Chapter 1261: Divine Flame Reappears
Ao Xinyan held the Realm Son Seal in her hands, her entire being frozen in shock, unable to believe that Zhang Ruochen would entrust the Realm Son Seal to her. She wanted to refuse, but the Realm Son Seal was far too precious—the words of refusal simply would not leave her lips.
"Refine and master the Realm Son Seal as quickly as possible. Ancestral Dragon Mountain, Nine Li Palace, the Imperial Court, and the Undying Blood Clan will soon catch up. I hope that by then, you will have the strength to battle the Devouring Demon Dragon."
Zhang Ruochen patted Ao Xinyan on the shoulder, then turned and walked away, preparing to digest the recent gains he had made and elevate his own cultivation.
Since Ao Xinyan had already stepped into the Saint Realm, Zhang Ruochen naturally could not afford to slack off.
"First, I will use the Nuanling Dragon Fire to refine the two Sacred Sources within my body. Once they reach their purest state, I will condense a third Sacred Source," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea was vast beyond measure, filled with dense Sacred Qi, appearing boundless and hazy like a sea of clouds.
A five-zhang-long blue fire dragon coiled within the Qi Sea, blazing like a blue sun.
Sacred Qi surged toward it endlessly. After being refined by the Nuanling Dragon Fire, the Sacred Qi turned blue in color. Though its quantity decreased, its purity and quality increased by at least twofold.
Moreover, the Nuanling Dragon Fire absorbed some of the Sacred Qi, causing the blue fire dragon's body to lengthen slightly.
"The Nuanling Dragon Fire within me is still at its most basic stage, capable only of simple attacks. As it absorbs more Sacred Qi, it will undoubtedly grow stronger and more vigorous."
The Nuanling Dragon Fire possessed its own independent intelligence and cultivated on its own, its destructive power continuously increasing.
Under Zhang Ruochen's control, the blue fire dragon flew toward the two Sacred Sources suspended above. However, before it had covered half the distance, a powerful pulling force erupted from the bottom of the Qi Sea, dragging the blue fire dragon downward with urgency.
"Roar!"
The blue fire dragon struggled fiercely, but to no avail.
Beneath it, the Sacred Qi spun rapidly, forming a massive vortex that engulfed the entire Qi Sea.
This sudden change startled Zhang Ruochen. He quickly diverted a strand of Spiritual Power to probe the bottom of the Qi Sea.
"Whoosh—"
At the bottom of the Qi Sea, at the center of the vortex, a wisp of cyan flame emerged, radiating brilliant light in all directions.
The cyan flame was like a divine lamp illuminating heaven and earth, no larger than a soybean, yet it could suppress the five-zhang-long blue fire dragon.
What flame in the world could suppress the Nuanling Dragon Fire?
"That is... Purifying Divine Flame..."
Zhang Ruochen was deeply shocked.
Back when he had cultivated to the tenth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he had indeed summoned the Purifying Divine Flame to temper his body and forge a Divine Fate. But after the tempering was complete, the Purifying Divine Flame had dissipated. He had no idea that a single ember remained hidden in his Qi Sea.
The blue fire dragon lost all resistance, spinning within the vortex. Its flames transformed into fiery threads, absorbed by the Purifying Divine Flame.
The Purifying Divine Flame grew steadily, eventually consuming the blue fire dragon entirely, becoming a fist-sized mass of cyan fire.
"The Nuanling Dragon Fire was devoured by the Purifying Divine Flame?"
Zhang Ruochen sent a strand of Spiritual Power toward the Purifying Divine Flame and discovered that the cyan flame was quite docile, showing no aggression toward his Spiritual Power.
The Spiritual Power flew over and attached itself to the Purifying Divine Flame.
To his astonishment, Zhang Ruochen found that the Sacred Dao Rules within the Purifying Divine Flame were identical to those he had cultivated.
"Could it be that after I forged my Divine Fate, this Purifying Divine Flame became a part of my body, and I simply never noticed?"
Zhang Ruochen attempted to control the Purifying Divine Flame, moving a wisp of it outside his body. A small flame appeared in his palm.
With a flick of his finger, the cyan flame shot out and landed in the Yin-Yang Sea.
"Boom."
In the next moment, that stretch of sea began to boil, with basin-sized bubbles rising to the surface.
A look of delight crossed Zhang Ruochen's face. "As expected of the Purifying Divine Flame—far more powerful than the Nuanling Dragon Fire. Unfortunately, its quantity is too small. I need to continue nurturing it to help it grow."
Even True Saints and Ultimate Saints would be daunted by the Purifying Divine Flame, not daring to touch it.
Of course, since Zhang Ruochen had only released a small flame, they would not be afraid either, easily able to evade it. With the cultivation of True Saints and Ultimate Saints, they could kill Saints from a thousand li away; a small Purifying Divine Flame would struggle to threaten them.
Next, Zhang Ruochen mobilized the Purifying Divine Flame and quickly refined the two Sacred Sources to their purest state.
"Time to condense the third Sacred Source."
Zhang Ruochen released his Palm Dao Sacred Image, and a massive sacred elephant phantom materialized, with a golden dragon coiled around its body.
The condensation of the Palm Dao Sacred Source went smoothly. Before long, the third Sacred Source was successfully formed, appearing in the Qi Sea and flying toward the Sword Dao Sacred Source and the Bright King Sacred Source.
Recalling what had happened after the Bright King Sacred Source was born, Zhang Ruochen feared an accident. He quickly mobilized the Purifying Divine Flame to position it between the three Sacred Sources.
"Whoosh."
Centered on the Purifying Divine Flame, a massive vortex appeared. The three Sacred Sources moved along different orbits within the vortex, spinning around the flame.
"The Purifying Divine Flame can indeed neutralize the repulsion between Sacred Sources."
Zhang Ruochen was completely at ease and began condensing the fourth Sacred Source—the Fist Dao Sacred Source.
The Fist Dao Sacred Image was a mighty sacred river stretching across the Qi Sea. Zhang Ruochen spent a great deal of time compressing the river into a Sacred Source.
The fourth Sacred Source also flew into the vortex, spinning around the Purifying Divine Flame.
With each Sacred Source he condensed, Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel his cultivation rising by a small margin.
Next, Zhang Ruochen released his Time Sacred Image and Space Sacred Image, but this time, he failed. The two Sacred Images had no form and could not manifest, making it impossible to condense them into Sacred Sources.
"Why is this happening?"
Zhang Ruochen took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture and searched carefully for descriptions of the Time Sacred Image and Space Sacred Image, hoping to find the reason.
He did find a relevant passage.
On the fourteenth page of the Space-Time Secret Scripture, there was an annotation: "The Nine Eternal Paths are all formless and intangible. They can only be comprehended, not condensed into Sacred Sources."
"Even cultivating the Nine Eternal Paths prevents one from condensing Sacred Sources."
Zhang Ruochen felt somewhat relieved. A faint smile crossed his face as he muttered to himself, "At least it's not a problem with my cultivation."
Being able to condense four Sacred Sources was already an unprecedented feat. Zhang Ruochen was not greedy and felt quite satisfied.
"The Palm Dao Sacred Source and the Fist Dao Sacred Source have only just been condensed. They need time to stabilize. Once the four Sacred Sources are fully stable, I can refine the Dragon Pearl and attempt to break through to the Mid-level Saint realm."
Since he could not break through for now, Zhang Ruochen had to strengthen himself in other ways. His first thought was of the Shi Shenghua.
The Shi Shenghua's cultivation was at a critical threshold, but because the power it had absorbed was too mixed, it had not yet broken through to the Upper-level Saint realm.
Once it broke through to the Upper-level Saint realm, its combat power would at least rival a Half-Step Earth-Reaching Realm expert.
Zhang Ruochen communicated with the Shi Shenghua and learned that its injuries had mostly healed. He then mobilized the Purifying Divine Flame to help it refine the Sacred Power within its body.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen multitasked, opening his eyes and taking out the Abyssal Ancient Sword, preparing to upgrade its rank.
The Devouring Demon Dragon had the Ancestral Dragon Scale, the Qi Tian Prince had the God-Destroying Cross Shield, the Mo Tian Prince had the Emperor-Slaying Demon Sword, and Chi Wansui had the Realm Son Seal...
The weapons in their hands were not ordinary Sacred Artifacts; they possessed terrifying power that the current Abyssal Ancient Sword could not match.
Without a weapon of the same level, Zhang Ruochen would be at a severe disadvantage when fighting them.
Next, Zhang Ruochen took out all the Sacred Artifacts stored in his Space Ring. There were eight Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts and as many as one hundred and twenty Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifacts.
Most of these Sacred Artifacts came from the treasury of the Azure Dragon Dynasty, while the rest were spoils Zhang Ruochen had taken from Saint-level enemies he had killed.
Such a pile of Sacred Artifacts would make even the sect master of a first-rate sect envious, but Zhang Ruochen did not feel the slightest regret. He handed them all over to the Abyssal Ancient Sword to refine.
"I wonder how many inscriptions the Abyssal Ancient Sword will have after refining these Sacred Artifacts?"
Zhang Ruochen had a special emotional connection to the Abyssal Ancient Sword and looked forward to it quickly advancing to a Ten-Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact.
"For now, even if the Abyssal Ancient Sword absorbs more Sacred Artifacts, it will likely struggle to contend with the Ancestral Dragon Scale and the God-Destroying Cross Shield."
The Ancestral Dragon Scale, God-Destroying Cross Shield, Emperor-Slaying Demon Sword, and Realm Son Seal were not within the scope of Thousand-Mark or Ten-Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts.
Some of these weapons carried the power of a Great Saint, while others carried the power of a deity, similar to the ancestral artifacts of the barbarian tribes.
They were not merely weapons; they also represented the might of some earth-shaking great figure. As long as the user's cultivation was strong enough, they could unleash that figure's power.
In the cultivation world, such weapons were generally called "Great Saint Ancient Artifacts" or "Divine Relic Ancient Artifacts."
Great Saint Ancient Artifacts, Divine Relic Ancient Artifacts, and Sacred Artifacts were not entirely unrelated. In fact, some Thousand-Mark and Ten-Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts themselves carried the power of a Great Saint and could also be called "Great Saint Ancient Artifacts."
Some Great Saint Ancient Artifacts and Divine Relic Ancient Artifacts were themselves Thousand-Mark or Ten-Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts. Only when their original power was unleashed would their might increase dramatically.
The Devouring Demon Dragon had left a deep impression on Zhang Ruochen when it unleashed the original barbaric ancient power of the Ancestral Dragon Scale.
That power came from the Ancestral Dragon of the Primordial Era. Let alone Zhang Ruochen, even a Saint of the Heaven-Reaching Realm might not be able to withstand it.
Only by using a weapon of the same level could one resist the Ancestral Dragon Scale.
The silver kitchen knife that Qing Mo wielded should also be a formidable Divine Relic Ancient Artifact. Otherwise, with Qing Mo's current cultivation, she could not have sent the Ancestral Dragon Scale flying.
Zhang Ruochen searched for a long time and found only two items on him that might be able to withstand the Ancestral Dragon Scale and the God-Destroying Cross Shield.
(End of Chapter)