Xiao Hei’s face shifted slightly, hurriedly said, “Quick, drop the All Beings Equal.”
Ye Honglei’s beautiful face paled, how could she have guessed, the knife-wielding man had such a terrifying trump card?
That demonic blade, its aura spilling out, was like a demon god awakening, capable of wiping out all life in the world.
Even standing a hundred zhang away, she felt like the blade’s qi might tear her apart.
But Ye Honglei, an overlord of the evil path, wasn’t scared senseless, snapping awake, she immediately bowed toward the dojo’s centre, communing with the remnant soul of Kunlun Realm’s ancient god, lifted All Beings Equal.
Xiao Hei stepped in front of Ye Honglei, wings spread wide, his body radiating scorching flames, feathers turning to metal blades. Dense blade qi struck Xiao Hei, clanging like metal collisions, “bang bang” echoing loud.
Ye Honglei stared at Zhang Ruochen in the distance, the massive demonic blade about to crash down on his head.
“Swish—”
Golden light burst from Zhang Ruochen’s body.
A golden umbrella appeared in his hand, spinning, growing huge, like a golden mushroom unfurling, clashing with the demonic blade.
“Roar.”
A deafening dragon cry roared from the umbrella.
Eight golden dragons, each hundreds of zhang long, flew out, whipping up fierce winds, sending stones, trees, and buildings in Tianluo Dojo soaring.
“Boom.”
The two forces collided, the demonic blade and eight dragons locked for a moment, then shattered together.
Above the Eight Dragon Umbrella, Wang Xu was hit by a golden energy surge, his crown and robes tearing apart, body flung like a broken kite.
The Eight Dragon Umbrella shrank back to normal size, landing in Zhang Ruochen’s left hand.
The ground beneath Zhang Ruochen sank several zhang, forming a crater, yet he stood straight, like a white-robed emperor holding an umbrella in the mortal world.
The clash’s destructive energy, wiped out the heavily injured Ruiya Realm cultivators lying on the ground.
A Seven-Step Saint King-level power clash, at such close range, they couldn’t withstand it.
Only one, a Five-Step Saint King, survived, face full of terror, fleeing Tianluo Dojo, darting through snow-capped peaks, racing toward the horizon.
Zhang Ruochen stowed the Eight Dragon Umbrella, holy qi surging within, pouring into the umbrella.
Instantly, dense golden inscriptions flared on the umbrella, eight golden dragons flew out again, circling the shaft.
“Swish.”
The Eight Dragon Umbrella shot out as a golden streak, quickly catching the Five-Step Saint King, piercing his protective holy qi, running him through.
The umbrella skirt flared, spun once, shredding the Five-Step Saint King’s tough holy body into flesh and blood, holy blood raining down on the white snow peaks, blooming like flowers.
The Eight Dragon Umbrella, unstained by blood, traced a graceful arc in the air, returned to Zhang Ruochen’s hand.
Wang Xu had divine runes guarding him, so the earlier clash between the Eight Dragon Umbrella and the Blade Emperor Talisman, only lightly injured him, not fatal.
“Looks like Zi Wu was right, you’re a real threat, I underestimated you before.”
Wang Xu gave a bitter smile, proud and arrogant since childhood, never eyeing any peer, yet here with Zhang Ruochen, he’d taken a heavy blow.
Zhang Ruochen faced him, said, “So, you’re conceding?”
“Concede? No, even if it’s mutual destruction, I, Wang Xu, will never give up.”
Wang Xu raised both hands, a mysterious martial divine mark glowed at his brow, a beam of light shot skyward.
Could it be… he’s going to detonate his holy source?
Zhang Ruochen summoned spatial power, slashed out with an arm, a several-zhang-long spatial rift cut forth.
Before the rift reached Wang Xu, a wild force shook it, sent it veering sideways.
“This power…”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression flickered.
A force capable of warping space, spilled from Wang Xu’s qi sea, spreading wider and wider.
Soon, the snow mountain hosting Tianluo Dojo, cracked with over a dozen fissures from that force, the massive peak teetering on collapse.
Ye Honglei’s face whitened, said, “Should we activate All Beings Equal again?”
“Wait a bit, this emperor doesn’t believe a Four-Step Saint King kid can turn the world upside down,” Xiao Hei stared at Wang Xu, flames on his body blazing hotter, like a volcano erupting.
With Ye Honglei’s Saint King cultivation, she felt her body melting under Xiao Hei’s flames, retreated outside Tianluo Dojo, barely holding up.
Tianluo Dojo now, a killing ground, anyone below Three-Step Saint King stepping near, was as good as dead.
“Boom.”
With a massive roar, a sphere thousands of zhang wide appeared above Wang Xu’s head.
Half the sky, blocked by the sphere.
That sphere, flown from Wang Xu’s qi sea, was a star, shrunk millions of times.
The star’s aura, terrifyingly potent, as it spun, its force pushed Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei back, the ground beneath them cracking and collapsing.
But with Wang Xu’s current cultivation, he clearly couldn’t control this star.
As it spun, his body trembled, blood seeping from his pores, he truly meant to go down with Zhang Ruochen.
“This kid, he’s refined a divine throne star into his qi sea, what now, Zhang Ruochen?” Xiao Hei panicked, itching to bolt.
Too late to reopen All Beings Equal now!
A divine throne star, formed when a being ascends to godhood, a star from their soul’s divine seat, reflecting the cosmos, when Chi Yao became a god, thirty-three stars blazed together as her throne.
Fang Yi, the Blade Hell Realm’s heir, had refined an ancient god’s throne star into his body.
But his star, its divine soul long faded, its power limited, yet Wang Xu’s star, still held a faint trace of divine soul.
With that wisp of soul, Wang Xu could wield the star, unleash power far beyond his realm.
A divine throne star with a soul, its strike, below Great Saint level, almost nothing could resist, instant annihilation.
Thousand Star Maiden rode a cloud, soared in, shouted, “Stop.”
Wang Xu glanced her way, a flash of surprise on his face.
Ruiya Realm and Thousand Star Civilization, both top-tier powers, had plenty of ties and dealings.
So Wang Xu, one of the few who’d seen Thousand Star Maiden’s true face, once was enough to stun him, even proud Wang Xu felt an urge to kneel at her feet.
He’d even pursued her once, failed miserably, only then realising, she was prouder than him, an untouchable holy iceberg.
Thousand Star Maiden said, “Wang Xu, are you mad? With your cultivation, using a divine throne star, even if you beat Zhang Ruochen, you’ll die too.”
“Your Highness… are you worried for my safety?”
A warm current flowed through Wang Xu’s heart.
Xiao Hei’s eyes darted, said, “What are you thinking? How could Thousand Star Maiden care about your life, she’s worried for Zhang Ruochen, they’re secretly engaged after all.”
“Nonsense.”
Wang Xu’s gaze darkened, the star above him shook violently, his emotions clearly in turmoil.
“Zhang Ruochen, show the marriage contract, let him give up,” Xiao Hei said.
Thousand Star Maiden said, “Zhang Ruochen, you promised me…”
Zhang Ruochen saw Wang Xu cared deeply for her, smiled, “Relax, since I promised, I won’t show the contract to anyone.”
Wang Xu’s face twisted ugly, recent rumours about Thousand Star Maiden flashing in his mind, he said, “Zhang Ruochen, I’ll kill you.”
Zhang Ruochen roared, “Who’s scared? Let’s fight.”
“My Purple-Gold Eight Trigrams Mirror, it can counter a divine throne star,” Zhenmiao Little Taoist offered to help.
“No need.”
Zhang Ruochen pulled out the purple divine stone seized from Lingquan Sha jun, poured holy qi into it, instantly, it blazed with dazzling purple light, morphed into a purple divine mountain as big as the star.
Per Ling Xiu, this purple stone, likely tied to the Stone Clan, one of hell’s top three tribes.
Once, it too was a star-sized mass, hovering by a black hole, its power, surely no less than a divine throne star.
But Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to die with Wang Xu, needed to conserve strength for coming battles.
So he summoned the Devouring Saint Flower and Yi Emperor Bone Staff, together driving the purple stone, clashed with Wang Xu’s star.
“Get back.”
Xiao Hei, Zhenmiao Little Taoist, Ye Honglei, Thousand Star Maiden, all fled far,不敢 stayed in Tianluo Dojo.
“Boom.”
Behind them, ferocious power erupted, air quaking wildly, like the sky and earth were caving in.
The snow mountain of Tianluo Dojo, shattered completely, collapsed downward.
Wang Xu’s skin burst, blood-soaked, yet his fighting spirit still burned, he tried for a second strike with the star, but his strength failed, legs shaking, arms unable to hold it, he crashed hard to the ground.
The star, about to fall and crush him.
Zhang Ruochen used spatial capture, grabbed Wang Xu’s body from afar, retreated fast.
“Boom.”
The massive star hit the ground, kicked up thick dust.
The shockwave, jolted thousands of li around, like a massive earthquake.
“I… lost… kill me…”
Wang Xu lay at Zhang Ruochen’s feet, eyes hollow, soulless.
“You’re still useful for now.”
Zhang Ruochen sealed his qi sea and meridians, headed to the spatial teleport array, checked it, confirmed it wasn’t wrecked, said, “Bring him, we’re off to Xumi Dojo.”
Before activating the array, Zhang Ruochen sent out a mental clone, collected the holy corpses of Ruiya Realm cultivators, took all their treasures.
These cultivators, each of grand origin, even a trinket on them worth a fortune, any holy weapon, top-grade.
Zhang Ruochen, desperate for holy stones, naturally cleaned them out.
Even Wang Xu’s divine throne star, he stuffed into the Mercury Gourd.
