God Emperor

Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongyue’s combat abilities could be described as outstanding. Each of them could take on a group within the same realm.

If they had not been so young and their understanding of Saint Arts, as well as Saint Paths, had not been far below that of Shang Ziyan, they would have been able to do more than just block twenty-three of his blows.

The crimson blade in Shang Ziyan’s hand was called Bloodbairn. It was a special artifact of the gods.

The materials used to make the sword had been dug out from an ancient mine. It was a type of xeno-demonic iron that had its own intelligence and loved to drink blood.

The more blood the xeno-demonic iron absorbed, the stronger it got.

In that regard, it was quite similar to Empress Chi Yao’s Blood Dripper sword, which was refined from a divine host.

The only difference was that the xeno-demonic iron loved the blood of newborn babies, hence, it was called Bloodbairn.

Bloodbairn meant the blood of a child.

The former wielder of Bloodbairn was a fallen demon god from the Heavenly Realm who used the blood of 88,888,000 newborn babies to bring the Bloodbairn to its current level.

Allegedly, the blood of 888,888,000 newborn babies was needed to refine Bloodbairn into a Supreme Saint artifact.

It was precisely due to Bloodbairn’s special nature that it possessed pretty unique powers.

The sword’s qi had seeped into Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongyue’s bodies through their wounds, destroying their physical constitution.

Divine light radiated out of Chi Kunlun’s body while five-colored light escaped from Chi Kongyue’s body. Their respective True God’s Body and Five-element Chaotic Body seemed close to being destroyed.

“If Zhang Ruochen were still alive, you two would probably still be useful. Since he is dead, I will send both of you to him as well!”

Shang Ziyan shook his head slightly and raised Bloodbairn…

“What?!”

Detecting a life force fluctuation, Shang Ziyan looked up at Zhang Ruochen and the lotus above the Buddha statue. Revealing a doubtful look, he muttered to himself, “Was I just seeing things?”

Swish!

Right then, The Nine-heavens Maiden shot out two red diamonds that flowed with countless inscriptions. She wrapped them around Chi Kunlun and Chi Kongyue, rescuing them.

Immediately after, she raised the Sacred Confucian Tome and summoned words the size of a dustpan before she flung them toward Shang Ziyan.

Shang Ziyan was very intrigued by The Nine-heavens Maiden and did not plan to kill her. He held Bloodbairn horizontally, then put his finger on the sword and flicked it gently.

Clang!

A sonorous reverberation echoed out.

Various mysterious and arcane ley lines appeared on the blade as it emitted crimson skyfire and faint divine power. The two then combined and transformed into thousands of phantom babies that clashed with the words from the Sacred Confucian Tome.

The cries of the babies and the din of the battle erupted across Xumi Dojo.

Whoosh!!

Shang Ziyan did not bother going into a stalemate with The Nine-heavens Maiden. Instead, his figure flickered and flew toward the head of the Buddha statue.

Numerous Heavenly Realm Saint Kings were being suppressed under Zhang Ruochen’s silver tome, and they had to be rescued in any case.

Additionally, Shang Ziyan possessed acute, natural spiritual sense, and he could instinctively tell that the lotus was quite the treasure. Perhaps Zhang Ruochen had not been good enough, and as a result, he had failed to get the lotus’ recognition and ended up desiccated.

Being the leader of the Fane of Merits, Shang Ziyan felt that his luck and aptitude would definitely make any treasure take the initiative to recognize him as the master.

After she shattered those baby phantoms, The Nine-heavens Maiden raised her snow-white head and looked up in disbelief. “Why did the lotus not reject Shang Ziyan? Could it be that… it was born just for Shang Ziyan to pick it up? How could Shang Ziyan’s luck be so great?”

Whoosh…

As Shang Ziyan approached the lotus, the silver roots around the Buddha statue glowed even brighter, and the silver light flowed into the flower.

Seeing that, the Heavenly Realm’s Saint Kings became excited.

“The lotus’ radiance is glorious. It must recognize Master Ziyan as its master.”

“The divine treasure of Heaven and Earth can only be taken by a true Prince of Heaven. Zhang Ruochen did not know his own limits and foolishly tried to take it just like that, dooming himself in the end.”

“For the lotus to illuminate across thousands of miles, it must be a treasure of Heaven and Earth.”

…

All of a sudden, there was a change.

The blinding brilliance of the lotus rushed into Zhang Ruochen’s body abruptly.

His originally shriveled body, which looked like a withered tree in spring, quickly glowed with vitality as his skin swelled and his white hair became black again.

Radiance was restored to Zhang Ruochen’s body, and it burst with powerful qi, illuminating Xumi Dojo entirely.

Shang Ziyan was obviously taken aback. He immediately gave up on the lotus as he shifted his target and focused his Saint Qi into Bloodbairn. Releasing a dazzling crimson flash from his sword, he slashed it toward Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen’s eyes regained life as he raised his arm to perform a palm strike.

While he moved his palm, the power of the Fire God’s Bracers, as well as the Fire God’s Gauntlet, overflowed and collided with Bloodbairn.

Clang!

Sparks flew, and powerful energies blasted outward.

Shang Ziyan was sent flying back, and he crashed into the ground, forming a massive crater in his wake.

On top of the Buddha statue, Zhang Ruochen’s body just shook a little before he stabilized himself.

Zhang Ruochen looked at his palm and muttered to himself, “My blood has also circulated in the lotus. Now that it has returned to my body, it seems like my physical strength has increased by a huge margin.”

The Saint Path Precepts had already flowed back into his sea of qi, turning it into a heavenly stream. Meanwhile, his number of precepts had increased to 430,000, which more than doubled.

The growth in figures was secondary. The most important thing was that the Precepts of Time and Dimensions were now close to five thousand in number.

One needed to remember that the Path of Time and the Path of Dimensions were extremely difficult to master. In the past, Zhang Ruochen had spent who knows how much time and effort to only master about two hundred paths.

It was precisely because the number of Time and Space Precepts had just been too small that Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation had not been progressing quickly.

With the help of the lotus, the situation had been greatly improved.

“My cultivation should have reached the realm of the Five-step Saint King and should not be too far from the Six-step Saint King.” The corners of Zhang Ruochen’s mouth curled up slightly.

The number of Saint Path Precepts needed for a Four-step Saint King was about a hundred thousand.

The number of Saint Path Precepts needed for a Five-step Saint King was about three-hundred thousand.

The number of Saint Path Precepts needed for a Six-step Saint King was about five-hundred thousand.

As for a Seven-step Saint King, the requirement was even higher. At least a million Saint Path Precepts were needed to even have a possibility to reach that rank.

All of the cultivators in Xumi Dojo had their eyes on the figure above the Buddha statue, and everyone was shocked.

A dead person came to life again?

1

Shang Ziyan stood at the bottom of the dust-strewn crater and frowned. His sword hand was trembling lightly, and all five of his fingers were extremely hurt.

In the exchange earlier, he had fallen into an absolute disadvantage.

Zhang Ruochen, who had returned from the dead, was far more powerful than before.

“Perhaps, I will only have the chance to defeat him if I use all Three Corpses,” Shang Ziyan said to himself.

Shang Ziyan’s Way of the Three Corpses had been cultivated into three separate bodies. The Cardinal Corpse was in charge of the Five-colored Merits Stele, the Flame Corpse was in charge of wielding Bloodbairn, and the Frost Corpse was in charge of the Tower of a Thousand Temperings respectively.

“That lotus flower must really be a world treasure.”

Both the Cardinal Corpse and the Frost Corpse rushed to the Flame Corpse’s side.

Three Shang Ziyans attacked Zhang Ruochen as he concurrently tried to seize the lotus atop the Buddha statue.

Blackie and Awesome had been fighting with the Cardinal Corpse, while Xue Wuye and Friar Lidi had been clashing with the Frost Corpse. They were still far away and could not help Zhang Ruochen in time.

Beneath the Buddha statue, The Nine-heavens Maiden raised the Sacred Confucian Tome, and millions of words flew out of its pages.

However, those words were instantly destroyed by the Five-colored Merits Stele, Tower of a Thousand Temperings, and Bloodbairn.

Seeing that the three powerful attacks were about to hit him, Zhang Ruochen calmly leaned forward and took the lotus flower as he concentrated his Saint Qi and Precepts of Dimensions into the lotus.

Then, a brilliant light blasted out from the twelve lotus petals while Precepts of Dimensions flew out alongside the light and onto the ground.

Within Xumi Dojo, the Inscription of Dimensions left behind by Saint Monk Xumi all emerged, both on the ground and in the air like an interwoven spiderweb.

Through the lotus, Zhang Ruochen could control the Inscription of Dimensions.

“Stop,” Zhang Ruochen spat.

At that instant, the space inside Xumi Dojo froze. The Five-colored Merits Stele, the Tower of a Thousand Temperings, and Bloodbairn lost their momentum and stopped in midair, barely a few feet away from Zhang Ruochen.

“Return.”

Zhang Ruochen waved his palm and formed a Dimensional Storm that turned into a circular Qi wave. It blasted the Five-colored Merits Stele, the Tower of a Thousand Temperings, and Bloodbairn back.

Booom!!!

Shang Ziyan’s Cardinal, Flame, and Frost Corpses flared out in a flash of light, avoiding the counterattack.

Unfortunately, the Saint Kings of the Heavenly Realm did not have such luck, and more than a dozen were instantly killed by the attack, while many more were wounded.

“Your reaction sure is fast, but let us see if you are fast enough for this,” Zhang Ruochen quipped.

A dazzling light once again came from the lotus.

The dimension within Xumi Dojo shuddered as Dimensional Vortexes appeared one after another.

Shang Ziyan’s expression changed greatly as he roared, “Saint Kings, retreat from Xumi Dojo immediately!”

The Heavenly Realm’s Saint Kings were not fools. All of them could see that Zhang Ruochen had mastered the lotus and could manipulate the Inscription of Dimensions in the dojo. He was literally invincible now.

Just as they were making their way out of the dojo, dimensional rifts begin blasting out from the vortex.

Swish!

Each dimensional rift was only the size of a palm, but there were legions of them.

The sound of tearing and screams rang across the whole dojo.

In the span of just one breath, hundreds of the Heavenly Realm’s Saint Kings fell dead, turning the sacred Buddhist dojo into a bloody slaughterhouse.

Shang Ziyan’s Flame Corpse was hit by one of the rifts, and a bowl-sized hole appeared as his chest was ripped through.

The Frost Corpse was hit by three of the rifts, and his head was cut in half, spraying brain matter all over the place.

Only Shang Ziyan’s Cardinal Corpse was intact.

The Tri-colored Brigandine on his body and the Five-colored Merits Stele in his hand could resist the power of dimensions. Plus, the palm-sized rifts automatically closed long before they even reached him.

Shang Ziyan managed to shelter a group of Heavenly Realm Saint Kings and escape from Xumi Dojo because of the Five-colored Merits Stele’s power.

Looking at Zhang Ruochen, who was standing atop the Buddha statue in the distance, even a Saint King would tremble in fear. They would not dare to step into Xumi Dojo again even if their lives were on the line.