Chapter 2253: Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent
Another three years passed.
The sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword had cultivated to the Saint King realm, successfully crossing its second Monarch Heavenly Tribulation and evolved into a second-rank Monarch Sacred Artifact.
The number of king-level inscription patterns within the sword body had reached over two hundred and fifty thousand.
From then on, it only needed to continuously refine and absorb weapons to keep improving.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen had refined and absorbed forty of the fifty Heaven-grade Sacred Pills, "Heavenly Fiend Pills," purchased from the Star Sea World, pushing his spiritual power intensity to the peak of the sixtieth rank.
Now, Zhang Ruochen sat inside an independent palace within the Seven-Star Imperial Palace. He took out the Monarch-grade Sacred Pill obtained from the Dragon God Palace, held it in his palm, and carefully sensed the pill's soul.
The pill soul was in the form of a five-clawed silver dragon. Although it had been sealed, the spiritual power fluctuations it emitted were still powerful, comparable to a sixtieth-rank initial-stage Great Saint in spiritual power.
Previously, Zhang Ruochen had not dared to swallow it.
If this Sacred Pill were placed on a planet, the spiritual power it released could influence the billions of living beings on that entire planet, easily making it the planet's overlord.
"With my current spiritual power intensity, I should be able to refine it. Breaking through to the sixty-first rank in one go shouldn't be difficult."
Zhang Ruochen released white Purifying Divine Flame from the palms of both hands, enveloping the Monarch-grade Sacred Pill.
The sealing power on the pill's surface was gradually refined away.
"Sizzle."
As the seal disappeared, a deafening dragon roar echoed from within the Monarch-grade Sacred Pill.
That five-clawed silver dragon burst out from the pill, its body growing larger and larger. It coiled in the hall, extended its claws, and tore at Zhang Ruochen.
"Whoosh—"
Zhang Ruochen remained seated, and eight thousand spiritual power thoughts flew out from his body.
Each spiritual power thought looked exactly like him, standing in eight thousand positions within the hall. Their hands formed grasping gestures, pulling strands of silver light from the five-clawed silver dragon's body and inhaling them into their mouths.
Soul Devouring.
The five-clawed silver dragon sensed something was wrong. This young man before it was not someone it could provoke. It immediately whipped its tail and charged toward the hall's entrance.
"Thinking of fleeing now?"
Zhang Ruochen flipped his hand and pressed down with a palm strike, suppressing it within a five-colored chaotic space. Its soul body could no longer move, and even its spiritual power could not escape.
Extending two fingers, he picked up the Monarch-grade Sacred Pill and swallowed it.
"Rustle."
His body was illuminated by the light radiating from the Monarch-grade Sacred Pill, releasing a fragrant pill aroma. The aroma condensed into pill clouds, completely enveloping Zhang Ruochen.
Refining a Heaven-grade Sacred Pill to enhance spiritual power usually took one or two months.
However, refining this Monarch-grade Sacred Pill took Zhang Ruochen half a year before it was fully absorbed.
His spiritual power intensity successfully broke through to the sixty-first rank.
The number of his spiritual power thoughts reached twelve thousand three hundred.
"Withdraw."
Zhang Ruochen retracted the dense mass of spiritual power thoughts into his Sacred Heart and opened his bright eyes. His pupils, like immortal jade and divine stone, seemed capable of peering into the inner thoughts of all living beings under heaven.
"With spiritual power at the sixty-first rank, can I contend with a Hundred Shackles initial-stage Great Saint?" Zhang Ruochen asked himself inwardly.
The five realms of a Great Saint each spanned a vast gap.
Having only increased his spiritual power by one rank, Zhang Ruochen felt it was unrealistic to think he could fight a Hundred Shackles Great Saint. He had never systematically cultivated spiritual power; he needed to spend more time studying it.
"After these past few years of practicing the Heavenly River Sacred Intent and the Blood Sun Tenfold Tremor Sacred Intent, coupled with the major breakthrough in spiritual power, my control over power and sacred intent has become more refined. I should be able to fuse them."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Purple Gold Gourd and flew inside.
The process of fusing the sacred intents encountered some unexpected issues.
However, after three failures, with the assistance of the Qiankun Realm and the Purple Gold Gourd, Zhang Ruochen finally succeeded in fusing the Heavenly River Sacred Intent and the Blood Sun Tenfold Tremor Sacred Intent, evolving them into a more powerful third-rank sacred intent.
Even among third-rank sacred intents, there were differences in strength.
Zhang Ruochen judged that this newly condensed sacred intent was stronger than his previous one because, after fusing the Heavenly River Sacred Intent, the tremor force contained within the sacred intent had extended into an additional layer, reaching eleven layers.
One more layer of tremor force meant another level of power.
Using this sacred intent, whether unleashing palm techniques, fist techniques, or water-path sacred arts, the explosive power would be significantly enhanced.
However, upon careful study, Zhang Ruochen discovered that his sacred intent was still not in a stable state.
After fusing the Heavenly River Sacred Intent, the million-fold yang energy within his body was indeed completely suppressed.
Unfortunately, it had gone too far in the opposite direction.
His palm-path sacred intent leaned toward violence and dominance, following a path of extreme yang.
The water-path sacred intent and fist-path sacred intent were completely opposite. The fusion of these three sacred intents made Zhang Ruochen's sacred intent soft and continuous, with strong after-effects but lacking explosive power.
"Perhaps... I need to incorporate all five elemental sacred intents. Use the five elements to balance the yin and yang attributes of the fist and palm paths, achieving the most perfect state of sacred intent."
Vaguely, Zhang Ruochen felt he had found a sacred path that belonged to him.
However, the biggest problem was that the five elements, plus the palm and fist paths, made a total of seven sacred paths.
Could seven sacred intents truly be fused into one?
There was also a second problem.
A Great Saint could only cultivate a maximum of nine sacred intents. If he cultivated these seven, how would he choose among the sword path, time path, space path, and truth path?
Was it truly only possible to cultivate nine sacred intents?
With this in mind, Zhang Ruochen entered the Qiankun Realm to seek advice from the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
After listening to his account, the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree's voice sounded: "A Great Saint can indeed only cultivate nine sacred intents. Generally speaking, being able to fuse five sacred intents into one is already the limit. No living being in history has ever succeeded in fusing seven sacred intents into one."
"You have only fused three sacred intents now. When you try to fuse the fourth, you will find it to be an extremely difficult task."
Zhang Ruochen stood under the tree and nodded slightly.
Earlier, when fusing the Heavenly River Sacred Intent, he had already clearly felt the increase in difficulty, which was why he had failed three times.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had relied on the Qiankun Realm and the Purple Gold Gourd.
For other Great Saints without such conditions, trying to fuse a third sacred intent would be ten times, even a hundred times, more difficult than for him.
The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree continued: "Of course, nothing in the world is absolute. Just like the first Great Saint to cultivate nine sacred intents, or the first to fuse five sacred intents. If they had not possessed a heart that surpassed their predecessors, or the belief to challenge, they would not have succeeded."
"You possess the Five Elements Chaos Immortal Sacred Body. Cultivating a sacred intent that unifies the five elements gives you a great advantage, making it much easier for you than for other Great Saints. Moreover, if you succeed, you can unleash even greater power."
"In history, the Great Saint who fused five sacred intents walked the path of five-element unification. The Five Elements Sacred Intent he cultivated was one of the top-tier second-rank sacred intents."
"If you can fuse the five elements, the palm path, and the fist path—seven sacred intents into one—achieving the great perfection of yin and yang and the five elements, you might break the rules of heaven and earth and become the first living being in history to cultivate a first-rank sacred intent."
"Zhang Ruochen, this path is not impossible, but it is extremely difficult, nearly impossible to succeed. Once you take this path, there is no turning back. It will determine the success or failure of your entire life. The risk is too great, so I do not advise you to take this gamble."
The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree laid out both the pros and cons, leaving the choice to Zhang Ruochen.
If he succeeded, he would become unparalleled throughout history.
If he failed, he would likely ruin his own sacred path, and his future would become bleak.
The stakes were enormous.
Facing such a major life decision, Zhang Ruochen did not hesitate or waver. He said, "Before coming to ask for your advice, I had already made up my mind. Since you believe there is a possibility of success... then I want to try."
"If I am to do it, I must be the strongest. Mediocrity cannot change this chaotic era. Mediocre power cannot fulfill what I want to do in the future."
"From now on, I will call this sacred intent the 'Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent.' Whether I succeed or fail in the future, it is a direction I have set, and I will walk it unwaveringly."
Exiting the Qiankun Realm, Zhang Ruochen immediately sent a spiritual power message to Qing Sheng Great Saint: "I want the esoteric marks of the five elements—fire path, wood path, metal path, and earth path. I hope Uncle can help me find them."
Qing Sheng Great Saint might not have the means for these four esoteric marks, but he would surely report it to Xue Jue War God.
Given Xue Jue War God's status and connections, obtaining these four esoteric marks would not be difficult.
Zhang Ruochen took out a Heavenly Fiend Pill and swallowed it. However, this Heaven-grade Sacred Pill seemed to have lost its medicinal power, providing almost no enhancement to his spiritual power.
There was no need to spend one or two months refining and absorbing it. After five days, the medicinal power had completely dissipated, only increasing his spiritual power thoughts by two.
Negligible.
"How can this be? This is a Heaven-grade Sacred Pill!"
"Could it be that taking the same type of pill too many times has made the Heavenly Fiend Pill ineffective for me?"
"Or perhaps, after reaching the sixty-first rank of spiritual power intensity, relying solely on taking Sacred Pills makes it difficult to improve further?"
Zhang Ruochen was about to seek advice from the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree again when he heard a voice transmission from Yu Huang. He had to set this matter aside for now and walked out of the Seven-Star Imperial Palace.
In just a few years, Yu Huang's cultivation had undergone astonishing improvement.
She had broken all the shackles within her body, reaching the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles realm. A powerful blood-fiend aura flowed through her entire body, and the fifth pair of silver wings on her back had fully solidified.
She stood gracefully beneath the sundial, her ten wings spread wide. Her exquisite eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen, who stood on the palace steps. "Zhang Ruochen, do you dare to fight me?"
The wind blew her robes, making her appear ethereal like an immortal.
Yu Huang had been defeated countless times in her life, but the defeat at Zhang Ruochen's hands was one she resented the most.
After all, from childhood to adulthood, she had always defeated her opponents across realms.
The time she fought Zhang Ruochen was the first time she had been defeated by an opponent across realms.
Now that she had reached the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles realm, she naturally regarded Zhang Ruochen as her first challenge.
The Seven-Star Imperial Palace had a full hundred steps. Zhang Ruochen stood at the very top, his long sleeves fluttering in the wind, his gaze calm and indifferent. "Alright. I also want to test how strong a Great Perfection Hundred Shackles Great Saint truly is."
In recent years, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had also made tremendous progress.
It was a good opportunity to test his newly condensed third-rank sacred intent against Yu Huang.
All the cultivators in the Hanhai Manor stopped their training and watched curiously.
"Doesn't Cousin Ruochen know that Yu Huang has reached the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles realm? Her combat power has multiplied several times in a short period. She is no longer the same as during the Ascension Banquet," Xue Ningxiao said in surprise.
Xue Chen said, "Since Zhang Ruochen dared to accept the challenge, he must have the corresponding confidence. Don't forget, he holds a Supreme Sacred Artifact in his hands."
Xue Ningxiao stuck out her small tongue. "That's true. If he uses the Supreme Sacred Artifact, the outcome of this battle is hard to say."
Lian Xi and Zhou Zhen did not speak, but both found it unbelievable.
Zhang Ruochen was only at the Immortal Realm. Was he worthy of such a serious challenge from a Great Perfection Hundred Shackles Great Saint?
In their view, Zhang Ruochen was only given face by the Hundred Shackles Great Saints of the Undying Blood Clan because of his maternal grandfather, Xue Jue War God.
In terms of combat power, an Immortal Realm Great Saint could never be a match for a Hundred Shackles Great Saint.
The five realms of a Great Saint were the most difficult to cross.
Luo Sha muttered to herself, "Yu Huang's cultivation is not weak. She mainly cultivates the Blood Sea Heavenly Path and has condensed a fourth-rank sacred intent. With her identity as an Array Earth Master and Talisman Earth Master, her combat power among Great Perfection Hundred Shackles Great Saints might rank in the top thirty. I wonder how many rounds Zhang Ruochen can last against her without using the Supreme Sacred Artifact?"
In Luo Sha's view, Zhang Ruochen would certainly not use the Supreme Sacred Artifact in this battle.
If he did, the meaning of the fight would be lost.
Using his right index finger as a brush, Zhang Ruochen drew a sacred light circle in the air.
"Rustle."
The sacred light circle spun rapidly, evolving into a circular independent space a hundred miles in diameter. It floated three zhang above the ground, occupying an area the size of a hundred zhang.
There, it transformed into an inner-space world, like a giant bubble.
Yu Huang glanced at it and said coldly, "Can the space you created withstand my power?"
"At least I have to create a battlefield. What if the Hanhai Manor gets destroyed again?"
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Jungle Small World, and a corner of that small world merged with the independent space, turning into a hundred-mile desert battlefield.
"No need for such trouble. Take this finger strike first."
Yu Huang rose into the air, and Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Flame surged from her body. The icy-cold flame swirled around her delicate form before converging at her fingertip.
"Boom."
A circular flame light mass appeared before her, like divine light blooming.
At the center of the light mass, a sharp pillar of soul-devouring flame shot out, as fast as light, reaching Zhang Ruochen in an instant.
Zhang Ruochen did not retreat. Three dragon souls and three elephant souls surged from his body, manifesting on his left and right sides. Then, a surging river also appeared, encircling his body.
With one hand forming a fist and the other forming a palm, he struck out simultaneously.
The forces of yin and yang, cold and heat, erupted from his fist and palm, rapidly intertwining and colliding with that pillar of soul-devouring flame.
"Bang."
The wave of power formed by the fist and palm shadows was instantly pierced and shattered.
A hint of mockery appeared in Yu Huang's eyes. "Zhang Ruochen, just use your time and space powers directly. With just your fist and palm paths..."
Suddenly, her words stopped.
She saw that after the fist and palm shadows shattered, a second layer of force quickly evolved.
The fist and palm shadows reformed, becoming more solid, larger, and closer to her.