Chapter 2332: Humanoid Tree
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds contain dense blood energy. Refining one at a time can greatly increase a cultivator's blood energy in a short period, but it also causes a strong impact on the cultivator's body. I think, Wind Queen, you should refrain from refining and absorbing any more Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds in the short term, to avoid backlash."
Just as Wind Queen was about to say something, Zhang Ruochen added, "There are still many Great Saints in the Undying Blood Clan who haven't refined Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds. They should also be given some opportunities."
Beneath the gold-thread mask, Wind Queen's eyes flickered, and she understood something.
"It seems Zhang Ruochen isn't foolish. A verbal promise alone won't make him support me wholeheartedly. I have to give him some tangible benefits."
This was only natural. After all, she and Zhang Ruochen hadn't had a deep relationship before.
Why would Zhang Ruochen give her all the benefits for free?
After absorbing that Sacred Blood Shadow, the Devouring Saint Flower retreated back into Zhang Ruochen's body.
Zhang Ruochen carefully sensed it and found that the energy fluctuations within the Devouring Saint Flower had greatly increased, and even her spiritual power had grown, reaching an extremely vigorous and full state.
"If I can capture more Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds, the overall strength of the Undying Blood Clan could skyrocket in a short time. Then, what fear would the Yama Clan be?"
"No, that's not right."
Zhang Ruochen quickly snapped out of it, realizing the error in his thinking. He thought to himself, "I can find a way to boost the Undying Blood Clan's overall strength inside their home planet. Yan Wushen and Yan Huangtu are extraordinary individuals. Couldn't they seize opportunities within the Yama Clan's home planet?"
Having experienced the Ghost Clan's home planet, the Dark Star, and the Undying Blood Clan's home planet, Zhang Ruochen now understood that the so-called Heaven Hunting Battle was not just about hunting Heavenly Slaves.
The entire Heaven Hunting Battlefield was filled with too many opportunities.
Hunting Heavenly Slaves was to select the future pillar-like strong ones of the Hell Realm. The competition among the clans served this purpose, and the opportunities scattered across the battlefield also served this purpose.
"Let's go. Don't rush to capture the Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds. First, let's go to the convergence point of the underground river's blood water. There might be a bigger discovery there."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Purple Gold Gourd and, together with Blade Prison Emperor and Wind Queen, flew into it.
The gourd traveled downstream, swiftly heading toward the planet's core.
It was highly abnormal for Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds to be everywhere in the underground river. There had to be a source.
That source would be even more precious.
...
Zhang Ruochen had achieved a major breakthrough in cultivation inside the Ghost Clan's home planet. This news spread like wildfire across the Heaven Hunting Battlefield.
Cultivators from all ten clans realized that their own home planets must also have extraordinary features.
Thus, one by one, Hell Realm Great Saints entered the depths of their home planets to seek opportunities. This became even more important than hunting Heavenly Slaves.
Inside the Underworld Clan's home planet.
Severely injured Wujiang stood atop a towering black mountain, beside a volcanic crater spewing thick smoke.
His pale, handsome face twisted with ferocity as he said in a deep voice, "Zhang Ruochen, no matter how strong you become, I will defeat you and wash away this humiliation."
Wujiang leaped up and plunged into the volcanic crater.
...
Inside the Bone Clan's home planet.
A pink skeleton stood on a vast, boundless plain. It suddenly struck the ground with its palm, splitting the earth and creating a bottomless pit.
The pink skeleton stepped forward and walked inside.
...
At the Destiny Temple.
Gods from various clans were communicating, discussing the opportunities within their home planets and the outstanding talents among their Great Saints.
After all, even they cared deeply about the opportunities inside their home planets.
"In this generation, heroes emerge in abundance. Several opportunities should be taken."
"It's not that simple. In the last generation, only Fengchen Sword God succeeded. In the generation before that, no one succeeded. How can the opportunities on the ten home planets be so easily taken?"
"Zhang Ruochen, Yan Wushen, Yan Huangtu, Que, Lan Ying, Luo Sheng Tian, Wujiang—their talents are top-notch by any standard. They all have a chance to succeed."
Inside Blood Absolute War God's Divine Realm World, a god asked, "What is the opportunity inside the Undying Blood Clan's home planet? Why are there Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds?"
"Could there be White Pale Blood Soil?" another god speculated.
Blood Absolute War God said, "The opportunity inside the home planet was placed there by the Undying Divine Temple's Hall Master five thousand years ago. Naturally, only the Hall Master knows its secrets."
"In the past five thousand years, countless outstanding talents have emerged from the Undying Blood Clan. Some have captured Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds, and some have reached the planet's deepest core, but none have taken the opportunity. This shows it's not easy to obtain."
A god said, "Zhang Ruochen is an Eon-level genius. If he can pass the Zangjin Baihu's trial, entering the deepest part of the Undying Blood Clan's home planet shouldn't be difficult. He might have a chance to take the opportunity."
Blood Absolute War God's expression was solemn. He gazed toward the Heaven Hunting Battlefield and said meaningfully, "That kid..."
Just those three words.
He didn't continue.
Blood Absolute War God naturally knew what was happening inside the Undying Blood Clan's home planet—that Zhang Ruochen had always refused to drink blood and had never truly considered himself a member of the Undying Blood Clan.
What he worried about wasn't Zhang Ruochen failing to obtain the opportunity, but rather that he could get it yet chose not to.
"Clatter."
The Purple Gold Gourd, protected by Supreme Power, traveled through the underground river.
"Bang!"
"Boom!"
...
Along the way, Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds occasionally attacked the Purple Gold Gourd, but they couldn't penetrate the gourd's walls or the Supreme Power light membrane. The three of them arrived safely at the planet's core.
When Zhang Ruochen, Blade Prison Emperor, and Wind Queen stepped out of the gourd, they were met with an incredibly shocking sight.
The planet's core was actually hollow.
Looking out, the space was like a massive hollow sphere, over five hundred miles in diameter.
The core space was filled with blood energy, and the sound of water came from all directions. It turned out to be blood waterfalls cascading from above.
At the center of this spherical space, a stone coffin about a dozen zhang long floated, supported by the blood energy.
Zhang Ruochen and the others were over two hundred miles away from the stone coffin. Fortunately, their eyesight was strong enough to see the ancient patterns and unrecognizable characters on the coffin.
Besides the coffin, what stood out even more was a tree growing on it.
A humanoid tree!
The tree was entirely crystalline white, even more translucent and delicate than Sacred Jade, resembling a graceful, beautiful young woman with a slender figure and elegant posture.
The "beauty's" hair stood upright, like branches extending in all directions, piercing into the soil and rock.
Blade Prison Emperor held his breath for a long time before letting out a long sigh. He stared fixedly at the humanoid tree and said, "So those river channels are her hair... no, its branches."
"It is the true Blood Shadow Ghost Seed. The ones we encountered earlier were likely just its separated thoughts or blood energy avatars." Wind Queen's eyes were filled with awe as she bowed to the humanoid tree.
Blade Prison Emperor swallowed his saliva and said warily, "Let's go. Leave here quickly. If we wake it, we'll all probably die here."
Wind Queen nodded. "Just catching some Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds wandering among its branches is enough to greatly boost the Undying Blood Clan's overall strength."
Zhang Ruochen carefully observed the stone coffin and the humanoid tree, showing no intention of leaving. He said, "What do you think is inside that stone coffin? Could it be White Pale Blood Soil?"
Blade Prison Emperor and Wind Queen, who had been about to leave, suddenly narrowed their eyes.
Right!
Legend had it that Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds grew in White Pale Blood Soil and went extinct along with it.
Since Blood Shadow Ghost Seeds had appeared, there might really be White Pale Blood Soil inside the coffin.
Zhang Ruochen's Yin-Yang Five Elements Sacred Intent had already fused five types of Sacred Intent, only lacking Earth Element Sacred Intent and Fire Element Sacred Intent to reach perfection.
According to the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, no one had ever managed to fuse six types of Sacred Intent together. For Zhang Ruochen to break through this barrier, even with the help of Quasi-Emperor Grade Sacred Intent Pills, it would be extremely difficult.
But if he could obtain White Pale Blood Soil, his chances of successfully fusing Earth Element Sacred Intent would be much higher.
Zhang Ruochen walked along a stone path toward the floating stone coffin.
The opportunity was right in front of him; he had to take the risk.
"Ruochen Great Saint, don't take the risk." Blade Prison Emperor called out.
Wind Queen also quickly advised, "It's too dangerous. The Undying Blood Clan needs your leadership. If something happens to you, how can we compete with the Yama Clan and the Shura Clan for first place?"
Zhang Ruochen stopped and looked at the humanoid tree, deep in thought. Then he smiled and said, "You're right. I should prioritize the bigger picture. But I'll just scout ahead. If there's any sign of disturbing the Blood Shadow Ghost Seed's true body, I'll retreat immediately."
With that, he continued climbing upward.
Blade Prison Emperor and Wind Queen exchanged glances and followed.
They thought highly of themselves and also wanted to seize the opportunity inside the coffin, so they decided to give it a try.
But as soon as they stepped onto the stone path, their expressions changed.
An invisible pressure fell on them. Besides that, strange, unknown sounds entered their ears, disrupting their thoughts and creating illusions in their minds.
With each step upward, it felt like a mountain was falling on them.
By the time they had traveled less than a hundred miles, they were drenched in sweat, their faces flushed, and they were struggling immensely.
The strange noises in their ears grew louder, like demonic thunder roaring incessantly, disturbing their peace of mind.
"I feel like... I'm carrying a planet on my back. Can you still go forward?" Blade Prison Emperor panted heavily, asking Wind Queen.
Wind Queen gritted her teeth and shook her head.
The two looked up at the humanoid tree on the distant coffin. Suddenly, the trunk, which resembled a young girl's body, seemed to grow immensely tall and majestic, rising thousands of miles, radiating an overwhelming divine might.
Blade Prison Emperor and Wind Queen felt as if struck by lightning, trembling slightly. Without a second thought, they immediately retreated.
If they continued forward, they would likely be unable to withstand the humanoid tree's pressure, collapse, and possibly even lose their lives on the way.
Zhang Ruochen had reached a position nearly two hundred miles away when the spherical hollow world suddenly shook slightly.
"What's going on?"
He stopped and looked ahead.
He saw two snow-white, slender arms on the humanoid tree glowing with streaks of blood-red light, and its ten fingers began to move rhythmically.