Chapter 2461: Sixty-Sixth Rank
Wuma Jiuxing was simply too powerful. Although he had not struck Zhang Ruochen directly, the sheer force of his absolute rule domain and the overflowing energy from his body had nearly killed Zhang Ruochen.
No wonder, after the Heaven Hunting Battle, Xue Jue War God had told Zhang Ruochen that he relied too heavily on the formidable defensive power of his demigod body. Against cultivators of a lower realm or the same realm, indeed, with his demigod body, even if Zhang Ruochen stood still, it would not be easy for them to harm him.
However, when encountering those far above his realm, like Que, Yan Huangtu, and Wujiang, his demigod body had been repeatedly damaged.
Xue Jue War God had once asserted that if he were to encounter a Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm Great Saint, a single strike from that opponent would shatter his demigod body into pieces.
It wasn't that the demigod body was weak.
If it were weak, Zhang Ruochen would have been killed long ago on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield by Que, Yan Huangtu, Wujiang, and the others.
This time, Zhang Ruochen deeply felt the sense of crisis. The powerful physical body he had always relied on was utterly insufficient when facing a powerhouse of Wuma Jiuxing's caliber.
Not to mention Wuma Jiuxing, even against Yunheng Iron Blood King, if Zhang Ruochen could not borrow the world force of the Qiankun Realm, he would not dare to fight head-on and would have to flee immediately.
What troubled Zhang Ruochen was that his Qi Sea had been severely damaged, preventing him from opening the Qiankun Realm and borrowing its world force.
Under these circumstances, not to mention encountering Yunheng Iron Blood King, even facing opponents of the level of Bai Qinger's disciples, Shang Yue and Shang Xia, would be extremely troublesome.
As for the elusive Zangjin Baihu, it was clearly a fierce tiger. No matter what enemy Zhang Ruochen faced, it showed no intention of intervening. It would likely only save him if he were truly helpless and trapped in a death situation.
What if it saved him a step too late...
Anyway, even if Zhang Ruochen died, it wouldn't die.
Just how much did this so-called guide weigh in its heart? Only it knew.
As for Xiao Hei, Zhang Ruochen still wasn't clear on how deep his strength ran. Being able to rescue him and Guyeshe Jing from Wuma Jiuxing's hands meant he was no weakling.
But hoping that Xiao Hei would display his divine might every time and never fail was far too difficult.
Zhang Ruochen still preferred to have his life in his own hands.
The more he thought about it,
the heavier Zhang Ruochen's sense of crisis became.
"Realm! It's because my realm is too weak that I currently lack the power to fight head-on against a Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm Great Saint. I must break through to the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm as soon as possible."
"Fortunately, I have refined the White Cang Blood Earth. My physical body's recovery ability is astonishing, and I have already healed, so it won't affect my breaking of the shackles."
Zhang Ruochen took out the bronze coffin containing the divine corpse, placed it in the room, flew into the coffin, and landed on the surface of the divine corpse.
He immediately activated the Sundial.
Now, Zhang Ruochen no longer stinted on divine stones. He expanded the Sundial's coverage to completely envelop the Soul Devouring Insects on the divine corpse, accelerating their awakening progress.
If he couldn't mobilize world force, the Soul Devouring Insects would be his greatest reliance.
Beneath the Sundial, Zhang Ruochen also took out the Seven Star Imperial Palace and retrieved the Divine Star Soul that Xue Jue War God had stored inside.
The Divine Star Soul was stored within a piece of divine crystal the size of a human head, resembling a mass of deep blue flame.
Looking at the divine crystal before him, Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "There really is a Divine Star Soul. Whose star soul is this? Did Grandfather kill a god?"
The Divine Star Soul within the divine crystal was incomplete, only a faint sliver.
But for Zhang Ruochen at his current stage, it was of immense help. Refining it would allow his damaged sacred soul to recover in a short time, and it would certainly become stronger than before.
Only after the sacred soul recovered could Zhang Ruochen's damaged sacred source fuse together more quickly.
...
Three years later.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the surface of the divine corpse, holding the Divine Envoy Wooden Staff and raising it.
Instantly, a powerful dark force surged from the staff, like rolling clouds, covering a thousand miles of space within the bronze coffin. In the darkness, lightning occasionally flashed, emitting waves of destructive energy.
"Unexpectedly, after refining this Divine Star Soul, my spiritual power finally broke through the bottleneck and reached the sixty-sixth rank."
Zhang Ruochen could clearly sense a tremendous leap in his spiritual power, incomparable to when it was at the sixty-fifth rank. The most obvious manifestation was that he could now combine sacred techniques with the Way of Truth at a faster speed, unleashing ten times the attack power.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen found that his control over the Divine Envoy Wooden Staff had become somewhat stronger.
His sacred soul had recovered.
The cracks on his sacred source had almost completely disappeared, but Zhang Ruochen still insisted on swallowing sacred spring water daily to nurture it, not wanting to leave any hidden dangers.
The only thing that still troubled Zhang Ruochen was his Qi Sea.
The Qi Sea was too difficult to heal; he could only refine sacred medicines and slowly nurture it.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen was wealthy and did not lack hundred-thousand-year sacred medicines or Eon sacred medicines. In just three years, his Qi Sea had recovered considerably. However, it still could not support Zhang Ruochen in fighting against top-tier experts.
Once he used his sacred manifestation or powerful sacred techniques, the cracks in his Qi Sea would worsen.
Zhang Ruochen now understood why Guyeshe Jing had judged that the injured Wuma Jiuxing would definitely hide and heal. Just like him now, he dared not fight against experts.
He couldn't afford it.
Because the injury was not to the physical body but to the very foundation of the Dao.
"I wonder how that battle ended. Xiao Hei said that Wuma Jiuxing seemed to have encountered a powerful enemy, which was why he didn't pursue us."
After three years of cultivation, the total number of shackles Zhang Ruochen had broken had reached eighty.
Outside, three days had passed.
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat worried about Guyeshe Jing's injuries. He flew out of the bronze coffin and returned to the room.
The room was very quiet, and Xiao Hei was nowhere to be seen.
Guyeshe Jing still lay on the bed, her condition looking grim. The knife wound on her chest had severely worsened, and her breathing had become extremely faint, like a candle in the wind, about to go out at any moment.
Zhang Ruochen was not a cold-blooded person, and he felt quite concerned.
After all, there was no enmity between him and Guyeshe Jing.
Although Guyeshe Jing very much wanted to obtain the "Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription," she had never tried to seize it by force. Of course, force wouldn't have worked anyway—killing Zhang Ruochen was easy, but finding the "Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription" on him was very difficult.
Moreover, she had been injured because Zhang Ruochen wanted to use her to deal with Bai Qinger.
If he truly watched her wither away like this, Zhang Ruochen would inevitably develop some inner knots.
Zhang Ruochen extended two fingers and pressed them to her brow.
Her body was extremely cold.
The life force within her had weakened severely.
Even her sacred dao rules had been severed by over a trillion of Wuma Jiuxing's blade dao rules, greatly diminishing her cultivation. Other Supreme Realm Great Saints would need to cultivate for ten thousand years to produce a trillion sacred dao rules.
This meant Guyeshe Jing had lost ten thousand years of cultivation.
If Guyeshe Jing had truly deliberately injured herself, the price she paid was far too great.
A hint of regret arose in Zhang Ruochen's heart. Had he been too suspicious this time?
If he had administered treatment earlier, Guyeshe Jing's cultivation would not have suffered such severe losses.
"The blade dao rules are spreading toward her brow Qi Sea. I can't wait any longer. If I don't act now, she might lose all her cultivation and even her life will be hard to save."
Zhang Ruochen had the intention to save her, but rescuing Guyeshe Jing was no easy task.
Both Guyeshe Jing's and Wuma Jiuxing's cultivations were too powerful. For a cultivator at the Hundred Shackles Realm like him to intervene, a single misstep could harm himself.
The best method was to awaken Guyeshe Jing.
Let Guyeshe Jing heal herself.
To awaken Guyeshe Jing, Zhang Ruochen's sacred soul would have to enter her Qi Sea through the Divine Martial Mark on her brow and communicate with her slumbering sacred soul.
But if Guyeshe Jing had deliberately injured herself and was feigning slumber, Zhang Ruochen's sacred soul entering her Qi Sea would be like walking into a trap.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was considering a safer approach,
"Swish!"
At the edge of the concealment formation, a black light flickered.
Xiao Hei, in his cat form, flew in from outside, then transformed back into an owl, growing to the height of a person.
"Where have you been?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xiao Hei's expression was quite grave. "Of course, I went to gather information to see if we can escape from Goddess City. But the Goddess Twelve Pavilions seems determined to deal with us. The city's formations haven't been deactivated; instead, they're being continuously strengthened."
Zhang Ruochen became more certain of his speculation. It seemed Bai Qinger really didn't have a top-grade Origin Divine Crystal.
Otherwise, why make such a big commotion?
Xiao Hei continued, "Right now, Goddess City only allows entry, not exit. The sacred realm cultivators of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions are searching every house in the city every day, interrogating everyone one by one. It won't be long before they find this place."
"Can't your concealment formation fool those sacred realm cultivators?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xiao Hei shook his head. "Ordinary sacred realm cultivators are no concern, of course. Even if they walk into this room, they won't find us. But over the past three days, more and more top-tier Great Saints have gathered in Goddess City, and they're all looking for you."
"All looking for me?"
Zhang Ruochen squinted and smiled.
The dozen or so major powers that knew about the top-grade Origin Divine Crystal's emergence weren't stupid. Seeing the Goddess Twelve Pavilions and Bai Qinger searching for Zhang Ruochen with such intensity, causing an uproar throughout the city, they must have sensed something.
For the sake of the Origin Divine Temple, these major powers would pay any price to find Zhang Ruochen.
"Don't worry, I have an excellent hiding place. I guarantee no one will find it."
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something and asked, "Did you find out any news about Wuma Jiuxing?"
Xiao Hei said proudly, "There's nothing under heaven that this Emperor can't find out! It's said that three days ago, the Ten Nether Executioners of the Destiny Temple engaged in a fierce battle with Wuma Jiuxing. Ten Gates of Fate hung over Goddess City, and under the light of fate, tens of thousands of sacred realm cultivators became mortals overnight."
"All Ten Nether Executioners were deployed?" Zhang Ruochen was secretly shocked.
Xiao Hei had clearly heard of the Ten Nether Executioners as well, and deep fear showed in his eyes. "That's right! Any one of the Ten Nether Executioners can be called a demigod. Especially the leader, Tianxu Executioner, who is said to be the world spirit of a great world. After that great world was destroyed, the world spirit was captured by a god of the Destiny Temple and cultivated into an invincible god of slaughter."
"Is Wuma Jiuxing dead?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Wuma Jiuxing had been struck by a sword energy from the Underworld King and must have been severely injured. How could he survive being besieged by the Ten Nether Executioners?
Unless he broke through to godhood.
Xiao Hei shook his head, somewhat excited. "Wuma Jiuxing unleashed five strikes of his blade, killing five Executioners in a row. His battle cry echoed for a hundred thousand miles. For the past three days, all cultivators on Ice King Star have been talking about it. Of course, aside from a few who know the truth, the other sacred realm cultivators think it was a large-scale attack on Goddess City by Paradise Realm, or even that an angel god of Paradise Realm had made a move."
Zhang Ruochen was deeply shaken.
One strike, one Executioner.
Five strikes, five Executioners.
What terrifying combat power was that?
Only now did he realize how incredibly fortunate he had been to stab Wuma Jiuxing with his sword.
Xiao Hei patted his chest with his claw and laughed. "Wuma Jiuxing could kill an Executioner with one strike, yet he couldn't do anything to this Emperor. Now you know how powerful this Emperor is, right? So you'd better suck up to me. With me protecting you, you can walk sideways on Ice King Star, or even the entire Hell Realm!"
"Should we go walk sideways in Goddess City right now?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei was stunned for a moment, then immediately backed down, coughing dryly. "Goddess City is the territory of the Goddess Twelve Pavilions. They've set up a Life-Death Grand Formation that can draw on the power of the underground divine veins. It's better to keep a low profile here."
"What was the final outcome of that battle?"
Xiao Hei said seriously, "It's said that the master of the Ice Imperial Palace, Qing Yulou, stepped in, and then the battle moved to outer space. As for the outcome, probably only a handful of people know."
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "The Ice Imperial Palace's influence is that great?"
Even the Destiny Temple had to show respect, which was far beyond Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
He had long heard that the master of the Ice Imperial Palace had close ties with the Undying Divine Temple. Now it seemed it was more than just close.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly remembered that when Qiangu Nüdi had met him, she had taken him to a distant starry space far from Ice King Star, rather than coming to Ice King Star in person.
Could it be that even Qiangu Nüdi feared the master of the Ice Imperial Palace and dared not set foot on Ice King Star?
"That shouldn't be the case. The Empress dared to go to the Fate Divine Domain, so why would she fear setting foot on Ice King Star?" Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly, thinking to himself.
Xiao Hei sneered. "That master of the Ice Imperial Palace is a truly remarkable existence. If not for that incident a hundred thousand years ago, he would now be the Undying Divine Temple's Hall Master. And he would be the youngest in the history of all Hall Masters."
As he said this, a rare look of reminiscence appeared in Xiao Hei's eyes.
There was a hint of bitterness in his expression.
"How do you know that?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Information about the master of the Ice Imperial Palace was top secret, and even Qingsheng Great Saint knew very little.
How long had Xiao Hei been in Hell Realm? How could he know about the master of the Ice Imperial Palace?
The emotion in Xiao Hei's eyes faded, and he chuckled. "Let's just say he has some connection to Kunlun Realm. This Emperor even saw him when I was young. Do you believe that?"
"I believe you." Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei said meaningfully, "Let me put it this way: the reason he imprisoned himself on Ice King Star is related to Kunlun Realm. During that divine war against Kunlun Realm back then, he made a huge mistake."
"What mistake?" Zhang Ruochen asked.