Chapter 2168: 96-Foot-Tall Golden Body
Yan Wushen stared at Zhang Ruochen. His fighting spirit grew stronger and stronger. Ever since his evil counterpart told him that his name “Yan Wushen” was no longer a symbol of invincibility, he had been looking forward to this battle and even made a lot of preparations.
“I don’t need you to save me. You should take care of yourself first,” Chi Kunlun said.
He seemed tough, but there was a faint worry in his eyes. He was clearly worried that Zhang Ruochen would be at a disadvantage in the face of Yan Wushen.
Chi Kunlun did not know that Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen had fought a fierce battle, so he thought Yan Wushen was still the invincible existence that dominated Celestial Court and Infernal Court.
Moreover, even though he had been with Yan Wushen recently, he was unaware of Yan Wushen’s secret—there were two Yan Wushens: the good and the evil counterparts.
All of this could not be hidden from Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. He felt a warmth in his heart. No matter what, Chi Kunlun’s opinion of him had changed.
At least he wasn’t like before, where he held his sword and looked at Yan Wushen as if they were mortal enemies.
Zhang Ruochen walked out of the pavilion and faced Yan Wushen. “Let’s find out who will win.”
This battle was inevitable. For Zhang Ruochen, it was an excellent opportunity to test the fruit of his recent cultivation practice.
Although he sensed that Yan Wushen’s evil counterpart was nearby, he was not afraid. Instead, he looked forward to the merger of Yan Wushen’s good and evil counterparts, wanting to see how powerful the outcome would be.
After all, compared to when they were fighting at Luoshui, Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation and strength had significantly improved. Even without the help of Sundial, he was confident that he could defeat Yan Wushen’s evil counterpart.
“It seems that you are very confident. However, this time, if you want to rely on Sundial to win, it won’t work anymore,” said Yan Wushen.
As soon as Yan Wushen waved his hand, Chi Kunlun was swept away by a stream of Qi. He was brought outside the courtyard, standing on a blood cloud floating in the air.
Chi Kunlun could still see the courtyard. It felt it was just a close distance away from the blood cloud he was standing on.
He was anxious, so he ran with all his might. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, the courtyard—which was like a floating island—was out of reach. It was as though it was tens of thousands of miles away or even further. All he could do was watch.
“Zhang Ruochen, Prince of the Eastern Region, I hope you won’t disappoint me.” Yan Wushen looked expectant.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Yin Yuanchen and said, “Brother Yin, step aside and don’t interfere.”
“Brother Zhang, be careful.”
Without hesitation, Yin Yuanchen retreated into the distance.
In his opinion, since Zhang Ruochen had defeated Yan Wushen in Luoshui, there should be no problem this time.
Yin Yuanchen looked around at the realm of stars and thought to himself, ‘Yan Wushen must have tricks up his sleeve. Even if he gets defeated, he must have a way to escape unscathed. I must think of a way to leave this place and lure Celestial Court elites here so that he cannot leave the Imperial City.’
If Yan Wushen was captured or killed, it would send Infernal Court a ma.s.sive blow. It could certainly turn the tide of the battle in Kunlun.
Of course, Yin Yuanchen was also secretly on guard. Although his sensory was not as good as Zhang Ruochen’s, he could vaguely feel the presence of other powerful elites lurking in the dark.
It was not something unexpected. After all, Imperial City was now crowded with powerful cultivators. No matter how confident Yan Wushen was in his own strength, he would not choose to take the risk alone.
Outside the pavilion, Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen stood facing each other. They looked at each other, but neither of them made a move.
But in reality, the battle between them had already begun.
If one sensed carefully, one would find that the s.p.a.ce around Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen had slight fluctuations. Ripples like water waves crashed into each other but disappeared at the same time.
Both of them controlled the power of Dimension meticulously. The techniques both parties used were so terrifying that they could get a nine-step Saint King killed if they got close. However, only little movements were sighted among both parties. There was no casualty around them. Not even a flower or gra.s.s was damaged.
Although it might seem that their fight was uneventful, it was actually very dangerous.
“I’m surprised that your attainment in Path of Dimension has improved so much in just a few months.” Yan Wushen’s expression changed.
Path of Dimension was one of the Paths of the Ancients. It was very difficult to practice it that even for a cultivator as strong as Yan Wushen. It had taken him a long time and many fortuitous encounters to reach his current attainment.
Contrary, Zhang Ruochen had only taken a few months to advance his cultivation in Path of Dimension to near perfection. Yan Wushen felt it was unbelievable despite seeing it with his own eyes.
Zhang Ruochen said, “You’re not bad either.”
In terms of the number of Percepts, Yan Wushen’s good and evil counterparts should be the same.
During their duel at Luoshui, although the evil Yan Wushen had displayed great attainment in Dimensional techniques, the number of Precepts of Dimension he could cultivate could only reach 900,000.
But now, Zhang Ruochen could sense that Yan Wushen’s quant.i.ty of Precepts of Dimension should be the same as his. In other words, Yan Wushen was only one step away from Great Perfection in terms of cultivation in Dimension.
Apparently, Zhang Ruochen’s existence had put great pressure on Yan Wushen. It drove him to achieve higher attainment in his cultivation in a few months.
“This is more interesting,” Yan Wushen laughed.
The stronger Zhang Ruochen was, the happier Yan Wushen was. He had always longed for a strong opponent.
As he spoke, Yan Wushen made his move. A powerful force of Dimension surged out, distorting the s.p.a.ce around him.
“Saint Aspect of Dimension.”
Zhang Ruochen kept his guard up. He sensed there was an invisible vortex emerging above him.
Without any hesitation, Zhang Ruochen released his Saint Aspect of Dimension. It clashed with Yan Wushen’s head-on.
After practicing Path of Dimension to near perfection, Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen’s Saint Aspects of Dimension were undoubtedly extremely powerful and had terrifying destructive power.
Even a top-tier Thousand-Inscription Sacred Artifact might be crushed immediately and turned into sc.r.a.p metal.
BOOM!
Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen’s Saint Aspects of Dimension collided hard, releasing a terrifying impact that could destroy everything. The surrounding s.p.a.ce was destroyed entirely, revealing a dark void s.p.a.ce of deep layer.
That affected area was terrifying that even a Supreme Saint would find it hard to get away when they were trapped inside.
Zhang Ruochen did not care about this. With a thought, he released his Saint Aspects of Time to attack Yan Wushen.
No matter who he fought with, Zhang Ruochen liked to take the lead to strike first instead of being in defensive mode.
Saint Aspects of Time was also an invisible vortex. As soon as it appeared, countless Marks of Time flew. Even the illusory image of River of Time was formed, altering the flow of time in this s.p.a.ce.
BANG!
Saint Aspects of Time and another invisible vortex collided in an instant. As a result, some Marks of Time dissipated into nothingness.
To be more precise, these Marks of Time were disintegrated and turned into countless tiny particles that were not visible to naked eyes.
Under the influence of Saint Aspects of Time, some of the tiny particles gathered again and turned into Marks of Time.
It seems that I’m not the only one who has cultivated multiple Saint Aspects,’ Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Generally speaking, when a cultivator reached Sainthood, he would condense all Percepts that he had cultivated into a Saint Aspect. The shape of the Saint Aspect was basically the same as their own.
However, Zhang Ruochen was extraordinary. He separated part of the Precepts from the two Paths of Ancients and three Paths of Supreme Saint that he had mainly cultivated and fused them with Precepts of other Paths together. As a result, he had managed to cultivate a total of six Saint Aspects.
Even Blackie, who was knowledgeable, had never heard of this before. It had only read about it in ancient records. In the ancient times, there had been mysterious creatures that were not part of the five elements. They could cultivate multiple Saint Aspects and condense multiple Saint Sources.
At that time, Zhang Ruochen had not figured it out, but with his current knowledge, he might have some guesses.
He could cultivate multiple Saint Aspects, likely due to the techniques and the Paths of Cultivation he was practicing.
Empyrean Emperor Ming’s Scripture was no ordinary. It was suspected to be linked to Trāyastriṃśa[1]. It was the top cultivation exercise in the universe.
Swoos.h.!.+
A 30,000-meter-long Saint Sword flew out of Zhang Ruochen’s body. It was formed from millions of Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p. It was his Saint Aspect of Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
The Saint Aspect of Swordsmans.h.i.+p released nine-colored Saint Light. Its surface was covered with complicated sword patterns, looking profound. It seemed to have imprinted the true essence of swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Tens of thousands of streaks of Sword Qi burst out from Saint Aspect of Swordsmans.h.i.+p. They turned into a storm of Sword Qi, charging at Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen’s body shook. A huge black hole appeared in front of him out of thin air.
“His Saint Aspect of Fist only needs one more Precept to achieve perfection,” Zhang Ruochen murmured.
As he had expected, Yan Wushen had indeed cultivated more than one Saint Aspect.
He had seen Yan Wushen’s powerful fist technique before, so he was not surprised that Yan Wushen had cultivated a Saint Aspect of Fist.
Yan Wushen’s Saint Aspect of Fist was terrifying. It unleashed a powerful force with an aura that could only be found in Infernal Court. It was so powerful that it seemed to be able to devour everything.
In an instant, the sword Qi released by the Saint Aspect of Swordsmans.h.i.+p was devoured by the black hole.
Whoos.h.!.+
The Saint Aspect of Swordsmans.h.i.+p was unstoppable. It slashed down and cut the black hole in half.
When Yan Wushen saw it, his expression turned grim.
“This is the Great Perfection in swordsmans.h.i.+p.” Yan Wushen was shocked.
Even someone as powerful as him who had practiced for so many years had yet to advance any Paths of the Ancients and Paths of Supreme Saint to Great Perfection. Never had he expected Zhang Ruochen would succeed.
An amazing transformation would occur when the cultivation attainment of any Paths of cultivation reached the Great Perfection. Not only would the power of corresponding Saint Techniques multiply, but they would also even develop some unimaginable, profound effects.
“This is the Great Perfection in Swordsmans.h.i.+p that legend has said. He has become so powerful.” Chi Kunlun stared at Zhang Ruochen with mixed feelings.
Ever since he fought with Zhang Ruochen once in Celestial Domain of Truth, Chi Kunlun had made up his mind to defeat Zhang Ruochen with the sword in his hand fairly and squarely.
He did not change his mind even after knowing his real ident.i.ty. Instead, he became more determined.
Now that Chi Kunlun saw Zhang Ruochen’s attainments in swordsmans.h.i.+p, he certainly felt great pressure.
However, determination reappeared in Chi Kunlun’s eyes the next second. He refused to give up and admit defeat.
An ancient sword hilt appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s hand as soon as he reached out. It looked very plain with no signs of active energy.
This sword hilt was not something ordinary. It had been stolen from Sword Vault. Zhang Ruochen had taken it back from Luo Sha. Needless to say, it contained a great secret.
Driven by the Saint Qi, streaks of divine light flew out from the sword hilt. Countless Precepts of Swordsmans.h.i.+p emerged. They were dense and complex, interweaving to form a slender sword.
Suddenly, a strong divine power spread out from the sword hilt.
Whoos.h.!.+
Affected by the power of the divine sword, everything in the courtyard shone with dazzling light. It was as though every single object was going to transform into sharp blades.
RUMBLE–
The realm of stars shook violently. The sword light looked solid as it spread throughout the entire s.p.a.ce.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was like an unrivaled Sword G.o.d who descended to Kunlun. His was unstoppable.
The power the sword hilt had unleashed was already terrifying when it was in Luo Sha’s hands, let alone in Zhang Ruochen’s. Needless to say, the current energy it unleased was even more impressive.
Yan Wushen’s gaze locked onto the Divine Sword in Zhang Ruochen’s hands. He narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, ‘A sword hilt can have such power. Could it be related to the legendary divine sword that was destroyed?”
Thinking of this, Yan Wushen did not hesitate. He immediately withdrew his Saint Aspect of Fist, which was about to break, and started to execute another technique.
He could feel that Zhang Ruochen’s next move would be extremely terrifying. He had to unleash his true power.
As soon as he executed the secret technique, a majestic Infernal Yama Qi emerged from his body. To be precise, it was an extremely bright Yama Qi that corresponded to the extremely dark Yama Qi that evil Yan Wushen practiced.
Suddenly, Yan Wushen’s body underwent a huge change. His skin, flesh, bones, and tendons all turned golden. His body grew quickly, turning into a golden giant that was 96 feet tall.
Behind Yan Wushen, boundless Buddhist light bloomed, forming an illusory golden Buddhist kingdom, where countless Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhist Saints sat cross-legged within. The view made Yan Wushen look majestic, as if he was a real Buddha.
“The strongest Golden Body technique of Buddhism. Yan Wushen has indeed received the inheritance of the ancient Saint Buddhist cultivator.” Zhang Ruochen’s heart skipped a beat.
Pan Ruo had once told him that Yan Wushen had obtained the forbidden Buddhist technique created by an ancient Saint Buddhist cultivator. It allowed him to split himself into two ent.i.ties: the good and evil Yan Wushens.
Zhang Ruochen had thought that Yan Wushen might have also received some other powerful inheritances of Buddhism. And most likely, his evil counterpart was not eligible to practice it.
However, little had he expected Yan Wushen could get the strongest Golden Body technique of Buddhism and even practice it successfully.
Zhang Ruochen had seen a Golden Body technique before. It was Chen Yuhua’s “12-feet-tall Golden Body Mode“, a unique skill recorded in Four-Nine Mystic Arts and had amazing power.
In terms of body size, Yan Wushen was eight times larger than Chen Yuhua. He was as big as a giant, but how strong would he be?
Undoubtedly, Yan Wushen was more worthy of Zhang Ruochen’s sword.
“Yan Wushen, take my sword strike,” Zhang Ruochen growled.
Zhang Ruochen waved the Divine Sword in his hand as he spoke. Its force encompa.s.sed all the s.p.a.ce in heaven and earth, east, south, west, and north. Countless Dimensional Inscriptions appeared, causing the entire realm of stars to shake.
A realm completely constructed by Sword Qi emerged and expanded infinitely, enveloping Yan Wushen.
Ever since he comprehended Sword Ten’s sixth level, this was the first time Zhang Ruochen had launched the technique using the mysterious sword hilt against an opponent.
After all, with his current strength, not many people were worthy enough for him to use this sword technique.
[1] Buddhism’s Thirty-Three Heavens