzhu, looking downward. Through the clouds, her bright eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen, she said: "Just a mere Second-Rank Half-Saint, why would you need to personally take action? Do you think Bai Yu, Ning Guihai, and Yan Kongming would let him off?"
The Blood God Sect Divine Son restrained some of his evil aura and nodded, saying: "Bai Yu, Ning Guihai, and Yan Kongming are indeed all very powerful. With the power of the Blood God Gu, even if I were to fight all three of them simultaneously, I would probably need to use some trump cards to win. That kid going up against them will only end in death."
For some reason, the Blood God Sect Holy Maiden had a strange premonition that the kid with only Second-Rank Half-Saint cultivation might not die so easily.
At the mountainside position, Bai Yu, Ning Guihai, and Yan Kongming all revealed hostile expressions, staring at Zhang Ruochen across from them.
Bai Yu's palm held a suspended sacred sword, and he said in a deep voice: "How dare you play tricks before me? You have quite the nerve. Tell me, how do you want to die?"
Zhang Ruochen was only a few dozen zhang away from them. Instead of immediately fleeing, he appeared quite calm, cupping his hands and saying: "Three seniors, I have no intention of offending you. What happened earlier was clearly a misunderstanding. We can all laugh it off and then continue competing fairly for the last banner lord position."
Ning Guihai let out a sinister laugh: "Even if we're competing for the banner lord position, that's a matter for us three. What qualifications do you have?"
Yan Kongming saw through Zhang Ruochen's intention, frowned, and said: "Don't waste more words with him. He's deliberately stalling for time. Once we exhaust the power of the Blood God Gu, we might end up at a disadvantage instead. Bai Yu and I will go deal with him first. Ning Guihai, you stay and block other climbers. Don't let any other Half-Saints get ahead of us."
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Yan Kongming and Bai Yu turned into two afterimages, attacking Zhang Ruochen from left and right at maximum speed.
The war weapon Yan Kongming used was a Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifact level blood blade, its blade shaped like a crescent moon.
As sacred qi was injected into the blood blade, the edge immediately emitted dazzling light.
Looking up from the mountain, it was like a blood moon suspended in midair, casting a blood-red glow over most of Mount Poluo.
The banner king of the Netherworld Heavenly Palace, Man Ye, let out a soft exclamation, his eyes showing a burning light, saying: "The war weapon Yan Kongming uses is the Yuling Blood Blade, ranked one hundred fifty-second on the Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifact List. Truly a fine blade."
The Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifact List only recorded a total of one hundred sixty-eight sacred artifacts. Every artifact that could make the list possessed immense power, enough to rival Thousand-Pattern Sacred Artifacts.
Man Ye was one of the six banner kings of the Netherworld Heavenly Palace, holding a high and powerful position in the Blood God Sect.
However, the war weapon he used was still far inferior to the Yuling Blood Blade.
Zhao Wuliang smiled and said: "The reason Yan Kongming can be equally famous as Bai Yu, who possesses the Flying Immortal Sacred Body, besides his superb attainments in formations, also has much to do with this Yuling Blood Blade. Mastering a war weapon from the Hundred-Pattern Sacred Artifact List is enough to elevate his combat power by a large margin."
A flash of greed passed briefly through Zhao Wuliang's eyes.
Top-tier war weapons like the Yuling Blood Blade would make even Saints desperately fight to obtain them. Moreover, Zhao Wuliang had not yet reached the Saint realm, so he naturally desired it even more.
Facing Yan Kongming's blade technique attack, Zhang Ruochen immediately borrowed the power of the Blood God Gu.
"Boom!"
A powerful force aura erupted from his body, forming a circle of blood-red energy ripples spreading outward, causing sand and stones to fly everywhere, turning the surroundings dark and chaotic.
Zhang Ruochen injected sacred qi from his body into the Sacred Crow Fist Gloves.
The originally crimson fist gloves tightly wrapping his arms emitted a sizzling sound, emitting blazing bright flames.
The flames emitted by the two Sacred Crow Fist Gloves burned the ground nearly to the point of melting.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm, colliding with Yan Kongming's slashing Yuling Blood Blade. Instantly, sparks flew in all directions, and chaotic energy surged outward.
Both of them retreated backward simultaneously, leaving a large pit over ten meters in diameter at the spot where they had clashed.
"Such powerful palm strength, indeed not easy to deal with."
Yan Kongming's heart tightened. He pressed down on the blade handle with both hands, quickly stabilizing his footing. Then, exerting force with his legs and bending his knees, he shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, attacking again.
Before this, Bai Yu had already engaged Zhang Ruochen in battle.
Bai Yu's sword technique was exquisite and unparalleled, combined with movement speed far surpassing cultivators of the same realm. Instantly, dozens of figures and hundreds of sword shadows appeared around Zhang Ruochen.
The figures and sword shadows continuously attacked Zhang Ruochen, but he stood firm like an unmoving rock, steadily and unhurriedly striking out palm prints, always able to easily neutralize Bai Yu's sword moves.
Although Bai Yu's sword technique was brilliant, compared to Ling Feiyu, it was still far off by a vast margin. In Zhang Ruochen's eyes, each of his sword moves had one or two flaws.
Of course, as Yan Kongming joined the battle, Zhang Ruochen's pressure suddenly increased several times over. Although he could still barely hold on, it was a precarious situation.
It seemed as if at any moment he would be pierced through by Bai Yu's sacred sword or split in half by Yan Kongming's blood blade.
Bai Yu and Yan Kongming thought so too, so their attacks became faster and fiercer, wanting to finish the battle quickly.
However, no matter how violent their attacks were, Zhang Ruochen always managed to block them.
Gradually, some of the formidable figures present finally understood.
Man Ye grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and said: "Quite a clever kid. He deliberately appears weak, but in reality, his strength is considerable. If I'm not mistaken, he's stalling for time, waiting for Bai Yu, Ning Guihai, and Yan Kongming to exhaust the power of the Blood God Gu before making his move to take care of all three of them."
Bai Yu and Yan Kongming, unable to defeat him after a prolonged assault, were also growing anxious.
Because the power of the Blood God Gu could only last for one quarter-hour.
The time they had borrowed the Blood God Gu was already very close to one quarter-hour, and they would soon drop back to Third-Rank Half-Saint. By then, they would be completely unable to contend with Zhang Ruochen.
"You two are truly useless, can't even handle a Second-Rank Half-Saint?"
Ning Guihai's eyes narrowed into slits, like a sinister jackal. He executed a ghostly movement technique and charged toward Zhang Ruochen.
Once the three experts joined forces, Zhang Ruochen would have to reveal his true strength to cope.
Therefore, he had to eliminate one person before Ning Guihai joined the battle.
In a mere instant, dozens of thoughts flashed through Zhang Ruochen's mind. Ultimately, his gaze locked onto Bai Yu.
"Heavenly Demon Goes West."
Bai Yu executed a master-level sword technique. With a flick of his wrist, a vast demonic aura surged from his body, merging with the sacred sword, and he slashed down with overwhelming force.
A dragon's roar sounded from within Zhang Ruochen's body.
A huge blood dragon flew out, coiling around his left arm, and he struck a palm toward Bai Yu's abdomen.
The abdomen was the weakest point in Bai Yu's sword technique defense, also the place with the greatest flaw.
"Pfft!"
Bai Yu's abdomen caved in. In an instant, his five viscera and six organs shattered, and a large mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth.
Forming a long parabolic arc, Bai Yu, covered in blood, flew off Mount Poluo and tumbled down the mountain.
A simple palm strike that severely wounded Bai Yu naturally shocked many people.
Without any pause, Zhang Ruochen once again circulated sacred qi, injecting it into both palms, and roared: "Seven-Orifice Blood Nether Palm."
The five orifices on the palms of both hands opened simultaneously.
The five major acupoints were like five channels connecting the physical body to heaven and earth, forming a powerful suction force. In an instant, they absorbed all the heaven and earth spiritual qi of Mount Poluo.
Both palms struck out simultaneously, colliding with Yan Kongming's slashing blood blade and Ning Guihai's thrusting Dragon Fang Dagger.
"Boom!"
Yan Kongming and Ning Guihai flew backward more than ten zhang. The robes on both of their bodies were completely shattered, revealing form-fitting metal vests.
The fingers on both of their hands were shattered by Zhang Ruochen's palm force, blood flowing out. The Yuling Blood Blade and Dragon Fang Dagger naturally also flew away, stabbing upside down into the ground.
Yan Kongming raised his arm, looking at his bloody palm, feeling it hard to believe, and said: "Even if you've opened five orifices, the power of the Seven-Orifice Blood Nether Palm shouldn't be this strong?"
Zhang Ruochen said: "Is that so? Want to try again? But the two of you can no longer borrow the power of the Blood God Gu. Even if you join forces, you won't be my match."
Yan Kongming and Ning Guihai were naturally extremely unwilling. After all, having failed to complete their mission, their fate upon returning would certainly be very miserable.
But that kid across from them was clearly not a kind person either. If they continued fighting, the two of them might not even be able to keep their lives.
"Consider this your win today. But the days ahead are still long. Let's see who laughs last?"
Yan Kongming uttered a harsh threat, then sent out a stream of sacred qi, forming a swirling energy that swept toward the Yuling Blood Blade on the ground, trying to retrieve it.
However, Zhang Ruochen acted first, taking away the Yuling Blood Blade and Dragon Fang Dagger that were stabbed upside down into the ground.
Holding the two sacred artifacts in his hands, Zhang Ruochen gently stroked them with his fingers and said with a sinister smile: "As the victor, taking away two spoils of war shouldn't be too much, should it?"
"Young man, you're going too far. You're completely forcing us to fight you to the death."
Yan Kongming and Ning Guihai exchanged glances, simultaneously seeing the killing intent in each other's eyes.
(Chapter two will need a slight wait.)