Chapter 2283: Entering the Hundred Shackles Realm
Zhang Ruochen's first shackle was located in his right arm, hidden within the fascia, like an iron chain winding around his wrist, imprisoning the power of his right arm, and sealing the immense divine power contained within his half-divine body.
Because his physical body was powerful, Zhang Ruochen's shackles were also tougher.
It was only after drinking "Twelve Flowers Blooming" that signs of softening appeared.
An hour had passed since he swallowed the Dao-Deriving Sacred Fruit. Zhang Ruochen mobilized the Purifying Divine Flame to refine it with all his strength, and circulated the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* to absorb it at the fastest speed.
At the same time, he unsealed part of the Divine Travel Pill's medicinal energy sealed within his heart.
The medicinal energy merged with his blood, surging like a tidal wave toward his right arm, continuously impacting the shackle.
"Break!"
Zhang Ruochen shouted.
"Boom."
A thunderous sound like a divine thunderclap rang out inside his body. His bones vibrated, and his sacred qi and divine flame transformed into ripples, spreading in all directions.
It didn't break.
The shackle remained tough.
"Break!"
Zhang Ruochen impacted again, unleashing the power within his body, which scattered like mist.
The first shackle was like a bowstring pulled taut into a full moon, emitting a startling sound.
He failed again, unable to snap it.
"Break!"
Zhang Ruochen persisted, continuing to impact.
"Break!"
"Break!"
...
On the tenth impact, even with Zhang Ruochen's powerful physical body, he couldn't withstand it, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
"It's almost there. No matter what, I have to snap it and break through to the Hundred Shackles Realm."
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth, refusing to give up, and continued to impact.
"Break!"
"Break!"
...
On the fifteenth consecutive impact, Zhang Ruochen's skin cracked, and blood beads oozed from his pores. Even his sacred soul was damaged, showing signs of splitting.
Zhang Ruochen's physique was astonishing, and he had once taken a divine medicine, so his recovery speed was extremely fast.
Therefore, he wasn't afraid of damaging his foundation and continued to impact.
The first shackle had become very fragile. He had to muster all his strength to snap it; if he gave up now, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
"Break for me."
Zhang Ruochen shouted, channeling all the power in his body toward his right arm, crashing into the shackle.
He had lost count of how many times he had impacted the shackle, but this time, there was a feeling of unrestrained ease. In his right arm, it was like a flood bursting through a dam, rushing unimpeded.
"Snap!"
Like a bowstring being pulled apart, a deafening sound came from within Zhang Ruochen's body.
Immediately after, Zhang Ruochen felt a lightness all over, as if the chains that had bound him had broken. His body became relaxed, and his sacred soul felt free.
The first shackle had finally snapped.
He had successfully broken through to the Hundred Shackles Realm.
From now on, Zhang Ruochen was also a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint.
His entire body was covered in blood and sweat, and his right arm was painfully splitting, the flesh and blood blurred. Yet it was also filled with power, emitting streaks of divine qi and radiant light that illuminated the world space inside the Purple Gold Gourd.
The half-divine blood boiled, and the divine power of the half-divine body was released.
Zhang Ruochen slowly raised his right hand above his head.
On his arm, which emitted a blood-colored divine light, the wounds healed quickly, becoming as good as new. His skin was as crystalline as jade, and his blood flowed like a river.
"Divine power... I can finally unleash part of my divine power. No longer like before, having a half-divine body but being able to mobilize only a tiny fraction of it."
He felt that with a casual palm strike, he could unleash an attack that would destroy heaven and earth.
In his right arm, the three Thousand Questions Realm soul shadows completely quieted down, no longer daring to rebel against their master as before.
"Since I've snapped the first shackle, the subsequent ones should be much easier." Zhang Ruochen looked at his right arm with satisfaction, eager to find a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection expert to test his fists.
But he restrained himself and continued to sit in meditation.
How precious was the Dao-Deriving Sacred Fruit? Its most important function was not to assist in snapping shackles, but to help comprehend high-rank sacred arts.
Since he had swallowed one, he naturally couldn't waste it.
Because Zhang Ruochen had to focus on cultivating the "Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent," he devoted his main energy to practicing the Luo Water Fist Art, Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, Purifying Divine Flame, Divine Demon Prison Suppression, and Blazing God Leg. He temporarily set aside the Sword Dao, Time, and Space.
The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm had hit a bottleneck.
Cultivating the Purifying Divine Flame required gradual progress and couldn't be achieved overnight.
The Luo Water Fist Art lacked the later techniques, so he could only rely on his own understanding of the Fist Path to deduce the subsequent cultivation methods.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen ultimately decided to use the power of the Dao-Deriving Sacred Fruit to continue cultivating the Divine Demon Prison Suppression.
Rather than being greedy for more, it was better to cultivate one sacred art to its extreme.
One trick, used well, could conquer the world.
The Divine Demon Prison Suppression had already reached the fifth level, the Thousand Questions Realm high-rank sacred art level. It was unrealistic to cultivate it to the sixth level in a short time. Therefore, Zhang Ruochen's idea was to combine the Divine Demon Prison Suppression with the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image.
He brought his hands together.
"Whoosh—"
Torrential sacred light surged from Zhang Ruochen's body, brilliant and scorching, reflecting off the light emitted by the Annihilating Golden Sun in the gourd world, making them look like twin stars.
The Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image, a thousand miles tall, appeared, majestic and sacred. Above its head, nine layers of heavenly domes were condensed from heaven and earth rules and sacred qi, like divine palaces and immortal towers.
Ever since his bloodline power was stimulated, a will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable had appeared inside Zhang Ruochen's body. At the same time, the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image had undergone a transformation, becoming far more powerful than before.
"Now that I've reached the Hundred Shackles Realm, I should be able to use my own Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image to fuse the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, making the sacred image even stronger."
Thinking this, Zhang Ruochen activated the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable in his sacred heart.
The will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable took the form of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable himself, sacred and majestic, like an unparalleled heavenly god.
The Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image, on the other hand, took Zhang Ruochen's form, young and handsome, with a sharp aura.
From a distance, it looked like Zhang Ruochen standing opposite the ancient Immovable Bright King Great Venerable, one short and one tall, one like dust and the other like a mountain. Yet Zhang Ruochen, like dust, showed no fear, possessing a powerful heart that could swallow heaven and devour earth.
During the Ascension Banquet, Zhang Ruochen had just broken through to the Great Saint level and was able to defeat the combined forces of Yu Huang and Gu Chenzi precisely by using the method of combining the sacred image and the will shadow.
However, that combination was only for a brief moment.
Now, Zhang Ruochen wanted to completely refine and fuse them into one.
No matter how powerful the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable was, it was only a wisp. Zhang Ruochen was confident he could refine it.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen's ambition was sky-high. He would never allow another will to influence him within his body. Only by refining it into a part of himself could he feel at ease.
After the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image and the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable recombined, Zhang Ruochen immediately unleashed the Purifying Divine Flame, turning it into a sea of fire that enveloped them.
During the refining process, Zhang Ruochen's consciousness entered a mysterious state.
Some obscure and hard-to-understand content continuously entered his mind: incomplete techniques, sacred arts, and even spells, witchcraft, and secret arts.
It was bloodline inheritance.
Generally, only high-level barbarian beasts or divine beasts possessed bloodline inheritance. When they grew to a certain level, the bloodline inheritance would be released, allowing them to naturally learn some innate divine abilities.
Some could release lightning, some could spit fire, and some could travel ten thousand miles in a day.
For humans, obtaining bloodline inheritance was far more difficult than for barbarian beasts, unless the ancestor's bloodline was powerful enough to pass things down to their descendants through bloodline memory.
For example, a son looking very much like his father was a superficial manifestation of bloodline inheritance.
However, bloodline memory would gradually become diluted, making it increasingly difficult for later generations to obtain the inheritance.
Even if they did, it was often incomplete.
The bloodline memory Zhang Ruochen obtained by fusing the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable was also incomplete. The vast majority were scattered fragments, difficult to assemble into a complete technique.
Nevertheless, he vaguely glimpsed the later cultivation techniques of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*.
Currently, Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* to its highest level, the Ninth Heaven "Chi Ming He Yang Heaven." With this level of technique, it was enough to support his cultivation to the Supreme Realm.
However, if he wanted to become a god, he had to cultivate a higher-level technique.
If the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* only had nine heavens, that meant when he cultivated to the Supreme Realm, he would have to switch to a divine-level technique. Not only would this waste time, but the compatibility would also be much worse.
According to the bloodline memory inheritance, at least he knew that "Chi Ming He Yang Heaven" was not the last heaven of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*.
There was also the Tenth Heaven, Eleventh Heaven, Twelfth Heaven...
Zhang Ruochen temporarily set aside the question of where the complete technique of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* was located, because at this moment, the Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image and the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable had already completely fused.
The will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable disappeared, leaving only Zhang Ruochen's Immovable Wisdom King Sacred Image standing in midair.
The sacred image was a thousand miles tall, emitting dazzling sacred light. The aura it released was so powerful that the Undying Blood Clan Great Saints cultivating in the gourd world all felt immense pressure.
It was like facing a Supreme Realm Great Saint or a half-god, involuntarily generating a sense of awe and reverence.
"Compared to the Ascension Banquet, the aura released by Zhang Ruochen's sacred image is worlds apart."
"A sacred image a thousand miles tall contains unimaginable power. A single palm strike could easily destroy a star."
"Now that Brother Ruochen has reached the Hundred Shackles Realm, how many people in the Heaven Hunting Battlefield can still be his opponent?"
"The aura Zhang Ruochen releases doesn't seem like a Great Saint who has just entered the Hundred Shackles Realm. Even a Thousand Questions Realm Great Saint might not have such a powerful presence."
...
In the gourd world, the Undying Blood Clan Great Saints were all sighing in admiration and discussing animatedly.
Some were envious, some were full of respect, and some had eyes shining with inner fervor.
At the moment when the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable fused with Zhang Ruochen's sacred image, the will shadow of Blood Absolute Ancestor in his sacred heart flew out and merged with the five pairs of golden wings on Zhang Ruochen's back.
The will shadow of Blood Absolute Ancestor was also born during the baptism in the Longevity Blood Pool and had previously been at odds with the will shadow of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable.
Blood Absolute Ancestor had twenty-four pairs of golden wings and was a great existence in the history of the Blood Heaven Tribe and even the Undying Blood Clan. His cultivation was almost at the extreme of the divine realm.
The moment it merged with the five pairs of golden wings, Zhang Ruochen felt the five pairs of golden wings become extremely heavy, as if they had turned into five golden demon mountains.
"Sizzle."
Strange blood-colored patterns appeared on the five pairs of golden wings, emitting an eerie light.
An intense burning pain came from his back, as if half of his body was about to be melted by the heat.
"Roar!"
Zhang Ruochen's pupils turned blood-red, and blood-red evil patterns appeared on his face and body. Two sharp teeth grew from his mouth, and he let out a long roar.
The deafening sound spread throughout the gourd world, causing the eardrums of the Undying Blood Clan Great Saints to sting.
Even more terrifying was the aura emanating from Zhang Ruochen, which caused the blood in their bodies to gradually coagulate, making it harder and harder to flow.
Even their spiritual will was suppressed.
"What a terrifying aura. Is Zhang Ruochen a reincarnation of an Undying Blood Clan ancestor?"
Two Nine-Step Saint Kings who hadn't reached the Great Saint level couldn't withstand the suppression from bloodline and spirit. Their legs trembled, and they couldn't help but want to kneel before Zhang Ruochen.
"Whoosh."
Zhang Ruochen transformed into a blood light, flew out of the gourd world, and shot up like a blood pillar. The powerful energy on his body instantly swept across the entire Blood Heaven Continent.
He rushed out of the atmosphere of his home planet and stopped at a place a thousand miles away from the ground.
His long hair was blood-red, and his face was as pale as paper, both handsome and ferocious. The five pairs of golden wings on his back had become enormous, with numerous blood patterns interwoven on them.
Every time the ten wings flapped, they created a blood qi storm, sending countless space rocks outside the universe flying, forming tidal waves.
The sky above the entire Blood Heaven Continent turned blood-red, with clouds rolling and pressing down toward the ground.
On the continent, thirty million Undying Blood Clan members all knelt on the ground, trembling.
Gu Chenzi, who was guarding the Blood Heaven Continent, stood in the city lord's mansion of Cloud City, looking up at the sky, a smile appearing on his face: "He has finally broken through to the Hundred Shackles Realm. Who would still dare to be an enemy of the Blood Heaven Tribe?"
In the clouds of the home planet, Yu Huang was leading a team of formation masters, carving formation inscriptions.
Sensing the void vibrating and the heaven and earth rules becoming chaotic, she quickly looked up into the distance. She saw, tens of thousands of miles away, on the other side of the planet, a large amount of blood light appearing, forming a shocking air current storm.
Her eyes narrowed deeply: "Isn't it just breaking through to the Hundred Shackles Realm? Why make such a big commotion? But... now that you've broken through to the Hundred Shackles Realm, I can finally have a good fight with you again."
Ever since breaking through to the Hundred Shackles Realm Great Perfection, Yu Huang had been eager to compete with Zhang Ruochen again to wash away her shame.
However, Zhang Ruochen was only at the Immortal Realm level before. Even if she defeated him, she wouldn't regain her lost face. So she had been waiting for Zhang Ruochen to break through to the Hundred Shackles Realm.
"Why is the aura fluctuation on his body so strange? It seems to contain an ancient and powerful divine might. Even from tens of thousands of miles away, the blood in my body is affected. Could it be the aura of one of the Undying Blood Clan's ten great ancestors?" Yu Huang wondered, speaking to herself.
The ten great ancestors of the Undying Blood Clan founded the ten great tribes and were the oldest great divine abilities beings.
Because the era in which the ten great ancestors existed was too distant, their identities had always been controversial. Various families claimed that their own ancestor was one of the ten great ancestors who founded the tribe.
Therefore, there were actually dozens of ancestor-level existences.
The true ten great ancestors were difficult to verify.
But even if the bloodline of an ancestor had awakened, how could it appear on that guy Zhang Ruochen?
He still had half human bloodline, after all, and wasn't pure.
...
There will be another chapter today.