Chapter 1408: Second Clash

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Whoosh!

Han Qiu twisted her wrist and power of darkness surged out of her palm. One could vaguely see a saint sword wrapped in the dark power.

Flashing, Han Qiu flew to Huang Yanchen like a ghostly spirit and cut down with her sword.

Huang Yanchen didn’t dodge. Her blue eyes stared unblinkingly at Zhang Ruochen.

Martial Saint Canglan was standing nearby. Just as Huang Yanchen was going to die under Han Qiu’s sword, her eyes glinted and she grabbed the Fengtian Sword, leaving a trail of fiery light behind.

She grasped the sword hilt with both hands and cut down fiercely, clashing with Han Qiu’s saint sword.

There was a boom.

Red fiery clouds seemed to spew out of the Fengtian Sword, sending Han Qiu flying back.

A thin line of blood appeared on Huang Yanchen’s snow-white neck. A drop of blood flowed out. That was an injury caused by the sword Qi from Han Qiu’s sword.

It could be said that if Martial Saint Canglan had been an instant slower, Huang Yanchen’s head would have fallen to the ground.

Martial Saint Canglan stood before Huang Yanchen. Grasping both swords, she uttered, “Zhang Ruochen, are you still the faithful and affectionate Zhang Ruochen from before? When you defeated the Lingxiao Heavenly King Mansion and Fire Tribe and climbed Peakless Mountain, I thought that you were just angry. If you’re furious and have a belief, I wouldn’t say those lofty words even if thousands of innocent humans die because of you. There are no absolute rights or wrongs in the world. Living is the most important. Survival of the strongest is the truth.

“But Huang Yanchen is your wife. One year ago, if she hadn’t risked her life to save you outside Ziwei Palace, you would’ve died in the empress’ hands. Otherwise, why do you think the empress let you, the Sacred Crown Prince, leave? Do you really think the empress doesn’t know the secrets of the Sacred followers? But now you want to kill her? Are you even a man?”

“You better mind your own business,” Zhang Ruochen said indifferently.

“You…”

Martial Saint Canglan widened her pretty eyes and revealed two rows of white teeth.

Huang Yanchen walked back to Zhang Ruochen. Her entire aura was different and her eyes had sharpened. “Sister Canglan, you shouldn’t get involved in our conflict.”

Han Qiu sneered. “Good! Great! Last time, in the Blue Dragon Void World, I lost to you and it pained me. This time, you won’t be so lucky!”

Han Qiu’s body dissolved into a ten-foot-wide black hole. Powerful devouring force burst from inside the hole.

The six Demonic Sect disciples closest to Han Qiu were pulled into the black hole without warning. They cried out painfully and struggled, trying to escape.

Boom, boom.

The six disciples exploded into dust.

“This is…the power of darkness… Retreat!”

The other cultivators were all terrified. They all retreated into the distance, afraid that they would be pulled inside the black hole.

A Confucius Saint King from among the Guarding Dragon Pavilion tossed a saint book out.

Hundreds of thousands of words flew out of the book. They formed a hundred-foot-wide word territory over Han Qiu and Huang Yanchen.

Clearly, the Confucius Saint King didn’t want their battle to affect the cultivators outside.

The Saint Lady looked at the thousands of words floating in the square and then at the Confucius Saint King with the starry mask. She grew thoughtful.

Martial Saint Canglan retreated to the Saint Lady’s side. Still furious, she said, “How come Zhang Ruochen changed so much?”

“If you gain something, it means you will lose something,” the Saint Lady said. “If you lose something, it also means you will gain something.”

“What are you saying?” Martial Saint Canglan asked.

“Nothing,” the Saint Lady said. “I just want to tell you that everyone changes. Sometimes, it’s because of the environment. Sometimes it’s because of time, and sometimes it’s forced.”

“You Confucius Way cultivators are just so dramatic and love talking in circles and riddles. Is that fun?”

Martial Saint Canglan didn’t feel like continuing to talk with the Saint Lady. She focused on the fight inside the word territory and her eyes narrowed. “The woman beside Zhang Ruochen is so powerful. She’s actually on the same level as Huang Yanchen. With her abilities, she should be as well-known as the nine Heirs. How come I’ve never heard of her before?”

The Saint Lady nodded. “She’s completed the Dark Body and cultivates the Dark Way. Of the nine Heirs in the same realm, only Xue Wuye and Lidi are stronger than her. Plus, both the Dark Body and Dark Way become stronger as her level increases. In the future, when she reaches the Saint King Realm, Xue Wuye and Lidi won’t be able to defeat her unless they make great improvements in Rules of Saintly Way.”

In an instant, Han Qiu and Huang Yanchen had exchanged more than 100 blows within the word territory. The thousands of words used to stabilize the space trembled.

One year ago, when the nine Heirs fought with Zhang Ruochen, they’d received divine power from the Empress and all reached the Absolute Realm in that moment.

After a full year of cultivation, Huang Yanchen had reached the Heaven Pass Realm earlier.

Han Qiu was still in the Absolute Land Realm.

Of course, a deity’s power could only help a cultivator reach the Absolute Land Realm as quickly as possible. Because starting with the Heaven Pass Realm, a Saint’s cultivation was more about the Rules of Saintly Way. Even a deity couldn’t give much help with that.

“Your abilities do impress me. You can actually fight with me for a long time. It seems that you’ve gained a lot by following the empress.” Han Qiu sneered.

Han Qiu’s cultivation was so fast because she cultivated the Dark Way. She could swallow the cultivation of others and convert it into her own power.

Even Zhang Ruochen couldn’t compare with that!

Thus, Han Qiu believed that Huang Yanchen’s own abilities and cultivation speed couldn’t be compared with her.

Huang Yanchen stayed silent. She activated her Holy Qi and fed it into the Chaotic Universe Sword. Brilliant light shone from the sword. With a dozen-meter-long trail of Sword Qi, it cut down.

Han Qiu didn’t take the hit head-on. She moved to the left.

Even though she was as fast as lightning, a strand of her long hair was still cut down.

“You’re looking for death.”

Han Qiu flew up and pointed up with both hands at the same time. “Dead souls and ghosts, listen to me. Gate of the nether world, open.”

Beams of Rules of Darkness formed at her fingertips. They converged into chains and passed through space, connecting with the nether world.

A deep and ghostly door opened slowly.

Hair-rising screams and howls sounded within the ghostly doors. Then a Corpse King in a tattered dragon robe charged out.

The Corpse King’s body was very rotten. The bones in his face and chest were exposed. Icy Qi of death radiated from the bones.

“The Dark Body is indeed powerful. She can actually summon a Corpse King from the nether world.”

“That Corpse King’s abilities can fight a Heaven Pass Saint.”

“Huang Yanchen isn’t a typical Heaven Pass Saint. With her abilities, she can fight a group of people in the same realm. A Heaven Pass Corpse King isn’t a match for her at all.”

…

Han Qiu’s lips curled up. She manipulated more Rules of Darkness and poured it into the ghostly gates.

Instantly, four Corpse Kings and five Ghost Kings charged out of the gates.

This way, there were five Corpse Kings and five Ghost Kings. Each one was like a Heaven Pass cultivator. This meant there were ten Heaven Pass cultivators attacking Huang Yanchen at the same time.

Seeing this, all the cultivators shook their heads. Ten against one in the same realm was a crushing victory. Huang Yanchen would definitely lose.

The Saint Lady also held her breath. She stared at the fight within the word territory. She didn’t let out a relieved breath until she saw that Huang Yanchen could actually fend off the five Corpse Kings and five Ghost Kings.

“When the Chaotic Military Lord held the war god competition one year ago,” the Saint Lady said, “how many of the same realm did Wan Zhaoyi fight at once?”

“Nineteen.”

“What about you?” the Saint Lady continued.

Martial Saint Canglan was quiet for a moment. “Nine.”

After pausing, she continued, “There were many restrictions at the competition. I couldn’t use my advantage speed at all. If it had been in such a vast battlefield, nine cultivators of the same realm wouldn’t have been enough for me at all.”

The Saint Lady chuckled. “If it’s on a vast battlefield, Wan Zhaoyi wouldn’t only fight 19 with his combat experience. However, a true life-or-death battle has many more variables than a competition. If the enemy Saint prepared to deactivate their saintly source at the start, then even Zhang Ruochen wouldn’t be able to fight 19 of the same realm.”

“You think Zhang Ruochen is even stronger than a crazy man like my brother?” Martial Saint Canglan asked. “Don’t you know what it means to fight 19 True Saints by yourself? That scene was so shocking. Anyway, I was fully impressed. Plus, the second place of the Ministry of War is also a genius. Not only has he reached the Peak Realm once in the four realms of Martial Way, he also has an undefeatable body, but he only fought 12. Plus, the higher your realm is, the harder it is to fight more enemies by yourself.”

The Saint Lady didn’t want to argue with Martial Saint Canglan. She just smiled and said, “Wan Zhaoyi fighting 19 True Saints at once in the True Saint Realm is indeed powerful. He is already undefeatable in his era.”

Inside the word territory, Huang Yanchen survived 15 minutes under the siege of the five Ghost Kings and five Corpse Kings. She wasn’t defeated, but she had a dozen wounds and was badly injured. It was like she could die at any time.

“To One Sword Technique.”

Clenching her teeth, Huang Yanchen grasped her sword hilt with bloody hands. She continuously poured Holy Qi into the Chaotic Universe Sword. In an instant, the sword released vast destructive Sword Qi.

That move cost all the Holy Qi within her.

Her victory or defeat depended on this strike.