The time-space barrier formed instantly, trapping everyone in Xianji Mountain—nearly 400,000 Heavenly Court Realm troops and nearly 200,000 Death Clan troops.
In the shortest time, both armies regrouped, on high alert.
Even Lu Baiming and Minggu ceased their fighting, returning to their respective camps.
“Boom.”
In midair, Qiyang struck with full force, wielding his demonic blade to cleave through the tortoise shell formation and chaotic space, breaking free. The dazzling blade light, like a celestial river, appeared before all cultivators.
“Collect it.”
Qiyang extended a massive hand, dozens of meters long, to seize the tortoise shell formation, but it seemed sentient, burrowing into the ground and vanishing.
Frowning, Qiyang gave up, flashing to the Death Altar to stand with the Source Demon God Son.
“What happened?” Qiyang looked skyward, sensing a suffocating force.
The Source Demon God Son’s eyes were grave. “Likely a contingency left by that old monk Xumi, trapping us here. This barrier is extraordinary.”
“A contingency from old monk Xumi? What’s going on? And where’s Ku?” Qiyang’s eyes were full of confusion.
The Source Demon God Son said, “Very likely, since this barrier is made of time-space power. Who else in the Kunlun Realm could do this besides old monk Xumi? As for Ku, he’s dead, killed by Zhang Ruochen.”
Qiyang was stunned, finding it hard to believe.
He knew Zhang Ruochen was the master of time and space, with remarkable skills. But with Zhang Ruochen’s current cultivation, how could he kill Ku?
Their strengths were worlds apart.
“Swish.”
At that moment, two figures emerged from the dark underground—Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin.
Ji Fanxin held the tortoise shell formation, evidently just retrieved.
Zhen Yuan, as a streak of cyan light, flew to Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin, asking, “Junior Brother Zhang, what’s with this barrier?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled. “Senior Brother Zhen Yuan, no need to worry. I triggered the divine force left by Saint Monk Xumi to form this barrier to trap the Death Clan.”
Secretly, he transmitted, “Next, I’ll use special methods against the Death Clan. To avoid collateral damage, I hope Senior Brother Zhen Yuan will lead the Heavenly Court army out of Xianji Mountain first.”
“How confident are you?” Zhen Yuan transmitted, clearly uneasy.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the distant Death Altar, a confident smile appearing. “Rest assured, Senior Brother. Without absolute certainty, would I dare face the Death Clan army alone?”
His demeanor was one of commanding the world!
Like Saint Monk Xumi sitting in the starry sky, facing gods with an air of subduing them all. Alone, yet exuding the presence to conquer deities.
Zhen Yuan stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen, saying no more, and immediately transmitted orders for the Heavenly Court army to prepare to withdraw.
In moments, the Heavenly Court army boarded their warships.
Even Biyun Hai joined Zhen Yuan on a warship. His gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen standing on the ground, sneering, “Truly overestimating himself, thinking he can face the Death Clan army with Xumi’s leftover power? When you die, no one will collect your corpse.”
Zhang Ruochen merely glanced at Biyun Hai, ignoring him. Biyun Hai was strong but not enough to intimidate him, and Zhang Ruochen couldn’t be bothered to argue.
Such a mindset would limit Biyun Hai’s future achievements.
On the Death Altar, the Death Clan’s top experts looked puzzled, curious about what the Heavenly Court cultivators were doing.
Prajna sensed something amiss. “Not good, they’re trying to leave. Stop them.”
The Source Demon God Son and Qiyang, seasoned warriors, also sensed danger and acted immediately.
The Source Demon God Son crossed his arms, streams of dragon-shaped demonic energy surging from his body, forming a vast demonic cloud above.
With a palm strike, he unleashed a thousands-of-meters-long demonic handprint.
Qiyang swung his Blood-Drinking Demonic Blade, sending out a 300-mile-long blade light, emitting a piercing screech, as if cleaving the heavens and earth.
“Such terrifying power.”
Zhang Ruochen instantly activated the Secret Canon of Time and Space, opening a spatial passage leading outside Xianji Mountain.
“Swish.”
All Heavenly Court warships took off, passing through the passage, leaving the area and appearing a thousand miles away.
Only Ji Fanxin, Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, Pei Yutian, and the Evil Spirit remained. Unlike others, they would stand with Zhang Ruochen no matter what, refusing to leave despite persuasion.
Zhang Ruochen used the Secret Canon to envelop them, performing a grand spatial shift.
As they vanished, the attacks from the Source Demon God Son and Qiyang struck, hitting the time-space barrier, causing it to ripple like a water curtain.
On the Death Altar, the Source Demon God Son said coldly, “Zhang Ruochen, it’s you. This was all your plan, wasn’t it? You hid your depths well, truly worthy of being old monk Xumi’s heir.”
Holding the Secret Canon in one hand, the other behind his back, Zhang Ruochen stepped on the scorched earth toward the Death Altar. “I’ll give you one last chance: leave the Kunlun Realm, and I’ll spare you.”
As he spoke, his gaze lingered on Prajna.
But he was met with mocking laughter, as if ridiculing his ignorance and arrogance.
“Zhang Ruochen, do you even understand the situation? You think a flawed time-space barrier can handle our Death Clan army? Even Xuanyuan Liekong isn’t as brazen as you,” the Source Demon God Son sneered.
Qiyang’s fingers brushed his nose, chuckling, “He’s too full of himself! What’s the word… self-righteous.”
Qiyang and Source Demon were among the Death Clan’s top ten below Great Saint, capable of challenging Great Saints. To them, Zhang Ruochen was no more than an ant.
Not only did they think Zhang Ruochen was courting death, but even the Heavenly Court army outside Xianji Mountain thought so.
Feng Wuxing frowned deeply, looking at Zhen Yuan bitterly. “Brother Zhen Yuan, did Zhang Ruochen stay because he had to send us away, leaving him no chance to escape?”
From afar, Zhang Ruochen stood alone against hundreds of thousands of Death Clan troops, a tragically heroic sight.
Though Zhen Yuan had faith in Zhang Ruochen, how could one person face so many Death Clan experts? Still, as the heir of time and space, escaping shouldn’t be difficult.
“Haha, let this god son deal with this arrogant fool.”
The Red Star God Son’s grey wings unfurled, turning into two deathly clouds, flying from the altar.
From miles away, he threw a punch, triggering a deafening sonic boom. Countless grey lightning bolts appeared, creating an eerie phenomenon.
“It’s the Heaven-Destroying Killing Fist, a technique rivaling high-tier holy arts, with boundless power. Red Star God Son once used it to clash twelve times with an Immortal Great Saint, only retreating after coughing blood.”
“Locked by the Heaven-Destroying Killing Fist, with Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation, he’s doomed.”
Even Prajna, on the Death Altar, stared intently at Zhang Ruochen. Under the fist, his body seemed frail and insignificant, as if it would turn to ash any moment.
But no one expected Zhang Ruochen to calmly utter, “Courting death.”
“Swish—”
Without another word, Zhang Ruochen flipped his hand, revealing the Xianji Compass, pouring holy energy into it, rapidly reviving it.
“The Xianji Compass.”
The Death Clan experts’ faces changed.
The compass had been taken by a mysterious figure, untraceable. How was it now in Zhang Ruochen’s hands?
There were only two possibilities: either the thief knew Zhang Ruochen, or Zhang Ruochen himself had taken it, possibly during his absence.
Either way, the compass in Zhang Ruochen’s hands was bad news.
The compass flew up, hovering before Zhang Ruochen, releasing a strange power as it spun.
Instantly, ancient array patterns hidden underground emerged, though heavily damaged, their aura still terrifying, chilling holy souls.
In ancient times, the Xianji Sect had an array master who set up powerful formations. Despite ages of decay and Death Clan destruction, some formidable patterns remained, buried deep, only activatable by the Xianji Compass.
“Buzz.”
Pei Yutian’s stone blade, drawn from the Secret Canon, trembled violently, becoming uncontrollable.
The next moment, it broke free from Pei Yutian’s grasp, flying above Zhang Ruochen’s head.
The array power Zhang Ruochen summoned with the compass converged on the stone blade. The immense power was too much for ordinary holy artifacts to bear.
The blade vibrated, its surface patterns aligning perfectly with the Northern Region’s terrain.
Like at the Cliff of Life and Death, the blade autonomously revived, drawing the Northern Region’s heaven and earth power.
Vast heaven and earth power pierced the time-space barrier, merging into the blade.
The Northern Region erupted in lightning and thunder, with terrifying phenomena, far surpassing the event at the Cliff of Life and Death.
A slash cleaved the air, shattering the Heaven-Destroying Killing Fist.
“How… this power…”
The Red Star God Son’s face changed, sensing a force more terrifying than a Great Saint surrounding Zhang Ruochen. At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was like a god of Xianji Mountain, instilling immense fear.
He flapped his wings, trying to flee.
“Too late to escape!”
Zhang Ruochen guided the blade for another slash.
“Puff.”
The blade cut the Red Star God Son in two.
The blade’s power was so overwhelming that his body exploded, turning into two clouds of cold deathly mist.
The two slashes were stunning and domineering, silencing both Death Clan and Heavenly Court cultivators.
Some were so awestruck their souls trembled, nearly kneeling to worship Zhang Ruochen, who seemed like a blade god descended.
Holding the Xianji Compass, Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, each step shaking the heavens and earth.
“Activate the Death Altar.”
No longer underestimating Zhang Ruochen, the Source Demon God Son roared ferociously, pouring his power into the altar.
Others on the altar followed suit.
Everyone saw that Zhang Ruochen was nearly invincible. Only by uniting to break the time-space barrier could they survive.
The Death Altar’s power was pushed to its limit, a dark beam shooting skyward, aiming to pierce the barrier.
Originally, the Death Clan planned to let the altar absorb enough power for a devastating strike to breach the spatial barrier between their star domain and the Kunlun Realm, allowing their army to swiftly conquer the Northern Region.
They never imagined it would be used to counter Zhang Ruochen, this killing star.
“Break it!”
The Source Demon God Son roared, fully activating the altar.
If the barrier fell, Zhang Ruochen and the Heavenly Court experts would be no threat.
Though tied to Saint Monk Xumi, he had fallen long ago. How much divine power could remain?
With the altar’s eerie power, breaking it wasn’t impossible.
“You’re not leaving!”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were cold, brimming with killing intent.
“Swish.”
The blade’s power peaked, slashing fiercely at the Death Altar.
A terrifying blade light erupted, destabilizing space, causing faint cracks.
“Boom.”
The Death Altar glowed brighter, trying to block the blade light.
But the light was unstoppable, and the altar’s defenses couldn’t hold.
“Crack.”
The moment the blade light touched, the altar began to break.
“Rumble.”
The blade light exploded like thunder, destructive force spreading in all directions, engulfing the altar.
Centered on the altar, Xianji Mountain’s land cracked massively, like an earthquake beyond human control.
From the dark underground, cyan light emerged, protecting the cyan palace.
In moments, the Death Altar collapsed entirely, reduced to ash.
Not only the altar but also the dozens of top experts on it vanished, leaving nothing behind.
Those on the altar were immensely powerful, at least Sky-Connecting Realm, numbering dozens.
Seeing this, Xiang Chunan’s eyes widened in shock. “My goodness, that’s terrifying! So many powerful Death Clan, all wiped out, not even scraps left.”
His earlier worries were clearly unnecessary.
“Flee!”
Seeing this, the Death Clan army panicked, scattering in all directions.
With their god sons and god daughters annihilated, how could they face Zhang Ruochen?
Zhang Ruochen frowned, looking at where the altar’s dark beam had struck.
As the blade shattered the altar, he faintly sensed a slight fluctuation in the time-space barrier.
Likely, someone had escaped through it at that moment.
He couldn’t tell how many or who had fled.
The Death Clan was indeed formidable, managing to escape even in such circumstances.
“Pity, so many powerful Death Clan, all obliterated, wasting so many merit points,” Feng Yan sighed.
Xiang Chunan nodded. “Exactly, such a waste. Their treasures are gone too.”
“There are still plenty of merit points left.” Zhang Ruochen turned to the fleeing Death Clan cultivators.
As he spoke, he activated the Xianji Compass again, controlling the remnant arrays in Xianji Mountain. He had no intention of sparing the nearly 200,000 remaining Death Clan troops.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen prepare this move, Xiang Chunan hurriedly said, “Big Brother, go easy! Don’t obliterate them all, or we’ll have worked for nothing!”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
“Boom.”
The arrays activated, hundreds of silver lightning bolts appearing, striking the fleeing Death Clan.
“Ah.”
Piercing screams echoed continuously.
Those hit by the lightning fell from the air, most dying instantly, and the survivors were gravely injured, unable to resist.
Some Death Clan, bold and composed, formed battle formations to confront Zhang Ruochen.
But without top experts, their strongest only at the Path Domain Realm, their numbers were futile.
In little time, Xianji Mountain fell silent. Most Death Clan were killed by Zhang Ruochen’s arrays, the rest finished off by Feng Yan, Xiang Chunan, and Pei Yutian.
“It’s over!”
Zhang Ruochen exhaled lightly, sending the Xianji Compass into the dark underground.
With the battle over, the compass should return to its rightful place.
Without pause, the six began cleaning the battlefield, collecting spoils.
Nearly 200,000 Death Clan troops, all above Saint Realm, could yield at least two to three billion merit points, enough for two or three to rank on the Heavenly Court’s Saint King Merit List.
Such points could also be exchanged for many precious merit treasures, a significant haul.
