Chapter 3402: Entering the Ancestor Realm, Great Advancement in Cultivation
“Junior Zhang Ruochen pays respects to Sword Ancestor!”
Zhang Ruochen stood ten thousand miles away in a wilderness covered with cyan spiritual flowers and exotic herbs, bowing toward the direction of the crimson divine tree.
The wind rustled through the grass.
No response came.
In the Origin Divine Temple, Zhang Ruochen had encountered the Sword Ancestor’s sword soul, which retained residual spiritual remnants. This showed how powerful an Ancestor was—able to preserve something even after billions of years.
But here, it seemed nothing had been left behind.
That crimson divine tree was the only living being in the entire eighteenth layer of the Sword Pavilion that had lived for more than ten eons, extremely ancient. As its leaves swayed, the heaven and earth rules of the entire time-space became chaotic, giving rise to spectacular scenes like crimson clouds filling the sky, spatial ravines, and rivers of sword qi.
Zhang Ruochen did not directly force his way in, because the Ancestor divine patterns here were dense and impossible to bypass.
Let alone him; even those at Great Unbound Infinite, or even the Twenty Heavens, would have to be extremely cautious when facing Ancestor divine patterns.
Zhang Ruochen took out the six divine swords. They had once been the Sword Ancestor’s personal swords. Although the artifact spirits were no longer the same, the swords themselves were still the same swords.
Zhang Ruochen released six divine thoughts, infusing them into the six divine swords.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The six divine swords flew out together, gradually approaching the crimson divine tree.
Through the divine thoughts in the swords, he once again saw the withered bones sitting cross-legged beneath the tree. Clad in silver-white divine robes, one hand formed a sword finger while the other held a branch, drawing small sword-dancing figures on the ground.
It seemed he was deducing some profound sword path!
With the six divine swords and six divine thoughts, six consciousnesses and six viewing angles appeared in Zhang Ruochen’s mind, continuously approaching the Sword Ancestor’s withered bones.
Unlike last time, he was not attacked.
Suddenly.
The six divine swords encountered a powerful field of force that pulled them, accelerating toward the withered bones and stabbing into the ground at six positions around them.
The swords trembled but could not fly up again.
The eldest divine sword exclaimed in shock, “As expected of the former Sword Ancestor—what a powerful sword domain field!”
“This is the Ancestor of the Sword Path, the number one sword cultivator throughout history!” said the fifth divine sword.
“Pity that the Sword Ancestor has passed away.”
“What sword path was the Sword Ancestor deducing? He was still deducing it even at the moment of death—it must be an invincible sword under heaven!”
…
Zhang Ruochen’s six divine thoughts, along with the six divine swords, tried again, but still could not break through the Sword Ancestor’s Ancestor domain.
He could not imagine how terrifying the domain must have been when the Sword Ancestor was alive.
Then Zhang Ruochen’s six divine thoughts looked at the small sword-dancing figures on the ground.
Suddenly, these figures came to life, evolving one exquisite sword technique after another. Some could pierce a star river with a single strike, some could stab through the sky, some could tear apart time and space…
After just a brief moment of observation, Zhang Ruochen’s six divine thoughts could barely endure and nearly disintegrated.
Ten thousand miles away, Zhang Ruochen’s true body opened his eyes. After careful calculation and study, he flicked a wisp of divine qi from his fingertip toward the crimson divine tree.
He wanted to use divine qi to try to retrieve one of the divine swords.
At the same time, he was testing the danger level of the Ancestor divine patterns and the Ancestor sword domain.
The divine qi was still hundreds of miles from the crimson divine tree when it touched something unknown. Suddenly, a blazing, intense radiance erupted from the void.
Zhang Ruochen immediately retreated backward, placing the God-Defying Stele in front of him.
“Boom!”
The radiance struck the God-Defying Stele, sending Zhang Ruochen flying along with the stele. He crashed to the ground, sliding back a hundred miles.
When Zhang Ruochen steadied himself again, he found that the God-Defying Stele had developed many cracks.
These cracks quickly healed.
“Impressive!”
Zhang Ruochen assessed inwardly, feeling that with his current cultivation, even with various supreme treasures to assist him, it would be very difficult to break through the Ancestor divine patterns and the Ancestor sword domain.
But the Sword Ancestor had passed away for too long. He was an ancient Ancestor, and the power he left behind was already quite weak.
Once he achieved the Great Perfection of the Four Symbols and his cultivation advanced significantly, the outcome might be different.
Zhang Ruochen left his six divine thoughts in the swords, staying by the Sword Ancestor’s withered bones to comprehend the sword, then withdrew from the eighteenth layer of the Sword Pavilion. Along the way, he casually picked some rare divine medicines.
Jie Zunzhe was waiting in the seventeenth layer. Seeing Zhang Ruochen emerge, he immediately rushed over and asked, “How did it go? What treasures did you get?”
Zhang Ruochen’s expression was serious. “It’s even more vast than the seventeenth layer. Spiritual medicines are everywhere, divine trees and divine fruits can be seen all around. But the most precious thing is still the sword bones. The Sword Ancestor passed away inside… left behind… nothing was left behind. Ah, what a pity!”
Jie Zunzhe didn’t believe Zhang Ruochen at all. He pressed, “Since the Sword Ancestor passed away inside, there must be countless relics. How could there be nothing? You just let it slip!”
“Really, nothing was left behind. After so many years, even if something was left, it has turned to ashes.”
Zhang Ruochen spoke as he quickly walked toward the sixteenth layer.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen leave in such a hurry, Jie Zunzhe was even less willing to let him go. “Deceiving your ancestor will bring down heavenly thunder and lightning!”
Zhang Ruochen hesitated repeatedly, as if engaged in an internal struggle. “Is the Ancestor divine qi in the Swallow Boots enough?”
Zhang Ruochen had spent nearly ten days in the eighteenth layer, which was about three years in the seventeenth layer.
Jie Zunzhe took out the Swallow Boots but immediately put them away.
“I’ve never seen such a stingy ancestor. You promised to give them—are you going back on your word?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Jie Zunzhe asked, “What exactly did you get in the eighteenth layer?”
Zhang Ruochen snatched the Swallow Boots and put them on directly. “If you want the Sword Ancestor’s relics, you’ll have to trade them for the relics left by the Great Venerable!”
“I don’t have any more, really! How can you not trust your own ancestor?” Jie Zunzhe said.
“Elder Jie, think it over carefully. The things left by the Sword Ancestor are too precious. Without sufficient benefits, I won’t just share them with you casually.”
Zhang Ruochen made as if to leave.
Jie Zunzhe blocked him again. “Young people, have some patience! Negotiating, doing business—the key is in the word ‘negotiate.’ Wait a moment…”
Jie Zunzhe glanced at Zhang Ruochen, seeing his proud and disdainful expression. Gritting his teeth, he took out a bronze door and placed it heavily in front of Zhang Ruochen.
The bronze door was eight meters tall and half a meter thick, with golden chimera cast patterns on it.
The door should have been a pair; this was the left one.
Zhang Ruochen released divine qi to lift it—it was incredibly heavy. An ordinary god probably couldn’t lift it.
Zhang Ruochen’s expression was strange. “Elder Jie, you… you’re even more unfilial than I am. You didn’t dismantle the Celestial World left by the Great Venerable, did you? Is this one of the doors?”
“Bah!”
Jie Zunzhe said, “This is a bronze door from the Zhang family mansion ten eons ago. It contains a wisp of Ancestor divine qi left by the Great Venerable, used to protect the family. Unfortunately, the Zhang family was destroyed, and everything was burned to ashes.”
“This door was dug out from underground. It’s the only remaining relic of the former Zhang family.”
Zhang Ruochen frowned. “There’s only a thin trace of Ancestor divine qi. Why aren’t there any Ancestor divine patterns inside?”
“A vessel that can withstand Ancestor divine patterns is itself not much inferior to a divine artifact—extremely rare. You already got a pair of Swallow Boots—what more do you want?”
Jie Zunzhe was truly angered. If he hadn’t had great expectations for the Sword Ancestor’s relics, he would never have revealed this treasure.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Then help me inject more Ancestor divine qi into the door.”
“Without Ancestor divine patterns, the door can’t hold much Ancestor divine qi. It’s already at its limit.” Jie Zunzhe had lost patience and moved to put the bronze door away. “Take it or leave it.”
“Old people, have some patience!”
Zhang Ruochen pressed down on the bronze door, immediately putting it away. Then, he took a fist-sized black pinecone from his bosom and handed it to Jie Zunzhe.
Jie Zunzhe took the pinecone and examined it.
It contained divine substance, probably from a divine tree. Not bad, he could reluctantly accept it as a token of filial piety from the boy.
He spread his hand. “Come on, come on, show me the Sword Ancestor’s relics. Let me pick one.”
“Didn’t I just give it to you?”
Zhang Ruochen activated the power of the Swallow Boots and vanished from the seventeenth layer of the Sword Pavilion.
Jie Zunzhe howled in anger and chased out of the Sword Pavilion, but Zhang Ruochen had already disappeared, hiding somewhere unknown.
Half a month later, the Kunlun Realm had calmed down. Zhang Ruochen walked out from the North Cliff of the Book Mountain and quietly went to the Eastern Domain, entering the Wang Mountain Ancestral Land, arriving beneath the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb.
Above the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb, the twenty-seven layers of heavens condensed from nine-colored chaotic divine qi and chaotic rules had been reduced to ten. The other seventeen layers had been absorbed by Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao.
Zhang Ruochen had already comprehended the eighteenth layer of fist intent of the Immovable Wisdom King Fist. He flew directly into the nine-colored chaotic divine qi.
“Whoosh!”
A vast amount of chaotic divine qi and chaotic rules surged toward the mysterious embryo below his abdomen.
The qi and rules circulated through his body in a major cycle before sinking back into the mysterious embryo. But the process greatly improved the quality of Zhang Ruochen’s divine qi.
His physical body and divine soul also grew stronger.
Soon after, only nine layers of heavens remained above the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb.
Zhang Ruochen carefully sensed the power within him. It was clearly more consolidated, and his cultivation and strength had reached a higher level. But according to his Grandmaster’s words, to achieve the Great Perfection of the Four Symbols, he still needed a long period of accumulation.
Zhang Ruochen set up a time divine formation at the Heavenly Venerable’s tomb, using the main god-level Time Esoterica as the core to drive its operation, achieving a time ratio of one to thirty.
Here, Zhang Ruochen entered a completely closed-door state of consolidating his cultivation and comprehending the Dao.
His main focus was on the Way of Space and the Way of Light, but he also cultivated the Immovable Wisdom King Fist, Time Sword Art, Sword Nineteen, Netherworld Yellow Spring, and various divine abilities and wondrous techniques.
Only by comprehending the nineteenth layer of fist intent of the Immovable Wisdom King Fist could he continue absorbing the nine-colored chaotic divine light and chaotic rules.
Time flew by, and the stars shifted.
In the universe, one earth-shattering event after another was happening, but no one came to disturb Zhang Ruochen.
Even Jie Zunzhe, sensing the changes in the Wang Mountain Ancestral Land, did not go to settle scores with Zhang Ruochen. Instead, he silently took out a small notebook and made a note, plotting his revenge.
Six thousand years passed in the time divine formation.
Two hundred years had passed in the outside world.
In the seventeenth layer of the Sword Pavilion, twenty thousand years had passed.
In the distant Sword Realm, under the Sundial, over seventy thousand years had passed.
In the seventeenth layer of the Sword Pavilion, Tai Shang and Jie Zunzhe sat together, discussing the specifics of opening the eighteenth layer of the Sword Pavilion.
The stone door to the eighteenth layer could block Jie Zunzhe, but not Tai Shang.
Tai Shang had already set up a divine formation on the stone door.
With the formation, they could open the stone door and connect the Kunlun Realm with the Ancestor Realm inside.
“I think we can wait a little longer. The Ancestor Realm has only recovered ten eons so far. If large numbers of cultivators enter, they will surely destroy the ecosystem inside. We can first try to educate some plant life forms, or select a few cultivators with the potential to become gods to enter for training and seeking opportunities,” Tai Shang said.
Jie Zunzhe said, “You worry about even these trivial matters—aren’t you afraid of exhausting yourself?”
Tai Shang smiled. “I don’t have much time left. I’ll do as much as I can. In the future, the Kunlun Realm will have to rely on you and Ji Wang to support it. The Ancestor Realm left by the Sword Ancestor—I’ll guard, guide, and educate it for now, and hand it over to you in the future… Eh…”
Tai Shang gazed toward the Wang Mountain in the Eastern Domain. “It’s about time. Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation has achieved another major breakthrough. His accumulation should be sufficient. Now I’ll take him to Lihentian to break through to the next realm.”
“This kid, at just the Great God realm, his cultivation is already so formidable. Once he enters the Infinite realm, what will happen? Can a Qiankun Infinite Peak suppress him?”
Tai Shang said, “His future path is destined to be farther and more difficult than ours. He bears responsibilities that we are not capable of bearing.”
“Does that mean my chances to teach him a lesson are running out?”
Jie Zunzhe cursed and grumbled as he left the Sword Pavilion, heading for Wang Mountain.
…
Regarding the unauthorized printing of physical books last time, the lawyer’s letter has been sent. The other party’s store has already taken down the listings, and all readers who were defrauded will have their money refunded.
Additionally, the pre-sale of our physical books has already reached over 4,700 copies—absolutely incredible!
For physical publishing, having such a strong pre-sale alone is extremely rare. Everyone can go to the book’s WeChat public account (search for “Feitian Yu” on WeChat and follow the account) to give it another push. Let’s aim for 5,000 copies today. If we reach it, I’ll post on my Moments to show off to the big shots in the web novel circle. Haha!
Once again, thank you all for your support—it’s too powerful! There will be another chapter tonight.