Chapter 3367: Blood Mud Man
In the void of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, the Earth Cauldron hung inverted.
The seven-colored cloud mass poured from the cauldron, rendering the darkness with a magnificent and moving hue.
Within the cloud, over a thousand pills flowed, flickering with radiance.
The most dazzling among them was a seven-colored pill, while the others revolved around it, as wondrous as a galaxy.
"Boom!"
The pill tribulation descended with a crash, striking all the pills.
This time, the pill tribulation was clearly more ferocious than the last, carrying a terrifying momentum. Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin retreated far away to guard against any mishap.
On the Empty Flame Divine Mountain, Ji Fanxin's spiritual power radiated outward, ever vigilant.
Last time, the Heavenly Staircase had not made a move, perhaps wary of something. But this time, it might pursue them!
After a quarter of an hour, the tribulation clouds dispersed.
The rules of heaven and earth surged madly toward the divine pills that had survived the tribulation, forming a vortex of rules, its momentum vast, as if splitting heaven and earth.
Only thirty-seven pills had survived the pill tribulation!
That seven-colored pill had failed to survive; it shattered at the first tribulation thunderbolt, turning into fine dust.
Zhang Ruochen was not disheartened, as he had some psychological preparation.
Without surviving the pill tribulation, no matter how powerful a pill, it could not be called a divine pill.
That seven-colored pill, after flying out of the Earth Cauldron, had an unstable glow. Exposed to the space, even without the tribulation, it would have spontaneously exploded over time.
This only indicated that Zhang Ruochen's current alchemy skill was far from sufficient to refine a Boundless Omnipotent Divine Pill.
Being able to condense a seven-colored pill was likely due to the special nature of the Earth Cauldron.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen's alchemy skill had already improved significantly. In the previous batch of pills, fewer than one in a hundred survived the pill tribulation.
In this batch, he had achieved a rate of one in fifty surviving.
This showed that the internal structure of this batch of pills was more stable. It was not simply due to better materials but a genuine improvement in alchemy level.
Moreover, having that seven-colored pill was beneficial, as it allowed the other pills to be fully nurtured by the seven-colored danxia, greatly enhancing their medicinal power.
Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power, gathering all the divine pills that were about to flee into his palm.
Their pill spirits were still very weak, like newborns, their strength no different from the divine soul of a false god. They needed to be taught the Dao and carefully guided to improve through cultivation.
As the pill spirits grew stronger, absorbing more heavenly rules and energy, their pill power would increase significantly.
Of course, the cultivation of the pill spirit was influenced by its innate nature.
For the Taiyi Omnipotent Divine Pills Zhang Ruochen had refined, the upper limit of the pill spirit was at the level of a Great God. Very few divine pills could reforge their pill body and break through that limit.
The twenty-one Taiyi Omnipotent Divine Pills were all evenly five-colored, crystal clear, and of far superior quality to the previous batch.
Seven Taiyi Omnipotent Divine Pills, like the previous batch, had unstable light, appearing as incomplete products.
Another seven, on the basis of five colors, had gained an additional color, transforming into six colors. However, this color was very faint and unstable.
The last two were complete and evenly six-colored Omnipotent Divine Pills.
Zhang Ruochen felt quite strange inside. According to the pill formula, only five-colored and seven-colored were recorded.
What was the deal with six colors?
Were they considered Taiyi Omnipotent Divine Pills or Boundless Omnipotent Divine Pills?
Generally, only alchemy grandmasters, or divine alchemists with skill approaching that level, had the means to mutate divine pills to a higher grade.
Zhang Ruochen certainly did not think his alchemy skill was that remarkable. Being barely able to qualify as a divine alchemist was already good enough. Being able to refine so many divine pills was entirely due to the accumulation of materials.
Countless divine materials had been destroyed in the cauldron!
If a divine alchemist with spiritual power above the eighty-fifth rank had acted, using the same materials, the number of divine pills they could refine would be at least double that of Zhang Ruochen.
"It must be because of the Earth Cauldron."
Zhang Ruochen came up with the only explanation. After all, the Earth Cauldron could be called the best alchemy vessel in the world, possessing the power to turn decay into magic. It could even refine stones into divine sources.
"Let's go, head back."
Withdrawing his thoughts, a sense of foreboding arose in Zhang Ruochen's heart.
This perception was no illusion.
Not to mention Zhang Ruochen, no deity in the world would have a premonition of misfortune for no reason. Something must have happened.
He and Ji Fanxin drove the Empty Flame Divine Mountain, rushing back to the Sword God Temple at top speed.
Before they even entered the temple gate, a stone staircase descended from the darkness like a heaven-slashing divine sword.
"Boom!"
Within the Empty Flame Divine Mountain, countless formation inscriptions rose, forming a mountain-protecting grand formation.
The stone staircase struck the light shield, causing it to tremble violently, creating countless ripples.
Ji Fanxin held the Black Water Divine Staff, fully releasing her spiritual power, merging with the mountain's momentum. Every stone and every inch of earth within the mountain revealed ancient formation inscriptions.
At the mountain peak, the Sea Gold Divine Mulberry Tree grew rapidly, like a golden umbrella, enveloping the Empty Flame Divine Mountain.
It must be known that the Empty Flame Divine Mountain was a secret realm left by an existence with spiritual power exceeding the ninetieth rank. Even if it had declined, it still contained many incredible powers. The reason Shenpo Princess and the others had been able to breach it was due to the suppression of the Yaksha Ancestral God Temple.
Moreover, Xufa's spiritual power skill was incomparable to Ji Fanxin's.
The stone staircase struck down continuously, immensely powerful, like a heavy hammer striking a divine drum, producing a series of deafening sounds.
Zhang Ruochen looked up at the sky, seeing the mountain-protecting grand formation being dented, layers of ripples forming. He asked, "Can it hold?"
"Inside the Empty Flame Divine Mountain, there are remnants of a perfect and flawless guardian formation pattern. I have fully activated them. It would be nearly impossible to injure the Heavenly Staircase, but self-preservation is certainly no problem."
Ji Fanxin thrust the Black Water Divine Staff into the ground.
From the staff, the sound of surging water arose.
Black water flowed out from the staff, spreading across the Empty Flame Divine Mountain in all directions, turning into thousands of small streams.
In an instant, the Empty Flame Divine Mountain became even more radiant, and golden light surged from within the mountain.
Within the light, formation rules flew around the mountain like a torrent.
Relying solely on themselves, spiritual power deities were often far less capable in combat than martial deities. Once approached, they would likely be captured or killed. However, if they were truly prepared with heaven-defying formations, divine talismans, and the like, their combat power could leap across one or two levels. The more prepared they were, the more powerful a spiritual power deity became.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Heavenly Venerable Word Scroll and shouted with a mighty divine voice: "You cannot break our defenses, but we have the means to kill you. Do you truly want to fight to the death?"
The Heavenly Staircase ceased its attack, the stone steps scattering and flying in all directions without a fixed form.
It said, "Human, the strongest power within the Sword God Temple lies in the Sword Soul Swamp. During the time the divine tree's light shines, the evil in the Sword Soul Swamp is at its weakest. Why not join forces and eliminate them first? After that, we can decide the ownership of the Sword God Temple."
Zhang Ruochen said, "If you had not attacked us just now, I might have considered it. But now, there is no possibility whatsoever. Let's go!"
Worried about the situation inside the Sword God Temple, Zhang Ruochen drove the Empty Flame Divine Mountain and immediately headed back.
Behind him, the stone steps flew out from the darkness one after another, converging together. "You had better reconsider. Once the divine tree leaves and darkness descends, no one will be a match for them! By then, if you do not leave, you will only meet your death."
Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin arrived outside the War Method Divine Temple. A great battle had clearly taken place here. The ground was covered with many shocking ravines, and the air was thick with the smell of blood.
But the formation had not been broken!
Entering the formation, Taiqing Ancestor and Yuqing Ancestor were both inside.
"The one who attacked us was the Blood Mud Man, the master of Blood Mud City. Fortunately, the formation we set up was strong enough to block its attack; otherwise, we would have had to retreat from the Sword God Temple!" Taiqing Ancestor said.
Yuqing Ancestor was very puzzled. "In the past, when we entered the Sword God Temple to cultivate, the Blood Mud Man never made a move. This time, it was very aggressive, directly ordering us to leave in a commanding tone."
Zhang Ruochen recalled the Heavenly Staircase's earlier words. "Perhaps it is because the appearance of me, Fanxin, Zangjin Baihu, and Xiu... Miaoli made the Blood Mud Man and the Heavenly Staircase feel threatened, thinking we want to seize the Sword God Temple. So, they struck first!"
Taiqing Ancestor said, "The Blood Mud Man also retreated very abruptly, never going all out from the start."
"It should be because there is a third party in the Sword God Temple. If we fight to a mutual loss, the evil in the Sword Soul Swamp will surely come out and devour both sides."
Zhang Ruochen made this guess, then asked, "How strong is the Blood Mud Man exactly? What kind of being is it? Are there any other Boundless-level strange creatures in Blood Mud City?"
Taiqing Ancestor pondered for a moment. "Blood Mud City is very mysterious. Junior Brother Yuqing and I have never entered it. There should be a broken world inside. As for the Blood Mud Man... well, it is blood mud, and also a mud man. This is the first time we have seen it. Its strength should still be above the Heavenly Staircase."
"Can it take human form?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Yes."
Zhang Ruochen's mind stirred. The strange-shaped deities in the Sword God Temple had never wanted to cultivate a human body or transform into a human form. This was because they were all born in the Sword God Temple and, aside from Taiqing Ancestor and Yuqing Ancestor, had probably never seen other humans.
It was like a human cultivator not casually transforming into a cat or cultivating a cat body to parade around.
Unless that cat had gained the recognition of all humans and was an invincible powerhouse. Just like dragons and phoenixes, countless beings wanted to cultivate a dragon body or phoenix form.
This stemmed from admiration and recognition of the strong!
Why did the Blood Mud Man want to condense a human form?
Could it be that the Blood Mud Man had seen some unparalleled human? Could it be that before the Three Pure Ones, some human sage had already found the Sword God Temple?