Chapter 1707: Secluded Cultivation
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment, then said, "I also have a big fellow here, but I'm not sure if you can subdue it."
Xiao Hei wasn't particularly interested in this so-called "big fellow." At the moment, he was scheming about how to eat one of the legs of that sentient sacred fungus. Could any big fellow possibly be more valuable than a leg from a hundred-thousand-year ancient sacred medicine?
"You should set up a formation first, just in case it tries to escape," Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei was rather dismissive, saying arrogantly, "Escape? This Emperor's cultivation has recovered somewhat, enough to suppress anything. Zhang Ruochen, stop dawdling and bring out your big fellow. Let this Emperor take a look and see what it is!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "I think you'd better set up a trapping formation first. If that big fellow gets away, I'll fight you over it."
"What a waste of effort."
Xiao Hei let out a long sigh, then took out a piece of sacred jade engraved with formation inscriptions, channeling sacred qi into it.
"Whoosh—"
Instantly, a circular formation light disk appeared.
Zhang Ruochen inspected the formation disk and found it to be an eighth-rank formation with complex and varied inscriptions, more than capable of trapping a Saint King-level expert.
Xiao Hei said impatiently, "Relax. Now that this Emperor's cultivation has partially recovered, my formation mastery is quite profound. I can be considered a Earth Master among Formation Saint Masters, easily setting up eighth-rank formations."
"You're an Earth Master?" asked the True Marvel Little Daoist.
Xiao Hei shot it a cold glance and said, "Is it so strange for a Great Saint to also be an Earth Master?"
Saint Masters were divided into three levels: Human Master, Earth Master, and Heaven Master.
Most Formation Saint Masters were only at the "Human Master" level, capable of setting up eighth-rank formations that could deal with Saint King-level opponents.
Formation Saint Masters with exceptional skill could set up ninth-rank formations, using them to contend with Great Saints. Such Formation Saint Masters were called "Earth Masters."
Legend had it that Formation Saint Masters who had pushed their study of formations to the extreme not only possessed combat power second only to gods but could also alter the climate and fortune of an entire world, change the trajectories of stars, and employ various other incredible means. Such Formation Saint Masters were called "Heaven Masters."
Of course, a formation master's main ability wasn't combat but other aspects. Even a Human Master could become a honored guest of a Great Saint.
If someone truly was an Earth Master, their status would be even more remarkable.
For a major world to produce an Earth Master was almost as significant as producing a god, if not quite equal.
In the Heavenly Court realm, more than half of the subordinate mortal worlds had no Formation Earth Masters at all.
This showed how precious an Earth Master was.
Zhang Ruochen didn't believe Xiao Hei's words at all. If he had truly become an Earth Master, his tail would probably be sticking up to the sky by now.
Still, Xiao Hei's formation skill had indeed improved considerably. He had actually carved an eighth-rank formation onto a piece of sacred jade and activated it effortlessly. Most Formation Saint Masters wouldn't have such ability.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture and released a seven-meter-tall white jade rabbit that had been suppressed within the book.
As soon as the white jade rabbit broke free, it tried to escape, its four legs radiating brilliant sacred light as it charged toward the door.
"Boom."
The formation light disk reappeared and trembled violently.
The eighth-rank formation Xiao Hei had set up was nearly shattered by that single charge. Startled, Zhang Ruochen quickly used the power of the Space-Time Secret Scripture to trap the white jade rabbit again.
Xiao Hei's eyes rolled around as he said, "Oh my goodness, this... this is a piece of Emperor Sacred Jade! What kind of place is the God-Enshrining Platform? You can find Emperor Sacred Jade there? When is the next God-Enshrining Platform Assembly?"
"Ten years from now," Zhang Ruochen replied.
Xiao Hei shook his head with a sigh, deeply regretting not having participated in this God-Enshrining Platform Assembly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Don't sigh yet. This piece of Emperor Sacred Jade gained sentience at the God-Enshrining Platform, then consumed a large amount of sacred medicine, directly reaching the Great Saint realm. But it's a primordial being, never having cultivated any techniques or sacred arts. It needs a knowledgeable person to guide it..."
Xiao Hei interrupted, "Say no more, Zhang Ruochen. You've come to the right person. This Emperor is knowledgeable and has profound cultivation. I'm the perfect guide for it."
Zhang Ruochen stared at Xiao Hei for a long moment before saying, "Actually, I was originally planning to hand it over to the Moon God and ask her to personally teach it."
"Don't do that! If you give the Emperor Sacred Jade to the Moon God, even if it grows strong, it will eventually join the Guanghan Realm and become a sovereign there. It might even end up lording over us. But if this Emperor guides it, it will obediently listen to us in the end. Just imagine—having a Great Saint-level follower by your side, you could intimidate anyone wherever you go!" Xiao Hei said with a sly grin.
Zhang Ruochen stroked Xiao Hei's feathers and smiled. "Alright, then it's up to you."
"Don't worry, this Emperor is absolutely reliable."
Xiao Hei's methods were indeed quite sophisticated. He directly used an ancient secret technique to carve dense inscriptions onto the white jade rabbit's body, using the power of those inscriptions to suppress it back into its original form, temporarily turning it into a piece of jade as crystalline and dazzling as a star.
That very day, Xiao Hei took the True Marvel Little Daoist and the Emperor Sacred Jade and hurriedly left, returning to the Moon God's Dao Ground.
As for Zhang Ruochen, under the arrangement of a first-class disciple from Kongling Island, he entered a cultivation chamber on the first level of the Truth Divine Temple and began his secluded cultivation.
The cultivation chamber contained three visualization diagrams.
Zhang Ruochen walked to the second visualization diagram, took out the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and placed it on the ground.
The sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword then flew out from the blade, sat cross-legged on the sword, and began contemplating the visualization diagram.
Zhang Ruochen, meanwhile, walked to the third visualization diagram.
He had already cultivated over two hundred Truth Rules, so there was no need to study the second diagram. Only the third diagram was useful to him.
The opportunity to cultivate in the Truth Divine Temple was precious. After crossing the fourth level of the Truth Sea, Zhang Ruochen had gained a total of one year and three months of cultivation time. Adding the seventeen days he hadn't used, it wasn't actually that much time.
If he spent all this time comprehending the Way of Truth, it would be somewhat wasteful.
The Truth Divine Temple was an excellent place for cultivation. The Sacred Dao Rules were extremely active here, and comprehending the Sacred Dao here would advance one's realm several times faster than outside.
Therefore, after sitting down cross-legged, Zhang Ruochen lit a stick of Honghua Vine and took out the Rule Emperor Artifact, holding it in his hands.
Having done all this, Zhang Ruochen emptied his mind and entered a deep state of cultivation.
The six Sacred Souls within his body separated, with five of them flying out to form five figures that looked exactly like Zhang Ruochen, all appearing beneath the third visualization diagram.
Three of the Sacred Souls contemplated the third visualization diagram.
The other three Sacred Souls contemplated the Sacred Dao Rules within the Rule Emperor Artifact.
Time flew by, and soon half a month had passed.
Zhang Ruochen had thoroughly comprehended the third visualization diagram, and the total number of Truth Rules in his body had reached seven hundred and twenty-nine.
"In just half a month, I've comprehended nearly five hundred Truth Rules. Unbelievable."
Zhang Ruochen moved his arms and executed a move from the Luo Water Fist Art, channeling the Truth Rules into the fist technique. It instantly erupted with three times the power.
This rate of comprehension far exceeded Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
To put it in perspective, as one of the top geniuses cultivated by the Truth Divine Temple, Feng Yan had been studying the Way of Truth since childhood and had accumulated two to three years of cultivation time in the temple. Yet he had cultivated fewer than three thousand Truth Rules.
For a Fourth-Step Saint King to comprehend five hundred Truth Rules in half a month was absolutely terrifying, enough to shock the disciples of the Truth Divine Temple.
Zhang Ruochen didn't think his talent and insight were many times greater than Feng Yan's. After analysis, he concluded that it was likely due to the ten-thousandths of Truth Esoterica within him.
Without the Truth Esoterica, his speed of comprehending Truth Rules wouldn't be much faster than Feng Yan's.
His progress in the Way of Truth was indeed gratifying, but in terms of the Sacred Dao, Zhang Ruochen had hit a bottleneck.
He had cultivated for an entire half-month, yet he had only increased a few Sacred Dao Rules, essentially making no progress at all.
For a Saint King-level cultivator, hitting a bottleneck was a terrifying thing. It could very well mean that his current cultivation realm was his final achievement, and he might never break through again for the rest of his life.
Zhang Ruochen hadn't expected his bottleneck to come so quickly, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
After studying the matter, Zhang Ruochen found that during this half-month of cultivation in the Truth Divine Temple, he had only increased seven Sacred Dao Rules, all of which were Sword Dao Rules.
After spending half a day thinking, Zhang Ruochen finally understood the reason. He muttered to himself, "It must be a problem with the structure of the Sacred Dao Rules in my body."
"Recently, in order to improve my cultivation realm, I've consumed a large amount of sacred medicine and sacred fruits. In just a few days, the total number of Sacred Dao Rules in my body has reached one hundred and ten thousand."
"But the vast majority of these one hundred and ten thousand Sacred Dao Rules are from minor paths or major paths, with very few Supreme Sacred Paths and Eternal Paths."
"Among the three main Sacred Daos I cultivate, the number of Sword Dao Rules is only a little over two hundred. The number of Time Rules and Space Rules is even less than fifty."
If he hadn't examined himself internally, he wouldn't have noticed anything wrong. But upon careful inspection, Zhang Ruochen was horrified. This situation was already quite serious. If he didn't make adjustments, he might never be able to break through to the Great Saint realm in his lifetime.
Among the three main Sacred Daos he cultivated—the Sword Dao, the Way of Time, and the Way of Space—the number of rules was almost negligible.
How terrifying was that?
Of course, this was also a drawback of improving one's cultivation through sacred medicine. It might seem like the realm was advancing quickly, but in reality, it was draining one's potential, ultimately crippling oneself.
Now that he had discovered it in time, it could still be remedied.