The sundial hung in the void, like a rough stone.
However, after the divine stone was embedded, it emitted a cyan radiance, releasing countless specks of time-marked light, resembling a swarm of fireflies, enveloping Zhang Ruochen.
A sound like flowing water came from an unknown source, growing increasingly turbulent.
“It is the sound of time flowing.”
Yun Huan Iron Blood King felt the intensifying power of time, finally accepting that the old man before him was indeed Zhang Ruochen.
Yet, Zhang Ruochen’s claim of wanting to kill him seemed laughable to Yun Huan.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s heart felt lighter, even tinged with unexpected joy, as he said, “It seems your injuries have healed, and you can harness the power of the world!”
If Zhang Ruochen had not borrowed the world’s power, how could he have withstood his palm strike?
Zhang Ruochen did not explain, saying, “If you escape now, you might still get away.”
Yun Huan Iron Blood King replied, “Even if you can wield the world’s power and possess several supreme sacred artefacts, it is far from enough to kill me. I return your words, if you escape now, you might still get away.”
Zhang Ruochen knew clearly that the moment Yun Huan Iron Blood King discovered him, he likely sent out a message. The great saints under Bai Qing’er, including Duan Lingfeng, were probably on their way.
He had to act swiftly.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King not fleeing was a good thing.
“Bang!”
Zhang Ruochen slapped the sundial, and the sound of flowing water within grew louder. The time-marked specks surged toward Yun Huan Iron Blood King like a primordial river.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King retreated explosively, his pupils glowing with eerie light, muttering under his breath.
“Life and Death Curse!”
The curse’s power fell upon Zhang Ruochen silently.
Zhang Ruochen felt a chill, his flesh withering, his life force rapidly draining.
But it lasted only a moment, as the Ten Thousand Curses Heavenly Pearl on him absorbed all the curse’s power. Zhang Ruochen, wielding the Black Gold War Heavenly Pillar, transformed into a streak of light, stomping downward.
On his left leg, a hundred million flame divine patterns emerged, forming a blazing cloud of fire. The fire cloud roiled, like a dragon’s claw probing, the divine sea surging.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King thrust his spear, piercing the fire cloud with heaven-splitting force, clashing with Zhang Ruochen’s foot.
The bone spear was forged from divine bones.
Zhang Ruochen’s leg was also a true divine leg, its seals fully released.
This head-on clash created a earth-shaking energy wave, as if two spaces collided, the surrounding void crackling with dense explosions.
Zhang Ruochen was sent flying backward.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King also retreated, as Zhang Ruochen’s kick, capable of slaying a Wan Si Yi Sheng realm warrior, was not easily blocked.
Even a peak Wan Si Yi Sheng realm warrior could not withstand it.
After stabilizing, Yun Huan Iron Blood King realized he had lost over two hundred years of lifespan, his body slightly weakened, his fighting spirit diminished, unable to reach its peak.
Looking closely, he saw the sundial still floating behind Zhang Ruochen, hidden in space, hard to detect.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King roared, “You are so cunning.”
“In a life-and-death fight, you talk of cunning? Neither of us is a saint or gentleman, so why bother with such pretences? Use whatever means you have.”
Before his words faded, the space around Yun Huan Iron Blood King shattered, countless cracks appearing, like a broken mirror.
Suddenly, the space collapsed inward.
“With your current mastery of space, you think you can kill me?”
Yun Huan Iron Blood King roared, releasing fourteen trillion sacred path rules.
The sacred path rules swept out like an ocean, dispersing space rules, time marks, and all other rules between heaven and earth.
Over a trillion sacred path rules formed a eerie, bloody underworld domain.
Within the domain stood a dilapidated underworld city, scattered bones, burning war flags…
Zhang Ruochen felt as if Yun Huan Iron Blood King had forcibly pulled him into his world, standing on underworld soil, the air thick with nauseating blood, the ground dotted with underworld cities and bone mountains, sacred ships floating in the sky.
“Is this your true strength?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Standing on a sacred ship, Yun Huan Iron Blood King looked down, saying, “In Goddess City, when we fought, I sealed ninety percent of my cultivation, unable to use many techniques. Did you really think your Hundred Shackles realm could contend with a peak Wan Si Yi Sheng realm great saint?”
Great saints who reached the Wan Si Yi Sheng realm, most having lived for millennia, inevitably studied space and time to some extent. Even if they could not master them, developing simple countermeasures was not difficult.
Zhang Ruochen’s spatial mastery was not lacking, but his comprehended spatial rules were insufficient.
Zhang Ruochen knew his cultivation and sacred techniques were vastly inferior to Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s. He could not compete in sacred path rules or techniques.
His advantage lay in physical strength.
“Your domain cannot suppress me.”
Zhang Ruochen planted the Black Gold War Heavenly Pillar into the ground, clasping his hands, radiating boundless golden light.
The Unmoving Bright King Sacred Form appeared, its head piercing nine heavens, growing taller, finally breaking through the underworld, creating a world of Zhang Ruochen’s own within Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s domain.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King was shocked. His cultivation was a hundred times greater than Zhang Ruochen’s, yet this youth repeatedly achieved what even Wan Si Yi Sheng realm great saints could not.
What technique did he cultivate, and why was his sacred form so formidable?
Yun Huan Iron Blood King let out a long roar, activating the ninth-grade formation on the sacred ship, the “Seventy-Two Demon Tower Formation.” Instantly, vast demonic energy spread through the underworld domain, devouring the golden light from the Unmoving Bright King Sacred Form.
Zhang Ruochen fully released his spiritual power, sensing the myriad changes within the underworld domain.
This was his first life-and-death battle with a powerhouse like Yun Huan Iron Blood King, requiring utmost caution.
“Boom!”
Above, demonic energy sank rapidly.
An invisible, overwhelming force pressed on Zhang Ruochen, making movement difficult despite his Radiant Merit Armour.
A demon tower, formed by the formation, descended from the sky.
The tower had seventy-two levels, but Zhang Ruochen’s vision could only see fifty-four, the rest extending beyond ten thousand miles. This meant the tower’s height exceeded ten thousand miles.
If this strike landed in a world like Kunlun, a ten-thousand-mile radius would sink, creatures within tens of thousands of miles would perish, and those beyond a hundred thousand miles would be affected.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King, envisioning Zhang Ruochen crushed, felt his blood surge, saying excitedly, “If not for your remarkable time treasure, I would have hesitated to use the Seventy-Two Demon Tower Formation. Good, very good. Once I kill you, all your treasures will be mine.”
Though typically rational and composed, the thought of Zhang Ruochen’s treasures made Yun Huan Iron Blood King lose his calm.
The demon tower pressed down on the thousand-mile-high Unmoving Bright King Sacred Form, shattering the nine heavens, grinding the sacred form away.
“Killing me is not that easy.”
Divine light flickered on Zhang Ruochen, energy swirling around him.
Soon, a second flicker made the divine light brighter.
Third, fourth…
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen resembled a true god incarnate, his skin blazing with divine light, his breath forming divine clouds.
In his left leg, a hundred million flame divine patterns flowed like tiny fire dragons.
He stomped down.
“Boom!”
The underworld domain trembled, cracks forming.
Sacred path rules broke at the fissures.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s expression changed, thinking, “How can Zhang Ruochen’s power be so great? Could he break my domain? Impossible, absolutely impossible.”
“Boom!”
The second stomp shattered the underworld domain into fragments, like continental plates floating in cosmic void.
Then came the third, fourth…
Yun Huan Iron Blood King realized something, saying, “I understand! You have reached the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles realm, your demi-god body fully unbound, its power rivalling the supreme body of an Unsurpassed realm great saint.”
Only now did Yun Huan Iron Blood King understand that Zhang Ruochen’s time and space powers, even his supreme sacred artefacts, were mere distractions. They could handle Thousand Questions realm or early to mid Wan Si Yi Sheng realm great saints, but against a peak Wan Si Yi Sheng realm great saint, they were insignificant.
These were deliberate ploys to mislead him.
Zhang Ruochen’s true trump card for this fight was his demi-god body.
During recent travels, Zhang Ruochen had activated the sundial for cultivation during stops, equivalent to years of training, breaking all minor shackles to reach the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles realm.
“You realize it too late!”
Zhang Ruochen’s eleventh stomp unleashed divine power, shattering Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s underworld domain.
Free from the domain’s suppression, Zhang Ruochen breathed easier, able to use spatial techniques. He glanced up at the Seventy-Two Demon Tower looming overhead, shouting, “Break!”
A dozens-mile radius of space shattered, becoming a chaotic zone of reality and void.
Zhang Ruochen’s body sank into the chaos, plunging into the void space.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King roared, “Think you can escape into the void space? You will still die.”
Sensing a threat from Zhang Ruochen, Yun Huan Iron Blood King was eager to kill him, flying from the sacred ship to the top of the Seventy-Two Demon Tower. Taking a deep breath, he dispersed the underworld domain, channeling over ten trillion sacred path rules into the tower.
The tower shrank, breaking through space, pursuing Zhang Ruochen into the void.
“Rumble.”
The tower was consumed by the void’s power, becoming part of it.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King withdrew all sacred path rules, his pupils glowing with sacred light, searching for Zhang Ruochen in the void.
Uncertain if the tower had killed Zhang Ruochen, he knew that even if dead, Zhang Ruochen’s treasures must not be lost in the void space.
As a peak Wan Si Yi Sheng realm powerhouse, Yun Huan Iron Blood King could linger briefly in the void and break back to the real world.
After searching without finding Zhang Ruochen or any treasures, he sensed danger and moved to break the void and retreat.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen appeared, divine light blazing, wielding the Black Gold War Heavenly Pillar like a war god.
“Bang!”
The pillar unleashed unmatched power, striking Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s abdomen, making him spit blood, his body flying like an iron ball.
“Hm?”
Zhang Ruochen was surprised that this strike did not split Yun Huan Iron Blood King in two.
“That armour’s defence is impressive, withstanding a demi-god body’s power.”
This strike was pure physical force.
The supreme sacred artefact’s power was negligible, merely an indestructible iron rod.
With Zhang Ruochen’s Great Perfection Hundred Shackles realm cultivation, the quality and quantity of sacred energy could not unleash the artefact’s full power, far inferior to his demi-god body.
Unless he reached the Thousand Questions realm, wielding a supreme sacred artefact against a peak Wan Si Yi Sheng realm great saint would be effortless.
For now, he relied on his demi-god body.
Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s armour, the Iron Blood Underworld Armour, was granted to great saints joining the Iron Blood Underworld Knights, its defence remarkable.
On the Merit Battlefield, it had saved Yun Huan Iron Blood King from a Heavenly Realm Unsurpassed realm great saint.
Before Yun Huan could recover, Zhang Ruochen’s second strike hit his head.
“Bang!”
The Black Gold War Heavenly Pillar clashed with the Iron Blood Underworld Armour, sparks flying, the sound resonating like a divine bell.
Despite the armour’s strength, Yun Huan Iron Blood King inside could not endure, dazed and nearly unconscious from the blow.
Zhang Ruochen, unhurried, flew over with the pillar, saying, “With my current cultivation and spiritual power, my use of the demi-god body is limited, incapable of killing a peak Wan Si Yi Sheng realm great saint. But you made a fatal mistake, chasing me into the void space.”
“Though the void counters space, spatial cultivators have a great advantage in the void space, except against void cultivators. You are constantly eroded by the void, your senses dulled. How can you be my match?”
Zhang Ruochen struck through the void space, dragging the barely alive Yun Huan Iron Blood King back to cosmic space.
“Defeated by you, I am unwilling, I still have many trump cards unused…” Yun Huan Iron Blood King said weakly.
“No chance now! Yun Huan Iron Blood King, face the judgment of light!”
Zhang Ruochen gestured, and with a “swish,” twelve Judgment Swords flew out, forming a single supreme sacred artefact-level sword in midair, radiating dazzling light.
The sword’s radiant power purified the underworld and demonic energies in the cosmic void.
” Boom.”
The Judgment Sword struck, breaking the Iron Blood Underworld Armour, cleaving Yun Huan Iron Blood King in two.
The light’s power, seemingly tailored to counter the underworld clan, set his body ablaze, turning it into pure white light particles, utterly sacred.
Zhang Ruochen took no artefacts from Yun Huan Iron Blood King, cleared his own traces from the void, leaving only the light’s power, and swiftly fled.
Soon, Duan Lingfeng arrived, picking up Yun Huan Iron Blood King’s nearly fleshless body, landing on a black sacred ship, his old face twisted, “The power of a light-attribute supreme sacred artefact, Heavenly Realm, indeed the Heavenly Realm! These bastards go too far, taking everything, crossing the line! From today, I, Duan Lingfeng, will not rest until the Heavenly Realm is destroyed.”
Duan Lingfeng had just learned that Kairo Earth Master and others had taken Zhang Ruochen’s corpse, fueling his rage.
