Chapter 963: Killing a Saint
Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen struck again, tearing open a spatial rift.
The rift, over ten zhang long, was like the mouth of the God of Death, capable of devouring all matter. It sliced down through the void from above, striking toward the top of Xianlan King’s head.
Xianlan King looked up, his expression turning solemn.
He did not clash head-on with the spatial rift. Instead, he executed a movement technique, splitting his body into three, each a residual shadow, and retreated backward.
The spatial rift struck the ground, producing a cracking sound as the rock split, leaving a bottomless chasm in its wake.
“Whoosh.”
The three sacred swords all flew back, shooting upward, interweaving as they released a dense web of sword light, striking at Zhang Ruochen, who was hovering in midair.
Zhang Ruochen held the Abyssal Ancient Sword, neither dodging nor evading. He swung his sword rapidly, either cleaving, slashing, entangling, or lifting, sending all three sacred swords flying away.
His figure pressed downward swiftly, swinging his sword in a slash toward Xianlan King’s head.
“Golden Cauldron Facing the Sun.”
This was a move from the Nine Lives Sword Art. Although Zhang Ruochen had not yet mastered it to perfection, it still carried an overwhelming momentum, with sword light surging and a piercing sonic boom.
“A mere Half-Saint dares to challenge this king’s authority? One punch from me is enough to cripple you.”
Xianlan King snorted coldly. His arm emitted a crackling sound as flames flickered.
His fist, covered in blood armor, surged with a layer of blood-red sacred light, striking upward with immense force. Blood light shot into the sky, intent on crippling Zhang Ruochen.
The air echoed with the howling of wind and thunder as the fist wind surged violently.
A Saint’s body could connect with heaven and earth; a single punch carried the might of the natural world.
“Bang.”
Fist and sword clashed, producing the sound of metal shattering, and blood splattered onto the ground.
Xianlan King staggered back a dozen steps, cracking the rock beneath his feet with each step.
A sharp pain shot through his fist.
The blood armor scales on his fist had shattered, leaving a sword scar on the back of his hand. Sacred blood oozed from the wound, sliding down his fingers.
A Blood Saint, wounded by a human Half-Saint?
Xianlan King clenched his fingers, and in the next moment, the blood scar left by the Abyssal Ancient Sword on his hand healed automatically, leaving not even a scar behind.
“As expected of a Blood Saint, with such strong regenerative abilities. Even if his head were cut off, he could probably keep fighting.”
Zhang Ruochen dared not let his guard down, remaining tense and alert.
Suddenly, Xianlan King’s body shrank a hundredfold, becoming less than an inch tall, like a tiny blood-red bat with a human form—quite eerie.
For the Undying Blood Clan, shrinking a hundredfold to the size of a mosquito was easy, making them more agile and versatile.
At the same time, they could also enlarge their bodies a hundredfold, becoming giants of immense strength, capable of moving mountains and seas.
Zhang Ruochen’s greatest threat to Xianlan King was not his Five Elements Chaos Body or exquisite swordsmanship, but his spatial abilities.
Now, by shrinking his body a hundredfold, Xianlan King could maximize his ability to evade spatial attacks, leveraging his own strengths to the fullest.
The three sacred swords flew out again, turning into three streaks of white light, skimming the ground toward Zhang Ruochen.
Xianlan King stood atop one of the swords, with wisps of blood energy surging from his body. Though his form was tiny, his aura grew even stronger.
Facing the attack of the three sacred swords, Zhang Ruochen could only retreat continuously, deflecting Xianlan King’s assault.
Even so, Zhang Ruochen could not fully evade; the three swords left cuts on his arms and legs.
One attack was particularly perilous, grazing his neck and slicing off a strand of hair.
Seizing the moment, Xianlan King leaped from the sword, turning into a dazzling blood light, and punched toward Zhang Ruochen’s heart.
Zhang Ruochen’s palm shot forward, a low dragon’s roar emanating from his palm.
“Bang!”
This time, Zhang Ruochen failed to block Xianlan King’s fist force and was sent flying backward. His internal blood energy churned, and even his organs were slightly displaced.
The power unleashed by a Saint-level being was not to be underestimated.
Whether in combat technique or understanding of the Sacred Dao, Zhang Ruochen was far behind Xianlan King.
With nearly a thousand years of cultivation, Xianlan King had honed his martial skills to a supernatural level—experienced, steady, and grand. Even though Zhang Ruochen’s physique was stronger, it was difficult for him to pose a real threat.
“Zhang Ruochen, you’re still too green.”
Xianlan King flew forward, pressing the attack, aiming to severely wound Zhang Ruochen and render him completely combat-incapable.
In the distance, the sound of a zither rose again.
Shengshu Cainü’s fingers plucked another string.
Instantly, the rock on the ground rolled up, forming walls, earth spikes, and boulders that blocked Xianlan King’s path, pressing toward him.
The zither was made of a special material. Its five strings—Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu—represented the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
“Boom.”
Xianlan King’s swordsmanship was exceptional; he had mastered Sword Five to perfection. With irresistible force, he broke through Shengshu Cainü’s interception. The three blood-red figures merged into one, simultaneously driving the three sacred swords in a slash toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen stood beneath the overwhelming sword energy. The Meteor Invisibility Cloak on his body emitted a bright light, as dazzling as the blood light in the sky.
He swung his arm upward, slashing to tear open a spatial rift.
Xianlan King’s body twisted slightly in a bizarre manner, evading the spatial rift’s attack.
Just as the three sacred swords were about to land on Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized spatial power again, causing the surrounding space to twist rapidly. The swords, which should have fallen straight down, instead slashed toward Zhang Ruochen’s side.
“Shua.”
Zhang Ruochen thrust his sword, striking at Xianlan King, who was only an inch tall.
Xianlan King immediately flew sideways, returning to his original size, retreating dozens of zhang away.
That thrust had been extremely perilous; only a hair’s breadth separated Zhang Ruochen’s sword from piercing his body.
Having forced Xianlan King back, Zhang Ruochen’s aura surged. He executed a Spatial Displacement, appearing before Xianlan King and launching a relentless assault.
Shengshu Cainü played a zither piece filled with murderous intent, her fingers dancing rapidly across the five strings.
The zither’s five-element attack power, combined perfectly with Zhang Ruochen’s Five Elements Chaos Body, left Xianlan King in a sorry state, forced into a purely defensive posture.
Blazing flames scorched the blood armor on Xianlan King’s body black.
Zhang Ruochen’s sword strike left a foot-long wound on Xianlan King’s back, sacred blood flowing continuously, staining the ground red.
Xianlan King had cultivated for nearly a thousand years and had never been so humiliated. Two juniors had repeatedly wounded him, filling him with pent-up fury.
“Blood Demon Descends.”
A vast expanse of blood energy surged from Xianlan King’s brow.
At the center of the blood energy floated a several-dozen-meter-long blood-red skull, spinning rapidly to form a blood energy vortex.
At this moment, even the rules of heaven and earth seemed unable to suppress Xianlan King. A force like an avalanche was released, surging in all directions.
“Bang.”
A surge of blood energy blasted Zhang Ruochen away, his body crashing into the black cliff wall, half embedded in it.
Shengshu Cainü fared no better. Struck by the blood energy, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Already injured, her wounds worsened.
Note that the blood-red skull had not yet fully descended; just a single surge of its energy had severely wounded Zhang Ruochen and Shengshu Cainü.
If the skull’s main body launched an attack, how terrifying would it be?
Shengshu Cainü stared at the massive skull hovering in midair, her face turning pale. “That is the head of a Saint King-level being. It contains a vast, unfathomable residual power capable of killing Saints.”
A cold smile appeared on Xianlan King’s face. “For you two to force this king to bring out Lord Blood Demon’s head is already a remarkable achievement.”
With that, Xianlan King controlled the massive skull, attacking Zhang Ruochen, who was embedded in the cliff wall, intending to kill him first before dealing with Shengshu Cainü.
In his view, Shengshu Cainü was severely injured and posed little threat.
The massive skull, like a small blood mountain, was ferocious in form, with fangs and two ghostly flames burning in its hollow eye sockets.
Upon closer inspection, one might even detect a faint life aura emanating from within the skull.
Shengshu Cainü immediately sent the Confucian Ancestor Sacred Book flying toward the skull to prevent it from crashing into Zhang Ruochen.
“Whoosh.”
The pages of the Confucian Ancestor Sacred Book flipped open, releasing tens of thousands of bright specks of light, each a character.
As the skull pressed down, the characters exploded one after another, turning into mist.
With each character’s explosion, Shengshu Cainü’s injuries worsened. Blood flowed from the corners of her mouth, and her delicate body trembled, as if it too might shatter along with the characters.
“The Confucian Ancestor Sacred Book is nothing special. How could it possibly block Lord Blood Demon’s head?”
Xianlan King laughed loudly, channeling even greater power to drive the blood-red skull.
But he failed to notice Zhang Ruochen flying out from the black cliff wall, turning into a streak of light, his sword cutting through the air.
“One Moment, Four Directions Change.”
Dazzling sword light pierced through the blood mist, striking toward Xianlan King’s brow.
The power of time formed rippling waves, covering a hundred-zhang radius.
Xianlan King sensed the incoming sword light, his expression turning ugly. He immediately tried to control the blood-red skull to block Zhang Ruochen.
However, he found his own speed becoming extremely slow, while Zhang Ruochen’s speed was astonishingly fast.
“How is this possible? The flow of time seems to have slowed down.”
By the time Xianlan King realized this, the Abyssal Ancient Sword had already pierced through his brow, penetrating his Qi Sea and skull.
“Uh… you…”
Xianlan King’s body fell straight backward, gradually growing cold.
A human-shaped sacred light flew out from the top of Xianlan King’s head, diving into the blood-red skull hovering in midair.
Then, the life aura inside the blood-red skull grew even stronger, breaking free from the Confucian Ancestor Sacred Book’s suppression and flying toward the chasm from which the strange blood light had earlier emerged.
Zhang Ruochen landed beside Xianlan King’s corpse, panting heavily, his heart still pounding.
If he had not comprehended the second level of the Time Sword Art and executed the first move of the Scale Sword Art, both he and Shengshu Cainü would have died here.
Shengshu Cainü retrieved the Confucian Ancestor Sacred Book, her eyes fixed on the blood-red skull flying dozens of miles away. “Xianlan King’s sacred soul has entered that skull.”
“That skull seems to have come to life. It looks like we’ve stirred up an even more fearsome enemy. Whose head is it?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Though he had killed a Blood Saint, Zhang Ruochen felt no joy, only a growing sense of crisis.
(Some readers have asked why Zhang Ruochen didn’t use the Cosmic Divine Wood Map to release Blood Moon Ghost King. In Chapter 953, didn’t Zhang Ruochen give the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, along with four letters, to Xiao Hei?
At that time, Zhang Ruochen didn’t know if he would survive entering the Endless Abyss, so he naturally wouldn’t bring the Cosmic Divine Wood Map with him.
After all, the Cosmic Divine Wood Map contained many people. He couldn’t let them all risk death with him—that would be irresponsible. Moreover, the Cosmic Divine Wood Map was not indestructible.) (To be continued.)