Chapter 1556: Truth Heaven Domain
The purple divine stone had been seized from Lingquan Shaojun. Zhang Ruochen had studied it for a long time without fully understanding its material, only sensing that it contained extremely powerful divine power within.
Moreover, it was incredibly hard; even the Abyssal Ancient Sword could not leave a mark on its surface.
Yet Ling Xiu seemed to recognize it.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Senior, do you know what this is?"
Ling Xiu's expression was quite solemn as he nodded. "It is related to the Stone Clan, one of the Upper Three Clans of Hell. If I am not mistaken, it should be a part of a Stone Clan god's body—and a rather important part at that."
"So it's equivalent to a divine bone?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"It might be even more precious than a divine bone. You must understand, the gods of the Stone Clan are practically immortal; even if shattered, they can reassemble their divine bodies. Obtaining a piece of divine stone from such a being is no easy feat."
Ling Xiu pinched the purple divine stone between two fingers, opened his heavenly eye on his brow to gaze at it, and continued, "The interior of this divine stone is interwoven with dense rules, far surpassing sacred dao rules. If the owner of this divine stone is still alive, they must be an incredibly fearsome existence."
For a spiritual power Great Saint to deem something so fearsome, it was undoubtedly a taboo-level figure.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Senior, can you embed it into the Abyssal Ancient Sword?"
Ling Xiu shook his head. "This relates to artifact forging, and I am least skilled in that. Moreover, the material used to forge the Abyssal Ancient Sword is Creation Divine Iron. Embedding the purple divine stone into the sword body is no simple task."
Each had their expertise; even a Great Saint was not omnipotent.
Zhang Ruochen put away both the Abyssal Ancient Sword and the purple divine stone, planning to have the forging masters of the Divine Sword Sacred Land attempt it later. After all, the Sacred Land had once repaired the broken Abyssal Ancient Sword, so embedding a purple divine stone should not be too difficult.
Over the next few days, Su Jing, Su Qingling, Ling Mi, Wen Shusheng, Mu Lingxi, and others had fully recovered from their injuries. They came to the Demon Hall to thank and bid farewell to Ling Xiu and Ling Feiyu.
Zhang Ruochen stood to the side. After Su Jing and Ling Xiu finished their pleasantries, he said, "Now that Wu Hao is dead, someone needs to fill his spot. Since you want to express gratitude, why not show some sincerity and give that spot to the Li Ku Sacred Domain?"
Su Jing hesitated. The quota to train at the Truth Divine Temple was extremely precious—how could it be given to a Kunlun Realm cultivator?
But Ling Feiyu knew that Zhang Ruochen was fighting for an opportunity for her.
Ling Xiu glanced at Zhang Ruochen, a hint of admiration in his eyes, almost saying, "Good lad, I knew I was right to favor you. You really care about Feiyu!"
Su Jing, as a regional overlord, had quick reflexes. He smiled and said, "The Guanghan Realm indeed owes Ling Xiu Great Saint a great debt of gratitude. Repaying it with a quota is only right. However, such a major matter must be reported to my father, or perhaps to the Moon God, before a decision can be made."
Anyone could tell this was a delaying tactic.
"I'll send a message to the Moon God right now and let her decide."
Zhang Ruochen was decisive. He immediately carved a message light talisman and sent it out.
Not long after, another message light talisman flew into the Demon Hall and landed in Zhang Ruochen's hand. Reading its contents, he smiled. "The Moon God has agreed to my proposal."
"How is that possible?"
Su Jing was inwardly shocked, finding it hard to believe. He quickly walked over to Zhang Ruochen. "Let me see."
Zhang Ruochen generously handed the talisman to him.
The divine characters on the talisman were indeed inscribed by the Moon God's spiritual will. Su Jing's heart churned like a stormy sea, utterly astonished.
Looking at Zhang Ruochen again, Su Jing felt a sense of pressure.
This young man before him was no longer just a half-step Saint King. He could communicate directly with the Moon God, and she had agreed to such an excessive proposal.
Even Su Jing, with his current cultivation and status, did not have the privilege of speaking directly to the Moon God.
What did this mean?
It meant that Zhang Ruochen's importance in the Moon God's eyes was far greater than anyone had anticipated. No wonder the Moon God had directly attacked the Merit Divine Temple to save him.
Zhang Ruochen, however, was not surprised at all.
The Moon God had taken from him the moon leaf of the Seven-Star Divine Lingzhi and a million sacred sources. If she wouldn't agree to such a small request, she would be far too stingy.
Half a day later.
Ling Feiyu set out with Zhang Ruochen and the others, heading for the Merit Divine Temple.
On the way, Su Jing complained to Zhang Ruochen, "Empress Chi Yao killed a god from Hell and got twenty quotas to train at the Truth Divine Temple, while our Guanghan Realm only has six. Now we're giving one to Kunlun Realm? Zhang Ruochen, this is very unfair!"
Zhang Ruochen sat with Su Jing, showing no sign of pressure. "I heard that Truth Divine Temple quotas aren't just issued externally—cultivators can also earn them on their own?"
"That's true. It's a reward and encouragement from the Truth Divine Temple for true proud sons of heaven. But... it's too difficult. In all these years, no cultivator from the Guanghan Realm has ever achieved it."
Su Jing added, "What? Do you want to give it a try?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Truth Sea, the Truth Mountain, the Truth Bridge. Every cultivator who enters the Truth Divine Temple wants to challenge them. Since I'm now a member of the Guanghan Realm, of course I should fight for more quotas for it."
Thinking of Zhang Ruochen's terrifying talent and his status as number one on the Sacred Merit Ranking, Su Jing, who had initially held no hope, began to feel a glimmer of anticipation.
If others couldn't do it, this fellow Zhang Ruochen just might.
Zhang Ruochen seemed to recall something and asked, "Uncle Jing, I have a question. In this merit war, both the Guanghan Realm and the Kunlun Realm paid a huge price and killed many Hell cultivators. Why did the Kunlun Realm receive merit treasures from the Merit Divine Temple, but the Guanghan Realm did not?"
Su Jing gave a bitter smile, clearly unwilling to accept it, but he said nothing, only shaking his head.
"Is it because of me?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen had already guessed, Su Jing stopped hiding it. "I'll tell you, since you'll find out sooner or later. That day, when the Moon God saved you, she essentially offended the entire Merit Divine Temple. To punish the Guanghan Realm, they withheld the merit treasures that should have been ours."
"Zhang Ruochen, don't take it to heart. The Merit Divine Temple has been targeting the Guanghan Realm for a long time. Even if it weren't for you, they would have found another excuse to keep suppressing us."
Because of him, the hard-won contributions of countless Guanghan Realm cultivators, earned with their lives, went unrewarded. How could Zhang Ruochen not take it to heart?
His eyes turned sharp. "If the Merit Divine Temple is so unjust, it deserves to be knocked down—"
"In the Heavenly Court Realm, you must never blaspheme gods or divine temples. No matter how deep your hatred, keep it buried inside and endure."
Su Jing quickly stopped Zhang Ruochen from continuing. The Moon God could say such rebellious words because she had the strength to back it up, and the Merit Divine Temple could do nothing to her.
But if Zhang Ruochen said them, and a god of the Merit Divine Temple overheard, the consequences would be dire.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, calming his anger. "The Merit Divine Temple's debt, I will collect for the Guanghan Realm sooner or later. Shang Zihong wants to kill me? Let's see who kills whom."
In the following days, their group kept traveling.
Zhang Ruochen devoted himself entirely to cultivation, practicing palm techniques and comprehending palm dao rules, eager to master the eleventh stance of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm to minor or even major completion.
...
The Truth Divine Temple, like the Merit Divine Temple, held an extremely transcendent status in the Heavenly Court Realm. For this reason, it occupied an entire heaven domain, named "Truth Heaven Domain."
The Truth Heaven Domain was not as vast as the Sha Tuo Heaven Domain, but its cultivation environment was ten times better. It was a pilgrimage site coveted by cultivators from all realms of the universe. Many gods had trained here in their youth, leaving behind their own caves and relics.
To join the Truth Divine Temple and stay in the Truth Heaven Domain for cultivation was no easy feat. The harsh admission criteria were enough to keep ninety-nine percent of proud sons of heaven out.
Of course, aside from joining the Truth Divine Temple as a disciple, the temple also issued quotas to various major worlds. The stronger the world and the higher its merit value, the more quotas it received.
For instance, without special rewards, the Guanghan Realm received only three quotas every ten years.
But some powerful worlds received ten or even a hundred times more quotas each month. This created a phenomenon: strong worlds grew stronger, weak worlds grew weaker.
To revitalize a weak world, one had to work ten or a hundred times harder than others and also encounter great fortune.
On the border of the Truth Heaven Domain, on a vast plain, dozens of space teleportation arrays had been built. Beams of light flashed within them as cultivators from various major worlds emerged at all times.
"Hua—"
With a flash of light, Su Jing, Zhang Ruochen, and the others appeared in one of the teleportation arrays. As they stepped out, a Truth Divine Temple disciple immediately approached to inspect their Truth Seal Tokens.
There were six Truth Seal Tokens in total, sent to the Guanghan Realm when the Truth Divine Temple issued the quotas.
The Truth Divine Temple disciple, named Han Shangyu, looked about thirty years old and was rather plain in appearance. After checking the six tokens, a look of disdain crossed his face. He smiled and said, "So you're cultivators from the Guanghan Realm. Heh, go ahead and register over there. The senior who escorted them, you also need to get a temporary token to stay in the Truth Heaven Domain. Anyone without a token, if caught, will be expelled at best or executed at worst."
Hearing the words "So you're cultivators from the Guanghan Realm" spoken with such contempt, several Guanghan Realm cultivators present found it quite grating.
What was so great about being a Truth Divine Temple disciple?
Han Shangyu sensed their dissatisfaction but only grew more scornful, thinking to himself, "Cultivators from a major world ranked third from the bottom—they think they're top dogs in their home realm, but here in the Truth Heaven Domain, they're nothing. Soon enough, their entire world might become a battlefield, be destroyed in the war, and vanish from the Heavenly Court Realm entirely. There's no point in befriending anyone from such a weak world."
Just then, a voice came from afar: "Wangxu Divine Son of the Ruiya Realm has arrived! Han Shangyu, go greet him immediately!"
"Wangxu Divine Son is here to train in the Truth Heaven Domain again? Excellent. I've always been his attendant before, and many senior and junior sisters who admire him are jealous of me. I can't let them beat me to it this time—opportunities to befriend Wangxu Divine Son are rare."
Overjoyed, Han Shangyu ignored Zhang Ruochen and the others and hurried over.
Mu Lingxi stood beside Zhang Ruochen, arms crossed, silently watching this theatrical scene. She found it amusing. "It seems not all Truth Divine Temple disciples are elites with proud bones. There are also those who fawn over the powerful and look down on the weak."