1785 Powerful Foes Strike

The man at the front was Yuan Che.

To be precise, Yuan Che was not a human being but a Vajra Snowsea Ape that had cultivated for over two thousand years, and his cultivation was at a Nine-step Saint King level. He had two-meter-long white hair and broad shoulders while his head and eyes were twice the sizes of a normal person's. Even without unleashing his Saint-ly Aura, he had an oppressive air about him.

All of them were elites from the Fane of Youshen, and they had rushed over after tracking Zhang Ruochen's aura.

Closely behind Yuan Che, an old woman with a spiritual power of Level 58 had a little golden snake coiled around her wrist. She looked down at the mountain below, and a strange glint appeared in her eyes as she said, "Master Yuan Che, this mountain is no ordinary mountain. It may be an awakened sacred land, and I have detected the aura of many sacred medicines."

The old woman was called Tian Lanzi, and she was a beastmaster who held a high position in the Fane of Youshen.

The deeper they flew into Royal Mountain, the stronger the heavenly and earthly Saint Qi they detected.

The sacred medicinal herbs on the ground exuded a resplendent light that made them extremely tempting, and all of the Saint Kings from the Fane of Youshen had a look of avarice on their faces.

Yuan Che said, "Do not let the sacred medicines cloud your judgment. Our real task is to capture Zhang Ruochen. Once we deal with that brat, will everything here not belong to us?"

"You are right. We need to secure Zhang Ruochen and bring him back to Master Youshen—"

A Seven-step Saint King in green Saint Mail Armor was hit by a beam of white light before he could finish speaking, and his voice ceased abruptly.

That light was actually a white arrow.

Rrrrip!

His green Saint Mail Armor was instantly torn into pieces by that white arrow as if it was made out of paper.

The arrow pierced the Seven-step Saint King's chest, and he screamed as Saint Blood gushed out of his falling body. "Watch out! Zhang Ruochen is nearby," Yuan Che roared.

He immediately reached out, and a white stream of Saint Qi jetted out of his hand and enveloped the wounded Seven-step Saint King.

A moment later, all five of the Fane of Youshen's elites landed on the ground.

Yuan Che had experienced many trials and tribulations, thus he was a very cautious creature. The moment he landed, he immediately deployed four flags and placed them facing four different directions.

The four flags expanded in the wind and turned into four brass pillars that were hundreds of feet high. They were intertwined with lightning patterns, which condensed and took the form of four sacred beasts.

Even the wise Yuan Che was taken aback.

"Watch out for that white arrow. Do not get hit by it."

Yuan Che tossed the Seven-step Saint King's body onto the ground and flew dozens of feet into the air. Raising his voice, he said, "Zhang Ruochen, you are Yueshen's envoy after all, and your status is comparable to that of a Supreme Saint, so how could you execute something like a sneak attack?"

A burst of laughter echoed across the mountains. "The Fane of Youshen acted against mortals just to force me to show myself. Did Youshen teach you such a method?"

Yuan Che's eyes turned grim as he tried to provoke Zhang Ruochen. "What kind of ability is this—hiding and not daring to show yourself? Are you afraid of me to the point that you cannot show yourself?"

When the enemy was exposed and one was not, it was an absolute advantage. Therefore, Zhang Ruochen would obviously not reveal himself so easily.

An Eight-step Saint King with the head of a golden leopard and dazzling golden mail, as well as a flaming halberd in his hand, shouted, "Zhang Ruochen, if you dare to show your face, I will kill you with just a single hand."

Whoosh!!

From deep within the mountain, a Whitesun Arrow flew out toward that humanoid golden leopard.

Boom!! Boom!!

The arrow hit a spot between two of the flagpoles, and a lightning net appeared out of thin air, effectively blocking it.

Seeing that, the humanoid golden leopard laughed. "Master Yuan Che's Thunder Flags Array has been refined for thousands of years. With your cultivation level, you would not be able to break it even if we gave you a whole year."

"You lot can just stay inside for a whole year, then!" Zhang Ruochen's voice rang out.

Yuan Che and the humanoid golden leopard's expressions turned grim. They did not expect Zhang Ruochen to be so composed and not reveal himself until now.

Then, Yuan Che looked at Tian Lanzi. "Any progress?"

Tian Lanzi shook her head and said, "Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power is not beneath me. I am not able to find him using my spiritual powers."

A brilliant light flashed in Yuan Che's eyes as he deliberately raised his voice. "Well, since he wants to be a tortoise, we will head back to Yunwu Royal City and turn all of the human cultivators there into blood pills."

Tian Lanzi, the humanoid golden leopard, and the rest grinned.

"Are you not afraid of being discovered by the Emissaries Vigilant with that brazen move?" Zhang Ruochen's voice traveled out of the forest.

Yuan Che was overjoyed. He secretly reckoned that Zhang Ruochen probably felt uneasy and would soon be forced to reveal himself.

So, once again, he said in a cruel tone, "We have captured an Immortal Vampire Saint King, and even if we were to sacrifice every human in Yunwu Royal City, we can pin all of the blame on him.

"Zhang Ruochen, you are still too naive! Our playbook is much, much bigger than you think.

"Those fools in the Kunlun Realm think that hiding in the city means their lives are safe. Yet, they do not know that the prohibitions are like pieces of waste paper to us. If we want to kill him, it will be as simple as slaughtering dogs and pigs."

...

Zhang Ruochen's sneer rang across the mountain. "Whatever happens to the Kunlun Realm, I do not care! But Yunwu Commandery is my turf, and anyone who comes here to show off their powers will die."

Before he even finished, the sky changed.

Layers of dark clouds began to roil, turning the entire area around Royal Mountain extremely dim.

Following that, an oppressive and terrifying aura radiated above the clouds. A purple Bagua Seal broke through the dark cumulonimbus and fell from the sky, pressing down toward the Thunder Flags Array.

Before the Bagua Seal, even mountains appeared small and insignificant.

"A Supreme Power... That is a Supreme Artifact..."

Yuan Che's expression drastically changed as four Saint Light Pillars phased out of his body and infused themselves into the four flag poles. The fluttering flags flew up and made a series of folding, popping sounds.

Four Thunderbeasts the size of mountains rushed out of the array and headed for the Bagua Seal.

Bam! Bam!! Bzzzt!

The place was filled with a series of crackling noises.

Zapped by the Supreme Power, the four Thunderbeasts turned into bolts of lightning, which resembled heavenly blades, and crashed into the ground.

"Fall back!" Yuan Che shouted.

All of the Fane of Youshen cultivators were frightened, and their initial bravado had all but disappeared as they fled into the distance, one after another.

When the Baqua Seal and the Thunder Flags Array collided, it only took a mere moment for the flag poles to snap.

Boom! Boom!!

The moment the Bagua Seal hit the ground, it flattened an area with a radius of several hundred miles and sank a further hundred meters into the ground.

Two Seven-Step Saint Kings were killed on the spot.

Both Tian Lanzi and the humanoid golden leopard were injured. They looked back in horror and only saw smoke, as well as dust, flying about. Layers upon layers of Supreme energies were rushing over like a tide. Wherever the force passed through, the vegetation, mountains, and rocks would all turn to dust. Its destructive power was terrifying.

The humanoid golden leopard tried his best to wield his flaming halberd, and he blasted out the full strength of the Fifth Radiance, barely managing to block the Supreme Artifact's remaining power.

"No wonder they say that Zhang Ruochen is a powerful one. So, he actually wields a Supreme Artifact. I regret it now; I should have looked more into Zhang Ruochen. I thought he was just a Five-step Saint King who could be killed just like that."

The humanoid golden leopard spat out a mouthful of blood. Just as he stood up, he heard Zhang Ruochen's voice in his ears. "Even if I am just a Five-step Saint King, I am not someone you can just manhandle, no?"

Amid the storm of dust, Zhang Ruochen walked out with the Staff of the Divine Envoy in hand.

The humanoid golden leopard's expression immediately changed. He wanted to run away right then, but he suddenly remembered that activating a Supreme Artifact was not an easy thing, and it would take time.

Could he not quickly kill off a Five-step Saint King with his Eight-Step Saint King rank?

The humanoid golden leopard darted out, transforming into a golden light stream, and in the blink of an eye, he was merely three feet away from Zhang Ruochen. His flaming halberd burst into flames and turned into a cloud of fire.

The Eight-step Saint King unleashed all of his power, and its coalescence was so terrifying that the ground over a radius of several hundred miles shook.

The halberd possessed an overwhelming power no different than a wildfire.

Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes, and without underestimating his opponent, he yelled, "Eleventh Palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike, Sky Soaring Dragon-Elephant!"

Upon striking both of his palms out, thirteen dragon souls and thirteen elephant souls appeared concurrently while thousands of palm technique precepts converged in his palms.

The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike's power was immense.

Zhang Ruochen's body radiated golden light, and the humanoid golden leopard was so dazzled that he could not open his eyes. At the same time, Zhang Ruochen evoked the Precepts of Truth and unleashed an offensive power that was six times stronger.

Boom! Boom!!

The power of the palm strike tore up the humanoid golden leopard's arms very badly, and he was sent flying backward.

Once he landed on the ground, he still had to take over a dozen steps back before he could stabilize himself. The humanoid golden leopard then discovered that both his hands and fingers had been mutilated, and blood was spurting everywhere.

"How could a mere Five-step Saint King be as powerful as you?" The humanoid golden leopard's mind was so blown, and he found it difficult to accept the fact.

With a gulf of three ranks and the unknown gap between their power, how did he end up being beaten back so readily?

Zhang Ruochen said, "Even if those from the Ruiya Realm were to cultivate the Supreme Perfection Physique in the Celestial Domain of Truth, I can still cross realm boundaries and kill them. So what does that say about beings like you who have not even reached the apex? Plus, you have not cultivated the Path of Truth and will not be able to unleash powers several times stronger."

"Off I go."

Realizing that he was definitely no match for Zhang Ruochen, the humanoid golden leopard turned around and took off at his fastest possible speed, fleeing Royal Mountain.

"Are you not an Eight-step Saint King? Were you not going to take me down with just one hand? Why are you running away?"

Zhang Ruochen pointed at the humanoid golden leopard.

Bam!!

Within a hundred miles of the humanoid golden leopard, the dimensional walls suddenly shattered like a mirror and swallowed him into the void. As a result, his physical body was cut into pieces by the power of space.

Zhang Ruochen had wiped out an Eight-step Saint King elite from the world just like that, without even leaving a single bone behind.