Chapter 2367: Planning the Next Move
In the pitch-black space of the universe, no light could be seen. It was cold, hollow, and silent.
Suddenly,
a dazzling light lit up, burning through the darkness.
“Dragon-Elephant Destruction.”
The dragon’s roar shook the sky and earth, causing ripples to appear in the space.
Ten green dragons covered in divine fire surged forward like ten Celestial Rivers, crashing into a black demon tree tens of thousands of meters tall.
Each branch of the black demon tree was like a hand, resisting the attack desperately with boundless strength.
The tree was one of the five Thousand-Koan Realm Celestial Captives, a Heaven Devourer.
“Zhang Ruochen, as a cultivator from Celestial Court, you’re willing to be a pawn of Infernal Court. I-I curse y-you. Y-You shall d-die horrible d-death…”
The Heaven Devourer roared as it released tens of billions of Precepts in its body. They transformed into Path, forming an illusory majestic yet spooky city. The city clashed with the ten green dragons.
KABOOM!
The city collapsed.
Then, the huge tree exploded.
Under the burning of the divine fire, the life force of the Heaven Devourer quickly vanished. It turned into ashes.
Eventually, what remained was only a Sainthood Source of demonic Qi in the void space of the universe.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the Sainthood Source telekinetically from the void space. He said to himself, “A Supreme Saint in the initial stage of the Thousand-Koan Realm is so weak. It’s so easy to kill.”
The other Supreme Saints at the Great Perfection stage of Hundred-Shackle Realm who were hunting the Heaven Devourer twitched their lips when they heard this.
‘He is too OP!’
Even though they had helped Zhang Ruochen block the escape route of the Heaven Devourer, they were still terrified that Zhang Ruochen could kill a Thousand-Koan Realm Supreme Saint with one palm.
‘Doesn’t this mean that Zhang Ruochen only needed one palm to kill them?’
Before attacking the dark star, Zhang Ruochen had refined the dragon souls of the ten green dragons — the Swastika Seiryus — into his left arm.
For some reason, when the ten swastika green dragon souls were refined into Zhang Ruochen’s arm, they devoured the three Thousand-Koan Realm Dragon Souls in his arm. It was as if other dragon souls were not allowed to coexist.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen might seem like releasing one palm strike; he actually struck out ten dragon souls.
In fact, each palm contained the power of 13 dragon souls of the Thousand-Koan level. Even without the support from a Saint Technique, a casual palm strike was comparable to a full-strength strike unleashed by a Supreme Saint of the initial stage of the Thousand-Koan Realm.
It was even more powerful.
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had struck out with his full strength. With the divine fire and the Saintwill of Fire fusing into his palm strike, how could the Heaven Devourer possibly withstand it?
Although Zhang Ruochen had yet to practice Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike to the grand completion of Thousand-Koan level, his palm strike was far more powerful than many Thousand-Koan level Saint Techniques.
‘These ten dragon souls are extremely precious. Under my nurturing, I might be able to grow to the level of one in ten thousand deaths and one in life, or even the ultimate realm. If I can get ten elephant souls that can also grow, why wouldn’t my dragon and Elephant Prajna palm reach the peak?’ Zhang Ruochen thought as he sighed.
Holding a diamond-shaped mirror, Gu Chenzi walked to Zhang Ruochen’s side with a look of awe. “After a few days of continuous battles against the first and second dark stars, we have killed 307 Supreme Saints, 17,000 Saint Kings, and countless Saints and Demi-Saints among the Celestial Captives.
“At present, the total points gained by Immortal Vampires reached 71 million, which secures Immortal Vampires the top spot.”
Zhang Ruochen fell into deep thought for a while. There had been a point in the past when Sainthood and Demi-Sainthood were cultivation ranks out of his reach. At that time, Saint Kings and Supreme Saints were even legendary figures to him.
But now, they had become prey and targets for him to hunt. They were powerless to fight back in his hands.
More than 300 Supreme Saints and 17,000 Saint Kings were massive numbers. Some Macroworlds could not even nurture this many Saint elites.
With so many Saint elites driven to become prey on the battlefield, no wonder Infernal Court valued the Celestial-Hunting battle so much.
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t help but think, in this world where the strong preyed on the weak, what kind of elite was a truly powerful elite?
What kind of Macroworld was a truly powerful Macroworld?
When Kunlun was at its most glorious, there were many deities and Saints in the past. What was it like?
Zhang Ruochen collected his emotions and asked, “How many points did I gain?”
“28 million,” Gu Chenzi replied.
Zhang Ruochen frowned. “That’s all?”
Gu Chenzi let out a bitter smile. “Other than the Immortal Vampires, Asuras, and Yanluo, the total points of all the other seven clans combined are not as much as yours. You are No. 1 in the Celestial-Hunting battle.”
All the cultivators present had witnessed Zhang Ruochen’s brutal slaughtering methods. He showed no mercy to any Celestial Captives.
If these images were all projected by the Mystic Eye of Myriad Realms, Zhang Ruochen would definitely be called the “Slaughter King.”.
All the living beings in Celestial Court would be scared to death when they saw this scene.
Now, they would never believe that Zhang Ruochen would betray Infernal Court. They felt that Zhang Ruochen had completely regarded himself as a member of Immortal Vampires.
Even if Zhang Ruochen returned to Celestial Court now, no cultivators there would accept him. They would only regard him as a deviant and execute him.
It could be said that Zhang Ruochen had already completed the first trial given by the Infernal Court deities. Wargod Bloodximius, Blood Empress, and Lord Ming all breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in satisfaction.
It was a big decision that required a great resolve from Zhang Ruochen. He had to experience pain that ordinary people couldn’t understand.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression was calm. “What about the casualties of Immortal Vampires?”
“Three Supreme Saints died here when Celestial Captives self-detonated,” said Gu Chenzi. “Some Supreme Saints were severely injured, but they survive.”
This time, Zhang Ruochen led over 600 Immortal Vampires to fight together. They had the absolute advantage.
When being forced to the brink, the Supreme Saint Celestial Captives would self-detonate their Sainthood Sources.
However, their spiritual power was sealed. When these Celestial Captives wanted to self-detonate, their spiritual wills would get suppressed instantly. Only under rare circumstances could some Supreme Saints self-detonate successfully and cause casualties to the Immortal Vampires.
Otherwise, if they wanted to kill more than 300 Supreme Saint Celestial Captives, the Immortal Vampires would have lost more than 300 Supreme Saints.
Celestial Captives were slaves and prey after all.
Their roles and fates had already been decided when they entered the Celestial-Hunting battlefield.
This was a game between hunters and prey. From the start, it was already unfair.
The 600 or so Immortal Vampire Supreme Saints stood on the surface of the huge Violet Gourd like divine beings. They flew out of the dark starfield within the vicinity of the second dark star.
Whoosh–
A Communication talisman flew over from afar and landed in Gu Chenzi’s hand.
After reading the contents of the talisman, Gu Chenzi was stunned. He reported it to Zhang Ruochen, “It’s a message from Supreme Saint Xueqi. Yan Wushen broke into the Asuran home planet and killed most of their clansmen. He has rushed to the fifth dark star to meet with Yan Huangtu.”
It was almost impossible to wipe out a clan.
A Supreme Saint of each clan would at least take a few clansmen with them. This was the only way to ensure that the total points would not be deducted in half.
Zhang Ruochen was a little surprised. “He did it. He’s really ruthless!”
The Asuras knew that Yan Wushen would definitely pay them a visit, so they must have made a foolproof plan and set up an inescapable trap. Many powerful figures were waiting for Yan Wushen to fall into the trap.
Under such circumstances, even Zhang Ruochen had to think twice before going to the Asuran home planet.
Not only did Yan Wushen go alone, but he also killed most of Asuran clansmen. More importantly, he escaped unharmed.
He was like a celestial being.
Gu Chenzi was also very shocked. “Yan Wushen is indeed a top elite. I’m afraid only you can compete with him.”
“Yan Wushen is indeed amazing, so is Yan Huangtu. Yan Huangtu’s presence, can restrict Yan Wushen,” Zhang Ruochen said thoughtfully.
Gu Chenzi looked confused. He didn’t quite understand what Zhang Ruochen meant.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen had never taken Yan Huangtu seriously before. He had never seen Yan Huangtu as a threat. In his opinion, Yan Huangtu was flinty and conceited. Hence, Yan Huangtu should not be a tough opponent.
But this time, it was beyond Zhang Ruochen’s expectations.
Yan Huangtu restrained his anger and did not rashly barge into the Immortal Vampires’ home planet alone. Instead, like Zhang Ruochen, he led the Supreme Saints of Yanluo Clan to attack other dark stars and fight for points.
That was why, although almost half of Yanluo Clan had been killed, their points had risen rapidly to 60 million over the past few days. They weren’t far behind the Immortal Vampires.
From this, it could be seen that Yan Huangtu wasn’t as simple as he appeared. Hatred and humiliation couldn’t affect his emotions and judgment. He was a resilient person who knew when to yield. He knew how to judge the situation and was shrewd.
Such character was the most terrifying.
He was unfathomable and unpredictable.
The way he acted was just the facade he wanted all to see.
Even the strength he displayed might not be his true strength.
“It’s a pity. If Yan Huangtu was really an obstinate and autocratic person, he would attack the Immortal Vampires’ home planet, leaving Yanluo Clan without a leader, and getting 3,000 point would be considered amazing for them in such situation.” Zhang Ruochen sighed.
The Immortal Vampires’ points had risen rapidly recently. The cultivators of the ten clans were under pressure. They stopped fighting and focused all their energy on killing the Celestial Captives.
Under Yan Huangtu’ s leadership, Yanluo Clan destroyed the Celestial Captives gathered near the fourth dark star and started attacking the fifth dark star.
The battle for points was in full swing.
“We have to take down at least one dark star and get 100 million points. Only then can we guarantee that our current ranking — top one among the ten clans — is safe,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Not all Celestial Captives gathered around the seven dark stars.
It was just that the space region where the seven dark stars were located was strategic for hiding, so the population of Celestial Captives was more concentrated there. Fighting in these seven places could collect many points in a short time.
A star map was floating in front of Zhang Ruochen after Gu Chenzi opened it. Gu Chenzi pointed to a black ball and said, “Yan Huangtu and Yan Wushen are both on the fifth dark star. There was no room for us to interfere the battle there.
“So now we are left with only the sixth and seventh dark stars.
“The three middle clans are the ones who attacked the sixth dark star. They have occupied it since a long time ago. More than half of the Celestial Captives hiding there have been wiped out.”
“If we go now, we might fall into the trap they set. And once we do so, it will affect the entire battle.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly, “Although there was no top elites among the three middle clans, we should not underestimate their combined strength. There is no need to compete with them for the remaining points. What is the situation of the seventh dark star?”
Gu Chenzi took a deep breath and said with a solemn expression, “The seventh dark star is quite special. It is the largest dark star on the Celestial-Hunting battlefied, covering a space region a diameter of six million miles.
“That place is like the abyss of death or a forbidden land.
“All the Infernal Court Supreme Saints who participated in the Celestial-Hunting battle have never returned after they entered it. Seventy-three Supreme Saints went missing there.
“No one knows whether it was due to man-made cause or it had something to do with the environment inside the dark star.”
“Many cultivators perceived that Lord Hornless is likely to be there. Therefore, no force dares to barge in easily. In contrast, more and more Celestial Captives are hiding there.”
“The seventh dark star is where Celestial Captives gather the most. If any force can take it down, their points will significantly increase.”
Zhang Ruochen looked at the huge black ball on the star map.
Gu Chenzi continued, “However, I’ve received news that the Supreme Saints of the upper three clans, led by Pan Ruo, Yuan Fei, and Que Fei, are rushing toward the seventh dark star.
“It seems that the upper three clans are planning to crack the tough nut.”
Lord Bladehell laughed coldly. “Ever since Wu Jiang has been severely wounded by Supreme Saint Ruochen, he hasn’t shown up.
“The upper three clans don’t have any top powerhouses to hold down the fort currently. Hence, once they enter the complex environment of that dark star region and encounter Lord Hornless, they will suffer heavy casualties.”
“Why don’t we wait for a while and let the upper three clans take the lead? We can attack after they return in defeat,” said Gu Chenzi.
Everyone looked at Zhang Ruochen to see how he would make a decision.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was sharp. “I hope Lord Hornless is really on the seventh dark star. After all, his points alone are 10 million.”
At this moment, two things came to Zhang Ruochen’s mind.
The first was Intergold Tiger’s test.
Only by passing the test could he obtain the special opportunity inside Ghost Clan’s home planet. At that time, his cultivation might rise to a higher level in a short time.
Second, Lord Hornless was a cultivator of Avīci Pavilion, and the leader of Avīci Pavilion was Empress of Thousand Bones.
The first place in the Celestial-Hunting battle was so important to her.
Could it be that Lord Hornless showing up on the Celestial-Hunting battlefield was part of Empress of Thousand Bones’ plan?