Chapter 3660: Blood of the Immortal?
Niezang Venerable released his spiritual power domain, isolating the thatched hut from the outside world and severing all auras and heavenly secrets.
Inside the thatched hut, space underwent a drastic transformation, the world turning pitch black and infinitely vast.
It was unclear whether Nutian Shenzun had altered the space with his great divine power, or if the thatched hut itself contained another realm within.
Zhang Ruochen waited calmly, his gaze fixed on Nutian Shenzun, who was breaking the Yinxue Heaven seal. He sensed a powerful aura of an Ancestor emanating from the demon heart.
“Whoosh!”
The seal shattered.
The demon heart released a crimson radiance, along with wisps of blood mist, making this dark space incredibly eerie.
Demon qi had the power to erode a cultivator’s divine soul, affecting their mind and emotions, giving rise to murderous intent and bloodthirsty thoughts.
Zhang Ruochen had long known the terror of the demon heart. He took out the Mingjing Platform in advance, standing atop it, using Buddhist light to resist the Ancestor-level demonic nature.
“Over ten million years have passed, yet the Great Demon God’s demon heart still contains such powerful vitality. The Ancestor realm is truly profound and mysterious.”
Nutian Shenzun released a dense web of rule divine patterns, enveloping all three of them simultaneously.
Immediately after, space trembled violently.
Zhang Ruochen found that his surroundings had changed. He now appeared in a boundless sea of blood, its surface vast and expansive.
The blood sea churned, with endless waves.
The air was filled with Ancestor-level demon qi, its corrosive power astonishing.
Every wisp of airflow could split a star.
“This is… inside the demon heart?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Niezang Venerable nodded, saying, “Indeed, the power of an Ancestor is truly beyond the comprehension of cultivators at our level. The Great Demon God has been dead for so many years, yet the ferocity of his demon blood can still easily kill a Great God. Even a Boundless realm cultivator, once tainted, would likely lose their sanity and turn into a bloodthirsty mad demon.”
Nutian Shenzun said, “The power of an Ancestor is far more than this. If the Great Demon God were still alive, a single drop of blood could kill a Boundless. With the passage of time and the Ancestor’s fall, the power contained in the demon blood here is less than a tenth of what it once was.”
Niezang Venerable said, “I sense spiritual power fluctuations!”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Does the Great Demon God still have spiritual thoughts remaining within the demon heart?”
“How could that be? It should be that the blood sea contains the Great Demon God’s divine heart,” Niezang Venerable said.
Martial arts deities cultivate divine sources, stored in the qi sea.
Spiritual power deities cultivate divine hearts, stored in the heart.
The Great Demon God was a martial arts Ancestor, but his spiritual power attainment was certainly not low.
Within the demon heart lay the divine heart.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I understand now! Jiusi Yitianhuang’s first life was both the Great Demon God’s demon heart and possessed all of the Great Demon God’s spiritual power attainment. This suggests that Jiusi Yitianhuang might still be holding back—his spiritual power… could also be very strong.”
“That is a possibility,” Niezang Venerable said.
Nutian Shenzun had been exploring the blood sea world within the demon heart since entering. Suddenly, his expression turned grave, and he said, “Be careful, do not stray too far from me.”
Niezang Venerable was moved, saying, “What did you find? Could it be that the Great Demon God truly has spiritual thoughts hidden here?”
Nutian Shenzun shook his head, saying, “No, it’s another strange power. Can you pinpoint the exact location of the divine heart?”
“The Great Demon God’s spiritual power during his lifetime far surpassed mine, hiding the divine heart very deeply. It’s troublesome; it may take more time.”
Niezang Venerable’s body emitted a bright radiance, and countless spiritual power tendrils turned into billions of light traces, surging into the blood sea.
Zhang Ruochen sensed a familiar aura. He activated the Wuji Divine Dao, evolving the Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal, and expanded it outward.
“What did you find?” Nutian Shenzun asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, “A very familiar aura. I sensed it before in Fei Ma Wang’s cranial cavity. Yes, it’s the same aura as the blood lake inside her cranial cavity! That kind of blood, that kind of power…”
Fei Ma Wang’s divine source and divine soul were both preserved in a blood lake within her cranial cavity.
Xu Tian had once speculated that it might be the blood of an Immortal.
It was precisely because of the nurturing of the Immortal’s blood and its isolation from the world that Fei Ma Wang’s divine soul could be preserved to this era. It was by absorbing the Immortal’s blood and integrating it into her bone body that she came back to life.
It wasn’t just Fei Ma Wang.
At the North Marsh Great Wall, when the seventy-two demon pillars all revived, Zhang Ruochen had speculated that their situation was likely the same as Fei Ma Wang’s—all relying on that special blood to preserve their divine sources and souls, including the flame of life.
“This must be why Yinxue Heaven asked you to hand over the demon heart to me! The Immortal, hmph, the Great Venerable was investigating this matter in his later years, and the Withering Death Art is certainly related to it.”
Nutian Shenzun reached his hand into the void, and immediately, an increasingly deep vortex appeared in the blood sea.
Wisps of strange blood qi separated from the blood sea, flew out of the vortex, and gathered in Nutian Shenzun’s palm.
After a moment, it condensed into a mass.
Zhang Ruochen carefully sensed it, saying, “The aura is very similar, almost certain.”
Nutian Shenzun said, “This means that strange blood wasn’t hidden in a specific place within the blood sea, but had already fused with the entire sea. No, the truth should be that the Great Demon God absorbed and refined this blood during his lifetime. This blood had already merged with his Ancestor blood.”
Zhang Ruochen seemed to be talking to himself, saying, “The blood lake I saw in Fei Ma Wang’s cranial cavity—was it the Great Demon God’s blood, or this special blood? At that time, my cultivation was too low, and I immediately retreated, unable to investigate clearly.”
If it was the former, then the one who set up the seventy-two demon pillars’ rebirth scheme was the Great Demon God.
If it was the latter, then the one who laid the plan was someone else.
Nutian Shenzun said, “We must find a way to capture Fei Ma Wang and get answers from her.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “The Hell Realm should have captured some Ancient Era demons, right? Have they examined their blood?”
Nutian Shenzun narrowed his eyes and spoke with divine sound: “Yan Su, go to the Nether Hall and bring the Ancient Era demon Yiji to White Clothes Valley. Tell them that I must have Yiji. If I don’t see him within three days, I will visit the Nether Hall myself.”
Upon receiving the message, Yanshu Chanshi immediately set off, clearly aware of the gravity of the matter.
Nutian Shenzun needed to extract the special blood from the demon heart, while Niezang Venerable was searching for the divine heart—neither could be accomplished in a short time.
Zhang Ruochen left first.
Pushing open the door, he walked out of the thatched hut.
Juemiao Channu, Xiuchen Tianshen, Qingsu, and even Lang Zu and other core figures of White Clothes Valley were all waiting outside.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Let them all disperse. The God Venerable and the Venerable won’t come out for some time.”
After everyone left, Zhang Ruochen’s gaze fell again on the two steles below the cliff.
After paying respects to Xumi Saint Monk’s cenotaph, Zhang Ruochen came before the Kong Faning Stele, clasped his hands together, and bowed forward in salute. At the same time, he secretly activated the power of the Heart of Truth to probe and sense within the tomb.
Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful.
Nutian Shenzun had left rules and divine power to guard her tomb.
Zhang Ruochen dared not cause too much commotion and could only suppress his curiosity for now.
Xiuchen Tianshen knew what Zhang Ruochen was doing, her gaze as cold as frost. She felt he was being too disrespectful to Kong Faning, and a surge of divine power gathered in her palm.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen said, “The Empress has already given me the Time Source Pearl.”
Xiuchen Tianshen immediately dispersed the divine power in her palm, her expression becoming extremely animated, and said, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Give it to me quickly. With it, my cultivation can soon return to its peak.”
The Time Source Pearl was Xiuchen Tianshen’s divine source.
Zhang Ruochen said, “When did I say I would give it to you? For this Time Source Pearl, I owe the Empress a huge favor and have put up quite a few treasures.”
Xiuchen Tianshen said, “I will compensate you.”
“How will you compensate me? You already belong to me,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Xiuchen Tianshen was naturally furious, but at this moment, she could only hold it in tightly.
She was too eager to restore her cultivation, to regain her former glory, to kill the cultivators who had humiliated her one by one, and to reclaim her lost face.
Xiuchen Tianshen restrained herself greatly, trying to make her tone as gentle as possible, and said, “Master, if I restore my former cultivation, the Sundial can play a greater role. At that time, it will be enough to support the cultivation of multiple Great Unbound Infinite cultivators. Even Indestructible Infinite might not be impossible.”
“Master also wants to improve his realm as quickly as possible, right? With my current cultivation, I can no longer help Master.”
This series of “Master” made Zhang Ruochen feel very comfortable. At the same time, he sighed inwardly, thinking that Xiuchen Tianshen had indeed changed. She was no longer as tough and cold as before, becoming flexible and adaptable, with a gentle and watery side.
Even if it was all an act!
Qingsu was astonished, completely unable to imagine that the once infamous Xiuchen Tianshen had now become a gentle and plaintive maidservant.
Too humble!
Xiuchen Tianshen suddenly said, “By the way, Master may not know that Bai Qinger’s martial arts and spiritual power have both stepped into the Boundless realm. After leaving the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain with us, she went to the Stone Clan to challenge the Desolate Heaven Hall Master! That is my achievement!”
Zhang Ruochen said, “What did you say? She stepped into Boundless so quickly?”
Xiuchen Tianshen said, “Master, it has been a thousand years! You left the Sword Realm over a thousand years ago. Cultivating under the Sundial, that is hundreds of thousands of years. With her talent, plus the divine heart passed down to her by the Inverse God Clan’s Great Elder, it would be strange if she hadn’t broken through to Boundless.”
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself that the Sword Realm must have undergone tremendous changes, with its strength having increased by who knows how much.
Xiuchen plus the Sundial was indeed the most terrifying cultivation treasure in the world today.
Beside him, not only Qingsu but even the usually unflappable Juemiao Channu showed a glint of brilliance in her eyes.
If Xiuchen Tianshen truly restored her cultivation, the value of the Sundial would increase by a large margin. They would all be beneficiaries.
Of course, for cultivators with top-tier talent, the Sundial held immense appeal.
For older cultivators, or those whose cultivation had stagnated, entering the Sundial would only waste their lifespan, doing more harm than good.
Just like Qingsu at her current stage. Entering the Sundial to cultivate would be cutting her own lifespan, with little hope of significant progress.
Zhang Ruochen felt some concern, saying, “She cultivates too aggressively; it might leave hidden dangers. Channu, help me check if there is any news from the Stone Clan.”
“Mm!”
Juemiao Channu agreed.
Xiuchen Tianshen was unconvinced, saying, “You say she’s aggressive, but aren’t you even more so? In my view, Bai Qinger is extremely clever. She hasn’t been cultivating under the Sundial all the time, so she isn’t rushing. If she were truly aggressive, her cultivation wouldn’t be just at the early stage of Qiankun Boundless.”
Soon, Juemiao Channu received a telepathic response from a White Clothes Valley cultivator. She gently shook her head, saying, “There is no news of Bai Qinger.”
“That’s impossible!”
Xiuchen Tianshen was very certain, saying, “Her determination to fight Desolate Heaven was firm. With two God Venerables clashing, such a major event couldn’t possibly have no news at all.”