Chapter 2190: The Sword of Judgment
In Ziwei Palace, Yin Yuanchen stood quietly and looked down at Zhang Ruochen and Le, who were in the sea realm. A trace of spiteful smile faintly appeared in his eyes.
Zhang Ruochen still fell into Yin Yuanchen’s trap despite being so vigilant. He was caught inside Yin Yuanchen’s weapon and would be completely devoured by hundreds of millions of Soul Gobblers soon.
“Where is Zhang Ruochen? Did you let him escape?”
At this moment, a cold voice suddenly sounded.
Swoos.h.!.+
Hundreds of figures flashed out from the depths of Ziwei Palace and appeared around Yin Yuanchen.
All of them emitted very powerful aurae. Their cultivation was above Nine-Step Saint Kinghood. Some of them even gave off an unfathomable feeling.
They all had impressive backgrounds. Most of them came from the various Fanes and prominent families in Heavenly Realm and other Macroworlds.
There were many Fanes in Heavenly Realm. Each Fane was built by a deity, and there was more than one deity overseeing it. In other words, Heavenly Realm had many deities.
Zhang Ruochen was most familiar with Fane of b.l.o.o.d.y War, which was founded by Jiatianxia. However, it was only ranked 16th among the many Fanes in Heavenly Realm. In other words, it was not considered powerful.
Undoubtedly, the most powerful Fane was Fane of Light, which pa.s.sed on the teachings of one of the Paths of the Ancients. Cultivators including Archangel Michael and Zhou Yu were actually elites nurtured by Fane of Light.
The man who spoke just now was an angel with eight Blood Wings. He had a cold face and a slender body. He was wearing blood-colored armor. The murderous aura emitted from him was powerful as if he had just come from a mountain of corpses or a sea of blood.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, only those elites among angels who were Supreme Saints would have eight wings.
However, this angel was only a Saint King in terms of cultivation base. Yet, he exuded a faint intimidating aura that of a Supreme Saint elite.
His name was Teryn. He came from Fane of b.l.o.o.d.y War. He used to be a Neverwither Supreme Saint with a profound cultivation base. Due to some reason, his Neverwither physique was shattered, and his cultivation base dropped. Thus he became a Descender.
Although Teryn was only a Saint King now, his strength was mighty. Among cultivation with ranks below Supreme Sainthood, no one could be his match.
Almost every Descender was invincible at the realm of Saint Kinghood.
However, the fate of a Descender was often forlorn. They could never rebuild their Neverwither physique unless they found a great fortuitous encounter.
Fane of b.l.o.o.d.y War was the most active in tackling Kunlun and Zhang Ruochen, but the loss they suffered was the most. Not only were their Scarlet Angels and young-gen leaders killed, but their deities had also almost died too. They were deeply humiliated.
Therefore, Fane of b.l.o.o.d.y War had put in a lot of effort this time. They had deployed all their elites. They wanted to save face so they would not become a laughing stock among other Fanes.
Yin Yuanchen glanced at Teryn and said coldly, “Since I’m the one who personally carried out the mission, it’s impossible that Zhang Ruochen can escape. He is not far from death now.”
As he spoke, Yin Yuanchen showed the sea realm hidden in his glove to Teryn and the others.
As an insider, he had broken into Ziwei Palace and suppressed Zhang Ruochen. These two great contributions were enough for Yin Yuanchen to stand up straight. No one dared to belittle him anymore.
When Yin Yuanchen returned to Heavenly Realm, his status would have a major change. He could finally be honored with the glory and treatment that he deserved. He did not need to envy others anymore. He could live with dignity.
“Yin Yuanchen’s attack is indeed extraordinary. Even someone as strong as Zhang Ruochen could be easily captured. He has contributed a lot to this operation,” a gorgeous woman said with a smile.
She wore a long dark green dress. Her waist was slim, her neck slender, her skin fair as a lily, her eyes bright and lively. She gave off a very captivating charm. Anyone would fall head over heels for her when their eyes met hers.
Bing Tong was her name, a cultivator from Soul Realm. She was the true leader of cultivators with rank below Supreme Sainthood in Soul Realm. Her cultivation far surpa.s.sed that of King Daxi
Bing Tong had controlled the Saint Souls among the guards outside the palace with some techniques.
She was skilled. If Zhang Ruochen had not refined the Heart of Truth, he probably wouldn’t have been able to find out.
Hearing Bing Tong’s words, Yin Yuanchen could not help but smile. This was exactly what he wanted to see.
Yin Yuanchen glanced at Teryn, Bing Tong, and the others. “Have you captured the Nine-heavens Maiden? What’s the situation at Rainbow Pavilion?”
Saturn Peach Tree was the main target in Heavenly Realm’s operation this time. Zhang Ruochen was only their secondary target.
“The Nine-heavens Maiden has inherited our ancestor’s Navagraha’s Tears. Naturally, it’s not easy to counter her. Although I had interfered with the power of the Navagraha’s Tears with a secret technique, she still managed to retreat into a palace building where Empress Chi Yao once lived. That palace building is protected by Empress Chi Yao’s divine power. It’s engraved with a large number of Divine Runes. It’s still difficult to break into it.”
“However, the great amount of blood left behind by the wounded Nine-heavens Maiden is enough to activate the Dimensional Array in Rainbow Pavilion. As long as we can penetrate Rainbow Pavilion’s defense, it’ll be a piece of cake to locate the dimension where Saturn Peach Tree is.”
Akash walked out from the crowd with a smile on his handsome face, as if everything was under his control.
No one would have thought that Akash, who represented Megrez, would join Heavenly Realm’s faction in an operation against Kunlun.
If Zhang Ruochen heard what Akash said, he would be surprised about the link between Rainbow Pavilion and Saturn Peach Tree. After all, he had never noticed anything unusual when during his visit at Rainbow Pavilion.
“The array inside and outside Rainbow Pavilion was set up by the eldest disciple of Saint Monk Xumi. It is very profound. It will not be easy to break it,” an elite frowned as he spoke.
It was obvious that Saturn Peach Tree was heavily guarded, which made the mission hard.
If there were no such set-ups, the top elites from Celestial Court and Infernal Court would have long identified the exact location of Saturn Peach Tree and wouldn’t have gone through so many troubles.
Teryn looked at the sea realm in Yin Yuanchen’s palm and said, “The most important thing now is to get rid of Zhang Ruochen as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble.”
Zhang Ruochen’s existence was an unstable variable that could turn the tide. He had destroyed Heavenly Realm’s plots one after another. He was indeed a great threat.
“Don’t worry. The Soul Gobblers will soon devour Zhang Ruochen,” said Yin Yuanchen.
The Soul Gobblers bred by a deity was terrifying that even a Supreme Saint might not be able to counter them.
Besides, Yin Yuanchen had been feeding the Soul Gobblers with his father’s divine blood. The Soul Gobblers had become even more eerie and terrifying.
Yin Yuanchen knew that Zhang Ruochen had plenty of tricks up his sleeves. If Yin Yuanchen had released the Soul Gobblers outside the sea realm, Zhang Ruochen might have escaped by using some means. As long as Yin Yuanchen kept him inside the sea realm, there would be no way out and he would be dead for sure.
No matter how powerful Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation in the Path of Dimension was, he could not escape from the sea realm.
…
In the sea realm, Zhang Ruochen and Le were attacked by hundreds of millions of Soul Gobblers. They blocked off all their escape routes.
The swarm of Soul Gobblers formed a Soul-Devouring Enchantment, enveloping Zhang Ruochen and Le, producing a tremendous destructive and corrosive force when their power combined.
BUZZZ
All the Soul Gobblers flapped their wings simultaneously and released strange and terrifying sonic waves. The waves shook the void, reaching into Zhang Ruochen and Le’s Saint Souls.
At the same time, the Soul Gobblers secreted terrifying venom. It filled the air, silently seeping into Zhang Ruochen and Le.
Le, who remained expressionless, calmly struck out his sword.
He moved his iron sword in a strange trajectory. As the sword shook slightly, a rather unusual wave was released. It broke the sound waves from the Soul Gobblers.
The wave that Le released was very terrifying that his opponents would fall for it easily. Their Saint Souls would disintegrate even without them knowing it.
When Le attacked, Zhang Ruochen launched his strike as well. He activated Armor of the Fire G.o.d with Canon of Truth. A sky-burning flame rose and combined with the Divine Purification Flame, spreading in all directions.
Now, he had a total of 0.0049 percent of the Canon of Truth. With Heart of Truth, he could undoubtedly activate the stronger power of Armor of the Fire G.o.d.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had practiced Path of Fire to Great Perfection. Hence, there was a qualitative change in any flames in his hands. They could unleash terrifying power beyond imagination.
Sizzz
The eerie venom in the air was refined by the divine fire successively, making a slight sound.
BOOM!
Driven by Zhang Ruochen, the divine flame soared into the sky like an ancient volcano erupting.
With the support of Path of Truth, the divine flame became extremely terrifying that it seemed to be able to burn the sky and boil the sea, refining all things, turning heaven and earth into nothingness.
Suddenly, the Soul-Devouring Enchantment formed by the Soul Gobblers was penetrated forcefully. A large number of Soul Gobblers turned into ashes and fell into the sea.
“He has attained Great Perfection in Path of Fire, Emperor-level Divine Purification Flame, and that unusual Armor of the Fire G.o.d,” said Teryn in surprise.
According to the intel they had received, Zhang Ruochen should have only practiced Swordsmans.h.i.+p to its Great Perfection. Although his attainments in other Paths is high, they were still lacking.
Yin Yuanchen’s eyes narrowed. He had witnessed the duel between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen. He had thought that he had known Zhang Ruochen’s techniques and strength well.
But now, it seemed that the information he had was obviously very different from reality.
For some reason, Yin Yuanchen felt that he could not see through Zhang Ruochen at all. It was as if there was a layer of fog covering Zhang Ruochen. No one knew what powerful techniques he would use next.
“Who is the person with Zhang Ruochen? His swordsmans.h.i.+p is eerie,” said Bing Tong, her eyes flashed with surprise.
“His name is Le. He is known as the Deadly Swordsman. Fane of Death has invested great resources to nurture him. Over the years, he has been fighting against us—Tiansha Organization—and killed many of us.” A ghost-like figure emerged from the darkness.
He wore a black robe and a ghost mask. His aura was almost completely concealed. Even if he approached closer, one could barely detect his presence.
He was a Master a.s.sa.s.sin of Tiansha Organization. His name was Helian Wusheng. His ranking on the Duelist Heavenly King List was very high. His name was fearsome as countless Saint Kings had died at his hands.
Helian Wusheng was very mysterious. Almost no one had seen his real face. He had never failed to kill a target.
Tiansha Organization hated Le to his core that they had always wanted to get rid of him. They had sent many Master a.s.sa.s.sins to kill him. Not only had they failed the mission, but they also had all died at Le’s hands.
Now, Le’s ranking on Duelist Heavenly King List was very high. He was regarded as a major threat by Tiansha Organization.
Yin Yuanchen said, “No matter who he is, he can only die with Zhang Ruochen this time.”
As he spoke, Yin Yuanchen injected a majestic power of Death into the sea realm.
Very few people knew that he specialized in Path of Death. It was not any ordinary kind of power of Death he was cultivating. It was the eeriest one: the power of Hadean Doom.
In ancient times, some powerful cultivators practiced the power of Hadean Doom to its advanced level. If they released it, they could kill all the creatures in a Macroworld in an instant.
Yin Yuanchen had used his father’s divine corpse to cultivate and absorb the aura of Death. He had cultivated the power of Hadean Doom to a shocking level.
In the sea realm, Kun’s body that had been split into two, quickly fused.
Under the effect of Hadean Doom’s force, Kun’s body became pitch-black. The seawater around it became as thick as ink.
RAWRRRR!
Kun opened its b.l.o.o.d.y mouth and let out a roar, releasing a terrifying devouring force.
All the Soul Gobblers, including Zhang Ruochen and Le, were swallowed by Kun in an instant.
The universe in Kun’s stomach was huge. No matter how it used to be, it was dismal. Countless dead spirits emerged from the ink-like seawater and pounced on Zhang Ruochen and Le.
“To be able to practice the Hadean Doom to such an extent, Yuanchen, I really underestimated you,” Zhang Ruochen said in a low voice.
The sea realm had already exerted a strong suppressive force on them. Now that they had entered the Kun’s body, the suppressive force was undoubtedly stronger. Even the circulation of Saint Qi was affected.
Le’s eyes were cold. A surge of murderous aura burst out from him, forming a vague image of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The killing intent and the power of Life and Death merged. Two strange eyes formed behind Le. One was black, and the other was white. They were like black holes and white holes in a galaxy.
Le held the hilt of the iron sword with both hands and raised it high.
The two eyes behind him suddenly changed:one released black Sword Qi, and the other released white Sword Qi.
The two Sword Qi merged and become a terrifying torrent of Sword Qi that swept in all directions.
BANG!
Wherever the Sword Qi torrent pa.s.sed, all the dead spirits exploded, their bodies and souls destroyed.
Originally, the dead spirits were very difficult to destroy, but the Life and Death Sword Qi Le had cultivated happened to be their nemesis. They were destroyed for good.
Silently, a Soul Gobbler appeared behind Le’s neck.
However, a strand of Le’s hair flew up. In a flash, it cut the Soul Gobblers in half.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen was also attacked by Soul Gobblers. In this unusual environment, they were extremely good at hiding. They were elusive and hard to guard against.
It would be a great trouble if any of these Soul Gobblers entered their bodies. They might lose their lives in an instant.
“How annoying.”
A cold light flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes.
Immediately, he mobilized endless Saint Qi to his left leg and activated the millions of Divine Precepts in it. At the same time, he mobilized his Precepts of Fire and the Precepts of Truth.
BOOM!
The boundless flaming divine force was released from Zhang Ruochen’s left leg. It swept in all directions and turned everything into ashes.
Although the universe in Kun’s stomach was st.u.r.dy, it could not withstand this flaming divine force. The next moment, it collapsed.
Kun’s huge body exploded above the sea.
A 10,000-mile radius of sea surface indented as a high volume of seawater evaporated. The seawater was still boiling.
The dead spirits and Soul Gobblers were all annihilated; nothing was left.
The entire sea area started to shake violently as the s.p.a.ce became extremely unstable. Many Dimensional Rifts appeared.
BANG!
Yin Yuan Chen could not withstand this force; it was as if an ancient divine mountain was suppressing him. He bent down, and his gloved hand was pressed to the ground, causing the hard floor to be filled with cracks.
“How is this possible?”
Yin Yuanchen’s eyes were filled with disbelief.
He had never expected that Zhang Ruochen would be able to release such terrifying power while trapped in the sea realm. It was almost beyond what he could withstand.
Zhang Ruochen could crush an entire realm with just a foot stomp!
The expressions of the powerhouses from Heavenly Realm’s factions changed.
“Give Zhang Ruochen a fatal blow with Sword of Judgment,” an angel with three pairs of platinum wings said in a deep voice.
Immediately, eleven mighty angels behind him walked out.
All twelve powerful angels, including him, were cultivators from Fane of Light practicing Path of Light. Although they were not as powerful as Archangel Michael and Zhou Yu, they were all top-notch elites who had attained Path’s Anterior.
The most important thing was that they were skilled in joint attacks. With twelve Swords of Judgement in their hands, even Archangel Michael was also no match for them when they launched an attack with all their strength.
Hence, they were known as the twelve Angels of Vengeance in charge of executing punishment.
Swoos.h.!.+
Twelve Saint Swords emitting bright holy light flew out from the twelve Angels of Vengeance. Hundreds of thousands of Regal-level inscriptions emerged on the surface of each sword. Their powers could be combined into one.
The twelve Swords of Judgment were a set. When they were combined, they became a powerful Supreme Artifact. In ancient times, they had once fused with divine blood.
“Die.”
The twelve Swords of Judgment flew into the sea realm under the control of the twelve Angels of Vengeance.
Swoosh– Swoosh–
In an instant, the Saint Swords split into 120 swords; 120 split into 1,200 swords; 1,200 split into 12,000 swords.
Eventually, 120,000 swords were formed.
Myriad swords forming in the sky was truly a sight to behold.
Zhang Ruochen looked up. At this moment, in addition to Yin Yuanchen, there were also twelve deity-like figures on the horizon, looking down at the world
Seeing the torrent of Saint Swords descending from the sky, Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed into slits. He raised his arm and waved.
Rumble–
Suddenly, the surface of the sea shook. Millions of water droplets floated in the air. Under the effect of Swordwill, each droplet condensed into a sharp Saint Sword and soared into the sky.
With Zhang Ruochen’s attainment in swordsmans.h.i.+p, he could turn everything into a sword.
Moreover, he had also practiced Path of Water to its Great Perfection. When the force of Water combined with his swordsmans.h.i.+p, the power of his sword strike was unpredictable.
The Saint Swords made of water droplets shot into the sky like a meteor shower.
Boom! Boom!
The Saint Swords in the sky clashed with Zhang Ruochen’s swords, continuously shattering.
In the next moment, the true form of the twelve Swords of Judgment reappeared.
After being attacked by Saint Swords made of water droplets, the glow of the twelve Swords of Judgment dimmed, and the Regal-level inscription disappeared.
CRAs.h.!.+
The terrifying Swordwill penetrated the dome of the sea realm, stabbing into the twelve Angels of Vengeance.
There was a drastic change in the expressions of the twelve Angels of Vengeance. They involuntarily stepped back and spat out large mouthfuls of blood.
“How can he be so powerful?”
The twelve Angels of Vengeance were all shocked.
They had thought that with the suppression of the sea realm, they could kill Zhang Ruochen if they worked together. Never had they expected such an outcome.
Zhang Ruochen’s strength had far exceeded their expectations.