Chapter 1354: Sword Dancing in the Snow
How could Zhang Ruochen not understand Shengshu Cainü’s thoughts?
Zhang Ruochen did not expose it. He simply took out all the remaining Azure Dragon Divine Dew and handed it over, saying, “These divine herb leaf dews may not be as precious as Xuanhuang Pills, but they are immensely helpful to spiritual power cultivators. I hope they can elevate your spiritual power to a higher level.”
Once spiritual power reached the fifty-fourth rank, any further improvement was already extremely difficult.
However, the Azure Dragon Divine Dew Zhang Ruochen offered could still raise Shengshu Cainü’s spiritual power intensity from the initial stage of the fifty-fourth rank to the middle stage, without any problem.
Shengshu Cainü was not one to be pretentious. She directly accepted the Azure Dragon Divine Dew and smiled radiantly, “Azure Dragon Divine Dew paired with Sacred Dao Ancient Tea is simply a perfect match. It seems my spiritual power is about to surge forward by a large margin again.”
Drinking tea, discussing the Dao, and having a beautiful companion were supposed to be joyful activities for both body and mind. Unfortunately, Zhang Ruochen was not in such a mood. In the end, he had to take his leave early.
Returning to the Realm Son Mansion, Zhang Ruochen brought Princess Baili out from the Qiankun Realm and explained the current situation to her. He instructed, “Elder Li Sheng has been killed. Tonight, the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan will surely send experts to investigate. If they are discovered, kill them without mercy.”
Princess Baili clasped her hands in front of her chest, calm and composed, saying, “Why not attack them now and wipe them out directly?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to wait until everyone is gathered, then catch them all in one net?”
Zhang Ruochen had learned from Shengshu Cainü that only Feng Yinying was stationed at the gathering place of the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan.
If Feng Yinying was attacked, it would certainly alert other experts to the danger, causing them to flee the Central Imperial City. This would undoubtedly alert the enemy.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen also wanted to take this opportunity to elevate his cultivation a bit more.
Entering a cultivation secret chamber within the Realm Son Mansion, Zhang Ruochen began his seclusion.
Having merged the memories and sacred Dao insights of six lifetimes, Zhang Ruochen’s understanding of the sacred Dao far exceeded his current realm. He only needed to consume sacred medicines and sacred pills to raise his cultivation.
“Right now, I am at the middle stage of the Upper Realm Saint. I should first cultivate to the peak of the Upper Realm Saint before swallowing the Xuanhuang Pill, so as not to waste the medicinal properties of the pill.”
From the Qiankun Realm, Zhang Ruochen took out a ten-thousand-year-old sacred medicine, the Four-Color Cloud Lotus.
He summoned the Purifying Divine Flame and refined the Four-Color Cloud Lotus into droplets of four different colors. All impurities were burned away, leaving only the most essential parts.
Swallowing the liquid medicine of the Four-Color Cloud Lotus, Zhang Ruochen’s body seemed to transform into a four-colored divine stone, with four different kinds of light interweaving on his skin.
At the same time, his cultivation realm surged violently at a speed more than a hundred times faster than usual. This was the rate of improvement that only came from refining a sacred medicine.
…
…
In the Seventh City Domain of the Central Imperial City, there was a manor covering a thousand acres.
Mingjing Manor.
The cultivators of the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan had gathered here. Even during the day, Mingjing Manor was filled with a chilling yin aura. Ghosts roamed about, corpse generals practiced swordsmanship, and even the lake water was blood-red.
Feng Yinying sat in the main hall, staring at a Half-Saint kneeling below. A ruthless expression appeared on her pale face. “What did you say? Elder Linggu also went and never returned? Starting from Elder Li Sheng, this is already the fourth batch of cultivators sent to investigate the Realm Son Mansion, and all of them have vanished like stones sinking into the sea. Has this Realm Son Mansion become a death forbidden zone?”
The Half-Saint kneeling below said in a trembling voice, “There must… must be… an expert secretly guarding… the Realm Son Mansion.”
“Ling Feiyu has already been held back by Saint Ancestor Ling Wang. What other expert could silently kill three Saints and two Ghost Kings in a row?”
If Mingjing Manor did not need someone to hold the fort, Feng Yinying would have already gone to the Realm Son Mansion herself, eager to know what kind of dragon’s pool and tiger’s den it was.
Just then, Feng Yinying sensed a powerful sacred Dao fluctuation entering Mingjing Manor, making the entire manor even colder and more sinister.
“Saint Ancestor Ling Wang has returned!”
The frost on Feng Yinying’s face dissipated, replaced by a hint of joy. Her figure flickered, and she vanished from her seat.
At the center of Mingjing Manor, there was a blood-red lake.
At this moment, a dark black coffin was floating on the water’s surface.
On the surface of the coffin, strange ghost characters flowed, each emitting a chilling yin aura. An ordinary Half-Saint, even standing by the lake, would be frozen stiff by that yin cold energy.
Saint Ancestor Ling Wang was lying inside the coffin.
Feng Yinying appeared at the edge of the blood lake and sensed that Saint Ancestor Ling Wang’s condition was not right. She was shocked and said, “Saint Ancestor, are you injured?”
A distant voice came from within the coffin: “Ling Feiyu is indeed worthy of being a proud daughter of heaven who once dominated an era. Although she has just broken through to the Saint King Realm, her combat power is already not inferior to mine. However, although I am injured, she is not much better off.”
“In that case, Saint Ancestor, focus on healing your injuries. Leave the rest to this Saint to handle.”
Feng Yinying left the blood lake and returned to the main hall, pondering deeply. “With the Saint Ancestor injured and an unknown powerful figure appearing at the Realm Son Mansion, it seems it’s time to invite the Heavenly Fate Corpse Emperor back.”
With that, Feng Yinying carved out a Message Light Talisman and sent it flying.
Inside the Realm Son Mansion, with the help of the Purifying Divine Flame, Zhang Ruochen spent only three days fully absorbing the medicinal power of one sacred medicine. His cultivation broke through to the late stage of the Upper Realm Saint, a significant increase.
Although it was somewhat wasteful of the sacred medicine, Zhang Ruochen was quite satisfied with such a huge improvement. It was comparable to the effect of a full year of normal cultivation.
“Refining another sacred medicine should allow me to surge to the peak of the Upper Realm Saint.”
Zhang Ruochen took out another sacred medicine. This one was older than the Four-Color Cloud Lotus, nearly twenty thousand years old.
After refining the sacred medicine into liquid, he swallowed it again.
Only about an hour had passed when suddenly, a scorching force surged from the position of his chest, making his body feel as if it were about to burn.
“What’s happening?”
Zhang Ruochen immediately stopped refining the liquid medicine and tore open his clothes. On his chest, sacred patterns were flowing, interweaving into the shape of a talisman.
“The Saint Phase Talisman! Haha, it has finally filled up with sacred Qi and manifested again.” Zhang Ruochen was in an excellent mood.
After Grand Elder Yan Liren gave Zhang Ruochen a tattered Saint Phase Talisman, he had only used it once before it exhausted the sacred power within the talisman and then merged into Zhang Ruochen’s body.
Since then, the Saint Phase Talisman had been continuously absorbing the sacred Qi from Zhang Ruochen’s body without any change, until now, when it finally reappeared.
In other words, Zhang Ruochen could once again use the power of the Saint Phase Talisman.
With the Saint Phase Talisman as a trump card, Zhang Ruochen’s confidence in dealing with the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan and the Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan grew even stronger.
Just then, a slight fluctuation in Zhang Ruochen’s spiritual power detected a familiar aura within the Realm Son Mansion. A peculiar expression appeared in his eyes. “It’s her.”
Zhang Ruochen stopped his cultivation, left the secret chamber, and walked into a small courtyard within the Realm Son Mansion. There, he saw Ling Feiyu standing under a plum blossom tree.
The plum blossoms on the tree were exceptionally vibrant, a crimson red like blood.
In the sky, pure white snowflakes were drifting down, scattering on the ground, landing on the branches, and piling up on the petals. The white was flawless, forming a stark contrast with the color of the plum blossoms.
Red plums, white snow, and a beautiful woman in crimson standing beneath the tree created a stunning scene.
Ling Feiyu had her back to Zhang Ruochen, seemingly admiring the plums, or perhaps waiting for someone.
“A snowy day, and meeting an old friend again. Today is truly full of happy events.”
Seeing Ling Feiyu, Zhang Ruochen was in an excellent mood, feeling a small thrill of reunion after a long separation. He stepped quickly over the accumulated snow, leaving a trail of footprints on the ground.
But before Zhang Ruochen could get close to Ling Feiyu…
“Whoosh!”
From within Ling Feiyu’s body, a red figure flew out, holding a long sword, and thrust it straight at Zhang Ruochen.
It was just one strike, yet it contained thousands of sword shadows, filled with infinite variations, making it impossible to fathom.
Zhang Ruochen condensed a crystalline sacred Qi long sword in his hand and executed a move from the Nine Lives Sword Technique to counter it, breaking her sword momentum.
That red figure was Ling Feiyu’s doppelganger. Her sword technique was extremely fierce. By the fifth move, she had already forced Zhang Ruochen into a difficult position.
“Sub Sword.”
Zhang Ruochen employed the Time Sword Art. His sword speed increased by more than ten times. With a single strike, he broke all the sword moves of the red figure and launched a counterattack.
The red figure did not continue attacking. She retreated and merged back into Ling Feiyu’s body.
“Not bad. You are very close to the realm of a Sword Saint. Especially that last move—even an ordinary Sword Saint might not be able to withstand it.”
Ling Feiyu turned around, finally looking directly at Zhang Ruochen. She was like an ice lotus, making people feel they could not get close.
Zhang Ruochen dispersed the sacred sword in his hand, which turned into a wisp of white smoke. He smiled and said, “You have come at just the right time. I have a question I want to ask you.”
“Speak.”
Ling Feiyu said succinctly.
Zhang Ruochen said, “The final realm of Sword Seven—Sword Strike Without Regret—how exactly should one comprehend it? I have spent a lot of time and effort but have made no progress at all.”
“Have you ever done something you regret?” Ling Feiyu asked.
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head and said, “Since it is something I have done myself, why should I regret it?”
Even regarding his relationship with Chi Yao, Zhang Ruochen only felt hatred, not regret.
“If you don’t even know what regret is, how can you know what it means to be without regret? It is like a person who does not know what is wrong also does not know what is right; who does not know what love is also does not know what hate is. Any pair of opposing things exist simultaneously.” Ling Feiyu said.
Without darkness, who would know what light is?
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes narrowed. “So you mean my experience is still insufficient?”
“Sword Strike Without Regret requires you to have a state of absolute resolve. If you cannot comprehend this realm, even if you cultivate Sword Eight to great perfection, you will only be a false Sword Saint.” Ling Feiyu said.