God Emperor

Above the camp, upon a thick white cloud, Zhen Yuan, Xuanyuan Liekong, and Lu Baiming were sitting together, drinking tea, and chatting leisurely.     

Lu Baiming had deployed an extremely delicate formation array to cover up this white cloud, and no one could discover them.     

"The three Tu brothers are always belligerent, and I don't know if Zhang Ruochen could make them submit," Xuanyuan Liekong said.     

As fellow cultivators from the Wanxu Realm, it was without a doubt he knew the three Tu brothers best, including their character and strength.     

"How powerful the Tu brothers are?" Zhen Yuan asked.      

"The three brothers broke through to the Heaven's Reach realm not too long ago and are miles away from reaching the pinnacle of the Heaven's Reach realm. However, their individual strengths are not less than that of the Blackflame General at his peak, perhaps even stronger. If they were to fight together, an ordinary Path's Anterior powerhouse might not even be their match," Xuanyuan Liekong said with a smile.      

Hearing this, Zhen Yuan and Lu Baiming were slightly surprised. The strength of the Tu brothers was much stronger than they had expected.     

"This means, the three Tu brothers have reached the upper-middle level of the Path's Anterior realm. Are you two sure Zhang Ruochen can do anything to them?" Lu Baiming frowned slightly.     

It was not wrong to test Zhang Ruochen's strength, but the right opponent must be picked.     

Zhen Yuan smiled and said, "Brother Lu, you don't have to worry. Junior Brother Zhang is the Scion of Time and Space with multiple techniques up his sleeves. Since he dared to answer the challenge, that means he must be confident. Let's just observe it from here."     

Lu Baiming did not say anything else and cast his gaze onto the martial arts arena on the ground below. He was indeed looking forward to what sort of amazing performance Zhang Ruochen would put on display.     

Zhang Ruochen walked slowly into the martial arts arena and faced the three Tu brothers nonchalantly.     

At this point, a battle was inevitable.     

It was not a bad idea to have a warm-up before fighting the Deathkin.     

Immediately, one of the elites activated a formation array inside the arena to prevent any damage from spreading as a result of the battle.     

"Zhang Ruochen, you should make the first move, lest you lose the chance later," Tu Di said arrogantly.     

Zhang Ruochen replied, "It's better if you make the first move. Let me see what techniques you lot have."     

"You really are arrogant. In that case, do not blame the three of us for not giving you a chance. I can defeat you even without my eldest and second brother's help. Take this! God-King Fist!" Tu Di sneered, his eyes filled with contempt.     

He immediately shoved all pleasantries aside as he went up against Zhang Ruochen. The moment he struck, hundreds of thousands of First Precepts gathered in his fist as the power of the land was mobilized. An extremely massive God King Phantom appeared behind him, and it was extremely powerful, releasing an unparalleled aura.     

"The God-King's Fist... One of the Wanxu Realm's most famous fist techniques. It is said that once cultivated to its apex, it csn transform into divine power, and there is nothing it cannot defeat.     

"Tu Ren's God-King Fist has already been cultivated to the level of an Intermediate-level Saint Art, and it's the most powerful Intermediate Tongxuan Saint Art. By truly mastering the essence of the God King's fist, the technique's strength is not much different from that of any ordinary high-level Saint Art."     

Feng Yan wore a worried look and was concerned about Zhang Ruochen.     

In fact, when Tu Ren struck, Zhang Ruochen acted at the same time as a divine river appeared around him, endlessly twisting and turning.     

The God-King Fist was extremely powerful while the Luoshui Fist was relatively gentle. Zhang Ruochen intended to use gentleness to overcome brute force and nullify Tu Ren's attack.     

Three hundred and seventy thousand Precepts of the Fist appeared, and vigorous Saint Qi continued to surge out of his acupoints.     

By refining his physical body to the realm of "Beneath a Supreme Saint", Zhang Ruochen's 144 acupoints had been opened up wide, and each of them was a massive lake of Saint Qi, rendering his own power almost limitless.     

While Tu Ren's cultivation level might have been two realms higher than his, the Precepts of the Fist he had cultivated was not a lot more than Zhang Ruochen's, so he was not afraid of fighting him with fist techniques.     

"Nine-Fold Twist and Turns."     

The divine river surged, twisting and winding like a Divine Python as it slithered toward the God King Phantom.     

Baaaam!!     

The divine river swiftly collapsed, but it had also shaved away the power of the God-King Fist little by little.     

By the end of it, even though there was still some force landing on Zhang Ruochen's body, it was no longer capable of causing him any harm. It was not even able to make him take half a step back.     

"Hmm?"     

Seeing this, Tu Ren was obviously very surprised.     

He was an elite of the Heaven's Reach realm and also a prince. Even if he had not used his full strength earlier, he was still using a Tongxuan-level Saint Art, and under normal circumstances, a regular Heaven's Reach elite would not be able to block it. Yet, Zhang Ruochen had taken it as if it was nothing.     

Above the clouds, a look of surprise appeared on Lu Baiming's face. "Junior Brother Zhen, Junior Brother Zhang's cultivation level has clearly reached the realm of the Greater Precept World, so why did you say it was the Lesser Precept World?"     

"A few days ago, Junior Brother Zhang's cultivation level was indeed in the Lesser Precept World. It seems that he has made some breakthroughs during his seclusion in the past few days." Zhen Yuan was somewhat surprised too.     

Taking only four days to break through a cultivation realm... If word got out, barely anyone would believe it.     

"When he was still in the Lesser Precept World realm, Zhang Ruochen could kill the Blackflame General with just a slash. Now that he has broken through to the realm of the Greater Precept World, his strength has inevitably increased exponentially. I believe the coming battle will be very exciting indeed," Xuanyuan Liekong said with a laugh.     

While he was positive about Zhang Ruochen, the three Tu brothers were no pushovers. If Zhang Ruochen wanted to defeat them, he needed to show his true strength.     

"Again."     

Tu Ren's eyes became sharper suddenly, as he punched again.     

Following a massive surge of Saint Qi and the power of the land, the God King Phantom suddenly became more corporeal. It appeared even more majestic and looked like it was going to crush the space.     

"The Passage of Divines and Revenants."     

Zhang Ruochen was calm as he performed the eighteenth style of the Luoshui Fist.     

When the fist technique was unleashed, two massive phantoms appeared, one bright one dark, appeared, stepping upon the divine river like a Divine and a Revenant walking side-by-side. The scene was strange and terrifying, and its power devastating.     

Boom!!     

Zhang Ruochen struck both of his iron fists out, and the phantom of the Divine and the Revenant collided with the God King Phantom. All of a sudden, the Precepts of Heaven and Earth became chaotic.     

Tu Ren's God-King Fist just seemed extremely powerful. It crushed the phantoms of the Divine and the Revenant, appearing to be unstoppable.     

A cold light flashed past Zhang Ruochen's eyes as the divine river roiled beneath his feet. He lifted both arms as they burned in raging flames, turning into two grand clouds of fire.     

"Song of Broken Souls."     

The tenth technique of the Luoshui fist was unleashed, as the divine river flew into the sky, and flowed between the two fire clouds, forming a very bizarre scenery.     

In the end, the God-King Fist's power was fully exhausted and completely blocked.     

"Blades of Luoshui."     

Zhang Ruochen no longer wanted to be on the defensive, and immediately launched an attack.     

With the 30th style of the Luoshui Fist, the divine river transformed into a giant sword with a terrifying indestructible Sword Will inside.     

At the same time, Zhang Ruochen mobilized nearly 70,000 thousand Precepts of Truth in his body and infused it into the giant sword, causing it to take form. Its strength multiplied as its sharpness seemed to be unparalleled.     

"Shatter."     

Tu Ren roared violently and deployed a simple, crude punch.     

Baaaam!     

The giant sword started to crack, and then it burst into pieces.     

Although Tu Ren had managed to defeat the Blades of Luoshui, he had also suffered some shock as his body took two involuntary steps back.     

This time, he was actually at a disadvantage.     

"Using the Precepts of Truth, your power can actually increase by eight folds." Tu Ren was shocked.     

Almost every major realm would send prodigy disciples to the Celestial Domain of Truth to study the Path of Truth.     

It was just that the Path of Truth was an ancient path and was extremely complex. Forget about reaching a high level, even getting started itself was exceedingly difficult.     

The vast majority of cultivators could only use the Precepts of Truth to unleash two times the attack power, which was not particularly meaningful.     

Using the Path of Truth to unleash seven times the attack power was already enough to be well-known across the Celestial Domain of Truth. Besides, many of the Fane of Truth's divine disciples could not achieve that.     

As for eight times the attack power, aside from the very few divine disciples of the Fane of Truth, there was almost no hope for anyone else to achieve it.     

Also, under normal circumstances, activating the Path of Truth would require some preparation time, and it could not be used at will.     

Yet, Zhang Ruochen not only used the Path of Truth to unleash eight times the attack power, but he also used it very deftly, without needing too long a time to prepare.     

All of this stemmed from him possessing twelve of ten-thousandths of the Canon of Truth.     

As the geniuses of the Wanxu Realm, the three Tu brothers had obviously also gone to the Celestial Domain of Truth. Unfortunately, they were not particularly talented in the Path of Truth. To them, the Path of Truth was pretty much pointless so they did not put much effort into understanding it.     

"Why aren't you joining hands yet? I don't have that much time to waste," Zhang Ruochen said.     

"Strike together," Tu Tian said coldly.     

"Whoosh."     

Their figures flickered, and the three Tu brothers took different positions, surrounding Zhang Ruochen in the middle.     

All of them deployed the same fist mudra as countless Saint Path Precepts appeared, attacking the power of heaven and earth.     

The three had similar power attributes that combined perfectly, forming a massive and corporeal God King Phantom. It stood very tall, seemingly capable of breaching the heavens and crushing mountains as well as rivers.     

The God King Phantom exuded a terrifying pressure, as though a real God King had descended upon the world with overwhelming power.     

Delight appeared in Zhang Ruochen's eyes, and he murmured, "Divine aura? No matter how you imitate it, it is still a fake."     

His Saint Qi revolved as it rapidly rushed into his left leg.     

In an instant, Zhang Ruochen's left leg turned crimson while a hundred thousand dense precepts appeared as rings of scorching heatwaves at the sole of his foot. They surged out in all directions, causing the entire arena to shake violently.     

Zhang Ruochen's previous refinement of the Sunleaf not only allowed him to refine his body until the realm of "Beneath a Supreme Saint", but all of the hundred thousand Precepts of Gods in Yanshen's leg had also been fully refined. Now he could freely use Yanshen's leg according to his will. The higher his cultivation level was, the stronger the power he could unleash.     

"This aura..."     

Feeling the terrifying power emanating from Zhang Ruochen, the three brothers' expression changed dramatically.     

Impacted by the divine aura, the God King Phantom they had created showed vague signs of disintegration.     

When a false god encounters a true god, it would unravel by itself.     

"The Divine Treads Upon the Nine Heavens!"     

Zhang Ruochen raised his left leg and fully activated the power of Yanshen's leg. Concurrently, he unleashed an intermediate-level leg technique.     

Booom!!!     

With three continuous stomps, a devastating divine power rushed out, and the dimension was immediately shattered.     

In an instant, the massive God King Phantom exploded as the vast power that was crushing Zhang Ruochen was sent into oblivion.     

Baaam!!!     

The three Tu brothers were all hit by the scorching heatwave and sent flying backward. All of them slammed heavily onto the ground, with their flow of blood and qi severely impacted. They were unable to muster any strength and almost vomited blood for their troubles.     

With his hands on his back, Zhang Ruochen slowly landed at the center of the arena like an emperor descending upon the world with a downward gaze.     

All three Tu brothers gazed at Zhang Ruochen as if they were looking at a war god. Their hearts were full of shock, and they were unable to calm themselves down.     

The three brothers were notoriously arrogant, and barely anyone on the Northern Region battlefield had ever been treated with any regard by them.     

They were supremely confident of their strength, and they would not afraid even if they were to face a top-level Path's Anterior elite.     

However, just now, they had experienced a terrible defeat. Their combined attacks could not even withstand a single attack from Zhang Ruochen, and that undoubtedly gave them a powerful sting of a beatdown.     

They felt like Zhang Ruochen was their ultimate nemesis. Against Zhang Ruochen, they simply could not fully unleash their powers.     

What was more unacceptable to them was during the fight, Zhang Ruochen did not even use his most vaunted Path of Time and Path of Dimensions.     

Also, they knew that Zhang Ruochen's Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike had also been cultivated to a high-level Saint technique, and that had not been used as well.     

"As expected of Big Brother, his victory was so easy!" Xiang Chunan laughed out loud.     

Feng Yan also breathed a sigh of relief. He was really worried that Zhang Ruochen would be in for a tough fight.     

It now appeared that his concerns were completely unnecessary.     

It could only be said that he was now increasingly unable to see through his sworn brother because the trump cards the latter held were far beyond his wildest dreams.     

"What did Zhang Ruochen do just now? Why was there such a powerful divine aura?" A look of surprise appeared on Xuanyuan Liekong's face.     

Although he also thought that Zhang Ruochen could defeat the three Tu brothers, but he did not expect Zhang Ruochen to win so handily. The battle just ended in the blink of an eye.     

Zhen Yuan smiled. "It looks like Junior Brother Zhang still has many secrets that we do not know of. With him and Fairy Baihua working together, they will definitely give the Deathkin a very nasty surprise."     

"Let's go. There's nothing to see here anymore. We should see to other preparations as well." Lu Baiming took a sip of tea and moved the white cloud beyond the camp.     

Zhang Ruochen's display of power had undoubtedly given him much more confidence in the assault on Xianji Mountain tomorrow morning.     

At that moment, the inside and outside of the martial arts arena were extremely quiet. Aside from Xiang Chunan who was cheering loudly, everyone who had witnessed the battle remained silent.     

The three Tu brothers all stood up and stepped forward toward Zhang Ruochen in unison.     

All of them had complicated emotions in their eyes as they looked at each other. Then, the three of them lowered their proud heads and saluted Zhang Ruochen as they said, "We admit defeat. Greetings, Commander."     

Seeing that the three Tu Brothers had already submitted, many of the cultivators who had witnessed the battle all realized what had happened, and they all saluted Zhang Ruochen.     

In the world of cultivators, the strong were respected, and the strength Zhang Ruochen had put on display was worthy of their respect.     

Zhang Ruochen looked around and felt a lot of emotions in his heart.     

If he was not strong enough, there would not be a place for him, and everyone would only treat him as a mere joke.     

Only by having enough strength would others be in awe of you.     

Dignity, status, authority, and everything were all built upon strength.