Yan Hong Great Saint remained composed, saying, “No need to fear. If we all strike together, Zhang Ruochen, no matter how mighty, will die.”
The ghost city held not only peak Hundred Shackle Realm Great Saints like Yan Hong and Four-Winged Ghost Emperor but also many Ghost Clan Great Saints stationed at the home star.
Their numbers neared a hundred.
Nearly a hundred Ghost Clan Great Saints unleashed their saintly might, launching attacks. Some wielded ghost artifacts or king-grade saint artifacts; others cast high-tier saint techniques.
“Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!”
Beams of light, like a meteor shower, burst through the array’s light curtain, striking at Zhang Ruochen above.
Such power and might shook the heavens, startling the upper three clans’ cultivators near the home star to retreat further.
No matter how confident Zhang Ruochen was, he wouldn’t be so arrogant as to face the attacks of nearly a hundred Great Saints head-on. He was prepared, and the moment the hundred forces erupted, he retracted his Immovable Wisdom King saintly image, using Great Spatial Shift to dodge far away.
“He escapes quickly. Killing a spatial cultivator is truly troublesome,” Yan Hong grumbled, releasing her mental power to track Zhang Ruochen.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen, clutching the purple-gold gourd, appeared from a space three hundred miles from the ghost city, activating the gourd’s spatial inscriptions, shouting, “Collect!”
“Not good.”
Realising she’d been outmanoeuvred, Yan Hong yelled, “Retrieve your weapons!”
Too late.
The dozens of weapons launched by the Ghost Clan Great Saints were enveloped by a spatial array, collapsing into the gourd with the space itself.
From the start, Zhang Ruochen knew he couldn’t face nearly a hundred Great Saints alone. A direct assault, even for ten days and nights, wouldn’t breach the ghost city’s defences.
As more Ghost Clan powerhouses returned, he’d be forced to retreat.
It was a losing battle.
To break the city’s defences, he had to use strategy.
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen deliberately showed anger, making Yan Hong think he was rash and foolish.
Then, he manifested the Immovable Wisdom King saintly image, attacking the city aggressively, creating the illusion he intended to fight head-on.
All to lure the enemy.
Otherwise, how could he seize dozens of weapons at once?
“Damn, Zhang Ruochen is too cunning.”
Yan Hong stomped in fury, itching to rush out and tear him apart.
The Great Saints who used saint techniques instead of weapons secretly rejoiced. Those whose ghost artifacts were taken felt cold dread, desperately communicating with their artifacts’ spirits to retrieve them.
Zhang Ruochen gripped the purple-gold gourd tightly, fully activating its supreme inscriptions.
“Boom, boom.”
Deafening crashes echoed from the gourd, shaking it, nearly flying from his grasp.
“Since you want them, take them back.”
The gourd swelled larger than the ghost city below, spewing beams of light, including the supreme saint artifact, the Seven-Star Ghost Lotus, crashing toward the city.
The Ghost Clan Great Saints paled.
“Rumble.”
Under the assault of dozens of weapons, a hole was torn in the city’s array light curtain. As the weapons landed, destroying the array’s inscriptions, its power rapidly weakened.
Finally, the array collapsed entirely, reducing the ghost city to ruins.
Except for Great Saint-level cultivators, all surviving Ghost Clan souls were annihilated.
Several Great Saints were injured by their own weapons, left dishevelled.
“Spatial Collapse.”
Seizing the chaos, Zhang Ruochen spread his hands, wielding spatial power to tear countless spatial rifts, turning the ghost city’s area into a chaotic zone of reality and void.
“Retreat, as far as possible. Without the city’s defences, Zhang Ruochen is even harder to handle.”
“I’ve fallen into the void space.”
…
Great Saints, with their high cultivation, were minimally affected by void spaces. Even those who fell in could quickly escape back to the Ghost Clan’s star.
Only those directly struck by spatial power were injured.
Some had their ghost bodies pierced, others had heads severed, or bodies shattered—not fatal for Great Saints.
Zhang Ruochen’s goal wasn’t to kill them but to scatter them, creating chances to defeat them individually.
Dang fell into the void space, barely escaping, only to find Zhang Ruochen standing before him.
“Back you go.”
Zhang Ruochen pressed a hand on Dang’s head, forcing him back into the void.
Dang emerged from another rift, only to be pushed back again.
“Zhang Ruochen… you’ll pay…”
Dang’s ghost body eroded by the void’s power, he struggled desperately, glaring at Zhang Ruochen with venomous hatred. His body drifted further into the dark abyss.
“I surrender, I withdraw from the Hunt for Heaven.”
With those words, Dang was teleported out of the Hunt for Heaven’s star domain by the All-Realms Divine Eye.
Withdrawing was shameful, despised by the entire clan, a lifelong disgrace. Thus, most Great Saints would rather die than quit.
“Zhang Ruochen, I’ll take you down with me.”
Xi’s roar echoed across the Ghost Clan’s star.
His Chaos Ghost Emperor body had shattered countless times, suppressed by the Saint Devouring Flower, growing weaker, knowing he couldn’t turn the tide.
As the Ghost Clan’s top powerhouse, the star’s ruin was his fault. Even surrendering like Dang would lead to harsh punishment from the Ghost Lord, a fate worse than death.
Better to perish with Zhang Ruochen in a blaze of glory.
Zhang Ruochen, using mental power to locate Yan Hong and BarbEsa Sword Great Saint, had dealt with Dang. Only now did he notice all Ghost Clan Great Saints had fled, leaving the area silent.
“Go!”
Sensing danger, Zhang Ruochen recalled the Saint Devouring Flower, preparing to leave.
“Too late! Face the Momentary Light’s baptism and perish with me.”
After Xi’s Chaos Ghost Emperor body shattered, his ghost qi enveloped the star.
Now, all that qi ignited, forming countless green ghost flames.
Zhang Ruochen had read of the “Momentary Light,” a Ghost Clan suicide technique, extremely hard to master. Once perfected, it made one undefeatable, as even enemies ten times stronger wouldn’t dare kill them.
The Momentary Light burned all one’s power, including the saint source, in an instant, unleashing devastating force capable of killing foes ten times stronger.
Such a suicide technique was a Great Saint’s ultimate life-saving measure.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
Countless ghost flames, like stars, converged into a single point in an instant.
“Boom.”
That point exploded, becoming blinding light.
The starry sky lit up, scattering layers of star mist.
Even Prajna, thousands of miles away, squinted against the dazzling light.
The overwhelming energy wave destroyed everything on the Ghost Clan’s star, erasing all nine continents and vaporising all oceans.
The escaped Ghost Clan Great Saints felt joy, sorrow, or silence.
“Xi took that path. He could’ve become a powerful ghost god but ended it himself.”
“No choice. Without the Momentary Light, who could stop Zhang Ruochen? The Ghost Clan’s losses would’ve been worse.”
“Hard to accept.”
“The Ghost Lord must feel it most. He invested so much in Xi, hoping to groom him as the new god of Disha Ghost City.”
Normally, the Ghost Clan cannot reproduce.
The “Ghost Lord’s nine sons” are adopted, akin to disciples, nurtured within the Ghost Lord’s ghost body, infused with his divine power and path.
Notably, if a Ghost Clan cultivator develops a reproductive ghost body, they undergo a greater transformation, ceasing to be undead, becoming part of the Nether or Death Clan.
The Corpse Clan follows the same principle.
The difference between Nether and Death Clans lies in one transforming undead qi into curse power, the other into death intent.
The conflict between the middle and upper three clans stems here.
The upper three clans developed cultivation methods allowing Ghost and Corpse Clan members, at certain realms, to gain reproductive bodies, becoming Nether or Death Clan members.
The upper three clans’ rise is built on weakening the middle three.
As the Nether and Death Clans reproduce, further changes occur.
This time, no one believed Zhang Ruochen could survive.
Fire Charm Yin Ji exhaled, “That’s the price of arrogance. Pushing a peak Hundred Shackle Realm powerhouse to death leads to mutual destruction. Even we, wanting to kill Yan Hong, only aimed to force her out.”
Yuan Fei Great Saint shook his head, “Zhang Ruochen couldn’t stop Xi’s Momentary Light because Xi’s mental strength was strong. Weaker Great Saints wouldn’t have the chance. Don’t think a suicide move guarantees survival.”
“Regardless, Zhang Ruochen and Xi’s mutual destruction removes two major threats. This operation was near perfect,” White Jade Mad Lion laughed.
“You’re laughing too soon.”
Prajna pointed, “Look, what’s that?”
The group channelled power to their eyes, peering closely.
“A gourd, Zhang Ruochen’s gourd,” Fire Charm Yin Ji’s eyes lit up, flames surging as she moved to claim it.
“Don’t be rash.”
Prajna stopped her.
“Why? That gourd is an extraordinary treasure, capable of seizing dozens of king-grade saint weapons at once. Zhang Ruochen’s saint will pill and Yandao Saint Fruit are likely inside.”
Fire Charm Yin Ji was anxious, fearing the Ghost or Bone Clan Great Saints would take it.
Prajna said, “Aren’t you afraid Zhang Ruochen is inside?”
Fire Charm Yin Ji’s expression shifted. Having witnessed Zhang Ruochen’s clash with Xi, she instinctively feared him.
But she soon laughed, “The Momentary Light unleashes devastating force in an instant. How could Zhang Ruochen react and escape into the gourd?”
“Others couldn’t, but he could. He’s a time controller,” Prajna said.
Fire Charm Yin Ji’s smile faded, her gaze returning to the gourd, a chill creeping up her spine. If, as Prajna said, even Xi’s suicide move couldn’t kill Zhang Ruochen, wouldn’t he be defying the heavens?
“Swoosh!”
Near the Ghost Clan’s star, Yan Hong, clutching Barbarian Sword Great Saint, emerged from the void.
Using a supreme saint artifact’s power, she had hidden, evading Zhang Ruochen’s mental detection and distracting him, buying Xi time for the Momentary Light.
“Zhang Ruochen, you were a formidable opponent. Without Xi’s sacrifice, I’d have suffered greatly. But the stronger you are, the more valuable killing you is. The gods must be watching, heh.”
Yan Hong tossed Barbarian Sword Great Saint to a Ghost Clan Great Saint, then flew toward the purple-gold gourd as a streak of red light.
She was eager for the gourd.
At a dozen zhang away, Yan Hong reached for it, but as her hand drew closer, unease stirred within her.
“Something’s wrong. This gourd is a supreme saint artifact with a powerful spirit. Why isn’t it resisting?”
As she moved to retreat, she sensed spatial fluctuations behind her.
Zhang Ruochen emerged from spatial ripples, bloodied, like a deathly spectre, standing so close his chest nearly touched her back.
Yan Hong’s heart sank to rock bottom.
