The Crimson River Portrait had unfolded, floating several hundred feet high in the air with the red sun giving out a brilliant glow. The wide celestial river flowed around the Fairy of Tianchu and other blocking out blood wasps outside.
Zhang Ruochen had suddenly figured out why Blood Wasp Ashuran King was wary of making his move. “Protect Fairy of a Thousand Flowers from the other cultivators,” he instructed Awesome, the Little Taoist.
Following immediately, Zhang Ruochen called out Black Phoenix, White Zhuque, and Li Miaohan from the Qiankun realm, letting them join hands with the Fairy of Tianchu to fight against the blood wasps, Dizu Prince and others.
Next, Zhang Ruochen crossed the celestial river to go after Mr. Godcliff.
“Zhang Ruochen!”
The Fairy of Tianchu called out, worrying about Zhang Ruochen having to fight Drifter and Wayfarer alone.
“Fairy of a Thousand Flowers holds to the key to the outcome of today’s battle. I have to help her. As soon as we kill Mr. Godcliff, the god of victory will be on our side,” Zhang Ruochen said to the Fairy of Tianchu through telepathy.
She knew what Zhang Ruochen said was true, but hearing him say “Fairy of a Thousand Flowers holds to the key to the outcome of today’s battle” made her jealous. She could not help but gnaw her lip.
The Fairy of Tianchu was a heavenly maiden of an ancient civilization. But she was also a woman, having the same emotions like any other women.
Not to mention that Fairy of a Thousand Flowers was of the same stature as she was.
Besides, the person who said that phrase was Zhang Ruochen, on whom she had a crush before. She had already felt jilted when Zhang Ruochen mentioned earlier that Fairy of a Thousand Flowers was his confidante.
But the Fairy of Tianchu was no ordinary lady. She had quickly reigned in her emotions, directing the winding celestial river to strike at Shiqing Shenzi, wounding him.
Blood Wasp Ashuran King shot a glance at Zhang Ruochen, who was lunging out of the celestial river, and ignored him.
His thinking was that Drifter and Wayfarer were more than capable to handle Zhang Ruochen, who could not pose a threat to Mr. Godcliff.
Sure enough, Wayfarer stayed at Mr. Godcliff’s side while Drifter charged at Zhang Ruochen.
Drifter was using five sacred artifacts as protection. Gushing out of his body was black fog, from which emerged a hundred-foot-long demonic hand.
Zhang Ruochen summoned his Azuresky Pagoda to shatter the demonic hand, then struck at Drifter.
Knowing how powerful the supreme artifact was, Drifter spat a mouthful of saint blood onto a white bone.
It was the skull of a deity. Once coming into contact with Drifter’s saint blood, a potent divine energy gushed out of the skull.
Wayfarer, who was standing beside Mr. Godcliff, summoned a giant Buddha hand the size of a mountain to crush down at Zhang Ruochen from the air.
Boom!
The Azuresky Pagoda and the deity’s skull clashed with earth-shattering Saint Path Power spreading in all directions.
Drifter performed a mysterious technique to stop the supreme artifact. His body swelled like a balloon to several hundred feet tall, almost looking like a hill.
Even then, Drifter was still forced a dozen steps back.
Zhang Ruochen had wanted to pursue him, but Wayfarer was striking his golden Buddha hand down at him from above. He was feeling the pressure.
He directed the Azuresky Pagoda to strike, shattering the Buddha hand into a rain of golden light particles.
Next, he cast out the Yi Huang Bone Scepter. “I will find you enough divine blood and Supreme Saint’s sainthood source and make you a new body if you kill Drifter.”
“Deal!”
The evil spirit in the bone scepter cackled, turned into a black skeleton, and attacked Drifter.
Drifter performed a Precept Domain, a Buddha finger striking out at the black skeleton.
A powerful gush of energy shot out of the fingertip, shooting through the air with a loud sonic boom.
The black skeleton performed a punch to meet the finger energy.
Down below.
Drifter’s heart sank as he was not confident of taking on Zhang Ruochen, who had a supreme artifact at his disposal.
Without giving Drifter the time to think, Zhang Ruochen directed the Azuresky Pagoda to attack ferociously.
Bang!
The blow defeated the divine power on the deity’s skull.
Drifter was bleeding on both hands. They were so painful that it almost felt numb, and the deity’s skull nearly slipped out of his hands.
“So much for a Precept Domain-realm cultivator!”
Zhang Ruochen was high in fighting spirit, murderous air rising as the Azuresky Pagoda glowed green and illuminated the entire earth.
Drifter felt the overwhelming pressure of the supreme power and quickly performed a Precept Domain, casting out the deity’s skull and five sacred artifacts to take on the Azuresky Pagoda.
The five sacred artifacts exploded as if porcelain hit against the rock in front of the supreme artifact.
Blood spurted out of Drifter’s mouth. He stumbled backward; his hair windswept.
Standing far away, Blood Wasp Ashuran King did not expect Drifter to lose so quickly and felt disappointed. He gestured with his fingers.
Following immediately, over 300 blood wasps, led by two wasp kings, charged at Zhang Ruochen.
Each wasp king had the combat ability of a Precept Domain cultivator. Not only that, they were as intelligent as humans.
Beams of blood-red light shot out of the wasp swarm at Zhang Ruochen.
Each beam was a wasp stinger, having as good penetration ability as the swords of sword saints. No matter how high one’s cultivation base was, the wisest thing to do was to avoid these stingers, especially when they shot out in hundreds.
Zhang Ruochen moved in a flash and hid behind the Azuresky Pagoda.
The stingers hit the Azuresky Pagoda in a rapid firing fashion, causing the pagoda to sway.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen emerged from behind the pagoda and took out the Eight-Dragon Umbrella. “Retrieve!”
The umbrella caught all the blood wasps, including the two wasp kings, into itself.
Zhang Ruochen knew very well that with his current level of cultivation, he still could not suppress so many wasp kings. The best thing to do was to throw the Eight-Dragon Umbrella into the Qiankun Realm to let the Divine Sky-connecting Tree to deal with the wasps.
Drifter seized the opportunity, summoning his Precepts of the Palm and the Lightning. Catching thousands of lightning in his hands, his body flew out with the lightning as he struck his hands out, aiming at the back of Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen spun around abruptly and struck out his hands to meet Drifter’s attack.
Without using Precept of Truth, Zhang Ruochen was much less powerful than Drifter. He was sent flying backward and hit into the hill behind him.
His body penetrated the hill.
“Go to hell!”
Drifter pursued with another attack, coming down from above with thunder and lightning.
Before his palms came down, the earth had started to sink.
Boom!
Zhang Ruochen was lying on the ground while he met the incoming attack with both hands.
But this time it was different; he was using the Precepts of Truth, boosting his strength seven times, making his strength on par with that of Drifter.
After a short standoff, the Ancient Abyssal Blade, under the control of a sword spirit, shot out of Zhang Ruochen’s body into Drifter’s chest.
But the Precept Domain intercepted the blade.
But it did not stop the blade that was still inching toward his chest.
Drifter’s heart missed a beat, and he quickly pulled back his hands and retreated.
Zhang Ruochen bounced up from the ground and grabbed the Ancient Abyssal Blade. He performed a Ninth Sword and thrust it in a beam of light at Drifter.
The Precept Domain intercepted the Ancient Abyssal Blade again. Drifter performed this Percept Domain by combining the precepts in his body with the precepts of heaven and earth in the area. The result was incredibly powerful attack and defense capabilities.
At the moment the blade and the Precept Domain collided, a shadow lunged out of Zhang Ruochen’s body into the Precept Domain, thrusting a sword at Drifter’s forehead.
“You have mastered a sword soul?”
Drifter was stunned, having no time to ward off the sword soul.
The sword soul penetrated Drifter’s skull.
His head was intact, but the sword shattered his saint soul.
The Precept Domain disappeared.
Drifter stood on the spot, motionless and lifelessly.
The sword soul returned to Zhang Ruochen’s body, and Zhang Ruochen kept Drifter’s body. He then looked up and saw the black skeleton was overpowering Wayfarer. It was just a matter of time before Wayfarer lost.
Blood Wasp Ashuran King locked on Zhang Ruochen with his spiritual power, giving him no chance of attacking Mr. Godcliff.
Blood Wasp Ashuran King’s spiritual power was not as powerful as that of Ji Fanxin and Mr. Godcliff, but this was by no mean weak when he could control a large swarm of blood wasps.
“Not half bad! An Eight-Step Saint King could already overwhelm two Precept Domain cultivators. I wouldn’t have been confident enough to kill you had your cultivation base improved further,” said Blood Wasp Ashuran King.
“You think you can kill me now?” said Zhang Ruochen with a smirk.
“Your cultivation base is till not up to snuff. You can’t stop me even with your supreme artifact if I were to kill you.”
“Then let’s find out if this is true.”
Zhang Ruochen threw down the gauntlet by extending his hand.
Blood Wasp Ashuran King quietly glanced at Ji Fanxin and Mr. Godcliff. He could see that they had entered the crucial stage of battle and they were not going to stop.
This was the best time to make his move.
“Then show me what you have got, the Scion of Time and Space!”
Blood Wasp Ashuran King faded into a shadow and appeared right in front of Zhang Ruochen, behind him the trail of a sword on the ground.
Zhang Ruochen had been holding The Secret Tome of Time and Space in his hand and was ready to unfold it.
A powerful shadow suddenly lunged out from behind Zhang Ruochen. The broad-shadow, burly figure struck with a palm and hit the sword of Blood Wasp Ashuran King.
A powerful energy burst out and sent Blood Wasp Ashuran King flying back, crash-landing on the ground before grinding to a halt after sliding backward for one and a half miles.
Blood Wasp Ashuran King steadied himself, feeling pain over all his body. It shocked him that someone could use the power of pure martial arts to defeat him.
He looked up at that man, who was cupping his hand to greet Zhang Ruochen. “Your Highness Princess, I have come late. Please forgive me.”
