Chapter 2470: Successful Breakthrough
The Desire Shackle was located within the Sacred Soul, connected to consciousness.
Zhang Ruochen, possessing the Heart of Truth, could perceive the shackle's location. The moment he went all out, intending to sever the shackle, a sharp, piercing pain suddenly struck his heart. Looking down, he saw a blood-red sword tip protruding from his chest.
The power he had accumulated to break the shackle instantly dissipated.
Zhang Ruochen turned his head in disbelief, seeing a youthful yet beautiful face, with jet-black long hair and intelligent eyes—it was Chi Yao in her maiden years.
The swallow pendant tied at her waist swayed in the wind, colliding with a crisp "ding-ding" sound.
"Pfft!"
She withdrew the sword.
Blood gushed from Zhang Ruochen's chest and back. His body lost strength, and he fell to one knee.
Watching the graceful figure turn and walk away, growing more distant, Zhang Ruochen wanted to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, blood surged from his throat.
Finally, he collapsed to the ground, watching his most beloved woman fade into the distance, her silhouette blurring.
No matter what, he could not believe that Chi Yao, who had never killed anyone, the innocent and carefree Princess Chi Yao, the smiling, teasing Chi Yao who was like a sister to him, would have killed him with a single sword strike.
"False, it's all false. Wake up, wake up now!"
The scene before Zhang Ruochen vanished, and he returned to the Seven Star Imperial Palace. His body was still tense, gradually recovering from the suffocation, gasping heavily.
That scene had played out countless times before, in dreams or memories.
Even though he had learned the truth of eight hundred years ago from Chi Yao and Kong Lanyou, it seemed he still hadn't fully let go. At the critical moment of severing the Desire Shackle, he had lost himself.
"Again."
Zhang Ruochen calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and once more gathered his strength.
The Sacred Qi within his body surged along the path of the ninth level of the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture. The Sacred Might radiating from him grew stronger and stronger, forming a pillar of light that shot out from the top of his head.
Just then, Chi Yao's voice echoed in his ears: "I killed you because your body flows with the blood of the Undying Blood Clan, one of the Ten Clans of Hell. Your mother is the Blood Queen, one of the Three Queens of the Kunlun Realm eight hundred years ago. Is that reason enough?"
"You promised me you wouldn't tell him that secret," Kong Lanyou's voice sounded.
...
Zhang Ruochen's body trembled slightly, and the pillar of light above his head dimmed a bit.
"The Ming Emperor used his powerful cultivation to seal the Undying Blood Clan blood within you. That's why you couldn't break through to the Fish-Dragon Realm in your past life."
"The Blood Queen approached the Ming Emperor to control him and, through him, the entire Holy Bright Central Empire, furthering her goal of controlling the Kunlun Realm."
...
"News has come that the Ming Emperor has been controlled by the Blood Queen and turned into her puppet."
...
"You're not naive enough to think that I, the Empress, still have lingering feelings for you, are you? If so, I advise you not to delude yourself. In the eyes of a god, you're nothing more than a somewhat useful pawn."
...
At first, Zhang Ruochen reacted strongly, but gradually, he calmed down. No matter what sounds came to his ears, they could no longer affect him.
Just as he thought he had become fearless, with a heart as firm as iron, ready to muster all his strength to sever the shackle, his forehead suddenly felt cold.
He reached out and touched it; the snowflake on his forehead melted.
Zhang Ruochen looked around. Snow filled the sky.
A mass of seven-colored divine light in the sky scattered threads of rainbow radiance. A divine statue, three thousand zhang tall, rose from the ground, identical to Chi Yao.
Ahead stood a majestic palace, its doors wide open.
Huang Yanchen, dressed in red, stood at the center of the palace entrance, saying, "Master told me to tell you that today, she doesn't want to kill you. She allows you to leave on your own. If you behave yourself in the future, she may spare your life."
The scene shifted.
The Hunyuan Sword in Huang Yanchen's hand pierced his chest.
The pain in his body and heart caused the power Zhang Ruochen had gathered to dissipate once more.
He failed to sever the shackle for the second time.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged in the Seven Star Imperial Palace, clutching his chest, his face covered in sweat.
That scene was exactly what had happened on the day Chi Yao became a god, when he went to the Purple Micro Palace. It was then that he and Huang Yanchen had completely become enemies, cutting off their robes and severing their marital bond.
"Again. This bit of obsession won't stop me."
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, sat up straight, his eyes sharp as blades.
Every subsequent attempt to sever the shackle was affected by various past events.
Sometimes, he heard the news of the Yunwu Commandery Prince's death.
Sometimes, he returned to the day outside the Yin-Yang Hall, where the heads of Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Sister, and Bai Su hung.
Sometimes, he relived the moment he killed the Barbarian Sword Great Saint.
...
Zhang Ruochen used his powerful will to forcibly suppress these distracting thoughts, keeping his mind steadfast.
The Desire Pill and the Heart of Truth also aided him.
The Desire Pill weakened many of the obsessions in his heart.
The Heart of Truth helped him see through all illusions and return to reality.
Severing the Desire Shackle was both dangerous and difficult. A single misstep could lead to demonic possession, turning one into a mindless evil. If not for the dire situation, Zhang Ruochen would never have attempted to break through to this realm now.
Who knows how long passed...
"Bang!"
A sound like a breaking string came from within Zhang Ruochen's body. In the Star Technique Palace, rings of Sacred Qi ripples spread outward from him.
Blood trickled from the corner of Zhang Ruochen's mouth.
Yet he smiled instead, saying, "Forcing a breakthrough actually succeeded!"
The Desire Shackle had been severed.
But he still hadn't reached the Great Perfection of the Hundred Shackles Realm.
Because within a cultivator's body, besides the hundred main shackles, there were thousands of smaller ones.
Of course, those smaller shackles were nothing to fear; they just required a considerable amount of time.
Although the breakthrough was successful, Zhang Ruochen had forced it and suffered significant backlash. Besides new cracks in his Qi Sea, his five viscera and six bowels were all injured.
Zhang Ruochen paid no heed to the physical injuries and immediately began circulating his technique.
Because of the realm breakthrough, the Sacred Dao rules in his Qi Sea grew rapidly. In less than a quarter of an hour, the rules increased by three hundred million, then gradually slowed down.
Following that, the Undying Blood Clan blood in his body became uncontrollable, boiling over, and he felt a strong urge for blood.
"Swoosh!"
Ten golden wings automatically burst from his back, with Ancestral Rune patterns flowing on them.
His spine grew hotter and more swollen, burning up, forming two bulges that brought tearing pain.
"Hiss."
Where the bulges were, the skin and flesh split open, emitting golden light.
This was a sign that new golden wings were about to grow.
The blood Qi in Zhang Ruochen's body rapidly depleted, his body becoming gaunt. The urge for blood grew stronger, and sharp fangs grew from his mouth.
Only by drinking blood could he replenish the lost blood Qi.
He immediately took a jar of Divine Blood from his Space Ring.
Opening the wooden jar, Zhang Ruochen's hand stopped.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the blood inside. The scent of blood seemed incredibly fragrant. His fingers trembled for a long time before he threw the wooden jar away, taking out one Sacred Medicine after another from his Space Ring, stuffing them into his mouth regardless of their age.
The Sacred Medicines entered his stomach, and as his technique circulated, the Sacred Dao rules in his Qi Sea began to grow again.
On his back, the eleventh and twelfth golden wings gradually grew out, but they were in a half-solid, half-void state, like chaotic light mist.
He didn't know how many Sacred Medicines he had eaten, but he stopped only when he could no longer hold any more.
The urge for blood gradually faded.
...
A month later.
Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was fully consolidated, and his physical injuries had long since healed.
"This attempt to sever the Desire Shackle was still too risky. Fortunately, I had the Desire Pill and the Heart of Truth. Otherwise, passing this hurdle would have been harder than for Yu Huang. I might have been stuck here for a thousand years, or even ten thousand."
"Now that I've broken through the Desire Shackle, it should shock many cultivators who didn't believe in me, right? Will my ranking on the Divine Reserve Scroll have improved a bit?"
Zhang Ruochen knew very well that although he had cultivated a Second-Rank Sacred Intent and displayed unparalleled talent, countless cultivators in the Hell Realm, even gods, still didn't think highly of him, believing he would find it difficult to pass through the Desire, Thousand Questions, and Ten Thousand Deaths stages.
And he was determined to prove to those people that he wasn't so fragile.
Next, Zhang Ruochen began to summarize the gains and losses of this breakthrough.
First, the Desire Pill and a large number of Sacred Medicines contained abundant energy, which, after his breakthrough, transformed into Sacred Dao rules.
The original seven and a half billion Sacred Dao rules increased to seven point nine billion.
Second, during the year it took to sever the Desire Shackle, Zhang Ruochen repeatedly experienced his past. Although it was only a year, it felt like several centuries. He gained new perspectives on many things.
His state of mind was undergoing a transformation.
The spirit he had been searching for seemed to have appeared and taken root in his heart, but he still couldn't grasp it precisely. It needed a catalyst.
Zhang Ruochen could clearly sense the surging divine power flowing in his blood. The power of his half-divine body was further unleashed. His skin, muscles, bones, and internal organs were continuously washed and nurtured by divine power, strengthening without cease.
It must be known that his current body had been nurtured by the Blood Queen using the Divine Blood of the Divine Phoenix and her own Divine Blood. The divine power hidden in his bloodline was unmatched by any Great Saint.
His physical body, cultivation, and state of mind had all greatly improved, but Zhang Ruochen didn't become blindly optimistic.
He knew very well that he had only succeeded in breaking through by forcibly suppressing his desires. When he reached the Thousand Questions Realm, these problems would erupt even more violently.
Zhang Ruochen's state of mind had undergone a major transformation, so unlike before, he didn't frown or worry. Instead, he was quite calm.
He would deal with the Thousand Questions Realm when the time came.
No matter what he had to face, he would rise to the challenge, take it all on, and push through.
Zhang Ruochen went to the Star Artifact Palace to check on Xiao Hei's progress in refining the formation.
In the Star Artifact Palace, over a hundred owl spirits were refining the formation, all of them Xiao Hei's Spiritual Power avatars.
Xiao Hei's true body, seeing Zhang Ruochen's gaunt face, said, "Why have you lost so much weight? Could it be... that the Demoness Gu She came again?"
"Don't talk nonsense! Should I find you a female owl so you can lose a lot of weight too?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiao Hei showed a surprised expression, lifting his head to look at Zhang Ruochen.
"What are you looking at? I'm not a female owl." Zhang Ruochen touched the tip of his nose, feeling uncomfortable under Xiao Hei's gaze.
Xiao Hei's expression was complicated, saying, "I feel like you've changed quite a bit."
"Have I? Where?" Zhang Ruochen smiled.
Xiao Hei became even more certain of his feeling, saying, "I think you've become more optimistic and upright, no longer as gloomy as before, as if hiding countless secrets, as if... you could do anything bad... Hey, what are you doing? It was you who told me to speak."