Chapter 1919: The Sword of Time’s Fifth Realm
As Zhang Ruochen gathered his strength in his arms, overpowering 13 dragon souls and 13 elephant souls appeared to block the attack.
With the flip of his hand, he took out the Ancient Abyssal Blade and struck at the leftmost Precept Domain elite.
This move was simple but impossible to dodge.
The red-haired Precept Domain elite was panicking. He quickly raised his Seven-Radiance Thousand-Inscription sacred artifact-class saber, trying to ward off the sword.
His saber broke at contact with the Ancient Abyssal Blade. There was resistance.
The Ancient Abyssal Blade had not lost its momentum. It kept coming down and struck the red-haired Precept Domain elite.
There was no inscription on the surface of the Ancient Abyssal Blade. Only the purple Godstone embedded in the hilt was emitting a faint glow, weighing thousands of pounds, almost as heavy as a star.
The purple Godstone was in fact formed by the star nearby a black hole.
The Deathkin elite fall like a meteorite.
As he hit the ground, the impact left behind a deep crater, an enormous amount of dust and smoke rose into the air, and a vast piece of land subsided.
The Deathkin elite was gone, leaving behind a pile of broken bones in the crater.
“Scary! He killed Precept Domain King Wusui in just a move.”
“He was using only his physical strength.”
“His physical strength was power. That sword of his is heavier than ten mountains.”
…
Knowing how formidable this human was, the three remaining Deathkin cultivators of the Precept Domain realm clapped their hands and performed a Mystic Technique of Death.
“Telekinesis!”
The earth under their feet cracked and turned into an island while the soil around the island rose into the air.
The earth in several hundred miles radius flew up and crashed at Zhang Ruochen.
He spun around at once, and the Ancient Abyssal Blade vibrated for a second.
Countless Marks of Time appeared between heaven and earth, starry like the scene in the universe, and engulfed the three Precept Domain elites.
Time seemed to have come to a standstill at this moment.
A shadow flashed in the air as Zhang Ruochen and the Ancient Abyssal Blade flew several thousand miles across the earth like a beam of light and appeared behind the three Precept Domain elites of the Deathkin.
Three of the Deathkin froze as their heads were severed from their bodies, and they plunged down from the air.
It was one sword against three Precept Domain elites.
Stunning…
The fleeing Heaven’s Reach Deathkin elite looked back and witnessed everything. “How is this possible?” he was shocked.
“Nothing is impossible!”
Zhang Ruochen pursued him with the sword in his hand and a murderous look in his eyes.
“I am the Blackbone General under the command of Chixing Shenzi. His Highness Shenzi will not let you slide if you kill me!” The Heaven’s Reach Deathkin elite roared at seeing Zhang Ruochen coming after him.
“Chixing Shenzi? Never heard of it. But don’t you worry. I will send Chixing Shenzi to reunite with you in the underworld soon,” said Zhang Ruochen coldly.
It was naïve to threaten him with a Deathkin shenzi.
Zhang Ruochen performed a Dimensional Shift and instantaneously appeared behind the Blackbone General.
Countless Marks of Time appeared and engulfed the Blackbone General.
The dimension’s flow of time changed as if time was standing still.
“Moonlight Melody!”
Zhang Ruochen aimed his sword at the Blackbone General’s forehead.
“That’s a quick move!”
That was the Blackbone General’s final thought before the sword penetrated his forehead, shattering his skull and annihilating his Saint Soul.
The next moment, his body formed by the evil air of death crumpled, leaving behind a skeleton with the skull.
The skeleton looked like a glistening jade with many mysterious pattern inscriptions. It would make a powerful weapon if given more alchemical work.
The Deathkin were one of the three upper races in the Infernal Court, a result of evolution from the Corpusian and Bone Clan of the three middle races. It was also a new life form.
The legion of Deathkin entrenched in Linyang City had evolved from the Bone Clan, and the Blackbone General’s skeleton was extremely valuable.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to let this go to waste. He collected the skeletons of the Blackbone General and four other Precept Domain elites of the Deathkin with a wave of his hand. The few evil weapons had also gone into his collection.
He could let the Ancient Abyssal Blade absorb and refine them as long as he first got rid of the evil air of death.
The Ancient Abyssal Blade was now an Eighth Radiance Thousand-Inscription sacred artifact. With the help of the purple Godstone, its power could even challenge a Ninth Radiance Thousand-Inscription sacred artifact.
Yet, that was not good enough. The Ancient Abyssal Blade needed to absorb and refine more weapons to become even stronger.
Right now, the Abyssal sword spirit had formed a body, which was of the finest one. It was going to grow at an accelerated pace.
“I haven’t really mastered the essence of Moonlight Melody. Had the Blackbone General been more vigilant, this move would not have worked.”
Zhang Ruochen was not too happy with his earlier move.
Moonlight Melody was the fifth level of Sword of Time. It could be called Moon Sword, more mysterious than Wheel of the Law’s Rebirth. He had just started practicing it and barely touched the surface.
After his cultivation base reached the Lesser Precept World, it was impossible to gain any more meaningful improvement in the short term.
He needed to let things sit for a period. After his mind and his cultivation base completed a run-in process, he could consider working on another cultivation breakthrough.
The higher level he went, the more patience he needed. Each step he took had to be nice and steady.
So Zhang Ruochen maintained at the Lesser Precept World. If he wanted a major strength improvement, the only way he could go was martial arts and theurgy.
Zhang Ruochen specialized in the Path of Time, Path of Dimension, Path of Sword, Path of Palm, and Path of Fist. A breakthrough in any of these would give him a tremendous increase in strength.
Sword of Time, a combination of Path of Time, as well as Path of Sword, was unfathomably mysterious and powerful. It had always been Zhang Ruochen’s important trump card, on which he would spend more time and effort to comprehend.
There was no way to improve his Path of Palm for the moment. His cultivation had hit the ceiling in skills like Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike or Seven-Orifice Netherblood Palm. Before he became a Supreme Saint, it was hard to gain any meaningful improvement.
Unless he could find the Supreme Saint dragon soul and elephant soul.
It was his Path of Palm that he needed to spend time comprehending. If he could successfully master the 11th realm of the Luoshui Fist Technique, it would become a higher-order Saint Technique. By then, he would be unbeatable below the realm of Supreme Sainthood.
However, if he wanted to attain the 11th realm, he needed to go to the Nine Carols Star.
The Luoshui Fist Technique and Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike were soft and hard respectively, akin to the concept of yin and yang. If he cultivated them at the same time, it would have a remarkably synergic effect.
Zhang Ruochen had wanted to comprehend Sword Ten, but he did not get tips from those who came before him. So he did not know where to start.
Sword Ten had always existed in the legends. Throughout history, there had rarely been anyone who had mastered it successfully.
For the past thousand years, Xue Hongchen, the Sword Emperor, was the only person who had successfully mastered it.
Wanxiang City should still keep Sword Emperor Xue Hongchen’s secret comprehension of Sword Ten. However, it was not expected to be revealed to outsiders.
For the moment, Zhang Ruochen would focus on cultivating Sword of Time and Path of Dimension.
“Fairy, Xianji Mountain is only sixty thousand miles away. We can make it there in no time, but before that, I have to find someone else,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“You want to find Pei Yutian?” said Ji Fanxin.
She had heard the news of Pei Yutian attacking Linyang City before.
So, she had guessed what was in Zhang Ruochen’s mind.
“That’s right. I don’t think Pei Yutian will die so easily. Nevertheless, I guess his situation is not looking good either, so I must find him.” Zhang Ruochen nodded.
He owed Pei Yutian a favor, and so he had to return his, no matter what.
He would go looking for him no matter how far it was. More so, when the cliff where Pei Yutian fell was nearby.
If Pei Yutian was still alive, he would save him.
But if Pei Yutian was dead. He wanted to find his body and bury him.
“Why not? Since we have come so far here in the Northern Region,” said Ji Fanxin.
“Thanks, Fairy,’ said Zhang Ruochen with a smile.
Without wasting more time, Zhang Ruochen tucked the altar away and led the way.
The Cliff of Doom was a special place, even creepy. Anything that flew over it would inexplicably fall.
There used to be many elite fighters trying to find out what caused the phenomenon, but none of them had been successful.
Pei Yutian must have jumped off the cliff in desperation when he was backed into a corner by the Deathkin.
He still had a hope of survival if he had jumped, but he would surely be dead if he had gone elsewhere.
The Cliff of Doom had been a lively place for the past two days. Not only were the Deathkin lingering around there, but there were also many Celestial Court cultivators. There was a mélange of people there.
At first, there were only some sporadic clashes between the two sides.
Now, however, both sides had formed a tacit understanding; no one wanted to waste time and energy fighting each other before Pei Yutian was found.
In just a matter of the time for a stick of incense to burn, Zhang Ruochen and the three of them had arrived at the Cliff of Doom.
It was a sea of red at the Cliff of Doom. Divine blood used to have rained down here, causing the land barren and spiritual power suppressed.
As the Kunlun Realm was revived, this place became even more creepy.
As a group of shadows suddenly descended in front of them, these people were alarmed.
When they saw that it was Zhang Ruochen and his company, not the Infernal Court cultivators, they were relieved. “Are all of you here for the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb too? I heard that Pei Yutian’s hiding place has been found. We have to descend to the bottom now. Otherwise, the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb will fall into the hands of the Infernal Court cultivators.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes landed on a skinny young man.
“The Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
“Don’t you all know about it? The Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb is the reason for Pei Yutian’s visit to Linyang City earlier. That thing belongs to Chixing Shenzi. If not, why do you the Deathkin are fussing over it?” said the skinny young with a strange expression.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart skipped a beat. He did not expect Pei Yutian to be so daring as to take Chixing Shenzi’s Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb.
The Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb was the finest sacred herb after going through a Yuanhui Tribulation. Going further, it would change into a demi-divine herb.
Those sacred herbs that did not make it through a Yuanhui Tribution could only be deemed as Hundred-Thousand-Year sacred herbs.
One Yuanhui Tribulation was 129,600 years, incredibly long—so long that many deities had failed to live through it.
A Precept Domain elite would go crazy for a Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb.
“Did you just say that the hiding place of Pei Yutian was found?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
“Yeah, just recently. Someone found him hiding inside a hidden cave at the bottom of the Cliff of Doom. But the cave is strange; no one has successfully entered yet.
“Now, all elites are heading to the cave, all trying to get a piece of the action.
“Rumor has it that Pei Yutian is a true master, and he is incredibly lucky with many valuable things with him. Even if we can’t get the Yuanhui Tribulation sacred herb, getting other treasures is just as good.”
Zhang Ruochen quietly breathed a sigh of relief; so long as Pei Yutian was still alive.
Following immediately, a sense of disgust rose within him. It was expected that the Deathkin wanted Pei Yutian’s death. But it was simply outrageous when the Celestial Court cultivators were also thinking about robbing Pei Yutian of his treasure.
Instead of fighting off the Infernal Court’s invasion, these Celestial Court cultivators were thinking of taking advantage of the Kunlun Realm cultivators. They deserved death for this alone.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen knew from the beginning that many Celestial Court cultivators were not there to help the Kunlun Realm but to exploit the opportunities there, wanting to loot the available resources. These people were fundamentally no different from the Infernal Court cultivators.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhang Ruochen smiled. “Then we better hurry. Otherwise, we would have come all the way for nothing.”
“Right, right, right!”
The skinny young man looked as if he could not wait.
He moved in a flash and lunged down the Cliff of Doom.
Seeing that, Zhang Ruochen and his company followed suit.
Thick clouds of fog mixed with obnoxious gases and evil energy shrouded the Cliff of Doom all year long. No ordinary living things dared to come to the vicinity.
They followed the skinny young man and flew down the 30,000-yard cliff before arriving at the bottom.
The bottom of the cliff was very spacious. It was a frightening sight here as white bones filled the place. It was a burial site of countless living beings.
“The air feels chilly here. This place is creepy.”
Xiang Chunan shivered involuntarily.
“Be careful. Something is not right here,” warned Ji Fanxin.
“What have you found, Fairy?” asked Zhang Ruochen.
Ji Fanxin sensed the surroundings with her powerful spiritual power. “Something is suppressing my spiritual power. I can really tell what, but I have a bad feeling about it.”
“Let’s first get Pei Yutian. Just be more careful,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Since they had arrived at the bottom of the cliff, they could not leave simply because something was wrong with the place.
“Over there!”
Ji Fanxin pointed in a direction.