Zhang Ruochen was well-prepared. Just as the beautiful Ghost King pounced, he activated the Yang Qi within him and pushed his palm forward. "Dragon and Elephant Divine Furnace."
All dead souls feared Yang Qi, even when they became Ghost Kings. This was why Zhang Ruochen used the seventh palm of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm against the beautiful Ghost King's attack.
Kaboom!
A ring of energy waves spread out quickly with the man and ghost as the center. Zhang Ruochen retreated more than 300 feet before steadying himself. His arms were in extreme pain and most of his body was covered in ice. There were even fissures on his skin. However, instead of feeling depressed, he grew excited.
He'd gone directly against a Ghost King but only had these light injuries. This was such a brilliant accomplishment!
If a ninth level Half-Saint in the Kunlun's Field could go against a Saint's full-force attack and not die, it was definitely a feat worthy of bragging about. The Half-Saint could enter the Half-Saint Rank with this.
And Zhang Ruochen was only in the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
This didn't mean that he was powerful enough to be compared to those on the Half-Saint Rank. It only meant that the beautiful Ghost King had been weakened a lot. She couldn't even kill Zhang Ruochen.
The Ghost Qi in her sizzled and popped. Sparks flew out.
The Yang Qi of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm could burn the Ghost Qi within her, weakening her more and more.
She drove out the Yang Qi. Seeing that Zhang Ruochen hadn't fallen and was still alive, she was incredulous. "You're quite a powerful human," she said. "You haven't even cultivated a Saint Soul, but you're already so powerful."
"Wrong! It's not that I'm strong but that you're too weak."
Zhang Ruochen was absolutely at a disadvantage in the exchange, but it stimulated his desire to fight. An unstoppable force burst from him.
So what if she was a Ghost King? Nick her while she's sick.
The Dragon and Elephant Divine Furnace was only the seventh palm. It was a lower class Ghost Level martial technique.
Zhang Ruochen was very clear that he could counter the Ghost King earlier because his 36 meridians were now Quasi-Saintly Meridians. This allowed his palm attack to reach the level of a superior-class Ghost Level martial technique.
If he could cultivate the eighth palm, it would be at the mid-class Ghost Level. Zhang Ruochen's Yang Qi would multiply ten times. How powerful would his palm technique be then?
Sword attacks were useless against the beautiful Ghost King. This had already been proven. Only powerful Yang Qi could repress her.
In this case, I'll take this chance to cultivate the eighth palm of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm—the Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant. If I can complete it, I can be a huge threat to her.
He'd actually taken some time to study and cultivate the eighth palm in the scroll world. However, he'd been preparing for the Sword Technique Conference at that time, so he spent most of his time on swordsmanship. Even when he cultivated the eighth palm, it had been to temper his body with the power. He didn't invest too much effort.
Even so, he'd already cultivated the basics of the eighth palm. He wasn't far from completion.
"It's not that I'm strong but that you're too weak."
When the beautiful Ghost King heard this, she was naturally enraged. A nobody who didn't even have a Saint Soul dared to look down on her.
"Human, you've angered me!"
The Ghost King formed a strange gesture with her hands and all the sinister Qi in the world flooded towards her. It formed a huge 30-meter-tall skeleton before her. Scraping sounds came from its mouth as it punched down at Zhang Ruochen.
The skeleton's fist was bigger than Zhang Ruochen's body.
Even though the Ghost King was much more powerful than Zhang Ruochen, he still wasn't scared at all. Instead, he jumped forward to meet it.
"Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant."
Zhang Ruochen opened his arms mid-air. Thick Saintly Qi flowed out of his body, forming various huge flaming palm prints. He thrust them forward, attacking the white skeleton.
Thud!
Zhang Ruochen flew backwards and landed on the ground. His feet made a huge hole in the ground. It felt like all his bones were about to fall apart.
He took out a bottle of Xuanwu divine blood and drank it all. Since he was taking a risk, he would go all the way.
Before, Zhang Ruochen had been refining the Xuanwu divine blood drop by drop. He took countless months to refine a single drop. Now, the level of his cultivation, the strength of his body, and the width of his meridians far surpassed the past. Since he had such great resources, why shouldn't he go all out?
Every drop of Xuanwu divine blood that entered his gut spread like a ball of fire. After swallowing the entire bottle, Zhang Ruochen's body instantly turned into a blazing furnace. Strands of fire surged out of his pores, wrapping around him.
"Fight!"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes became fiery-red orbs. Roaring, he sent out the Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant palm print towards the white skeleton again.
The Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm was Yang in nature. With the support of the Xuanwu divine blood, Zhang Ruochen now had endless power.
It was different for the Ghost King. Corroded by the Yang Qi, her Ghost Qi was getting eaten up.
Zhang Ruochen grew more fanatic as he fought. He unleashed all the power within him, attacking the skeleton and Ghost King crazily.
After countless palm prints, there was finally a boom. The white skeleton fell to the ground. It transformed into strands of ghostly mist and scattered in the air.
Seeing the extremely wild Zhang Ruochen, the Ghost King felt like he'd turned into a different person.
At first, Zhang Ruochen felt calm and gentlemanly to her. Right now, the aggressiveness that burst from him actually frightened her. How could a Ghost King fear a human in the Fish-Dragon Realm?
"Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant."
With a fire cloud under his feet, Zhang Ruochen shot into the air. He slammed down at the Ghost King with both hands. He seemed to have sent out two palm prints, but it actually formed countless palms.
The Ghost King huffed coldly. Powerful Ghost Qi formed on her slender and pale hand and she attacked.
Kaboom!
The man and ghost clashed again.
This time, Zhang Ruochen and the Ghost King flew back at the same time.
The Ghost King landed above the Blood River. She took six steps on the surface, creating ripples, before she could absolve the force of Zhang Ruochen's palm print.
"How can this be?"
She raised her hands. The two flawless porcelain hands now had dots of fiery light. Her palm burned with pain. The power from the living world was burning her ghostly body. She'd never experienced this power before. It was basically kryptonite to dead souls.
Even the Buddhist Qi from the monk earlier hadn't repressed her so powerfully.
He's right. It's not that he's getting stronger but that I'm weakening. Why did I have to meet this damn guy after I got injured?
The Ghost King was highly intelligent. Her mind wasn't muddled like the other dead souls. Thus, she regretted her actions now. If she'd known how troublesome this young human was, she wouldn't have provoked him.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were domineering and sharp. His aura gave off the feeling that he wouldn't give up until he killed his enemies. Walking on the water, he pounced and attacked the Ghost King again.
"Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant."
"Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant."
…
He continuously attacked with the eighth palm. He comprehended the mysteries while fighting, letting the technique's power meld with his body quickly.
At first, the Ghost King had the upper hand. But after hundreds of attacks, she still couldn't keep up. She immediately used a technique and pushed off from the water, flying into the distance.
She was extremely fast. Like a white streak of lightning, she bolted to the island in the Blood River.
"Where are you running to?" Zhang Ruochen roared. Like an eagle flying, he flew down and sent the Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant to the Ghost King's back.
His words were jarring to the Ghost King. How could a Ghost King run from him?
Disgusting human.
Turning, she glared coldly at Zhang Ruochen. "Since you want to die, I'll help you."
The Ghost King stood straight at the edge of the island. Her tantalizing figure made her seem even more beautiful, like a delicate piece of art. Her chest was especially full, forming shocking curves.
She pressed two slender fingers together and placed them at her chest.
Whoosh—
A blood-red crescent appeared on her pale forehead. There were strange veins around the print, like curse runes.
The patterns between her eyebrows are similar to the patterns on the Sun-moon Crystal Coffin. Does she have something to do with it?
Seeing the strange changes of the Ghost King, Zhang Ruochen was a bit surprised.
Suddenly, the blood-red moon above Blood River shone brightly. The light formed a beam that connected with the crescent between the Ghost King's brows. She pointed forward, hitting Zhang Ruochen's palm.
Using the moonlight of the blood moon, her power had doubled. Twice the power could easily incapacitate Zhang Ruochen and turn the tides.
"Human, you've overestimated yourself by fighting with me." The Ghost King's expression was still cold, but her cold features now had a faint smile. How could a female ghost smile so beautifully?
"Really?"
Yang Qi ten times stronger than before abruptly burst from Zhang Ruochen. His physical body turned red-hot like he was a human-shaped piece of metal. He radiated with the burning light of a sun.
He'd finally completed the Thousand-hand Dragon and Elephant, the eighth palm of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm.