# Chapter 1601: Meeting the Fairy Again
"Ah..."
"You will die a miserable death... one day... my junior brother will slaughter every last one of you..."
"It hurts, it really hurts. The soul-flaying whips in their hands have shattered my saint soul until it's nearly broken."
...
Outside the Yin Yang Hall stood four heretical path cultivators dressed in gray robes. They held soul-flaying whips and took turns lashing the seventeen heads hanging from the gate.
The blood in those seventeen heads had long since dried. Their faces were covered in whip scars, flesh and blood mangled beyond recognition.
"Slap! Slap!"
Each lash was accompanied by a miserable scream, making the already eerie and terrifying Yin Yang Hall even more chilling. Cultivators dared not linger on the nearby streets.
Among them, a dwarf standing only five feet tall let out a sharp laugh: "Three days have passed, yet Zhang Ruochen doesn't dare come to save you. He's nothing but a coward."
"Zhang Ruochen wouldn't dare come to Yin Yang Hall. If he did, he'd only be walking to his death."
A supreme saint from the Ten Thousand Evil Realm let out a deep laugh, then lashed out with his whip again.
...
Zhang Ruochen, Xiao Hei, and Ling Feiyu had all altered their appearances. They hurried past the Yin Yang Hall without stopping, crossing three streets before finally halting.
Zhang Ruochen's face was cold and grim to the extreme.
To borrow the Glazed Sealing Heaven Cover, Zhang Ruochen had secretly returned to the Mirror Fragrance Cliff Dao Field.
Ling Feiyu's attitude was resolute—she insisted on coming to the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market with him before she would lend him the Glazed Sealing Heaven Cover. In the end, Zhang Ruochen had no choice but to compromise.
Xiao Hei said, "Wait a little longer. This Emperor has been refining a set of formation flags recently and is missing one final material. If I can buy that material in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market and refine it in, the flags' power will increase greatly. It might even be able to help in a big way."
"What material?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xiao Hei immediately replied, "Solar Gold Essence."
Zhang Ruochen frowned. He had never heard of this material before. Clearly, Solar Gold Essence must be extremely rare and not easy to find.
Just as Zhang Ruochen and the others were preparing to head to some top-tier sacred markets to search for Solar Gold Essence...
Suddenly, space trembled slightly.
The sky above them grew dim and dark.
In an instant, day turned to night.
"Not good. We've been discovered. Someone has sealed off the space here."
Almost instantly, Ling Feiyu summoned her Sky Burial Sword, condensed sword dao profound energy, and thrust it forward.
The sword light shot out like a blinding white rainbow, illuminating the surrounding dark space.
"Boom."
Ling Feiyu's sword clashed with a crystalline jade finger.
The indestructible sword dao profound energy was actually blocked.
From the tip of that jade finger, white petals flew out, dissolving the sword dao profound energy into nothingness.
Ling Feiyu's long hair flew wildly, her eyes sharp and cold as she stared at the veiled woman standing opposite her. The Sky Burial Sword in her hand emitted increasingly brilliant profound energy.
Xiao Hei quickly rushed over to mediate: "Friend, friend."
"Friend?"
Seeing that the other party indeed had no hostile intent, Ling Feiyu withdrew her sword energy and stepped back, looking at Xiao Hei with a puzzled expression, waiting for an explanation.
Xiao Hei chuckled: "This Hundred Flowers Fairy is Zhang Ruochen's friend. This Emperor isn't very familiar with her."
Ling Feiyu had naturally heard of the Hundred Flowers Fairy's name. Known as one of the Nine Beauties of the Heavenly Court Realm, the leader of the Thousand Petal Realm, she was a woman who made countless men dream of her.
However, legend had it that the Hundred Flowers Fairy had a cold and aloof personality, and almost no man could get close to her.
When had Zhang Ruochen become her friend?
Zhang Ruochen stared at the Hundred Flowers Fairy not far away, his heart filled with vigilance. "What exactly did you do to me?"
"In your heart, am I really that despicable a person? Is that why you left without saying goodbye last time, afraid I would kill you to silence you?"
Ji Fanxin's voice was very calm, but anyone could hear the hint of resentment in her words.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Why did you find me the moment I arrived in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market?"
Ji Fanxin was silent for a moment before explaining, "Because you touched the pollen on the Divine Illumination Lotus petals. The pollen has entered your body. Once you appear within ten thousand miles of me, I can sense your location."
"Divine Illumination Lotus petals? Pollen?"
Zhang Ruochen was first confused, then his gaze fell on Ji Fanxin's jade hand, and he suddenly understood.
Zhang Ruochen immediately mobilized his spiritual power to examine his hands internally. Sure enough, he discovered tiny pollen particles within the flesh of his hands.
Not just his hands...
Those pollen particles had already spread throughout his body, merging into his bone marrow, blood, and organs.
Zhang Ruochen tried to force the pollen particles out of his body or refine them, but failed. Those particles clung to him like stubborn parasites, impossible to remove.
"It's over. I shouldn't have touched her." Zhang Ruochen felt regret.
Shi Shenghua's voice sounded inside Zhang Ruochen's body: "Master, the pollen of the Divine Illumination Lotus is very useful to me. Absorbing the pollen can increase my nutrient absorption speed by ten times."
Having reached the Half-Step Saint King realm, Shi Shenghua's nutrient absorption speed was getting slower and slower.
Now, absorbing half a saint source per day was its limit. With slower nutrient absorption, its cultivation speed naturally slowed down as well.
If the nutrient absorption speed increased tenfold, Shi Shenghua could absorb five saint sources per day. It would probably break through to the Saint King realm before long.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Can you absorb all the pollen in my body?"
"It should be possible, but it will take at least a few months." Shi Shenghua said.
Hearing this answer, Zhang Ruochen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Ruochen didn't let his guard down and asked, "Fairy, what exactly is your purpose in coming to see me?"
"You don't need to be so wary of me. I mean you no harm. I only came to tell you that Shang Zihong is at the Yin Yang Hall. You should leave the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market immediately and not fall into the trap he has set." Ji Fanxin said.
Zhang Ruochen's expression flickered uncertainly. "So what if he's at the Yin Yang Hall?"
Ji Fanxin said, "You have no idea how powerful Shang Zihong is. His attainments in the Way of Truth are extremely high. He has already broken through the seventh sea region of the Truth Sea and entered the eighth sea region."
"Before becoming a Great Saint, he is almost certain to break through the eighth sea region, and there's even a slight chance he could break through the ninth sea region."
"Even if his cultivation is suppressed to the Half-Step Saint King realm, with his profound understanding of the Way of Truth, he can still crush any opponent."
Shang Zihong's strength made even Ji Fanxin quite wary.
Because she didn't want to watch Zhang Ruochen walk to his death, she risked coming to see him in person, hoping to persuade him to turn back.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was calm. Suddenly, he said, "I helped you rescue King Danling, and you once said you owed me a favor. Now, I hope you can repay that favor."
"You want me to help you deal with the Yin Yang Hall?" Ji Fanxin said.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "This matter concerns life and death. Even if I truly asked you to do it, you certainly wouldn't agree. What I want you to help me with is something else—not as difficult as you imagine."
...
After parting ways with Ji Fanxin, Zhang Ruochen, Ling Feiyu, and Xiao Hei went to the sacred shop "Karma Temple" opened by the Western Buddha Realm to rest temporarily.
That afternoon, Ji Fanxin arrived at Karma Temple and found Zhang Ruochen again.
"I've brought all the Solar Gold Essence from the Hundred Flowers Palace—thirty-seven grams in total, worth thirty-seven million sacred stones."
After handing a box containing the Solar Gold Essence to Zhang Ruochen, Ji Fanxin took out eight talismans and placed them before Zhang Ruochen: "Four Heavenly Sword Talismans, three Divine Demon Talismans, and one Hundred Steps No Life Talisman. Worth one hundred and thirty-two million sacred stones."
"These eight talismans were not refined by talisman masters from the Thousand Petal Realm, so even if you use them, Shang Zihong won't suspect the Hundred Flowers Palace. This is the limit of what I can do for you."
"The Heavenly Sword Talisman is an offensive talisman. When activated, it is equivalent to a full-force strike from a Three-Step Saint King."
"Each one is worth five million sacred stones."
"The Divine Demon Talisman is a talisman that combines offense and defense. Given your physical strength, as long as you stick it on your body, for ten breaths, you will transform into a divine demon. Your power will reach the level of a Three-Step Saint King, and attacks below the Three-Step Saint King level will be ineffective against you."
"Each one is worth twenty million sacred stones."
"The Hundred Steps No Life Talisman, once activated, within a hundred steps, cultivators below the Three-Step Saint King realm who don't have defensive talismans can be said to be dead without a doubt. Worth sixty million sacred stones."
The eight talismans laid out on the table were each worth a fortune. With any one of them, even a saint could kill a saint king. Of course, with a saint's financial resources, even if they saved for a lifetime, they couldn't afford the cheapest Heavenly Sword Talisman.
"One hundred and sixty-nine million sacred stones. Even some Great Saints with weak foundations might not be able to produce that many sacred stones at once!"
Zhang Ruochen said this as if talking to himself, then took out the Golden Step Dragon Chariot, held it in his palm, and handed it to Ji Fanxin. "I'll temporarily leave this with you as collateral. Once I capture the Yin Yang Hall, I'll bring the sacred stones to redeem it."
"Sure enough, it's a Nine Radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact. Extraordinary, truly extraordinary..."
A look of amazement appeared in Ji Fanxin's vast, beautiful eyes. "This Nine Radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact is worth far more than one hundred and sixty-nine million sacred stones. Aren't you afraid I won't return it to you?"
"If I die in the Yin Yang Hall, giving it to you is still better than letting Shang Zihong get it. If I can destroy the Yin Yang Hall, aren't you afraid I'll use the same methods against the Hundred Flowers Palace?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Looking at Zhang Ruochen's sharp gaze, Ji Fanxin suddenly had a strange thought—perhaps this young man really could go toe-to-toe with Shang Zihong.
Originally, if Zhang Ruochen died in the Yin Yang Hall, Ji Fanxin would obtain an extremely precious Nine Radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact. But for some reason, she found herself looking forward more to Zhang Ruochen walking out of the Yin Yang Hall alive.
After Ji Fanxin left, Xiao Hei took the Solar Gold Essence and went to refine the formation flags.
Zhang Ruochen entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, sat down cross-legged, and pondered how to use this time to increase his strength a bit more.
Then, he took out the fifty-thousand-year-old Mixed Yang Flower that Ji Fanxin had given him.
The fist-sized flower bloomed with starlight-like brilliance, releasing pure yang sacred energy like flames.
"I have already cultivated the eleventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm to minor completion, only one step away from major completion. From minor to major completion, the most crucial point is the accumulation of yang energy within the body."
Cultivating the tenth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm meant the yang energy in the body was ten thousand times that of an ordinary person.
Cultivating the eleventh palm meant the yang energy was one hundred thousand times that of an ordinary person.
Therefore, to cultivate the eleventh palm to major completion, the first step was to consume large amounts of yang-type sacred pills and sacred medicines, accumulating yang energy to more than fifty thousand times that of an ordinary person, then break through.
But this step was extremely dangerous. At best, one would suffer qi deviation; at worst, one's body would explode.
Zhang Ruochen had only just reached minor completion not long ago. Rushing to break through to major completion now would have a success rate of less than ten percent.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen didn't act impulsively and put the Mixed Yang Flower away again.
"Oh!"
Zhang Ruochen discovered a mass of light and shadow in his mind—it was the memories and sacred dao insights from his seventh life in the "Seven Lives Seven Deaths Diagram." This mass of light and shadow had always been sealed, and Zhang Ruochen had never touched it.
"After fusing with it, my strength probably won't increase much, but any improvement is good."
Zhang Ruochen thought of Ling Feiyu.
Every time the seventh life was mentioned, Ling Feiyu's expression was always unnatural. Zhang Ruochen suspected that something must have happened in the seventh life.
It was for this reason that Zhang Ruochen had hesitated and never fused with it.
"Why think so much? Improving strength is the real priority."
Zhang Ruochen stopped overthinking, unsealed the mass of light and shadow, and began to refine it.