God Emperor

Chu Siyuan and the eight Heavenly Maidens retreated into the distance and stared at the two on the Merits Record Wall.

“Is Zhang Ruochen really able to counter Sword Saint Jiuyou?” One of the maidens was doubtful.

“Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation hasn’t reached the Saint King Realm,” Goddess Siming said. “But his combat abilities aren’t any weaker than a Saint King. However, Sword Saint Jiuyou has cultivated in the Sword Way for more than 500 years. His knowledge is very deep. Zhang Ruochen hasn’t cultivated for a long time and he lacks accumulation.”

No matter how talented a swordsman was, they still needed to spend a great amount of time cultivating to get a result. It was impossible to become a strong swordsman in a day.

“Sword Way Xuangang is undefeatable. With just this one move, Sword Saint Jiuyou can look down one a first step Saint King. How can Zhang Ruochen be a match for him?”

Zhang Ruochen was strong, but no one believed that he could defeat Sword Saint Jiuyou.

…

Zhang Ruochen clearly knew how strong Sword Way Xuangang was too, so when their auras reached the peak, he moved sooner and attacked.

Whoosh!

The sword was like a ray of light.

All the Sword Qi in the sky converged to a point, becoming one with the tip of the Abyss Ancient Sword, shining with brilliant light.

“In my eyes, your sword technique is filled with flaws. It’s no different than a kid playing with a sword. If you want to fix Xuanji’s reputation with your abilities, you’re still far from it.”

Sword Saint Jiuyou didn’t use the nine swords in his Sea of Qi. Instead, he released the sword intent inside of him. The strong intent formed a white saint sword and cut down at the Abyss Ancient Sword like a white beam.

Any Sword Saint could release a sword of intent.

Other Sword Saints could only form a projection of the sword, like a beam of Sword Qi. However, Sword Saint Jiuyou’s sword of intent was no different from a true sword. It could be tangible and intangible.

Boom.

Before the Abyss Ancient Sword could reach within three feet of Sword Saint Jiuyou, the power that burst from the intent sword sent it flying. The intent sword didn’t dissipate. Instead, it shone with even more dazzling light and flew toward Zhang Ruochen like a streak of light.

Zhang Ruochen naturally knew how terrifying the intent sword was. He quickly put out the Monument Shield.

Whoosh!

The intent sword didn’t clash with the Monument Shield. Instead, it passed through directly.

At Sword Saint Jiuyou’s level, the sword intent could be a sword but was also a beam of intent. No physical objects could stop it.

The intent sword was about to penetrate Zhang Ruochen’s body. Suddenly, he dragged his finger and a spatial crack appeared.

Clashing with the spatial crack, the intent sword’s power suddenly vanished.

Sword Saint Jiuyou’s eyes hardened. He suddenly realized that Zhang Ruochen wasn’t only a swordsman. He’d also cultivated the way of time and space, two of the nine Ancient Ways.

This thought flashed past and he sensed spatial waves around him. The ripples grew stronger and stronger as if the sky was about to fall down.

“Oh, no.”

Sword Saint Jiuyou’s body turned into a streak of sword light and rushed into the air.

The space where he’d been standing suddenly had densely-packed cracks and collapsed into a black hole. The void appeared and had strong devouring power.

Even with Sword Saint Jiuyou’s strong cultivation, he still couldn’t counter spatial power. He had to keep throwing back defensive runes. As the runes exploded and blocked the devouring force of the broken space, Sword Saint Jiuyou finally escaped.

“I was too careless!”

He was covered in sweat. If he’d reacted half a beat slower, he probably would’ve died in that broken space.

Zhang Ruochen must have purposely seemed weaker to make him lower his guard and then unleash this fatal strike.

Seeing Sword Saint Jiuyou escape, Zhang Ruochen naturally felt disappointed, but he couldn’t help it. The Supreme Saint power left in the Phoenix Nest placed heavy restrictions on cultivators. Even a Saint King couldn’t unleash horribly destructive power.

Plus, the space in the Phoenix Nest was extremely sturdy. It was already a feat to make space collapse like this.

If they were fighting outside of the Phoenix Nest, his advantage would be even greater.

When his attack failed, Zhang Ruochen unleashed a dozen more spatial cracks, battering Sword Saint Jiuyou so he had no chance to fight back.

The spatial cracks wove into a web, forcing Sword Saint Jiuyou to keep dodging.

“Sword Saint Jiuyou is in the Saint King Realm. How can he be at a disadvantage?” The Holy Maidens felt speechless. This was completely different from what they’d expected.

“Zhang Ruochen is getting craftier,” Chu Siyuan said. “He purposely used the Sword Way to attack Sword Saint Jiuyou in the beginning to make him lower his guard. Then he used the spatial power without warning and immediately got the upper hand. After that, he wouldn’t let Sword Saint Jiuyou have another chance to attack.”

“Is Sword Saint Jiuyou going to lose?” Goddess Siming asked.

Chu Siyuan shook his head. “Sword Saint Jiuyou has gone through so many battles. He’ll definitely snatch the chance to fight back. Once that happens, Zhang Ruochen will most likely lose.”

The Saint Lady hid her hands in her sleeves. She clenched her fists, feeling very nervous.

The intensity of Zhang Ruochen and Sword Saint Jiuyou’s fight was comparable to that final battle between Sword Saint Xuanji and Jiyou. In this kind of battle, both sides would fight with all their might. It would be hard to pull back at the critical moment.

If defeated, they would most likely die.

Zhang Ruochen unleashed more than 200 spatial cracks in a row. Even with Sword Saint Jiuyou’s rich combat experience, he still had three bloody wounds.

“Boy, you actually hurt me. Not bad, huh.”

Fire burned in Sword Saint Jiuyou’s eyes. A bright light appeared on his forehead and nine saint swords rushed out, flying toward the spatial cracks.

“Nine Swords Devour the God.”

Sword Saint Jiuyou extended a hand over his head, controlling the nine swords remotely. Then he pressed down.

The nine swords emitted extreme power and the projection of nine flaming birds burst from his body. They produced deafening caws.

Then the nine birds pressed down at the same time.

Zhang Ruochen didn’t panic. He poured Holy Qi into the Hundred Saint Blood Armor and it started glowing.

One hundred mid-level Saints rushed out of the armor.

The saintly projections became one with Zhang Ruochen, transforming into the power of 100 Saints. Then Zhang Ruochen stepped on the ground and formed a palm print with both hands, hitting the air.

Roar!

Argh!

A dragon and elephant’s roar sounded.

The projection of a blue dragon and elephant appeared, combined with Zhang Ruochen’s palm prints. They sent the flaming birds flying out and turning back into nine swords. After this collision, the ground under Zhang Ruochen’s feet caved in.

The nine swords whooshed and flew back into the sky, melting into the center of a sun.

“That is…”

Zhang Ruochen looked up into the sky.

However, the rays of the sun were like blades, blinding him and forcing his eyes closed. At the same time, he felt a great burst of danger. It was like the sunlight could pierce his scalp.

“Sword Saint Jiuyou’s trademark Consummate Technique!” Chu Siyuan exclaimed. “Red Sun Sword Technique.”

The Sword Way ripples from the sun grew stronger and stronger. The heat it emitted seemed able to melt the entire Phoenix Nest.

Zhang Ruochen reached out and pushed up a spatial domain. At the same time, he activated the strongest spatial power and formed more than 100 spatial cracks with the domain as the center.

Whoosh!

Red Sword Qi rained down from the sun above, continuously attacking Zhang Ruochen.

In the distance, Chu Siyuan and the eight Heavenly Maidens sensed danger, so they retreated again.

Most of the Sword Qi was swallowed by the spatial cracks, but some also landed inside the spatial domain. This created quite a bit of trouble for Zhang Ruochen.

The sword rain from the red sun lasted for nine breaths. Suffering under the Sword Qi, the ground melted. The land around Zhang Ruochen completely turned into a sea of fire.

After the spatial cracks disappeared, the nine swords became one in Sword Saint Jiuyou’s hands. He charged out of the blazing sun and became one with the Sword Qi in the air. He stabbed at Zhang Ruochen’s head.

This attack already contained Sword Way Xuangang.

“Sword Eight.”

Sword Saint Jiuyou and the nine swords flew out of the sky like a meteorite about to destroy the world.

Zhang Ruochen bore great pressure. Clenching his jaw, he hit out the Buddha’s sarira, activating its origin power. He pushed back with all his might.

This moment, the people standing in the distance were all extremely nervous. They sensed that this strike might determine victory and defeat, life and death.

Boom!

The nine swords hit the sarira, forming a shockwave instantly that shot in all directions.

Unfortunately, the sarira couldn’t block Sword Saint Jiuyou. The sharp sword light continued to stab down.

“Spatial Twist.”

Zhang Ruochen pushed up with both hands. His meridians bulged on his face and body. He was fiercely manipulating the spatial rules and saintly power, using all his might to twist the space above him.

Finally, the nine swords were swayed and stabbed down on the side of Zhang Ruochen’s cheek.

The instant it stabbed down, even with the Hundred Saint Blood Armor’s protection, a long gash still opened up on Zhang Ruochen’s cheek. The gash went from his temple to his lower jaw. Red blood dripped down his chin.

One could imagine that Zhang Ruochen would probably be penetrated completely if the Spatial Twist was slightly weaker.

Boom!

Sword Saint Jiuyou’s sword hit the ground beside Zhang Ruochen and sent him flying from the reverberations. Thousands of beams of Sword Qi hit the Hundred Saint Blood Armor on his back, producing a string of explosions.

Seeing that this strike didn’t kill Zhang Ruochen, shock flashed past Sword Saint Jiuyou’s eyes. He lifted the sword and cut down on Zhang Ruochen again.

Zhang Ruochen was tossed into the air. He spun quickly and formed a sword print with his fingers. The moment that Sword Saint Jiuyou thought he’d won, he pointed.

“Chen Sword.”

At that moment, time stopped.

Sword Qi and Divine Fire Jingmie became one on his fingertip. He seized this extremely short moment and pointed at Sword Saint Jiuyou’s forehead.

Zhang Ruochen had already been sent flying by Sword Eight and the Xuangang and was undoubtedly going to be defeated. How could Sword Saint Jiuyou have expected that Zhang Ruochen could still fight back from his disadvantaged state?

Zhang Ruochen’s finger didn’t stab down. The fire at his fingertip was only one inch away from Sword Saint Jiuyou’s forehead.

Sword Saint Jiuyou stopped and didn’t attack anymore. He stabbed his nine swords into the ground. His expression was dazed and he felt great emotions. A moment later, he finally said with difficulty, “Is that the time sword technique?”

“Indeed,” Zhang Ruochen said.

“Why didn’t you use that at the beginning?”

“The time sword technique is my biggest trump card,” Zhang Ruochen said. “I can’t use it so casually. If I do, I must be sure that I can defeat my enemy, killing him.”

“But then, why did you hold back and not kill me?”

“Someone like you shouldn’t die in your own people’s hands. Even if you die, you should die when fighting with the Luosha Race.”

Sword Saint Jiuyou laughed out loud. A moment later, his smile turned wry. “I lost!”

Zhang Ruochen pulled back the finger pointing at his forehead. Then he formed a palm print and quickly slapped Sword Saint Jiuyou’s chest.

Thud.

Sword Saint Jiuyou spat out blood and flew backward. He half-knelt on the ground, face paling greatly.

“Back then, you stabbed my teacher,” Zhang Ruochen said. “Today, I hit you. Now, we don’t owe each other anymore.”

With this hit, Sword Saint Jiuyou wouldn’t be able to fight with anyone for two hours.

Losing his strength, Chu Siyuan and the nine Heavenly Maidens wouldn’t be able to steal the Merits Record Wall from Zhang Ruochen’s hands.