“Pfft!”
“Pfft!”
Que consecutively slays three Hundred Shackles Realm Perfection Great Sages with swift, precise, and ruthless strikes, clearly enraged today, heedless of any prohibition against killing.
As he prepares to kill the fourth of the Eight Sons of Life and Death, the pitch-black bronze temple suddenly blazes with the light of origin.
Yan Wushen charges out from the darkness, half his flesh gone, revealing gleaming golden bones, his face ferocious, like a Yama from hell.
In his palms, origin rules condense into an Origin Dao Tower.
“Go to hell!”
He leaps, smashing the Origin Dao Tower toward Que.
Yan Wushen, too, is consumed by rage today.
In an instant, the entire bronze temple is filled with powerful energy, winds howling, forces surging.
Que, forced to abandon his killing intent, swings his sword, dragging a dazzling arc of sword light, slashing at the Origin Dao Tower.
“Boom!”
The Origin Dao Tower shatters, transforming into even brighter origin light.
Yan Wushen and Que each spit blood, flying backward in opposite directions.
In the blink of an eye, the remaining five of the Eight Sons of Life and Death appear in the temple, seeing their three fallen comrades, their life force rapidly draining.
Having grown up and trained together, the Eight Sons are like brothers.
At this sight, their eyes blaze with fury. They activate the *Book of Life* and *Book of Death*, operating the incomplete Immortal and Indestructible Array, attacking Que.
“Kill!”
Que, half-kneeling, supports himself with his sword, blood dripping from his gritted teeth, charging to meet them.
Zhang Ruochen glances at Yan Wushen, deeply shocked.
In the confined space of the temple, with dark spacetime matter detonated, Yan Wushen still survived.
Gravely injured, Yan Wushen rises, ignoring his wounds, rushing to the three Hundred Shackles Realm Perfection Great Sages. He channels origin power and Buddhist light to purify the void energy invading their bodies.
Que’s three sword strikes hit vital points, with void energy infiltrating their bodies.
Without timely purification, even their robust life force would be consumed by the void in moments, leaving nothing behind.
Zhang Ruochen transforms into a breeze, descending from the statue’s top, glancing at Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen’s gaze meets his.
Their eyes lock, filled with complex emotions.
Now is the perfect moment to kill Yan Wushen, with certain death assured.
But Zhang Ruochen holds back, quickly averting his gaze, rushing toward the temple gate.
Against an opponent like Yan Wushen, Zhang Ruochen refuses to kill him while he saves others. That’s the first reason.
The second: Yan Wushen must not be killed.
The dark spacetime matter destroyed many talismans and array inscriptions in the temple. As Zhang Ruochen reaches the gate, he notices lingering array inscriptions in the air.
“Trouble!”
Ahead, a blinding sword light approaches, its radiance so intense it nearly blinds him.
Zhang Ruochen closes his eyes, relying on spiritual perception.
“It’s a ninth-grade sword array.”
The dazzling light comes from eighty-one war swords, controlled by dozens of Great Sage Array Masters, forming a dragon of swords charging at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen extends his right hand, fingers spinning.
Instantly, thirty-six spatial swords condense in the space before him, clashing with the eighty-one incoming war swords.
This ninth-grade sword array, overseen by an array geomancer, wields immense power.
The swords collide, emitting deafening sword cries.
Sword light spawns thousands of rays, sharp sword qi striking the temple’s walls, pillars, and floor, leaving white marks.
The temple, forged from unknown material and imbued with mysterious power, remains indestructible even to Great Sages and dark spacetime matter.
“Purple-Gold Gourd.”
Zhang Ruochen summons the Purple-Gold Gourd, using supreme power to shield himself, pressing his arm to the ground.
The thirty-six spatial swords form a sword path, rolling from the ground toward the array geomancer controlling the sword array.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
The geomancer’s defences are breached, three spatial swords piercing his chest, abdomen, and right leg.
He screams, thrown backward.
As seven more spatial swords are about to strike, ensuring his death by dismemberment, Yan Zhexian’s green brush slashes, forming seven talisman patterns that sever the seven spatial swords.
Without the geomancer’s control, the ninth-grade sword array’s power diminishes.
“Break!”
Zhang Ruochen unleashes a spatial shockwave, striking the eighty-one war swords.
The swords scatter chaotically.
Yan Zhexian’s body floats above the three hundred eighty-four bronze steps, locking eyes with Zhang Ruochen, her gaze cold and sharp, “I didn’t expect you to break out of the temple. Let me face you again.”
“If you don’t want the Yanluo Clan to suffer heavy losses, don’t stop me,” Zhang Ruochen says.
After all, the Hunting Heaven Battle differs from the Merit War between Heaven and Hell.
The Merit War is a fight to the death, one side lives, the other dies.
The Hunting Heaven Battle is a competition among Hell’s clans, not necessarily to the death, but a battle for profit and honour.
Unless absolutely necessary, Zhang Ruochen prefers not to make an irreconcilable enemy of the Yanluo Clan on the Hunting Heaven Battlefield.
“Great Kunpeng Talisman!”
Yan Zhexian’s brush, dipped in Kunpeng blood, paints a lifelike Kunpeng.
The Kunpeng spreads its wings, flying toward the temple gate.
Zhang Ruochen’s tattered ten golden wings unfold, transforming into a golden light, cleaving the Kunpeng in two, then soaring into the dark, rainy night.
After flying a short distance, Zhang Ruochen senses something amiss.
The night rain vanishes!
The surroundings brighten, cold winds assail him.
He stands in a snow-covered world, mountains draped in white, snowflakes drifting, the horizon endless.
“This is… an illusion array!”
Zhang Ruochen opens his palm, catching a snowflake.
It melts into a drop of icy water.
It feels real, not like an illusion.
“What a sophisticated illusion array, likely crafted by both an array geomancer and an illusion geomancer. The Yanluo Clan is truly rich in talent,” Zhang Ruochen murmurs.
“Zhang Ruochen, you realise you’ve fallen into a trap now, don’t you? I never intended to duel you alone, only to lure you into the array.”
Yan Zhexian’s voice remains cold yet melodious.
“Rumble!”
The vast glacier world trembles.
Seven towering snow peaks burst from the ground, standing tall.
The peaks resemble seven ghostly fiends, terrifying yet exuding immense oppressive force, bearing down on Zhang Ruochen from seven directions.
This real force compresses his Spatial True Domain, Void Time Domain, and Truth Form, shrinking his space to move.
“The Ten Thousand Li Glacier Illusion Array, combined with the Earth Treasury Seven Fiends Talisman, with nearly a hundred Great Sage Talisman and Array Masters acting together, enough to kill you, right?”
Yan Zhexian appears atop one snow peak, her beauty ethereal, like a pure, flawless snow lotus.
Unfazed, Zhang Ruochen says, “With an array geomancer, talisman geomancer, and illusion geomancer working together to create these two arrays, killing me is possible, even a Great Sage of the Ten Thousand Deaths and One Life Realm could fall.”
“One last chance: cripple your cultivation for a path to survival. Think carefully, it’s your only chance,” Yan Zhexian says.
Zhang Ruochen shakes his head, “Your setup can indeed kill me. But you’re in the array too. I can guarantee, before the array kills me, I can kill you first.”
“Is that so?”
Yan Zhexian’s voice echoes, joined by seven overlapping tones in the cold wind.
Six other Yan Zhexians appear atop the other snow peaks, all in white, holding green brushes, resembling snow fairies.
To unleash the Earth Treasury Seven Fiends Talisman’s full power, Yan Zhexian must enter the array.
Zhang Ruochen glances at the seven Yan Zhexians, “You probably don’t know how profound my mastery of the Path of Truth is. Using an illusion array against me is your most foolish decision.”
“Whoosh—”
Zhang Ruochen transforms into a golden light, flying at top speed toward one snow peak’s summit.
Yan Zhexian, watching him approach, shows shock on her refined face, thinking, “An illusion array isn’t mere illusion; he can see through it so easily. Is he a Truth Master?”
No time to think, she activates talisman patterns.
Even without the Ten Thousand Li Glacier Illusion Array, she is confident the Earth Treasury Seven Fiends can kill the heavily injured Zhang Ruochen.
“Boom.”
One snow peak moves, its ghostly fiend form shaping massive icy hands, forming an ancient seal, striking at Zhang Ruochen.
The seal’s power matches a peak Thousand Questions Realm Great Sage’s full strike.
Zhang Ruochen dodges with extreme speed, continuing upward.
The second fiend-shaped snow peak forms a seal.
The third peak strikes.
…
Zhang Ruochen evades five peaks’ attacks, but at the sixth peak’s seal, he can’t dodge, activating the Purple-Gold Gourd’s supreme power.
A thick golden fire pillar surges from the gourd’s mouth, clashing with the cloud-sized snow palm.
The forces deadlock.
Then, the seventh peak’s seal descends.
“With over sixty Great Sage Talisman Masters acting together, the power is too great, beyond my current cultivation to counter.”
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze sharpens, hands leaving the gourd, his body flashing through the icy palm’s fingers.
Above, the seventh seal looms.
“River of Time.”
Zhang Ruochen strikes, millions of time rules surging from his body, drawing the time marks in the space, forming a hundred-thousand-zhang-long River of Time.
The River of Time collides with the icy palm, altering time flow, slowing the palm’s descent drastically.
Seizing the chance, Zhang Ruochen flies past the palm’s edge, charging at Yan Zhexian atop the peak.
Even with her composure, Yan Zhexian’s lovely face shows shock, her composure faltering.
Once activated, the Earth Treasury Seven Fiends Talisman equals seven peak Thousand Questions Realm Great Sages striking together, capable of battling a Ten Thousand Deaths and One Life Realm Great Sage.
Zhang Ruochen, only at Hundred Shackles Realm, how could he break through the seven fiends’ attack range?
Doesn’t this mean even several peak Thousand Questions Realm Great Sages couldn’t kill him?
Zhang Ruochen reaches Yan Zhexian, his fingers clawing, seizing her brush in an instant.
Yan Zhexian turns to flee, but Zhang Ruochen’s claw grips her fragrant shoulder, her beautiful face showing pain. About to sever her arm to escape, he grabs her neck.
Saint qi flows from his fingertips, invading her body.
“Tell those Great Sage Talisman Masters to stop activating the talismans, or…” Zhang Ruochen says.
Yan Zhexian’s face shows resolve, her teeth clenched, “Don’t even think about it. Even if I die, I’ll take you with me.”
The Earth Treasury Seven Fiends Talisman, once formed, is immensely powerful even without her control. Zhang Ruochen has no certainty of breaking it. Capturing Yan Zhexian is his only way to break the stalemate.
“Did I say I’d kill you?”
Zhang Ruochen’s lips near her snow-white ear, exhaling warm breath, softly saying, “You should know me, Zhang Ruochen. I’m one who cherishes beauty. Even a deadly foe like Lianxi Fairy from the Soul Realm, I didn’t kill. How could I bear to kill you?”
“Shameless scoundrel.”
Realising Zhang Ruochen spared her earlier possibly due to ulterior motives, Yan Zhexian feels a chill, her disgust for him peaking.
Her fierce nature surges, releasing spiritual power for a death struggle.
But as her spiritual power extends, a sharp pain stabs her mind.
Her spiritual power scatters, unable to form an attack.
“Using me to escape the Yanluo Clan’s home star? You’ll never succeed,” Yan Zhexian says.
Zhang Ruochen kisses her translucent cheek, his pupils turning blood-red, grinning wickedly, “Since you call me shameless, I’ll do shameless things. Even if I die today, it’s worth it!”
“What are you doing?”
Immobilised, Yan Zhexian, revolted by the kiss, wishes to tear this shameless man to pieces.
“I wonder if the All-Seeing Divine Eye can peer here.”
Zhang Ruochen glances up, one hand gripping her neck, the other reaching toward her white robe’s collar, fingers slowly moving inward, feeling soft textures.
“All Talisman Masters, cease activating the talismans!”
Yan Zhexian trembles, eyes closed, shouting.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze returns to calm, his hand withdrawing, gently caressing her cheek, “Thank you.”
“You won’t escape today. The talisman masters may listen to me, but the Yanluo Clan’s other Great Sages won’t,” Yan Zhexian’s delicate frame still trembles, never having endured such humiliation.
Zhang Ruochen, this shameless scoundrel, tops her kill list.
