Chapter 1585: Rapid Progress in the Way of Truth
“The eight extremes of heaven and earth, I alone am supreme. Break for me!”
Zhang Ruochen used his finger as a sword and thrust it outward.
Having studied the *Record of Empress Chi Yao’s Sword Eight*, Zhang Ruochen had comprehended the second layer of Sword Eight’s sword intent. Now, he unleashed that sword intent.
At the same time, the Purifying Divine Flame condensed into a sword beam, flying from his fingertip and piercing through the claw of the giant Golden Roc. Instantly, the rolling golden energy waves in the sky dissipated.
Still on the square beneath the white cliff, the Golden Roc Prince’s doppelganger stood opposite Zhang Ruochen. However, a hint of surprise flickered in his eyes. He no longer moved to attack hastily and said, “You actually subdued the Purifying Divine Flame. Who the hell are you?”
What was the Purifying Divine Flame?
It was a flame that only gods could nurture within their bodies. To cultivate outstanding descendants, they would bestow a few sparks.
Of course, gods had extremely long lifespans and countless descendants. Only those genius descendants whom the gods valued greatly could receive sparks of the Purifying Divine Flame. Moreover, even if they received it, not every cultivator could subdue it; only true top-tier geniuses could achieve this.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen use the Purifying Divine Flame, the Golden Roc Prince began to suspect that this youth might be a newly emerged divine son or grandson.
Even if he wasn’t a divine son or grandson, there were still cultivators who had subdued the Purifying Divine Flame, but such cultivators were too rare, almost negligible.
If this human man truly was a divine son or grandson whom a god valued greatly, the Golden Roc Prince would have to reconsider his approach.
Zhang Ruochen’s emotions gradually calmed down. He smiled bitterly inwardly. He had originally wanted to keep a low profile, but his emotions had gotten out of control, making him act in an extremely high-profile manner, deeply offending a person of no ordinary status.
The side effects of the Joy-Wrath Pill were truly too troublesome.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen was not afraid of the Golden Roc Prince. Offending him was not a big deal. After all, he still had trump cards. Even if the Golden Roc Prince’s true body made a move, it might not be able to do anything to him. However, using those trump cards would expose his identity, forcing him to abandon the Dragon Soul and Elephant Soul and immediately flee the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market.
From their earlier exchange, Zhang Ruochen had already formed a rough judgment of the Golden Roc Prince’s strength. It was still within the range he could handle.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Why should I tell you? Who do you think you are?”
The Golden Roc Prince hated Zhang Ruochen’s fearless attitude. Rage surged within him again. Even if this youth truly was a divine son or grandson, he would still teach him a lesson today.
“Stop! What do you think you’re doing? This is the Thousand Petal Realm’s dojo. If anyone dares to make another move, they will be asked to leave and never again be allowed to step through the Hundred Flowers Palace’s gates.”
A Heavenly Fire Demon Butterfly flew out, blocking between Zhang Ruochen and the Golden Roc Prince’s doppelganger.
Zhang Ruochen recognized her as the Demon Butterfly Princess. He spoke in a calm tone, “Princess, I am also considered a distinguished guest of the Hundred Flowers Palace. Yet, the moment I arrived, I was attacked by two mad dogs. Is this the Hundred Flowers Palace’s way of treating guests?”
The Demon Butterfly Princess knew that the Golden Roc Prince was extremely arrogant and domineering. She was also well aware of what Li Hai and Li Shan had done. She had long been disgusted by their behavior. Seeing them beaten to the brink of death by Zhang Ruochen, she was actually quite pleased inside. She just didn’t want to provoke the Golden Roc Prince, so she held back her laughter.
The Demon Butterfly Princess said, “They are from the Golden-Winged Great Roc Clan of the Sea Cloud Realm, not beings from the Thousand Petal Realm.”
“I see.”
Zhang Ruochen deliberately showed a look of sudden realization and said, “Your Hundred Flowers Palace wouldn’t allow beings from other major worlds to offend your distinguished guests, would it?”
“Of course not.”
The Demon Butterfly Princess almost laughed out loud. She saw this as a good opportunity to expel Li Hai and Li Shan. So, she went to confront the Golden Roc Prince and even called over two cultivators from the Thousand Petal Realm, ordering them to throw Li Hai and Li Shan out.
The Golden Roc Prince’s expression was extremely cold. He wanted to stop them, but when he saw a woman as beautiful as a painting standing at the edge of the square, staring at him, he suppressed his anger again, trying to appear as dignified as possible.
“Two unruly clan members caused trouble for the Hundred Flowers Palace. They deserve to be expelled from the palace.”
After saying this to the Demon Butterfly Princess, the Golden Roc Prince immediately walked toward the woman as beautiful as a painting. He clasped his hands together, about to utter an apology. However, the woman showed no intention of listening. She walked into the square, found a spot, sat down cross-legged, and began to contemplate the carvings on the cliff.
The Golden Roc Prince knew that the fairy was probably very disappointed in him. He transferred all his anger onto Zhang Ruochen, glaring at him with murderous intent before leaving the square directly.
Li Hai and Li Shan had been dragged away. As their prince, he naturally couldn’t just ignore it. Otherwise, he would be ridiculed again.
“Is she the legendary Hundred Flowers Fairy, Ji Fanxin?”
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze fixed on the icy, jade-like woman in white. She sat amidst a rain of light, and he could only see a slender silhouette.
That rain of light condensed into the shadow of a Divine Illumination Lotus, like a beautiful immortal lamp.
The woman in white sat cross-legged at the center of the Divine Illumination Lotus’s shadow. Her blue hair swayed gently. She was serene as water, holy and soft, evoking a sacred feeling of “only to be admired from afar, not to be desecrated.”
“To make a domineering figure like the Golden Roc Prince behave so obediently, this Fairy Ji is indeed extraordinary.”
Zhang Ruochen couldn’t sense any fluctuation of power from Ji Fanxin, but instinctively felt that her strength far surpassed the Golden Roc Prince’s. Even if he used all his trump cards, he probably couldn’t deal with her.
He didn’t stare any longer. Zhang Ruochen went to an empty area, sat down cross-legged, and prepared to comprehend the Way of Truth diagrams left by the Mandala Flower God.
Of course, before comprehending, Zhang Ruochen first lit a piece of Rainbow Transformation Vine.
Then, he released Saint Qi to form a protective barrier, preventing the fragrance of the Rainbow Transformation Vine from leaking out.
The surrounding cultivators all showed looks of desire when they saw the Rainbow Transformation Vine.
This was a treasure that could help cultivators comprehend the Dao!
With their financial resources, they could certainly afford the Rainbow Transformation Vine. The main issue was that it was impossible to buy; such treasures had a price but no market, and were hard to come by.
“Purifying Divine Flame, Rainbow Transformation Vine… This human man probably has some background.” The divine sons and grandsons present thought this, and so no one went to drive Zhang Ruochen away.
Of course, the bigger reason was that they didn’t want to do something so undignified in front of Ji Fanxin.
The Way of Truth diagrams left by the Mandala Flower God depicted a sea of flowers. Upon careful observation, Zhang Ruochen found that this sea of flowers was somewhat similar to the one Ji Fanxin had grown.
If that were the case, Ji Fanxin’s attainment in the Way of Truth must have reached a remarkable level.
Zhang Ruochen stopped thinking about these trivial matters and devoted himself entirely to contemplation.
The number of sacred flowers in the flower sea diagram exceeded one hundred thousand. Each sacred flower was like a point of light, reminding Zhang Ruochen of the visualization diagrams from the Truth Divine Temple.
So, he tried treating two of the sacred flowers as two points.
“It really is very similar to the second visualization diagram.” Zhang Ruochen was secretly delighted. If he could comprehend the second visualization diagram here, wouldn’t he not need to go to the Truth Divine Temple to cultivate?
Perhaps because he had obtained one ten-thousandth of the Truth Esoterica, once Zhang Ruochen fully immersed himself, he could clearly sense the flow of rules around him.
About three hours later, Zhang Ruochen found a way to comprehend the second visualization diagram. It turned out that the most important thing was not the two points themselves, but the ripples produced by the movement of those two points.
Those ripples were the Truth Rules.
He had been misled by the first visualization diagram, which was why he hadn’t thought of this point until now.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen burst into laughter from his mouth, “So that’s it, so that’s it…”
Because of the barrier formed by the Saint Qi, the laughter did not leak out.
However, Zhang Ruochen, sitting inside the barrier, sometimes looked angry and sometimes laughed. His expressions were too exaggerated, attracting the attention of many cultivators.
Among them were nine Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies.
They stopped not far from Zhang Ruochen, standing in a row. Nine pairs of eyes stared unblinkingly at the expressions on Zhang Ruochen’s face. Seeing him laugh again, they also cheered loudly.
“He’s laughing again, he’s laughing again! This time he’s even happier!”
“I thought he was going to roar in anger.”
“Could he have a split personality? Laughing one moment, angry the next—it’s pretty scary.”
“Maybe… he’s gone into demonic deviation, mentally confused. Should you go remind him, so he doesn’t sink deeper?”
“Forget it, I don’t dare. Look at how maniacally he’s laughing. What if he hits me?”
Some other cultivators thought Zhang Ruochen was sick or mentally unstable.
The few divine sons and grandsons also frowned, deciding it was best not to provoke this crazy fellow, lest they bring trouble upon themselves.
Over the next half month, Zhang Ruochen spent most of his time contemplating the Way of Truth diagrams. His comprehension speed was incredibly fast.
He could now mobilize ninety-eight Truth Rules, allowing his sacred arts to unleash triple the power.
Zhang Ruochen attributed this rapid comprehension to the one ten-thousandth of the Truth Esoterica. After all, his comprehension speed was even faster than when he had been contemplating the visualization diagrams in the Truth Divine Temple.
The benefits of the Truth Esoterica were so immense that Zhang Ruochen naturally wanted to obtain more of it.
“With my current strength, crossing the second layer of the sea should no longer be difficult.”
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to go to the Truth Sea to give it a try, the Demon Absolute King sent Yanzi to invite him, saying he had good news to tell him.
“Could it be that the Saint King-level Dragon Soul and Elephant Soul have already been delivered to the Hundred Flowers Palace?”
Zhang Ruochen was overjoyed and immediately followed Yanzi to see the Demon Absolute King.
After all, during this time, he had also been practicing his palm techniques. As long as he obtained the Dragon Soul and Elephant Soul and fused them into his arms, the eleventh stance of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm would immediately reach minor mastery.
A minor mastery of Dragon-Elephant Reaching Heaven was enough to clash head-on with an ordinary mid-rank sacred art.