The addition of Lanying and Yuan made the battlefield cover a broader area, with surging air waves and dark clouds obscuring the sky.
A corner of the sea revealed a blood-red Asura world, where countless corpses lay strewn, war flags fluttered in the ruined city, and the towering Asura Mountain stood at the centre, connecting the sky to the sea.
This was the chilling killing aura emanating from Lanying, transformed into a wondrous spectacle.
Another corner was entirely enveloped by a cold ghostly aura, where ghostly soldiers stood in formation and spirits danced in the sky, a manifestation of Yuan’s domain.
In contrast to the ghostly aura and killing intent were the radiant five-coloured merit light emanating from Shang Ziyan’s body and the golden Buddhist light radiating from the Tongtian Pagoda.
The four masters, each extraordinary, were all born with exceptional talent and meticulously trained by divine realm giants. From childhood to adulthood, they rarely met their match, commanding countless saints with unchallenged authority.
They were overlords standing at the pinnacle of the saint realm, capable of defeating a group of peers single-handedly.
If not for Zhang Ruochen’s sudden rise, how could these four have joined forces to battle one person?
“Bang, bang!”
The sounds of sword clashes, roars, and collisions merged into a single cacophony.
The great saints from the Infernal Court and Heavenly Realm witnessed the most shocking and emotionally stirring sword duel of their lives.
Some sword cultivators were so moved they nearly knelt in worship.
Standing on the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen hovered a thousand zhang above the sea. Driven by the divine energy within him, the Sundial unleashed a force that continuously drew time imprints from the surrounding tens of thousands of li of sea.
Even Yin Yuanchen’s Tongtian Pagoda could not suppress the Sundial or restrain the power of time.
“Swish!”
Shang Ziyan merged with the Scarlet Sword, transforming into a streak of blood-red light, thrusting straight at Zhang Ruochen’s chest.
Rolling blood mist surged with the sword light.
Zhang Ruochen raised the Ancient Abyss Sword above his head, rapidly gathering the holy energy of heaven and earth, transforming it into hundreds of lightning bolts as thick as water buckets, converging at the sword tip.
With a single slash, he repelled the Scarlet Sword.
To the right, Lanying controlled six holy swords, arranged in a formation of one, two, three, descending from the sky.
Thousands of Asura sword energies swirled around the sword formation.
Zhang Ruochen swept his sword upward, and following its trajectory, time imprints gathered, forming a winding river of time.
With the aid of time’s power, Zhang Ruochen broke Lanying’s sword formation.
Directly ahead, Yin Yuanchen attacked with the Witch God Sword, employing a divine-level sword technique. As the sword moved, Zhang Ruochen’s vision darkened, losing all sight.
Relying solely on instinct and the perception of the Heart of Truth, he thrust his sword.
The forces of space and time converged, forming a peculiar flower.
“Boom!”
Yin Yuanchen’s cultivation clearly surpassed Shang Ziyan and Lanying by a significant margin. He pierced through Zhang Ruochen’s “One Thought Blooms,” broke through the river of time flowing around the Sundial, and struck Zhang Ruochen’s chest with the Witch God Sword, clashing fiercely with the Fire God Armour.
Within the armour, Zhang Ruochen spat out a mouthful of blood, his body shrinking to the size of a firefly.
“Swish!”
Empowered by the force of time, Zhang Ruochen’s speed was so swift that even Yin Yuanchen could not react, resembling a fleeting firefly.
The firefly struck Yin Yuanchen’s back.
Along with the firefly came the Ancient Abyss Sword, thrusting from space.
Yin Yuanchen activated his supreme dharma body, and forty trillion holy path precepts emerged within him, merging with his flesh and surging toward his back, clashing with the tip of the Ancient Abyss Sword.
With a “bang,” Yin Yuanchen was thrown forward, a one-inch blood wound appearing on his back.
Ignoring the minor injury, Yin Yuanchen turned back and attacked again. Before him, Lanying and Shang Ziyan had already swung their swords, giving Zhang Ruochen no chance to catch his breath.
All four wielded swords, each having mastered swordsmanship to a transcendent level.
Yin Yuanchen’s swordsmanship was “strange and sinister.” Combining the ancient witch path and the secrets of Tongtian with swordsmanship, it was bizarre yet ruthlessly venomous.
Shang Ziyan’s swordsmanship was “swift.” With the divine path of flowing light, he pushed the speed of swordsmanship to its extreme.
Lanying’s swordsmanship was solely for “killing,” each strike aimed at taking Zhang Ruochen’s life.
Standing on the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen faced the onslaught of the three alone, teetering on the edge of danger, where life and death could be decided in an instant.
Yet, he seemed to possess three heads and six arms, breaking their sword techniques time and again, even finding opportunities to counterattack with the aid of time’s power.
Such swordsmanship could be called the best in the world.
The sword cultivators present were deeply moved and awestruck.
“Zhang Ruochen’s swordsmanship is the true path of the sword. If only I could take him as my master,” a great saint of the sword path said, gazing with utmost reverence at the figure standing on the Sundial.
While painting the “Red Dust Peerless Painting,” Hua Chunqiu excitedly said, “Though Zhang Ruochen is not a god, he can be named the Sword God. The first Sword God below the divine realm!”
To other cultivators, the idea of being named a god without achieving divinity was a mere jest.
But the sword cultivators present took it seriously.
For only those who wielded swords understood that reaching Zhang Ruochen’s level of swordsmanship was harder than becoming a god. If so, why could he not be called the first Sword God below the divine realm?
“Clang! Clang! Clang…”
Que stood on the water’s surface, unshaken.
But the Shadow Pill Sword sensed his heart, materialising on its own and flying out of his body toward the direction of the four sword masters’ duel.
Que grabbed it, suppressing it.
Though Yuan was also a representative of the Yuanhui level, she dared not enter the sword circle of Zhang Ruochen, Yin Yuanchen, Shang Ziyan, and Lanying. That area had become a forbidden zone of life and death. Any Yuanhui-level figure not specializing in physical or martial cultivation risked falling if they approached.
“Zhang Ruochen seeks to push himself, using the swords of Yin Yuanchen, Shang Ziyan, and Lanying to break through his realm. We cannot let him succeed. We must suppress the Sundial’s time power. Without the aid of time, he will surely fall quickly.”
Yuan stood high in the sky, the Gate of Destiny floating behind her, surrounded by swirling ghostly clouds, her hands continuously inscribing ghostly runes.
The power of the ghostly runes and the Gate of Destiny pressed toward the Sundial’s position.
As the ghostly runes in the world multiplied, the Sundial came under some suppression. Instantly, Zhang Ruochen was completely engulfed by the sword lights of Yin Yuanchen, Shang Ziyan, and Lanying.
The Fire God Armour on Zhang Ruochen, struck too many times, gradually dimmed.
Prajna did not act, silently observing the battle.
No one thought she feared approaching the sword circle. For Prajna’s martial arts and spiritual power were immensely strong. With the Staff of Destiny, she had fought Yan Yu, titled a half-god, to a draw.
Yet Yan Yu believed she was the strongest below the Yuanhui-level geniuses.
Because she was younger, with greater potential.
Of course, with Zhenyuan’s appearance, who would dare claim to be the strongest below the Yuanhui level without a fight?
“Too strong. Is he really still in the Thousand-Deaths Life Realm?” Feng Qingli’s emotions surged intensely. She swore she would never forget the scene of the four sword masters’ duel before her.
“Good!”
Luo Shengtian shouted, having forgotten Zhang Ruochen’s past betrayals, his blood boiling. He felt this brother-in-law was truly a dragon among men, surpassing all heroes, exuding unmatched valour.
He had countless times imagined possessing such earth-shaking power, fighting alone against the strongest cultivators of the Heavenly Realm and Infernal Court.
In the end, all cultivators held respect for the strong.
Or perhaps, they yearned to become like the strong.
Even the divine prince shouted “Good,” and the long-suppressed great saints of the Luoshen Kingdom naturally followed with loud cheers.
But Luo Ji remained utterly rational, scolding the valiant male and enchanting female great saints of the Rakshasa clan, saying, “Cheering now is a bit premature.”
A beautiful Rakshasa woman from an ancient clan said in a delicate voice, “What is Your Highness worried about? Even the Youguang Death Soul Talisman couldn’t kill the prince consort. Below the divine realm, who can defeat him?”
“The prince consort has surely reached divinity in swordsmanship, hasn’t he?”
“Fighting multiple Yuanhui-level figures alone, even if he loses today, he is enough to stand proud above the world. At the critical moment of life and death, would the Great Emperor not intervene to save him?”
Most great saints still did not know Zhang Ruochen was in the Thousand-Deaths Life Realm.
To them, Zhang Ruochen’s current achievements were already extraordinary, enough to shock the world. If he could not win, he would surely retreat immediately.
If he truly fell into a deadly situation, a god would surely intervene to save him.
But Luo Ji understood that gods could not act, or it would not have been Prajna who saved Nan Sheng.
In this battle, even if Zhang Ruochen fell into a deadly situation, he would never retreat.
For he came to the Ten Realms Battlefield seeking death.
If he did not seek death, why would he have spoken so arrogantly to all the prodigies of the Heavenly Realm and Infernal Court, clearly intending to provoke their emotions and draw out all who wished to kill him?
Enter the realm of death to break the extreme realm.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen once again faced a critical moment of life and death. His Fire God Armour shattered, and the swords of Yin Yuanchen, Shang Ziyan, and Lanying cut through the river of time, landing on him repeatedly.
Even with the Ancient Abyss Sword and various supreme holy artifacts, he could not withstand their onslaught.
The cultivators of the Luoshen Kingdom, the Undying Blood Clan, and the sword cultivators, previously excited and boisterous, all fell silent, sensing something was terribly wrong.
Why had no god yet intervened to save Zhang Ruochen?
Would they truly watch such a peerless prodigy fall in the Wuding Divine Sea?
Though Yin Yuanchen, Shang Ziyan, and Lanying had battered Zhang Ruochen’s body nearly to ruins, there was no trace of a smile on their faces. Instead, they were gravely serious, attacking with all their might.
For they sensed that the holy path precepts within Zhang Ruochen were rapidly increasing, approaching the number of two Yuanhui.
Closer and closer…
“We cannot let his holy path precepts break that extreme number.”
Shang Ziyan, in extreme urgency, summoned a ten-thousand-zhang rainbow above his head, unleashing the Great Dao Heavenly Desolation Seal.
“World-Destroying Asura!”
Around Lanying, a embryonic universe formed, and she unleashed her strongest sword strike.
