Chapter 2011: Han Xue’s Return

Zhang Ruochen quickly struck with his palm as a cloud of fire emerged and drowned the two halves of Shang Ziyan’s Frost Corpse.

Baaaam!!

The two halves of the Frost Corpse burst into pieces in an instant, before being burnt into oblivion by the cloud of fire, leaving nothing behind.

Immediately after, Zhang Ruochen took out the Secret Tome of Time and Space as he suppressed the Tower of a Thousand Temperings that tried to flee with all of his might.

Losing on of the Tower of a Thousand Temperings meant the Heavenly Realm faction would lose a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact.

After all, there were seven of the Tower of a Thousand Temperings, and only when together they are a complete and powerful Supreme Sacred Artifact.

“Two down, one to go.”

Zhang Ruochen whispered icyly.

Now that the power released by the Five-colored Merit Stele had weakened, it could no longer complete stop him from using his spatial and temporal techniques.

Of course, this was also because his attainments in the path of space and time were very high, if it was someone else, they would not have been able to break through the suppression of the Five-colored Merit Stele.

It was precisely because of the Path of Dimension that Zhang Ruochen was not trapped in the cage constructed by the bone charm, and allowed him the opportunity to kill another Shang Ziyan.

In just a blink of an eye, of the three Shang Ziyans, two were killed, leaving only one severely injured Flame Corpse.

In contrast, the Flame Corpse was wearing the Tricolored Armor and his defense was too strong, and he was much more difficult to kill compared to the Cardinal Corpse or the Frost Corpse, so Zhang Ruochen kept him for last.

“Oh no, Ziyan is in danger. Saint King Yanlin, hurry up and intervene!”

Seeing Shang Ziyan in peril, Si Han hurriedly spoke to one of the Angel-clan powerhouses.

The Angel-clan powerhouse was a handsome one with four snow-white wings on his back as his body exuded a sacred brilliance.

Although his cultivation had not reached the Path’s Anterior, but the aura exuded from his body was far more powerful than many of the Path’s Anterior-realm elites.

Saint King Yanlin held a broad-bladed holy sword in his hand without any expression on his face.

Hummmmm…

Just as Saint King Yanlin was about to rescue Shang Ziyan, the broad-bladed holy sword suddenly trembled as if being pulled by some kind of force.

Sensing the trembling within the holy sword, Saint King Yanlin dared not make any rash moves as his eyes swept around, trying to find the source of this power.

Somehow, he actually felt an inexplicably huge threat.

Booom!

Suddenly, divine clouds appeared in the black sky as the sounds of wailing swords thundered as if billions of divine blades were flying in from afar.

Such a big commotion naturally shocked everyone and all could not help but to look at the direction of the sword wails.

The sky was torn apart at this very moment as a pitch-black behemoth flew out, exuding a terrifying aura that was extremely suffocating.

“Hmmm? It has an owl’s head. What kind of bird is this? A new breed of owls?”

After making out the appearance of the behemoth, many could not help but to show a perplexed look.

The next moment, everyone’s eyes was locked onto the source of the sword wail. It was a silver long sword held in the hands of a pretty young girl.

The lass looked like she was fifteen or sixteen years old, looking a little green and immature, yet there was an heroic aura between her eyebrows, sharp like silver sword in her hand.

She wore an extremely close-fitting battle armor, fully revealing her figure. Her face was exquisite without the slightest blemish, her skin was fair and delicate, like the finest jade, as if she was carved out of one.

“That owl looks a little familiar. Ah I remember now, it seems to be the one by Zhang Ruochen’s side.”

A cultivator reacted, and told everyone the origin of the owl.

With that, everyone understood one thing. The person who came here must be on Zhang Ruochen’s side, or else how could she came with the owl that was Zhang Ruochen’s companion.

It was just that with so many elites present, no one really knew the identity of the girl that had appeared, as if she had appeared out of thin air.

“Hehehe, it’s quite lively here I see. It seems like we are not too late.” Blackie could not help but chuckle as it glanced across the battlefield.

As if it had heard someone saying ‘owl’, Blackie immediately yelled out. “I am a phoenix, darn it! The Invincible Emperor who Slaughtered the Emperor who Slaughtered the Heavens and Earth a hundred thousand years ago. You are an owl, you entire family are owls!”

Hearing this, the person who had spoke earlier shut his mouth immediately and dared not say anything else.

There was no other way, no matter how strong Blackie actually was, the aura that he had exuded was indeed very intimidating, making people afraid to provoke him.

“No matter who you are, daring to come here means your death,” Saint King Yanlin shouted coldly.

Blackie cast its gaze on Saint King Yanlin as he squinted and said disdainfully. “You think you can scare me? Heh, a birdman like you want to kill me?”

Hearing the world ‘birdman’, Saint King Yanlin’s expression turned extremely bitter as he growled. “Since you are so anxious to die, I will grant you your wish.”

As he said, Saint King Yanlin struck, lifting the broad-bladed holy sword as he slashed at Blackie across the distance.

Seeing the massive sword light coming at it, Blackie could not help but to cry out. “Han Xue, quickly slice him up, and dice this birdman with your sword.”

Hearing that, the pretty girl standing on his back immediately swung the silver long sword in her hand.

The sword strike may seem very random, yet an earth-shaking sword wail thundered.

A foot long silver sword light flew out like a crescent moon.

Crack!

The massive sword light slashed out by Saint King Yanlin was cut apart in the middle before bursting into pieces.

The crescent-shaped silver sword light did not dissipate as it slashed at Saint King Yanlin with unabated momentum.

Saint King Yanlin was shocked as he quickly blocked the attack with the broad-bladed holy sword before him.

Dush!

The broad-bladed holy sword had managed to resist the silver sword light, but a few invisible sword Qi lashed onto his body, leaving a few hideous wounds.

One of the wounds was on Saint King Yanlin’s neck, almost lopping his head off.

“How can she be so strong?”

Saint King Yanlin was shocked.

He could see that Han Xue was really young and her cultivation time was short, yet her strength was terrifyingly strong.

“Hahaha! How’s that, birdman? You sure you can handle this?” Seeing Saint King Yanlin wounded, Blackie immediately let out a presumptuous laugh.

The pretty girl did not press her attack on Saint King Yanlin, but instead turned her gaze to Zhang Ruochen who was fighting Shang Ziyan.

At this moment, Zhang Ruochen also cast his gaze towards the girl and met her in the eye.

Although the pretty girl had changed a lot, Zhang Ruochen still recognized her at first glance.

“Han Xue.”

The pretty girl was none other than the only disciple that Zhang Ruochen had taken in, Han Xue who had the Thousand-Bone Body.

Back then, Zhang Ruochen had entered the underworld from the Eastern Region Godfall Cryptwoods and rescued Sword Saint Xuanji. Later on, Sword Saint Xuanji wanted to go to the depths of the underworld to investigate something, and took Han Xue, who was still a little girl then with him.

After so many years, Han Xue had grown into a proper young lady, and her strength had also reached top level.

Han Xue’s appearance here had indeed surprised Zhang Ruochen very moment, but it was a pleasant one. For her to come back from the underworld safely, Zhang Ruochen could finally relax that anxious part of his heart.

At the same time, Zhang Ruochen was also suprised by the strength that Han Xue had, and that also the same thing pleased him.

Without a doubt, for Han Xue to have such attainments now meant that she must have went through a lot of hardship.

“The Thousand-Bone Body is indeed wondrous. Han Xue may very well become the second Empress of Thousand Bones. Since Han Xue is now back, I wonder where master is now?”

For a time, many thoughts emerged in Zhang Ruochen’s mind.

Han Xue moved and instantly appeared beside Zhang Ruochen, and many of the Heavenly Realm elites could not even react in time to stop her.

“Greetings, master.”

Han Xue bowed to Zhang Ruochen with great respect.

Zhang Ruochen reached out hurriedly, and helped Han Xue up as he smiled. “Not bad, we’ve not seen enough for a few years and your cultivation had reached such a level. You’re making your master feeling quite a bit of pressure here.”

“Master, then you need to work harder. I had encountered a great opportunity in the underworld, and I may very well surpass my master.” Han Xue let out a bright smile.

Zhang Ruochen smiled and nodded. “Well, I’ll wait for the coming of that day.”

The smile of Han Xue’s face faded away as she turned around and pointed her blade at Shang Ziyan, her expression cold as frost. “Shang Ziyan, right? I’ve heard Blackie talked about you before. You are originally master’s foe, and it is not right for me to interfere. However, master is wounded, and as a disciple I have the responsibility to fight on behalf of my master. You dare answer my challenge?”

Hearing this, Shang Ziyan took a deep breath and could not help but to be angry. “Little girl, you don’t know your place! With your cultivation, you still have a long way to go.”

“Whether it’s a long way or not, we will only find out after we fight.” Han Xue did not back down.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly as he said. “Han Xue, my child, your master appreciates your thoughts! But this person is your master’s nemesis, and I must slay him with my own hands. You go and help the others.”

Han Xue hesitated for a moment before nodding, as he said. “I understand.”

Han Xue immediately dashed out and reappeared on Blackie’s back as she locked her gaze onto Saint King Yanlin that she had wounded earlier.

“Shang Ziyan, come, time to settle all of our grudges.”

Zhang Ruochen slowly lifted his blade as the murderous intent on his body grew more and more intense.

All grudges new and old, will be settled tonight.

For such a rare opportunity to be at hand, he must not allow Shang Ziyan escape.

The only remaining Shang Ziyan’s expression was sombre as a furious rage burned in his eyes and he no longer cared about any pretenses.

At this moment, he had recalled the Five-colored Merit Stele and the bone charm as he wanted to use all of his treasures to protect himself.

“How could this happen? Why did I lose to Zhang Ruochen? No, this can’t be.” Shang Ziyan clenched his fist, finding it difficult to accept this reality.

All along, he was extremely proud of himself, thinking that he was perfect without any flaws. Even when facing Yan Wushen, or the Four Heavenly Kings of the Celestial Palace, when battling them on the same realm, he was confident that he would not be weaker than them.

But now, he had lost to Zhang Ruochen, losing two bodies in quick succession. He did not understand why Zhang Ruochen was so powerful.

Be it his origin or background, he was far better than Zhang Ruochen in all aspects, but why could he not defeat Zhang Ruochen?

After this battle, Shang Ziyan’s self-confidence was almost completely obliterated by Zhang Ruochen.

“Zhang Ruochen, I will never lose to you.”

Shang Ziyan roared.

Rampaging saint Qi emerged from Shang Ziyan’s body as he infused it into the Five-colored Merit Stele and the Bloodbairn, as he summoned a massive flame giant at the same time.

The Five-colored Merit Stele quickly turned extremely massive as it transformed into a five-colored divine mountain that stood thousands of feet tall as countless of mystical runes appeared.

Dushhh!

Shang Ziyan spat out a mouthful of essence blood and sprayed it onto the Bloodbairn.

The Bloodbairn instantly absorbed the essence blood as a monstrous blood light appeared from it. The original golden light had now all turned into blood-colored.

Drawn by the essence blood, the massive divine power inside the Bloodbairn was released as it merged with the crimson flames that condensed into tens of thousands of blood-colored infants with each looking extremely corporeal, and no different from a real infant.

These infants all exuded terrifying resentment, anger and evil as they converged together and rushed into the sky, forming an extremely terrifying visage.

Seeing this, a grim look appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes as he clearly felt some threat.

He immediately roused his own magnificent saint Qi as he infused them into the Armor of the Fire God in a frenzy. At the same time, he also released his saint Qi as he powered up the Ancient Abyssal Blade and the Zangshan Demonic Mirror.

After swallowing all of the Dolorous Soulfire and using the divine sun to eliminate all of the harmful substances, leaving behind a large amount of pure vital Qi, the saint Qi in Zhang Ruochen’s body had almost been fully restored, so he could use it without hesitation now.

The Zangshan Demonic Mirror flew out and met the Five-colored Merit Stele.

The Armor of the Fire God unleashed a surging divine fire as a flaming divine dragon and divine elephant were formed and let the flame giant Shang Ziyan had summoned.

And Zhang Ruochen himself held the Ancient Abyssal Blade as he charged straight at Shang Ziyan.

“Die!”

Shang Ziyan roared.

THe Bloodbairn swung as tens of thousands of blood-colored infants flew out, all letting out a shrill cry as if they were imps climbing out of hell to pull Zhang Ruochen down into the nether.

Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was firm and was unaffected at all as he entered a wondrous state of becoming one with his sword, unleashing the most powerful sword strike.

“Sword Ten.”

After countless fierce battles, Zhang Ruochen’s understanding of Sword Ten had became more and more profound, and each them he used it, its power will be improved.

Baaam!!

No matter how strong the power unleashed by the Bloodbairn, in the face of the Ancient Abyssal Blade’s attack, it all was unravelling extremely quickly as the blood-colored infants all burst apart and their resentment, anger and evil all dissipated away.

Even when some of the attacks struck Zhang Ruochen, they were all resisted by the Armor of the Fire God, and did not cause him much harm.

Finally, Zhang Ruochen reached before Shang Ziyan with the tip of his blade pointing straight at Shang Ziyan’s eyebrow.

A look of terror appeared in Shang Ziyan tried to pull back hurriedly.

But now maytter how far he retreated, Zhang Ruochen followed on closely like a beast already upon its prey, and could not break free.

Dush!!

The Ancient Abyssal Blade reached the center of Shang Ziyan’s forehead, but the blade failed to bite into it.

The reason was that Shang Ziyan had managed to put the bone charm at the center of his brow in time to accurately blocked the Ancient Abyssal Blade’s thrust.

A large amount of arcane runes appeared on the surface of the bone charm as it tried to entangle the Ancient Abyssal Blade.

“Hmph.”

Zhang Ruochen let out a heavy grunt as the Violet Godstone on the sword hilt suddenly released a terrifying mystical power.

Crack!

Before the bone charm could fully unleash its power, it was shattered by the mystical power released by the Violet Godstone.

Under the imact of the formidable mystical power, Shang Ziyan’s head almost exploded as his entire body flew out like a cannonball.