Chapter 1288: Chaotic Veins
The Undying Blood Clan engaged in mass slaughter precisely to seize blood. As long as they could consume enough blood, their cultivation would skyrocket.
Among all beings, human blood was the most attractive to them. It could be directly absorbed by the body without refinement, instantly converting into cultivation and power. While absorbing the blood of barbarian beasts also brought great benefits, it required a significant amount of time to refine, making it far more troublesome.
If they could absorb the sacred blood of human saints every day, the cultivation speed of the Undying Blood Clan would be enough to drive human prodigies to despair.
In the Northern Domain, every time the Undying Blood Clan conquered a location, they would gather the corpses of slain humans, extract their blood, and build a blood pool. Only those Undying Blood Clan cultivators who killed the most enemies and earned the greatest merits in battle were qualified to cultivate at the edge of the blood pool, enhancing their cultivation.
The blood pool at the bottom of the valley was neither too large nor too small—it was considered medium-sized. Nearly all the Undying Blood Clan gathered around the blood pool were Half-Saints, numbering sixty to seventy.
"Killing so many humans—they deserve to die."
Huang Yanchen gazed at the dried human corpses in the valley, a cold light flashing in her eyes. She drew her sacred sword, wanting to charge up and slay those Undying Blood Clan Half-Saints by the blood pool.
"Don't act rashly."
Zhang Ruochen stopped Huang Yanchen and added, "We've just arrived in the Northern Domain and haven't yet grasped the situation here. We must not act recklessly. If we kill them, it will certainly draw the attention of the Undying Blood Clan, which won't do us any good."
"Are we just going to let them off?" Huang Yanchen said coldly.
"Let's first find out our exact location and the state of the war in the Northern Domain before making a move. There's no rush."
Zhang Ruochen also harbored no goodwill toward the Undying Blood Clan, and the fury in his heart was even more intense. But he remained calmer than Huang Yanchen, clearly understanding what to do and what not to do.
Qing Mo said softly, "Princess, we came to the Northern Domain to find that Sacred Master of Alchemy from Immortal Machine Valley to treat Young Master Zhang's injuries. That's the most important matter."
Hearing this, Huang Yanchen finally calmed down.
This valley, though gathering dozens of Undying Blood Clan Half-Saints and seemingly dangerous, was actually safer. No one would expect humans to be hiding inside.
Huang Yanchen left the valley alone to gather information, while Qing Mo stayed behind to protect Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen and Qing Mo built a small cave inside the dense pile of dried corpses as a temporary hiding place.
Qing Mo guarded the cave entrance, while Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged and took out the two sacred medicines gifted to him by Ao Yi: the Broken Continuation Golden Lotus and the Silver Thread Sacred Vine.
"Both are precious medicines for healing meridians and sacred veins. Let's give them a try."
Zhang Ruochen was naturally unwilling to remain a cripple. He wanted to reconnect his three meridians and resume his path of cultivation. So, he plucked a leaf from the Broken Continuation Golden Lotus, placed it in his mouth, and absorbed the medicinal power contained in the sacred medicine.
As the medicinal power seeped into his body, it indeed revived some vitality, but his three meridians showed no change at all.
Without reconnecting the three meridians, even if his physical body became vibrant with life, it would soon drain away.
Zhang Ruochen sighed softly, unwilling to waste the sacred medicine. He stopped consuming it and put away the Broken Continuation Golden Lotus and Silver Thread Sacred Vine.
For now, Zhang Ruochen couldn't cultivate his physical body or martial arts, but he could still cultivate his spiritual power. As long as he could grow stronger, it was a way forward.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to begin cultivating his spiritual power, he unexpectedly noticed that his body had become somewhat different from before.
The invisible blood vessels he had constructed using his spiritual power were now covered in a layer of five-colored light, brimming with an indescribable spirituality.
"That's... Chaotic Qi..."
From the crack in the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, five-colored Chaotic Qi continuously seeped out, flooding into Zhang Ruochen's battered body, penetrating his flesh and bones.
Chaotic Qi is a type of gas that only appears when heaven and earth first separate. It contains infinite vitality and can give birth to all things in the universe. Many powerful primordial beings were born within chaos.
Now, with Zhang Ruochen's three meridians shattered and his physical meridians completely gone, his body resembled the world at the dawn of creation—without any rules or veins, everything in a state of chaos. Such an environment, though seemingly lifeless, held infinite vitality and endless possibilities.
"Chaotic Qi can actually construct blood vessels one by one—how incredible."
Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had seen a lamp in the darkness, his heart filled with ecstasy.
The blood vessels formed by Chaotic Qi were built under the guidance of Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power, but they were unstable—mere threads of gas. Turning them into real blood vessels was clearly no easy task.
Perhaps only a Sacred Master of Alchemy had the ability to transform these gaseous veins into true blood vessels.
Zhang Ruochen grew even more eager to find the Sacred Master of Alchemy that the Drunken Madman had mentioned. If, with the aid of Chaotic Qi, he could reshape his three meridians, he might even turn misfortune into fortune—transforming from a post-natal being into a pre-natal one, improving both his potential and physique.
Of course, this was just Zhang Ruochen's most optimistic thought.
After all, even a Sacred Master of Alchemy might not be confident in helping a cripple reshape their three meridians.
With Zhang Ruochen's current spiritual power, he could only construct about ten to twenty percent of the blood vessel system. To build a complete system, he would need far stronger spiritual power.
"Given my current physical condition, before I can re-form my three meridians, I can only cultivate my spiritual power," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
By engaging in visualization and contemplation, one's spiritual power could gradually strengthen. However, that was the most traditional method, with a very slow growth rate.
Zhang Ruochen possessed a wealth of resources that could be used to rapidly enhance his spiritual power, so he didn't need to rely on traditional methods.
For example:
The "Azure Dragon Divine Dew" harvested from the Seven-Star Divine Ling was an excellent treasure for boosting spiritual power.
Alternatively, Zhang Ruochen could absorb the memories and knowledge of other saints from the sacred sources he controlled, which would also rapidly increase his spiritual power.
Ultimately, Zhang Ruochen chose a more conservative approach—absorbing the Azure Dragon Divine Dew to strengthen his spiritual power.
While Zhang Ruochen cultivated his spiritual power, major events were unfolding in the outside world.
...
...
The battle at Yin-Yang Sea quickly spread across the Kunlun Realm, shocking all major human forces and beings of other races alike.
One of the ten great artifacts, the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower, had emerged into the world. The aura it emitted caused all sacred artifacts with artifact spirits to tremble.
An artifact, in the world of vessels, was akin to a god among beings.
That day, all living beings discussed the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower.
"In Yin-Yang Sea, a divine dragon has awakened, wielding the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower. It suppressed the Winged Dragon King, wounded the Thunder Department Heavenly King and the Slaughter King—an overwhelmingly dominant display."
"If it's so powerful, why hasn't it left Yin-Yang Sea to rule the world?"
"The strong one in Yin-Yang Sea might not be a divine dragon. If a divine dragon had awakened, how could the Thunder Department Heavenly King and the Slaughter King have escaped?"
Some raised doubts, suggesting that the strong one in Yin-Yang Sea wasn't that powerful, at least not at the peak.
It might be wary of the top beings in the Kunlun Realm, such as "Bi Huang" of the Ancestral Dragon Mountain, "Qi Tian Blood Emperor" of the Undying Blood Clan, and "Jiu Ming Heavenly Emperor" of the Nine Li Palace...
With an artifact emerging, how could these emperors or sovereigns at the pinnacle of the Kunlun Realm not be tempted?
The unparalleled strong one in Yin-Yang Sea might not yet have the strength to contend with Bi Huang, Qi Tian Blood Emperor, or Jiu Ming Heavenly Emperor, and feared losing the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower, so it chose not to leave Yin-Yang Sea.
Of course, some cultivators believed that the unparalleled strong one in Yin-Yang Sea was indeed a divine dragon, but had been frozen for too long and hadn't fully recovered its cultivation, so it chose to lie low.
Once its cultivation fully recovered, no being in the entire Kunlun Realm might be able to oppose it.
The next day, news came from the wild secret realm that another great battle had erupted in Yin-Yang Sea. It was suspected that an emperor-level being had intruded, seeking to seize the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower.
The sounds of battle lasted half a day. The waters of Yin-Yang Sea surged violently, flooding thousands of miles of mountains and rivers along the coast.
In the end, the suspected emperor-level being was wounded and fled, its vast, boundless body disappearing into the wilderness.
With the artifact's emergence, no being could remain calm.
Over the next five days, eight beings with immense auras intruded into Yin-Yang Sea, but all returned in defeat.
"He holds the advantage of terrain and wields the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower. In Yin-Yang Sea, no being is his match." This news spread from the Undying Blood Clan, reportedly spoken by the Qing Tian Blood Emperor himself.
Not long ago, the Qing Tian Blood Emperor and another Blood Emperor of the Undying Blood Clan simultaneously entered Yin-Yang Sea, battling the newly awakened unparalleled strong one for an entire day. In the end, both Blood Emperors fled with severe injuries.
At the same time, a saint from the Undying Blood Clan revealed that even with the Qing Tian Blood Emperor's cultivation, he couldn't see through the identity of that unparalleled strong one and didn't know if it was a divine dragon.
The artifact's emergence stirred the nerves of the top beings in the Kunlun Realm. Meanwhile, news that Zhang Ruochen's three meridians had been crippled by Zhong Ying Wang caused a huge uproar among the younger generation of humans.
"Wasn't Zhang Ruochen already dead while crossing the quasi-saint tribulation? How did he end up crippled by Zhong Ying Wang in Yin-Yang Sea?" Many cultivators expressed confusion.
"Zhang Ruochen is such a hero—how could he fail to cross the quasi-saint tribulation? That was just his trick to escape. In reality, Zhang Ruochen intruded into Yin-Yang Sea and killed a large number of Undying Blood Clan saints, ultimately angering Zhong Ying Wang, leading to this calamity."
"Shameless—Zhong Ying Wang is a tyrant who has lived for over a thousand years, yet he struck at a junior."
Among young human cultivators, Zhang Ruochen enjoyed immense popularity. Many regarded him as an idol, hoping to rise quickly like him, slay enemies far and wide, and make the young cultivators of barbarian beasts and the Undying Blood Clan tremble at the sound of his name.
Upon learning that Zhang Ruochen had been crippled by Zhong Ying Wang, countless people grieved, and countless young women who admired him wiped away tears. The number one among the young human saints had ultimately fallen, unable to become a great emperor protecting humanity.