690 The Battle

Seeing the situation in front of the Taoist temple, Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and kept his guard up. His eyes fell on the flexible golden sword lying by the corpse. He squinted to read the inscription on it: "Xu Changsheng."

The corpse on the ground was unrecognizable—like a bloody mass of butchered meat.

However, Zhang Ruochen had seen that flexible golden sword before. He was sure it belonged to Xu Changsheng.

How did a master like Xu Changsheng die?

Having broken through the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, Xu Changsheng's strength was formidable. It would require great strength for even a first level Half-Saint to kill him.

Zhang Ruochen's instincts told him that he had intruded upon a forbidden area.

This was a dangerous place to be. He needed to leave immediately.

Suddenly, a voice came from within the Taoist temple. "It's raining cats and dogs, my brother. Why don't you come in and have a cup of hot tea?"

Although the voice sounded calm, Zhang Ruochen clearly felt a murderous aura about it. Even the rain stopped for a second when the voice spoke.

"What if I take my leave now?"

While Zhang Ruochen appeared composed, he was actually holding on tightly to the Thunder Pearl and mobilizing Spiritual Qi from his entire body to transform it into the power of the thunderbolt.

Flashes of lightning emitted from the Thunder Pearl and condensed into a purple Thunder Bolt around 10 meters in diameter that wrapped around his body.

"Snap!

The wooden door of the Taoist temple slowly opened.

Firelight emanated from inside.

Zhang Ruochen looked intently through the door and saw a blue-robed young man sitting in the Taoist temple.

Under the light of the fire, the blue-robed man's image seemed to flicker.

He turned his head toward Zhang Ruochen, smiled and nodded to him. He said, "A 44th level Master of Spiritual Power. Not bad at all! If this was any other occasion, I would have let you go because of your capabilities. However, you have to stay here today because you know Xu Changsheng."

Two human shadows descended from the sky above the Taoist temple and landed—one in front and one behind Zhang Ruochen.

The man standing before Zhang Ruochen was none other than Centipede Eight.

He had eight arms, eight legs, and was three meters tall. The skin covering his entire body was jet black, and his eyes were golden.

Centipede Eight smiled cruelly as he fixed his eyes on Zhang Ruochen and said, "I have killed innumerable people, but none of them was a 44th level Master of Spiritual Power. I wonder how it feels to do that?"

The woman standing behind Zhang Ruochen was Bird Nine. She had an enchanting figure and a pair of feathered wings on her back. She laughed and said, "A 44th level Master of Spiritual Power may be powerful, but will he be able to cast his spells at such proximity?"

A layer of thin and closely-spaced scales started to grow out of both of Bird Nine's arms, and her fingers became sharp. The spaces in between the scales emitted blue flames as her hands transformed into the talons of a savage bird.

Bird Nine's true body was actually a 'Breezy Bird', a sixth level savage bird. She possessed the Blood Meridian of an immortal bird. Although it was a diluted Blood Meridian, her strength far transcended any common savage bird.

By now, Bird Nine's cultivation had reached the peak of the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm—just a step away from the Half-saint Realm.

A Breezy Bird had the ability to mobilize the power of wind nature, therefore, speed was Bird Nine's strength.

"Swosh!"

With a flash, Bird Nine transformed into a blue shadow and then attacked Zhang Ruochen from behind.

Zhang Ruochen was faster than she thought. He took a step forward and dashed away from Bird Nine at the speed of light.

"You are quite fast, but not fast enough."

Zhang Ruochen's eye turned cold. He landed a punch on Bird Nine's head.

Totally unprepared for this, Bird Nine's face fell as she realized that there was another person who was faster than her in the Fish-Dragon Realm. Furthermore, this person was a Master of Spiritual Power.

However, Bird Nine's response was reflexively fast.

As Zhang Ruochen's punch was about to hit her, she propped up the wings on her back to form a flaming screen that shielded her head.

Zhang Ruochen's palm dented Bird Nine's Divine Body Shield, and it started to crack.

Very quickly, Zhang Ruochen landed another punch on Bird Nine's wings and she was forced to duck.

With a "bang", Bird Nine's body sunk into the ground and rolled into a ball. She tumbled toward the Taoist temple, leaving a deep gully on the ground.

"Not only is he a Master Spiritual Power, but he is also a powerful Martial Arts Monk."

Inside the Taoist temple, the blue-robed man had a surprised look on his face. He finally took notice of Zhang Ruochen—his capabilities had attracted his attention.

Bird Nine stretched out her wings and stood up slowly as she licked the blood off the corner of her mouth. She looked at Zhang Ruochen from afar in astonishment and said, "You can't be faster than me. Are you carrying some kind of sacred gadget that enhances your speed?"

Bird Nine was right. Zhang Ruochen was wearing the Shooting Star Invisible Cloak which enabled him to travel at high speed.

Furthermore, it was because of his speed that he had unexpectedly injured Bird Nine.

By this time, those who were present had witnessed Zhang Ruochen's capability in terms of his speed, so they became more wary of him. It would not be so easy for Zhang Ruochen to defeat them.

"What a formidable savage bird."

Zhang Ruochen's heart dropped when he saw Bird Nine rise and find her footing once again.

Zhang Ruochen had used all his strength and speed in that punch, yet it seemed that she had only been lightly injured.

How strong could she be?

She must be equivalent to at least five monks in the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.

Bird Nine was already this powerful. How much stronger could Centipede Eight be? He had not even displayed his skills yet!

Bird Nine and Centipede Eight were obviously mere subordinates, and the actual superior was the blue-robed man in the Taoist temple.

What kind of person was this man?

There were numerous masters all over the world. Zhang Ruochen did not think he was invincible among all the Half-Saints and those below that level just because he had reached the Fifth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.

"Flee!"

Zhang Ruochen did not hesitate this time. He immediately mobilized his Spiritual Power and wielded the Rolling Thunder Skill as he tried to escape quickly.

Bird Nine laughed as she stretched out her arms to form two blue light columns that extended in the direction that Zhang Ruochen had fled.

The two light columns contained strong wind nature power. Immediately, they intertwined with each other to condense into a 333-meter-diameter vortex in the air.

"Devil Wind Vortex."

As the vortex turned with an alarming speed, hundreds of wind blades flew wildly within it, making sloshing sounds as it went after Zhang Ruochen.

In a flash, the enormous wind blade vortex had almost caught up to Zhang Ruochen.

Earlier, Xu Changsheng had been dragged back by Bird Nine with this move when he attempted to escape.

Bird Nine was now using this exact same tactic to deal with Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen was not going to stand around and wait for his doom. He snorted, stopped, and stood still in the air. Then he lifted the Thunder Pearl above his head.

Lightning and fire pillars surged out of the Thunder Pearl in an instant, and they condensed into another 333-meter-diameter vortex.

"Lightning Fire Vortex."

A third level spell coupled with the power of the Thunder Pearl made Zhang Ruochen's move extraordinarily powerful.

From afar, the two vortices, each the size of a hill, collided with such impact that it violently exploded with an enormous amount of energy.

"Rumble!"

As the wind blade and lightning dispersed in all directions, parts of the lightning fell onto the ground, creating dark, burnt pits. Some wind blades struck the sides of the mountain, resulting in cracks dozens of meters long on the rock walls.

Bird Nine took thirteen steps backward, ending up at the bottom of the stone steps before she found her footing. Her face broke out in joy as she exclaimed, "Such powerful Martial Arts and Spiritual Power. He is a worthy opponent. I shall be the one to take him down. This is my prerogative."

Centipede Eight broke into an evil smile and said, "It's rare to see Bird Nine behaving so seriously. I suppose she has truly found her match."

Although Centipede Eight was confident in Bird Nine's capabilities, he knew better than to be complacent. The masked man was, after all, a top superior who was rare to come by.

"Whizz!"

Blue Holy Qi swelled up from Bird Nine's body.

Her body transformed into a blue light column that shot up into the air and vanished into the dark clouds.

The next moment, the clouds in the vault of heaven emanated the aura of savage birds, and there was a violent vibration of Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth. One could faintly see the light of a blue flame behind the layers of clouds.

In an instant, a pair of blue wings measuring dozens of meters emerged from the clouds. As they flapped downwards, a raging storm of Qi billows formed an arc that rushed toward Zhang Ruochen.

Standing on lower ground, Zhang Ruochen lifted his head to look. He seemed to be able to see through the thick cloud layers as he muttered. "Breezy Bird is actually a Sixth Level Savage Beast."

Faced with the rampaging storm, Zhang Ruochen did not dare treat this lightly. He summoned the Golden Snake Divine Rapier and then injected all of the Holy Qi in his body into the blade to stir up the sword's full power.

"Break!"

Zhang Ruochen waved the sword and struck outward, creating a streak of sword Qi in the air, and then he thrust it toward the storm, dividing it in two.

The claw of a savage bird emerged from the clouds.

The scales on the claws emitted burning flames that were directed at Zhang Ruochen. Zhang Ruochen's face flushed from the light of the fire.

"Rumble!"

When the Golden Snake Divine Rapier collided with the claws of the savage bird, a great power dissipated and was transmitted to Zhang Ruochen.

"It is indeed the offspring of a Mythical Beast. Such great power!"

Zhang Ruochen jerked his arms, and in the next instant, his body straightened and he began to fall to the ground. As he hit the ground, he sank into the interior of the mountain.

Bird Nine thought she had accomplished what she had set out to do, so she transformed back to her human form and landed to take a look in the pit. She asked, "Is he dead?"

"That easy?"

The voice had come from behind her.

Her eyes were panic-stricken. She did not turn but she felt a stream of Sword Qi behind her, so she stretched out her wings without delay and dashed away.

This was a natural reflex when faced with danger. She might meet her downfall here if she did not retreat.