Chapter 233: Breaking Through Two Realms in Succession
A divine spirit manifesting its holiness was no small matter—it could be called a divine miracle.
Even the few Tianji Realm powerhouses in the royal city, who were as revered as Mount Tai and the Big Dipper, were alarmed by the powerful divine shadow aura in the sky and rushed to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Yet they could not discern the truth behind it, believing it to be a genuine divine manifestation.
After all, Zhang Ruochen's martial soul was even stronger than that of a Great Perfection Tianji Realm martial artist. Most Tianji Realm martial artists hadn't even cultivated a martial soul—how could they see through Zhang Ruochen's deception?
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated a "False Divine Body," allowing him to easily fool those Tianji Realm martial artists.
The massive divine shadow in the sky, as if swallowing mountains and rivers, began to absorb the sacrificial power.
That divine shadow seemed to come alive. With a deep inhale, at least one percent of the blood light on the altar surged toward it.
Sacrificial power was extremely potent, impossible for martial artists to absorb. But Zhang Ruochen was well-versed in ancient secret arts and could naturally use his False Divine Body to absorb it.
The sacrificial power entered the False Divine Body, then passed through the soul meridians connecting his martial soul and Qi Sea, transforming into true qi that surged into Zhang Ruochen's body.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen worried that the sacrificial power might be too violent for his Qi Sea to withstand.
After all, only gods could absorb sacrificial power.
But when that surge of true qi carrying sacrificial power flooded into Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea, the divine marks on the Qi Sea walls immediately lit up, emitting resounding divine chants.
Zhang Ruochen had reached the Supreme Extreme Realm twice, triggering divine resonance both times. The marks of the gods were firmly imprinted on his Qi Sea walls.
Under the impact of the sacrificial power, those divine marks awakened.
If Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea were compared to a vast ocean of true qi, then at that moment, countless strange divine shadows hovered above that ocean.
They were genuine divine phantoms.
As the divine phantoms awakened, the martial soul floating above the Imperial Ancestral Temple also emitted divine chants, increasing the absorption speed of sacrificial power tenfold.
At least ten percent of the blood qi in the altar surged toward that divine shadow.
A massive amount of sacrificial power poured into Zhang Ruochen's body, instantly breaking through his cultivation realm and reaching the late Earth Extreme Realm. The space of his Qi Sea expanded fifteenfold in an instant.
Moreover, his martial cultivation continued to surge wildly, beginning to impact the next realm—the Lesser Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm.
"I didn't expect to awaken the divine marks in my Qi Sea, absorbing sacrificial power so recklessly. Since the divine marks are protecting me, my Qi Sea won't burst. But can my physical body withstand this?"
Breaking through realms was certainly good, but after reaching a certain level, the pressure on the physical body increased, yet the sacrificial power continued to pour in endlessly.
How could his meridians endure?
The sacrificial power was immense. Zhang Ruochen had initially only wanted to absorb one percent of it to break through to the late Earth Extreme Realm or the Lesser Extreme Position.
But at the current rate of absorption, within half an hour, the true qi in Zhang Ruochen's body would be enough to burst even a Great Perfection Earth Extreme Realm martial artist.
"How should I digest the excess sacrificial power?"
Zhang Ruochen noticed that not only were the divine phantoms floating in his Qi Sea, but there was also a point of light.
That point of light was shaped like a sword.
The Sword Intent Heart.
Zhang Ruochen had only just broken through to the Sword Heart Illumination realm, so his Sword Intent Heart was only the size of a grain of rice.
"Perhaps I can use the Sword Intent Heart to absorb the sacrificial power."
Zhang Ruochen already felt a strong swelling sensation in his brow, and his Qi Sea seemed on the verge of another transformation—a sign of breaking through to the Lesser Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm.
He had to act immediately.
Using his spiritual power, Zhang Ruochen controlled the Sword Intent Heart in his Qi Sea, beginning to absorb the true qi carrying sacrificial power that flowed in from the soul meridians.
"The Sword Intent Heart can actually absorb sacrificial power..."
Zhang Ruochen felt relieved and began to ponder the reason.
Sacrificial power actually consisted of two types of force: the power of prayer and the power of blood qi.
The "power of blood qi" came from the blood of slaughtered cattle, sheep, and savage beasts. Driven by the altar's formation, it turned into blood qi, becoming the medium to open the gate between humans and gods.
The power of prayer was the main body, representing the faith and will of the entire Yunwu Commandery's people over the past year.
That was an incredibly terrifying force. Although the martial soul seemed to absorb ten percent, the vast majority of that sacrificial power still entered the gate between humans and gods. Only a tiny fraction was converted by the soul meridians and absorbed into Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea.
At that moment, the Sword Intent Heart was absorbing the power of prayer, while Zhang Ruochen absorbed the power of blood qi.
In other words, at that moment, at least tens of thousands of people in Yunwu Commandery were helping Zhang Ruochen comprehend his sword intent together. The growth rate of his Sword Intent Heart was naturally very fast.
The more sacrificial power he absorbed, the more people helped Zhang Ruochen comprehend his sword intent.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen's martial cultivation broke through again, reaching the Lesser Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm.
Violent true qi surged through all his meridians, burrowing into his blood, muscles, bones, internal organs, skin, and hair. Not only did his cultivation improve, but his physical constitution also strengthened significantly.
The Sword Intent Heart, originally the size of a grain of rice, grew threefold in just half an hour, and the outline of a sword shape could now be clearly seen.
Half an hour of cultivation was equivalent to three years of solitary training for Zhang Ruochen.
In the Sword Heart Illumination realm, Zhang Ruochen had taken a step forward, no longer at the entry level.
The sacrificial ceremony gradually drew to a close.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his martial soul into his body and began to refine the surging true qi within him.
In just half an hour, he had broken through two realms in succession, and the true qi in his body had expanded a hundredfold.
The true qi he had cultivated before was only one percent of what he now possessed.
Having increased so much true qi all at once, it was naturally difficult to control, as it didn't align with his own power. A slight misstep could lead to a demonic deviation.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power was strong, and he had cultivated a martial soul, so he could still control the violent true qi in his body.
"Taiqing Linghuo Heaven!"
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes tightly and, following the operation method of the third layer of the "Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture," mobilized the true qi in his body, circulating it slowly through thirty-six meridians.
With each major cycle the true qi completed through the meridians, it became a bit more docile.
At first, Zhang Ruochen could only circulate the true qi slowly. As his control over it improved, the speed of circulation gradually increased.
After a hundred cycles, the violent true qi in his body was completely stabilized.
"The realms I've broken through are temporarily stable. But to reach optimal condition, I'll need at least a month to settle and consolidate."
Zhang Ruochen let out a long breath. He lightly raised his arm, and thick true qi surged from his palm.
Every wisp of true qi was like a flame, emitting scorching heat.
"Having broken through two realms in succession, with my current strength, even without using the Sword Heart Illumination sword intent or the power of space, I should be able to defeat an expert like the Poison Spider Young Master. If I can fully control the true qi in my body and achieve a state of complete mastery, my combat power will surely increase even further."
Greatly improved in cultivation, Zhang Ruochen was naturally delighted. He stood up and pushed open the doors of the hall.
With a movement of his body, Zhang Ruochen turned into a blur and vanished from before the hall's doors.
The next moment, he appeared outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
"Speed has reached one hundred and eighty meters per second. If I can reach optimal condition and then use the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow, I should be able to reach two hundred meters per second." A faint smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Ruochen's mouth, quite satisfied with his speed.
An ordinary Great Perfection Earth Extreme Realm martial artist could achieve a speed of one hundred to one hundred and twenty meters per second.
But Zhang Ruochen, at the Lesser Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm, could already reach two hundred meters per second. It could be said that with his current strength, even ten Great Perfection Earth Extreme Realm martial artists combined would not be his match.
Of course, this excluded three-absolute geniuses like the Poison Spider Young Master and Zi Yinyang, who could not be measured by ordinary martial artists' standards.
To reach the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Earth Extreme Realm, a martial artist's speed had to break through the speed of sound.
The speed of sound was not fixed, roughly around three hundred and forty meters per second, fluctuating depending on the environment.
Even an ordinary early Tianji Realm martial artist could not reach the speed of sound.
Therefore, for an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist to reach the speed of sound was an extremely difficult task.
But Zhang Ruochen was different. When he first reached the Supreme Extreme Realm, it was already determined that his starting point was higher than others. When he reached the Supreme Extreme Realm a second time, his starting point became even higher.
For other Earth Extreme Realm martial artists, reaching the speed of sound was pure fantasy.
Zhang Ruochen, having two extra realms compared to other martial artists, naturally found it much easier to impact the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Earth Extreme Realm.
Everything was difficult at the start. As long as one did their best from the very beginning, everything afterward would be easier, even coming naturally.
This principle applied not only to martial cultivation but to other matters as well.
Three hours had passed since the end of the sacrificial ceremony, and there were still many martial artists kneeling outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple, looking very devout.
Of course, more people had already begun to leave, all of them talking about the divine manifestation.
Zhang Ruochen stood to the side, listening, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
"Zhang Ruochen, where did you go earlier? Didn't you attend the sacrificial ceremony?" Huang Yanchen walked over from a distance, followed by an old woman and an old man.
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head. "I had some matters to attend to earlier and didn't make it in time. Did something happen?"
Zhang Ruochen's gaze casually swept toward the two elders. He felt a strong pressure from them, as if two great mountains were moving sideways toward him.
He could be certain that those two elders were Tianji Realm martial arts legends. He thought to himself, No wonder Qianshui Commandery is a top-tier commandery—they actually sent two Tianji Realm martial artists to protect Huang Yanchen. In a lower-tier commandery, that would be unimaginable.
Huang Yanchen's expression was serious. "This sacrificial ceremony was extraordinary. A divine manifestation occurred, something that hasn't even happened in the history of Qianshui Commandery. You actually missed such a divine miracle. You'll probably never have the chance to see another divine manifestation in your lifetime."
To witness a divine manifestation in one's lifetime, and Zhang Ruochen had missed such a miracle—Huang Yanchen naturally felt quite smug.
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly. "A divine manifestation? Interesting. Did you receive any divine blessings?"