Chapter 1893: Activating the Sundial Again
The wood spirit vital energy released by the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree could be called divine wood qi, containing immensely pure life force, which had a strong suppressive effect on death qi and evil qi. In an extremely short time, the divine wood qi filled the entire Nether King Sword Grave, penetrating into the body of every cultivator.
Those with profound cultivation had their curses quickly dispelled, as they inherently possessed a certain resistance to curses. However, those with weaker cultivation were in a more precarious situation, as the curses had penetrated deep into their souls, making them difficult to separate.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen communicated with the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree in time. Although he could not immediately expel the curses from everyone's bodies, he at least managed to suppress them, pulling back those on the verge of death from the gates of hell.
"What a bizarre curse. Even the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree struggles to deal with it. Many cultivators of the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan still have curses that cannot be removed from their bodies. Fairy, I must ask for your assistance." Zhang Ruochen turned his gaze to Ji Fanxin and spoke with great seriousness.
Among their group, only a handful could rely on themselves to resolve the curse. He himself was one, along with Ji Fanxin and Bao Lie.
Bao Lie had forcibly expelled the curse power by relying on his own formidable cultivation and strength, but that method was of little help in this situation.
Ji Fanxin was different. Zhang Ruochen could tell that she possessed some methods for dealing with curses.
"Mm, first gather all those who cannot have the curse removed," Ji Fanxin nodded.
Zhang Ruochen quickly replied, "Alright, wait a moment."
Immediately, he communicated with the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, using the released divine wood qi to gather all those who could not have the curse removed together as quickly as possible.
This matter was extremely urgent, and any delay could not be afforded. Otherwise, even with the suppression of the divine wood qi, it would be difficult to guarantee that no one else would be killed by the curse.
This was also because the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree had not yet fully matured. Otherwise, such a mere curse could be resolved with a wave of the hand.
On the White Bone Mountain outside the Nether King Sword Grave, a group of divine sons, imperial sons, and imperial daughters of the Undying Blood Clan had gathered. Ming Xian also stood on the White Bone Platform, intently observing the medieval divine patterns.
Although the medieval divine patterns of the Nether King Sword Grave were severely damaged, they were still profoundly mysterious and not easy to decipher.
"By now, the Nether King Sword Grave must be in complete chaos. I wonder how many living beings will still be inside when we finally breach it," Yun Dizi said with a hearty laugh.
"Probably all will be dead. How could Ming Xian's curse be resisted by those ordinary mortals?" the long-faced imperial daughter sneered.
Ming Xian said calmly, "There is a strange power within the Nether King Sword Grave that can weaken my curse. Moreover, I only casually released a bit of curse power earlier, so its power was not too strong. Even so, it should still be enough to kill half of the living beings inside the Nether King Sword Grave. Those who survive will also suffer from the curse's torment, greatly reducing their strength."
Regarding his own curse power, Ming Xian was undoubtedly extremely confident. With his cultivation at the Lin Dao level, how many below the Great Saint realm could resist his curse?
Although the Nether King Sword Grave was mysterious, the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan was nothing special. It was unlikely they could produce even a single cultivator at the Jie Tian or Lin Dao level, let alone the Dao Domain level. What could they use to fight him?
For this reason, from beginning to end, he had never taken the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan seriously. Once the medieval divine patterns were broken, they would all be fish on the chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.
Hearing Ming Xian's confident words, Xia Wenxin's eyes flickered with a strange light, as if he thought of something, but he did not speak.
The current priority was to break the medieval divine patterns so they could invade the Nether King Sword Grave. Nothing else mattered.
As long as Ming Xian could help them achieve this goal, it didn't matter what he wanted to do.
Inside the Nether King Sword Grave, through the joint efforts of Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin, after expending great effort, they finally managed to expel the curses from everyone's bodies.
At the same time, the divine wood qi bound all the black curse qi that had penetrated the Nether King Sword Grave, preventing anyone else from being harmed by it.
Zhang Ruochen initially wanted to refine all this black curse qi, but the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree stopped him, intending to analyze and study this type of curse to find a way to counter it. If they encountered it again in the future, they would not need to panic.
"Outside, there are many powerful figures from the Undying Blood Clan. The medieval divine patterns protecting the Nether King Sword Grave will be broken sooner or later. The situation is now extremely critical. I need to go into seclusion to cultivate. I must break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm before then. I hope it's not too late." Having resolved the crisis of the curse, Zhang Ruochen decided to go into seclusion immediately.
Without any delay, he took the various items he had prepared in advance and entered the Cold Volcano, focusing all his efforts on breaking through his cultivation to prepare for the impending great battle.
By relying on the divine stones he had obtained, he could activate the Sundial and cultivate for ten years, which should be enough to allow him to break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm.
Entering the Cold Volcano with him were Xiang Chunan, Murong Yue, Ji Fanxin, the True Wonder Little Daoist, Bao Xinghun, Shi Ren, and some highly talented disciples of the Prison Suppression Ancient Clan, as well as the Half-Saint and Saint realm beings from the Qiankun Realm. Ten years should allow their cultivation to make significant progress.
Bao Lie was not among them, as his cultivation and strength had already reached a peak. Even in seclusion, it would not make much difference.
Moreover, the situation in the Nether King Sword Grave was dire, and he needed to be stationed there to deal with any unexpected emergencies.
As for Luo Yi, Zhang Ruochen did not trust him. He always felt that this person was problematic, deliberately approaching them with ulterior motives.
He had been cautiously guarding against Luo Yi all along, so naturally, he would not call upon him at a time like this.
Before going into seclusion, he had already asked Bao Lie to keep an eye on Luo Yi to prevent any problems.
With Bao Lie's strength, no matter how strange Luo Yi was, he should not be able to cause any trouble.
Of course, Bao Lie also had another task: to guard the Cold Volcano where they were in seclusion and forbid anyone from entering.
The Sundial was activated, and the power of time covered an area of two hundred zhang in radius. Cultivating inside for a year would only mean one day had passed outside.
Fortunately, the area covered by the Sundial was relatively large; otherwise, it would have been impossible for so many people to cultivate with its help.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged beneath the Sundial, taking out the Abyssal Ancient Sword. Another important matter during this seclusion was to help the sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword condense a Dao body. He had already prepared the necessary materials.
To help the sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword condense the most perfect Dao body, he had prepared the highest-grade materials, which had cost him a great deal of effort.
Combined with the special environment of the Nether King Sword Grave, the Dao body that would be condensed was bound to be perfect and powerful.
Once the sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword condensed its Dao body, its power would surely increase significantly, and correspondingly, his own strength would also be greatly enhanced.
At this stage, he had to think of every possible way to increase his own strength. Only then could he defend the Nether King Sword Grave.
"By the way, perhaps I could ask the people of the Divine Sword Sacred Land for help, to have that purple divine stone inlaid into the hilt of the Abyssal Ancient Sword." Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something.
Immediately, he called over Lu Huaiyu. At present, within the Divine Sword Sacred Land, Lu Huaiyu's sword-forging skill was undoubtedly the highest.
Lu Huaiyu reached out and took the purple divine stone, examining it carefully.
As a master sword forger, he was naturally very familiar with all kinds of materials in the world.
After looking at it for a moment, Lu Huaiyu spoke, "I can't guarantee it will work, but I can try. Unfortunately, the sacred altar was taken away, and my grandfather is not here. Otherwise, this task would be very simple."
In the past, Lu Yuanzhi had used the power of the sacred altar to repair even the broken Abyssal Ancient Sword. Inlaying a divine stone would naturally not be a difficult task.
Only a sword-forging master like Lu Huaiyu had the ability to attempt such a thing.
Handing over the Abyssal Ancient Sword and the purple divine stone to Lu Huaiyu, Zhang Ruochen sat back down cross-legged.
As before, his six Dao souls manifested simultaneously, each cultivating a different Dao method.
The advantage of having six Dao souls was fully demonstrated at this moment.
Combined with the twelve ten-thousandths of Truth Esoterica, his speed in comprehending sacred Dao rules far surpassed that of other cultivators.
Also, because he possessed Truth Esoterica, even though he was not in the Truth Heaven Domain, he could still comprehend the Way of Truth and cultivate more Truth Rules.
To break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm, the number of sacred Dao rules within his body needed to reach at least six to seven million. The difficulty was not ordinary. Without special opportunities, it would require a long period of accumulation.
Especially since he had cultivated two Eternal Dao, the difficulty of cultivation was even greater.
Even with numerous advantages—the Rule Emperor Artifact, Truth Esoterica, the long beard of Xumi Saint Monk, ancient sacred medicines, and so on—Zhang Ruochen was not entirely confident that he could break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm within ten years.
But he had to break through; otherwise, he simply could not face the upcoming great battle.
The immense pressure was precisely what could unleash all of his potential.
Fortunately, his preparations were very thorough, and all the necessary cultivation resources were already in place. He only hoped that the Undying Blood Clan would give him another ten days.
Like Zhang Ruochen, everyone else was also seizing the time to cultivate. Strength was the guarantee of survival.
Even Ji Fanxin did not slack off, as she was still far from reaching the level of sweeping all enemies below the Great Saint realm.
While Zhang Ruochen and the others were in seclusion cultivating inside the Nether King Sword Grave, Ming Xian and the cultivators of the Undying Blood Clan were also intensifying their efforts to break the medieval divine patterns, gradually dismantling them. No one knew when they would be completely breached.
The time left for Zhang Ruochen and the others was already running out.