Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Zhang Ruochen consumed a drop of the Dragon Emperor Blood the moment he took it out and started refining it. He was counting on the ma.s.sive energy it contained being able to help him recover the Holy Qi he depleted.
It felt like there was a burning ball of energy in his body, fueling his worn muscles and meridian points.
"Master Zhang, how long do you need to recover?" asked the Elephant-swallowing Rabbit.
"Even with the Dragon Emperor Blood, I need six hours, at the very least."
It was too risky for him to have activated the Destruction of the Thousand-pattern. After all, he had only achieved level one of the half-saint's.
Zhang Ruochen couldn't stop staring at the fighting soldiers. Many fell to the ground and never got back up. There was too much bloodshed.
Suddenly, a thought hit him and his tone changed. "Perhaps there is another way to quicken my recovery," he said while gently touching the Spatial Ring which was on his finger.
The ring reflected a flash of light, and a glowing pill appeared on his palm.
It was the Divine Origin Pill that he'd bought from Ling Feiyu.
All this while, Zhang Ruochen had always thought to consume the pill when his body was at its best. Not only would the pill help to further strengthen his body, but he could also advance to the Second Level of half-saint, killing two birds with one stone.
Now was obviously not the best timing he had always imagined.
But the two parties were fighting ferociously, and it was hard to tell who was the winning party at this point.
He had to recover at the fastest speed possible to help the s.h.i.+ Family in winning the war, and to defend against the Immortal Vampires.
With the help of the Divine Origin Pill, he would be able to become a Level Two Half-Saint, and recover completely by absorbing the surrounding energy at the point of his conversion.
In addition to his recovery, his strength would increase tremendously as he evolved.
It was risky, but it was worth a try.
"Young mortal, you have ruined the Second Prince's plan. I shall take you down and claim my reward from the Prince with you as the trophy!"
One of the generals who commanded the Immortal Vampires charged at Zhang Ruochen, with a skull-branded sword in hand.
He was a Level Three Half-Saint. Clearly, he was taking advantage of Zhang Ruochen's vulnerability, attempting to take the credit should he succeed in capturing Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen lifted his head and glanced at the general, then said, "Nine Electric Blade Strikes."
A ma.s.sive flow of Spiritual Power gathered in his right palm.
Seconds later, intense light flashes shot up from the ground, just beyond the horizon, within a radius of 100 miles.
He motioned his palm to send forth the lightning flashes, which turned into the shape of a sword as it approached the half-saint general. Each strike threw the half-saint general further and finally fell somewhere a few miles away.
The half-saint general felt nothing but pain and tingling in both of his arms. Looking surprised, he asked, "After performing the Destruction of Thousand-pattern, you should have exhausted your strength with your cultivation level. How could you retaliate against my attack?"
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his Spiritual Power and replied, "I can easily defeat you even though I have exhausted my Holy Qi."
"You arrogant thing."
The half-saint general then started making weird noises, as if sending muttering signals to his partners.
A few moments later, two Level Two Half-Saints came, each leading a team of Immortal Vampires' soldiers of the Fish-Dragon Realm, encircling Zhang Ruochen.
"Young mortal, let's see how arrogant you are now," said the Level Three Half-Saint general, followed by evil laughter.
The infantry soldiers were positioned in an unusual battle formation, advancing toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Master Zhang, I'll take care of them."
The Elephant-swallowing Rabbit had long been waiting for this moment. Three half-saint lights lurking in front of its eyes, waiting to be s.n.a.t.c.hed.
Zhang Ruochen knocked the thought from the Rabbit's head. He said, "Your duty is to protect me. By the time I have fully recovered, you can have as many Half-Saint Lights as you want."
He then released Monster Ape from the Universe Spiritual Map and said, "Monster Ape, take down all of them."
At the same time, he took the Divine Origin Pill and started cultivating the Emperor Ming Nine-sky Scripture technique.
The Monster Ape had achieved Level Four of Half-Saint. Its height was more than a hundred meters, and its long hair was like a coat of sharp quills.
The moment it touched the ground, patches of black cloud scudded around, blowing up dust and rubble.
The battle formation that was formed had been thrown into disorder by the blow. Other than the three half-saint generals who remained in position, the infantry soldiers of the Immortal Vampires were throwing up blood as they recoiled from the blast.
"You shall be tamed, beast!"
A fine arc of blood red light sprung over as the Level Three Half-Saint general leapt into the air and chopped his sword at the Monster Ape with extreme force from above.
The sword the general used was a saint weapon. Yet it could barely cut the Monster Ape, leaving only a wound a few inches deep.
"How could the defense system be so strong?"
The half-saint general's facial expression changed. He retracted his sword and channeled his Holy Qi once again, preparing to launch a second attack. But the Ape's monstrous hand got to his body first.
Its giant fingers balled into a fist and squeezed against the general. Then, a series of cracking sounds was heard, like a firework exploding in its fist.
The Immortal Vampires' half-saint general was crushed into a mashed flesh, and his eyeb.a.l.l.s bulged outward due to the pressure. It was a horrific way to die.
The Monster Ape grabbed his Half-Saint Light from the mash, and threw it into its mouth.
It stared at the remaining two half-saint generals of the Immortal Vampires and let out a ferocious roar.
The two half-saint generals were stunned looking at the physical strength and powerful resistance the beast possessed. They were far beyond a Level Four Half-Saint human.
"Let's go."
They did not want to fight against the Monster Ape. Immediately, they extended their wings, wanting to escape. Yes, capturing Zhang Ruochen was rewarding, but there was no need to risk their lives for this.
The Monster Ape sprang from bent legs, sprinting towards the two fleeing half-saints for their Half-Saint Lights.
The Elephant-swallowing Rabbit had been wanting to advance to Level Five of Half-Saint, and so did the Monster Ape.
"It's catching up."
The two Immortal Vampires' half-saint generals each took out a saint decree and spurted to the Second Prince at the speed of a saint.
"My Prince, the young mortal has a powerful beast that we both could not fight against," said one of the generals, feeling embarra.s.sed.
The other general who was panting and drenched in cold sweat continued, "My Mighty Prince, could you take down the beast?"
The Second Prince was calm and composed, then gave the two generals a cold glance. "Look at what you've got."
Then, he said, "Leave the beast for me. Take down the other enemies. Make sure the Ancient Race of Prison Guardian's troops never go past the city."
After giving out his order, the Second Prince flew in the direction where the Monster Ape was, flapping his silver wings.
The Monster Ape could sense that the incoming Immortal Vampire was much stronger than the two generals. Immediately, it beat its chest several times.
And its already large body grew tall and wide, like a black mountain soaring abruptly towards the sky.
Then, a forceful fist came slamming from the sky, aiming at the Second Prince who was flying at a high speed.
"Know where you stand, beast."
The Second Prince thrusted a palm strike forward.
Following the strike, the energy coalesced to form a huge blood palm, and came in contact with the Monster Ape's fist.
Bam.
The Monster Ape was forced to step backwards from the blast, its body shaking.
"You could take my hit. That means you are stronger than an ordinary sixth grade beast."
The Second Prince channeled his Holy Qi yet again, attempting to strike another palm attack.
This time, the force was greater than the first. Even his palm was giving out flames, looking like a fiery cloud from far.
Zhang Ruochen sprung into midair from the back of the Elephant-swallowing Rabbit and landed on the left shoulder of the Monster Ape. Then, he stretched out his hand and flicked a black pill away.
The moment the Second Prince saw the black pill, his face changed. In an instant, he withdrew his palm and leapt backwards to at least a few miles away.
The black pill exploded, releasing clouds of Evil Death Qi that turned the soil beneath black.
"Leave now," Zhang Ruochen told the Monster Ape.
"Yes! You can't beat him. The Second Prince is very powerful. We might lose even if we combined our strength," said the Elephant-swallowing Rabbit who was standing on the Monster Ape's right shoulder.
White smoke coiled out of the Ape's nostrils in a huff and its majestic body turned around. With great strides, it dashed towards the woods at the front.
The Second Prince looked at the darkened soil and began to wonder, "Where did Zhang Ruochen get the Evil Death Qi? Also, he doesn't seem to be afraid of it."
Though the Second Prince was afraid of the Evil Death Qi, he knew he could not let Zhang Ruochen get away.
Zhang Ruochen was weak for now. His condition made it the perfect timing to s.n.a.t.c.h the Taotian Sword.
The Second Prince flapped his wings to create a strong gust of wind and rebounded up in the sky, then sped up in the direction where they left.
Zhang Ruochen remained standing on the Monster Ape's shoulder and divided his Spiritual Power in half. The first half was used to refine the Divine Origin Pill, the second was to keep an eye at the back. No one knew how long it would take the Second Prince to catch up.
At this point in time, he had cultivated half of the essence of the pill and regained fifty percent of his Holy Qi.
The Dragon Emperor's Blood was burning in his Saintly Meridian, fueling his body with Holy Qi and Blood Qi continuously.
"I must advance to the Second Level of Half-Saint before the Second Prince is here."
Zhang Ruochen growled as he felt his tensed muscles' increased flow of the Holy Qi.
"Zhang Ruochen, you are the Taotian Sword Keeper, as well as the successor to Sword Saint Xuanji. Why do you keep running away? We should have a duel to see whose sword skillset is better."
The Second Prince's sarcastic voice echoed through the wind, provoking Zhang Ruochen into challenging him.
Thereafter, a blood sword came flying across the sky, directed at the Monster Ape's legs.
Zhang Ruochen was never impulsive, but he knew he had to retaliate against the attack.
"Abyss."
He summoned the Abyss Ancient Sword with a powerful Sword Intent emitted from within his body to parry the incoming blood sword.
The two divine swords clashed together, emitting sparks and creating disruption of the two energies.
The blood sword was clearly nothing like a Hundred-pattern Saint Weapon. It was way more powerful as it repelled the blow from the Abyss Ancient Sword.
It sliced through the Monster Ape's right foot. Its leg fell, and blood spurted from the open wound.
The Monster Ape lost its balance and leaned forward. Its majestic body flattened a huge area of land as it fell to the ground.
