Chapter 2839: A Twist of Fate
From the accounts of Chi Yao and Zangjin Baihu, Zhang Ruochen finally understood what had happened.
Chi Yao, worried that Zhang Ruochen might collapse emotionally from having his cultivation crippled, quickly comforted him, saying, "Although your Divine Source and Qi Sea have been shattered, I’ve heard of a secret art in this world. If a cultivator with sufficient Spiritual Power takes action, they can reconstitute the Divine Source and Qi Sea. Come back to Kunlun with me; Tai Shang will surely help you."
Beside them, Zangjin Baihu said, "Didn’t you claim that only you in all the world could restore his cultivation?"
Chi Yao hadn’t expected Zangjin Baihu to be so talkative. She glared at him, her eyes carrying a hint of threat.
Zangjin Baihu said, "What’s with that look? It was you who said you could restore his cultivation, which is why I agreed to bring you here. You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?"
"Shut up and get out," Chi Yao said.
Zangjin Baihu shook his head firmly, saying, "No way! You woman, you are Zhang Ruochen’s lifelong enemy, the one he swore an oath to kill. What if you take advantage of his weakness now and harm him?"
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had used his Spiritual Power to make a preliminary examination of his internal condition.
Because his Qi Sea and Divine Source had been shattered, over ninety percent of his Divine Soul had been lost. Only a small portion, integrated into his blood, Divine Heart, and physical body, remained.
That was why he hadn’t lost consciousness.
His martial cultivation wasn’t entirely gone, either, since he had cultivated a Supreme Dharma Body, with a vast number of Rule Divine Marks fused into the particles of his body, which were not housed in the Divine Source or Qi Sea.
But it was essentially the same as being completely crippled.
Without a Divine Source, he could no longer convert Divine Qi, nor could he control the Rule Divine Marks.
However, compared to other Spiritual Power deities, Zhang Ruochen’s physical body was still relatively strong, which gave him a small advantage in the short term.
After years of arduous cultivation, to end up with such a bleak result—it was impossible not to feel dejected, pained, and angry.
What tormented Zhang Ruochen even more was that the Qiankun Realm, which had been housed in his Qi Sea, seemed to have been shattered as well. The Qiankun Realm contained countless living beings, and Lan You was also cultivating there.
Images of Kong Lanyou and other familiar faces flashed through Zhang Ruochen’s mind. His expression was heavy and sorrowful as he asked, "Who exactly is Qing Zu?"
Chi Yao said, "Qing Zu is the master of Tiannan, a taboo figure in the Hell Realm. The reason you’ve never heard that name is that few dare to speak it."
He didn’t know Qing Zu, but he knew of Tiannan. He realized just how terrifying this great enemy of his was. He also understood that the master of Tiannan was one of the powerful beings who had besieged Xumi Saint Monk.
The reason for crippling his cultivation was thus self-evident.
Chi Yao said, "You must cultivate the complete *Thirty-Three Heavens* if you ever hope to take revenge. I can… help you."
Zhang Ruochen fixed his gaze on Chi Yao. Gradually, he calmed the emotions within him and sat back down on the stone platform, saying, "It’s useless. Back then, Saint Monk himself said that placing his hopes on us was merely striving for a sliver of a future. That shows he knew the future was bleak, that someone would inevitably stop us from growing."
"Qing Zu crippling me was no accident. Even if he hadn’t acted, some other powerful figure would have."
Chi Yao feared Zhang Ruochen would sink into despair and never recover, so she said, "Are you just giving up like this? If Tai Shang takes action, you have a chance to restore your cultivation. If we add the Void Scroll’s power transfer, your cultivation might even reach a higher level."
Zhang Ruochen was very calm. He shook his head and said, "How could a shattered Divine Source ever be fully restored? It’s like a porcelain vase that’s been broken; even if you glue it back together, cracks will remain. And a Divine Source is infinitely more profound than a porcelain vase, encompassing the Divine Soul, Divine Aspect, and rules. Once shattered, how could it ever be restored to its original state?"
"Besides, with a figure like Qing Zu personally striking, my Divine Source has been reduced to ashes, not even a fragment left. How could it be reconstituted?"
"Third, to summon the soul of a cultivator whose divine form has been utterly destroyed requires a tremendous price. To help me reconstitute my Divine Source, wouldn’t Master Tai Shang have to pay an enormous cost as well? Over these hundred thousand years, trapped in the Destiny Temple, he’s already covered in wounds and exhausted his heart for the Kunlun Realm. This is an impossible task—why should I burden him further?"
Chi Yao’s eyes reddened as she said, "So, after nearly two thousand years of effort and suffering, it all comes to nothing?"
"For most people, life itself is nothing. But striving and failing is different from never striving or acting at all."
Though Zhang Ruochen was in immense pain, a calm smile lingered on his face. He didn’t want his emotions to affect those around him.
He continued, "Look at me now—I’m fine, aren’t I? What’s wrong with cultivating Spiritual Power? Maybe one day I can become as strong as Master Tai Shang. Cultivating the Void and Real Scrolls of the *Thirty-Three Heavens* was indeed about fighting for a future and a hope. But now that all that has been shattered, we still have our own lives. We can think of other ways."
"Besides, we’re not the only ones fighting in this world. Many cultivators are striving too. Take Yan Wushen, for example—I have high hopes for him. And Heavenly Mother, she’s so powerful."
"I thought you’d be dejected, grieving, and unable to recover. But now, it’s like you’re the one comforting me?" Chi Yao’s face was clearly etched with sorrow, yet she let out a laugh.
Zhang Ruochen slowly lay back down, looking quite relaxed, and closed his eyes. In truth, he was examining his injuries, searching for an impossible possibility. He said, "I feel like a huge weight has suddenly been lifted off my shoulders. All the responsibilities and burdens are gone! Most importantly, I don’t have to part from you in life or death. That’s good. I’ve thought it through clearly: if I can cultivate my Spiritual Power to the hundredth rank, I’ll surely be unmatched in the world, stronger than cultivating the Thirty-Three Heavens."
This was the truth.
Because reaching the ninetieth rank in Spiritual Power already made one a master of the universe, a rare existence.
In history, those who cultivated Spiritual Power above the ninety-fifth rank were all legends, myths, as rare as figures like the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable.
If someone truly reached the hundredth rank in Spiritual Power, they might even control the universe and become its master.
But that was an impossible realm.
Chi Yao knew that Zhang Ruochen was saying this just to comfort her, to keep her from worrying further.
Zangjin Baihu said, "Then what about me?"
"Let Yao Yao be your guide," Zhang Ruochen said.
Zangjin Baihu said anxiously, "Guides aren’t something you can just switch on a whim! Besides, she’s not suitable. Why don’t you try starting over from the very basics of martial arts?"
"I already tried. I can’t open a new Qi Sea. My foundation is destroyed; the path of martial arts is cut off," Zhang Ruochen said.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so relaxed and carefree, Zangjin Baihu grew worried instead, feeling that his own future was bleak and his prospects dim.
Was he really going to have to find another guide?
That wasn’t easy at all!
Chi Yao picked up a scroll painting from the stone platform and slowly unrolled it, looking at the lines and brushstrokes. "This is the scroll left by Saint Monk!"
"*Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen*," Zhang Ruochen said.
"It’s a bit strange."
"What’s strange?"
"Since it depicts the Sixth Patriarch expounding Zen under the Bodhi tree, why is the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood of the Kunlun Realm also painted on it?" Chi Yao furrowed her delicate brows, finding it hard to understand.
"Where on the painting is the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood? The Sky-Connecting Divine Wood… what did you say?"
Zhang Ruochen, who had been lying on the stone platform, abruptly sat up and snatched the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen* from Chi Yao’s hands.
He discovered that the painting had indeed undergone a great change. Not only did it show the Sixth Patriarch expounding Zen, but the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood and the landmass of the Qiankun Realm were also imprinted on the scroll as pictorial marks.
Zhang Ruochen laughed. "I knew it. I knew that since the Cosmic Divine Wood Map had an inner space, the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen* couldn’t possibly lack one!"
His mood greatly improved. Excitedly, he stood up from the stone platform, but his legs were still weak, and he felt very frail.
When he had first obtained the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen*, he had tried various methods to open its inner space but failed, assuming it didn’t exist.
Yet now, the Qiankun Realm, which should have been destroyed, appeared on the painting. This proved that the scroll must have an inner space, and that space could hold an entire world.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ruochen immediately cut his wrist and dripped blood onto the scroll.
The blood was absorbed by the painting.
Buddhist chants rang out, golden light blazed, and the figure of the Sixth Patriarch materialized, standing within the dilapidated stone hall, exuding immense power and Buddhist essence.
Chi Yao’s eyes showed understanding. She realized that the Sixth Patriarch she had seen in the Abyss of Darkness was a manifestation of this scroll.
"Swoosh—"
Space trembled, and the world spun.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen, Chi Yao, and Zangjin Baihu, along with the entire abandoned stone hall, were transported into the inner space of the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen*. Outside the window, Buddhist clouds stretched like a golden sea, and a breeze blew in, carrying a hint of coolness and the fragrance of grass and trees.
They walked out of the stone hall to find an endless grassland before them, half golden and half emerald green.
Half was the world of the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen*, and half was the Qiankun Realm.
They stood at the boundary between the two realms.
Looking toward the Qiankun Realm side, the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood towered into the clouds, reaching an unknown height of tens of thousands of meters, full of vitality, its leaves like emerald clouds.
Turning to the other side, the golden world, a Bodhi tree as tall as the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood grew at the edge of the sky, raining down golden light. Buddhist radiance illuminated heaven and earth, also brimming with life and divine might.
If what was painted on the scroll would manifest in this inner space, it made one wonder: Was there really a Sixth Patriarch sitting beneath the Bodhi tree at the edge of the sky, expounding Zen?
But Zhang Ruochen didn’t go to verify this conjecture. Instead, he mobilized his Spiritual Power, riding the wind, and flew toward the Sky-Connecting Divine Wood. He was more concerned about Kong Lanyou and the safety of the beings in the Qiankun Realm.
As for why he could now open the inner space of the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen*, Zhang Ruochen had some guesses. It might be that only after stepping into the Divine Realm and using Divine Blood could the inner space be unlocked.
At that time, when Qing Zu had shattered his head, Divine Blood had soaked the scroll, allowing the Qiankun Realm to be preserved.
But why had Xumi Saint Monk left behind the *Sixth Patriarch’s Meditation on Zen* and required Zhang Ruochen’s Divine Blood to open it?