# Chapter 1703: Divine Spring
Shang Zihong, Gongzi Yan, and the other five top experts had advanced to within seven or eight hundred meters of the Divine Spring when they finally encountered a major problem and could no longer continue forward.
Purple-blue haze shrouded the depression, blocking the vision of all cultivators present, making it impossible to see what was happening.
Gongzi Yan set up a small one-meter-diameter formation on the ground, then took out four yellow flags and inserted them at the four cardinal points of the formation. Immediately afterward, he began carving light-traced inscription patterns around the formation.
Zhang Ruochen activated his Heavenly Eye to observe Gongzi Yan's every move. "Gongzi Yan carves space inscriptions quite quickly. He must have put in serious effort during his training."
Mo Xiaogu, however, showed a disdainful expression. "This princess can carve faster than him using just one hand. Gongzi Yan grew up in the Space Divine Temple with all kinds of learning conditions far surpassing ours, yet he's only at this level—a complete waste."
"Swoosh—"
Within the small formation in front of Gongzi Yan, three dazzling points of light appeared, like purple stars suspended in midair.
"Three drops of Divine Spring."
"What kind of technique is that? Gongzi Yan used a formation to collect the Divine Spring from eight hundred meters away."
"It really is Divine Spring. They say that adding a single drop of Divine Spring to a Sacred Pill can greatly enhance its quality."
...
Although the amount of Divine Spring Gongzi Yan collected wasn't large, it still caused an uproar.
Those cultivators who had been watching from the sidelines could no longer hold back and began advancing into the depression one after another.
The Ancient Civilization Faction, the Demon God Realm Faction, the Pangu Realm Faction...
Each major faction dispatched their most top-tier experts, advancing step by step along the paths they had calculated toward the Divine Spring.
After careful study and deliberation, Mo Xiaogu and Zhang Ruochen also chose a path.
Only when they truly entered the depression did Zhang Ruochen understand what it meant to tread on thin ice. This ancient land left over from primordial times was filled with all kinds of Divine Patterns, and even the air itself had Divine Patterns suspended within it. One had to remain constantly vigilant—the slightest misstep could trigger the Divine Patterns and result in instant death.
Mo Xiaogu had prepared thoroughly, holding a bronze ancient bottle filled with the blood of a Hell Demon God.
As she continuously dripped the blood onto the ground, a crimson path was opened up.
Gradually, Mo Xiaogu and Zhang Ruochen also entered the depths of the depression, getting closer and closer to the Divine Spring, to the point where they could even hear the sound of the spring with their ears.
When they were still about a thousand meters from the Divine Spring, the space ahead became shattered and fragmented, filled with black light clusters. These clusters released a bone-chilling yin energy, clearly something that absolutely could not be touched.
"No wonder even experts like Shang Zihong and Zhou Yu couldn't advance further—this place is filled with all kinds of terrifying forces, and even space itself has become incomplete."
When they were still nine hundred meters from the Divine Spring, Mo Xiaogu stopped, her finger resting on her chin as she fell into deep thought.
The fact that she and Zhang Ruochen had made it this far was already quite remarkable. Cultivators from other factions were still behind them, at least fifteen hundred meters from the Divine Spring.
The closer one got, the easier it was to collect the Divine Spring.
The crystal bottle beside Gongzi Yan already contained dozens of drops of Divine Spring. When he looked up and fixed his gaze on Mo Xiaogu, a look of extreme surprise appeared in his eyes.
Shang Zihong also looked toward Mo Xiaogu and Zhang Ruochen and asked, "What's wrong? Do you know those two?"
Gongzi Yan gently shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and continued controlling the small formation at his feet. But his eyes kept drifting toward Mo Xiaogu from time to time.
This cousin of his, Gongzi Yan had only met her not long ago. She was said to be the daughter of one of his clan uncles, temporarily training at the Space Divine Temple. This girl's arrival had caused quite a stir within the clan, to the point where even the clan's gods had personally met with her.
Gongzi Yan had sent people to test Mo Xiaogu and was shocked to discover that her space attainment was extremely high, possibly even not inferior to his own.
That Mo Xiaogu had appeared in the Truth Heaven Domain was quite unexpected to Gongzi Yan.
Mo Xiaogu looked at the space formation beneath Gongzi Yan's feet, the disdain in her eyes growing even stronger. "Gongzi Yan uses space transfer techniques to collect Divine Spring from eight hundred meters away. Lin Yue, your telekinesis is pretty impressive—want to give it a try?"
"It's still too far here. Let's push forward a bit more."
After saying this, Zhang Ruochen grabbed the bronze ancient bottle from Mo Xiaogu's hand and went ahead to clear the path.
Mo Xiaogu showed a startled expression. "You still dare to go forward?"
"The space ahead is shattered and fragmented. For other cultivators, it's a dead end, but for us, it's still worth trying. What's wrong? The dignified Rakshasa Princess doesn't have that kind of courage?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Mo Xiaogu truly felt that going further would be extremely dangerous, and there was no path ahead anyway. Continuing forward—what difference was there from seeking death?
Not far away, several cultivators from the Heavenly Realm Faction thought the same.
They believed they had already pushed to their limits and couldn't get any closer to the Divine Spring. So, watching Zhang Ruochen walk forward, they felt puzzled but wore smiles on their faces, thinking Zhang Ruochen would die an inglorious death any moment.
But what happened next made all the cultivators present drop their jaws in shock.
They saw Zhang Ruochen actually charge into the shattered space, leaping across space fragments like floating islands. Around him, lightning flashed, rivers formed from ancient yin energy flowed, and pitch-black void regions appeared.
Yet he forcefully broke through, landing on a space fragment about seven hundred meters from the Divine Spring.
Seeing this, whether they were inside or outside the depression, all cultivators were greatly astonished.
"This guy can freely travel through shattered space—that's incredible!"
"Even Gongzi Yan wouldn't dare do that."
...
...
Zhang Ruochen wanted to continue forward, but the Heart-Linked Bone-Melting Lock between him and Mo Xiaogu had already pulled taut. So he tugged on the taut chain and urged, "What's wrong with you? Don't you dare come over, or can't you make it? Do you need my help?"
All along the way, Mo Xiaogu had been looking down on and despising Zhang Ruochen, as proud as a white swan. But now, she was being looked down upon by the very person she had been despising.
"No need. This princess can make it."
Mo Xiaogu gritted her teeth, quite furious inside, but could only comfort herself, "This princess's life is precious, so naturally I have to cherish it. His life is cheap, so he's not afraid of death."
Mo Xiaogu steeled herself and finally reached the space fragment, joining up with Zhang Ruochen.
"Let's continue." Zhang Ruochen said.
Mo Xiaogu was stunned. "You still want to push forward?"
Zhang Ruochen pointed to a space fragment about four hundred meters from the Divine Spring. "That's a good spot to land. It's close to the Divine Spring, so collecting will be much faster. Otherwise, collecting like Gongzi Yan would take a whole day and night and still not yield much."
Mo Xiaogu looked at the distant space fragment and felt extremely resistant, quickly shaking her head. "That space fragment is too small. It's definitely unstable. It might shatter the moment we step on it. Let's not take such a risk. Why do you need so much Divine Spring? Are you really planning to take one hundred thousand drops of Divine Spring to marry the Heavenly Beginning Fairy?"
"Trust me. Follow me."
Zhang Ruochen used the Heart-Linked Bone-Melting Lock in his hand to wrap around Mo Xiaogu three times, binding her, then carried her as he charged toward the distant space fragment.
Mo Xiaogu didn't consider herself a coward, but this time she was truly frightened by Zhang Ruochen. By the time they landed on the space fragment, her heart was still pounding wildly.
Stepping onto the ground, Mo Xiaogu's legs trembled slightly. Her phoenix-like eyes coldly stared at Zhang Ruochen. "Are you really Zhang Ruochen?"
Seeing Mo Xiaogu's pale face, Zhang Ruochen finally felt much better and laughed. "Why would the Princess ask such a question?"
"On that stretch of road just now, every step required extreme precision in both space and time. Among the younger generation, besides Zhang Ruochen, who else could do that?" Mo Xiaogu said.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen hadn't just used extreme precision in space and time—he had also employed the power of time, which was why he could calmly reach this space fragment.
Zhang Ruochen didn't answer the Rakshasa Princess. Instead, he crouched down and began setting up a formation on the space fragment.
"Your silence means you admit it?"
Mo Xiaogu was already seventy or eighty percent certain.
She had to admit, this was a quite frustrating result. Lin Yue was actually that bastard Zhang Ruochen—a guy she both hated and somewhat missed.
Before coming to the Heavenly Court Realm, Mo Xiaogu had already imagined various scenarios of meeting Zhang Ruochen and had even thought about how to take revenge on him.
Now they had met, and even sooner than she had imagined. But not only had she failed to take revenge on Zhang Ruochen, she had even helped him sleep with a peerless fairy.
Mo Xiaogu was so furious inside that she even forgot to collect the Divine Spring. She just stared at Zhang Ruochen with slightly reddened eyes. "What are you setting up a space teleportation formation here for?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't look up. "After seizing the Divine Spring, of course we need to escape immediately. Are we supposed to go back the way we came?"
"This place is very special. Using a space teleportation formation won't get us out, and there's also great danger." Mo Xiaogu said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I know. But I have a way. Just follow me when the time comes. It's done. Now let's start collecting the Divine Spring. Let's agree first—each collects their own. Don't think about taking the other's Divine Spring."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen and Mo Xiaogu reach a position only four hundred meters from the Divine Spring, the other cultivators were all shocked, all guessing at their identities.
Even several of the Ten Great Divine Inheritor Disciples fixed their gazes on Zhang Ruochen and Mo Xiaogu.