Chapter 2960: Gods in Cultivation
Zhang Ruochen chose the Tianzun Lake at Mount Mi as the location to activate the Sundial.
Mount Mi, located deep within the ancient dense forest, was one of the forbidden zones of Xinghuantian. Legend held it to be the medicinal garden of the Xinghuan Heavenly Venerable, and even gods risked death trying to break in.
Tianzun Lake lay at the foot of Mount Mi.
Here, the lake water was formed from divine springs, with a faint purple aura and waves stretching a thousand miles. The sacred soil on the lakeshore was silvery-white, nurturing a vast number of sacred medicines and exotic flowers and plants among the layered mountains.
In some dangerous secret realms, the aura of divine medicines even emanated.
Divine veins ran underground, gathering the grand momentum of heaven and earth and the meridians of cosmic space.
By the lake were cliff carvings, stone halls, ruined walls, and caves left from ancient times. Even a great god like Desolate Heaven had come here many times to comprehend the Dao.
Those cliff carvings and ancient stele inscriptions were left from discussions between the Xinghuan Heavenly Venerable and ancient powerhouses, holding enlightening value even for those at the Infinite Realm.
The gods followed Zhang Ruochen cautiously, enduring numerous dangers before finally arriving at the lakeshore.
Zhang Ruochen's greatest advantage was his keen perception of danger.
He could even sense the distribution of the Heavenly Venerable's divine patterns.
"Heavens! It's the 'Record of the Peng Discussing the Dao with the Heavenly Venerable.' This divine scripture actually exists!"
"Where? Let me see."
Xiao Hei discovered a weathered scripture on a boulder dozens of feet tall by the lake.
Hearing his exclamation, Blood Butcher immediately rushed over.
Although both had stepped into the divine realm, they dared not get too close to the boulder, fearing the Heavenly Venerable and the Great Peng Ancestor had left killing measures behind. After all, two or three million years had passed, and this boulder remained untouched, which seemed odd.
Xiao Hei was excited. "Legend says the Great Peng Ancestor and the Xinghuan Heavenly Venerable once debated how big the universe is. The Heavenly Venerable said the universe is endless and boundless. The Great Peng Ancestor didn't believe it, thinking that with his cultivation, he could surely fly to the edge of the universe. So he flew east and never returned."
Blood Butcher studied the scripture while nodding, his eyes burning. "I think this last line, 'The great peng flew east and never returned,' contains some profound Dao. It must be possible to comprehend a powerful divine ability from it."
Blood Butcher immediately sat down to contemplate.
Xiao Hei nodded secretly, also sensing that this line, in both its calligraphy and charm, was extraordinary.
It seemed to contain some insight into the Heavenly Dao.
Initially, Xiao Hei thought Blood Butcher was foolish, his wisdom falling short by at least seventy or eighty thousand miles compared to his own. He felt Zhang Ruochen giving him a cultivation slot with the Sundial was a complete waste.
But now, it seemed this kid becoming an Eon Representative and being accepted as a disciple by the Death God Venerable was not just about luck.
In truth, only Zhang Ruochen knew that in martial cultivation, Blood Butcher was purer and more focused than any other cultivator. No attachments could shake his heart's pursuit of powerful strength, and his comprehension was extremely high.
On the hilltops east and west of Tianzun Lake, Underworld King and Fengchen Sword God sat cross-legged, holding their swords.
Sword intent condensed above their heads into two pillars of light, shooting into the clouds, with a sense of rivalry.
Luo Sha came to an ancient snow cedar tree, spread her jade-white hand, and took out a palm-sized divine hall. The hall landed and became magnificent.
She walked into the hall, used divine stones to build a crystal-clear altar, then floated up gracefully, hovering above the altar. Her feet trod on crimson evil-fiend energy as she contemplated the "Gui Zang."
The "Gui Zang" was recorded on a crystal-clear Great Saint skeleton, covered in bone holes and lines.
Yan Yu and Yan Zhexian also brought a large number of divine stones, piling them around to continuously supply the divine energy needed for their cultivation. This made Blood Butcher and Xiao Hei extremely envious.
Bai Qinger and Bore did not start cultivating immediately but instead examined the cliff carvings and ancient stele scriptures around the lake. Both women were as beautiful as celestial beings, aloof and proud, yet their temperaments differed slightly.
Bai Qinger was cold as ice, but her features were soft and beautiful, like a clear spring on a spiritual mountain, ethereal and mysterious.
Bore was like a snow mountain that had not melted for ten thousand years, standing between heaven and earth. Everyone could see her, but no one dared approach. Her character was firm yet gentle, and within that gentleness lay an unyielding tenacity.
Xue Hou also came to Xinghuantian but gave her cultivation opportunity to Bore.
Additionally, A Ji and Turtle Lord were not among the first batch of cultivators.
Secluded cultivation was not without danger.
In fact, cases of inner demons arising from prolonged cultivation were common. It was also not rare for gods to explode or spontaneously combust from failing to control surging power.
Zhang Ruochen specifically consulted the Drunkard.
According to the Drunkard's calculations, given their ages and cultivation levels, a thousand years of seclusion was a critical threshold. After a thousand years of cultivation, they must stop for a period to experience the mortal world, engage in battle, or cultivate their minds.
Ten thousand years of cultivation was an even greater critical threshold. Regardless of whether their cultivation broke through, they had to stop seclusion for a long time.
Haste makes waste.
**The First Millennium.**
Zhang Ruochen did not want to reveal the secret of his martial cultivation recovery. Therefore, he cultivated within the Seven-Star Imperial Palace, spending all his energy on sketching his own Death Rules, Life Rules, Light Rules, and Dark Rules.
The Way of Life was derived from the Way of Light.
The Way of Death was derived from the Way of Darkness.
But they were fundamentally different. Mastering the Way of Light did not guarantee understanding the true essence of life. Grasping Dark Rules did not mean comprehending the Way of Death.
The various Daos in the world were both intricately connected and possessed their own distinct attributes.
After a thousand years of cultivation, the four types of rules within Zhang Ruochen's Taiji circle had increased dramatically. When fully released, they seemed endless, flowing along the circle.
The Taiji circle was completely stabilized at a diameter of eighteen zhang.
The size of the Taiji circle was not fixed at eighteen zhang; it could be infinitely large or infinitely small.
Zhang Ruochen stabilized it at eighteen zhang because he wanted to cultivate the strongest combat domain.
If the Taiji was too large, power would disperse.
If the Taiji was too small, the space for his own maneuvers would shrink.
Legend had it that within ten zhang of Xuan Yi, he could kill gods of the same realm with a flip of his hand, even challenging those at the Infinite Realm. By cultivating an eighteen-zhang Taiji circle, Zhang Ruochen intended to surpass Xuan Yi, preparing for a potential life-or-death battle in the future.
Besides the massive increase in rule quantity, Zhang Ruochen's divine energy had also reached the level expected of a Heaven-Filling Realm god.
After the first millennium of cultivation ended, Yan Zhexian and Bore felt their minds were unstable and voluntarily left the area covered by the Sundial. Xue Hou and A Ji entered the Sundial to cultivate.
...
**The Second Millennium.**
While sketching the rules of Life, Death, Light, and Darkness, Zhang Ruochen also observed heaven and earth, taking them as his teacher, and sketched Time Rules and Space Rules within the Taiji circle.
During this millennium, Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power effortlessly broke through to the seventy-fifth rank.
At the end of the second millennium, Blood Butcher, A Ji, Yan Yu, and Luo Sha stopped cultivating.
Bore, Yan Zhexian, and Turtle Lord entered the Sundial's coverage to continue cultivating. Luo Sha did not leave but instead went to a valley on Mount Mi, using secret techniques from the "Soldier Scroll" to refine an evil divine corpse.
...
**The Fourth Millennium.**
How could Blood Absolute War God and Luo Yan Great Emperor miss this opportunity? They selected several promising Heaven-Filling Realm gods from the Blood Heaven Tribe and Tianluo Divine Kingdom and brought them to Xinghuantian.
Accompanying them was Guye Jing.
When the Sundial activated, it absorbed a large number of Time Imprints over a wide area, creating powerful time fluctuations. Even with the Drunkard's powerful spiritual power masking it, some major figures still sensed it, and the news spread.
Gods from various major forces came to Xinghuantian to visit Zhang Ruochen, promising all kinds of benefits just to gain a chance to cultivate under the Sundial.
Not only gods from the Hell Realm came, but also gods from the Heavenly Court.
These gods came from forces with intricate connections to Zhang Ruochen, making it impossible to refuse them outright. Therefore, every thousand years, new faces appeared at Tianzun Lake, joining the cultivation.
Time in the mountains passed quickly...
One day, a peng's cry rang out, high-pitched and ear-splitting, startling everyone in cultivation.
Above Blood Butcher's head, vast blood energy condensed into a majestic great peng. Countless Rule Divine Patterns interwove within the peng's body, with thunder and lightning flashing, its wings spreading like clouds.
"Great peng flew east and never returned!" Blood Butcher roared.
The great peng flew out, causing space to shake violently.
A sword cry sounded!
Underworld King, sitting cross-legged on the hilltop, swung a bright sword light, like a river of flame, colliding with the great peng.
With a thunderous boom, both the sword energy and the great peng shattered, and the force surged in all directions.
From the Seven-Star Imperial Palace came Zhang Ruochen's faint voice: "Disperse!"
Under the intervention of his powerful spiritual power, the residual force of the sword energy and the great peng went from violent to calm. Finally, it turned into wisps of airflow, dissipating over the surface of Tianzun Lake.
The gods present were both surprised that Blood Butcher had indeed comprehended a powerful divine ability and awed by Zhang Ruochen's formidable spiritual power.
"What terrifying progress! Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power must have reached the peak of the seventy-fifth rank, right?"
"Even if not at the peak, it's probably close."
...
Once spiritual power reached the seventy-sixth rank, it could contend with some Taiyi Realm great gods. Its combat power would not lose to figures like Mi Lianshan, Yu Taizhen, Hai Shangminggong, or Shang Hong.
In other words, reaching the peak of the seventy-fifth rank in spiritual power already made one a first-rate powerhouse below the great god level.
Over these thousands of years, Blood Butcher had naturally not only cultivated divine abilities. His cultivation progress was astonishing, reaching a realm other gods dreamed of: early-stage Upper God.
"What an idiot, wasting precious time comprehending a single divine ability." Xiao Hei's cultivation had also reached early-stage Upper God, but he had gone further than Blood Butcher, with a noticeably stronger divine energy fluctuation emanating from him.