God Emperor

The 999 avatars dissipated and turned back into the profoundly dark Yama Qi, entering Yan Wushen’s body.

“You do have an extraordinary physique that can fuse with a deity’s leg. Yet, no matter what, it isn’t yours. How many times do you think you can use it?” Yan Wushen said with a faint smile.

As the Master of the Origin, Yan Wushen had the same Divine Eye of Origin as Maiden of a Thousand Stars’. He was even more powerful, so he could naturally see through Zhang Ruochen’s left leg.

With Divine fire burned outside his body and high fighting spirit, Zhang Ruochen stood above the lava lake like Wargod of Fire. “Let’s fight then you will know,” he said calmly.

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Yanshen’s Leg was indeed Zhang Ruochen’s trump card, but it didn’t mean he had to rely on it to fight Yan Wushen.

“Very arrogant. Not bad. I hope you can play with me a little longer.” Yan Wushen laughed.

As he spoke, Yan Wushen raised his hand slightly. The hot lava on the ground shot up into the sky and flooded Zhang Ruochen.

What was incredible was that the enormous amount of lava condensed into a metallic mountain in an instant. It was very high, but its internal structure was not stable. As it kept compressing, the structure became more compact, forming a terrifying pressure that could even crush a cultivator with an immortal saint body.

In the center of the mountain, there was a three-meter wide void. And Zhang Ruochen was in it.

The void’s condition was unstable. It was constantly shrinking and had reached its limit. In other words, this space could shatter at any time.

‘Both Yu Chenjing and Yan Wushen are Masters of Origin. Yet there’s a huge gap between them in terms of strength,’ Zhang Ruochen thought.

Zhang Ruochen felt the rising pressure. Without hesitation, he took out Ancient Abyssal Blade and entered a wondrous state of becoming one with his sword instantly. To one’s naked eyes, his movement might seem slow. But, in fact, it was the other way around.

What followed was the appearance of crystal-clear flower buds. Each flower bud contained a vast realm of swords. Each realm was an individual dimension running through different timelines—the past, present, and future.

With a thought in Zhang Ruochen’s mind, all the flower buds bloomed and released billions of streaks of powerful Sword Qi accompanied with countless fragments of Time and Space.

BANG!

No matter how condensed the metallic mountain’s structure was, it exploded in an instant.

Then, Zhang Ruochen changed his sword technique and slashed out a cross.

It was Sword Ten at grand completion state. Its power had reached the top of Neverwither Level. At the same time, Precepts of Truth were activated, amplifying the sword strike’s power by nine times.

Back then, the insights Zhang Ruochen had learned from Ling Feiyu were limited, which covered only the first four levels of Sword Ten. Nevertheless, Zhang Ruochen’s innate talent in swordsmanship was extraordinary. He had managed to develop insights on the fifth level of Sword Ten by himself. Thus, his Sword Ten had advanced to Grand Completion.

Zhang Ruochen’s current swordsmanship had certainly surpassed the Supreme-Saint grandmaster of Heaven’s Fall Blade.

Zhang Ruochen’s current strength was powerful that he would only use Sword Ten when fighting an opponent as powerful as Yan Wushen.

Yan Wushen’s eyes turned grim when he saw the cross. Many Precepts of Origin rose from his body and turned into a stream of Origin particles that were not visible to the naked eye.

When he was less than three meters away from Yan Wushen, the cross suddenly collapsed, disintegrated by the force of Origin.

However, a special Dimensional Mark emerged at the same time when the cross collapsed, and the force of Origin could do nothing to it.

Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen appeared where the Dimensional Mark was. He swung his sword at Yan Wushen in an instant.

Needless to say, Zhang Ruochen had calculated every move. The sword strike just now was to create a diversion to get close to Yan Wushen.

With a flash of sword light, Yan Wushen’s head was cut off and sent flying.

However, Zhang Ruochen’s pupils constricted; no single drop of blood was spilled from Yan Wushen—who had been beheaded!

It was eerie. Yan Wushen appeared behind Zhang Ruochen and tried to punch Zhang Ruochen’s head.

Zhang Ruochen turned around and managed to block the attack with Ancient Abyssal Blade at this critical moment.

CLANG!

Yan Wushen’s fist hit Ancient Abyssal Blade.

The power of this punch was too terrifying. It was like a star falling from a height of million miles. It was unstoppable. Even with Ancient Abyssal Blade blocking it, Zhang Ruochen was sent flying like a meteor.

Not until Zhang Ruochen was more than a thousand miles away did he manage to stabilize his posture. He spat out a mouthful of Saint blood due to the damage he had taken.

Yan Wushen’s attack was fierce and overbearing. It had sent Zhang Ruochen’s internal organs a heavy blow even after going through layers of protection from Ancient Abyssal Blade and Armor of the Fire God.

Another contributing factor was that Zhang Ruochen’s internal organs were yet to attain Neverwither state, so they were relatively weak.

Zhang Ruochen’s face turned grave. ‘Not only did he form an avatar instantly with power of Origin, he teleported himself using Great Dimensional Shift and appeared behind me. His proficiency in Paths of Dimension and Origin are impressive!’ he thought.

If it were an avatar made from ordinary Saint Qi, essence and blood, Zhang Ruochen could have told them apart.

But Yan Wushen’s cultivation in Path of Origin was too great. Nobody could notice that it was his avatar.

Among the opponents Zhang Ruochen had faced so far, Yan Wushen was indeed the scariest in terms of his method and combat sense.

Even a Neverwither Supreme Saint would have died at Yan Wushen’s hands if it had been anyone else.

“You reflex is brisk enough. Taste another punch from me.”

Just before Yan Wushen’s voice trailed off, he had appeared in front of Zhang Ruochen, at close distance.

Zhang Ruochen did not back away. He immediately brandished his sword to counter Yan Wushen’s attack with Sword of Time.

Due to the effect of the power of Time, Zhang Ruochen’s sword managed to strike first. Myriad Marks of Time flooded over Yan Wushen.

Yan Wushen was a rare talent who mastered two Paths of the Ancients. Not only could he use techniques from two Paths of the Ancients as he pleased, but he could also even combine them.

Zhang Ruochen was not bad either since he also mastered two Paths of the Ancients. And the profoundness in the power of Time was no less than that of the power of Origin.

Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen fought fiercely. Their positions changed constantly, and they gradually moved away from Luoshui.

The other cultivators could only watch from afar. They did not dare to follow. Only Nether Demon and Nether Buddha followed closely behind.

The duo was almost certain that Zhang Ruochen would lose this duel. Their purpose was to prevent him from escaping.

The battle between Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen was too intense. Everywhere they had been, the spaces shattered, the ground burned, and surrounding plants and animals were implicated and killed.

Fortunately, there were no humans left in this area. Otherwise, it would have caused heavy casualties.

After a series of fierce battles, Zhang Ruochen’s morale grew as the fight progressed. He had yet to let Yan Wushen gain any further advantage. Even the wound—he had gotten when he was caught off guard earlier—had been healed.

The presence of the divine sun formed by Sacred Seven-star Lingzhi’s Sun Leaf allowed Zhang Ruochen to fight at ease without worrying about minor injuries.

Yan Wushen stared at Zhang Ruochen. “I have to admit, Zhang Ruochen, your strength is beyond my expectations. You are qualified to die under the secret technique of Yanluo Clan.”

As Yan Wushen’s voice trailed off, the whole place suddenly became dark.

The strange mark on Yan Wushen’s forehead glowed with a dark light. The Precepts and Saint Qi of heavens and earth within a radius of 10,000 miles surged violently and gathered from all directions.

At the same time, close to a hundred million Precepts rushed out from Yan Wushen’s body. Each of them was solid and thick. They were comparable to the Precepts in the Neverwither Supreme Saint’s body.

With the strange mark as the foundation, close to a hundred million Precepts interweaved. An evil realm was formed. Under the rule of Heaven and Earth and Heaven and Earth Saint Qi, it became bigger and bigger.

The realm was as dark as a black hole. It gave off the aura of hell. One could vaguely hear the howls of myriad ghosts sending them shivering goosebumps.

An invisible pressure from that realm spread out as if it would cover the entire Eastern Region.

“What a terrifying technique. Is this really a technique that a Saint King can use?”

“Yan Wushen is too powerful. It seems that even Zhang Ruochen can’t break legend about Yan Wushen being invincible.”

“Zhang Ruochen hasn’t practiced cultivation long enough. He lacks accumulated experience. If he were allowed to have more time, Yan Wushen might not be able to defeat him.”

“I hope Zhang Ruochen can survive. Otherwise, who can compete with Yan Wushen in the future?”

“I’m afraid it will be difficult. Nether Demon and Nether Buddha have been following him. They have made up their minds to kill Zhang Ruochen.”

…

Sensing the terrifying aura from the evil realm, all the cultivators of Celestial Court who were watching from afar trembled.

Fairy Tianchu raised her head. The vertical eye between her brows glowed with divine light. Looking at the growing evil realm, she could not help but felt worried.

She wanted to help Zhang Ruochen, but there was nothing she could do. Her cultivation had not reached the pinnacle yet. Even with the inheritance from her ancestor—Goddess of Luoshui, she still couldn’t mobilize the power of Luoshui as she pleased.

“Unless… I use that thing, but…”

Fairy Tianchu was conflicted.

That thing was something prominent. If she used it, the consequences would be unpredictable. It could even bring disaster to the entire Tianchu civilization if something went wrong.

Nether Demon sneered. “I didn’t expect Yan Wushen to use Yama Naraka. It seems that Zhang Ruochen will certainly die without our involvement.”

“Only by practicing both the Path of Dimension and the Path of Origin can we have a chance to cultivate Yama Naraka. This is Yanluo Clan’s supreme secret technique. Very few have successfully practiced it since ancient times. It’ll be difficult even for the ones like us—who can control Hadean Furnace—to resist such attack,” Nether Buddha said seriously.

Thinking of how terrifying Yama Naraka was, Nether Demon and Nether Buddha retreated further to avoid getting implicated.

At this moment, Zhang Ruochen’s expression turned very grave. He stared at the evil realm in size of more than 10,000 miles in diameter.

He could clearly feel that the space around him had completely frozen. Even he couldn’t use Dimensional Shift to leave.

Yan Wushen looked down at Zhang Ruochen with a cold gaze. “This will be your end.”

Yan Wushen waved his hand, and the huge Yama Naraka was charging at Zhang Ruochen with unparalleled force.

Guided by the terrifying power, more than a dozen small stars fell from the outer realm. They were all swallowed by the ‘Yama Naraka’ and turned into dust.

Zhang Ruochen gasped softly. He flipped his hand and took out something. It looked simple and unadorned, but it had a profound and mysterious aura. It was none other than Sundial.

Zhang Ruochen poured Saint Qi and the 63 Precepts of Time he had cultivated into Sundial without holding anything back. He even utilized his portion of Canon of Truth.

In addition to that, Zhang Ruochen performed the scripture of the Empyrean Emperor Ming’s Scripture. He extracted a large amount of divine essence from the divine sun formed by Sacred Seven-star Lingzhi’s Sun Leaf and poured it into Sundial.

Immediately, a layer of cyan light appeared on the surface of Sundial. Countless light spots flew out from it and condensed into a cyan stream countering ‘Yama Naraka’.

Wherever the cyan stream passed, time and space turned into chaos; they distorted and collapsed in destruction.

With his current attainments in the Path of Time and his knowledge of Sundial, Zhang Ruochen could finally launch an attack using Sundial. It was no longer just an artifact supporting cultivation training.

Sundial was an artifact of Time that had existed since the beginning of human civilization. If it could be fully activated, it could even destroy a Macroworld.

Needless to say, Zhang Ruochen was still far from being able to unleash the true power of Sundial with his attainment at this point. However, even if it was only one-tenth of the full power, one should not underestimate it.

Boom!

Yan Wushen’s ‘Yama Naraka’ exploded with a bang, releasing a highly terrifying destructive power.

“Oh No!”

Nether Demon and Nether Buddha’s expressions changed drastically. They quickly took out Hadean Furnace to block the impact approaching them.

This destructive power spread far and wide that it even stirred up huge waves at Luoshui tens of thousands of miles away.

All mountains within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers were razed flat, with not a single grass left.

At the center of the explosion, a huge pit diameter of more than ten thousand kilometers appeared. The deepest part of the pit was more than nine thousand meters. It was as if a huge planet had hit it.

Many cultivators rose into the air and looked at the massive pit from afar.

“Who won?”

Of course, everyone was concerned about the result of this battle.

Fairy Tianchu also appeared in the air, stepping on golden fog. She looked at the huge pit; she was worried.

In the huge pit, the violent force did not dissipate for a long time. The two figures—Zhang Ruochen and Yan Wushen—stood 50 kilometers away from each other.

Zhang Ruochen held Sundial in his hand. His posture was as straight as a spear. His eyes were as bright as lightning as he stared at Yan Wushen.

Yan Wushen, on the other hand, maintained a straight posture as well. However, the strange mark on his forehead dimmed. The evil aura around his body almost completely disappeared.

Puff!

Suddenly, Yan Wushen’s body trembled, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood. His essence, Qi, and spirit instantly withered.

“How is this possible? Yan Wushen lost!”

Nether Demon’s eyes widened. He could not believe what he had just seen.

Nether Buddha was also stunned. He stared at Zhang Ruochen.

“Th-Th-This is really unbelievable. Zhang Ruochen has broken the legend of Yan Wushen’s invincibility!”

All the cultivators were stunned. Their minds went blank.

Yan Wushen wiped the blood from his mouth. He stared at Zhang Ruochen. “Tsk, I didn’t expect to meet a strong opponent within the same realm.

“Although you did rely on an artifact of Time, your performance was still impressive that you could severely injure me.

“I’ll face you again soon. Then we will know who’s the winner.”

As soon as Yan Wushen finished his words, he shattered the space around him with a powerful force and left through the void space as he had come.

Zhang Ruochen just watched quietly and did not stop him.

Just as the shattered space was about to be restored, a bloody man sighted falling out of it.

Zhang Ruochen moved and caught the falling man. It was none other than Jiang Yunchong.

Zhang Ruochen was surprised that Yan Wushen would leave Jiang Yunchong behind.

“Let’s go.”

Nether Demon and Nether Buddha came to their senses and looked at each other. They could see the shock in each other’s eyes. What was the artifact of Time that Zhang Ruochen held? How could it injure Yan Wushen so severely?

The duo did not dare to hesitate longer and retreated immediately.

Even Yan Wushen had retreated. What else could they do to fight Zhang Ruochen?

From now on, Zhang Ruochen would be deemed as the strongest elite below Supreme Sainthood. Today’s battle would probably cause a huge uproar among myriad Macroworlds and Microworlds of Celestial Court and Ten Clans of Infernal Court.