Chapter 1586: Minor Achievement
It was indeed good news. The Thousand Petal Realm had specially dispatched a high-ranking figure at the Five-Step Saint King level, carrying a dragon soul and an elephant soul, to the Hundred Flowers Palace.
It was said that the dragon soul had been personally hunted by a Nine-Step Saint King from the Thousand Petal Realm, who had recently gone to a great world where no god had been born.
This was precisely the reason why the delivery had been slightly delayed.
In the universe, besides the more than eight thousand great worlds where gods had been born, there were an even greater number of great worlds that had not given birth to gods and could not become subordinate mortal realms of the Heavenly Court Realm.
When such great worlds encountered the Hell Realm, they had no power to resist and were certainly doomed to extinction.
When discovered by those subordinate mortal realms of the Heavenly Court Realm, they would also be plundered and enslaved, or even turned into battlefields. Only those great worlds with immense potential, containing countless mineral deposits, or those attached to a powerful realm, could be preserved.
The great world that the Nine-Step Saint King from the Thousand Petal Realm had visited was called the "Void Dragon Realm."
In that great world, more than half of the living beings were dragons, divided into thousands of dragon species.
The Void Dragon Realm had not given birth to a Dragon God, and it was immeasurably inferior to the "Heavenly Dragon Realm," which was renowned throughout the Heavenly Court Realm.
However, the Void Dragon Realm had given birth to a Dragon Emperor at the Great Saint level and was attached to the Heavenly Dragon Realm. Therefore, going to the Void Dragon Realm to hunt a Saint King-level Dragon King still carried great risk.
After taking the dragon soul and elephant soul, Zhang Ruochen handed over the remaining thirteen million sacred stones to Yao Jue Wang.
Zhang Ruochen had other plans, so he did not immediately leave the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market. Instead, he returned to the Yanzi Palace Cave Heaven.
"A One-Step Saint King-level dragon soul and a One-Step Saint King-level elephant soul, both at the lowest level. Yao Jue Wang really doesn't want to suffer any loss."
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, not really caring.
Because, back when Zhang Ruochen had refined the saint-level dragon soul and elephant soul, their grades had also been low, but now they had reached the Supreme Saint level.
The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was quite peculiar. The dragon soul refined into his arms could absorb the sacred qi within Zhang Ruochen's body, continuously growing until it reached the peak level of the Saint realm.
However, it seemed they could only grow to the Supreme Saint level. No matter what method Zhang Ruochen used, he could not make them reach the Saint King level. Otherwise, Zhang Ruochen would not have spent such a high price to purchase Saint King-level dragon and elephant souls.
Although he had only purchased One-Step Saint King-level dragon and elephant souls, Zhang Ruochen believed that they would eventually be able to grow to the Nine-Step Saint King level.
Without thinking further, Zhang Ruochen opened the purple gourd containing the elephant soul and dragon soul, preparing to refine both souls together.
"Roar!"
"Ooo!"
The elephant soul was that of the Sky-Treading Elephant King, and the dragon soul was that of the Silver-Winged Flying Dragon King.
Breaking free from the suppression of the purple gourd, they immediately spun and soared into the sky, transforming into two fierce soul shadows. The sacred qi of the entire cave heaven trembled, and powerful sacred force spread out.
"A mere Half-Step Saint King wants to refine this king?"
"Die."
The elephant soul and dragon soul swooped down, attacking Zhang Ruochen.
"Their spiritual will hasn't been worn away, and they even carry a large amount of sacred force. Good, very good. Refining them into my arms will bring me even greater benefits."
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground, continuously circulating the sacred qi within his body.
Moreover, a large amount of Purifying Divine Flame also flowed through his meridians and sacred veins, turning them into rivers of fire.
Just as the dragon soul and elephant soul were about to crash into Zhang Ruochen's head, he suddenly thrust out both hands, forming two large flaming hand seals that suppressed the two souls, beginning to refine them with the Purifying Divine Flame.
Gradually, the spiritual consciousness of the dragon soul and elephant soul was suppressed, emitting low, mournful cries.
After refining them into his arms, the two souls became exceptionally fierce again, directly devouring the former Supreme Saint-level dragon soul and elephant soul. Immediately, the power of the Sky-Treading Elephant King Saint Soul and the Silver-Winged Flying Dragon King Saint Soul surged, violently colliding within Zhang Ruochen's arms, trying to break free and escape.
Zhang Ruochen's physical body had already reached the Saint King level. The muscles, bones, skin, and flesh of his arms were incredibly tough, like two prisons, naturally not something they could break through.
As time passed, the elephant soul and dragon soul were suppressed and became docile, gradually merging with his arms, fusing perfectly with his meridians, sacred veins, blood vessels, and bones, becoming inseparable.
"Success."
Zhang Ruochen raised his arms, looking at the skin glowing with sacred light. Faintly, dragon scales and elephant patterns floated on the surface, appearing exceptionally mystical.
He gently clenched the five fingers of his left hand, and immediately, a dragon head emerged from beneath the skin, extending dragon claws, releasing astonishing dragon might.
He spread the five fingers of his right hand, and the phantom of a Sky-Treading Elephant King appeared, like a black ancient sacred mountain, majestic and awe-inspiring.
"Boom, boom."
Within the Yanzi Palace Cave Heaven, Zhang Ruochen repeatedly struck out with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, from the first palm all the way to the eleventh palm, over and over again. The sacred qi within his body was inexhaustible, and the palm force he unleashed was natural and flawless, with boundless power, capable of splitting mountains and cracking the earth.
The eleventh palm, "Dragon-Elephant Reaching Heaven," had achieved minor achievement, doubling its power.
Although he still could not integrate the palm path rules into the palm technique, with the power boost from the One-Step Saint King-level dragon soul and elephant soul, the power unleashed by the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was no longer inferior to an ordinary mid-rank sacred art.
Mid-rank sacred arts also had their own hierarchy, roughly divided into three levels:
Ordinary, Exquisite, and Profound.
Only by integrating more sacred path rules could the power unleashed by a mid-rank sacred art be greater.
An ordinary mid-rank sacred art would reach a bottleneck after integrating a thousand rules. Exceeding a thousand and integrating even more sacred path rules would still increase its power, but the growth rate would gradually decline.
An exquisite mid-rank sacred art would also reach a bottleneck after integrating a hundred thousand rules.
However, the upper limit of a Profound-level mid-rank sacred art could reach a million rules. Cultivating a Profound-level mid-rank sacred art to its highest level could even contend with a high-rank sacred art.
Of course, the difference between the three levels of mid-rank sacred arts was not just in their upper limits; their power also varied greatly. With the same number of integrated rules, an exquisite mid-rank sacred art could crush an ordinary one.
The vast majority of Half-Step Saint Kings and Saint Kings cultivated ordinary mid-rank sacred arts.
Exquisite mid-rank sacred arts were already quite rare, only learnable by Saint Kings with significant backgrounds.
As for Profound-level mid-rank sacred arts, they were even rarer, practically unparalleled supreme techniques. Generally, they were only recorded in the eighty-one divine skill manuals of the *Taiyi Divine Skill Ranking*.
Those divine skill manuals recorded not only cultivation methods but also top-tier martial techniques and sacred arts that complemented the skills. Some divine skill manuals even recorded forbidden secret arts, each of which, if leaked, would trigger bloody conflicts.
The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was quite profound. With each palm mastered, the palm technique would rise in grade, certainly not an ordinary martial technique. Once the eleventh palm was cultivated to great achievement, it would likely be at least an exquisite mid-rank sacred art, possibly even a Profound-level one.
"By refining the One-Step Saint King-level dragon soul and elephant soul into my body, my left and right arms have each gained the power of half a One-Step Saint King."
With Zhang Ruochen's current physical strength, he could already contend with weaker Two-Step Saint Kings, so gaining the power of a One-Step Saint King was not such a remarkable thing.
Zhang Ruochen took out two fist gloves and two arm guards from his space ring.
The two fist gloves were crimson red, made of some unknown material, extremely hot and quite heavy. The two arm guards were made of the same material, engraved with flame marks, with sharp barbs, shaped like two flames.
This was part of the Flame God Armor left behind after Qiu Yu's death.
The Flame God had left many ancient legends in the Kunlun Realm and was an extremely powerful god.
It was said that any substance approaching the Flame God would be burned to ashes by his high temperature, except for the Flame Armor, which would not melt.
Legend had it that the Flame God had cultivated three thousand types of flames and fused them together into a flame more terrifying than the Imperial Flame of the Purifying Divine Flame, called "Refining God Flame."
However, the destructive power of the Refining God Flame was too strong. Even the Flame God himself could not control it and eventually self-immolated, burned to ashes by the Refining God Flame.
The Refining God Flame killed the Flame God, but it could not destroy the Flame God Armor.
This point undoubtedly added another layer of mystery to the Flame God Armor.
Zhang Ruochen had studied the Flame God Armor before. It could be considered a divine relic ancient artifact. By channeling sacred qi into it, he could stimulate a trace of the Flame God's original power.
However, the power unleashed by the Flame God Armor was not as formidable as he had imagined, not even matching the Hundred Saint Blood Armor.
Moreover, its defensive power also fell short compared to the Hundred Saint Blood Armor. Since it was not a complete set of armor, being incomplete and only able to protect his arms.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen had always kept it in his storage ring and never used it.
Now that Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power, Way of Truth, and palm techniques had all improved, he naturally wanted to attack the Moon God's training ground—the Yin-Yang Hall.
The Yin-Yang Hall was occupied by evil path figures from three powerful realms, undoubtedly a dragon's pool and tiger's den, extremely dangerous.
Before that, making his strength even a bit stronger would increase his chances of victory. So, Zhang Ruochen began studying the Flame God Armor again.
"When Qiu Yu wore the Flame God Armor, the power it unleashed was far greater than the Hundred Saint Blood Armor. Why can't I bring out its power?"
Zhang Ruochen studied it for most of the day, conducting various tests, but still found no result. In the end, he had to put it away. He thought that once Xiao Hei arrived, he might be able to solve the doubts in Zhang Ruochen's mind.
However, what left Zhang Ruochen somewhat speechless was that nearly a month had passed, and Xiao Hei still had not arrived at the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market.
Zhang Ruochen decided to wait another three days. If Xiao Hei still had not come, he would go alone to seize the Moon God's training ground. Taking advantage of these three days, Zhang Ruochen planned to personally investigate the Yin-Yang Hall, trying to know himself and know his enemy.
Walking out of the Yanzi Palace Cave Heaven, Zhang Ruochen was about to head to the Yin-Yang Hall when he noticed something unusual about the atmosphere in the Hundred Flowers Palace today.
Night had just fallen. Normally, this would be the busiest time for the Hundred Flowers Palace, but it was deserted, with not a single guest in sight.
Curious, Zhang Ruochen asked Yanzi.
Yanzi replied, "Reporting to the young master, I don't know what's going on either. This afternoon, Lord Yao Jue Wang suddenly ordered the closure of the Hundred Flowers Palace, temporarily not receiving guests. Even the protective grand formation of the training ground was activated, as if something major had happened. Oh, and Lord Yao Jue Wang also instructed that the young master should stay in the cave heaven tonight and not come out to move around."