Chapter 1765: The Eleventh Palm Reaches Great Perfection
During the few days spent with Chi Kongle, Zhang Ruochen felt an indescribable emotion welling up within him, sensing that the loneliness and solitude in his heart had faded considerably.
In truth, he too felt reluctant to leave.
Yet he had no choice but to depart.
Zhang Ruochen compiled the second sword of the Time Sword Art, Scale Eight Transformation, into a scroll and left it for Chi Kongle.
Chi Kongle held the scroll, her eyes glistening with a hint of crystalline moisture, and said, "I heard that the Evil God of the Hell Realm is about to break through the Heaven and Earth Altar of the Kunlun Realm. A great war might erupt soon. Will you return to fight alongside us and resist the foreign invaders?"
"To many cultivators of the Kunlun Realm, I am an even more deserving internal enemy," Zhang Ruochen said.
Chi Kongle seemed to sense the pain and helplessness in Zhang Ruochen's heart and fell silent.
Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back, stepping onto the void, which rippled like water beneath his feet. Each step carried him ten miles, and he soon vanished from Chi Kongle's sight.
...
At the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market, in the Hundred Flowers Palace.
Zhang Ruochen met the Hundred Flowers Fairy, Ji Fanxin, and opened the boxes on the bronze table one by one to inspect the items he had ordered.
"King-grade Sacred Jade Essence."
"Rootless Heavenly Crane Flower."
"Heavenly Dao Blood Stone. Excellent, excellent. Fairy, you truly are a figure with far-reaching connections, even able to procure a Heavenly Dao Blood Stone."
Opening the fourth box, he found a small black bottle. After examining the liquid inside, Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly and said, "Only fifty drops? I ordered a hundred drops."
Ji Fanxin sat behind a screen, serene as a secluded orchid, beautiful as a fairy in a painting. She cast a sidelong glance at Zhang Ruochen and said, "Cosmic Void Tears are extremely rare. Finding fifty drops already required me to mobilize all my connections."
Zhang Ruochen closed the box and forced a smile. "Fifty drops will have to do. How much sacred stone do these items cost, including the twelve Saint King-level elephant souls?"
"Eight hundred million sacred stones," Ji Fanxin said.
Even though Zhang Ruochen had mentally prepared himself, he was still taken aback.
This price was astronomical for most Saint Kings, who could not accumulate such wealth even after a thousand years.
"I'm a regular customer. Can't you give me a discount?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Ji Fanxin's expression remained calm as still water. "You should know that just the Heavenly Dao Blood Stone alone costs three hundred million sacred stones on the market. And given your identity, you wouldn't even be able to buy it."
"On the market, each drop of Cosmic Void Tear costs nearly ten million sacred stones. Fifty drops make five hundred million. As for the other items, none cost less than a hundred million sacred stones."
"Since we have a friendship, I naturally gave you a substantial discount. Eight hundred million sacred stones is the price after the discount."
"Of course, if you find it too expensive, you could settle for lower-grade items to forge a slightly inferior Dao Body for your sword's artifact spirit."
Zhang Ruochen realized for the first time that the ethereal Hundred Flowers Fairy was incredibly shrewd in business dealings, making it hard to gain an advantage over her.
"No need. I'll take everything."
With that, Zhang Ruochen took out one treasure after another from his space ring, including Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts, sacred pills, talismans, and various oddities.
All were spoils of war collected from the battle at the Xumi Dojo.
Zhang Ruochen's space ring was like a treasure vault, filled with countless precious items. Even Ji Fanxin's bright eyes sparkled with interest. "It seems the Paradise Realm suffered a great loss, allowing you to amass a fortune. No wonder their gods were alarmed and came to the Truth Heaven Domain in person."
"A god from the Paradise Realm has arrived in the Truth Heaven Domain?" Zhang Ruochen was secretly startled.
Ji Fanxin gestured for Qian Liwen to appraise the treasures' value before speaking slowly. "I have indeed heard some rumors. If you want to know, trade me some information."
"What information?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Ji Fanxin said, "What exactly happened at the Xumi Dojo?"
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. "Even with your status, Fairy, you couldn't find out?"
Ji Fanxin shook her head. "The Truth Divine Temple has sealed the information. Aside from the Kunlun Realm and the Paradise Realm, outsiders only know that many died at the Xumi Dojo and that the Paradise Realm suffered a heavy loss. But the specifics—the casualties, which important figures died—have not been leaked."
Zhang Ruochen paused, realizing that the impact of the Xumi Dojo battle was more severe than he had imagined.
The Truth Divine Temple's decision to seal the information was understandable. Such a brutal and deadly incident had never occurred since the temple's founding.
What intrigued Zhang Ruochen was how the Truth Divine Temple would handle the matter.
Would they force him to release all the Paradise Realm Saint Kings he had suppressed in the temple?
He then gave Ji Fanxin a rough account of what had happened at the Xumi Dojo. Even she changed expressions repeatedly, her eyes eventually filled with shock.
Beside them, Qian Liwen was so frightened that his eyelids twitched uncontrollably, wanting to flee immediately and distance himself from Zhang Ruochen to avoid being implicated.
Ji Fanxin's mental fortitude far surpassed Qian Liwen's, and she quickly recovered. "Why get involved? This was originally a matter of the Kunlun Realm. Why did you have to meddle? The Paradise Realm will surely retaliate fiercely after such a loss. When they strike again, they will leave you no chance of survival, and those close to you will also be affected."
Zhang Ruochen seemed unconcerned. "Even if I hadn't gotten involved, the Paradise Realm would never have let me go. Which god from the Paradise Realm has come to the Truth Heaven Domain?"
"Yan God," Ji Fanxin said.
A cold glint flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. "That old dog. What is he doing in the Truth Heaven Domain?"
Shang Zihong had repeatedly schemed to kill Zhang Ruochen, undoubtedly at Yan God's behest. Zhang Ruochen naturally harbored deep hatred for him.
Qian Liwen's legs trembled in fear, thinking Zhang Ruochen was incredibly audacious to curse a god. Moreover, that god was in the Truth Heaven Domain and, at his level, might have already heard the insult.
Cold sweat dripped down Qian Liwen's back as he looked up, fearing that Yan God would unleash divine punishment to annihilate everyone present.
Ji Fanxin remained composed and glanced at Qian Liwen. "Elder Qian, no need to be so tense. This is the dojo of Mandala Flower God. Yan God cannot hear our words."
She continued, "Yan God came to the Truth Heaven Domain likely to save the Saint Kings you suppressed. But given the severity of the incident, the Truth Divine Temple is probably quite furious. Yan God will have to pay a heavy price to rescue them."
"Ruochen, if the Paradise Realm and the Truth Divine Temple reach an agreement and order you to release them, will you comply?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled without answering. Instead, he asked, "Elder Qian, how goes the appraisal? How much sacred stone are these treasures worth?"
Qian Liwen cautiously approached, now regarding Zhang Ruochen with more reverence, no longer seeing him as a mere junior. He cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to Ruochen, all the treasures together are worth approximately five hundred and seventy million sacred stones."
"So I still owe thirty million sacred stones?"
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to take out more treasures from his space ring, Ji Fanxin's voice rang out. "Forget the thirty million. Ruochen, don't forget your promise to me. When you go to the Kunlun Realm, I will come find you."
Back at the Moon God Dojo, Zhang Ruochen also visited Su Jing.
During this time, Su Jing had spent a large amount of sacred stones and used his connections, but had only managed to collect five drops of Cosmic Void Tears and a small amount of King-grade Sacred Jade Essence. He had found nothing of the Heavenly Dao Blood Stone or Rootless Heavenly Crane Flower.
Somewhat disappointed, Zhang Ruochen had to postpone forging a Dao Body for the Abyssal Ancient Sword's artifact spirit.
"First, I'll cultivate the eleventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm."
Zhang Ruochen took the twelve Saint King-level dragon souls and twelve Saint King-level elephant souls into the underground palace of the Moon God Dojo, arriving at the edge of the Yin-Yang Pools.
The Yin-Yang Hall had occupied the Moon God Dojo for countless years, establishing the Yin Pool and Yang Pool underground. They had gathered vast amounts of yin and yang qi, turning the area into a cultivation treasure land.
To cultivate the eleventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, one had to be in a place of extreme yang and heat.
The Yang Pool was undoubtedly such a place.
The Yang Pool, thirteen zhang in diameter, contained water hotter than magma, emitting a blazing red light.
"I already have one dragon soul and one elephant soul in each of my arms. If I refine these twelve dragon souls and twelve elephant souls into my arms, the strength and explosive power of my arms will increase significantly. Then, breaking through to the Great Perfection of the eleventh palm will be much easier."
With that, Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged by the Yang Pool and began refining the dragon and elephant souls.
In an hour, he refined eight dragon souls and eight elephant souls in succession. But when he started on the ninth dragon soul and elephant soul, he felt considerable strain.
After all, the human body had limited endurance. Exceeding the limit could lead to backlash.
Back then, the top genius of the Black Demon Realm, Zhan Yu, had refined twelve dragon souls into his entire body. Zhang Ruochen, however, was refining all the dragon souls into his left arm alone, making the difficulty many times greater.
When Zhang Ruochen refined the tenth dragon soul and elephant soul, a piercing, bone-deep pain shot through his arms. His skin cracked slightly, oozing large amounts of blood.
Both arms felt as if they were about to explode.
Gritting his teeth, Zhang Ruochen activated the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*, using sacred qi to suppress the dragon and elephant souls, forcibly refining them into his arms, merging them into his skin, flesh, bones, and meridians.
"Two more dragon souls and elephant souls. Keep going."
Zhang Ruochen leaped up and plunged into the Yang Pool with a splash.
The temperature was so high that his sacred robe instantly turned to ash.
Enduring the scorching heat of the Yang Pool's water, Zhang Ruochen grabbed a dragon soul and began refining it. At the same time, the dense yang qi in the pool seeped into his pores, entering his body.
Each wisp of yang qi was like a wisp of flame.
"Boom, boom."
As he refined, Zhang Ruochen struck out with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, using the palm technique to temper his flesh, blood, and bones, promoting the fusion of the dragon souls with his arms.
The process of refining the eleventh dragon soul and elephant soul took Zhang Ruochen a full three hours. During that time, his arms shattered more than ten times. Each shattering was excruciatingly painful, and even Zhang Ruochen's formidable spiritual will nearly caused him to faint.
Yet he persisted, refusing to give up.
In truth, fusing just one Saint King-level dragon soul and elephant soul would have been enough to achieve Great Perfection in the eleventh palm.
But after his battle with Shang Zihong, Zhang Ruochen realized that there were still prodigies in the world who could rival him, perhaps even surpass him.
Thus, he had to do better and never settle for mediocrity.
"One last dragon soul and elephant soul."
Zhang Ruochen continued refining. The yang qi in his body accumulated thicker and thicker, turning his body a blazing gold. His pupils became like two fireballs burning with flames.
His arms shattered countless times, and his sacred blood mixed with the water of the Yang Pool.
Half a day later, a thunderous explosion erupted from the Yang Pool.
"Roar!"
A dragon's cry followed.
A blazing golden giant dragon, carrying a dazzling wave of fiery qi, burst out of the Yang Pool. Its two dragon claws struck the ceiling of the underground palace. Instantly, countless formation inscriptions in the palace were activated.
"Boom!"
Above ground, the entire Moon God Dojo shook violently.