On the barren hill cloaked in illusion, the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden and the six elders had glints of intrigue in their eyes.
A faint smile curved the Heavenly Maiden’s lips as she said, “With Zhang Ruochen’s vigilance, ambushing him is no easy task.”
“But his actions aren’t wise. Sun Civilization has gathered over a thousand Saint King realm powerhouses, led by the Golden Sun Twin Kings themselves. Choosing to fight head-on likely won’t end well for him,” an elder shook his head.
The other five elders nodded in agreement. Zhang Ruochen’s side had only four, no matter how strong. How could they face Sun Civilization’s thousand-plus powerhouses?
The Heavenly Maiden, however, disagreed, “You don’t understand Zhang Ruochen. If he dares to act, he must have confidence. Even if he can’t win, he can escape unscathed.”
In truth, she was eager to see what trump cards Zhang Ruochen held to challenge Sun Civilization head-on. The upcoming battle promised to be thrilling.
In the jungle’s small world, the Five Elements Saint King trembled slightly—not from fear, but from rage. The owl saint beast’s brazen talk of eating her, practically drooling, infuriated her.
“Owl, I’ll not only drain your blood but extract your saint soul, burning it with divine fire for centuries, millennia, making you beg for life and death alike,” she hissed through gritted teeth.
Over the years, anyone who coveted her had become her nourishment.
Xiao Hei showed no fear, laughing, “Quite the personality, but this Emperor has ways to make you submit. Zhang Ruochen, take the Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror. I’ll handle it while you go pick the flower.”
Zhang Ruochen resisted an eye-roll; the phrasing was awkward.
Still, he handed the mirror to Xiao Hei to suppress the jungle world while he attended to other matters.
The Great Sun King’s brows shot up as he barked, “Attack! Spare none!”
Together, the Twin Kings channeled powerful saintly energy into the Golden Crow Ancient Cauldron, unleashing waves of supreme force aimed at Zhang Ruochen.
Their goal was clear: kill Zhang Ruochen swiftly. The others were secondary.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was electric, his body surging with yang energy. A golden sun flew from his brow, colliding with the cauldron.
“You’ve already mastered the Destruction Golden Sun,” the Great Sun King’s eyes narrowed.
The Destruction Golden Sun held immense yang power, not easily tamed.
He assumed Zhang Ruochen had merely suppressed it, not mastered it so quickly.
To his surprise, the aura Zhang Ruochen emitted through the Golden Sun surpassed the Sun Emperor’s.
Unbeknownst to him, Zhang Ruochen’s Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm granted him yang energy far exceeding ordinary cultivators. Within his Divine Light Sea of Qi, the Seven-Star Divine Ling Sun Leaf formed a divine sun, key to mastering the Golden Sun.
Most crucially, Zhang Ruochen had refined an ancient Golden Crow saint soul and a drop of its essence blood, perfectly aligning with the Golden Sun.
As a recently forged supreme saint artifact, the Golden Sun hadn’t endured a Yuanhui Tribulation, its spirit relatively weak, unable to resist Zhang Ruochen. He tamed it effortlessly, imprinting his saint soul mark.
Both the cauldron and Golden Sun blazed with dazzling golden light, like twin suns in the sky, blindingly radiant.
*Boom.*
The space outside the jungle world shattered, revealing a pitch-black void and unleashing a terrifying spatial storm.
The jungle world trembled, its membrane rippling like waves.
The Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror shook, its demonic mountain shadows crumbling.
The two supreme artifacts continued clashing with supreme force.
Simultaneously, the thousand-plus Saint Kings in the jungle unleashed thousands of high-grade Ten-Thousand-Pattern Saint Artifacts, forming a torrent that surged with immense momentum.
Even stars in its path would likely shatter.
Sun Civilization’s powerhouses leveraged their numerical advantage, aiming to crush Xiao Hei, Dead Zen, and the Destiny Corpse Emperor, sparing none.
Xiao Hei reacted fastest, deploying dozens of array flags to form an intricate ninth-grade array, merging with the mirror to envelop the jungle world.
This kept Sun Civilization’s forces trapped inside, securing the initiative.
“Die, owl!”
The Five Elements Saint King targeted Xiao Hei, summoning a five-colored treasure wheel.
Xiao Hei’s taunts had enraged her, surpassing her hatred for Dead Zen.
“Ha, Yuanhui Holy Medicine, watch this Emperor suppress you!”
Xiao Hei roared, spitting out a treasure seal—a King’s Weapon from a slain Bone Clan Venerable in the hidden space.
The seal grew mountain-sized, exuding dense darkness, meeting the treasure wheel.
“You dare scheme against this ancestor? Today, I’ll show you the Buddhist meaning of ‘Dead Zen.’ My Buddha seeks to save all beings—alive, they’re my followers; dead, they’re my followers.”
Dead Zen chanted a mantra, exuding solemn sanctity, radiant Buddhist light making him appear as a holy Buddha.
His Ten-Thousand-Treasure Kasaya glowed, releasing powerful battle corpses arranged in a unique formation.
Over eight hundred corpses—humans, beasts, Hell Realm beings—all radiated strong Saint King auras.
Finally, five towering figures appeared: a divine battle corpse leading four Great Saint-level corpses.
Xiao Hei’s eyes widened, “Bald donkey, impressive! Been scavenging corpses from merit battlefields?”
Since the Kunlun Realm became a merit battlefield, countless wars had raged, with many Heavenly and Hell Realm powerhouses falling.
Dead Zen’s eerie Dead Zen Buddhism was perfect for collecting corpses there.
Otherwise, amassing so many formidable battle corpses, including a divine and four Great Saint-level ones, would be nearly impossible.
Xiao Hei had studied Dead Zen Buddhism and knew controlling corpses was challenging. Dead Zen’s ability to manage so many, including a divine corpse, was profound.
The eight hundred-plus corpses, under Dead Zen’s control, merged their power, unleashing a sea of terrifying corpse energy against the thousand saint artifacts.
The Destiny Corpse Emperor’s eyes flashed with surprise. He summoned the Destiny Talisman, channeling its Great Saint power into the mirror.
He saw Xiao Hei struggling to counter the Five Elements Saint King while managing the array and mirror.
With Dead Zen’s corpse array blocking Sun Civilization’s attacks, the Destiny Corpse Emperor aided Xiao Hei with the mirror.
This was critical to the battle’s outcome.
Seeing Dead Zen summon numerous powerful corpses, the Twin Kings’ gazes hardened, caught off guard.
In an instant, Sun Civilization’s numerical advantage nearly vanished.
“Such eerie Dead Zen Buddhism, controlling so many strong corpses. I underestimated him,” the Great Sun King’s heart sank.
“This monk alone is worth an army, more valuable than mighty Great Saints. What kind of Buddhism is this?”
Dead Zen proved the most troublesome.
The thousand saint artifacts’ attack was formidable but blocked by Dead Zen’s corpse array.
The battle reached a stalemate.
Mysterious Void Saint King’s eyes gleamed coldly, secretly urging the jungle world to break free from the mirror and array’s suppression, as being trapped was too passive.
His small world, nurtured by a supreme Great Saint spatial cultivator, was as heavy as a lower-tier void realm, resisting the mirror’s pull.
“This ninth-grade array is troublesome, too restrictive. We must deal with Zhang Ruochen first,” he thought.
He mobilized his spatial rules, combining them with the small world’s power, unleashing an invisible spatial force toward Zhang Ruochen.
Despite clashing with the Twin Kings, Zhang Ruochen stayed vigilant, instantly sensing Mysterious Void’s move.
He pointed, releasing a burst of spatial power.
*Whoosh.*
The two spatial forces collided, tearing space and forming a massive rift.
Mysterious Void’s gaze turned sinister, muttering, “So alert. Fine, I’ll crush you openly with spatial arts.”
He formed intricate seals, unleashing a supreme spatial technique from the Space Temple.
As a top spatial cultivator, he was confident in his skills, no matter Zhang Ruochen’s reputation.
Space shattered, violent spatial power forming a terrifying storm, capable of destroying everything.
Spatial storms were advanced techniques, rare among Saint King spatial cultivators.
Mysterious Void believed this move alone could crush Zhang Ruochen.
After all, Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation time was short, and he hadn’t trained in the Space Temple. Even as a spatial controller, he couldn’t match this level.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was indifferent. He raised a hand, unleashing a spatial storm, visibly stronger.
*Boom.*
Within moments, hundreds of meters of space shattered into a pitch-black void, a horrifying sight.
*Bang.*
Mysterious Void’s technique broke, a powerful spatial force surging, shaking the jungle world.
Amid this tidal spatial force, a silver light stood out, piercing the world’s membrane and appearing beside Mysterious Void.
“What’s that?”
Mysterious Void, alerted, shifted instantly.
But he was a fraction too slow. The silver light flashed, entering his shoulder.
*Splatter.*
His arm was severed, blood gushing out.
“Ah!”
He screamed, clutching the stump, retreating rapidly.
Shock filled his eyes, “Time-space power? You fused time and space power? How is that possible?”
Each of the nine eternal paths was extraordinary, mastering one already daunting.
Fusing two eternal paths was deemed impossible by most cultivators.
Yet, some eternal paths, like time and space, had a slight chance of successful fusion.
Even in the Great Saint realm, achieving this was one in ten thousand.
Mysterious Void felt the silver light contained both sharp spatial power and ethereal time power. It not only severed his arm but cut a century from his lifespan.
Had it hit his head, his saint soul would have been gravely wounded.
“How? Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation is brief, without Time or Space Temple training. How could he fuse time and space? Could he become a second Saint Monk Xumi?” Fear crept into Mysterious Void’s heart.
In that clash, he was utterly defeated, Zhang Ruochen’s single time-space strike shattering his pride.
Seizing the chance, Zhang Ruochen unleashed spatial techniques, spawning storms that ravaged outside the jungle world, destroying everything.
In moments, the jungle world’s external connections were severed.
*Rumble.*
With Mysterious Void injured, his control weakened. The mirror’s pull lifted the jungle world.
Its true form emerged—a mere hundred-mile jungle was a fraction of this vibrant small world, with vast mountains and rivers inside.
“A small world with an emerging ecosystem, far more precious than a spatial exquisite ball, comparable to a lower-tier void realm. Good stuff, suppress it!” Xiao Hei’s eyes gleamed.
The Hidden Mountain Demon Mirror, a supreme saint artifact, could contain even ten such worlds.
“No, Lord Great Sun King, Zhang Ruochen’s using a supreme saint artifact to take the entire small world!” Mysterious Void’s face paled.
He saw Zhang Ruochen’s intent.
The Great Sun King’s mind jolted, looking at the massive black mirror above, ordering, “Attack full force, break the blockade!”
Sun Civilization’s powerhouses realized the gravity, uniting to attack one point.
“Leave it to this monk.”
Dead Zen clasped his hands, a sharp glint in his eyes.
All corpse power converged on the divine battle corpse.
*Roar.*
The divine corpse roared, striking with a palm.
A galactic divine force surged, as if to engulf the jungle world.
*Cough.*
Dead Zen coughed, blood trickling from his mouth, the technique taxing him greatly.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ruochen focused, merging with the mirror’s spirit, unleashing its full might.
The mirror’s surface, vast as an inverted ocean, rippled.
“Star river reverses, heaven and earth twist—suck it in!” Xiao Hei shifted the array, forming a massive energy vortex.
The small world, pulled by supreme and array forces, moved uncontrollably toward the mirror.
Soon, it collided with the oceanic mirror.
*Whoosh—*
Sun Civilization’s cultivators looked up, supreme force suffocating them. The mirror’s watery curtain neared, about to swallow the small world.
The Twin Kings, furious and anxious, knew escaping a supreme saint artifact’s interior would be tough.
*Splatter.*
Both spat blood onto the cauldron.
It blazed with golden light, transforming into a massive three-legged Golden Crow, exuding immense pressure.
*Boom.*
The Golden Crow unleashed terrifying force, blasting a huge rift just before the small world was fully absorbed, narrowly escaping.
Only the Twin Kings broke free.
The rest of Sun Civilization’s cultivators were taken by Zhang Ruochen’s artifact.
Resisting the mirror’s suction, the Golden Crow fled swiftly, reaching a hundred miles away, reverting to a cauldron as the Twin Kings reappeared.
*Buzz.*
The mirror trembled, its demonic light flickering, struggling to suppress the small world.
Zhang Ruochen summoned it back, shrinking it. When it landed in his hand, it calmed completely.
The mirror’s supreme inscriptions wove a powerful seal, isolating the inner world from the outside.
…
It’s been a while since I asked for votes. Today, I’m requesting recommendation and monthly votes.
