Chapter 2252: Luo Sha's Discontent
Slowly, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his palm and let out a long breath. Then, he sat cross-legged, holding a Divine Stone, absorbing the divine qi from within to replenish the fiercely depleted power in his body.
Yu Huang remained seated in place, her Azure Feather Heavenly Robe soaked through with glistening sweat. On her delicate, pale face, tear streaks were still fresh, and her delicate body trembled slightly.
Guilt, self-blame, resentment—all kinds of negative emotions tormenting herself still filled her heart.
Zhang Ruochen had cruelly torn open that segment of memory she least wanted to recall, presenting it bloody and raw before her. It all felt as if it had just happened.
Yi Xuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi were extremely anxious, desperately wanting to know whether it had succeeded or failed.
But they had never seen Yu Huang so fragile and sorrowful, and they dared not rashly step forward to ask.
This silence continued until Zhang Ruochen's saint qi had recovered and he stood up again. His gaze fixed on the silent Yu Huang as he said, "The Desire Shackle—I've already found it for you. Why are you still sitting there?"
Yu Huang lifted her pale face, looking up at Zhang Ruochen's tall figure standing beside her. For a moment, that figure overlapped with the shadow of her deceased elder brother.
Seeing her staring at him, Zhang Ruochen added, "The hatred, self-blame, and guilt in your heart are all too intense. If the Desire Shackle is already this difficult, then when you reach the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm, it will be extremely dangerous. I advise you—some things, when it's time to let go, you must let go. Don't keep yourself sealed inside..."
At this point, his voice abruptly stopped, and his gaze grew somewhat dazed.
Looking at Yu Huang, Zhang Ruochen thought of himself.
If Yu Huang found it so hard to locate the Desire Shackle, what about him? Would it be even harder for him? Would his future path be even more perilous?
Just like Chi Yao back then, who had been unable to become a god for so long—was it also like this?
Yu Huang collected herself. Her tall, graceful figure stood up, and she swept up her long hair, using a Purple Gold Phoenix Hairpin to tie it back. The cold, noble aura gradually returned to her.
She stared at Zhang Ruochen and said, "You think I should let go? How do I escape this inner predicament?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "You should look at some problems from a different angle. Your parents, elder brother, and divine ancestor were indeed brutally killed by Heavenly Court cultivators. But how many living beings have died at their hands? How many families have been broken apart, suffering the same fate as you?"
"Actually, the fault lies not with you, nor with the cultivators of the Heavenly Court Realm, but with war and slaughter."
Yu Huang said coldly, "You'd better not say such things again. If any other cultivator from the Hell Realm hears you, you'll be in big trouble. I'm grateful that you helped me find the Desire Shackle, but you've peered into my heart and know too many of my secrets. You'd better keep your mouth shut. If you utter a single word to anyone else, I'll fight you to the death."
Yu Huang took a Divine Travel Pill and turned to leave.
Zhang Ruochen's face showed no emotional fluctuation as he said, "After the Hunting Heavenly Banquet, if there's a chance, you can come with me to the Merit Battlefield. I'll show you the other side of war. It might change your inner stubbornness and greatly help your future cultivation."
"Zhang Ruochen, you're overstepping your bounds. Stop trying to curry favor and doing things that aren't your place to do. I'm not that Shadowless Fairy, trying to get me into the harem of this Seven Stars Imperial Palace—I advise you to drop that idea early, lest you bring trouble upon yourself."
Yu Huang did not turn around. She walked out of the Seven Stars Imperial Palace and sat down beneath the Sundial to cultivate.
"It seems she misunderstands me. Just because I'm a little nice to her, she thinks I have designs on her?" Zhang Ruochen looked at Yi Xuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi, saying this.
Yi Xuan Great Saint said, "Beautiful women mostly have that problem. You're also good to Blood Qi—are you saying you have designs on him too?"
Gu Chenzi said, "But women often say the opposite of what they mean. If I were Yu Huang and had to choose a husband, Zhang Ruochen would be one of the best candidates. Marrying Zhang Ruochen would give her the Blood Absolute Family as backing in the Blood Heaven Tribe, and her family's situation would improve greatly."
"So you're saying she was hinting that Zhang Ruochen should be more proactive?" Yi Xuan Great Saint said.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile, but inwardly, he became vigilant.
Bringing Yu Huang under his command as a foundation in the Hell Realm was not wrong.
But he absolutely could not let her misunderstand that his intentions were romantic.
Having experienced too much, Zhang Ruochen could now do whatever it took to achieve his goals, and he didn't mind being a villain or a thug. Good and evil had long lost their boundaries.
There was no absolute good in the world, nor absolute evil.
But using emotions to achieve goals often backfired, so he tried to avoid it as much as possible.
After helping Yi Xuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi find their shackles, Zhang Ruochen once again separated his five saint souls to comprehend the sacred dao rules. His main body opened the paper slip he had obtained from Bore and began observing and analyzing the Water Way Profound Meaning Imprint.
A year later, the Water Way Profound Meaning Imprint was fully analyzed by Zhang Ruochen, and he successfully condensed a fourth-rank Water Way Heavenly River Sacred Intent.
But he did not immediately merge the Heavenly River Sacred Intent into the Blood Sun Ten Shakes Sacred Intent.
According to the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, his understanding and application of the Blood Sun Ten Shakes Sacred Intent were still too shallow. Rashly merging the Heavenly River Sacred Intent would not only be somewhat dangerous but also have an extremely low chance of success.
The more thoroughly one understood the Sacred Intent, the easier the fusion would be.
With Zhang Ruochen helping them find shackles, Divine Travel Pills assisting in breaking them, and large amounts of divine blood boosting their cultivation and solidifying their undying sacred bodies, Blood Qi Great Saint, Yi Xuan Great Saint, and Gu Chenzi's realms advanced at a terrifying speed.
Blood Qi Great Saint only needed half a year to break one shackle.
Yi Xuan Great Saint and Gu Chenzi needed a full year to break one shackle.
This was not because Blood Qi Great Saint's talent surpassed theirs. Rather, it was because the two of them had already broken over eighty shackles—the further they went, the harder it became, and naturally, the slower the speed.
Three years later, Yu Huang successfully broke her hundredth shackle. A massive surge of blood fiend qi erupted from her body, and nearly ten billion sacred dao rules coursed through heaven and earth.
"Whoosh—"
Eight silver wings burst from her back.
Electric light flowed over the silver wings, which grew enormous, turning into eight silver clouds.
And at the center of the eight silver wings, a new pair of silver fleshy wings began to form. However, this pair of wings was still half-real, half-illusory, like chaotic light mist.
"Breaking through so quickly—quite the spectacle."
Zhang Ruochen was jolted awake from his cultivation. He walked out of the Seven Stars Imperial Palace and stood on the steps, pointing his right hand in Yu Huang's direction.
"Rustle."
The space around Yu Huang stretched and twisted.
Her body was pulled into a spatial bubble several hundred miles in size that Zhang Ruochen had created, and the Vast Sea Manor finally calmed down.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the cultivators who were training and said, "Stop staring. Keep cultivating."
Blood Chen, Blood Ningxiao, and the others did not resume their training. Instead, they stood up, staring at the direction of the spatial bubble, their faces filled with awe.
Yu Huang was about to enter the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm—a major event. Even if cultivation was important, they didn't want to miss the chance to witness it.
Zhang Ruochen stopped paying them any mind and focused his attention on Yu Huang, nodding involuntarily.
"A Great Saint who has broken ninety-nine shackles and one who has broken a hundred are indeed worlds apart. Yu Huang's cultivation has nearly doubled in an instant, and it's still rising. Her ninth and tenth silver wings are also condensing rapidly."
Zhang Ruochen calculated silently in his mind: if he didn't use a Supreme Sacred Artifact, could he defeat Yu Huang as she was now?
In that battle at the Ascension God Banquet, Zhang Ruochen had expended great effort to defeat Yu Huang.
Everyone's cultivation was improving, but Yu Huang had crossed the most critical threshold and might have pulled ahead.
The gods of the Blood Heaven Tribe sensed this immediately and were overjoyed.
Although Yu Huang had already broken ninety-nine shackles and was only one step away from the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm, the gods knew her situation well. They believed she wouldn't break through within a hundred years, and might even stagnate for life.
So the gods of the Blood Heaven Tribe had not held out much hope for her.
But before the Hunting Heavenly Banquet, Yu Huang's successful breakthrough was an unexpected surprise—truly a "pleasant shock."
Blood Jue War God transmitted a message to Qingsheng Great Saint: "Once she enters the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm, send a Thousand Questions Realm initial-stage Great Saint to test her combat power."
...
Before long, Yu Huang temporarily stabilized her cultivation.
Even though she was as cold as stone, a moving smile now hung on her face, and the joy in her heart could not be suppressed or hidden.
Zhang Ruochen stepped into the spatial bubble, hovering in midair, and said, "Congratulations on your successful breakthrough into the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm."
"Great Perfection?"
Yu Huang shook her head. "I've only just broken the hundredth shackle. I'm still far from Great Perfection. Inside a Great Saint's body, besides the hundred main shackles, there are thousands of minor shackles. Only by breaking all of them can it be called Great Perfection. By then, my cultivation will at least double again."
"Though there are many minor shackles, they won't stop my progress. Give me at most three more years, and I'll break them all. Of course, during these three years, you'll need to provide me with enough fresh divine blood."
Zhang Ruochen frowned. "Why should I provide you with divine blood?"
"Aren't you the one trying to curry favor? I'm giving you the chance, and you don't appreciate it?" Yu Huang said.
Zhang Ruochen could tell that Yu Huang was in a genuinely good mood, and her hostility and rejection toward him had vanished. In the past, she would never have spoken to him like this.
Such words carried a certain hint of implication.
Yu Huang quickly realized her words were somewhat inappropriate. She immediately wiped the smile off her face and said coldly, "I was just joking. Don't look so reluctant. I'll buy it with divine stones—I won't take your divine blood for free."
"Oh my, what a grand display from Yu Huang! This princess has never seen such a demanding attitude when asking for help."
Luo Sha's stunning figure stepped into the spatial bubble, lotus blossoms blooming beneath her feet with every step. She came to Zhang Ruochen's side and said with a very displeased look, "Zhang Ruochen, why do other cultivators get to use the Sundial to cultivate without paying divine stones, while this princess has to? And you provide them with divine blood for free—why don't I get the same treatment?"
Zhang Ruochen caught the alluring fragrance emanating from her and said flatly, "They are cultivators of the Blood Heaven Tribe. You are not."
"You..."
Luo Sha grew even more irritated, puffing out her fragrant cheeks and widening her eyes. "You're clearly bullying this princess! And why is the Sundial's consumption of divine stones so enormous? At least six divine stones a day—do you really think this princess will just let you fleece me?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "If Her Highness the Princess is dissatisfied, she is free to leave the Vast Sea Manor at any time."
Luo Sha clasped her hands behind her back, stepping out lotus blossoms in the void as she sized up Yu Huang and laughed. "Of course this princess is dissatisfied, but I'm not leaving."
"Yu Huang can cultivate here and get divine blood, and I want the same treatment. Don't tell me it's because she's from the Blood Heaven Tribe. Why don't other Blood Heaven Tribe cultivators get the same treatment? You're just interested in her, aren't you?"
"Zhang Ruochen, just how rampant is your yang energy? One Shadowless Fairy isn't enough for you? Do you want this princess to send you ten Rakshasa female saints?"
Yu Huang's body ignited with cold Netherworld Soul-Devouring Flame as she said coldly, "He may be dissolute and unrestrained, but I am pure and self-respecting. Her Highness the Princess had better watch her words, or she might bring trouble upon herself."
"From now on, I will provide the divine stones needed to run the Sundial."
With that, Yu Huang had already left the spatial bubble.
Luo Sha narrowed her phoenix eyes and gave a sly smile. "Zhang Ruochen, see that? With a woman like Yu Huang, a little bit of maneuvering is all it takes to win her over."
"Don't talk nonsense. Helping her is only because I want to win the Hunting Heavenly Banquet. It's not as sordid as you think," Zhang Ruochen said.
Luo Sha rolled her eyes disdainfully. "Then what about the Shadowless Fairy? Don't tell this princess she's still a pure and spotless fairy? After coming out of the Seven Stars Imperial Palace, she was different."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze grew even deeper, and he said coldly, "My affairs are none of your concern."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen return to the Seven Stars Imperial Palace, Luo Sha's crystal-red lips curled into a sinister smile at the corners. "You think you can fool those self-righteous gods who see all beings as ants? But you can't fool this princess."
"Still, this guy is quite the lucky dog when it comes to women, and he's getting more and more unrestrained. I can't let him have it too easy."
"If the cultivators of the Heavenly Court Myriad Realms found out that two of the nine fairies on the *Nine Immortal Beauties Chart* were no longer pure and chaste, and that both were ruined by that great villain Zhang Ruochen of the Hell Realm, would they come to the Hell Realm to kill him? Heh heh. Zhang Ruochen, since you've been so harsh to this princess, I'll have to teach you a lesson."
...
Recommended: Huo Shuo's new book *First Sequence*
Synopsis: Surviving the apocalypse, finally seeing the light.