Chapter 158: Great Extreme Position
“This battle painting is for you. You only need to infuse true qi into the scroll, and naturally you will be able to summon the Leopard-Head Blood Bat. Of course, as the blood qi within the painting dissipates, the battle painting’s power will grow weaker and weaker, until in the end it becomes an ordinary painting.”
Luo Shuihan rolled up the spirit paper on the table and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen extended both hands to receive the scroll, “Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Luo Shuihan nodded, stood up, and walked toward a spacious room deeper inside.
Zhang Ruochen, holding the battle painting, followed her.
Luo Shuihan sat down on a chair carved from ice, with an ice table before her, upon which rested a small ice jade cup.
Then, she took out another ice jade cup and placed it on the opposite side.
“Sit down! You are the first male from Celestial Number One to come here. How about having a drink with me?” Luo Shuihan said.
“I would be honored to comply.”
Zhang Ruochen walked over and sat down steadily opposite Luo Shuihan.
Other young martial artists would become restrained and timid upon seeing her, not daring to meet her gaze, but Zhang Ruochen appeared completely at ease and unrestrained, without any awkwardness.
Luo Shuihan nodded. With a flick of her sleeve, a jade pot that had been resting on a shelf two zhang away fell into her hand, controlled by her true qi.
“Gurgle, gurgle.”
Her movements were very graceful. She slightly raised her jade arm, tilted the jade pot, and poured out a cup of Half-Saint True Liquid, a full ten drops, handing it to Zhang Ruochen.
Then, she also filled the ice jade cup before her with Half-Saint True Liquid, also about ten drops.
She placed the jade pot on the table, used two slender jade fingers to lift the ice jade cup, and drank the ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid in one go.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the Half-Saint True Liquid in the cup. That was ten drops. If he were to buy it in the Black Market, it would cost four million silver coins.
Other martial artists found it extremely difficult to obtain even a single drop, yet Luo Shuihan had a whole pot of it and directly invited him to drink a cup.
At Zhang Ruochen’s current refining speed, it would take at least two days and two nights to refine a single drop of Half-Saint True Liquid. If he drank these ten drops, it would take twenty days to refine them.
The Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam was in ten days. How could Zhang Ruochen have that much time to refine the Half-Saint True Liquid?
Moreover, the sacred power of Half-Saint True Liquid was extremely violent. If another martial artist at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Middle Extreme Position dared to drink ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid at once, it would be like taking a potent poison. The martial artist’s body would instantly be ruptured by the sacred power of the Half-Saint True Liquid.
Luo Shuihan filling his cup with Half-Saint True Liquid was also a test for him.
If he could not withstand the medicinal power of the ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid, or if he could not completely refine the Half-Saint True Liquid within ten days, then he was not qualified to drink this cup of Half-Saint True Liquid.
In the future, she would never invite Zhang Ruochen to drink Half-Saint True Liquid again.
Luo Shuihan drank her cup of Half-Saint True Liquid, glanced slightly at Zhang Ruochen, placed the cup back on the table, and said, “Junior Brother, do you not dare to drink?”
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, lifted the cup, and smiled, “A cup of Half-Saint True Liquid. Senior Sister is indeed generous and magnanimous. Since that’s the case, Junior Brother will not stand on ceremony!”
He tilted his head back and drained the cup.
Zhang Ruochen drank the entire cup of Half-Saint True Liquid, immediately put the cup down, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to refine the medicinal power of the Half-Saint True Liquid.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen drink the entire cup of Half-Saint True Liquid, Luo Shuihan’s eyes brightened slightly, revealing a hint of admiration.
She knew that with Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Middle Extreme Position, he would be unable to refine a whole cup of Half-Saint True Liquid no matter what, and would likely have his meridians ruptured by the Half-Saint True Liquid, causing his body to explode.
Since Zhang Ruochen had the courage to drink a cup of Half-Saint True Liquid, Luo Shuihan naturally would not let him really be ruptured. She had some special methods to help him suppress the medicinal power of the Half-Saint True Liquid.
Of course, she would only act when Zhang Ruochen was truly about to be unable to hold on.
But Luo Shuihan waited for an entire hour, and Zhang Ruochen showed no signs of meridians shattering. Instead, the aura on Zhang Ruochen’s body grew stronger and stronger. His cross-legged body was even lifted up by a mass of crimson blood qi.
“Boom!”
The blood qi beneath Zhang Ruochen gradually condensed into a circular blood formation nine meters in diameter, covering almost the entire room, shaking the walls until they wobbled.
If this room had not been inscribed with formation runes, the entire room would have collapsed from the impact of the blood formation.
A faint smile appeared in Luo Shuihan’s beautiful eyes, “Blood qi condenses into a formation! He actually took this opportunity to break through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position!”
Since Zhang Ruochen had used the power of the Half-Saint True Liquid to break through his original realm, with his physique, he should be able to refine the ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid simultaneously, no longer needing her help.
“The diameter of the blood formation he condensed has reached nine meters. That means he condensed a Saint-level blood formation.” Luo Shuihan stared at the blood formation beneath Zhang Ruochen, extremely surprised in her heart.
When a martial artist reaches the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position, they can use blood qi to condense a formation diagram.
A blood formation with a diameter of three meters is called a “Low-level Blood Formation.”
A blood formation with a diameter of five meters is called a “Mid-level Blood Formation.”
A blood formation with a diameter of seven meters is called a “High-level Blood Formation.”
A blood formation with a diameter of nine meters is called a “Saint-level Blood Formation.”
Generally speaking, the vast majority of martial artists, upon reaching the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position, can only condense a Low-level Blood Formation.
Out of ten martial artists, only one might appear as a genius who can condense a Mid-level Blood Formation.
Once a Mid-level Blood Formation is condensed, after breaking through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection, there is a high chance of becoming a Xuan List martial artist.
As for High-level Blood Formations, they are even rarer. As long as a martial artist can condense a High-level Blood Formation, they can almost enter the top ten of the Xuan List.
The Saint-level Blood Formation is the most powerful blood formation. If a martial artist can condense a Saint-level Blood Formation, it indicates that they have the potential to become a Saint.
What Zhang Ruochen condensed was a Saint-level Blood Formation, nine meters in diameter. He only needed to activate the blood formation, without even needing to make a move, to easily crush those martial artists with Low-level or Mid-level Blood Formations at the same realm.
When Zhang Ruochen drank that cup of Half-Saint True Liquid, he had already thought it through clearly. Only by breaking through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position would he have the chance to refine the ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid within ten days.
After breaking through to the Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position, Zhang Ruochen’s speed of refining the Half-Saint True Liquid increased significantly. All thirty-six meridians greedily absorbed the sacred power of the Half-Saint True Liquid.
Zhang Ruochen, sitting cross-legged in the blood formation, slowly rotated.
With each rotation, the true qi completed a major cycle through his meridians.
About ten days passed. On the day before the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam, Zhang Ruochen finally completely refined the ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid and woke up from his cultivation.
The nine-meter-diameter blood formation turned into wisps of blood qi and flew back into his body.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes, looked at Luo Shuihan sitting cross-legged opposite him, and asked, “Senior Sister, how long have I been cultivating?”
“Ten days and nine nights,” Luo Shuihan said.
Zhang Ruochen felt extremely hungry. If he hadn’t refined the ten drops of Half-Saint True Liquid, he might have starved to death during his cultivation.
He took out a Second-grade Blood Pill and swallowed it. The hunger in his stomach gradually disappeared, replaced by a swelling sense of power.
Every inch of muscle in his body seemed to be filled with explosive power. The blood qi in his blood vessels was also extremely dense, like rivers flowing within his body.
If the human body were compared to heaven and earth, then bones were stones, flesh was soil, blood was rivers, true qi was air, and the Qi Lake between the eyebrows was the sky.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel how much stronger his power had become. His fastest burst speed should now reach sixty-eight meters per second, which would not be much different from the top one hundred experts on the Xuan List.
“Thank you once again, Senior Sister, for the cup of Half-Saint True Liquid.” Zhang Ruochen stood up, cupped his hands to Luo Shuihan, and added, “Tomorrow is the Intermediate Ruins Exploration Exam. I need to go back now and prepare some things. Senior Sister, we will meet again tomorrow.”
Zhang Ruochen put away the battle painting. Just as he turned to leave, he immediately turned back, smiled somewhat awkwardly, “I was so focused on receiving Senior Sister’s gift that I forgot I also have a gift for Senior Sister.”
Zhang Ruochen took out a white space jade bracelet and handed it to Luo Shuihan.
Seeing the jade bracelet Zhang Ruochen had taken out, Luo Shuihan was slightly stunned, revealing a puzzled expression, “Junior Brother, what do you mean by this?”
“This is a True Martial Treasure. Senior Sister, just infuse true qi into the jade bracelet and activate the runes, and you will naturally understand,” Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
Having said this, Zhang Ruochen left Celestial Number One with the battle painting.
After Ning Xiaochuan left, Luo Shuihan picked up the jade bracelet, infused it with true qi, and the eight space runes within the bracelet immediately lit up, forming an independent internal space.
Upon discovering the wonder of the jade bracelet, Luo Shuihan’s lips curled slightly, revealing a faint smile. Then, she put the space jade bracelet on her wrist.
Just as Zhang Ruochen walked out of Celestial Number One, he was blocked by Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling.
Huang Yanchen’s expression was somewhat unfriendly. Standing two meters in front of Zhang Ruochen, she gave a cold, sinister smile, truly like a female demon lord, “You went to see Senior Sister Luo?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “That is my business. I’m afraid, Senior Sister Huang, you have no say in it.”
“I couldn’t care less who you go to see!”
Huang Yanchen raised her chin, revealing her slender, snow-white neck, looking aloof and proud. She continued, “Zhang Ruochen, I want to buy a space treasure. Name your price!”
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment, took out a space ring, and handed it to Huang Yanchen, “No need. I’ll give it to you.”
After handing the space ring to Huang Yanchen, Zhang Ruochen left Dragon Martial Hall and headed for the Merit Tower, planning to use his merit points to exchange for some items in preparation for entering the Intermediate Ruins.
Huang Yanchen’s snow-white, scallion-like fingers pinched the exquisite space ring, slightly stunned. She stared in the direction Zhang Ruochen had left, still feeling somewhat dazed.
“He… gave me a ring. What does this mean?” Huang Yanchen was a bit lost in thought.
Although it was a space ring, a storage treasure, Huang Yanchen still felt that Zhang Ruochen might have meant something else.
Duanmu Xingling stared at the space ring in Huang Yanchen’s hand, lightly licking her lips with her tongue, “Chen Jie, when you got engaged, didn’t he give you a ring?”
Huang Yanchen shook her head.
Duanmu Xingling said, “Maybe this is his way of making up for it.”
“Maybe.”
Huang Yanchen tightly gripped the space ring. Suddenly, she looked up toward the entrance of Celestial Number One, her willow-leaf-like brows slightly furrowed, “Xingling, what do you think Zhang Ruochen went to see Senior Sister Luo for?”
Duanmu Xingling chuckled, “Are you jealous? Chen Jie, don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for him!”
“How is that possible?” Huang Yanchen’s gaze turned cold as she glared fiercely at Duanmu Xingling.
Undeniably, when Huang Yanchen saw Zhang Ruochen walk out of Celestial Number One just now, a feeling of great displeasure had indeed arisen in her heart, even a very strong sense of crisis.
Why would she have such a feeling?