Chapter 3400: Ancestor Boots
Jie Zun wore a purple robe and jade crown, his white hair crystalline, his entire body flowing with nine-colored multicolored light—a true celestial being with an immortal air, a transcendent master.
A stone table held a plate of divine fruits and a jug of fine wine.
All were presented by Granny Haitang!
Jie Zun lifted his chin, full of confidence, and laughed: "These red-gold longan fruits were picked from the Red-Gold Divine Tree in the Demon God Realm. They can enhance the quality of divine Qi and taste excellent. Eat as much as you like!"
"You managed to get red-gold longan fruits?"
Zhang Ruochen was skeptical but picked up one of the red-gold divine fruits.
He peeled it, revealing fragrant juice in shades of crimson and gold.
After eating it, it was indeed delicious beyond compare, refreshing and filled with pure divine substances.
Jie Zun had Granny Haitang pour him a full cup of wine, sipping leisurely as he said: "When the Ancestral God Qiwada disappeared and the Demon God Realm underwent great upheaval, the Fox Clan invited me to go and help the Demon God Hall resolve some matters. To thank me, the Hall Master of the Demon God Hall let me pick these red-gold longan fruits freely! I sent several baskets each to Hongchen, Kunlun, Yuyan, and the other children."
Were red-gold longan fruits as common as cabbage, to be given away by the basket?
Only a fool would believe that.
Zhang Ruochen said: "How about you, elder, send me a few baskets too?"
"Red-gold longan fruits are no longer of much use to you. Just taste a couple and be done! Put them away quickly." Jie Zun picked up the plate from the stone table and swiftly handed it to Granny Haitang.
Zhang Ruochen had only just picked up his second fruit. He said: "I'm very curious—when did you manage to cultivate the *Wordless Sword Manual* all the way to Sword Seventeen? And how did you bring Granny Haitang up to the seventeenth floor?"
To ascend to the seventeenth floor of the Sword Pavilion, even Granny Haitang, as its artifact spirit, had to first comprehend Sword Seventeen.
Jie Zun laughed uproariously: "What kind of person am I? Am I only skilled in the Sword Dao? I inherited the divine source of an Ancestor, which is equivalent to inheriting all of that Ancestor's cultivation. I am proficient in all methods and skilled in everything."
"Can we stop bragging?"
Zhang Ruochen said: "You still have the nerve to claim you inherited all of Immovable Bright King Great Venerable's cultivation? How many years have you been cultivating, and you only just comprehended the Nineteenth Layer of Heaven? The Great Venerable never suffered such shame in his life."
Jie Zun's smile gradually froze, and he let out a deep snort.
Instantly, an intense sensation of weightlessness struck Zhang Ruochen. He felt his body uncontrollably falling, as all matter in the surrounding space vanished, turning into a riot of nine colors.
In contrast, Jie Zun sat relaxed and natural in place.
Zhang Ruochen released the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, and divine mountains, divine seas, jade trees, and ink moons appeared one after another. Slowly, he stabilized the space.
"Oh!"
A flicker of surprise passed through Jie Zun's eyes. He spread his arms, and behind him, dense nine-colored rule divine patterns emerged, his chaotic divine Qi vast and overbearing.
"Stop!"
Zhang Ruochen said: "I didn't expect this—'one should look at a person with new eyes after three days apart.' Elder Jie, your divine Qi has actually transformed from five colors to nine colors."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen begin to flatter him, Jie Zun regained his dignity and face, retracting his divine Qi as he said: "Do you know what this means?"
Zhang Ruochen said: "It means Elder Jie can now mobilize the Ancestor Divine Qi from the Ancestor Divine Source!"
"Haha!"
Jie Zun stood up, stroking his beard in the wind, and said: "Although my journey to the North Marsh Great Wall was fraught with great danger, in the midst of despair, I comprehended the Nineteenth Layer of Heaven and successfully condensed it. From then on, I can use a crack to draw out a wisp of nine-colored Ancestor Divine Qi and a small amount of Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns from the deepest part of the Ancestor Divine Source."
Zhang Ruochen said: "Can you defeat a Great Unbound Infinite?"
Jie Zun was too boastful and never lost when talking tough, but Zhang Ruochen was no longer the Saint-realm cultivator he once was. He had a deep understanding of the *Wisdom King Scripture* and knew that condensing the Nineteenth Layer of Heaven was roughly equivalent to the peak of Qiankun Infinite cultivation.
Even if the *Wisdom King Scripture* was powerful and the Ancestor Divine Source was overbearing, it would be impressive if Jie Zun could contend with a Great Unbound Infinite.
Jie Zun said: "What do you mean by 'can you defeat a Great Unbound Infinite'? Do you think my cultivation isn't high enough? Kid, don't you understand? The power I mobilize comes from the Ancestor Divine Source. The quality of the divine Qi and the level of the rule divine patterns are incomparable to those ordinary Infinite cultivators! When I condensed the Eighteenth Layer of Heaven, I already wasn't afraid of Great Unbound Infinite."
"I remember that back then, you didn't even put Shang Tian in your eyes... Alright, alright, just joking. With your esteemed status, why bother arguing with a junior like me?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Jie Zun said: "Hmph! Now that I've condensed the Nineteenth Layer of Heaven and can mobilize nine-colored—that is, true Ancestor Divine Qi and Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns—though the quantity is small, my combat power is far beyond what a mere Great God like you can understand. Don't believe me? Come, come, try it. I can severely injure you with one sound and send you off with three sounds."
Jie Zun pulled out a golden suona and prepared to play it.
"Stop, don't blow! Elder Jie, please withdraw your divine power. This unworthy descendant Zhang Ruochen is completely convinced today!" Zhang Ruochen stood up, bowed, and then, taking advantage of Jie Zun's distraction, snatched the suona to examine it closely.
Zhang Ruochen frowned and said: "This isn't a relic left by the Ancestor."
Jie Zun snatched the suona back and sighed: "Although the Great Venerable's cultivation was unparalleled in ancient and modern times, aside from this divine source, he left nothing behind. Even if there were any relics, they must have all been taken by Xumi."
Zhang Ruochen had witnessed the entire process of Saint Monk Xumi's fall and had spent many years in Xumi Temple without seeing any Ancestor relics, so he naturally didn't believe Jie Zun.
Zhang Ruochen said: "I heard that all the relics left by the Great Venerable were inherited by you?"
Jie Zun glared angrily, about to retort.
Zhang Ruochen added: "I also heard that at the North Marsh Great Wall, you escaped a great calamity thanks to a pair of boots."
Knowing he couldn't hide it, Jie Zun took off the pair of black boots from his feet, placed them on the stone table, and said with deep emotion and naturalness: "This is the only relic left by the Great Venerable. You are also his descendant, so take them. Don't say anything sentimental. With my current cultivation, where in the Heavenly Court or Hell can I not go? Take them quickly."
Zhang Ruochen looked at him suspiciously, feeling that the old man's sudden generosity was very suspicious. He was probably using these boots to shut him up and definitely had many good things on him.
But for now, he had no evidence, and the old man was in high spirits with greatly increased cultivation, threatening to blow him away at any moment—truly not someone to provoke.
"A pair of boots is fine too. Better than nothing." Zhang Ruochen said.
Jie Zun gritted his teeth inwardly, knowing this kid wasn't easy to fool. With his current cultivation, he could suppress him for now, so there was nothing to worry about, but in the future...
He needed to think of a plan.
The black boots were made of an extremely special material, with swallow imprints embroidered on the surface and jade-white soles that felt very cold to the touch.
After examining them, Zhang Ruochen said disappointedly: "The Ancestor Divine Qi inside has all been used up by you. What use are they now?"
The most precious aspect of Ancestor relics was the residual Ancestor Divine Qi inside. Once drawn out, depending on the quantity, its power was immeasurable. If it also contained Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns, its power would be even more terrifying.
Jie Zun slammed the table and said: "You're complaining? This is a supreme treasure. Try examining it more carefully."
As Zhang Ruochen examined them, Jie Zun sighed deeply: "After the Great Venerable passed away, the Zhang family suffered a great calamity. Many things were stolen and destroyed. This is truly the only relic left. So many years have passed, and even if the boots once contained a large amount of Ancestor Divine Qi, it has all been consumed."
Upon closer inspection, Zhang Ruochen found that these boots were truly extraordinary. The materials used contained fluctuations of five properties: space, time, darkness, origin, and nothingness. Inside, extremely profound inscriptions were interwoven, along with a kind of net-like pattern.
That net-like pattern—each strand was condensed from billions of space rules, time rules, darkness rules, origin rules, or nothingness rules, so profound that even the Twenty Heavens couldn't condense them.
One strand was worth billions of heaven and earth rules.
"Are those Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Jie Zun said: "Naturally! If you use Ancestor Divine Qi to activate them, wearing these swallow boots, you need not fear even a Great Unbound Infinite."
Zhang Ruochen put on the swallow boots, which automatically contracted and expanded to fit perfectly.
He mobilized divine Qi to inject into them, and dark power radiated from the boot surface like black currents wrapping around his legs.
At the same time, space and time fluctuations appeared at the soles. Zhang Ruochen vanished from his spot and appeared three million miles away.
"Whoosh!"
He moved again and returned to his original position.
"Excellent!"
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, if he wore the swallow boots and the Ancestor Divine Traveling Cloak at the same time, where in the world could he not go?
He took off the boots, handed them to Jie Zun, and said: "Help me inject enough Ancestor Divine Qi! Without activating the Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns, I can already move three million miles in one step. If I use Ancestor Divine Qi to activate them, wouldn't I be able to move thirty million miles in one step?"
"Do I owe you that much?"
"Elder Jie, you are the ancestor of the Zhang family!" Zhang Ruochen said earnestly.
Jie Zun said: "At the Heavenly Venerable's tomb, didn't you absorb Ancestor Divine Qi and Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns?"
When Zhang Ruochen was cultivating the Immovable Wisdom King Fist at the Heavenly Venerable's tomb, he and Chi Yao had indeed absorbed a large amount of nine-colored chaotic divine Qi and nine-colored chaotic rules from the Twenty-Seventh Layer of Heaven, greatly advancing their cultivation.
But these nine-colored chaotic divine Qi and chaotic rules, after circulating through his body for one great cycle, had all sunk into the mysterious embryo below his navel, and Zhang Ruochen couldn't mobilize them at all.
After hearing Zhang Ruochen's explanation, Jie Zun said: "Under normal circumstances, you would probably need to reach the peak of Qiankun Infinite before you could activate them. But your talent is too heaven-defying, and your Wuji Divine Dao is also wonderfully unique. Perhaps after the Four Symbols reach Great Perfection, you can directly mobilize them."
"Alright, I'll spend a few years helping you inject enough Ancestor Divine Qi into the swallow boots. After that, it'll be up to you! But don't think you can rely on the swallow boots forever. Every time you use them, the Ancestor Rule Divine Patterns will fade a little. They won't last forever."
Indeed, Jie Zun could only mobilize a wisp of Ancestor Divine Qi, so it would take a lot of time to restore the boots to their peak state.
Actually, even if Zhang Ruochen hadn't asked, Jie Zun would have brought out the swallow boots today.
Because he knew how dangerous Zhang Ruochen's situation was and that he needed such life-saving treasures. More importantly, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had reached a level where he could properly use Ancestor relics.