Chapter 2140: Path of Swordsmanship: The Great Perfection
The Azure Dragon withdrew his dragon breath and freed the dozens of Rakshasa Saint Kings.
“Eat Great Prince Mara. This is your only way to survive,” Moyin said indifferently.
Dozens of Rakshasa Saint Kings fixed their eyes on Great Prince Mara. Most of them had a fierce glint in their eyes.
“Great Prince, you will definitely die if you fall into Zhang Ruochen’s hands. Why Don’t you help us and give us a chance to live?” one of the Rakshasa Saint Kings said in a deep voice.
Another Rakshasa Saint King said, “We have no choice now. I’m sorry, Great Prince!”
Dozens of Rakshasa Saint Kings moved in unison and approached Great Prince Mara slowly.
It was every man for himself.
Moreover, they were all ruthless beings. Forget about eating Great Prince Mara’s flesh; they would even dare to eat the flesh of a Rakshasa deity for the sake of survival.
Great Prince Mara’s eyes were filled with fear as he roared in a trembling voice, “Stop, d-d-d-don’t come over. I am the son of Majya. I am the Great Prince personally conferred by ma-ma-many deities. You all— Ahhh…”
Dozens of Rakshasa Saint Kings did not wait for him to finish his sentence and pounced over him. Large chunks of his flesh were torn off by few dozen mouths biting onto his body, blood dripping endlessly.
For a moment, Great Prince Mara’s shrill screams sounded out in the palace hall. It was like the howls of evil ghosts in Hell, sending people shivers and goosebumps.
Seeing this scene, Luo Sha’s pupils constricted. A look of pity appeared in her eyes. Although she was a Rakshasi, this was the first time she had seen a Rakshasa cannibalism.
Moyin cut off a piece of flesh the size of a palm from Great Prince Mara’s body and slowly walked towards Luo Sha, saying, “Your Highness, I have chosen the most tender piece of meat for you. Please enjoy it.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Sha was stupefied. She didn’t want to eat even the flesh of a human, let alone the flesh of her kind.
Eating the flesh of Great Prince Mara was more tormenting than death to her.
Swoosh–
Just as Moyin was about to send the flesh into Luo Sha’s mouth, a brilliant sword light suddenly burst out from Luo Sha’s body.
Crack!
The Sword Light was so sharp that not only did it cut through Zhang Ruochen’s Dimensional chain, it also broke the profound seal left by him.
An ancient sword hilt flew out and fell into Luo Sha’s hand.
Driven by the evil energy, streaks of divine light flew out from the sword hilt and manifested countless Precepts of Swordsmanship. They interweaved and transformed into a slender sword body. The highly dense divine power spread out.
Without needing Luo Sha to do anything, the Precepts of Heaven and Earth revolved around the divine sword.
Rumble–
Under the influence of the divine sword, Luoshui suddenly stirred up huge waves. These waves come with sharp edges. They seemed to condense into thousands of razor-sharp swords.
“This is—”
Moyin’s expression changed slightly.
She had seen this ancient yet plain-looking sword hilt before in the Northern Region and knew that it was related to Sword Vault Palace.
Luo Sha took out this sword hilt back then and almost got her hands on Zhang Ruochen’s Toten Sword.
Before this, Moyin had searched Luo Sha’s body carefully, but she did not find the sword hilt. She had no idea where Luo Sha had hidden it.
Luo Sha fused all of her evil energy into the divine sword in her hand.
Tens of thousands of streaks of sword Qi appeared and turned into a terrifying torrent enveloping Luo Sha. It was as if she were in another space and time, where others could not get close to her.
Moyin wanted to stop her, but the vines she stretched out were crushed into pieces the moment they touched the torrent of sword Qi.
The torrent of Sword Qi also blocked the Dragonsoul Fire that Azure Dragon spat out.
BANG!
The torrent of Sword Qi was unstoppable; it instantly destroyed the palace hall. It pierced through the many Folded Dimensions and opened a passage leading out of Luoshui.
“S-S-Save me…”
Great Prince Mara called out in pain.
Although there was a pity look in Luo Sha’s eyes, she immediately stepped into the passage opened by the torrent of Sword Qi without hesitation.
It was not that she did not want to save Great Prince Mara but that she had no way to save him. Any delay would risk her chance to escape.
The sword hilt that she obtained from Sword Vault Palace was indeed extraordinary. However, with her current strength, she was unable to unleash its true power.
As Great Prince Mara saw Luo Sha did not hesitate to retreat, the last hope in his heart shattered. He fell into despair.
The moment Luo Sha stepped into the sword Qi passage, there was a sign of activity in Nine Carols Star. A profound Swordwill enveloped the entire Nine Carols Star.
The source of this Swordwill was the secret mansion where Zhang Ruochen practicing self-cultivation training in seclusion.
Swoosh–
In an instant, thousands of illusory images of Zhang Ruochen appeared on Nine Carols Star. They all looked solid. It was difficult to identify whether they were real or fake.
Each Zhang Ruochen’s illusory image was brandishing his sword and performing profound sword techniques.
“What happened?”
The cultivators of the Tianchu Civilization having self-cultivation training on Nine Carols Star were all alarmed.
Terrifying power fluctuations appeared one after another. It was almost as if Nine Carols Star had encountered a powerful enemy’s attack.
“Oh no!”
Luo Sha’s expression changed slightly. She immediately retreated from the sword Qi passage at the fastest speed.
There was no other reason except that Zhang Ruochen’s Swordwill had faintly evolved into an independent realm covering the entire Nine Carols Star. It had actually cut off the passage created by the sword hilt.
“Master has come out of seclusion. Luo Sha, you have no way to run!”
A hint of joy appeared in Moyin’s eyes.
Luo Sha did not pay any attention to Moyin. Instead, she locked her gaze at the sky. A huge Saint Sword was floating there. It was 30,000 feet tall and looked like a heavenly sword-shaped mountain.
The Saint Sword emitted a brilliant nona-coloured light. Countless profound runes were imprinted on the sword. It looked like a sword of the highest quality that contained the true essence of Swordsmanship.
For a moment, countless Precepts of Heaven and Earth gathered wildly. The Saint Qi of Heaven and Earth condensed into numerous Saint Sword phantoms. The sword phantoms were all pointed at the 30,000-feet tall Saint Sword. The sight was akin to Convergence of Swords.
Buzz–
The sword hilt in Luo Sha’s hand shook violently, and it showed signs of flying out of her hand.
“The Great Perfection of Swordsmanship,” Luo Sha pronounced.
The realm where a Saint King successfully cultivated a million Precepts for a Path was called the Great Perfection.
Theoretically speaking, a Saint King could cultivate a maximum of one million Precepts for each Path. But in reality, very few of them could reach this stage.
Even for 100,000 Minor Paths, most could only cultivate a number of Precepts close to one million. Hence, they could not achieve the Great Perfection.
It was already hard for most to attain the Great Perfection in Minor Paths, let alone Major Paths, Paths of Supreme Saint, and Paths of the Ancients.
Never had Luo Sha expected Zhang Ruochen would successfully cultivate one million Precepts for Path of Swordsmanship—one of the seventy-two Paths of Supreme Saint—and triggered extraordinary phenomenon.
There was a huge gap between 999,999 Precepts and a million Precepts of a Path, despite the mere difference of one Precept.
Attaining the Great Perfection in a Path would bring unimaginable effects to many aspects of a cultivator’s strength.
Among the several Paths that Zhang Ruochen mainly practiced, his attainment in Path of Swordsmanship had always been at the forefront. Before the seclusion, the number of his precepts for this Path had already been close to a million.
He had devoted himself to comprehending Sword Ten and finally achieved great advancement in his Path of Swordsmanship—the Great Perfection that countless sworders yearned to achieve.
Swoosh–
All illusory images of Zhang Ruochen combined, and the actual Zhang Ruochen appeared.
With a wave of his hand, the 30,000-meter-tall nona-colored Saint Sword directly entered his body.
The nona-colored Saint Sword might seem solid and not so different from a real Saint Sword from outer appearance. But its true form was actually the Saint Aspect of Swordsmanship that Zhang Ruochen had cultivated.
Then, all the strange phenomenon that enveloped Nine Carols Star quickly dissipated.
“Congratulations, Master. Your cultivation base has greatly improved and your Path of Swordsmanship has reached the Great Perfection.”
Moyin and the Azure Dragon immediately approached him to congratulate him.
Although they were both top elites at first-tier under Supreme Sainthood, they still felt tremendous pressure when facing Zhang Ruochen. It was as if they were facing a powerful Supreme Saint.
After attaining the Great Perfection in Path of Swordsmanship, Zhang Ruochen had undergone a significant change. The change was not something that one could observe by looking at his outer appearance. It was rather the type of change that occurred to his essence.
Especially for sword practitioners, they could sense Zhang Ruochen’s change clearly.
Zhang Ruochen landed on the dilapidated palace hall and looked at the ancient sword hilt in Luo Sha’s hand.
Although Luo Sha tried her best to resist, after Zhang Ruochen released a powerful Swordwill, the sword hilt flew out of her hand against her will.
“Return the hilt to me. It belongs to me.” Luo Sha’s beautiful eyes widened as she snorted.
Zhang Ruochen held the hilt and sized it up. He said, “This object is a property of Sword Vault Palace. It doesn’t belong to you.”
“Zhang Ruochen, you’re a bully. Why do you always steal my treasures? Sundial is mine, and so is the hilt.” Luo Sha’s eyes were full of resentment. She ground her teeth, her plump breasts panting.
Zhang Ruochen did not bat an eyelid. “You are wrong. Nothing belongs to you. Even your life is in my hands now.” His tone was flat
His words struck Luo Sha. She could feel a murderous intent from Zhang Ruochen.
Luo Sha knew very well that Zhang Ruochen had always been very cold and ruthless to the cultivators of Infernal Court, especially since Great Prince Mara had provoked him. She might get implicated.
“Zhang Ruochen, you will gain nothing from killing me. It will only bring you endless trouble.
“I know that you will say that you don’t care. But think of those who see you as a thorn in their side. They will be happy to see that happen.
“Anyway, you have already obtained the treasure of Sword Vault Palace. How about letting me go?” Luo Sha said quickly.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I can give you a chance to live. Send a message to your kind—Rakshasa, ask them to send Saint Ancient Tea Tree that Great Prince Mara had snatched from us back to Kunlun.”
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen looked at Great Prince Mara. What he saw was only a skeleton with no flesh and blood as Rakshasa Saint Kings had eaten them up.
Even so, Great Prince Mara was not dead for real yet. His Sainthood Source and Saint Soul remained.
Zhang Ruochen reached out and grabbed Great Prince Mara’s Sainthood Source and sealed it off.
After being eaten alive by Rakshasa Saint Kings, Great Prince Mara’s spiritual will was already in a state of collapse.
Even if he possessed a new body, he would become a useless Rakshasa with no potential to achieve greatness.
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen sent Great Prince Mara’s Sainthood Source to Qiankun Realm so Emperor Yi’s Evil Spirit could refine it.
Zhang Ruochen then put away Great Prince Mara’s Saint Bones as well.
Mara’s bones had already completed the transformation to Neverwither state. They were equivalent to the bones of a Neverwither Supreme Saint, which would have many uses.
At the same time, Moyin suddenly released many vines and pierced through the bodies of Rakshasa Saint Kings.
“Y-Y-You break your promise.”
Rakshasa Saint Kings were filled with resentment.
They had already thrown all concerns away when they chose to devour Great Prince Mara’s flesh and blood. Never had they expected they would still end up dead.
Moyin said coldly, “Keeping promises with the cultivators of Infernal Court is not a wise decision. There is no way I will let you go back and continue to devour the living beings in Kunlun.”
Their fate had already been decided the moment they fell into her and Azure Dragon’s hands.
Be it Great Prince Mara or these Rakshasa Saint Kings, they all played a part in slaying Art Sect. How could they let them go?
In a moment, all the spiritual Qi of the Rakshasa Saint Kings was devoured. They turned into dried corpses and dissipated as the wind blew.
‘Elder Chu, you can rest in peace!’ Zhang Ruochen said in his heart.
After experiencing powerlessness, pain, and sorrow, Zhang Ruochen’s heart gradually became cold and not as kind as before.
Perhaps, this was the price to pay when one embarked on the journey to be more mighty and stronger in the pursuit of Emperorhood.
No matter what, after taking revenge for Chu Siyuan, Zhang Ruochen’s mind became more ease.
The next thing he needed to do was take back Saint Ancient Tea Tree that belonged to Art Sect and help Divine Scripture Maiden revive Art Sect and Confucianism.
And all of these hopes were placed on Luo Sha.
Luo Sha’s status as Rakshasa Princess was more respectful than Great Prince Mara’s. If he could control her, he might be able to make Rakshasa compromise.
In fact, he could have just used Great Prince Mara to exchange for Saint Ancient Tea Tree.
However, Great Prince Mara was the murderer of Chu Siyuan. Since he had already captured Luo Sha, there was no need to keep Mara alive.
“You want to take back Saint Ancient Tea Tree so badly because of Divine Scripture Maiden, right? Zhang Ruochen, you pretend to be cold all the time, but you’re actually very kind to those you care! Haha!” Luo Sha said.
Obviously, Luo Sha knew everything about Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen said coldly, “Do as I say if you don’t want to die.”
Zhang Ruochen released an even more terrifying murderous intent and an irresistible spiritual will that enveloped Luo Sha as he spoke.
“I’ll send the message as you said. Why all the violence?” Luo Sha was shocked, her mouth twitching as she spoke.
She could feel that Zhang Ruochen was not joking. If she disobeyed him, she would suffer consequences far worse than imagined.
Luo Sha did not want to anger Zhang Ruochen for real, so she immediately began to write the content he wanted her to send.
After a short while, Luo Sha had completed drafting the message. Zhang Ruochen sent it out after reading it.
Luo Sha felt shame to ask her people to exchange Saint Ancient Tea Tree for her life, but she could do nothing about it. Zhang Ruochen became stronger and stronger. No matter how many tricks she had, none of them would work this time.
Even Yan Wushen, who was so insufferably arrogant, had been defeated by Zhang Ruochen. She being Zhang Ruochen’s captive, should not be regarded as a disgrace.
In Luo Sha’s opinion, not only had Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation base changed, his state of mind had become flawless now.
He would do anything to achieve his goal.
This version of Zhang Ruochen was the most terrifying.