The phantom of the Heaven and Earth Chessboard grew increasingly solid, its divine might spreading outward, forming ripples like waves that affected a vast region.
The Martial Realm Emperor’s Son, being the closest, felt it most keenly; the divine might crashed over him like a tempestuous sea, suffocating him and even dispersing the blood energy he had unleashed.
“Bang.”
Two beams of light, one white and one black, burst forth from the two exquisite positions on the chessboard, effortlessly tearing through the nine-layered chain vortex surrounding the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son, then striking his body.
Even though the force had been weakened, it still pierced straight through the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son’s body.
Not even the Hundred Saints Blood Armour could withstand it.
In an instant, the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son was gravely wounded, blood flowing freely, his aura growing feeble.
Everything happened so quickly that no one else had time to intervene.
At the same time, the chessboard’s phantom rapidly faded, the divine might vanishing as if it had never existed.
Da Sikong and Er Sikong’s gazes cleared, withdrawing from that profoundly mysterious state.
Both appeared somewhat fatigued, as if that single strike had drained too much of their energy and spirit.
Like Murong Yue, they had been chosen years ago by a mysterious figure and brought to an awakened divine land, marked as heaven’s chosen, where they gained unparalleled opportunities, allowing their cultivation to soar.
Moreover, something mysterious had been awakened within their bodies, something even they didn’t fully understand.
Without this, even with Master Indra’s careful guidance, reaching the Saint King realm in such a short time would have been impressive enough; becoming powerhouses among Saint Kings would have been out of the question.
“Since they’re connected to the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, we absolutely cannot let them escape, capture them,” the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King reacted, immediately making his move.
His strength far surpassed the Martial Realm Emperor’s Son’s, and even if the two monks unleashed that domineering attack again, he wouldn’t be the least bit fazed, especially given their current weakened state.
The gap between the early Domain Realm and the peak of Heaven-Connecting was no small matter.
What’s more, as a divine son with potent divine blood in his veins, his true power rivalled ordinary Near-Path realm experts; no matter how strange these two monks were, they couldn’t escape his grasp.
“Junior Brother, run!”
Seeing the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King extend a sky-covering giant hand, Da Sikong grabbed Er Sikong and bolted toward the sword tomb.
During the earlier fight, he’d noticed divine runes nearby, likely marking the sword tomb’s location; if they could enter the area covered by those runes, the Undying Blood Clan would probably be powerless against them.
“Hmph, you think you can escape?”
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King sneered, as if he’d already cornered them.
Just as the two monks were about to fall into his hands, a leopard claw, hundreds of metres long, reached out from within the sword tomb.
The leopard claw shimmered with radiant light, interwoven with countless holy path laws, erupting with unparalleled, majestic force, like a comet crashing forth.
“Boom.”
The leopard claw collided with the giant hand of the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King, managing to hold it at bay.
The next moment, the giant hand shattered, dissolving into roiling blood energy that sent surrounding rocks flying and crumbling.
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King let out a muffled grunt, the white bone mountain beneath his feet trembling violently.
“A Near-Path realm powerhouse.”
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King’s eyes narrowed, his gaze locking onto the tall figure emerging from the divine runes.
He wasn’t alone; others also turned their attention that way, most of them shocked.
A glint of curiosity flashed in Xia Wenzin’s eyes as he remarked with mild surprise, “An unknown Near-Path realm expert in the sword tomb, interesting, truly interesting.”
He realised that this assault on the sword tomb was full of unexpected twists—Zhang Ruochen’s strength, the oddity of the two monks, and now this figure—stoking his interest completely.
The one who blocked the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King was naturally Bao Lie, who had been monitoring Luo Yi inside the sword tomb. Sensing the commotion outside, he rushed over, just in time to save the two monks.
By now, the monks had entered the area covered by the divine runes, safely escaping danger.
Sweeping his gaze over the figures on the white bone mountain, Bao Lie didn’t attack again, instead turning decisively and leading Da Sikong and Er Sikong away.
“Damn it.”
The Nine-Eyed Heavenly King growled, his eyes flashing with cold fury.
For someone to snatch the two monks from his grasp after he personally intervened was a direct slap to his face.
Xia Wenzin smiled faintly, “No need to get worked up, the Nether Immortal will soon break the divine runes, and when we storm the sword tomb, not one of them will escape.”
Hearing this, the Nine-Eyed Heavenly King couldn’t help but glance at the Nether Immortal, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
Repeated failures only fuelled his desire to breach the sword tomb sooner and vent his rage.
Inside the sword tomb, Bao Lie’s expression shifted dramatically as he said gravely, “That cunning Luo Yi vanished in an instant, looks like he’d already sensed me watching him.”
In the brief moment Bao Lie had stepped out to rescue the monks, Luo Yi disappeared without a trace, slipping into some hidden place.
Unfortunately, Bao Lie needed to guard the cold volcano where Zhang Ruochen and the others were in seclusion, leaving him no chance to search for Luo Yi.
Given the sword tomb’s mysteries, even if Luo Yi had ulterior motives, he likely couldn’t cause too much trouble.
The only silver lining was that Luo Yi hadn’t seized the opportunity to infiltrate the cold volcano, or things would have gotten messy!
“That scared this poor monk to death, many thanks to you, benefactor, for saving us, Amitabha,” Da Sikong patted his chest, then pressed his hands together to thank Bao Lie.
Bao Lie snapped back to focus, nodding, “Ruochen instructed me to take you to him once you arrived, follow me!”
The two monks didn’t hesitate, quickly following his lead.
In the cold volcano, everyone was diligently cultivating, undisturbed by external distractions.
“Uncle Master, on Master’s orders, we’ve brought the Sky-Soaring Sword.”
Er Sikong spoke up, presenting the Sky-Soaring Sword to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes, looking at the Sky-Soaring Sword with a natural flicker of delight; with it, he’d have a better chance of defending the sword tomb and the Nether Dungeon.
Taking the sword, Zhang Ruochen smiled, “You two have had a tough journey, it’s a critical time, so I won’t stand on ceremony, cultivate here for now, there’s a tough battle ahead.”
“Master said we’re to follow your orders completely,” Er Sikong said somewhat stiffly.
Da Sikong chuckled, “We’re all family, Uncle Master, don’t mind us, we’ll find a spot to cultivate ourselves.”
With that, he dragged Er Sikong off, not lingering to disturb Zhang Ruochen.
His keen eye had already spotted that Zhang Ruochen was at a crucial point in his cultivation, best left undisturbed.
Placing the Sky-Soaring Sword aside, Zhang Ruochen resumed practising the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, the Tongtian River in his qi sea growing ever wider, countless holy path rules emerging and filling the sea.
After repeated attempts, he was finally close to weaving his ideal miniature world of rules, meaning a breakthrough in his cultivation.
The miniature world of rules he was crafting was built on two eternal paths as its foundation, with one supreme path as its pillar, making it无比稳固 and utterly perfect.
“All in one go.”
Zhang Ruochen roared inwardly, fully mobilising the holy path rules he’d comprehended.
The Tongtian River trembled violently, countless holy path rules surfacing, filling the divine light qi sea, as the holy energy flowing through his body began a qualitative transformation.
Time passed…
From within Zhang Ruochen’s body came the sound of rushing rivers, the river’s phantom even spilling outside his form.
“It’s done, the miniature world of rules is complete, 7.64 million holy path rules flooding the divine light qi sea, my cultivation has finally broken through to the Ninth Step Saint King realm.”
Feeling the surging power within him, Zhang Ruochen couldn’t help but reveal a thick smile of joy.
The leap from the peak of Eighth Step Saint King to Ninth Step Saint King seemed small, but once crossed, the difference in strength was night and day, far beyond a mere doubling.
He immediately took out numerous holy stones, refining them全力以赴 to hasten the transformation of his internal holy energy.
Only by fully converting his holy energy could he truly be considered a Ninth Step Saint King, his strength reaching its peak.
All 144 apertures across his body opened, forming 144 vortexes, greedily absorbing the energy within the holy stones.
This seclusion wasn’t just a breakthrough in cultivation; Zhang Ruochen’s attainments in swordsmanship, the Path of Truth, the Path of Time, and the Path of Space also improved to varying degrees.
Especially in the Path of Truth, his truth rules surged, enabling him to unleash eightfold combat power—an astonishing feat.
Reaching this level meant he had fully comprehended the third layer of the Truth Temple’s realm, grasping that earth is the mother of all things and the essence of matter.
Next, he’d tackle the fourth layer of the Truth Temple’s realm, a challenge far more daunting than the third.
To fully master the third layer of the Truth Temple’s realm in the Saint King stage was a rare feat across the entire Heavenly Court, countable on one hand.
In cultivating the Path of Truth, Zhang Ruochen stood at the forefront, second to none.
It didn’t take long for him to fully convert his holy energy, both its quantity and quality vastly improved.
“I wonder what level my strength has reached now?”
“Even without using time and space powers, I should be able to match Heaven-Connecting realm experts.”
“Pity, the final layer of Sword Nine still eludes me. How exactly do I grasp the mystery of ‘Soul Returning to the Void’?” Zhang Ruochen sighed, his swordsmanship hitting a bottleneck.
The difference between near-mastery and full mastery was immense; throughout history, few had achieved Sword Nine’s completion in the Saint King realm.
Ling Feiyu’s attainment wasn’t just due to her talent—she must have had extraordinary encounters too.
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t overly anxious; he still had plenty of room to grow in the Saint King realm, and with steady accumulation, Sword Nine’s completion was only a matter of time.
His gaze shifted to the Chenyuan Ancient Sword, where its spirit sat atop the blade, refining various materials to forge a physical body. Radiant light flowed around it, wisps of sword energy swirling, dreamlike and illusory.
He could sense a strange power from the sword tomb continuously pouring into the sword spirit, making it increasingly solid and its aura ever stronger.
“For Chenyuan to forge the most perfect physical body, it’ll take some time. The power flowing into it is so unique, seeming to contain the supreme mysteries of swordsmanship—perhaps I can use this to comprehend the ‘Soul Returning to the Void’ mystery.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes gleamed with insight, seeing a breakthrough opportunity in the Chenyuan sword spirit.
He immediately summoned his six holy aspects, surrounding the Chenyuan Ancient Sword, together studying the mysterious power converging on the spirit.
Having reached the miniature world of rules, further breakthroughs would be tough, so mastering Sword Nine was the best way to boost his strength.
At the same time, he wanted to help the Chenyuan sword spirit forge its body faster. Whether it succeeded, and what kind of body it formed, would greatly impact his own power.
