“Puff!”
“Puff!”
…
After the Chenyuan Ancient Sword severed the body of the Crocodile-Head Death Clan Great Saint, it flew towards the other three Death Clan Great Saints.
The first Death Clan Great Saint had his brow pierced.
The second had his head separated from his body.
The third had his chest shattered.
All three Death Clan Great Saints had taken precautions in advance and activated their ultimate defensive powers.
But it was no use.
The first Death Clan Great Saint erected a Dao domain, yet it was broken by a single strike from the Chenyuan Ancient Sword. The second Death Clan Great Saint blocked with a battle weapon, but it was severed by a single strike from the Chenyuan Ancient Sword.
With the current sharpness of the Chenyuan Ancient Sword, how could it be resisted by an ordinary kingly holy artefact?
The three mutilated corpses fell to the seabed, turning this stretch of water even redder.
The vitality of Great Saints is powerful; even if their physical bodies are shattered, they have a chance to reform. However, including the Crocodile-Head Death Clan Great Saint, after all four Great Saints were struck by the Chenyuan Ancient Sword, the life force within their bodies dissipated instantly, leading to their complete death.
The reason for such terror was that Zhang Ruochen had cultivated the Heavenly Sword Soul.
The sword not only severed their physical bodies but also their holy souls.
With their souls extinguished, how could they possibly reform their physical bodies?
The Chenyuan Ancient Sword flew a circle in the water, refining and absorbing all the holy artefacts on the four Death Clan Great Saints, before returning to Zhang Ruochen’s hand. In addition, the holy sources of the four Death Clan Great Saints were also taken by Zhang Ruochen.
The entire process ended in an instant.
In the distance, those Great Saints who had originally planned to leave sensed this powerful sword Dao force and all stopped in their tracks, casting their gazes over.
“Zhang Ruochen has finally appeared!”
“One strike kills a Great Saint, leaving no chance of survival. Such sword Dao is comparable to the Death Clan’s Death Sword Dao and the Asura Clan’s Slaughter Sword Dao.”
“Now Zhang Ruochen has truly formed a deep enmity with the Palace of the God of Death; he cannot deny it even if he wants to.”
“Nan Sheng is nearby; Zhang Ruochen will probably flee immediately.”
…
Grand Chancellor Si Kong and Second Chancellor Si Kong were already utterly exhausted, covered in wounds, yet their faces were full of anxious expressions as they urged, “Martial Uncle, we must hurry and flee; there’s an even more powerful one behind. True Slaughter, True Greed, and True Delusion are blocking him, but they probably cannot hold him off for long.”
“Since True Slaughter, True Greed, and True Delusion have entered the Buddhist sect and called me their Martial Granduncle, how can I abandon them?”
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was sharp as he looked towards Nan Sheng.
Nan Sheng still stood on the shoulder of the stone statue over ten zhang tall; from the cyan talisman fan in his hand, a cyan talisman flew out. The talisman transformed into a palace dozens of zhang long, suppressing True Slaughter, True Delusion, and True Greed beneath it.
Sensing Zhang Ruochen’s gaze, the corners of his mouth curved slightly; his body floated up and landed at a position merely ten zhang from Zhang Ruochen.
Nan Sheng was not angered by Zhang Ruochen’s killing of four Great Saints from the Palace of the God of Death; instead, he carried a trace of delight as he waved his fan and laughed, “I did not expect you to appear so quickly; very good, very good.”
Zhang Ruochen, dressed in white robes, exuded an extraordinary bearing as he said, “I also did not expect you to arrive at the Sword South Realm so quickly, and even to have broken into the Origin Divine Palace.”
“Your methods were more ingenious than I anticipated; if not for tracking Ji Fanchen to the Sword South Realm, we would probably still believe you to be in the Yaksha Clan’s ancestral realm.” The two long strands of white hair at Nan Sheng’s temples floated in the water.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen did not flee upon encountering him, this surprised Nan Sheng greatly. He acted cautiously, secretly using his mental power to probe the surroundings and confirm that no other powerhouses were hidden, before relaxing.
It seemed Zhang Ruochen had no backup plans at all; he was simply arrogant and overconfident.
Very well.
Today, he would let him know the painful price of arrogance.
Nan Sheng laughed, “This is not the Hundred Clans Royal City; relying solely on that bit of physical body advantage will not allow you to contend with me. So, are you certain you will not flee?”
“If I wish to leave, can you stop me?” Zhang Ruochen countered.
Nan Sheng’s eyes narrowed slightly; his figure turned into a streak of electric light and arrived before Zhang Ruochen in an instant. His right hand’s wide sleeve fluttered as he formed a ruthless and domineering seal.
Zhang Ruochen did not use spatial power to evade; the sword in his hand struck later but arrived first, swinging out.
“Boom!”
At Nan Sheng’s palm, highly condensed death qi formed a circular seal disc, colliding with the Chenyuan Ancient Sword.
Sword qi and death qi radiated outwards from the two of them as the centre.
Nan Sheng possessed peak Ten Thousand Deaths Rebirth Realm cultivation and practised a divine skill comparable to those on the Supreme Unity Divine Merit List; the death qi within his body naturally surpassed the holy qi and blood fiend qi of Zhang Ruochen at the Hundred Shackles Realm in quality, erupting with greater power.
This was the gap in realms!
Zhang Ruochen’s figure retreated backwards; with each step, he crushed a large expanse of ruins beneath his feet.
“The so-called semi-divine physical body, is this all the power it has?” Nan Sheng said with a cold smile.
Grand Chancellor Si Kong, hiding in a corner, laughed even more coldly, “My Martial Uncle is only at the Hundred Shackles Realm cultivation, while you are at the peak of the Ten Thousand Deaths Rebirth Realm; how can you have the cheek to say such things? Be careful not to lose to my Martial Uncle later and lose all face.”
Nan Sheng pondered inwardly that the bald donkey’s words held some truth; as the direct disciple of Tian Nan, surpassing the opponent by two realms, failing to achieve a swift victory would indeed be a loss of face.
He let out a deep hum; thirty-six holy beast diagrams emerged successively on his body.
Each holy beast diagram was refined from a Great Saint-level holy beast.
The power erupting from the seal in his palm surged greatly; with a heaven-shaking beast roar, the space-distorting force wave sent Zhang Ruochen flying outwards.
Zhang Ruochen flew dozens of zhang away before lightly landing on the ground.
This renowned Nan Sheng was indeed worthy of his reputation, not disgracing Tian Nan’s prestige. Once he broke through to the Supreme Realm, he would surely become one of the top existences in the universe’s mortal world.
Yet Nan Sheng was extremely shocked inwardly, unlike the calm in Zhang Ruochen’s heart.
One must know that he possessed the power of thirty-six Great Saint holy beasts, and with his own extreme physique, he feared no semi-divine physical body in terms of physical strength.
Since he did not suffer in physical strength and was two realms higher, why could Zhang Ruochen still resolve his power so effortlessly?
“Come again.”
“Awoo!”
“Roar!”
…
Beast sounds rang out one after another from within Nan Sheng’s body; enormous beast shadows manifested within him as he changed his palm to a claw, striking from afar. The claw was as vast as a cloud canopy, its power like ten thousand layered mountains.
Zhang Ruochen still did not use spatial power to evade; instead, he activated twelve pairs of golden wings, converting the chaotic holy qi within his body to blood fiend qi, activating the ancestral patterns on the golden wings.
“Battle!”
He swung his sword out.
King-level inscriptions on the Chenyuan Ancient Sword emerged, erupting in pitch-black radiance.
“Bang bang.”
The sword tip and claw seal clashed repeatedly; in an instant, they exchanged over a hundred strikes.
This was the purest contest of power; the divine light emanating from Zhang Ruochen’s semi-divine physical body grew ever brighter. His command of the semi-divine physical body’s power also became more fluid, allowing him to utilise even latent forces.
Because the assault dragged on without success, Nan Sheng grew increasingly irritable and let out a explosive hum from his mouth.
Golden lustre divine flames appeared on his twin claws; the divine flames instantly boiled the surrounding seawater. At the same time, the claws of the thirty-six Great Saint holy beasts extended simultaneously, pressing towards Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen raised the Chenyuan Ancient Sword overhead; the purple divine stone inlaid in the sword was activated, releasing vast divine power, while the purple divine stone also drew in the rules of heaven and earth.
“Swish,”
He cleaved straight down with one sword, severing all thirty-six claws of the Great Saint holy beasts.
The purple divine stone was condensed from a planet beside a black hole; when activated, its weight erupted, making the Chenyuan Ancient Sword as heavy as an entire planet.
The sword tip collided with Nan Sheng’s golden twin claws.
“Bang!”
Clusters of golden divine flames flew outwards.
Zhang Ruochen and Nan Sheng separated accordingly, pulling apart a long distance.
On Nan Sheng’s arms, a blood line appeared, spilling Great Saint blood.
The Great Saints wandering in the distance were all startled; Zhang Ruochen had actually wounded Nan Sheng first?
Though Zhang Ruochen had borrowed the advantage of his battle weapon, this was Nan Sheng, the direct disciple of Tian Nan; how could a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint wound him? Even if the opponent was a Yuan Hui-level genius, he should not be so outrageously strong.
On Nan Sheng’s arms, death light flickered, and the wound vanished instantly; his gaze fell on the Chenyuan Ancient Sword as he said, “A sword forged from Fortune Creation Born Iron is indeed extraordinary. That purple divine stone inlaid in the sword seems to be an even greater treasure.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “The so-called direct disciple of Tian Nan is nothing more than this.”
“Do not get complacent; earlier, I was merely toying with you!”
A surge of anger rose in Nan Sheng’s heart; he spread his arms wide, and countless holy Dao rules flew from his brow, filling the entire seabed space, reaching seven trillion in number. His Dao domain manifested accordingly, enveloping Zhang Ruochen.
Those holy Dao rules resembled chains, binding Zhang Ruochen and leaving him no space to move.
“Zhang Ruochen, as I said, this is not the Hundred Clans Royal City; it is not a place where mere physical strength allows one to dominate. Before me, you are as weak as an ant; I do not even need to act personally. With just my Dao domain, I can suppress you.” Nan Sheng said.
The arm holding the sword in Zhang Ruochen was pressed down by over a trillion holy Dao rules; he tried to exert force to lift the Chenyuan Ancient Sword, but even with full effort, his arm could not budge.
“As expected, the gap in realms is still too great; without using the power of mysteries, I have almost no ability to resist against an opponent of this level.”
Zhang Ruochen sighed thus; immediately after, faint spatial fluctuations appeared around him, and his body vanished from the spot.
“Spatial shift! How is that possible?”
Nan Sheng’s eyes narrowed; he could not believe that under absolute Dao domain suppression, the opponent could still execute a spatial shift. Could his prediction of a space controller’s abilities be wrong?
No, it must be that Zhang Ruochen possessed some spatial treasure, or perhaps even a space mystery.
Very well; killing him would yield even greater gains.
Suddenly, Nan Sheng sensed something; Zhang Ruochen had appeared behind him.
Without even turning, Nan Sheng directly used his holy soul to control the holy Dao rules in the Dao domain, transforming them into a massive wave of rules that crashed towards Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen executed spatial shift once more, appearing above his head, and silently recited, “Radiant Moon as Song.”
Dense time mark light points appeared in Nan Sheng’s Dao domain; in the densest area of time mark light points, they condensed into a bright moon, hanging above Zhang Ruochen’s head.
Nan Sheng tried to mobilise the holy Dao rules, but discovered that the flow of time had slowed; the speed at which the holy Dao rules surged towards Zhang Ruochen also became extraordinarily slow. He inwardly cried out that something was amiss.
Zhang Ruochen was not only a space controller but also a time controller.
