Chapter 31: The Butcher of Heaven, the Slayer of Earth
"Finally broke through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Position, and sure enough, only nineteen meridians were opened!"
After three days of cultivation, Zhang Ruochen had consecutively opened eight meridians, finally surging into the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Position.
Thick, pure true qi rapidly circulated through the nineteen meridians, filling his entire body and merging into a single whole. An unprecedented surge of powerful energy radiated from his meridians.
When the Fifth Prince had cultivated to the Great Extreme Position, he had only opened twelve meridians.
Zhang Ruochen, at the Middle Position, had already opened nineteen meridians. It could be said that his martial body was already quite formidable.
However, in his previous life, when Zhang Ruochen was at the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Position, he had opened twenty meridians—one more than he had now.
"Although I cultivated once in the Barbarian God Pool and absorbed a large amount of blood essence power, which greatly enhanced my physical strength, it still can't compare to my body from my previous life. Of course, I also have advantages I didn't have in my past life. That is, I now possess powerful spiritual power and rich cultivation experience."
"If I want to catch up to Chi Yao in martial arts cultivation, or even surpass her, I must do better than I did in my previous life and open more meridians. Therefore, I must make my physical body even stronger, tougher than before, and fully open all thirty-six meridians on the 'Meridian Diagram' of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*."
Zhang Ruochen walked out of the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, washed away the impurities expelled from his body when he opened the meridians, and began practicing palm techniques in the courtyard.
"Boom! Boom!"
With each palm strike, the air exploded with a sharp crack.
Now, even without using the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, he could unleash the strength of sixteen bulls.
If he used the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, leveraging the explosive power of the palm imprint, he could even reach a terrifying force of twenty-five bulls.
With his current strength, he could defeat Situ Linjiang in just three palms. Even if he encountered a martial artist at the Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection, he would have a fighting chance.
In just a few days, Zhang Ruochen's combat power had risen to a new height.
After moving back to Yushu Palace, Lin Fei and Zhang Ruochen naturally had many more maids and eunuchs around them.
Since he had already revealed his martial arts talent during the year-end assessment, Zhang Ruochen no longer bothered to hide it and directly practiced his palm techniques in the courtyard of Yushu Palace.
"The Ninth Prince is truly remarkable! It's said that even the Fifth Prince and Sixth Prince are no match for him. Now, everyone in the palace says the Ninth Prince is a martial arts prodigy, comparable to the Seventh Prince." A fifteen or sixteen-year-old maid, quite pretty, stared infatuatedly at Zhang Ruochen practicing his palms in the courtyard. Two faint, shy blushes appeared on her fair cheeks.
As long as one was strong, they naturally earned everyone's respect.
As long as one was a genius, they naturally became the object of admiration for many young girls.
Watching Zhang Ruochen practice his palms, one of the slightly older maids had a strange glint in her eyes. She quietly left Yushu Palace and went behind a rockery in the imperial palace.
"Reporting to Miss Han, the Ninth Prince has emerged from seclusion! His cultivation should have broken through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Position." The maid knelt on one knee and spoke respectfully.
The young woman standing opposite her was also dressed in a maid's uniform—a light green palace dress. She appeared to be eighteen or nineteen years old, with a tall figure and slender waist and legs.
Her name was Han Qingluo, one of the four close female guards of the Queen.
These four close female guards were also the four great disciples personally trained by the Queen. They specialized in assassination techniques, possessed formidable cultivation, and were ruthless in their methods, specifically helping the Queen eliminate dissidents.
The task of assassinating the Ninth Prince had been assigned to Han Qingluo by the Queen.
Han Qingluo clasped her hands behind her back, a slight smirk curling at the corner of her mouth. "During the arena sparring, his cultivation had already reached the peak of the Yellow Extreme Realm Small Position. Add to that the blood essence power he absorbed in the Barbarian God Pool; with his talent, it would be strange if he hadn't broken through to the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Position!"
A faint killing intent flickered in Han Qingluo's eyes as she continued, "Keep watching him. As soon as he leaves the palace, report to me immediately."
The maid replied, "This subordinate obeys!"
With that, the maid withdrew and returned to Yushu Palace.
After finishing his palm practice, Zhang Ruochen returned to his room and entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal.
Sitting cross-legged in the center of the inner space, he took out a Qi-Gathering Pill, swallowed it, and began to refine it.
With his current cultivation, he could completely absorb all the medicinal energy of the Qi-Gathering Pill without wasting a single bit.
It only took him an hour to fully absorb the medicinal energy of one Qi-Gathering Pill and convert it into true qi.
However, when Zhang Ruochen broke through to the Middle Position, the capacity of his Qi Pool had increased tenfold. The medicinal energy of a single Qi-Gathering Pill did not increase the true qi in his Qi Pool by much.
He had only two Qi-Gathering Pills left. He spent another two hours refining those as well.
After refining a total of three Qi-Gathering Pills, the true qi in his body had only increased by one-fifth compared to before. To fully cultivate the true qi in his Qi Pool to perfection, he would probably need to take over a hundred Qi-Gathering Pills.
"The effect of Qi-Gathering Pills on me is getting weaker and weaker. By the time I cultivate to the Yellow Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position, they'll probably be completely useless. It seems I must buy higher-grade pills."
Qi-Gathering Pills and Body-Refining Powder were both first-grade pills. Their effects were naturally very pronounced for lower-level martial artists who used them.
As a martial artist's cultivation increased, the effect of first-grade pills would diminish. They would have to take second-grade pills to maintain a fast cultivation speed.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to leave the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal to buy higher-grade pills, his gaze suddenly fell upon the stone platform inside the inner space.
On the stone platform lay a scroll painting and a silver iron book, the *Space-Time Secret Scripture*.
"Now that my cultivation has reached the Yellow Extreme Realm Middle Position, I should be able to open the scroll."
That scroll painting was extremely heavy. In the early stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm, Zhang Ruochen couldn't even lift it.
According to the record on the first page of the *Space-Time Secret Scripture*, Zhang Ruochen would be able to open the scroll once his cultivation reached the Yellow Extreme Realm Small Position.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized the true qi in his body, channeling it toward his right arm. He grabbed the scroll and slowly lifted it.
"What a heavy scroll! It must weigh at least eight hundred jin!"
Controlling his strength, Zhang Ruochen held the scroll by its axle, laid it flat on the ground, and slowly unrolled it.
The scroll depicted a magnificent wilderness scene: towering mountains, surging ancient rivers, steep cliffs, and in the center of the painting stood a massive ancient tree.
The tree was taller than the clouds. Each of its roots resembled a coiled dragon, as massive as a mountain peak. Every single leaf could cover an entire lake.
"How could there be such a tall tree in the world?" Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and gently shook his head.
Suddenly, a voice sounded: "Who says there isn't? How ignorant! You don't even recognize the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, the sacred tree that props up the Kunlun Realm. This lord is very disappointed."
Zhang Ruochen was slightly startled and looked around the inner space, but he didn't see any outsider.
Where was the voice coming from?
"Who's speaking?" Zhang Ruochen became alert and asked in a deep voice.
The voice spoke again: "Can't you see? I'm in the painting!"
"In the painting?"
Zhang Ruochen was even more astonished. "You are the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree? But historical records say the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was cut down in the Middle Ages."
"The Middle Ages?" The voice sounded again.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "The Middle Ages were a hundred thousand years ago. By the way, are you really the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree? Does the legendary Sky-Connecting Divine Tree actually exist?"
The owner of the voice let out a sigh. "How is that possible? Didn't you just say the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was cut down? How could I possibly be a tree?"
"Then who are you?" Zhang Ruochen stared at the scroll and asked again.
"I'm not a person!" the voice said.
Zhang Ruochen: "..."
The voice continued: "I am a cat!"
Then the voice added: "But don't underestimate this lord! This lord has a resounding title—the Butcher of Heaven, the Slayer of Earth. A great and powerful being like this lord cannot be erased by time. Even after a hundred thousand years, a glorious page will be left in the history books. Young lad, you must have heard of my title, right?"
"No!" Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment, then shook his head.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen noticed something in the painting. Beneath the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, there was indeed a tiny black cat the size of a grain of rice. If one didn't look carefully, they wouldn't be able to see it at all.
"Are you a cat, or are you a painting?" Zhang Ruochen found the whole thing very strange.
The voice said: "Sigh! I already told you, I am the Butcher of Heaven, the Slayer of Earth. I did some wrong things back in the day, which is why I was sealed inside this scroll world space. Now, only you can release this lord."
"Why only me?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Because you have awakened the Time-Space Divine Martial Mark and can use the power of space. You can break the seal of the scroll world space. You should know that from ancient times to the present, only three to five people have awakened the Time-Space Divine Martial Mark. Young lad, you are very lucky!" the voice said.
Zhang Ruochen roughly understood what was going on. He smiled and said, "But why should I release you from the scroll?"