Chapter 2726: Full Moon Night
By lending out the Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription, Zhang Ruochen suffered no loss at all.
However, it could ease the conflict with Gushe Jing, serving as icing on the cake.
Mu Lingxi pondered for a long time, yet did not immediately agree to Zhang Ruochen's request.
This left Zhang Ruochen puzzled. He asked, "What's wrong? What are you worried about?"
"No, I still can't leave Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm." Mu Lingxi lowered her head and said this.
"Why?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Are you worried that Liu Shen won't let you go, or that she has placed some forbidden technique on you?"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Mu Lingxi's wrist and mobilized his spiritual power and the power of the Heart of Truth to carefully investigate and sense.
"No! Although my master doesn't value me at all, she hasn't treated me maliciously either." Mu Lingxi bit her lip lightly, hesitating as if she wanted to speak but stopped.
She very much wanted to tell Zhang Ruochen about Chi Xingtian.
But she was also worried that if Zhang Ruochen found out, he would think it too dangerous and forcibly take her away.
Although Zhang Ruochen hadn't died at the hands of Xiu Chen Heavenly God, so there was no need to think about revenge, she had still made a promise to Chi Xingtian. As a person, one must keep their word.
Zhang Ruochen's unwavering commitment back then still moved her to this day.
If she left like this, wouldn't Chi Xingtian be trapped in Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm forever?
After all, Chi Xingtian was ultimately the former War God of Kunlun Realm, and it was to protect Kunlun Realm that he had ended up in such a miserable state.
Whether hero or War God, he deserved admiration and should not have such an ending.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Is there something you can't even tell me?"
"When everything is settled in the future, I will definitely tell you. But for now..." Mu Lingxi closed her red lips again and gently shook her head.
She knew this matter was dangerous; once exposed, it would mean divine form annihilation. So she didn't want to drag Zhang Ruochen into it.
"Alright, I won't force you."
Although Zhang Ruochen said this, what he was thinking was that he would have to forcibly take Mu Lingxi away when the time came. He couldn't let her stay in Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
It was too dangerous here.
...
Over the next ten days, Zhang Ruochen also cultivated in the Seven Stars Imperial Palace, mainly comprehending Sacred Dao Rules.
In the Supreme Realm, an Eon-level representative figure could cultivate thirty trillion Sacred Dao Rules.
An Eon-level genius could cultivate forty trillion Sacred Dao Rules.
And he had broken through to the Supreme Realm with two Eons' worth of Sacred Dao Rules, bringing his Sacred Dao Rule count close to thirty trillion. Zhang Ruochen was quite curious to know where his limit in the Supreme Realm actually lay.
Fifty trillion?
Or sixty trillion?
As for the legendary "Absolute Physical Dao Transformation," Zhang Ruochen hadn't even considered it. That was an ideal realm, not very meaningful to cultivate, and there was no need to forcefully pursue it.
For him now, the Divine Realm was the goal.
Or rather, the level of a God Venerable was what he had to strive to pursue.
A Venerable among gods, one person supporting an entire realm.
As for "establishing a new order in the universe," that was something one could only think about after first becoming a God Venerable.
Without becoming a God Venerable, it was all empty talk.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Gushe Jing left the Seven Stars Imperial Palace, and then, together with Liu Shen, left the Nine Demon Caves.
"The place where Gushe Jing is crossing her Divine Tribulation doesn't seem to be in the starry sky." Zhang Ruochen said this tentatively.
Luo Sha said, "Jingjing's talent can be called the best in Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm in the past hundred thousand years. Her crossing of the Divine Tribulation is naturally a matter of utmost importance."
"Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm must have some means to help her cross the Divine Tribulation more easily."
"We are guests; it's better to know less about these secrets."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "When will you cross the Divine Tribulation?"
"I should cross it when I return this time." Luo Sha's expression turned serious.
Facing the Divine Tribulation, any cultivator had to be cautious.
Luo Sha then said with a smile, "Don't worry, Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm has its methods, and Tianluo Divine Kingdom naturally has ways to help me too. On the other hand, if you don't step into the Divine Realm soon, you might have a hard time in the future."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Jingjing won't let you off."
Zhang Ruochen chuckled and said, "I know she won't let me off. What about you? If you step into the Divine Realm, will you let me off?"
"This princess naturally won't let you off either. When the time comes, I'll eat you up, skin and bones. Hehe!" Luo Sha made a grasping gesture with her five snow-white jade fingers, her phoenix eyes full of laughter.
Zhang Ruochen naturally wasn't afraid of her. He looked up at the sky.
The blood-red sky gradually darkened.
A round moon, even redder than the sky, emerged from the clouds, revealing a faint imprint.
The demonic Qi in heaven and earth grew denser.
The Rakshasa in the Nine Demon Caves all came out of their caves, stood under the moon, and assumed various strange postures, breathing and absorbing.
The altar built from white bones was also activated, drawing the moonlight near it.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen looking up at the moon, Luo Sha said, "The blood moon in Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm only becomes full once every three years. On this day, the demonic Qi reaches its peak, and there are some other benefits."
"It's said that cultivating for one night is equivalent to three years of normal cultivation."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Such an important time, I believe the Rakshasa cultivators will make good use of it and not waste it."
"Naturally."
Zhang Ruochen prepared to set off, but Luo Sha kept not leaving, making it hard for him to extricate himself. So he asked, "Have you seen Lingxi?"
"I haven't seen her all day today." Luo Sha shook her head, then smiled lightly, "Hasn't she been with you all along?"
Zhang Ruochen wasn't worried that Mu Lingxi would encounter danger at this critical moment. He said, "Could you help me find her?"
Luo Sha looked at Zhang Ruochen for a long moment, then nodded. "Alright! I'll go ask Cen Hong; maybe she knows where Lingxi went."
Seeing Luo Sha return to the Nine Demon Caves, Zhang Ruochen immediately soared into the air and flew away.
Not long after Zhang Ruochen left, Luo Sha emerged from the darkness, watching the light disappear at the horizon. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't follow, letting out a sigh instead.
Zhang Ruochen's various unusual actions recently had given her some guesses.
Including Mu Lingxi offering the "Heavenly Demon Greed Wolf Diagram" and joining Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, she also had some suspicions. Others didn't understand Mu Lingxi and thought she was offering the diagram to protect herself.
But Luo Sha understood.
However, Luo Sha had no intention of uncovering the truth.
Even if she knew the truth, what then?
Could she stop Zhang Ruochen?
She couldn't.
So, it was better to pretend she knew nothing.
Sometimes, living too clearly was a painful thing.
...
Zhang Ruochen didn't deliberately hide; he simply flew through the air.
As he passed by some divine mountains and demon caves, he was naturally detected by gods. But these gods didn't take it seriously. As long as Zhang Ruochen wasn't intruding on their territory, there was no need to bother.
On a full moon night, the benefits for gods were even greater.
So naturally, they wouldn't waste time studying where Zhang Ruochen was going to cause trouble.
The black sea where Chi Xingtian slept was called "Demon Realm Sea," spanning tens of thousands of li. (The Pacific Ocean spans about 15,000 li from north to south and about 20,000 li from east to west.)
For ordinary Rakshasa cultivators, the Demon Realm Sea was a forbidden area.
There, terrifying dark forces filled the air, and the land for a thousand li around the coast was barren of vegetation.
When Zhang Ruochen reached the shore of the Demon Realm Sea, the blood moon in the sky had grown even brighter.
Even the moon's outline had enlarged by a circle.
The shore was covered in black sand, and the air was cold.
The waves rolled higher and higher.
Zhang Ruochen had, of course, considered the possibility that this was a trap set by the gods of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm to test him.
Therefore, he had already prepared another set of explanations in his mind.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to enter the sea, he sensed a fluctuation of energy. He quickly concealed himself, vanishing into the air.
"Rustle rustle."
A black shadow rose from the sand and mud. Its figure was extremely slender and graceful, clearly a woman.
But what surprised Zhang Ruochen was that although the other party was clearly not a god, with his cultivation, he only detected her when she had already approached nearby.
And so close, Zhang Ruochen couldn't see through her cultivation.
She was like a mass of black mist, without a discernible face, everything unclear.
Was Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm so full of hidden talents?
"Splash!"
The black shadow faced the waves and charged into the sea.
Zhang Ruochen cautiously followed.
After swimming underwater for a short while, the black shadow sank to the seabed.
In the black shadow, a pair of bright eyes looked up and saw an enormous divine body standing proudly. Although immersed in seawater, it was still majestic and towering, like an underwater divine mountain.
She took off the divine skin draped over her, revealing her true form. She wore a suit of armor, with long black hair and a fiery phoenix mark on her brow.
She bowed deeply and said, "Greetings, Great God Xingtian!"
The headless divine body gave no response.
She was already used to this. She took out a spatial cloth bag and pulled out one blue Life Soul Grass after another, planting them on the surface of the divine body's feet.
When the Life Soul Grass landed on the divine body, roots automatically grew, trying to absorb the soul power inside the divine body.
But the soul power contained in the Life Soul Grass was instead absorbed by the divine body.
The grass blades dimmed, then withered and turned to dust.
"Great God, oh Great God, you've been absorbing soul power for a thousand years. When will you finally break through the soul seal and completely escape?" she said while planting.
Chi Xingtian's feet were dozens of times larger than mountains.
She didn't notice a male figure appearing behind her.
The man watched her busy figure for a long time before saying, "Compared to Great God Xingtian's soul, the soul power contained in Life Soul Grass is too weak. Not to mention absorbing it for a thousand years, even if you absorb it for ten thousand or a hundred thousand years, you won't be able to break the soul seal. At most, it can strengthen the soul power and make the periods of wakefulness longer."
The woman planting the Life Soul Grass was startled and turned around abruptly, meeting the eyes of the man behind her.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was gentle as he looked at her and sighed, "Lingxi, is this the reason you're unwilling to leave Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm?"
...
There will be another chapter tonight.
I feel like I still need to say this to have the motivation to write at night. No matter how late, I have to write.