# Chapter 3355: A Thousand Years in an Instant
Grandmaster Taiqing picked up a crimson divine blood divine pill, crystalline like fire jade, its weight like a golden cauldron.
"It's not a true divine pill, merely a crystallized essence of divine blood."
"Very condensed, with heavy blood qi. An ordinary lower-level or middle-level god who takes one can undergo earth-shattering improvements to their physical body. But for you, it's no longer useful. At most, it can replenish blood qi when you're injured."
"A true divine pill..."
Grandmaster Taiqing thought for a moment, then pulled out a jade bottle and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen opened the jade bottle, and fragrant medicinal scent surged out.
A three-colored auspicious cloud appeared in the sky, drifting down snowflakes, each flake like a jade leaf.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "Well? Do you notice any difference?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't take the pill out of the bottle but carefully sensed it. "The essence! The essence is very different. The pill in this bottle seems like an incarnation of the Dao. The divine pills refined using the Earth Cauldron are like simple stacked products, still belonging to the level of mortal pills."
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "And?"
"Pill soul?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Grandmaster Taiqing smiled. "For a true divine pill, the materials are important, often requiring divine medicine as the main ingredient. But in the eyes of a divine alchemy master, the most important thing about a divine pill is the pill tribulation at the moment of its completion."
"The pill tribulation can temper the divine pill to make it purer."
"When undergoing the pill tribulation, the divine pill absorbs the power of heaven and earth, condenses the Dao essence of heaven and earth, and thus gives birth to a pill soul. That's why divine pills have consciousness, have the ability to cultivate, and can continuously improve themselves. Because half of them are created by heaven and earth."
"Half by man, half by heaven."
"Refining a divine pill is an act of creation."
"The divine pills you refined using the Earth Cauldron lack the power of heaven and earth, the Dao essence of heaven and earth, and also lack a soul. The difference in value between the two is tenfold, a hundredfold."
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly.
Grandmaster Taiqing changed the subject and said, "But the Earth Cauldron is indeed a supreme treasure of the world. Having it is enough to make all alchemists in the world envious and jealous."
"You must understand, when we refine a batch of divine pills, it often takes a thousand years, ten thousand years, and there's a high chance of failure. But you only need a quarter of an hour."
"Moreover, the quality and medicinal power of the divine pills you refined using a Grand Perfection peak deity are actually not much inferior to Heaven-Mending Divine Pills. They are quite useful even for great gods."
"Grandmaster knows you are very intelligent and have your own opinions, but I must still remind you. Don't rely too much on the Earth Cauldron, and don't make devouring people the main way to improve your cultivation. This is not the Great Dao."
"Even the Undying Blood Clan and the Rakshasa Clan, who directly devour people, have left such warnings from their ancestors."
"Those who only know how to devour people are like beasts hunting in the mountains. No matter how powerful they are, they can only be the king of beasts. The true Great Dao is creation, is opening up, is leading. The king of beasts is nothing more than the mount, slave beast, or prey of a Dao practitioner!"
Zhang Ruochen transmitted a message to Xiu Chen Heavenly God: "Did you hear that? Grandmaster Taiqing is talking about you."
Xiu Chen Heavenly God was so angry he almost jumped out of the Sundial, wanting to tell Zhang Ruochen that he too had cultivated hard for many years.
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "There are shortcuts on the path of cultivation, but in the end, one needs to settle. How is your sword dao cultivation?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly and said humbly, "I haven't comprehended Sword Eighteen from the *Wordless Sword Manual*, there's no major breakthrough in the Time Sword Art, and I'm only at the fifth level of *Emerald Fall Yellow Spring*."
"The accumulation of sword dao rule divine patterns is slow. The third-rank sword dao also seems to have entered a bottleneck period."
For someone hailed as the number one sword dao deity below the Infinite Realm, this was indeed quite shabby.
In terms of sword dao techniques and methods, Zhang Ruochen couldn't even compare to Famous Sword God.
Grandmaster Taiqing was secretly shocked but remained expressionless. "That's already good enough! Whether cultivating divine abilities or sword dao rule divine patterns, it all requires a great deal of time. Accumulating steps one by one can reach a thousand miles!"
Grandmaster Taiqing didn't have the heart to tell Zhang Ruochen that he himself had spent five hundred thousand years to go from Sword One to Sword Seventeen.
As for sword dao divine abilities like *Emerald Fall Yellow Spring*, Grandmaster Yuqing had spent nearly an eon to reach the sixth level.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said seriously, "I plan to focus on cultivating *Emerald Fall Yellow Spring* next, hoping to successfully cultivate the sixth level by the time we reach the Sword God Temple."
Grandmaster Taiqing's eyelids twitched. "There's not much time! Even if you activate the Sundial, it's only a thousand years."
"Yes, time is indeed tight. But compared to Sword Eighteen, the sixth level of *Emerald Fall Yellow Spring* is easier to break through," Zhang Ruochen said.
"If you can cultivate the sixth level, it will definitely be comparable to a Great Perfection Infinite divine ability, and you'll have made up for your shortcomings! If you cultivate the seventh level, it will be at the top level among Infinite divine abilities. Cultivate hard. I'll go keep watch outside, lest those three from the Hell Realm suddenly attack."
Talking with such a monstrous grand-disciple, Grandmaster Yuqing felt mentally exhausted. All his own achievements and confidence would be instantly shattered.
The key point was that Zhang Ruochen still acted humble.
So infuriating!
Grandmaster Taiqing secretly told himself that this time going to the Sword God Temple, he had to fight hard. No matter what, he had to charge to the peak of Qiankun Infinite. Otherwise, how embarrassing would it be in front of his grand-disciple in the future?
Zhang Ruochen looked at the jade bottle in his hand and was about to speak.
"Keep this Kongming Pill. Study it well. You have good talent in the alchemy path!" Grandmaster Taiqing's voice drifted into Zhang Ruochen's ears.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and put it away.
He had to admit, this Grandmaster Taiqing was almost catching up to him, the "scatter wealth disciple" grand-disciple.
A divine pill, casually given.
Last time they met, he directly gave Zhang Ruochen a batch of Taiyi Divine Pills.
Where could one find such a grandmaster?
This Kongming Pill was very extraordinary. Its pill spirit had already cultivated to the Great Perfection of the upper-level god realm. After surviving another eon calamity, it might even become a divine pill great god.
It must be noted that the vast majority of divine pills, at the moment of their completion, only had pill spirits at the false god level.
Zhang Ruochen didn't plan to swallow this Kongming Pill, after all, Grandmaster Taiqing had personally taught it the Dao and taught it to cultivate, treating it like half a disciple.
Zhang Ruochen had asked Grandmaster Taiqing about alchemy, naturally to prepare for refining the Tongtian Divine Pill.
...
"Yu God King's divine thought has been released again. He's really cautious." Stone Open God King laughed.
Feixue God King's four arms slightly raised, forming a "卍" character seal.
Around the three god kings, the space was filled with dense talisman light, completely merging with the darkness. Formless, intangible, without substance or reality.
They were very careful, afraid of alerting their prey, following ten divine spirit steps behind.
Guo God King's voice came from within the White Bone Ghost Chariot: "This will surely be a long journey. The Sword Realm must be located deep within the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain."
The three god kings were very patient, full of anticipation for the ancient Sword Realm.
At the same time, each harbored their own selfish motives, wanting both to kill Yu God King and the others and to monopolize the Sword Realm.
Desire knows no end.
...
Knowing that several god kings were chasing behind, ready to launch a thunderous strike at any moment, Zhang Ruochen appeared relaxed but was actually under immense pressure.
No matter what, he couldn't become a burden himself.
In the blink of an eye, more than three years had passed. Under the Sundial, he had cultivated for over a thousand years.
During these years, Zhang Ruochen had both cultivated *Emerald Fall Yellow Spring* and studied alchemy. His strength had improved rapidly, and his aura had become increasingly sharp.
"We're almost at the Dark Star Gate!" Grandmaster Taiqing's voice came.
Zhang Ruochen stopped his cultivation, walked to the deck, and joined Grandmaster Taiqing, Yu God King, and Ji Fanxin.
The Sword God Temple opened once every thousand years. Grandmaster Taiqing had been there countless times and had already told them many things to pay attention to.
They had also designed multiple strategies for dealing with the Hell Realm god kings.
Yu God King looked at Zhang Ruochen and said, "The Hell Realm god kings are hiding very deeply. We can't determine exactly how many have followed us, nor can we determine their specific realms. This creates many variables. Ruochen, would you like to enter my divine realm?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "I think I won't become a burden to the three of you."
Grandmaster Taiqing said, "Ruochen's strength is not weak. He can protect himself. Divine Lord Ji hasn't been exposed yet and is our most important hidden force. How about hiding in Ruochen's divine realm world? At a critical moment, she might be able to play an unexpected role."
Grandmaster Taiqing didn't know the relationship between Ji Fanxin and Zhang Ruochen. This arrangement was purely tactical.
"Does he have a divine realm world?" Ji Fanxin asked.
Zhang Ruochen manifested the Lesser Yang "Divine Mountain," Lesser Yin "Divine Sea," and Greater Yin "Jade Tree Dark Moon" in succession. "Fairy, please!"
Ji Fanxin looked very reluctant, turning into a white light and flying into the Divine Sea, merging with the origin light mist.
"Divine Lord Ji is a Primordial Illumination Lotus. Her future cultivation is immeasurable. It's correct for you to try to win her over, but you can't be too deliberate, or it will backfire. I can't teach you these things. You have to figure them out yourself. This opportunity is rare... well, that's all!" Grandmaster Taiqing's voice sounded in Zhang Ruochen's mind.
This grandmaster was too enthusiastic!
So enthusiastic that Zhang Ruochen felt a bit uncomfortable.
"First, lure them into the chaotic space zone."
Grandmaster Taiqing put away the divine ship, released divine qi to envelop Zhang Ruochen, stepped onto a sword light, and rushed into the dark area where the Dark Star Gate was located.
Behind them.
The three Hell Realm god kings appeared.
In the empty Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, there was actually a place like a black hole. This was too abnormal!
The influence range of the Dark Star Gate reached several billion miles.