Fashioning his finger into a sword, Zhang Ruochen channeled his Sword Comprehension. He sent those swords all out at the same time to strike Di Yi.
BANG, BANG!
The sound of explosions reverberated in succession.
Di Yi sent each of the swords flying with his white bone sword, directing them away from him in all directions.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen once again grabbed hold of the Abyss Ancient Sword and leaped up. Coming down from high up, he unleashed streaks of long sword light to chop Di Yi’s neck.
Di Yi raised his sword to block the attack.
BOOM!
The two swords clashed.
Di Yi felt an enormous power coming from above and his body began sinking without his control.
The two of them sank into the water at the same time with a splash.
A wave surged up.
Streaks of sword Qi flew like shapeless wind blades in the water, flooding the surrounding waters.
If anyone came near, the sword Qi would instantly rip them apart.
Though Di Yi’s swordsmanship had yet to reach the realm of Heart Integrated into Sword, he was close. In addition to the strong power of the Hades Sword Skill, he was evenly matched with Zhang Ruochen.
He stood in the water, continuously changing his position as he launched attack after attack using his Hades Sword Skill. Whether he was slashing or stabbing, every attack was designed to kill.
Zhang Ruochen appeared relaxed. No matter how powerful his opponent’s attacks were, he would easily deflect it and divert his opponent’s power into the water.
“Could one’s sword technique become flawless after reaching the realm of Heart Integrated into Sword?”
Di Yi’s Heart State began faltering after ten strikes.
In his eyes, Zhang Ruochen was like an undefeatable enemy. None of his attacks managed to harm him at all.
To make things worse, he was executing Ghost Level sword technique and each strike consumed a large amount of his Genuine Qi.
With the exchange of blows earlier, he had used up almost 30% of his Genuine Qi.
“If I let this continue, I’ll lose for sure.”
He withdrew his sword technique and took a few steps before charging toward the surface of the water.
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn’t allow him to succeed. He yelled, “Get back here!”
Zhang Ruochen once again used his Heart of the Sword, summoning all the swords that had fallen into the water. The swords began spinning rapidly in the water, creating a giant whirlpool.
SPLASH!
A vortex appeared on the surface of the water. At first, its diameter was only about two to three meters, but it quickly became as wide as 80 meters. A loud roaring sound came from the vortex, forming a giant sound force.
Di Yi was planning to leap out of the water but was caught by the power of the vortex. It pulled him back into the center.
“Kill!”
Zhang Ruochen stabbed Di Yi as he controlled the swords, nearly a hundred of them.
It was likely that Di Yi’s body would turn into a sieve if he was pierced by that many swords.
Feeling murderous intent on all sides, Di Yi didn’t sit and wait for death. He took the initiative and charged at Zhang Ruochen, deciding that attack was the best defense.
BANG, BANG!
Innate Magic Qi enveloped his body. Di Yi never stopped swinging his sword, breaking apart the oncoming swords, and aimed directly for Zhang Ruochen.
Just as he came within 33 meters of Zhang Ruochen, the latter summoned his Abyss Ancient Sword once again and held it in his hand. He actively attacked Di Yi.
“Perfect timing!”
Di Yi roared and a flood of Saint Power spilled out of his body, forming a 33-meter-tall human shaped saint figure.
The saint figure emitted multi-colored lights, its huge eyes appearing like two flaming fireballs.
Warriors who were Saintly Beings were capable of converging Divine Souls. Their power would increase greatly with the help of their Divine Souls.
This was an advantage only they had.
The power of the Divine Soul suppressed Zhang Ruochen’s Martial Soul, making him feel a great pressure. Even the speed at which his Genuine Qi moved in his body slowed. He felt as if he couldn’t move his body.
“Break it!”
Gods Marks inscription lit up on the wall of his Qi Sea and broke through the pressure of the Divine Soul.
“Good thing I’ve summoned the Chord of Gods earlier and kept the marks of the gods, allowing me to break out of the pressure of the Divine Soul.”
Swoosh!
Zhang Ruochen didn’t show any weakness and used his Martial Soul to move the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Like smoky fog, streaks of Spiritual Qi rushed at him and converged on the Abyss Ancient Sword.
With the power of heaven and earth aiding him, he swung his sword at Di Yi.
BOOM!
Their attacks met each other, blowing back each other with the collision.
In a flash, Zhang Ruochen raised the Abyss Ancient Sword and activated all of the inscriptions on it. He once again swung his sword at Di Yi.
BOOM!
There came another hard collision.
This time, Zhang Ruochen had the advantage and he managed to send Di Yi flying.
Di Yi didn’t try to stop in the water. He once again rushed towards the surface of the water.
BOOM!
BOOM!
With two explosions, Zhang Ruochen and Di Yi burst out of the water at nearly the same time.
“I’ve clearly headed for the surface first with Zhang Ruochen behind me. How could we’ve left the water at the same time? Could he be faster than me? Did he perhaps reach the Ultimate Realm of the Earth Realm?” Di Yi wondered.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t give him the time to think. Once again, he used his Martial Soul to move the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and launch another attack.
Now that he had reached the Heaven Realm, he didn’t have to hide his Martial Soul anymore.
BOOM!
He once again sent Di Yi flying.
The powerful sword Qi tore his black robe.
Di Yi hadn’t yet found his footing when Zhang Ruochen leaped into the air and swung his sword, sending out three streaks of sword Qi.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Di Yi blocked the first streak of sword Qi with his white bone sword.
His Innate Magic Qi blocked the second streak of sword Qi.
It was the third sword Qi that finally cut Di Yi’s face.
CLAP!
As the sword Qi flew past, splitting open the metal mask that covered Di Yi’s. The mask fell into the water.
The unmasking revealed a young face of a boy of perhaps 15 or 16. He had clear brows, bright eyes, red lips, and white teeth. His face appeared delicate and pretty.
Di Yi’s true expression shocked everyone.
That included the Seven Kills Emissaries, who had never seen Di Yi’s true appearance.
“To think Di Yi… is such a young person…”
In their imagination, Di Yi has always been a man of vicious means and wealthy with cities and manors. He had to be at least a 20-year-old young man.
How could he be just a teenager?
If they didn’t already know his identity, his appearance made him look more like a bookish, wealthy young master.
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t that shocked by comparison. In his last lifetime, he had already reached the Completion of the Heaven Realm by the age of 16.
Di Yi’s talent was comparable to his in his last lifetime.
If Di Yi hadn’t lost some time out of his desire to break into the Ultimate Realm of the Earth Realm, his martial cultivation would certainly be beyond the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm.
Di Yi slowly raised his white bone sword, his eyes cold and sharp. He stared at his opponent and said angrily, “Zhang Ruochen, you’re the first among my generation to make me take you seriously.”
“If you have any other trump card, you should use them all. Otherwise, you won’t have a chance to!” Zhang Ruochen replied.
“Very well. You’re very brave, but being brave in front of those who are more powerful than you is to a suicidal act.”
Di Yi roared, “Heart of Flame Demon.”
A thread of fire burst from Di Yi’s chest. The fire became brighter and brighter until it formed a sphere of red light.
THUMP, THUMP…
The sound of his heartbeats became clearer and clearer.
Eventually, it sounded like a massive drum was being beaten endlessly.
A ball of evil magic emerged from where his heart was and converged around his feet, forming a red magic sun.
The aura of the magic sun and that of the multi-colored saint figure behind him formed a distinct pair.
A tragic cry came from a distance, echoing amid the beating of his heart. The heart of a warrior of the Earth Realm shattered with a boom and he fell to the ground.
“That’s a Demon’s Heart, a Demon’s Heart…”
The warrior died after saying those words.
The rest of the warriors felt their hearts beating quicker and quicker as if their hearts would jump out of their chests.
“All warriors who have not reached the Heaven Realm, immediately retreat to 50 kilometers. Don’t come even a single step closer!” Lei Jing roared.
“Can a Saintly Being and the Demon’s Heart appear in the same person?”
“Either of those would be enough to make any ordinary warrior one of the best of their generation.”
“No wonder Di Yi is the most talented warrior of the Black Market within the last century. If he’s able to fully develop his potential, he’d have no rivals in the Eastern Region.”
“Do you think it’s easy to be invisible? Zhang Ruochen is able to challenge him, at least for now.”
“Even so, Zhang Ruochen only has a normal Body of Martial ArtS. Even if he’s inferior to Di Yi only by a small margin at the moment, the power of the Saintly Being and the Demon’s Heart would gradually appear as their realms become higher. When that time comes, Di Yi would be leaving Zhang Ruochen far behind.”
“With the Saintly Being and the Demon’s Heart, no one can stand within the same realm against Di Yi. Today, Zhang Ruochen’s defeat is certain. It’s not that he’s not talented enough. He just doesn’t have the innate power.”
…
Previously, the warriors of the School of the Martial Market had been unbelievably excited when they saw Zhang Ruochen slice apart Di Yi’s mask. When Di Yi revealed his Demon’s Heart, however, they began to worry for Zhang Ruochen. They were afraid that Zhang Ruochen would die in the hands of the Saintly Being and Demon’s Heart.
Lei Jing was on high alert, prepared to step out and rescue Zhang Ruochen at any time.
The Seven Kills Emissaries were also surprised as they didn’t know that Di Yi had the Demon’s Heart as well. Seeing him own this kind of innate power made them feel hopeless.
Now, there was no wonder why Di Yi was able to become the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall and they could only be Emissaries.
“Devil Watches the Sea.”
Di Yi sat cross-legged, hovering above the red sun. Two streaks of firelight column from his eyes as he turned his gaze toward Zhang Ruochen.
Everything the firelight touched was destroyed.
This was bad.
Zhang Ruochen immediately executed the Shadow of the Royal Wind Dragon and flew up, avoiding the two streaks of firelight column.
“Zhang Ruochen, you’re destined to lose the minute I awaken my Demon’s Heart. If you voluntarily surrender and become the shadow of the Demon’s Heart, I’ll allow you to keep your life,” Di Yi said.
“Don’t be so sure.”
Zhang Ruochen activated the power of his Blood Meridian. Rich and thick Spiritual Blood spilled out of his body and formed illusions of a giant dragon and an elephant, both over 10 meters tall.
Under the protection of the illusory images, Zhang Ruochen rushed towards Di Yi.
“Zhang Ruochen isn’t a Saintly Being, yet is able to summon such powerful Spiritual Blood. How unbelievable.”
“If he didn’t have the power of Spiritual Blood, how else could he challenge a Saintly Being?”
The battle tugged at everyone’s heartstrings. Though they knew the result was destined, they still very much wanted to know the limit of Zhang Ruochen’s perseveration.