Chapter 1711: The Storm Has Not Yet Subsided
Entering the seventh layer of the sea, the difficulty of crossing surged sharply. Even for Zhang Ruochen, with his current cultivation and mastery of the Way of Truth, controlling the Truth Ark felt strenuous.
It took him a full half day to slowly reach the checkpoint of the seventh layer.
Even so, a thunderous uproar erupted from the shore.
Because a cultivator merely entering the seventh layer was a completely different concept from reaching its checkpoint. The key point was that Zhang Ruochen was only at the Fourth-Step Saint King realm and still quite young.
To have reached this step now, his future achievements were simply unimaginable.
Almost all the cultivators training near the Truth Divine Temple were stirred, rushing to the Truth Sea one after another. Countless gazes converged on Zhang Ruochen.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was completely focused, staring at the guardian of the seventh layer across from him.
The sacred might emanating from this guardian was terrifying, putting considerable pressure on Zhang Ruochen. He was forced to immediately activate the Hundred Saint Blood Armor to envelop his body and also unleash the power of the Flame God Armor.
"Tenth Form of the Luo Water Fist Art, Soul Severing Long Song."
Zhang Ruochen's arms burst into blazing flames, turning into two patches of fire clouds. At the same time, a long river manifested, flowing between the two fire clouds.
A fully powered punch collided with the guardian's fist technique.
A cracking sound exploded.
The river, stretching several thousand meters, was shattered into pieces, turning into raindrops.
In this clash, Zhang Ruochen was at a complete disadvantage. His body and the Truth Ark beneath his feet were sent flying backward rapidly. The guardian pursued, throwing another fist seal, causing a sound of heaven and earth splitting.
"Luo Water Transforming into Dragon."
Zhang Ruochen executed the thirty-fifth form of the Luo Water Fist Art. A semi-transparent dragon shadow surged from his body, and his hands transformed into two massive dragon claws, striking out.
The majestic dragon shadow was mercilessly shattered by the guardian, and Zhang Ruochen was blasted away once again.
The guardian's attacks grew fiercer, giving Zhang Ruochen no chance to catch his breath. When it threw its twelfth punch, it sealed off all of Zhang Ruochen's escape routes, striking directly at his brow.
Zhang Ruochen quickly used the power of Space Distortion to barely divert the guardian's attack elsewhere.
The main reason was that during his seclusion, Zhang Ruochen had comprehended over two hundred Space Rules, making it easier for him to control space. Otherwise, that punch from the guardian would have severely injured him.
In the ensuing battle, Zhang Ruochen pushed his spatial power to the limit, sometimes dodging and sometimes launching proactive attacks.
After exchanging over three hundred moves with the guardian, Zhang Ruochen finally seized an opportunity. He raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword and executed the Time Sword Art, silently chanting, "Noon Sword."
With one sword strike, time froze.
When time resumed its flow, the Abyssal Ancient Sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand had already pierced through the guardian's body.
"Success..."
A hint of joy had just appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face when his abdomen was struck heavily. His body was sent flying like a scarecrow, plunging into the sea.
It turned out that although that sword strike had pierced the guardian's body, it had dodged the vital point and was not fatal.
But the guardian's punch could have killed Zhang Ruochen.
Returning to the shore, Zhang Ruochen circulated his sacred qi through one cycle, and most of the pain in his abdomen disappeared.
"In the end, I still fell short. I couldn't reach the eighth layer," Zhang Ruochen said with a bitter smile.
Without continuing to cross the sea, Zhang Ruochen turned and left directly.
Although it seemed that the gap between him and the guardian of the seventh layer was not large, Zhang Ruochen was well aware that with his current strength, he was no match for the guardian.
His biggest weakness lay in sacred arts.
Although he had mastered the mid-rank sacred art, the Luo Water Fist Art, to great perfection, and had brought Sword Eight to complete mastery, which was quite impressive, he had not trained in movement-type or defense-type mid-rank sacred arts. Compared to truly top-tier prodigies, there was still a gap; he had not achieved the best.
If Zhang Ruochen, like Ling Feiyu, had mastered Sword Nine to perfection, he could easily have dealt with the guardian of the seventh layer.
Time.
Ultimately, it was because his cultivation time was too short, and his foundation was still insufficient.
What Zhang Ruochen lacked most right now was time.
"By crossing the fifth layer, I gained two ten-thousandths of Truth Esoterica. By crossing the sixth layer, I gained three ten-thousandths. Now, the total Truth Esoterica within me has reached ten ten-thousandths. From now on, my speed in comprehending Sacred Dao Rules should become faster."
The reason Zhang Ruochen came to cross the Truth Sea was to seize Truth Esoterica.
Of course, by crossing the fifth and sixth layers, he had also earned four years of cultivation time inside the Truth Divine Temple.
If he entered the Truth Divine Temple for seclusion now, after four years, Zhang Ruochen would surely comprehend the second layer of the Houtu Small World, or even higher realms. His sacred cultivation would also advance by leaps and bounds, possibly reaching the Sixth-Step Saint King realm.
Other Saint Kings would definitely choose to go into seclusion.
After all, four years was but a fleeting moment for a Saint King with a long lifespan.
But Zhang Ruochen had no time.
Four years was too precious to him; too many things could happen. By the time he emerged from seclusion four years later, the entire Kunlun Realm might have been destroyed, and countless relatives and friends could have turned to ashes in the flames of war.
Time, time, why was time so pressing, suffocating him, giving him no moment to relax?
"Only by seeking the legacy of Xumi Saint Monk can I break through faster, even quicker than cultivation in seclusion," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Because Zhang Ruochen had crossed the fifth and sixth layers in the second year after arriving in Truth Heaven Domain, he could not receive additional rewards or secure cultivation slots for the Guanghan Realm.
After Zhang Ruochen left, the shore of the Truth Sea buzzed with discussion.
"Zhang Ruochen's cultivation should be at Fourth-Step Saint King or Fifth-Step Saint King. Heavens, with such a cultivation level, he nearly defeated the guardian of the seventh layer."
"You have to understand, Zhang Ruochen has only been training in Truth Heaven Domain for a little over a year. In a few more years, he will surely cross the seventh layer, or even the eighth. In the future, he might even cross the ninth layer."
"Impossible. Even among the ten divine disciples, only one or two have crossed the ninth layer. And that was with the full support of the Truth Divine Temple, allowing them to cultivate inside the temple, with personal guidance from gods, and suppressing their cultivation for over a hundred years to achieve that step."
"Crossing the ninth layer to enter the tenth is a legend. It's not that easy to accomplish."
"Actually, among his peers, Zhang Ruochen is not necessarily invincible. Not long ago, that black fool crossed the sixth layer. And the Thousand Star Celestial Maiden also fought the guardian of the seventh layer for a long time, not much weaker than Zhang Ruochen."
...
...
Amid the crowd's chatter, several figures hidden in the shadows slipped away from the Truth Sea and quietly followed Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen arrived at Kongling Island and saw Feng Yan and Xiang Chunan had set up a row of wine jars, waiting for him in a pavilion.
"He's here, he's here, finally here!"
Feng Yan and Xiang Chunan stood up, as if they had agreed beforehand, and said in unison, "Congratulations, Big Brother, for crossing the sixth layer. From now on, you'll sweep through Truth Heaven Domain, unmatched by anyone."
Zhang Ruochen was both amused and exasperated. He walked into the pavilion and said, "What do you mean, sweeping through Truth Heaven Domain? My cultivation level is still far off. How about you two? After your seclusion, which layers did you cross?"
Xiang Chunan let out a long sigh. "I barely crossed the sixth layer. As soon as I entered the seventh, I fell into the sea."
Feng Yan was speechless. "You two are freaks. I'm a top-tier prodigy of the Truth Divine Temple, but after cultivating for so many years, I've been surpassed by you. I lost to the guardian of the sixth layer and couldn't get through."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Any major events during my year of seclusion?"
"None," Xiang Chunan shook his head directly.
Feng Yan snorted. "How can there be no major events? Haven't you already been assassinated several times since you came out of seclusion?"
Xiang Chunan grinned. "Minor things, all minor things."
Zhang Ruochen frowned. "What exactly happened?"
Feng Yan said, "I used many connections to investigate this and have some leads. The assassins came from the Tian Sha Organization. The employers are some big shots from the Heavenly Realm Faction. It should be because of the slaughter you two carried out at the Fengshen Platform, which angered some old-timers from those major worlds. So they paid a sky-high price to hire assassins for revenge."
"At the time, Big Brother had changed his appearance, so they couldn't confirm your identity. Thus, Third Brother became their main target."
On the Fengshen Platform, Zhang Ruochen and Xiang Chunan had killed many important elites of the Heavenly Realm Faction, including Feng Jian, the leader of the Tian Gui Realm, as well as some divine grandsons and imperial sons.
This slaughter had certainly enraged some older-generation experts from the Heavenly Realm Faction.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes darkened to the extreme. "This is the core area of the Truth Divine Temple. Can assassins from the Tian Sha Organization break in here to strike?"
"So they must have offered a sky-high price."
Feng Yan added, "I've already reported this to the higher-ups. The Tian Sha Organization is completely provoking us, crossing the Truth Divine Temple's bottom line. The temple will surely teach them a painful lesson."
Zhang Ruochen picked up his wine glass and downed it in one gulp. "Chunan, it's all my fault for dragging you into this."
"Don't, Big Brother, don't say that. What dragging? Not at all."
Suddenly, Xiang Chunan seemed to think of something and lowered his voice. "By the way, Big Brother, you need to be careful lately. The Thousand Star Celestial Maiden has been looking for you everywhere. She's come to Kongling Island several times. Now, many cultivators are spreading rumors that you had a carriage rendezvous with her, and that your relationship is extraordinary. Is it true?"
Feng Yan also perked up, leaning in with great interest. "I've heard about this too. Even among the divine disciples, there are whispers that a spatial cultivator named Lin Yue had an indescribable encounter with the Thousand Star Celestial Maiden. That Lin Yue is definitely you, Big Brother. Are you really that impressive, sleeping with the Thousand Star Celestial Maiden?"