Chapter 1876: Divine Gate
"What opportunity?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Heavenly Beginning Fairy moved with light steps, stepping into the third divine river.
Treading on the water's surface, with each step she took, a white lotus and emerald-green leaves grew from the water. The white lotus was crystalline and translucent, formed from Sacred Dao rules.
Walking all the way to the center of the divine river's surface, she stopped and said, "You should already know that only by cultivating the techniques and sacred arts of Heavenly Beginning Civilization can one resonate with the heaven and earth rules of Nine-Bend Heavenly Star, thereby quickly acquiring a large number of Sacred Dao rules."
"Miss Miaohan told me that," Zhang Ruochen said.
"In fact, there is an even greater opportunity."
Heavenly Beginning Fairy raised her head and said, "Nine-Bend Heavenly Star is the place where Luo Shen, the ancestor of Heavenly Beginning Civilization, fell. If one's resonance with the heaven and earth rules is high enough, it may be possible to open the Divine Gate and obtain the divine treasury left by Luo Shen."
"What divine treasury?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"I don't know."
Heavenly Beginning Fairy shook her head and said, "That day, I was comprehending the Dao by the divine river, entered a meditative state, and vaguely sensed a divine thought from Luo Shen. It was that divine thought that told me. Perhaps it is Luo Shen's inheritance; perhaps it is a Supreme Sacred Artifact; or it could be the cosmic supreme treasure that Luo Shen, the Starry Sky Giant Crocodile... and the others were fighting over back then."
"Back then, they fought over that cosmic supreme treasure, and all of them fell, crashing down from the cosmos into the Kunlun Realm."
Zhang Ruochen's mind stirred, and he said, "Has Your Highness ever opened the Divine Gate?"
"No, my resonance was still somewhat lacking," Heavenly Beginning Fairy said.
Zhang Ruochen asked again, "Can't the resonance be stacked? Why not let the Fool, the Butcher, and the others help you?"
Heavenly Beginning Fairy let out a soft sigh and explained, "The inheritance of Heavenly Beginning Civilization is extremely ancient. Many gods have been born throughout its history, and each god can create a supreme great Dao. Because of this, Heavenly Beginning Civilization has given rise to various different sacred paths. The sacred paths that the Fool, the Butcher, and the others cultivate are not of Luo Shen's lineage."
"What about Miss Miaohan?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Her cultivation realm is a bit too low."
Heavenly Beginning Fairy changed the subject and added, "However, at War Soul Star, I obtained the beast-shaped sacred medicine. After refining it, my cultivation advanced significantly. Perhaps now, I have enough strength to open the Divine Gate."
"If it still falls short, I hope you can perform the Luo Water Fist Art at that time to help me. After opening the Divine Gate, both of us will surely obtain a great opportunity."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Such a good thing, naturally I cannot miss it."
Half a quarter of an hour later, Li Miaohan also arrived and stood together with Zhang Ruochen.
At the center of the third divine river, Heavenly Beginning Fairy was like a white lotus in a lake, unstained by any dust. She breathed slowly, and her breathing rhythm resonated with heaven and earth.
Immediately, heaven and earth rules converged, gradually turning into a liquid state, forming a river that flowed around her.
Heavenly Beginning Fairy was circulating an extremely profound technique, striving to resonate with the heaven and earth rules. Luo Shen had also cultivated this same technique.
The next moment.
Above the third divine river, wind and clouds changed violently.
Heavenly Beginning Fairy stepped with light footwork on the water's surface, performing the Luo Water Fist Art.
"Heavenly River Divides Labor."
"Nine Bends, Nine Turns."
"Horizontally Severing the Heavenly Path."
...
With each punch thrown, the liquid heaven and earth rules around Heavenly Beginning Fairy's body flowed faster, producing increasingly thunderous sounds.
Zhang Ruochen carefully observed Heavenly Beginning Fairy's fist art. Compared to his own Luo Water Fist Art, her moves were much more yin and soft, like a spirit snake spitting mist or a startled sparrow spreading its wings.
"Her Luo Water Fist Art has surpassed the tenth level," Zhang Ruochen said.
Beside him, Li Miaohan said, "Master only comprehended the eleventh level of the Luo Water Fist Art after arriving at Nine-Bend Heavenly Star. However, it is still only at a minor achievement level, far from major achievement."
A major achievement of the eleventh level of the Luo Water Fist Art would be comparable to a high-rank sacred art, capable of causing destruction that could annihilate heaven and earth.
Zhang Ruochen had also comprehended the method to cultivate the eleventh level on the third divine river, but Heavenly Beginning Fairy had walked ahead of him, with deeper attainment.
Hundreds and thousands of heaven and earth rule rivers converged around Heavenly Beginning Fairy, twisting together in midair and colliding with a certain spot in the void.
"Boom!"
A illusory light gate appeared.
The light gate was three zhang tall, semi-transparent, flickering in and out of existence.
Zhang Ruochen and Li Miaohan were both delighted in their hearts, never expecting that the Divine Gate Heavenly Beginning Fairy spoke of actually existed.
The light gate became increasingly solid, with purple light radiating from within.
Heavenly Beginning Fairy struck with the Luo Water Fist Art, repeatedly impacting the light gate, but could not make it fully manifest. Instead, the light emitted by the gate dimmed slightly.
"Let's attack together. We must open the Divine Gate."
Zhang Ruochen and Li Miaohan charged into the third divine river, forming an equilateral triangle with Heavenly Beginning Fairy's position.
Li Miaohan circulated her technique and executed a sword art.
Immediately, heaven and earth rules were drawn, following the sword art she performed, rushing toward the light gate above.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen struck with the Luo Water Fist Art, mobilizing heaven and earth rules to condense into a surging and mighty river, like an enraged dragon, colliding with the light gate.
"Boom!"
The light gate was smashed open.
Sacred purple light surged out from within the gate, and the entire sky of Nine-Bend Heavenly Star turned completely purple.
Zhang Ruochen, Heavenly Beginning Fairy, and Li Miaohan could all feel a suffocating wave of power. Before that power, the three of them were as insignificant as ants.
"Let's go."
Heavenly Beginning Fairy was the first to soar up, turning into a streak of white light and charging into the Divine Gate.
Immediately after, Zhang Ruochen and Li Miaohan also flew in, arriving at the shore of a purple divine sea.
Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power to probe the divine sea.
Suddenly, an even stronger spiritual power surged back like a tidal wave, startling Zhang Ruochen into quickly withdrawing his spiritual power, not daring to act rashly. If the spiritual power within his body were scattered, the spiritual power attainment he had painstakingly cultivated for many years would be destroyed in an instant.
Heavenly Beginning Fairy showed a delighted expression, muttering to herself, "Sure enough, the scene that appeared in my dream really exists."
Zhang Ruochen paced by the seaside. After multiple tests and confirming there was no danger, he stretched out a hand and slowly dipped it into the seawater.
"Sizzle sizzle."
Immediately, a cool force surged through his pores into his fingers, entering his blood vessels and meridians.
At first, Zhang Ruochen was quite wary, but gradually, he discovered that this force was actually strengthening his physical body, making the seven acupoints in his palm brighter and the energy contained within them more powerful.
Moreover, the spiritual power that had surged toward him from the purple divine sea earlier was not trying to devour him but was instead strengthening his spiritual power.
"Excellent, this is indeed a great opportunity."
Zhang Ruochen, Heavenly Beginning Fairy, and Li Miaohan directly walked into the purple divine sea. The sacred power in the seawater continuously surged into their bodies.
After walking several tens of zhang, Zhang Ruochen and Li Miaohan's bodies were mostly submerged in the seawater.
If they went further, they would be completely engulfed.
In contrast, Heavenly Beginning Fairy still stood on the water's surface, her delicate body not sinking, walking toward the center of the divine sea.
"Master," Li Miaohan called softly.
A hazy light emanated from Heavenly Beginning Fairy's beautiful eyes, as if she were being summoned by something, completely unable to hear Li Miaohan's voice.
The central area of the divine sea was shrouded in a purple mist.
Threads of golden light emerged from within the purple mist.
Moments later, Heavenly Beginning Fairy's exquisite figure was swallowed by the purple mist, growing fainter and fainter until it completely disappeared.
Zhang Ruochen and Li Miaohan wanted to follow, but their bodies kept sinking, and they dared not take another step forward.
Zhang Ruochen showed a thoughtful expression and asked, "Is Your Highness a descendant of Luo Shen?"
Li Miaohan shook her head and said, "Luo Shen had no children, but she had brothers and sisters. Master is a descendant of one of Luo Shen's brothers; their bloodline relationship is quite close."
"That must be it. The true great opportunity can only be obtained by Your Highness; it was left for her by Luo Shen."
Zhang Ruochen felt not a trace of jealousy. His mindset was very calm, because even at the periphery of the purple divine sea, he could gain tremendous benefits, allowing his cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds.
Next, Zhang Ruochen cast aside all distracting thoughts. While circulating his technique, he performed the Luo Water Fist Art in the water.
All one hundred and forty-four acupoints in his body opened up, transforming into one hundred and forty-four vortexes, continuously absorbing the purple energy from the divine sea into his body.
His body seemed to turn into a chaotic starry sky, with one hundred and forty-four stars twinkling.
Heaven and earth rules, like threads, surged into Zhang Ruochen's body, transforming into Sacred Dao rules, entering his Qi Sea, converging into the Heavenly River, making the river channel increasingly wide.
No one knew how much time had passed when the heaven and earth rules flowing into Zhang Ruochen's body gradually decreased and finally stopped completely.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and found that the color of the purple divine sea's periphery had become very faint.
Looking into the distance, he saw that only the central area of the sea was still a vast expanse of purple mist.
"You've finally finished your cultivation? How was the harvest?" Li Miaohan stood on the shore, smiling at him.
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes to examine his Qi Sea and found that the number of Sacred Dao rules within had increased by three million, reaching a total of six million seven hundred thousand.
This was equivalent to the achievement of more than ten years of bitter cultivation.
However, the flow rate of the Heavenly River had not increased, indicating that he had not broken through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm, still falling slightly short.
The progress in spiritual power was quite significant. His spiritual power intensity had reached the fifty-ninth rank, and not just the early stage of the fifty-ninth rank; it should have reached the middle stage of the fifty-ninth rank.
With such powerful spiritual power, even if he encountered a spiritual power expert like Divine Cliff Master launching a spiritual power attack, he would have sufficient ability to defend himself.
The even greater progress was in his physical body.
Zhang Ruochen's physical body strength had increased several times over. Every muscle and bone seemed to contain inexhaustible power, making him wonder if he had already forged an Indestructible Sacred Body ahead of time? Or had his physical body already reached the Great Saint realm?
After some verification, Zhang Ruochen found that there was still a long way to go before cultivating an Indestructible Sacred Body.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen was not disappointed.
If the Indestructible Sacred Body were so easy to forge, Great Saints would be everywhere in the world.
"To achieve Great Saint status through the physical body, all one hundred and forty-four acupoints must transform into Sacred Lakes. One acupoint is one lake, providing the physical body with an endless supply of energy."
"Every acupoint in my body is now comparable to a Sacred Pool. Although it cannot compare to a Sacred Lake, among physical cultivators below the Great Saint realm, it should be considered top-tier."
Zhang Ruochen clenched his fist, full of confidence that he could shatter a Dao Domain realm expert like Laiwang Ren or Quxing Zhe into pieces with a single punch.
Compared to before entering the Divine Gate, Zhang Ruochen's combat power had increased tremendously.