Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Zhang Ruochen released Sikong One and Two from the Universe Spiritual Map.
The two monks stood on either side of Zhang Ruochen. They put their hands together in prayer and looked very solemn. Brilliant Buddhist light radiated from them.
In an instant, expansive Buddhist chants sounded throughout the Provincial Military Governor Residence. The ghost souls in the Grade Four Ghost King Formation all retreated in fear.
Sikong One's deep timbre sounded, "The levels of these dead souls are too low. One scroll of Paradise Scripture will send you off."
Sikong Two shook his head. "The Paradise Scripture can only be used to redeem the lost souls of mortals. It isn't of much use to the shadow soldiers and ghost generals that have been sacrificed before."
Sikong One laughed as if he had everything under control. "Then a scroll of the Amitayus Scripture will be enough to send them ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Amitabha!"
"Amitayus Scripture has great accomplishments and power," Sikong Two said. "Master said it's used for Ghost Kings."
Sikong One and Sikong Two seemed very holy, like two esteemed monks. Even Feng Yinchan started looking worried. The Thousand Buddha Way indeed had some ancient scriptures that could redeem the souls of the shadow soldiers of the Ancient Ghost Cultivation Race.
Qingyi Chan was also a bit moved, never having expected that Zhang Ruochen was able to summon two high monks of the Buddhist Way.
If the ghost soldiers that Feng Yinchan had brought over were all redeemed, their advantage would be flipped.
"Can't you hurry up and chant to send them off?" Zhang Ruochen urged.
"I don't know how," Sikong One answered honestly.
Zhang Ruochen froze and then his expression darkened. He suddenly had the urge to yell at someone.
If you don't know how to, why did you talk so arrogantly? So confidently?
Feng Yinchan and Qingyi Chan both let out relieved breaths. They no longer had any worries and started attacking on all sides.
"My cultivation is very high. Even if I can't recite the chant, I can still destroy the ghosts and demons with my fists."
Sikong One's eyes bulged out. He clenched his fists and the next moment, a long white tiger apparition appeared behind him. He charged toward one black and one white Wuchang.
Roar!
Sikong One punched with both fists, producing the sound of a tiger roaring in the forest. He sent the two Wuchangs hundreds of feet back.
Feng Yinchan was shocked. How could two Wuchangs together not be able to fend off a monk?
"Could he be a strong cultivator from the Half-Saint Rank or Outer Rank?"
Feng Yinchan had no time to think. Sikong One had already attacked, sending two more Wuchangs flying. They could only keep retreating.
Sikong Two sat in the center of the Grade Four Ghost King Formation. He took out a scroll and started chanting the scripture. Golden runes flew out of his mouth and into all directions.
The Buddhist runes fell on the shadow soldiers, purifying their evil Qi immediately. Then the shadow soldiers transformed into specks of light and buried into the dirt.
Sikong One couldn't read the chants, but Sikong Two could. In fact, he had very high attainments and was even more powerful than some Saint Buddhas. He lived up to his t.i.tle as the Emperor Buddha's grand-disciple.
At the moment, Sikong Two was reading the Ksitigarbha. It could purify everything below the Ghost King level.
Sikong Two restrained the Grade Four Ghost King Formation, instantly relieving the stress on Zhang Ruochen. He looked over at Feng Yinchan. "It's time for our battle."
"I can crush you with only my power." Huffing coldly, Feng Yinchan sent the Ice Soul Tripod cras.h.i.+ng down on Zhang Ruochen.
The Ice Soul Tripod was the size of a pavilion. It shone with blinding blue light and locked down on Zhang Ruochen. He couldn't escape at all.
"Break!"
Zhang Ruochen created a spatial crack, dozens of meters long, to face the Ice Soul Tripod.
Whoos.h.!.+
The Ice Soul Tripod shook violently and its size kept changing. It kept swerving too and was unpredictable. It actually escaped the spatial crack and fell upon Zhang Ruochen's head.
With no time to produce a second spatial crack, Zhang Ruochen could only take out the Abyss Ancient Sword. Performing the Nine-Life Sword Technique, he welcomed the tripod.
Facing it directly, Zhang Ruochen was slightly hurt and retreated. There were various deep footprints on the ground.
I can't use the advantages of the Sword Way, time or s.p.a.ce from this long distance. I'm not her match at all. I can only have the upper hand and restrain her if I close in on her.
Thinking it through, Zhang Ruochen immediately rushed out.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Performing the Spatial Move three times in a row, Zhang Ruochen changed his direction three times, leaving behind four shadows. He appeared within 30 feet of Qingyi Chan.
Qingyi Chan felt something wrong. She immediately activated her Holy Qi to retract the Ice Soul Tripod and block Zhang Ruochen's attack.
"Thunder and Lightning." Zhang Ruochen performed a move from the True-Thunder Fire Sword Technique. Then hundreds of Sword Qi shot out of the Abyss Ancient Sword. The dense Sword Qi enveloped Qingyi Chan.
The True-Thunder Fire Sword Technique was a saint level sword technique from the Taotian Sword line. It could activate the thunder and true fire of the world. Its changes were unpredictable and its might boundless.
As Zhang Ruochen stabbed forward, dozens of thick lightning bolts appeared within hundreds of feet in radius. They attacked Qingyi Chan all at once.
Crack!
Even with Qingyi Chan's high cultivation, the lightning still broke through her defenses. Her entire body was charred black and plumes of smoke rose up from her.
At this critical moment, the Ice Soul Tripod flew back.
Lifting up the Ice Soul Tripod, Qingyi Chan finally stopped the Abyss Ancient Sword's tip. Stabilizing herself, she roared, "Zhang Ruochen, with the Ice Soul Tripod, I can both attack and defend myself! Can you defeat me?"
"Even Thousand-pattern Saint Weapons vary in strength."
Zhang Ruochen attacked again. He kept performing the True-Thunder Fire Sword Technique to strike the Ice Soul Tripod.
Not only did lightning appear in this s.p.a.ce, fire also burst from the ground. Qingyi Chan was forced to defend pa.s.sively. Even with the Ice Soul Tripod, she was still injured. Her armor cracked and blood seeped out of her skin.
Zhang Ruochen's Holy Qi seemed to be boundless. He kept attacking with saint spells and didn't show any sign of his Holy Qi running dry.
After dozens of strikes, he finally caught the chance to use the Eight Scales of Change. His sword pa.s.sed through the Ice Soul Tripod and cut down at Qingyi Chan's neck.
Crunch.
Qingyi Chan's throat was slit. The Abyss Ancient Sword left a long b.l.o.o.d.y line on her neck.
An average martial artist would definitely be dead with that kind of injury. However, instead of dying, Qingyi Chan just retreated and immediately sealed the veins in her neck.
Sikong Two had already destroyed the Grade Four Ghost King Formation. He'd heavily injured the four high-level Half-Saints, sending them flying to the ground.
Feng Yinchan had lost to Sikong One too. She'd escaped from the Provincial Military Governor Residence with two Wuchangs.
Qingyi Chan's eyes filled with cold anger. "Zhang Ruochen," she said hoa.r.s.ely. "I've miscalculated this time. Next time, I will definitely kill you and not give you any choice."
Blood spurted out of her neck again as she spoke.
Whoosh—
Blue wings grew out of Qingyi Chan's back. She escaped out of the Provincial Military Governor Residence in a streak of blue.
"Where are you going?" a feminine roar sounded from the ground.
One could vaguely see a beautiful figure s.h.i.+ning an ancient mirror in the air. A pillar of blood-red light rushed out, attacking the escaping Qingyi Chan.
The light carried the Destruction of the Thousand-patterns, turning the sky behind Qingyi Chan blood red.
Qingyi Chan was forced to pour all her Holy Qi into the Ice Soul Tripod again. She also activated the Destruction of the Thousand-patterns to block the Life-Death Mirror.
"Kill."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes glinted coldly. He pointed forward and the Abyss Ancient Sword flew out. As a streak of black, it pa.s.sed through Qingyi Chan's various defenses. With a poof, it pierced her body.
She let out a pained cry and plummeted from the sky.
Zhang Ruochen retracted the Abyss Ancient Sword and rushed toward Qingyi Chan. He wanted to kill her while she was heavily injured.
"Junior, how dare you!"
Humongous saintly might flooded over from the horizon. It covered the sky in dark clouds and lifted icy wind.
The general of the Canglong Army hadn't arrived yet, but a long spear already stabbed across the sky.
Like a shooting star cutting across the sky, the spear let out booms as it struck toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was very decisive. He sliced off Qingyi Chan's head, took the Ice Soul Tripod, and then used the Spatial Move to escape.
The spear stabbed through Zhang Ruochen's afterimage and nailed onto the ground with an ear-splitting boom. In an instant, the ground cracked with the spear as the center and caved in. The entire City 24 shook.
Due to the powerful crash, thousands of pillars rushed out from inside the city. Hundreds of defense formations emerged at once.
When the dust settled, they discovered that the Provincial Military Governor Residence had become a scorched black ditch. There was a long spear stabbed into the bottom of the ditch. Flames spewed out of it.
When the general of the Canglong Army rushed over, Zhang Ruochen had already put Sikong One and Two back into the Universe Spiritual Map and covered Qin Yutong with the Shooting Star Invisibility Cloak. He'd hurried away and vanished.
Only the general's furious roar remained under the night sky.
Zhang Ruochen didn't stop until he reached an empty region. Half-kneeling onto the ground, he coughed out some blood.
"Your Majesty."
Qin Yutong looked worried as she helped Zhang Ruochen up. Her hands came away damp. They were quickly dyed red with blood.
There was a half-foot-long gash on Zhang Ruochen's chest. It was deep enough to see the bone and looked terrifying.
The Canglong Army's general's spear was a hair's breadth away from stabbing through his chest.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground and activated his Holy Qi to dissolve the remaining power of the spear. His wound stopped bleeding.
Letting out a long breath, he glanced at Qin Yutong. "I need to do something else. You return to the Phoenix Dance Palace."
Qin Yutong furrowed her delicate brow. "But you're badly hurt. You must rest immediately to heal."
"Don't worry. I won't do anything I'm not confident in before I recover completely. I'll return as soon as I finish that task."
Zhang Ruochen stood up straight. He gave off a calm, confident, and elegant feeling.
Then he covered himself in the Shooting Star Invisibility Cloak and used a physical technique to rush out, disappearing under the night sky.
