Chapter 3130: Making Friends with Hai Shang
Hai Shang Youruo's face was as delicate and fair as egg white, exuding a tender charm. In her small hands, she held a purple bamboo fishing rod in one and a He Luo fish in the other, facing Zhang Ruochen's sword strike that came with unstoppable momentum.
Although the time rules within the Five Realms Heaven had been completely expelled by the sword dao rules, an Absolute Self Virtual Time Domain manifested around her.
The Absolute Self Virtual Time Domain silently blocked the Abyssal Ancient Sword three feet away.
She stared calmly at Zhang Ruochen.
The sword tip pierced through the virtual time, steadily approaching her heart.
Two feet, one foot...
"Your progress is indeed very fast. If you had mastered Sword Seventeen, you might truly be able to defeat me, but Sword Sixteen is not enough."
Just as the Abyssal Ancient Sword reached her brow, Hai Shang Youruo swung the purple bamboo.
It was merely a bamboo stalk, yet it struck like a peerless divine sword, carrying an unparalleled sword dao might. The purple bamboo heavily struck Zhang Ruochen's body with a thunderous sound, sending him flying backward.
"Oh? Have you also mastered the Absolute Self Virtual Time Domain?"
Hai Shang Youruo's lips were red, her teeth white, and her eyes sparkled slightly.
Because the purple bamboo had not truly struck Zhang Ruochen. As it approached him, time paused for an instant. In that instant, Zhang Ruochen retreated rapidly.
Zhang Ruochen's figure stood straight as a peak, and an invisible Taiji circle appeared around him, with Yin and Yang Qi flowing within it.
The Taiji circle, the two forms of Yin and Yang, crisscrossed and were omnipresent.
"Absolute Self Virtual Time Domain? No, this is more advanced than that."
The Five Realms Heaven turned into an ocean of time imprint light points. Zhang Ruochen shuttled through the light points, his footwork flowing like clouds and water, containing a wondrous rhythm, as he struck out his second sword.
"Light of Fleeting Years!"
This was the seventh layer of the Time Sword Art, the Fleeting Years Sword Technique!
After three thousand years of cultivation, although the Fleeting Years Sword Technique had not yet reached great perfection, it had entered the hall of mastery.
The most important aspect of the Time Sword Art was speed, using time as an advantage to make oneself faster and the enemy slower. Time was the primary factor determining speed.
At the same time, time could break all techniques.
No matter how powerful the defense, it would be vulnerable before the power of time.
Just like the divine power that Xumi Saint Monk once used to protect the Kunlun Realm. As time passed, after one hundred thousand years, it became virtually ineffective. Even the power of a Buddha could not withstand the erosion of time.
All the cultivators beneath the Sundial stopped their training and stood up to watch.
Not only Xu Rulai and Gong Nanfeng, but also Que.
The two engaged in battle both felt that the other's attacks were as fast as lightning and as swift as wind and thunder. In an instant, they would exchange blows hundreds of times.
But in the eyes of the three spectators, their speed seemed very slow, and they could clearly see the changes in their techniques.
Every time Zhang Ruochen attacked, before his war sword reached Hai Shang Youruo, he was forced back by the purple bamboo. From start to finish, Hai Shang Youruo stood still, holding a fish in one hand and lightly countering with the bamboo rod in the other.
To any cultivator, Zhang Ruochen was being utterly suppressed, unable to even get close to Hai Shang Youruo. Moreover, every time he launched an attack, he could only execute half of it.
The other half could not be completed at all.
But Hai Shang Youruo's brow furrowed slightly. Although it seemed she forced Zhang Ruochen back every time, her real goal was not to drive him away but to severely injure him.
However, Zhang Ruochen was no longer the same as before. He could foresee her moves every time and retreat unscathed.
Compared to when Zhang Ruochen first arrived at the Five Realms Heaven, his combat power had undergone earth-shattering changes. His difficulty to deal with had increased more than tenfold.
If she had not personally witnessed his step-by-step cultivation process, Hai Shang Youruo would never believe that a god could improve so much through only three thousand years of training. Even thirty thousand years of cultivation could not achieve such progress.
"Pfft!"
After who knows how many exchanges, Hai Shang Youruo finally took a step forward. Lotuses bloomed beneath her feet, breaking through time and space. Before Zhang Ruochen could retreat again, she tapped his chest with the purple bamboo.
A golden light burst from his chest, accompanied by a resonant Buddhist chant.
Zhang Ruochen's powerful physical defense blocked the purple bamboo, preventing his body from being pierced. However, his internal organs were damaged, and divine blood spilled from his mouth.
Zhang Ruochen flew horizontally and crashed down beneath the Sundial.
"Chen!"
Gong Nanfeng rushed over and helped Zhang Ruochen up, saying, "Why did you provoke her? She is Hai Shang Youruo. Don't let her little girl appearance and cute demeanor fool you; she has been cultivating for hundreds of thousands of years."
Hai Shang Youruo's silver hair danced in the wind, and her voice was crisp, "Zhang Ruochen, I have always been puzzled. You clearly have powerful spiritual power and have cultivated formations, talismans, illusions, and many other techniques. Why don't you use them when fighting me?"
"And the Sundial—if you had activated it to fight me, you might not have been so heavily suppressed in the way of time."
Zhang Ruochen's attainments in the way of time were not weak, but the gap in cultivation time with Hai Shang Youruo was too great. How could his ten thousand years of training catch up to her hundreds of thousands of years of hard work?
Zhang Ruochen stood up, his figure gradually straightening, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. He smiled, "My purpose in fighting you is to hone my sword dao and the way of time. Cultivating in the Five Realms Heaven is for closed-door self-improvement. Defeating you is a difficulty I need to overcome on my cultivation path, but it is by no means the goal of my cultivation."
Hai Shang Youruo nodded lightly, then walked gracefully into the Future Divine Hall with small, elegant steps.
Gong Nanfeng sighed, "You were beaten like this, and you still pretend to be strong?"
Que said, "Given Ruochen's current strength, if it were a life-and-death battle, it's hard to say who would die."
Que knew that Void Heaven had not forbidden Zhang Ruochen from using spiritual power or divine artifacts. If he truly used the Six Divine Swords, the Sundial, and the God-Defying Stele, along with the Yin Yang Eighteen Formations, would Hai Shang Youruo still hold the upper hand?
Not necessarily.
At this point, Que understood that Zhang Ruochen's real goal was not to defeat Hai Shang Youruo but to overcome himself. He deliberately restrained himself, using his purest power to defeat his opponent.
As long as he could defeat Hai Shang Youruo and leave the Fate Divine Mountain, Zhang Ruochen would completely break free from his shackles. Even without the Old Corpse Ghost or the Sword Ancestor's Soul Sword, he could secure a place for himself below the Infinite Realm.
It was like someone training in lightness skills removing the sandbags from their body.
At that time, Zhang Ruochen would truly be ready to contend with the Grand Void Realm Great Gods.
Thinking of this, Que couldn't help but let out a long sigh, "The Grand Void Realm!"
Zhang Ruochen was now only one step away from contending with the Grand Void Realm. But Que, despite his self-proclaimed extraordinary talent, could not achieve such a level even if he cultivated for another hundred thousand years.
Unknowingly, the gap had become so vast that it was beyond reach.
"Any so-called prodigy born in this era is a tragic thing."
Xu Rulai looked at Zhang Ruochen, feeling a sense of awe, like an eagle looking down at the mortal world but unable to see the height of the sky when gazing upward.
Now, Zhang Ruochen was the sky in Xu Rulai's eyes, and he could no longer see how high it was.
There was a time when he and Zhang Ruochen were on the same level.
The Sundial covered the entire Five Realms Heaven.
Over the next thousand years, Zhang Ruochen repeatedly challenged Hai Shang Youruo, losing every time and getting injured repeatedly.
But after recovering, he would go to challenge her again.
In battle, Zhang Ruochen's sword dao and way of time advanced rapidly, faster than through closed-door cultivation. This thousand years of tempering allowed Zhang Ruochen to quickly master the seventh layer of the Time Sword Art to great perfection.
Although Hai Shang Youruo still easily defeated Zhang Ruochen, her gaze grew more cautious, with no trace of contempt.
After a thousand years of combat, Hai Shang Youruo was no longer as cold as at the beginning. She often exchanged insights with Zhang Ruochen on the way of time and sword dao.
Especially in sword dao, Zhang Ruochen, who had long studied the "Wordless Sword Manual" and the Sword Ancestor's Soul Sword, had surpassed her in many areas.
One day, after the battle ended, Zhang Ruochen and Hai Shang Youruo sat side by side on the steps outside the Future Divine Hall, placing the Abyssal Ancient Sword and purple bamboo aside.
Zhang Ruochen took out a Eon Sacred Medicine and consumed it to heal his injuries. Suddenly, he said, "You fought with my maternal grandfather once?"
"Xue Jue?"
Hai Shang Youruo snorted like a little adult, "More than once. During his cultivation at the Destiny Temple, he lost to me no less than ten times. He is also a cultivation freak, growing stronger with each battle. He should be at the Grand Void Realm by now."
She didn't even know that her maternal grandfather had already reached the Grand Void Realm?
Zhang Ruochen said, "How long has it been since you left the Five Realms Heaven?"
A hint of sadness appeared on Hai Shang Youruo's small face, "One hundred thousand years."
Although Zhang Ruochen did not truly see Hai Shang Youruo as a little girl, he was still shocked by this.
Not every cultivator was like Void Heaven, a cultivation maniac who could stay in the Great Calamity Palace for one hundred thousand years without leaving.
Staying in the Five Realms Heaven for one hundred thousand years—how was that different from being a prisoner?
Zhang Ruochen said, "Do you want to see the outside world?"
Hai Shang Youruo's eyes lit up slightly, filled with longing, but she then shook her head with a bitter smile, "Void Heaven said I cannot leave the Five Realms Heaven until I reach the Grand Void Realm."
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment, then said, "Void Heaven is protecting you, afraid that you might be harmed."
From their many exchanges, Zhang Ruochen had clearly sensed that Hai Shang Youruo did not hold a grudge against him for the death of the Life God Venerable. Apparently, she also did not believe that Xumi Saint Monk and Ten Calamities Wen Tianjun had killed the Life God Venerable.
Her earlier coldness was purely due to her personality.
But after a thousand years of contact, even the coldest person would not remain as distant as at the beginning.
Hai Shang Youruo stood up, looking up at the chaotic void above, and said, "Zhang Ruochen, tell me about the outside world. If you have the time."
Zhang Ruochen smiled, "What do you want to hear?"
"I heard that the Hell Realm and the Heavenly Court are at war again. Is the battle fierce? Which ancient gods have fallen?" Hai Shang Youruo asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "How could a war sweeping the entire universe not be fierce? The biggest events right now are the fall of the Ghost God Venerable and the emergence of Fei Ma Wang."