Chapter 1906: Despair
“Xia Shenzi, your Godslayer Cross Shield should also be a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact. Why can’t you unleash such power?” the Nine-eye Heavenly Lord asked suspiciously.
Xia Wenxin gently stroked the Godslayer Cross Shield and shook his head “It’s extremely difficult to master a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact if you are not a Supreme Saint. It had only been a short time since I’ve gotten the shield, and it will take some time for me to fully familiarize myself with it. Only by getting the vessel spirit’s acknowledgment that I can unleash its full power.”
Hearing this, the Nine-eye Heavenly Lord could not help but sigh. “Xuetu sure is lucky and had already refined the Infernal Purgatory Tower long ago, and even a Neverwither Supreme Saint is not his match.”
Hearing that, Xia Wenxin just smiled faintly and said nothing else.
At this moment, the Infernal Purgatory Tower flew into the air, and orbs o Purgatory Flames flew out from the tower, falling into the ground like a rain of fire. The resulting thumping noise sounded like it was about to completely destroy the place.
Zhang Ruochen wanted to use his dimensional techniques to take everyone back into the Sword Vault, however, he found out that the space was restricted, and even his flying speed was much slower.
“I only need ten percent of my power to deal with this rabble, and you lot actually lost that many men? The pride of the Immortal Vampires has totally been besmirched by you fools!”
Xuetu Shenzi admonished Xia Wenxin and the rest as he attacked Zhang Ruochen and his allies.
The Nine-eye Heavenly Lord’s face was extremely gloomy as he seethed in fury. As a Shenzi, he too had his pride, and the desire to protect that pride as he had never been admonished by anyone like this before.
If Xia Wenxin had not stopped him, he would have argued with Xuetu. After all, the dignity of a Shenzi was not to be trampled upon.
“Who’s that bastard? What’s with the grandstanding?”
Xiang Chunan was very miffed at Xuetu as he rubbed his palm together, eager to punch the latter’s face in.
Zhang Ruochen recalled the content he had seen in The Maleficent Records of The Infernal Court’s Ten Clans, and his expression was grim as he said, “Xuetu Shenzi is one of the Immortal Vampires’ top five elites beneath a Supreme Saint rank. He had fought with a Neverwither Supreme Saint, Supreme Saint Chunyi in the stars for two days and three nights, destroying over a dozen stars in the process.
“In the end, Supreme Saint Chunyi retreated bloodied, and Xuetu won.
“That battle shook the top echelon of the Celestial Court, and it was at that time that his danger index was rated as ten.”
Hearing that, everyone gasped hard, and their hearts almost went cold.
Even a Supreme Saint was not his match…
Supreme Saints were emperors among Saints; their bodies immortal, their strength repressive.
Fighting with Xuetu was no different than fighting a Supreme Saint.
How could they fight such a terrifying existence?
How could they not fall into despair?
“No matter how strong he is, we have to fight.”
Zhang Ruochen looked behind him and saw Shi Qiankun desperately rushing to the Sword Vault. No matter what, he needed to fend Xuetu off for a moment to buy time for Shi Qiankun to retreat.
Moreover, after breaking through the rank of a Nine-step Saint King, Zhang Ruochen’s power had greatly increased, and he wanted to see the level of this famous Immortal Vampire elite’s strength.
Only by knowing his foe could he figure out a way to win.
“No matter who he is, Lord Xiang isn’t afraid.”
Xiang Chunan roared as he unleashed all of the meridian points in his body. A series of demonic Qi pillars continuously converged toward the metal demonic crown.
As Zhang Ruochen’s sworn brother, he would stand firmly beside him no matter when or where. They would face life and death together.
Murong Yue did not speak and only silently roused her demonic Qi before she infused it into her Bluelight Blunt Crescent as she prepared to strike.
“Awesome, awesome, let’s fight!” Awesome, the Little Taoist gritted its teeth.
As for Bao Lie, there was nothing else to be said. He put both his index fingers together as the Saint Qi inside his meridians revolved in a frenzy and converged between his brows. His Eye of the Star God was ready to open at any moment.
Divine light radiated out of Ji Fanxin’s body, and it was obvious she was going to unleash some sort of powerful technique.
“If I do not bring salvation to those in hell, who else would. Amitabha,” Sikong the Younger recited the Buddha’s name softly.
Thwack!
Sikong the Elder slapped Sikong the Younger’s head. “What the hell are you talking about? If anyone deserves to be in hell, it’s that dogsh*t Shenzi.”
Seeing Zhang Ruochen and the rest standing before him, Xuetu Shenzi could not help but sneer, “Since all of you want to die that much, I’ll fulfill your wish then.”
Before his voice even trailed off, the Infernal Purgatory Tower spun as rivers of flames rushed out of it, sending scorching heat waves that struck at extreme speeds.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were determined as he did his best to rouse the Azuresky Pagoda and transformed it into the size of a mountain to strike the Infernal Purgatory Tower.
Although the Azuresky Pagoda’s vessel spirit was not around, with the consciousness of the vessel spirit willing to help, its power was not to be underestimated.
At the same time, Awesome, the Little Taoist temporarily transformed into the Purple-Gold Bagua Mirror’s vessel spirit so that its power could be pushed to the extreme.
Murong Yue shot out her Bluelight Blunt Crescent, while Xiang Chunan threw his metal demonic crown. Bao Lie activated his Eye of the Star God, while Ji Fanxin unleashed a powerful divine light as Sikong the Elder and Sikong the Younger joined hands and created the Chessboard of Heaven and Earth, its divine aura spreading all over.
This time around, everyone was unleashing their strongest techniques to fight Xuetu Shenzi.
Boom!!
A terrifying force erupted, and the ground within hundreds of miles sank rapidly as everything within thousands of miles was swept away.
When it came to such power, even a tiny aftershock, was enough to kill a Saint King elite.
Baaaam!!!
Zhang Ruochen and the rest endured the powerful shock wave, and like leaves in the autumn wind, all of them were sent flying.
On the other side, the Infernal Purgatory Tower stopped and did not continue to advance.
Xuetu, who was standing on top of the tower, his body exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
Seeing that, Xiang Chunan, who was lying in a pool of blood, laughed while he coughed out blood. “Hahaha!! What top five elite? What powerful Supreme Saint? Ain’t he still dead after meeting Lord Xiang here?”
A look of joy appeared on Awesome, the Little Taoist’s face, and it could not believe its eyes as it said, “We actually killed Xuetu. Won’t I become famous after this battle?”
Zhang Ruochen wiped off the blood at the corner of his mouth, but he was not as elated as Xiang Chunan or Awesome, the Little Taoist. Instead, his face turned pale, and his heart sank as he said, “Run.”
“Run, why run?”
“Yeah, we should take advantage of this and let the Immortal Vampires know that who has the final say in the Kunlun Realm.”
…
Ji Fanxin looked at the Infernal Purgatory Tower hanging high in the air, and she frowned like never before, saying, “We have only destroyed one of Xuetu’s avatar. When his true form arrives, we won’t even be able to leave.”
“What… an avatar…”
“Impossible!”
Both Xiang Chunan and Awesome the Little Taoist gasped, and could not help but take a few steps back.
Righ then, when no one was operating the Infernal Purgatory Tower, the space was no longer restricted, and that was the best time to retreat.
Whoosh!
Using the Dimensional Shift, Zhang Ruochen took everyone and retreated back to the Sword Vault at top speed.
Boom!!
Just then, a powerful surge of blood Qi fell from the sky and appeared above the Infernal Purgatory Tower.
Xuetu’s figure reappeared, and the aura that exuded from his body was nearly ten times stronger than before. It was like a blood-red sun hanging in the air and shining over the world.
However, his expression was extremely grim.
A mere swarm of ants could actually destroy his avatar? Where would he put his face?
One needed to know that the avatar had been created using a large amount of blood Qi and had ten percent of his cultivation at peak strength.
Plus, with the Infernal Purgatory Tower, other than a Supreme Saint, who could have fought him?
“Run, then. I’ll see where can you run to. Seal the exit of the Zhenyu Clan grounds, and don’t even let a fly out. I want to suck everyone dry of their blood,” Xuetu Shenzi growled.
On the surface of the Infernal Purgatory Tower, runes and wards emerged like millions of tadpoles as the blood Qi shot into the air, the supreme power rushed out as if it was about to seal the dimension in place.
To use his real body to activate the Infernal Purgatory Tower, its power was definitely drastically different now.
“I never thought that there would be a time where Xuetu suffers a setback, heh.” The Nine-eye Heavenly Lord chuckled.
Xuetu drove the Infernal Purgatory Tower and broke into the Sword Vault at top speed.
There were only Precepts of Sword inside the Sword Vault, and aside from sword cultivators, anyone who broke in would see their strength suppressed.
However, even after breaking into the Sword Vault, Xuetu still appeared to be extremely powerful as if he did not care about the suppressive effect of the Sword Vault against him.
Even if his powers were suppressed, that did not affect him from taking out Zhang Ruochen and the rest.
The Seven Divine Planets suddenly flew out and instantly formed a powerful formation array that rushed toward Xuetu Shenzi.
Xuetu Shenzi did not even look, just casually launching a palm strike.
Boom!!
The formation array instantly disintegrated, as the Seven Divine Planets were scattered.
Bao Lie quickly appeared as he stabbed out with his golden spear.
With the power of the Seventh Radiance fully unleashed, the golden light all converged onto one spot, and there was nothing it could not destroy. Clang!
Xuetu flicked his finger, and the golden spear was sent flying.
Immediately after, he struck his palm out, and it landed squarely on Bao Lie’s chest.
Dush!
Bao Lie puked blood and flew backward like a broken kite.
Many small cracks appeared on his body as blood seeped out of them as he almost burst apart.
With just a single palm strike, Bao Lie had suffered horrendous wounds and nearly died.
They might be of the same Path’s Anterior realm, but the gap in their strength was abnormally large.
Just as Xuetu Shenzi was about to follow up with another strike, Zhang Ruochen intervened and blasted the Azuresky Pagoda in out.
The instant the Azuresky Pagoda held Xuetu Shenzi at back, Zhang Ruochen immediately rescued Bao Lie and fed the latter a large amount of the Springwater of Life.
“For you lot to even entertain the thought of fighting me… The audacity.” Xuetu Shenzi blasted the Azuresky Pagoda away and hissed coldly.
Seeing how badly wounded Bao Lie was, everyone’s heart sank, and they had no idea what they could muster to fight against Xuetu Shenzi.
They had only managed to destroy Xuetu’s avatar after suffering heavy injuries earlier. Up against his true form, they did not have any means to retaliate.
Zhang Ruochen clenched his fist, as his desire for strength was even more pronounced. If his cultivation base had reached Precept Dominion or the Path’s Anterior realm, why would he even fear Xuetu Shenzi?
He was not short of resources or potential, but what he was short of was time.
Give him another hundred years, he would fear no one beneath a Supreme Saint.
Xuetu Shenzi did not seem to be in a hurry to kill Zhang Ruochen and the rest. He enjoyed looking at their fearful faces as he pushed them back deeper into the Sword Vault, step by step.
There were many swords in the Black Wilderness: some perfect, some broken, with all kinds of shapes, and their number, innumerable…
The deeper they got in, the more active the Precepts of Sword and the stronger the suppressive effect against other cultivators.
Aside from Zhang Ruochen, Bao Lie, Ji Fanxin, and the others all suffered great suppression to their power, and their combat strength fell.
Conversely, Xuetu Shenzi was still as strong as he was before. With a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact in hand, even the Sword Vault was hard-pressed to suppress him.
In one of the secret spots in the Sword Vault, Luo Yi appeared and looked at the menacing Xuetu Shenzi with a frown.
“I’ve finally found something nice and these Immortal Vampire fools had broken into the place. Damn them.”
Luo Yi’s wore a disgusted expression, unhappy that the Immortal Vampires were ruining his plan.
He released a powerful spiritual power, and a giant appeared behind him carrying a giant heavy blade.
The giant was not a living being but a corpse that had been dead for who knew how long. It had been buried inside the Sword Vault, and its body was preserved, still bearing within it a powerful strength.
“Want to release Lord Ming? Not that easy. Go,” Luo Yi sneered as he controlled the giant with his spiritual power.
Boom!!
The giant leaped out and stood tall as it swung its giant blade in a murderous arc toward Xuetu Shenzi.
“Hmph.”
Xuetu Shenzi snorted heavily and stuck his finger out.
A burst of blood light cut through the space and slammed onto the giant blade.
“Raaaaawrr!”
The giant roared like a beast as it lashed out with repeated slashes, fearless of death.
While it was dead, it was still a sword cultivator, and it enjoyed a great advantage inside the Sword Vault.
Zhang Ruochen looked in the direction that the giant had leaped out from, and a glint appeared in his eyes as a thought crossed his mind.
The next moment, he snapped back to reality and without hesitation, brought Bao Lie and the rest at the fastest possible speed to a distant snow-covered ancient mountain.
Now that Xuetu Shenzi was held back by the giant, they could take the opportunity to get away, and any delay would mean squandering the chance.