Chapter 2282: Battle of Wits and Strength
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Xu was not an ordinary person. He had powerful cultivation and could kill enemies across realms. Zhang Ruochen was mentally prepared. However, Xu was so powerful that he only shook slightly even if Zhang Ruochen tried his best. It was far beyond Zhang Ruochen’s expectations.
“As expected of the number one Ghost Emperor. It seems that I have to use the power of Truth.”
Zhang Ruochen mobilized Precepts of Truth in his body and flowed them all into his right arm. At the same time, dense starlight spots appeared around his body and turned into a nascent starry ocean.
“Zhang Ruochen is finally going to use Path of Truth. It’s said that Zhang Ruochen crossed the tenth level of Sea of truth, just like Magnogod Huang Tian.”
“Zhang Ruochen’s attainments in Path of Truth are indeed very high. He can amplify the attack power of his Saint Technique ten times stronger in an instant.”
“Arm wrestling is a competition of Palm power to a certain extent. Zhang Ruochen has spent a lot of energy cultivating his palm strike. If his palm strike is boosted by Path of Truth, the power will be ten times more impressive. Will Xu be able to withstand it?”
“Why didn’t Xu suppress Zhang Ruochen immediately when Zhang Ruochen mobilized Precepts of Truth?”
Many cultivators present were curious. If they were in Xu’s shoes, the moment Zhang Ruochen mobilized Path of Truth, they would definitely strike first and counter with unstoppable force.
But Xu did not do that.
Did he think that he could withstand ten times the power of Zhang Ruochen’s palm strike?
Supreme Saint Yanhong smiled. “Zhang Ruochen has Path of Truth, but Xu has Path of Destiny. Why should Xu be afraid of him?
“Besides, this is Mount Destiny. Precepts of Destiny converge here. The power of Destiny is stronger here than any elsewhere.”
Xu was the top elite in Supreme Saint Yanhong’s faction. Thus, she was confident in Xu.
Whoosh–
When Zhang Ruochen activated the Realm-frame of Truth, the Gate of Destiny, which was hundreds of feet tall, appeared behind Xu. The eyes of non-Supreme Saint-level cultivators were dazzled by the bright light.
Boom!
With the addition of Precepts of Truth, Zhang Ruochen displayed Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike. With the power of ten times higher, it charged at the Ghost hand.
At the same time, the power of three elephant souls from Thousand-Koan Realm reached its strongest state in an instant. They let out deafening roars.
Xu’s ghost hand suddenly moved back and was half-pressed down.
The entire ghost arm was twisted.
Seeing this, countless cultivators in Infernal Court gasped. They couldn’t help but hold their breaths.
Could it be that the strongest Ghost, Xu, had lost to Zhang Ruochen in Neverwilt Realm?
Ten times the power came and went quickly.
Xu’s arm slowly turned upward, a mocking smile appeared on his face. “Your attainments in Path of Truth are indeed beyond my expectations. My Path of Destiny cannot completely weaken it. However, ten times the power in an instant is not enough to crush me.”
Seeing that Xu was gradually turning his arm back, now it was the cultivators of Bloodysky Clan’s turn to worry.
Among them, Lord Xia Yu, Gu Chenzi, Supreme Saint Yi Xuan, and Supreme Saint Xueqi couldn’t help but sigh. They had hoped that Zhang Ruochen could create another miracle.
But now, everyone could see that Zhang Ruochen had gone all out. He had used all his trump cards. However, Xu had taken them one by one without even using the ghosts that had been refined into his body.
In other words, Xu didn’t use his full strength.
It was like a cat playing with a mouse. No matter how many tricks you used, you couldn’t change your fate. When you get exhausted, you would be eaten in one bite.
Xu was the cat playing with the mouse. He always had victory in his hands.
The cultivators of Infernal Court laughed mockingly.
Most of them didn’t think of Zhang Ruochen as a member of Infernal Court. He was an outsider to them. That was why they felt humiliated when Lord Sinluo was defeated by Zhang Ruochen.
Now, Xu had used his absolute advantage to play with Zhang Ruochen. Naturally, they felt a sense of joy as if it saved their reputation.
With victory in hand, Xu said, “Zhang Ruochen, don’t be discouraged. You are only in Neverwilt Realm but you have the ability to fight with me. You should feel honored.”
Zhang Ruochen was not angry. He said, “Do you really think that Path of Truth is that simple?”
“What do you mean?” Xu said.
“The most powerful part of Path of Truth is not the power of the Realm-frame of Truth.”
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes. Suddenly, the starlight spots around his body became more extensive.
The light spots quickly became larger and turned into light orbs.
In Xu’s field of vision, the light orbs turned into a boundless sea of stars. Each one was as big as a planet as if they were standing in the boundless universe.
The Realm-frame of Truth was actually a realm form that was constructed using Path of Truth.
However, this realm was constructed by various Precepts between heaven and earth.
The more powerful the Realm-frame of Truth, the wider the Precept Realm was constructed. Hence, the stronger the power it could draw.
Back then, Yu Wenjing — the disciple from Fane of Truth — had only cultivated the Realm-frame of Truth of “Heavens Up Above”. The thunder and lightning that surged out of the Realm-frame of Truth forced Zhang Ruochen to use Secret Tome of Time and Space to resolve it.
Now, Zhang Ruochen’s Realm-frame of Truth was “Shoreless Star Ocean,” and it was still evolving into “Boundless Universe.” The power it could unleash was naturally stronger.
In Sea of Stars, the starlight orbs flew rapidly toward Xu as if they had turned into real planets.
For other cultivators, they only saw the starlight orbs fly out one by one. They didn’t think it was dangerous. However, in Xu vision, real planets were crushing towards him. They were vast and shocking
Xu gritted his teeth and snorted. “Zhang Ruochen, are you arm-wrestling, or do you want to fight?”
“I’m within the rules. Why can’t I use other powers?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
The planets were getting closer and closer, releasing destructive pressure.
“Damn it. How could the Realm-frame of Boundless Starry Sea be so powerful? Are they really attacking powers or are they spiritual power illusions?”
Xu was caught off guard.
He had met cultivators who had cultivated the Realm-frame of Truth before. However, Celestial Court cultivators had only cultivated the Realm-frame of Heavens Up Above. Before they could use the power of the Realm-frame, Xu had swallowed and refined it.
There were too few cultivators who had cultivated the Realm-frame of Truth.
Naturally, Xu knew very little about the Realm-frame.
The Gate of Destiny flew in front of him. It was like a shining shield, blocking the incoming stars.
Rumble
With each collision, The Gate of Destiny shook violently.
A power wave passed through the Gate of Destiny and crashed onto Xu’s body.
The more powerful the Realm-frame of Truth was, the harder it was to control. Zhang Ruochen had cultivated his spiritual power — to the 62nd level — before he could barely use the Realm-frame to mobilize Heavenly and Earthly Precepts in the realm of Realm-frame of Truth. Only then it could be converted into attack ability for his own use.
“I can’t let my guard down anymore. I should first defeat Zhang Ruochen with absolute power and then look for classics to study the Realm-frame of Truth in detail.”
Finally, Xu felt threatened by Zhang Ruochen. Worried that something might happen, Xu stopped playing with him. He opened his mouth and spat out eight million Ghosts.
Ear-piercing Ghost cries spread throughout Destiny’s Creek.
The sky was covered by Ghost silhouettes. Black clouds scudded and it was dark and gloomy.
Eight million Ghosts quickly merged and turned into eight Ghost Emperor Souls at Thousand-Koan Realm level. They combined with Xu’s power and stood in eight different directions.
“Isn’t it too late to use the power of Ghost souls?”
Zhang Ruochen raised his left hand slowly. A corner from microworld of woodlands appeared in the void space and pressed down on his right hand.
The true form of microworld of woodlands moved gradually as if it was about to be fully revealed. It became heavier and heavier.
Inside the microworld was filled with mountains, rivers, plains, and deserts. At first, it was only a corner that was hundreds of miles long. Now, it had grown more than a thousand miles long.
“My God! Zhang Ruochen actually summoned a microworld to suppress Xu’s arm. Is this still arm wrestling?”
“I knew Zhang Ruochen controlled a microworld long ago. Could it be this one?”
“I suddenly feel that Xu was unwise to fight Zhang Ruochen by arm wrestling. It’s better to fight directly. At least when fighting, even if Zhang Ruochen summoned this microworld, he wouldn’t be able to suppress Xu. Xu could retreat or attack. But now, Xu can only passively take it.”
…
As the microworld of woodlands became wider, it exploded with a weight that even the eight Thousand-Koan Realm Ghost Emperor Soul couldn’t bear.
The contempt on Xu’s face had long disappeared. He let out a long howl and spat out four million more Ghosts, condensing four more Thousand-Koan Realm Ghost Emperor Soul.
The combined power of twelve Ghost Emperor Souls finally resisted the suppression of the microworld of woodlands.
“Watch me shatter your microworld.”
Xu’s entire body tensed up, and his expression was cold as he became completely serious.
He raised his left hand, and a seven-petaled ghost lotus appeared in his palm. Pleiades Lotus gave off a bone-piercing cold air as it rapidly spun toward the microworld of woodlands.
When Pleiades Lotus spun, the power it gave off condensed into a huge vortex.
Many cultivators present were analyzing and they quickly concluded. “With Pleiades Lotus, Xu will shatter Zhang Ruochen’s microworld of woodlands.”
Wu Jiang sat cross-legged beside the jade table. “I didn’t expect that Xu has been hiding his power. With the twelve Thousand-Koan Realm Ghost Emperor Souls and Pleiades Lotus, even if I fought him, I wouldn’t be 100% sure of winning.”
Luo Shengtian, who was sitting opposite Wu Jiang, looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, “Don’t you think Zhang Ruochen is even more impressive?”
Wu Jiang squinted and nodded slightly.
Zhang Ruochen hadn’t even broken his first shackle, but he could force Xu to use all kinds of trump cards. It really made them — who were ranked at the top of the list in Great Perfection stage of Hundred-Shackled Realm — feel great pressure.
Sitting at the top, Yan Huangtu said, “This battle is no different from a real battle.”
“At least Xu won. Zhang Ruochen is still a step behind,” Wu Jiang said.
Wu Jiang was shocked by Zhang Ruochen’s strength. Not only did he feel a sense of urgency, but he also felt a deep sense of loss. For if they were in the same realm, he doubted that he could even block Zhang Ruochen’s palm strike.
However, when he thought that he could kill Zhang Ruochen and stop him from becoming stronger by entering Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting, the pressure and disappointment disappeared.
Boom
Pleiades Lotus hit microworld of woodlands and penetrated the entire world. The ground was torn apart, mountains collapsed, rivers were cut off, and all the plants were corroded by the power of Pleiades Lotus and turned into black pus.
A microworld was destroyed!
Many cultivators felt pitied for Zhang Ruochen because they could see that Zhang Ruochen’s microworld of woodlands had already taken shape and could give birth to life.
Such a microworld was worth as much as a high-level Planet of Life above Class seven.
If sold, it could sell for tens thousand Godstones.
Without a doubt, the destruction of the microworld of woodlands meant that Zhang Ruochen was doomed to lose.
The corner of Xu’s mouth rose.
However, what puzzled him was that Zhang Ruochen was as steady as a rock in the face of a certain defeat.
“How can he be so calm?”
This thought just emerged in his mind. Suddenly, Xu felt that the ground was spinning and the space around him was turning.
“Oh no, Zhang Ruochen used the microworld to suppress my arm just to attract my attention. His-his- real goal is to distort space.”
He looked to the left and saw that Destiny’s Creek, which was originally flowing on the ground, had strangely flown upwards towards the sky.
The cultivators of Infernal Court downstream were now sitting in the sky.
The space on his left turned 90 degrees.
“No-no-, I can’t lose…”
Xu growled silently in his heart. He exerted all his strength and pressed Zhang Ruochen’s arm down.
But it was too late. Destiny’s Creek on the left pressed down at an even faster speed. His 100-foot long ghost hand was soon soaked by the water.
It was a foregone conclusion!
According to the rules set by Pan Ruo, whoever hand-dipped into the stream first would be the loser.
Although Zhang Ruochen did not completely crush his arm, he distorted the space where Destiny’s Creek was located and defeated him according to the rules of etiquette.
For example:
Zhang Ruochen had to walk from his original position to a pavilion 500 meters away. However, it wasn’t necessarily that he had to walk this 500 meters. He only needed to use Power of Dimensions to shrink the ground into an inch and pull the pavilion in front of him. Now, he just has to walk into it in one step.
Pan Ruo floated in the air and looked at the distorted space. She stared at Zhang Ruochen and Xu, “The winner has been decided! The winner is Zhang Ruochen.”
At the same time, Yan Huangtu, who was sitting at the top of Destiny’s Creek, suddenly pressed his palm on the ground.
Swoosh
The distorted space was pressed back to its original state by his Palm strike.
Xu was not someone who could not afford to lose, but at this moment, he was stunned and could not accept the result.
He knew that he should not lose, but he knew that he can’t complain about losing. Although Zhang Ruochen was opportunistic, Power of Dimensions was also a part of his own power.
If Xu could be more careful and did not underestimate his enemy, Zhang Ruochen would not be able to succeed even if he used the Power of Dimensions.
The contest between Supreme Saints was never a simple contest of power.
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky and stared at it for a long time, he let out a long sigh. “In order to win you, I actually lost a Microworld. Now I finally understand that in the contest between Supreme Saints, a Microworld is just a chess piece. What about the contest between gods?”
Whoosh!
Zhang Ruochen waved his sleeve. Instantly, microworld of woodlands shattered into pieces of the ground. They flew into the sky and hovered above Divine Domain of Destiny, turning into space meteorites and cosmic dust.
Boom!
It wasn’t until then that the cultivators attending the Festival in Destiny’s Creek realized that Zhang Ruochen had won. He had won five more Ampliofruits.. Instantly, there was a deafening clamor.