Chapter 1777: Divine Left Leg
After the divine battle, the sky above the Shatuo Heaven Domain shone with divine light during the day, and continuous sacred rain fell at night.
This continued for an entire month, and a startling miracle occurred in this heaven domain, which had been shattered by the gods.
The overwhelming power fluctuations left by the divine battle gradually faded. From the scorched wasteland, fragrant spirit herbs and sacred flowers sprouted, towering spirit trees rose overnight, and sacred lands within the major saint domains once again surged with thick heaven-earth sacred qi. Even the quality of the soil improved significantly.
Once the most barren lower heaven domain in West Ox Continent, the Shatuo Heaven Domain had unexpectedly gained blessings from misfortune, becoming much more fertile. Although it had not reached the level of a middle heaven domain, it still made cultivators from neighboring lower heaven domains envious.
Among lower heaven domains, the cultivation environment of the Shatuo Heaven Domain had reached the upper-middle level.
The cultivators of the Shatuo Seven Realms were all overjoyed. With such an environment, their cultivation speed would surely increase dramatically, and the overall strength of their major world would rapidly improve.
Once the ranking of their major world rose, they would no longer have to participate in merit battles or constantly worry about their mother realm becoming a battlefield, ending in realm destruction and clan annihilation.
It could be said that the improvement of the Shatuo Heaven Domain's cultivation environment brought endless benefits to the Shatuo Seven Realms, with far-reaching implications.
"We must have all benefited from the Moon God's influence, prompting the Heavenly Palace to enhance the Shatuo Heaven Domain's cultivation environment."
"For a heaven domain to gain real advantages and earn the respect of cultivators from all major worlds, it needs a great god like the Moon God, who commands the mountains and rivers. From now on, who would dare to cause trouble in the Shatuo Heaven Domain?"
...
On Moon God Mountain.
In a bedchamber built from sacred jade, a circular blood pool had been constructed. At the center of the blood pool lay a bed of mysterious ice jade. Zhang Ruochen, naked and bare, woke up on that jade bed.
His injuries seemed to have healed, and he felt no pain.
"Still alive, after all."
Zhang Ruochen organized his thoughts, recalling everything before he had fainted, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Surviving a divine battle was, in itself, a cause for joy.
Pressing his palm against the mysterious ice jade bed, Zhang Ruochen tried to leap up. But as his upper body left the bed, his left leg felt as heavy as lead or iron, pulling him back down.
"Thud."
The back of Zhang Ruochen's head hit the mysterious ice jade bed hard.
"What... what's going on? Has my left leg gone lame? Why can't I feel it, and why can't I lift it?"
With the life intensity of a Saint King, even if his leg were broken, it could regrow. So why was it lame?
Unless, during that divine battle, the power of a god had invaded his left leg, crippling it. It was like Xiao Hei, whose body had been invaded by the power of the Divine Dragon Sun-Moon Chaos Tower, causing his cultivation to plummet and turning him into a half-cat, half-undying-bird creature.
"Oh! You're finally awake!"
A clear, crisp voice rang out in the bedchamber.
Then, a petite figure radiating jade light, accompanied by a fresh, fragrant breeze, arrived beside the mysterious ice jade bed.
This was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, her skin crystal clear like jade, her features delicate, her eyes spirited and clear. She had two small braids and was curiously examining Zhang Ruochen on the jade bed.
"Who are you?" Zhang Ruochen asked, staring at the girl. To his surprise, with his cultivation level and eyesight, he couldn't see through her.
This was no ordinary person—definitely a formidable character. Why hadn't he seen her on Moon God Mountain before?
The girl smiled brightly at Zhang Ruochen and giggled, "I'm Xiao Yu! Don't you recognize me?"
"Xiao Yu?"
Zhang Ruochen seemed to recall something and paused for a moment. He looked at the girl again and asked tentatively, "Are you the Imperial Saint Jade I brought out from the Sealing God Platform?"
The girl showed her white teeth and laughed, "Yes, yes! And I have to thank you; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to become the Moon God's disciple."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned awkward.
After all, this girl, who looked as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, was a genuine Great Saint. Who knew what powerful techniques and sacred arts she had learned from Xiao Hei and the Moon God?
Now, she could probably suppress Zhang Ruochen with just a flick of her little finger.
What made it even more awkward was that Zhang Ruochen was completely naked, being examined from head to toe by a Great Saint with a pure, cute face. It was an incredibly embarrassing situation.
Zhang Ruochen coughed twice, about to ask her to fetch a sacred robe, when he heard Xiao Yu let out a soft "wow."
Her small, snow-white hand was stroking Zhang Ruochen's left leg. Her eyes sparkled as she moved from his calf to his thigh, finally pressing down on the root of his thigh.
Feeling the slight coolness from her fingers, Zhang Ruochen's whole body trembled.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to lose his patience, Xiao Yu said, "It's already starting to fuse! Great, Zhang Ruochen, your physical body and constitution are incredibly strong!"
"Fuse what?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"The Divine Left Leg!"
Xiao Yu's eyes sparkled, her long eyelashes blinking, making her look especially cute and charming.
"Divine Left Leg?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Yu patted Zhang Ruochen's thigh, and a vast, boundless Great Saint power surged into it. Immediately, Zhang Ruochen's left leg lit up with lines of flame, burning fiercely.
The temperature of the flames was so intense that it scorched the root of his thigh and his lower abdomen, making his body feel like it was melting.
"The Moon God has already refined the Divine Left Leg into your left leg. The bones, meridians, blood vessels, and saint meridians are all connected. Try circulating your sacred qi into your left leg," Xiao Yu said.
Suppressing his shock, Zhang Ruochen quickly activated the "Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture," channeling his sacred qi through his meridians and saint meridians toward his left leg.
At the same time, his spiritual power flowed with the sacred qi, attempting to probe what changes had occurred in his left leg.
When the qi reached the root of his thigh, a scorching force surged back through the meridians and saint meridians. His spiritual power felt as if it had fallen into a sea of magma, pushed backward by the molten flow.
Startled, Zhang Ruochen focused all his effort on controlling the sacred qi.
After a fierce struggle with the scorching force in his left leg for several hours, the sacred qi finally completed a full cycle through the meridians and saint meridians of his left leg.
Then, the blood in his left leg's blood vessels began to flow as well.
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen's left leg regained sensation.
However, his spiritual power could not enter the left leg; it could only wander at the root of his thigh. Beyond that was an endless expanse of flame. His left leg seemed to have transformed into a fiery great world, both heavy and full of infinite mysteries.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Did the Moon God really fuse a god's left leg into mine?"
"Yes!"
Xiao Yu nodded seriously and said, "The Moon God cut off the Yan God's left leg and left hand. After erasing the Yan God's spiritual will, she refined the Divine Left Leg into your left leg. The Moon God said that, given your current cultivation and physical strength, enduring the Divine Left Leg is already your limit. So, she didn't refine the Divine Left Hand into your left hand."
Zhang Ruochen was stunned.
What kind of technique was this?
It was too heaven-defying!
But wait—divine power was terrifyingly immense. Even if the Yan God's spiritual will had been erased, there would still be strong rejection. How could Zhang Ruochen, with his Saint King realm cultivation, withstand it?
Even with the Moon God's great divine abilities, such an act of defying heaven should be impossible.
Zhang Ruochen voiced his doubts.
Xiao Yu tilted her head, thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know either. Why don't you ask the Moon God?"
"Alright, take me to see the Moon God."
Zhang Ruochen put on a sacred robe and stepped down from the mysterious ice jade bed.
Although his left leg had regained sensation, it was still incredibly heavy, as if a divine mountain were stuffed inside his calf.
Zhang Ruochen limped as he walked. He had to use the divine envoy's wooden staff to support his body just to move forward—no different from a cripple.
When his left leg touched the ground, it left a shallow footprint, and even the sacred jade floor couldn't bear the weight.
As he walked, Zhang Ruochen asked, "Xiao Yu... Great Saint Xiao Yu, do you know if Mu Lingxi is on Moon God Mountain?"
"You mean Senior Sister Mu? She's not on Moon God Mountain." Xiao Yu turned back and smiled.
Although Xiao Yu's cultivation far surpassed Mu Lingxi's, she had become the Moon God's disciple later, so she naturally addressed Mu Lingxi as senior sister.
"Where did she go?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xiao Yu said, "I heard that the Moon God sent her to the Kunlun Realm a few months ago."
"To the Kunlun Realm for what?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xiao Yu shook her head. "I don't know. Senior Sister didn't say. Why don't you ask the Moon God?"
Zhang Ruochen frowned deeply, unable to fathom the Moon God's purpose in sending Mu Lingxi to the Kunlun Realm.
Arriving at the Guanghan Divine Palace, Zhang Ruochen met the Moon God.
The divine battle a month ago had left a deep impression on Zhang Ruochen. Such a figure truly tread on the sun and moon and plucked stars, inspiring awe.
"Greetings, Moon God."
After bowing, Zhang Ruochen first asked about Mu Lingxi.
"In the years since you left the Kunlun Realm, it has undergone earth-shattering changes. All kinds of mysteries have emerged from the deep earth and hidden spaces. I sent Lingxi to the Kunlun Realm because, after its revival, her supreme opportunity has appeared," the Moon God said, her voice calm as water.
Zhang Ruochen pressed further, "What opportunity?"
"The opportunity left by her clan's ancestors," the Moon God said.
"The ancestors of the Mu Clan from the Medieval Aristocratic Clan? No, could it be... the Phoenix Clan?"
For even the Moon God to call it a supreme opportunity, it must be extraordinary.
The legacy left by a Medieval Aristocratic Clan's ancestor wouldn't reach that level.
Zhang Ruochen knew that Mu Lingxi carried the Ice Phoenix bloodline in her veins and was the only being in the Kunlun Realm to fully awaken that bloodline.
The Moon God did not continue to respond to Zhang Ruochen but instead asked, "How is the Divine Left Leg?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "I was just about to ask about that. Why refine the Yan God's left leg into mine? Could it leave hidden dangers?"
"No."
The Moon God stood up, her silhouette above forming an incomparably beautiful, graceful curve. "Other cultivators, even Great Saints, would find it difficult to fuse a Divine Left Leg. But you are different. You possess the Five Elements Chaos Body and the Marks of the Gods, giving you strong compatibility. The Divine Left Leg will not reject you, nor will you reject it."
"Furthermore, I have placed four seals on the Divine Left Leg, sealing away ninety-nine percent of its power. The remaining trace of power is something your cultivation and physical body can endure."
"Of course, if you can make good use of that trace of power, with just this one leg, you can walk sideways among those below the Great Saint realm."
"When you reach the Nine-Step Saint King realm, you can attempt to unlock the first seal of the Divine Left Leg. Then, the power of this leg will become even more terrifying, and even a Great Saint's immortal sacred body might not be able to withstand it."