Chapter 2110: The Sword’s Direction
The bloody vortex spun faster and faster under the influence of the Curse altar. Streaks of blood-colored lightning tore through the sky, vaguely illuminating an illusory passage, giving off the impression that the passage was connected to distant ancient times.
It seemed like something else other than Hadean Curses was emerging from this illusory passage.
Suddenly, a blood-coloured whirlwind blew, followed by a downpour of blood rain. The ominous aura grew more potent. The sight made one’s blood freeze in their veins.
Celestial Court elites and even the Nether Clan elites—especially the Seven Top Killers from Nether Hall—were shocked. Never had they expected Son of Darkness to execute such an eerie technique.
The seven top killers were all staring at the Hadean Curse that emerged from the bloody vortex at this moment.
Never Die narrowed his eyes and said, “Big Brother, summoning a Hadean Curse is a secret method belonging to Nether Hall. Son of Darkness has long become the successor of the Fane of Darkness, but he still gets to learn the technique.”
Nether Hall was the most prominent fane to Nether Clan. It had a high status and kept many mysterious techniques. Only those who Nether Hall chose could have the chance to cultivate those techniques.
Ever since the seven of them had inherited Seven Killer formation and acquired the foundation to ascend to godhood, they had become the talents specially nurtured by Nether Hall. In other words, they were the leaders of Nether Hall’s younger generation.
“No need to be surprised. In fact, Son of Darkness is highly talented in cultivating Path of Curse. If he didn’t have the physical constitution of Darkness, our fane would have taken him in long ago. He could have become a true disciple under Nether Hall.”
“Very few people know that the vice lord of Nether Hall has taken Son of Darkness as his disciple. So, it’s normal that he is taught the secret technique to summon a Hadean Curse.”
Xuanming Wushang explained calmly.
Upon hearing this, the six of them, including Never Die and Bloody Ripples, had a look of realization. They sighed inwardly at Son of Darkness’ luck. The fact that he could cultivate strong points of both the Fane of Darkness and Nether Hall under the favor of those prominent figures in both fanes was something envied by most Netherkin.
Buzz
The sky shook slightly. The Hadean Curses broke free from the bloody vortex and flew directly toward Zhang Ruochen.
Although Zhang Ruochen didn’t know they were Hadean Curses, he could feel how terrifying they were. He could tell that once they entered his body, he would suffer consequences worse than the time when some Curses had infiltrated his body.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen entered the state of being one with the sword. He wielded Ancient Abyssal Blade slowly in an unusual trajectory of the Dao.
Invisible Sword Qi burst out and covered the space around him. They formed crystal flower buds that were only the size of a pinky finger.
“One flower, one world.”
Zhang Ruochen whispered. He drove all the flower buds with his swordwill to counter the Hadean Curses.
Each flower bud seemed to contain a realm within it. As soon as they got close to the Hadean Curses, they sucked them in.
In the blink of an eye, each Hadean Curse that had broken free from the bloody vortex was completely wrapped by a flower bud formed from Sword Qi of Spacetime.
However, these flower buds seemed unstable. They kept shaking and gave off an ominous aura. It was obvious that they couldn’t suppress the Hadean Curses for a long time.
“Blossoming Cadence, Time and Space Annihilation.”
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen made all the flower buds bloom in an instant.
Blossoms blooming in the sky was indeed a beautiful sight to see, but they would soon lead to destruction.
BOOM!
The Flowers of Sword Qi were destroyed. Upon their destruction, a terrifying force was released within a small area, forming small black holes.
As Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation level in Time and Space had improved, his Sword of Spacetime became more powerful. He could unleash varying moves.
The space within hundreds of miles was fully locked down; even Dimensional Slash couldn’t break it. However, Sword of Spacetime was used, it caused a lot of damage.
More importantly, the Hadean Curses had been completely destroyed. They returned to nothingness, not even leaving a single trace of ominous Qi.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the huge Curse altar. How could he not figure that the altar was the key to breaking the Curses?
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes suddenly became sharp. He mobilized the Precepts of Time and Dimension, combined them with his swordwill, and threw a profound slash.
A translucent Sword Qi flew out like mist, enveloping the entire altar of Curse.
The altar of Curse seemed to have fallen into another spacetime. Its connection with the bloody vortex above was cut off.
The bloody vortex slowed down, and fewer Hadean Curses flew out. The illusory passage inside seemed to close.
“Destroy.”
Zhang Ruochen let out a low shout.
BOOM!
The translucent Sword Qi shook. The spacetime inside began to collapse. The altar of Curse was no exception.
In an instant, the altar of Curse shattered and turned into a boundless force of Dark Curse. However, it didn’t spread out. Instead, it was obliterated rapidly.
Along with the destruction of the altar of Curse, the bloody vortex stopped spinning completely. No more Hadean Curses flew out.
Whoosh.
Zhang Ruochen wielded Ancient Abyssal Blade. With a slash, he threw hundreds of meters long Sword Qi.
Whoosh.
The bloody vortex was split into two by the Sword Qi and then completely collapsed.
With the destruction of the altar of Curse and the bloody vortex, the space of Curse that covered hundreds of miles, needless to say, ceased to exist.
A powerful swordwill spread out from Zhang Ruochen’s body and destroyed all the curse runes in the air.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had broken Son of Darkness’ Curse secret technique swiftly and decisively, the surrounding spectators were all amazed.
Xing Wuji’s eyes shone with astonishment. He said, “I didn’t expect Zhang Ruochen’s attainments in the Path of Time and the Path of Dimension to have reached such an unfathomable level. He can even combine it with his swordsmanship. His talent in swordsmanship is really amazing.”
Scion Number Three and Scion Number Six looked at each other. They saw awe in each other’s eyes. They weren’t sure if they could handle Zhang Ruochen’s Sword of Spacetime.
Before this, they were aware that Zhang Ruochen was strong, but they had thought that he shouldn’t have been strong enough to challenge Son of Darkness. They had assumed that he was just acting on impulse. But now, such a thought ceased to exist. They started to look forward to the exciting duel between Zhang Ruochen and Son of Darkness.
“It seems that he has gained more benefits from the monster’s body than I expected. And yet, I have no idea how he subdued the monster,” the Maiden of a Thousand Stars thought to herself.
She was actually very curious about the means Zhang Ruochen had used to deal with the monster king. How had he made the monster king submit so easily? But since Zhang Ruochen refused to tell her, she did not ask much.
However, she could roughly guess that such a method couldn’t be used casually. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have suffered so much in the monster king’s body and fallen into Son of Darkness’ scheme.
Immortal Minghu stared at Zhang Ruochen and whispered, “To be able to cultivate the Path of Time and the Path of Dimension to such an extent, he’s worthy of being the successor of Saint Monk Xumi. He has earned his arrogance.”
When Immortal Minghu witnessed Zhang Ruochen’s performance, his attitude towards Zhang Ruochen inadvertently changed in some ways. At least, from now on, he found Zhang Ruochen pleasing to the eye.
After all, only a truly powerful elite was deemed worthy by Immortal Minghu.
“Hadean Curse was solved so easily. I can’t see through Zhang Ruochen at all now,” Fairy Linglong said in a low voice.
Ao Xukong said, “Son of Darkness was just trying to test Zhang Ruochen out with Hadean Curse. If Zhang Ruochen needed to spend a lot of effort to break it, this battle would be a very hard one. The actual battle between them will begin next.”
Even Ao Xukong could not predict the outcome of this battle from what he saw. After all, no one knew what kind of trump cards Zhang Ruochen and Son of Darkness were holding.
Holding Ancient Abyssal Blade, Zhang Ruochen faced Son of Darkness from a distance. He spoke in a clear voice, “Son of Darkness, your Curse is useless against me. Show me your true ability and fight with me.”
Son of Darkness walked forward slowly. A faint smile appeared on his face. He said, “Zhang Ruochen, I am indeed surprised that your strength has improved so much. It has finally aroused my interest. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
BANG!
A terrifying dark power suddenly rushed out of the ground, shattering the place where Zhang Ruochen was standing.
However, Zhang Ruochen had already noticed it. He instantly dodged the dark force by moving hundreds of feet away.
“You’re still so cunning.” A glint of cold light flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes.
Son of Darkness behaved the same way like he had been when they were in the monster king’s body. One moment, he was on the same side with you, and the next moment, he would kill you in a scheme. He was cunning and extremely dangerous.
Zhang Ruochen had already experienced once, so how could he not be prepared?
Hiss.
The dark force that rushed out of the ground turned into a huge Nether Serpent. It was solid and lifelike, that even the scales of the snake were clearly visible.
The Nether Snake gave off a menacing aura. It opened its bloody mouth, revealing its sharp fangs, charging at Zhang Ruochen.
“Hmph.”
Zhang Ruochen snorted and casually swung his sword.
Puff.
The sharp Sword Qi flashed, cutting the Nether Snake in half.
BOOM!
The Nether Snake’s body exploded automatically. It turned into countless small Nether Snakes scattering around Zhang Ruochen.
In an instant, these small Nether Snakes released strange power. They formed a powerful formation and trapped Zhang Ruochen inside.
“Huh?”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression changed. He looked down at his body.
He was shocked to see those dozens of little Nether Snakes being able to coil around his body without him knowing.
These little Nether Snakes were something between the real and the virtual, like ghosts. They coiled around him, draining his Saint Qi in his body rapidly.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed. He released a powerful force, shattering all the little Nether Snakes coiling around him.
Even so, his Saint Qi didn’t stop flowing. Even his Blood Qi was shaking, showing signs of breaking out of his body.
Son of Darkness was approaching slowly with smiling eyes, “This Nether Snake formation has gathered 99,999 Nether Snake souls,” he said. “Including the nine Saint souls of Supreme-Saint level Nether Snake emperors. They’ve been fused into one. As long as you’re trapped in the formation, you will have your essence, Qi and spirit drained rapidly. Please enjoy it, Zhang Ruochen.”
This was the style of Son of Darkness. He had great strength, but he did not like to fight fair and square. His cunningness ran deep in his veins.
Now, Son of Darkness was using the Nether Snake formation in an attempt to exhaust Zhang Ruochen to death.
Even if Zhang Ruochen could escape, his vitality would take great damage. By that time, he would no longer be a match for Son of Darkness.
The Nether Snake was a very special creature born in Infernal Court. Although most of them were weak, their number was large. They had a terrifying ability—weakening a cultivator by devouring their essence, Qi, and spirits.
“Master, I can devour the souls of Nether Snakes.”
Moyin’s voice was heard in Zhang Ruochen’s mind. It sounded excited.
Zhang Ruochen was struck by Moyin’s words. If Moyin could devour all the souls of these Nether Snakes, not only could he break free from the Nether Snake formation, Moyin would also gain a great benefit.
Although Moyin’s cultivation base had already reached Path’s Anterior, it had difficulty advancing further. It needed a huge amount of nutrients.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen had planned to leave the thousands of corpses of Netherkin powerhouses to Moyin. Unfortunately, Son of Darkness had destroyed all of them.
With a thought, Zhang Ruochen took out Zangshan Demonic Mirror and activated it with the power of Dimension.
Many Supreme Inscriptions emerged on the surface of the mirror, creating strong dimensional ripples.
However, Zangshan Demonic Mirror did not launch an attack. Instead, it suppressed the Nether Snake formation with a supreme force.
At this moment, Moyin made its move. It extended countless roots piercing into the ground and reaching out to the sky.
The roots thrust the Nether Snake souls, forcefully snagging them away from the formation. They were quickly devoured and turned into nutrients for Moyin
Sensing the downturn in the Nether Snake formation, Son of Darkness’ expression changed slightly. Never had he expected Zhang Ruochen’s Saint Devourer could devour the souls of Nether Deities. Hence, he wanted to retrieve the Nether Snake formation immediately.
KABOOM!
Zhang Ruochen rushed out of the formation and slashed at Son of Darkness with his sword.
A rainbow of Sword Qi flew out of Ancient Abyssal Blade, leaving a streak of light in the sky like a comet. It was dazzling.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen activated his Precepts of Time. With a point of Zhang Ruochen’s finger, a wide, endless illusory River of Time appeared out of thin air, pressing down on Son of Darkness.
Son of Darkness did not dare to let down his guard in the face of Zhang Ruochen’s fierce attack. He did not have enough time to retrieve the Nether Snake formation. He formed seals with his hands at an incredible speed. Tens of millions of Dark inscriptions immediately appeared. They interweaved and formed a tough dark barrier covering a radius of 300 meters.
Then, Son of Darkness moved his hands. A solid Dark Millstone emerged. As it spun, the space was distorted severely.
BANG!
The barrier of Darkness lasted for a moment before it was sliced apart by the rainbow of Sword Qi. Under the pressure of the River of Time, it was completely shattered.
At this moment, Son of Darkness pushed the Dark Milestone out.
The millstone spun quickly and released a terrifying destructive power. In an instant, it crushed the Sword Qi rainbow.
Following that, the Dark Millstone collided with the illusory River of Time and distorted it.
BOOM!
The illusory River of Time was shattered; the Dark Millstone exploded into nothingness.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Ruochen had arrived in front of Son of Darkness. He was only 300 meters away from Son of Darkness.
Potent pentacolored Saint light appeared behind Zhang Ruochen, condensing into a huge illusory image of a realm. The chaotic Qi inside surged, causing the surrounding space to tremble.
Buzz.
The space within hundreds of miles was locked down under the effect of Zhang Ruochen’s Five-element Chaotic Body.
Zhang Ruochen displayed a strong fighting spirit. He pointed his sword at Son of Darkness, “This is a dead or alive battle. Let’s settle our feud once and for all.”