Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“You have made a grave mistake, Zhang Ruochen. Even Yueshen cannot protect you today.” The demon’s shadow was furious as his eyes flashed with fiery emotion.
“I have made many grave mistakes, but I am afraid that you still cannot kill me with your current ability.”
While he spoke, Zhang Ruochen continued his offense, striking the demonic shadow’s butt with the Staff of the Divine Envoy. The blow sent the shadow flying before it crashed face down into a cliff on Mount Yueshen. It was nothing but embarrassing for the demon.
The demonic shadow looked identical to Blackheart Demonlord and possessed the same divine vibe.
Many cultivators were wide-eyed, almost as if Zhang Ruochen had kicked Blackheart Demonlord’s actual butt.
Ling Xiu, a spiritual-power Supreme Saint, stood at the edge of the Shatuo Domain. Using his spiritual power, he inscribed what he saw and transmitted the footage with a special method.
The footage quickly spread and caused a stir among the Celestial Court’s major Saint cities.
“That badass demonic vibe belongs to Blackheart Demonlord of the Blackdemon Realm. I have seen a stone statue of him before.”
“Who is that young man fighting Blackheart Demonlord?”
“That-That cannot be Zhang Ruochen. Why would he and Blackheart Demonlord fight? No, no. This is not right. One is a god, while the other is a Saint King. How could they fight? Could that guy be Zhang Ruochen’s forefather?”
“Look, Zhang Ruochen whacked and sent Blackheart Demonlord flying! I mean Zhang Ruochen’s forefather.”
“Really? That is a god who has survived the catastrophic Yuanhui Tribulation. Ouch, he was spanked in the butt like a child!”
…
The news spread far and wide in the Celestial Court. Some enthusiastic spiritual-power Supreme Saints had projected the footage in the air above major Saint cities.
Seeing the footage of him being abused by a Zhang Ruochen look-alike god, Blackheart Demonlord gritted his teeth. As he stood in the midst of the crowd, he wished that the ground would swallow him up.
It did not matter whether the footage was true or not. Blackheart Demonlord’s reputation was now going to the dogs.
Meanwhile, Blackheart Demonlord himself was still engaged with Empress Chi Yao. He stared at Mount Yueshen.
The demonic shadow on Mount Yueshen was just his clone, which he had created with his breath, and it possessed limited ability. Unfortunately, the Divine Envoy could summon a tenth of Yueshen’s power. Obviously, his clone was no match for Zhang Ruochen.
Blackheart Demonlord knew very well that it was already impressive for Zhang Ruochen to bear a thousandth, or even a tenth of a thousand of Yueshen’s power, considering his physical strength as well as Saint Soul.
Plucking a strand of hair from his head, Blackheart Demonlord made an actual clone of himself and injected some demonic blood into the divine clone.
Soon, the clone’s power increased rapidly. As he spread his arms out, thunder and lightning rumbled in the sky high above. The divine clone had now turned into a dark demonic cloud and arrived above Mount Yueshen in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Ruochen stepped on the demonic shadow under his feet and felt oppressive energy above his head. He looked up, and inside the demonic cloud stood a massive figure in the shape of an ancient demonic mountain.
The vibe he felt was so oppressive that Zhang Ruochen found it hard to breathe.
“Has Blackheart Demonlord himself graced us with his presence? No. This energy might be strong, but it is still miles short of what Youshen and Yanshen have. I am sure this is not Blackheart Demonlord himself.”
Bang!
Holding the Staff of the Divine Envoy with both hands, Zhang Ruochen broke up the demon’s shadow into a cloud of several thousand particles of demonic energy.
As though something attracted it, the cloud of demonic energy flew up toward the divine clone.
“Exterminate it!”
Zhang Ruochen struck again, ripping open a dimensional fissure and throwing the cloud of demonic energy into the void.
“How dare you destroy my Three Thousand Wills, you rascal! I will make you pay today!”
The divine clone cupped his hands, and immediately, a hundred thousand streaks of demonic lightning bolted between Heaven and Earth. The lightning streaks converged into his hands and turned into one giant lightning column, striking down at Zhang Ruochen below.
Zhang Ruochen clenched the Staff of the Divine Envoy as he tried to summon more power from Yueshen.
Just then, the divine clone’s voice rang in his ear. “Bloodlord Erjia has brought with him the ultimate weapon of the Fane of Bloody War, the Infernal Asuran Icon. He is determined to establish his reputation by defeating Yueshen. She must be having a hard time fighting off Bloodlord Erjia as we speak. The more power you draw from her, the weaker she will become.”
The divine clone’s words definitely affected Zhang Ruochen. He hesitated.
It was because he did not understand how divine power worked. He did not know how much power he had drawn from Yueshen, and the fact that he might become a burden to her worried him.
While he hesitated, the divine clone directed his power to Zhang Ruochen’s head.
At that moment, the inscription of Mount Yueshen appeared in a split second and collided with the lightning column.
Someone had activated the ‘Blood Moon Swallowing the Heavens’ Grand Formation again and stopped the attack.
The divine clone was startled for a second. Scanning the ground below, he finally saw a silver-haired figure in the eye of another formation on Mount Yueshen.
It was Kong Lanyou. She had been the one who used her Supreme-Saint blood to power the inscription formation, activating the ‘Blood Moon Swallowing the Heavens’ Grand Formation for the second time.
“You will have to step over my dead body first if you want to kill my cousin!”
Kong Lanyou knew how powerful the divine clone was. It was several times more badass than the demon’s shadow from earlier.
Even if she had to exhaust all of her Supreme-Saint blood, she was still determined to protect Zhang Ruochen.
Meanwhile, Supreme Saint Manjian had stood up despite losing his head. Walking into the broken divine ring pattern, he once again injected his Supreme-Saint power into the formation and kept it up.
Supreme-Saint blood spurted out of his severed neck like a geyser, spreading throughout the patterns of the inscription.
The energy of the formation was increasing.
Just then, Yueshen’s voice echoed in Zhang Ruochen’s mind. “You may draw as much power as you need from me as long as you can bear the load. Finish off Blackheart Demonlord’s clone as quickly as possible and send me the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron. I have a surprise gift for you today.”
Zhang Ruochen was relieved to hear Yueshen’s voice. It meant that she was not having a hard time dealing with Bloodlord Erjia in the void. He also realized that he had been intimidated by the divine clone earlier, and his drawing of Yueshen’s power should not have any significant effect on her.
“What a cunning fellow. I cannot believe that a demon needs to resort to such a lowly way to deal with a Saint King.”
Zhang Ruochen could not have been angrier. Disregarding his body and Saint Soul’s ability to bear the load, he started to draw as much power from Yueshen as he could. The Staff of the Divine Envoy started to become brighter and brighter in his hand.
The divine clone had obviously sensed that something was amiss, so he stepped up his assault. Yet, the “Blood Moon Swallowing the Heavens” Grand Formation suppressed all of his attacks. The formation had gained a tremendous boost in power as Supreme Saint Manjian and Kong Lanyou joined hands to drive it.
“Ultimate Demonic Mark!”
The divine clone clapped his hands together in the gesture of a mark, summoning an endless amount of precepts to himself. A circular demonic mark with thousands of suspended skulls instantly appeared above Mount Yueshen.
Boom!
Then, the demonic mark descended and crushed the protective shield of the “Blood Moon Swallowing the Heavens” Grand Formation.
That happened not because the formation was not powerful enough. It was just not operating at full capacity.
At least twelve Supreme Saints were required to drive the formation. If that had been the case, not even God himself could have taken down Mount Yueshen.
Supreme Saint Manjian’s headless body, which looked like an ancient sacred mountain, dropped to the ground.
“Manjian!”
A streak of blood appeared on Kong Lanyou’s brow. She glanced at Zhang Ruochen’s spot before she dropped to the ground too. The stream of blood on her brow started to spread all over her impeccably white, ceramic-like body.
Zhang Ruochen screamed in anger. Just then, cracks began to appear all over his body as well. The demonic mark had not done anything to him. Instead, the power that he had drawn from Yueshen was causing the tearing.
Holding the Staff of the Divine Envoy in his hand, Zhang Ruochen lunged up into the air. He broke through the demonic mark and breached the demonic cloud that was high above, striking the divine clone with the staff.
A loud boom ensued as the divine clone exploded.
The strike had obliterated an immeasurable amount of demonic energy, so much so that even Blackheart Demonlord felt the effect. His body trembled, and his movements slowed down.
Just as the divine clone blew up, parts of Zhang Ruochen’s body also exploded as blood and flesh flew in all directions. His bones were visible in some parts of his body, and he gritted his teeth while he fought the pain.
Despite that, he did not stop. He lunged toward the void that Yueshen and Bloodlord Erjia had ripped open earlier.
While he was still in the air, his heart ached as he glanced at Kong Lanyou, who had dropped to the ground. Nevertheless, Zhang Ruochen understood that he could not stop. He had to hurry and join forces with Yueshen.
Victory would only favor them if he helped Yueshen defeat Bloodlord Erjia.
“Like an ultimate weapon, the Sun-moon Crystal Coffin possesses a force of mass destruction. So, why does Yueshen still want to borrow the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron? Is it because it is more powerful than the Sun-moon Crystal Coffin?” Zhang Ruochen was puzzled.
Yanshen, Youshen, and Bloodlord Sijia had been watching on the sidelines earlier. After Zhang Ruochen crushed the demon’s shadow and divine clone, they could no longer sit by and watch. Each of them shot out a beam of energy at Zhang Ruochen from afar.
Those energy beams held the power of the gods, which were much more powerful than that of the divine clone. Even with Yueshen’s divine power, there was no way Zhang Ruochen could parry them without being turned into ash.
“Here goes nothing!”
Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to take out the Secret Tome of Time and Space. He then tore the dimension open in advance and slipped into the void.
“That rascal is already creating trouble for us when he is merely a Saint King. I cannot imagine what he will become if he attains Supreme Sainthood or even Godship,” Youshen mumbled to herself.
Yanshen felt uneasy about Zhang Ruochen’s actions. He was just a Saint King, yet he was daring enough to join the battle between Yueshen and Bloodlord Erjia. What did he want? Something was not right.
Yanshen immediately entered the Shatuo Domain and stepped into the void as he thought about intercepting Zhang Ruochen.
