“Why… why can’t we activate the Equality of All Beings… Has even Saint Monk Xumi abandoned us…?”
Gai Tianjiao’s gaze was dazed, staring at the dim sky, coughing up blood from her mouth, filled with unwillingness.
At the same realm, she had absolute confidence she could defeat these Paradise Realm powerhouses.
But with far less cultivation time, her realm lagged far behind theirs. Unable to activate the Equality of All Beings, she was powerless to fight back.
The angel clan Saint King, wanting to crush Gai Tianjiao’s spirit completely, said deliberately, “Your Kunlun Realm was abandoned a hundred thousand years ago. Only fools like you think there’s still a chance for the Kunlun Realm to rise again. In truth, your ancestors were just as foolish. A hundred thousand years ago, they exhausted themselves fighting the Hell Realm, trying to cripple it and establish a new cosmic order…”
“Who are you calling foolish?”
A frigid voice exploded out of nowhere.
Zhang Ruochen stepped into the illusion array, his figure flickering as he appeared before the angel clan Saint King, his eyes icy and piercing.
The angel clan Saint King glanced around, confirming Zhang Ruochen wasn’t from the Kunlun Realm but an outsider who had闯入进来 (闯入进来 replaced with “闯入进来” due to apparent typo in original), before barking, “How dare you! Don’t you know the kings of the Paradise Realm are here? This isn’t a place for you…”
“Swish.”
Zhang Ruochen, too impatient to waste words, slashed diagonally with his sword, unleashing a sword qi several zhang long.
This qi, not mere sword energy, had the power to pierce through heaven and earth.
The angel clan Saint King’s expression changed drastically. He yanked the spear from Gai Tianjiao’s abdomen, wielding it like a staff, swinging it horizontally to block Zhang Ruochen’s strike.
“Crack.”
The Chenyuan Ancient Sword sliced through the ten-thousand-pattern saint weapon spear as if cutting tofu, severing the angel clan Saint King’s head and sending it flying.
The angel clan Saint King watched his body grow distant below, the terror in his eyes intensifying.
He mobilised the saint qi in his qi sea, controlling his head to fly towards the island’s centre, shouting, “A powerful enemy has intrud…ed…”
“Swish.”
Two pillars of Pure Extinction Divine Fire shot from Zhang Ruochen’s pupils, striking the head.
The head exploded, disintegrating into sparks.
Nearby, the three elf clan female Saint Kings suppressing Bu Qianfan were stunned, their delicate eyes flashing with cold light.
“The kings of the Paradise Realm are conducting business here, yet someone dares interfere.”
“Two of you, go suppress him.”
Two of the elf clan female Saint Kings, with mental power at the peak of tier fifty-six, stopped suppressing Bu Qianfan. Raising their jade saint staffs, they chanted a spell, unleashing saint techniques to attack Zhang Ruochen.
Each of their combat strengths was no less than that of a Four-Step Saint King.
One elf clan female Saint King summoned wind energy, forming a twenty-zhang-long wind sparrow beast, carrying a sky full of blades, swooping down on Zhang Ruochen.
The other summoned flames, conjuring over a thousand fireballs that hovered around her, turning into a rain of fire as they shot outwards.
Both the fireballs and wind blades, refined and layered countless times, were highly condensed, capable of tearing through a Saint King’s saintly body. In the mortal world, a single fireball could level a city, a single wind blade could flatten a mountain.
Zhang Ruochen remained unfazed, unfurling the Eight Dragon Umbrella.
Eight golden dragons burst from the umbrella’s surface, shattering their saint techniques into fragments.
“Roar! Roar!”
The eight dragon shadows crashed into the two elf clan female Saint Kings, shattering their beautiful forms into bursts of blood mist, leaving only two skeletons that were flung away.
The remaining elf clan female Saint King suppressing Bu Qianfan, named Yan Ni, with mental power at tier fifty-seven, let out a shrill cry upon witnessing this. Retracting her suppression on Bu Qianfan, she glared at Zhang Ruochen with fury.
Those two tier fifty-six mental power female Saint Kings had extraordinary talent, with the potential to become Great Saints of mental power. Their deaths were a massive loss to the elf clan.
Yan Ni’s back unfurled a pair of cicada-wing-thin wings, radiating dazzling blue light.
Instantly, the saint qi of this heaven and earth converged towards the saint staff in her hand.
The staff emitted blinding light, accompanied by a destructive aura, causing the lake waters to churn violently. Above, sharp ice spikes fell like rain from the sky.
Zhang Ruochen ignored Yan Ni, holding the Eight Dragon Umbrella as he walked to Gai Tianjiao’s side.
The sharp ice spikes struck the umbrella, producing a series of “bang bang” sounds.
“Eldest Senior Sister,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen’s noble yet imposing figure, Gai Tianjiao’s face showed a trace of relief, her voice faint as she said, “I… I knew… you’d definitely… come… but I can no longer… fight…”
“Don’t say such discouraging words, the battle’s only just begun.”
Zhang Ruochen took out the cyan lotus seed, channeling its cyan light into Gai Tianjiao’s body.
Yan Ni, furious beyond measure, a tier fifty-seven mental power Saint King, was being ignored. She unleashed all her mental power, pointing her saint staff at Zhang Ruochen.
“Rumble.”
A bucket-thick lightning dragon shot from the staff.
Zhang Ruochen glanced sideways and said, “Don’t kill her, I want her alive.”
Xie Chengzi landed in front of Zhang Ruochen, pressing both palms forward, casting a saint technique. Two clouds of evil qi surged from his palms, from which a hundreds-of-metres-long black claw extended, shattering the lightning dragon and striking Yan Ni.
“Bang.”
Yan Ni, worthy of her tier fifty-seven mental power Saint King status, conjured fifty-four layers of light shields around her graceful form, blocking Xie Chengzi’s strike.
Retreating dozens of zhang, Yan Ni steadied herself.
Xie Chengzi pursued, hurling the Bloodthirsty Ring.
“Swish.”
The Bloodthirsty Ring spun rapidly, flying above Yan Ni, encircling her and her fifty-four light shields. As it tightened, the shields protecting Yan Ni shattered with “bang bang” sounds.
Finally, all the shields broke, dissolving into specks of light.
The Bloodthirsty Ring clamped onto Yan Ni’s body, rendering her completely immobile.
Under the healing power of the lotus seed, Gai Tianjiao and Bu Qianfan’s wounds healed almost instantly, restoring their vigour.
Bu Qianfan stared coldly at Yan Ni and said, “She holds a high status in the Paradise Realm. Capturing her gives us leverage to negotiate with them!”
Xie Chengzi retracted the Bloodthirsty Ring, while Bu Qianfan used a Saint-Binding Chain to restrain Yan Ni.
Gai Tianjiao said, “When we were ambushed, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady used a divine temple to take in more than half of the Kunlun Realm cultivators. The Paradise Realm forces will surely target her first. I don’t know if she’s escaped.”
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady indeed possessed a divine temple, belonging to the Fate Goddess “Xian Feizi.” Zhang Ruochen had seen her use it once.
It was a true divine temple, once inhabited by an ancient god, imbued with mysterious divine power, capable of both defence and imprisoning foes.
Fully manifested, the temple was massive, comparable to a small asteroid.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady had numerous trump cards, each extraordinarily powerful, like Qing Mo’s cleaver, the Saint Book Talent’s Confucian Ancestor Saint Book… Other mysterious ladies likely wielded equally remarkable treasures.
In terms of treasure quality and quantity, Zhang Ruochen couldn’t compare to her. Plus, with her ninefold cultivation speed, her current realm was formidable.
Perhaps… she could hold out.
Once everyone was gathered, Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and said, “Let’s go, charge in.”
The earlier skirmish had alerted the Paradise Realm cultivators on the island, who spotted Zhang Ruochen and his group, rushing towards them. Some flew in the sky, others dashed on the ground, still others burrowed beneath.
Just the Saint Kings flying and running numbered nearly a hundred, their terrifying saintly might radiating like celestial soldiers and generals, awe-inspiring and intimidating.
“Who dares rescue the Kunlun Realm? Are you seeking to make an enemy of the Paradise Realm?” A peak Six-Step Saint King giant, wielding a palace-sized warhammer, roared furiously.
Standing over a hundred and thirty metres tall, its two eyes shone like the sun and moon in the sky, radiating explosive power fluctuations.
This was a peerless powerhouse of the Giant-Eye Calamity Clan, among the top ten in strength among the Paradise Realm kings here to slaughter the Kunlun Realm cultivators.
Yan Ni didn’t even rank in the top twenty.
Another top-twenty Six-Step Saint King was a dragon clan powerhouse with a human body, dragon horns on its forehead, and broad dragon wings on its back, its appearance strikingly handsome.
This dragon clan powerhouse, named Yu Tian, saw the captured Yan Ni, his eyes flashing with ferocity, his domineering voice resounding, “With just a handful of you, instead of fleeing, you dare come here? Are you courting death? Release Yan Ni, and this king might consider sparing your lives.”
Zhang Ruochen sent a mental message to Xiao Hei, Chi Wansui, Bu Qianfan, and Gai Tianjiao, saying, “You go rescue people, leave these guys to me and Zhenmiao.”
Across this land, many Kunlun Realm cultivators still lay dying in pools of blood or were pinned under the blades and axes of Paradise Realm cultivators, forced to write down their techniques and saint arts.
They had to be saved first.
Xiao Hei quickly refused, “No way, letting this emperor handle a trivial task like rescue is a waste of talent!”
“You can control the three-legged corpse-eating insects, silently eliminating those Paradise Realm cultivators and saving the Kunlun Realm cultivators they’ve subdued. This job, truly, only you can do.”
Unwilling to argue further with Xiao Hei, Zhang Ruochen took out the Nine-Step Dragon Chariot, summoning nine golden dragons, and charged towards the Paradise Realm kings with the dragon chariot leading the way.
A bloody battle erupted in full force.
“Bang.”
Seated in the dragon chariot, two pillars of Pure Extinction Divine Fire shot from Zhang Ruochen’s pupils, piercing through an elf clan Saint King’s saintly body.
The elf clan Saint King screamed, plummeting from the sky.
