Chapter 1815: Breaking Through to the Seven-Step Saint King Realm
Zhang Ruochen stood by the banks of the Luo River, his fingers tightly gripping that golden-threaded silk ribbon, watching the red wooden warship soar up and charge into the clouds.
Qi Sheng and Ying Huo were taken away by Qiu Yichi, and Zhang Ruochen did not stop them.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen's heart was in great turmoil.
The appearance of this ribbon undoubtedly stirred a thousand waves in his usually calm heart, bringing both anticipation and fear.
He knew what he was afraid of.
"The Endless Abyss... who is it? Could it really be her?" Zhang Ruochen murmured softly.
Ji Fanxin stood quietly beside him, as if merging with the surrounding scenery.
She did not ask who was on the red wooden warship, only vaguely guessing that Zhang Ruochen had encountered no small trouble.
The Endless Abyss was no place of goodwill. Even a strong figure like the Tenth Emperor "Yan Liren" from eight hundred years ago had gone and never returned.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, rushing there would be far too dangerous.
If it were a trap, he would be utterly doomed.
At the very least, he needed to reach the Nine-Step Saint King realm and fully master the Blazing God Leg before going, to have some chance of survival.
After a long while, Zhang Ruochen put away the golden-threaded silk ribbon and asked, "Fairy, when you killed Qi Xiaotian, did you find any Divine Stones on him?"
Qi Xiaotian was the first to discover the Xuan Ancient Ore Vein, and it was very likely he had already taken the formed Divine Stones from the mine pit.
"Whoosh."
Ji Fanxin took out a treasure box and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Opening the box, dazzling divine light burst forth, and thick Divine Qi surged outward like writhing flood dragons.
Three Divine Stones lay inside the box.
Ji Fanxin said, "These three Divine Stones were found inside the Blood Sacrifice Saint Furnace. Qi Xiaotian probably intended to grind some into powder and refine them into the Thousand-Year Blood Pill to elevate the pill's quality."
Zhang Ruochen quickly closed the lid of the box and laughed, "Excellent! With these three Divine Stones, I should be able to break through to the Seven-Step Saint King realm soon. Qi Xiaotian died at your hands, Fairy, so these stones rightfully belong to you. Name a price—I'll buy them all."
Ji Fanxin said, "When I asked you to introduce me to the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, I promised to give you three Divine Stones. Have you forgotten?"
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony."
Zhang Ruochen put away the three Divine Stones and then invited Ji Fanxin to return to King Mountain together.
"I want to explore the Luo River again. I won't return to King Mountain with you for now."
Ji Fanxin gazed at the mist-shrouded Luo River, filled with curiosity. Her ethereal figure, like a white petal, drifted across the void, landing on the water's surface and walking into the depths of the mist, resembling a goddess treading the waves.
"As expected of the Hundred Flowers Fairy—bold and decisive. She dares to venture into the Luo River even without a starry, moonless night."
Zhang Ruochen knew that the Hundred Flowers Fairy was meticulous and her cultivation unfathomable, so he did not dissuade her.
It was very likely that Ji Fanxin was also seeking an opportunity to break through her realm.
If not for the Sundial, a time treasure, Zhang Ruochen would certainly have ventured into the Luo River to gather sacred herbs, temper himself, and rapidly improve his cultivation.
Thinking of Ji Fanxin's formidable cultivation, Zhang Ruochen felt a considerable pressure.
Now, all cultivators in the Kunlun Realm were training desperately, seeking opportunities to advance. If his progress was not fast enough, he would be left far behind, becoming a laggard.
Returning to King Mountain, Zhang Ruochen went specifically to see the True Wonder Little Daoist.
This fellow's skill in formation Dao was no bluff. In just a few days, he had managed to set up a rudimentary Nine-Grade Grand Formation.
Zhang Ruochen tested it personally and found that even with his current cultivation, it was difficult to withstand the attack of the rudimentary Nine-Grade Formation.
This formation was called the "Luo Tian Zhu Xie Formation," covering the entire King Mountain.
The True Wonder Little Daoist said smugly, "This humble Daoist isn't bragging. If the complete Luo Tian Zhu Xie Formation were set up, it could cover a hundred thousand miles, enveloping the entire Yunwu Commandery. By then, forget Eight-Step or Nine-Step Saint Kings—even if a Great Saint came in person, they would have to retreat."
Zhang Ruochen was quite tempted and asked, "How many materials are needed to set up the complete Luo Tian Zhu Xie Formation?"
"Not many, not many—just a hundred times more than the current rudimentary formation," said the True Wonder Little Daoist.
Zhang Ruochen: "..."
Just buying the materials for the current formation had cost him nearly half his wealth.
A hundred times more materials? Not to mention that Zhang Ruochen couldn't afford them, even if he could, the Kunlun Realm might not have enough materials to gather.
Moreover, although the True Wonder Little Daoist was highly skilled in formations, he had not yet reached the level of a Grandmaster, and he couldn't set up the complete Luo Tian Zhu Xie Formation anyway.
"Let's go. I've obtained a few more Divine Stones, so we can activate the Sundial again. Can you break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm during this seclusion?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The True Wonder Little Daoist first showed excitement, then sighed, "After reaching the Seven-Step Saint King realm, each step forward requires comprehending millions of Sacred Dao Rules. Breaking through to the Nine-Step Saint King in a short time—how easy is that?"
When the total number of Sacred Dao Rules reaches around one million, one has a chance to break through to the Seven-Step Saint King.
But to reach the Eight-Step Saint King, the total must reach three to four million.
In other words, the gap from Seven-Step to Eight-Step Saint King is several times greater than the combined progress from One-Step to Seven-Step Saint King, naturally requiring much more time.
The further one goes, the harder it becomes, and the time needed multiplies.
This is why cross-realm combat becomes increasingly difficult.
Although Zhang Ruochen, using Truth Rules, could already contend with Nine-Step Saint Kings of the Small Heaven and Earth level, even if he broke through to the Seven-Step Saint King, he would likely only be able to challenge Nine-Step Saint Kings of the Rule Small Heaven and Earth, still falling short against those of the Rule Great Heaven and Earth.
Only by making breakthroughs in the Way of Space and the Way of Time would he have more trump cards.
After gathering most of the cultivators in King Mountain, the Sundial was activated again.
What followed was four years of closed-door cultivation.
During these four years, Zhang Ruochen's main goal was to break through to the Seven-Step Saint King realm, dedicating most of his energy to it. Only by reaching the Seven-Step Saint King could his strength achieve a qualitative leap.
In the third year of seclusion, the number of Sacred Dao Rules in Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea exceeded one million, the Tongtian River expanded significantly, and his cultivation successfully reached the Seven-Step Saint King realm.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen consumed and refined all the sacred pills he had seized for enhancing Spiritual Power, raising his Spiritual Power intensity to the mid-stage of the fifty-eighth rank.
Additionally, Zhang Ruochen made considerable progress in Sword Dao, comprehending Sword Nine to the Minor Achievement level.
Achieving such great results in just a few years filled Zhang Ruochen with considerable joy.
"Whoosh."
Zhang Ruochen formed his hands into finger swords, then mobilized his entire sword intent.
Gradually, the soul of sword intent condensed, taking the form of a three-inch-tall miniature figure that looked exactly like Zhang Ruochen.
This was the Sword Soul!
Only by cultivating Sword Nine to Minor Achievement could a cultivator condense a Sword Soul.
The Sword Soul was more than ten times stronger than Sword Qi, formless and invisible, yet possessing immense offensive power. It could fly a thousand miles and directly attack a cultivator's Sacred Soul.
If the Sacred Soul was destroyed, the enemy would perish.
The reason cultivators below the Great Saint realm could not defeat a Great Saint was largely because they could not break through the Great Saint's Immortal Sacred Body. Even if the Great Saint stood still, a Saint King could not harm them.
However, a Sword Dao cultivator who had cultivated Sword Nine to Great Achievement could bypass the Immortal Sacred Body and directly attack the Great Saint's Sacred Soul.
Thus, mastering Sword Nine created a slim possibility for a Saint King to challenge a Great Saint.
Of course, it was only a slim possibility.
How could a Great Saint's Sacred Soul be weak? And they would never give you a chance to attack it.
Regardless, with the Sword Soul formed, Zhang Ruochen had officially entered a new realm of Sword Dao.
Beyond Sword Dao, Zhang Ruochen also made breakthroughs in Palm Dao, achieving the initial mastery of the twelfth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, "All Heavens Dragon-Elephant."
However, to reach Minor Achievement or even Great Achievement, he would need to refine a Great Saint-level dragon soul and elephant soul—an extremely difficult task.
As for the crimson rules in his left leg, Zhang Ruochen had refined over ten thousand of them, gaining preliminary control over the Blazing God power in his leg. Although he still limped slightly when walking, it was much better than before, and he no longer left deep footprints in the ground.
With this progress, the Blazing God Leg had officially become one of Zhang Ruochen's greatest trump cards.
To assist in using the Blazing God Leg, he had also specifically trained in a mid-rank sacred art-level leg technique called "God Stomps Nine Heavens."
Overall, after four years of cultivation, Zhang Ruochen's progress was enormous.
Based on his calculations, with his current strength, he could contend with Shang Zi, who was at the peak of the Seven-Step Saint King realm, and even had a slight edge of ten to twenty percent.
The reason he couldn't crush Shang Zi was mainly because Shang Zi had cultivated the "Three Corpses Refining Dao" and the Flowing Light Dao.
Additionally, Zhang Ruochen was at a disadvantage in terms of war weapons.
Although the Abyssal Ancient Sword, Eight-Dragon Fan, and Golden Step Dragon Chariot were all sacred artifacts that could move a Great Saint, compared to Shang Zi's "Merit Divine Stele," the Supreme Sacred Artifact "Ten-Thousand Refinement Tower," and the "Red Child Sword" nurtured with the blood of 88.88 million infants, they fell short.
Unfortunately, the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron had been borrowed by the Moon God.
"If I had a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, with my current cultivation, I could dominate the Kunlun Realm! Supreme Sacred Artifact..."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's eyes lit up as he thought of the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda suppressed in the Qiankun Realm.
The Azure Sky Floating Pagoda was originally a heirloom Supreme Sacred Artifact of the Chi Clan of the First Central Empire, immensely powerful. During the battle at Lingxiao Heavenly King Manor, Zhang Ruochen had relied on the entire Dragon-Protecting Pavilion's power to activate the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron and suppress it.
Previously, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was too low to control the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda.
But now, with his Seven-Step Saint King realm, he wanted to give it a try.
If he could master a complete Supreme Sacred Artifact, Zhang Ruochen could act boldly and do many things he had previously hesitated to attempt.