Both the Celestial Court and the Infernal Court today had countless elites beneath a Supreme Saint.
However, among them, the strongest were undoubtedly at the level where Yan Wushen and the Four Heavenly Kings stood. They could mobilize precepts of heaven and earth within a radius of nine thousand miles and have the terrifying ability to slay Neverwither-realm Supreme Saints. Their status was beyond supreme and when other Path’s Anterior-realm elites mention them, their expression would often change.
Below them were the likes of Xuanyuan Liekong and Yuanmo Shenzi. They could mobilize precepts of heaven and earth within eight thousand miles and have the ability to defeat a Neverwither Supreme Saint.
Further down was the level of Bi Yunhai and Xuetu Shenzi and the likes. They could rouse precepts of heaven and earth within a radius of seven thousand miles and was equivalent in strength to a Neverwither Supreme Saint and may even have some upper hand against one.
As long as one’s strength could reach the above three levels, it would be inevitable that their name will be famous and is etched into legend.
Of course, there were many factors that determined strength, and it was not limited to the extent one could mobilize the precepts of heaven and earth, one’s body, skills, saint arts, sacred artifacts and the likes all had a great impact on one’s strength.
In addition, although being able to mobilize the precepts of heaven and earth within a five thousand miles radius was already a Neverwither Supreme Saint-level, but that only meant that the person has the qualifications to fight with a Neverwither Supreme Saint.
No matter how weak a Neverwither Supreme Saint was, the nature of their power was already differently, and could not just be simply fought against, let alone defeat them, and even killing them.
For Feng Gudao, Chi Sheng, Zi Linglong and Gu Tianyin, the saint path precepts in their bodies have already reached 67 million and could mobilize saint path precepts within five-to-six-thousand-mile radius. Their strength could be said to be extremely powerful, and if they were to climb further, they have the chance to reach the top three level all Saint Kings aspire to reach.
It was because of this they looked down on Cang Long and Yan Ba, as the two were not on the same level with them at all.
Shang Ziyan had made a commitment to them, as long as they successfully take down Zhang Ruochen, and then kill all those related to Zhang Ruochen, Shang Ziyan will give them a great boon, so they can increase their strength to the level they had dreamed off.
No one would refuse such a lucrative offer.
“Zhang Ruochen, why bother struggling? You are nothing more than a trapped beast, and your resistance is futile.” Gu Tianyin smiled sinisterly.
He was now completely toying with Zhang Ruochen, wanting to force Zhang Ruochen into despair step by step, and then force the latter to kneel before him, only then that it will give him the greatest satisfaction.
Zhang Ruochen did not speak a word, and as he supported the vacuum zone, he activated the Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean as the saint Qi of heaven and earth surged into his body.
“Hmmm? How could there be saint Qi of heaven and earth from the outside pouring into this area?”
Suddenly, Zi Linglong noticed something was wrong.
Zi Linglong’s perception of the various energies flowing in the realm was extremely keen.
After Zi Linglong’s reminder, both Feng Gudao and Chi Sheng also became aware of it.
Feng Gudao cast his gaze on Zhang Ruochen who was enveloped by the Evil Spirits. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then instructed the Precept Dominion and Heaven’s Reach powerhouses around him. “You lot, control the formation flags this once, and completely lock this area down!”
All of the Precept Dominion and Heaven’s Reach elites instantly moved out as they controlled all of the formation flags planted around the mountain with all their might.
A purple Qi, seemingly drawn by some sort of power, appeared out of thin air inside Shengming City as they quickly gathered around and pervaded above the city.
This purple Qi was very different from the purple Qi Zi Linglong had cultivated. It was clearly far more noble in nature, making one could not help but want to kneel and worship it.
“Something’s off.”
Feng Gudao, Chi Sheng, Zi Linglong and even Gu Tianyin all looked up as they watched the thickening purple Qi that was gathering in the sky, as an ominous feeling appeared in their hearts.
Outside Shengming City, many of the spectating on-lookers too had noticed the changes upon the city.
“What is going on? Why did so much purple Qi appear out of nowhere? What is it for?”
“Is it because Zi Linglong is using a Fane of Purple Sky’s secret technique?”
“No, doesn’t seem like it. The purple Qi is permeating all over Shengming City, and even spreading outside of it, covering and area of more than ten thousand miles. No matter how strong Zi Linglong is, even if she was to use a secret technique, it’s impossible for such a phenomenon to happen.”
“Could it be that all of this have to do with Zhang Ruochen?”
…
Many of the cultivators discussed among themselves, wishing they could head to the city right this instant to investigate what was exactly going on.
Above the towering ancient tree, Lady Lingyan stared intently at the thickening purple Qi in the sky as a look of surprise could not help but appear in her eyes.
“It’s actually the Imperial Purple Qi, is this Zhang Ruochen’s trump card?” Lady Lingyan whispered to herself, as she finally understood something in her heart.
Lady Lingyan was a concubine of a Demon Emperor of the Greater Demonic Realm and was no stranger to the Imperial Purple Qi.
The so-called Imperial Purple Qi is an invisible providence that was formed after a Supreme Saint builts a massive empire.
With the Imperial Providence, one could do anything successfully, negating all kinds of disasters, and even gaining more chances to become a god.
The former Shengming Central Empire was extremely powerful and prosperous back in the day.
And Shengming City, as the capital of the empire, it was where the Imperial Providence had gathered.
No one had expected the Shengming Central Empire’s Imperial Providence still remained, even after it was destroyed over eight hundred years ago and had not yet dispersed.
And to be able to draw upon the Shengming Providence, aside from the previous emperor, Emperor Ming, only the crown prince, Zhang Ruochen could do it now.
Ever since Emperor Ming’s disappearance, Zhang Ruochen was undoubtedly left to his own fate.
“If Zhang Ruochen could completely control such a powerful Imperial Providence, he may very well have a chance to turn the tide around.” A glint appeared in Lady Lingyan’s eyes.
She really wanted to enter Shengming City now to see what the situation was like.
Inside Shengming City, Zhang Ruochen had roused the Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean to the extreme, and then summoned the Immovable Wisdom King’s visage to draw in the Imperial Purple Qi.
The Immovable Wisdom King’s visage was a sacred visage that is formed only by cultivating the Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean, and it represented the legacy of the Zhang clan.
Looking at the purple Qi for a moment, Zi Linglong finally reacted as her expression changed slightly. “This is the Imperial Purple Qi, Zhang Ruochen is drawing upon Shengming’s remaining Imperial Providence. Gu Tianyin, delay no longer, take Zhang Ruochen down immediately.”
Hearing the words, ‘Imperial Providence’, Feng Gudao, Chi Sheng and Gu Tianyin’s expressions all changed a little.
“Zhang Ruochen, you really surprised me. To think that you can actually draw upon the Imperial Providence, but unfortunately for you, everything ends here.” A menacing look appeared in Gu Tianyin’s eyes.
Gu Tianyin stretched an arm out as hundreds of thousands of precepts of the claw appeared, and a torrent of evil Qi surged, forming a dark, sinister claw.
His claws were extremely sharp, seemingly able to even shred the skies open.
Whooosh!
The vacuum zone Zhang Ruochen had deployed was instantly ripped apart.
In an instant, all of the dragon and elephant shadows were annihilated.
With the surging evil Qi no longer being stopped, they rushed at Zhang Ruochen in a frenzy.
Affected by the evil Qi impact, Zhang Ruochen’s drawing of the Imperial Providence was slightly affected.
At the most critical moment, Zhang Ruochen summoned the Evil Spirit.
While the Evil Spirit was not considered top-tier in strength, but it possessed a divine body, and could withstand various attacks without fear of evil Qi.
“You think you can withstand my attacks just because you have a divine corpose?” Gu Tianyin snorted.
An even more powerful surge of evil Qi rushed out of Gu Tianyin’s body, combining with millions of saint path precepts as it transformed into an incomparably tall figure, as if an evil god had descended upon the realm.
Baaam!!!
The massive figure swung its fist and smashed brutally against the Evil Spirit.
The terrifying force blasted the Evil Spirit away as it crashed into the sacred mountain.
With just one punch, the fusion between the Evil Spirit and the divine corpse loosens a little, and there were faint signs of the connection being stripped apart.
“Zhang Ruochen, this person’s attack is too devastating, I won’t be able to take more than a few blows from him.” The Evil Spirit said anxiously to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression was grim as he said telepathically. “Hang on for a while long, buy me some time.”
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was quite surprised. He did not expect Gu Tianyin to be that powerful, that he could inspire fear in the Evil Spirit with just a single punch.
No wonder the four of them were so confident. They were all no push-overs, and compared to Cang Long and Yan Ba, they were many times stronger.
And his strategy now was to draw upon the Imperial Providence onto himself, and only then he would have the power to fight against them.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen’s current strength has not yet truly reached the level of a Neverwither Supreme Saint, and there was still a massive gap between him and the likes of Gu Tianyin.
“The ancestors of the Zhang clan, please protect Shengming, and bless me with the Imperial Providence, so that I can punish the intruders.” Zhang Ruochen let out a long scream.
Suddenly, the Zhang clan ancestors seemed to be roused as the Imperial Purple Qi surged more and more violently, breaking through the formation blockade as they continuously buffed Zhang Ruochen up.
“Stop him.” Feng Gudao said grimly.
Although he was not sure how powerful Zhang Ruochen would get with the boon of the Imperial Providence.
But at this moment, he could not allow any unknown elements to take root.
Immediately, Feng Gudao joined the fray, and with a wave of his hand, dozens of Nine-step Saint Kings appeared, standing on a specific spot as they instantly created a formation array, locking Zhang Ruochen inside it as he tried to cut him off from the Imperial Purple Qi.
At the same time, Zi Linglong also acted, unleashing a powerful purple Qi that collided with the Imperial Purple Qi.
This was Purple Regal Qi she had cultivated while cultivating the Purple Emperor Scripture. It was extremely powerful and even a high-level sacred artifact would find it difficult to resist it.
The Imperial Purple Qi formed a special barrier, blocking off the sky and isolating the descending Imperial Purple Qi.
“Raaawr!”
The Saint Aspect of the Immovable Wisdom King let out a roar that shook the heavens as his fist blasted out toward the sky.
Baaam!!!
The barrier from by the Purple Emperor Qi was extremely sturdy and was not broken by the Immovable Wisdom King Aspect’s attack.
But when the Immovable Wisdom King Aspect made contact with the barrier, a burst of Imperial Purple Qi seeped through the barrier and was transmitted into the body of the Immovable Wisdom King Aspect.
“Gu Tianyin, can you do this or what? Let me take Zhang Ruochen down instead.” Chi Sheng roared as he rushed into the fray.
The black arcane patterns on Chi Sheng’s body glowed, as if they had a life of their own, as they writhed around like a snake.
Suddenly, Chi Sheng’s figure grew quickly as his muscles and bones creaked as he became about thirty-feet tall and extremely burly. The muscles on his body were like horned dragons, looking full of power.
“Fist of the Overlord!”
After increasing his size, Chi Sheng immediately shot out a punch.
A faint light gathered at the tip of his fist, seemingly able to destroy everything in its path.
Baaaam!!
Chi Sheng’s fist slammed square on the Evil Spirit’s head.
If not for the Evil Spirit move sideways slightly at the very last moment, the fist would have instead landed directly on Zhang Ruochen.
For this reason, Zhang Ruochen still suffered the blow of the attack, and even with the Meritorious Armor of Flowing Light as his blood and Qi in his body roiled violently.
As for the Evil Spirit, it fell heavily from the air, smashing a massive crater in the ground.
AT the same time, the massive figure behind Gu Tianyin struck its claw out, and the target was Zhang Ruochen who was standing on top of the Evil Spirit’s head.
Boom!!
The Evil Spirit sank completely into the ground, kicking up a storm of dust and debris, completely obscuring him.
