Within the Primordial Temple, all the court’s warriors fixed their gazes on Zhang Ruochen, their eyes brimming with excitement and even reverence.
In their eyes, Zhang Ruochen was like an unparalleled war god descending, towering and majestic.
After infusing a large amount of the Spring of Life into the Saintly Scholar’s body, Zhang Ruochen approached Chi Kongle.
Seeing Chi Kongle’s weakened state, Zhang Ruochen’s heart ached, his killing intent growing ever stronger. The Heaven Realm faction would pay for this.
“Father.”
Chi Kongle’s eyes glistened with tears as she called out in a choked voice.
While infusing the Spring of Life into her body, Zhang Ruochen said, “Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, your father won’t let anyone who tries to harm you go unpunished.”
“I’m not afraid,” Chi Kongle shook her head.
Nourished by the Spring of Life, Chi Kongle’s depleted life essence was rapidly restored, her whitened hair returning to its dark, lustrous hue.
Protected by the Demonic Ape, Chi Kongle had not sustained serious injuries, only weakened by burning her life and sacred blood.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze swept over the other cultivators present.
Though he held no fondness for the court of the First Central Empire, he admired the resolve and integrity of these warriors who had fought desperately against the Heaven Realm faction.
As long as there were more such people, the Kunlun Realm still had hope.
“Swish—”
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Ruochen released a vast amount of the Spring of Life, transforming it into a nourishing rain that merged into the bodies of the white-haired, aged cultivators.
Some of the court’s warriors displayed complex expressions, filled with shame, bitterness, and sorrow.
Once, like Grand Chancellor Wang Shiqi, they had viewed Zhang Ruochen as a great threat, a rebel, and a traitor, urging Empress Chi Yao to eliminate him.
Even after Zhang Ruochen left the Kunlun Realm, many branded him a betrayer.
Yet now, Zhang Ruochen saved them without holding past grudges, his magnanimity leaving them deeply ashamed.
As Zhang Ruochen aided the court’s warriors, the Heaven Realm faction’s cultivators descended into chaos.
The sacred altar, like a blazing sun, hung above the Heavenly Pool, radiating immense sacred might, sealing the heavens and earth, leaving no escape.
Archangel King Michael, dragging his wounded body, quickly regrouped with the other warriors, his expression grim and heavy.
Who could have foreseen the Kunlun Realm’s formidable trump card?
“Break the altar,” Archangel King Michael commanded gravely.
Only by shattering the altar’s suppression and breaking its seal could they regain the initiative.
The Heaven Realm faction’s warriors understood this, and without hesitation, they struck, beams of sacred light soaring to bombard the altar.
Sacred artifacts, techniques, talismans, and more converged into a torrent of attacks.
“Thinking to break the altar’s seal? Utterly delusional,” Han Qiu sneered coldly, her eyes both cruel and enchanting.
The Dragon Guard Pavilion’s warriors and the Dispersed Saints acted in unison, channelling their power into the altar.
“Swish—”
The altar blazed with radiant light, its sacred might growing ever more vast, its surface patterns clearly emerging, weaving into a heavenly net that enveloped the world.
Countless terrifying sacred thunderbolts erupted from the altar, each capable of annihilating heaven and earth.
“Boom.”
The Heaven Realm faction’s attacks were blocked by the sacred thunder, dissipating into nothingness, with many sacred artifacts reduced to fragments.
The destructive force continued to surge downward.
The entire world trembled.
Archangel King Michael’s face contorted as he roared, “Defend!”
Top-tier Saint King realm warriors deployed defensive measures, some activating divine patterns on their skin, others shielding with royal sacred artifacts, and some affixing talismans to their bodies.
“Thud.”
“Slash.”
Some cultivators’ defensive talismans shattered, their screams echoing as their bodies cracked like porcelain, turning into crimson crystal fragments.
Despite the Heaven Realm faction’s desperate resistance, some were still struck down, perishing utterly.
The power of the sacred altar was too terrifying.
The surviving Heaven Realm faction cultivators were gripped by fear, the situation far worse than anticipated.
Failing to destroy the altar meant not only losing their advantage but falling into peril, unable to easily escape the Heavenly Pool.
As their momentum waned, Zhang Ruochen, freed from the suppression of the two temples, could wield time and space techniques freely, his strength surging. Who could restrain him now?
One misstep, and they might all perish here.
Subtly, their mindset began to shift.
“Thud, thud.”
Footsteps echoed.
Zhang Ruochen emerged from the Primordial Temple, treading on steps stained with sacred blood, the ancient Shen Yuan sword and Dripping Blood sword orbiting him, each emitting fearsome sword light, slicing the space into dark fissures.
Zhang Ruochen stood straight as a spear, towering like a mountain, his voice icy, “In the past, when you targeted me, I never hated you, for we each served our masters, bound by the conflicts and grudges of our predecessors. You had no choice, nor did I. Our enmity was fated.”
“But targeting my family, harming my friends—that crosses my line. Blood must be repaid with blood. None of you will escape. One word: death.”
Each word thundered like lightning.
“Death!”
“Death!”
…
From the altar, the Dragon Guard Pavilion members echoed the word, their momentum soaring.
Summoned, most members of the Heavenly Star Pavilion and Earthly Fiend Pavilion had gathered.
The Heavenly Star Pavilion consisted of human cultivators.
The Earthly Fiend Pavilion was composed of beast cultivators.
Years ago, most of their members were saints, but now all had reached the Saint King realm.
However, the deputy leader of the Heavenly Star Pavilion, Grandmaster Taiyi, and the two Golden Lion Beast Emperors leading the Earthly Fiend Pavilion were absent from the altar.
As Great Saint realm cultivators, they could not enter the Kunlun Realm.
The altar was controlled by the Heavenly Star Pavilion’s leader, Yan Liren.
Yet, this Yan Liren was merely a cocoon body.
Yan Liren’s true body, having achieved Great Saint status in the Endless Abyss, could no longer appear in the Kunlun Realm’s merit battlefield, monitored by the patrolling angels.
Even as a cocoon body, Yan Liren’s power was formidable, ranking at the top tier below Great Saint.
Blood Empress’s methods were remarkable, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
“Support His Highness, kill all the Heaven Realm faction cultivators, leave none alive,” Yan Liren declared.
The altar spun, unleashing waves of attacks.
Fire, lightning, storms… each attack was immensely powerful, capable of slaying Nine-Step Saint Kings.
Flames took human forms, lightning shaped into palaces, storms coiled like dragons and snakes.
“Roar.”
An evil spirit surged from the Heavenly Pool, opening its gaping maw, swallowing a nearby Heaven Realm cultivator whole.
Having drunk vast amounts of the Spring of Life, its recovery ability was extraordinary.
Ale, wielding an iron sword, appeared on the water’s surface, water droplets falling from his long hair, his gaze cold as he charged into the Heaven Realm faction cultivators.
Though gravely wounded earlier, he had long condensed the Seal of Life and Death, his vitality tenacious, with life and death forces interchangeable.
Life force could transform into death force.
Death force could transform into life force.
An endless cycle.
Killing him now was harder than killing a Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saint.
“Come here.”
Zhang Ruochen reached out, grabbing at the void.
A faint sacred soul flew from the Heavenly Pool, landing in his hand.
This soul belonged to Dongfang Qingyu, whose body had been shattered by the altar’s impact, but his soul had narrowly escaped, hiding in the Heavenly Pool, only to be discovered by Zhang Ruochen.
Dongfang Qingyu’s soul trembled with fear, shrouded by the shadow of death.
“I am one of the ten divine disciples of the Truth Temple, you cannot…” Dongfang Qingyu’s voice quivered.
“Nothing is impossible.”
Before he could finish, Zhang Ruochen crushed his soul with a pinch.
Killing Dongfang Qingyu, Zhang Ruochen felt the Mysteries of Truth enter his body.
As one of the ten divine disciples of the Truth Temple, Dongfang Qingyu was highly gifted in the Path of Truth, having crossed the ninth sea domain.
He possessed nine ten-thousandths of the Mysteries of Truth, a significant amount.
After all, the total Mysteries of Truth were a fixed “one,” and even one ten-thousandth was rare.
Despite the many Heaven Realm faction warriors present, including great world leaders, few possessed the Mysteries of Truth.
Zhang Ruochen’s Mysteries of Truth reached fifty-eight ten-thousandths, bringing him closer to becoming a Truth Emissary.
“Swish.”
Dripping Blood and Shen Yuan spun rapidly, thousands of sword energies bursting forth, piercing the Heaven Realm faction cultivators, their defences unable to withstand.
One sword energy might be blocked, but as the second, third, and more struck the same spot, even divine patterns could not hold.
The Heaven Realm faction had touched Zhang Ruochen’s reverse scale, and only blood could repay it.
Did they think Zhang Ruochen would not dare to annihilate their generation?
Though all were Nine-Step Saint Kings, the gap in strength was vast.
Facing Zhang Ruochen’s onslaught, the Heaven Realm faction cultivators panicked, unable to mount an effective counterattack. Gradually, their will to fight faded, replaced by a desire to flee.
“Soul Demon Lord, take my kick.”
Zhang Ruochen’s leg ignited, releasing a fiery cloud, unleashing divine might, descending with a crushing kick toward the Soul Demon Lord.
The Soul Demon Lord looked up, seeing a foot-shaped fiery cloud pressing down.
Mobilising his full strength, he thrust both hands upward, unleashing a high-tier palm technique.
Boundary-Linking Palm.
“Rumble.”
The power of the Flame God Leg clashed with the Boundary-Linking Palm.
The Soul Demon Lord’s Great Saint bones creaked, as if about to shatter, his heart roaring, “Impossible, absolutely impossible, I am a Great Saint, a Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saint, how can I lose to a Saint King?”
“Rumble.”
Zhang Ruochen delivered a second kick, countless divine patterns weaving around his leg.
With the third kick, the Boundary-Linking Palm was shattered, and the divine force from above forced the Soul Demon Lord to one knee, struggling to hold on.
“A Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Saint is quite resilient.”
Zhang Ruochen took out the “Secret Code of Time and Space,” flipping to a page, his fingers gliding over it like plucking strings. Each stroke released a wave of time force, striking the Soul Demon Lord.
One wave of time force slashed away five hundred years of lifespan.
After three strikes, the Soul Demon Lord aged rapidly, burning his sacred blood to break free from the Flame God Leg’s suppression and flee.
“Some skill, escaping after losing fifteen hundred years of lifespan,” Zhang Ruochen remarked, slightly surprised.
By now, the Heaven Realm faction had suffered heavy losses, the ground littered with Saint King corpses, sacred blood flowing, staining the Heavenly Pool oasis red.
“Demon… great demon… Zhang Ruochen… you’re not human, you’re a demon…”
A beautiful female angel, trembling, stumbled backward, her blue eyes filled with terror.
Zhang Ruochen approached, showing no pity, and said coldly, “Demon? What you’ve done in the Kunlun Realm—is that not demonic? Call me a demon, fine, I am a demon, the great demon, and I claim that title.”
The Shen Yuan sword slashed, cutting through the female angel, a blood line appearing on her pure, beautiful face, her graceful body splitting in two, perishing.
“Why can’t we kill Zhang Ruochen?” Yin Yuanchen roared, eyes bloodshot.
He had finally gained a chance to prove himself, only to face such an outcome.
Zhang Ruochen was too powerful; even doubling his strength, Yin Yuanchen could not contend.
“No more waiting, even if punished, this is the only way.”
With no retreat, Archangel King Michael gritted his teeth, pulling out a palm-sized yellow gourd, unremarkable in appearance.
Urged by sacred energy, the gourd flew into the air, emitting a terrifying destructive aura.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression tightened, hurling a royal sacred artifact seized from the battlefield to shield himself, then using spatial shift to dodge.
“Boom.”
The gourd exploded, releasing devastating force.
The royal sacred artifact turned to dust instantly.
A large swath of space shattered, forming a ten-zhang-wide spatial void, pitch black, leading to the void space.
“That was close. Michael had such a trump card, but it seems it wasn’t meant for me,” Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes, glancing at the surviving Heaven Realm faction cultivators.
Michael glared at Zhang Ruochen with resentment, shouting, “Go, escape into the void space.”
Without hesitation, the hundred-plus remaining Heaven Realm faction warriors rushed toward the spatial void at top speed.
“Are the Heaven Realm faction’s Saint Kings mad? Don’t they know entering the void space is a death sentence?” Han Qiu chuckled from the altar.
The void space, extremely dangerous, could swallow everything, even gods unable to linger long.
Zhang Ruochen frowned, pondering silently, then, shielding himself with the “Secret Code of Time and Space,” pursued them.
“You can’t escape.”
Mobilising space and sword rules, he channelled them into the Shen Yuan sword, slashing out.
Crystal flower buds appeared, circling the fleeing Heaven Realm faction Saint Kings.
With a thought from Zhang Ruochen, the buds bloomed instantly, breathtakingly beautiful.
Countless sword energies infused with spatial power erupted, filling the void space.
“Thud.”
Their bodies shattered, torn to pieces by the sword energies.
“No.”
The Soul Demon Lord glanced back, seeing Zhang Ruochen charge toward him, letting out a despairing roar.
Already wounded, and unlucky to be eroded by the void’s power upon entering, he was now pierced through the back by Zhang Ruochen’s sword.
His formidable body disintegrated instantly, vanishing into nothingness.
This Hundred-Shackle Realm warrior, unable to dominate the merit battlefield, was reduced to nothing.
In the void space, Zhang Ruochen’s advantage grew, and in moments, over half the Heaven Realm faction’s Saint Kings were slain.
Archangel King Michael was in a pitiful state, his body gone, only his head still fleeing.
Though eroded by the void’s power, Yin Yuanchen, protected by a divine corpse, could still resist. But seeing Zhang Ruochen approach, his face turned grim.
As Zhang Ruochen prepared to strike, a chilling sensation gripped him.
Looking up…
A divine light pierced the dark, deep void space, streaking toward him like a meteor.
“It’s… divine power. A god is hiding in this void space near the Kunlun Realm, trying to kill me. How could this happen? Which faction’s god is it?”
Divine power was invincible.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression shifted, quickly retrieving the divine envoy staff granted by the Moon Goddess, holding it before him.
“Swish—”
Struck by the divine light, the staff activated, piercing space and universal rules, connecting to the Moon Goddess Mountain in the Heavenly Realm, borrowing her power.
The staff unleashed a powerful divine force, shattering the divine light.
“This is bad! A god couldn’t have entered the void space at this exact moment. That means the god was already here.”
“Such a risk means they have a grand purpose.”
Zhang Ruochen dared not linger, as the staff could only borrow a fraction of the Moon Goddess’s power. Who knew how strong the hidden god was?
If the staff couldn’t hold, he would die here.
Zhang Ruochen swiftly retreated from the void space.
Looking back, the surviving Heaven Realm faction cultivators had vanished. In his sight, he spotted an ancient stone bridge spanning the void space.
“Is that the Void Chaos Bridge?” Zhang Ruochen’s heart shook.
The so-called “Void Chaos Bridge” was a bridge that could exist in the void space, connecting two different spatial coordinates, more secretive than a spatial teleportation array, undetectable even by gods.
However, constructing a Void Chaos Bridge was immensely difficult, requiring vast amounts of precious materials. The longer the bridge, the more materials needed.
Even a one-li-long bridge would consume resources painful for a god to bear.
“Why is there a Void Chaos Bridge? Where do the two connected spatial coordinates lead? Could it be related to the Flat Peach Tree?” Zhang Ruochen’s thoughts raced.
…
In the void space.
A towering god spread their palm, gazing at Yin Yuanchen and the others within, eyes filled with anger.
“A bunch of useless fools, incapable of success, only causing failure. Now, the Moon Goddess has surely sensed my presence, and all plans will be exposed. What use are you?”
Hearing the god’s rebuke, Yin Yuanchen and the others trembled, not daring to retort.
If they could speak, they would argue that Zhang Ruochen’s strength defied the Saint King realm, more terrifying than many Great Saints. How could they fight?
…
Heavenly Realm, Ziluo Heavenly Domain.
Moon Goddess Mountain.
The Moon Goddess stood in the Guanghan Palace, gazing over the mountains and rivers below, sensing the mysteries of the universe. Her serene figure was like a perfect painting.
Suddenly, she sensed something, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, “Why would a god attack Zhang Ruochen? It seems to be the aura of Xuanyi True God from the Heaven Realm.”
“Why would that old fox be in the void space near the Kunlun Realm?”
Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t enter the void space without reason, and encountering a god there was highly improbable.
Yet now, not only had he encountered a god, but he was attacked, which was highly unusual, suggesting something significant was afoot.
