Chapter 360: Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage
"Is that so?"
Zhang Ruochen naturally did not believe Zhang Tiangui's words, but he was not in a hurry to kill him. He continued asking, "Then answer me this: who killed my mother, Consort Lin?"
Zhang Tiangui shook his head again, "Consort Lin... is not dead..."
"What?"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Zhang Tiangui by the collar and lifted him up, "You'd better not be lying to me, or I won't give you a quick death."
Zhang Tiangui quickly said, "Ninth Brother, Consort Lin... really isn't dead. She was rescued by someone!"
"Who?"
"I don't know... All I know is that it was an assassin from the Underworld Gate... a very skilled sword-wielding assassin..." Zhang Tiangui said.
He was not lying to Zhang Ruochen; he was trying his best to answer Zhang Ruochen's questions, not to provoke him. If Zhang Ruochen softened even a little, he might spare his life.
Later, once his injuries healed, he would naturally have a chance to make a comeback. Then, he could deal with Zhang Ruochen slowly.
Zhang Ruochen gently released his grip, a thoughtful expression on his face. He wondered in his heart, could it be that A Le had rescued his mother?
In the Underworld Gate, only Zi Qian and A Le had any connection with Zhang Ruochen.
When the palace coup occurred, Zi Qian was still on the Tongming River, so it couldn't have been her.
It must have been A Le.
Learning that his mother was still alive lifted Zhang Ruochen's spirits considerably. His gaze once again fixed on Zhang Tiangui.
"Ninth... Brother, I was wrong. Everything I did before was wrong. Please spare my life. After all... after all, we are blood brothers..."
Zhang Tiangui looked at Zhang Ruochen with pleading eyes, tears streaming down his face, looking utterly pitiful.
At this moment, as long as he could keep his life, he would do anything—beg for mercy, even crawl between Zhang Ruochen's legs—without hesitation.
A true man can bend and stretch, Zhang Tiangui thought to himself.
Unfortunately, Zhang Ruochen was no longer the naive youth he once was. In the past three years, he had seen all the warmth and coldness of the world and knew that the martial arts world was a cruel place. Often, there were only two outcomes: either you die, or I die.
"Since Mother is still alive, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll give you a quick death now."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes turned incredibly sharp. He raised his arm and shot out the Demon-Breaking Needle, which turned into a streak of light and pierced into Zhang Tiangui's brow.
"No... Zhang Ruochen... you can't kill... me..."
The Demon-Breaking Needle carried a wisp of Azure Void True Qi and pierced through Zhang Tiangui's Qi Sea in an instant.
With a bang, Zhang Tiangui's Qi Sea exploded.
Chaotic true qi surged out from the Qi Sea, rushing into the meridians throughout Zhang Tiangui's body.
Moments later, Zhang Tiangui died from severed meridians all over his body. His body gradually grew cold, and he stopped breathing.
On the surface, there were no visible wounds, as if he had simply fallen asleep.
"It's finally over."
Zhang Ruochen let out a long sigh, his heart filled with complex emotions. He returned to his original spot and continued cultivating.
After spending three days and two nights, Zhang Ruochen finally condensed one hundred drops of true qi and began to break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage.
For martial artists, breaking through from the Heavenly Extreme Realm Initial Stage to the Middle Stage had almost no bottleneck. As long as one could condense one hundred drops of true qi, ninety-nine percent of martial artists could successfully break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage.
For Zhang Ruochen, it was naturally a piece of cake.
In just about an hour, Zhang Ruochen broke through the realm and officially entered the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage.
When a martial artist reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, every breakthrough in realm would increase the strength of their Martial Soul. At the moment of breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage, Zhang Ruochen sensed that his Martial Soul had grown stronger!
"Hiss!"
The true qi in his body continuously seeped into his muscles, bones, internal organs, and meridians, nourishing his physical body and tempering his Martial Soul. His entire being seemed to undergo a transformation.
However, in his Qi Sea, there were still only one hundred drops of true qi.
"With the Dragon Pearl, breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage is indeed easy, but breaking through to the Late Stage will be much harder."
With one hundred drops of true qi, one could break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage.
But to break through to the Late Stage, one needed ten thousand drops of true qi.
The amount of true qi had increased by a full one hundred times.
Even though Zhang Ruochen had now reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage and his absorption of Sacred Dragon Power had doubled, it would still take about five months to cultivate ten thousand drops of true qi. And that was only possible if he was in seclusion.
The higher the cultivation, the harder it was to improve.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen possessed the Time-Space Crystal, giving him three times more time than others. If he went into seclusion, he should be able to reach the Heavenly Extreme Realm Late Stage within two months.
In the past three days, Hua Qingye had not come to the secret chamber. Perhaps in his view, Zhang Ruochen, whose meridians and Qi Sea had been sealed, could not cause any trouble, so he did not bother with him.
As for Zhang Tiangui, Hua Qingye cared even less about his life.
During these days, Hua Qingye entered the royal city almost every day to gather information.
It was not until the fourth day that Hua Qingye finally got the news—news that shook the entire martial arts world of the Demon Ridge.
"Zhang Ruochen defeated Di Yi, the young master of the Black Market First Class Hall, and gouged out Di Yi's demon heart."
Although Hua Qingye had already heard Zhang Ruochen say this and was mentally prepared, hearing the news with his own ears still shocked him greatly. After a long moment, he burst into ecstasy.
The fact that Zhang Ruochen could defeat Di Yi, who possessed a Saintly Body and Demon Heart, at the same realm, proved that the ancient cave where the Bodhi Fruit grew was definitely an extraordinary place. If he could also obtain some treasures from it, he might even be able to break through to the Half-Saint Realm in one fell swoop.
Now, Zhang Ruochen was a huge treasure trove.
And he was the one holding this treasure trove—how could he not be delighted?
Hua Qingye immediately returned to the secret chamber, eager to have Zhang Ruochen take him to find that ancient cave. He could no longer wait.
However, Hua Qingye did not know that Zhang Ruochen had already broken the seal and had been waiting for him in the secret chamber for some time.
Hua Qingye pressed his palm against the surface of the secret chamber's stone door, deactivating the formation. With a rumbling sound, the stone door slowly rose, revealing Zhang Ruochen sitting cross-legged inside the chamber.
"Zhang Ruochen, you are truly formidable. You actually managed to take down Di Yi. Haha! For the Demon Ridge to produce a prodigy like you, this old man almost regrets having to kill you."
Hua Qingye glanced at the corner, his gaze falling on Zhang Tiangui, who had already died.
He seemed to have expected this outcome and showed no surprise. Instead, a smile appeared on his face. "Since Zhang Tiangui is dead, shouldn't you now take this old man to that ancient cave?"
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and stood up, saying calmly, "It seems the news from the Tongming River has reached the royal city. Very well, let's set off now."
For some reason, the moment Zhang Ruochen stood up, a dangerous feeling arose in Hua Qingye's heart.
Why was Zhang Ruochen so calm, so composed?
Not good.
In an instant, Hua Qingye pushed off the ground with both feet and dashed to the left.
"Whoosh!"
A spatial rift tore open to Hua Qingye's right, over three meters long, generating a powerful suction force that pulled Hua Qingye toward the rift.
Zhang Tiangui's corpse was sucked in instantly. Before it even entered the spatial rift, it was torn into bloody powder, leaving only a skeleton.
"What kind of martial technique is this?"
Hua Qingye gritted his teeth, mobilizing all the true qi in his body. He sank his legs, shattering the ground, and buried himself up to his knees in the earth, anchoring himself like a stake to resist the power of the spatial rift.
Zhang Ruochen acted decisively, striking out with both palms simultaneously, hitting Hua Qingye in the chest.
"Bang!"
Hua Qingye was sent flying backward, crashing into the stone wall and cracking it with a web of fissures.
At the center of the cracks was a deep, human-shaped pit, with Hua Qingye's body embedded inside.
With a whoosh, Zhang Ruochen rushed to the stone wall, his hands continuously striking palm prints onto Hua Qingye's chest.
"Bang! Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen's hands moved rapidly, leaving only a blur of palm strikes.
Within a single breath, Zhang Ruochen delivered over seventy palm strikes, all hitting Hua Qingye's body, driving him another two meters deeper into the stone wall, as if he were buried inside.
"Brat, you're asking for death!"
Hua Qingye roared with a ferocious expression, clenching his fists. From the hundred thousand pores all over his body, true qi surged out like waves of water.
"Boom!"
That was the power of a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist. It erupted from his body, turning into a powerful wave of air that sent Zhang Ruochen staggering backward.
"Still not dead?"
Zhang Ruochen steadied himself, staring at the large pit in the stone wall. He drew the Abyssal Ancient Sword, controlled it with his sword intent, and sent it flying into the pitch-black pit.
"Bang!"
"Whoosh!"
Hua Qingye walked out of the deep pit, continuously throwing punches to knock the Abyssal Ancient Sword away.
The barrage of strikes from Zhang Ruochen had severely injured Hua Qingye. His chest was covered in blood, and his ribcage was almost caved in.
Unfortunately, Hua Qingye's cultivation was too high. Withstanding over seventy palm strikes from Zhang Ruochen, he could still walk out of the pit—something only a Fish-Dragon Realm martial artist could do.
Hua Qingye was disheveled, covered in blood from head to toe. With his gaunt, old face, he looked like a vengeful spirit crawling out from the underworld.
"Roar!"
Hua Qingye let out a roar and lunged at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen immediately released his Martial Soul, channeling the world's spiritual energy to condense a massive true qi handprint. It was three meters long, with fingers like pillars, and the palm lines were clearly visible.
"Bang!"
Hua Qingye was sent flying again, crashing into the stone wall, causing the entire secret chamber to shake.
"You've broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Stage?" Hua Qingye exclaimed in shock.
How had Zhang Ruochen broken through so quickly?
Zhang Ruochen stood opposite Hua Qingye, radiating a blazing aura of cyan spiritual light. His entire demeanor had changed, like a drawn sword.
No words were needed. Hua Qingye realized he had fallen for Zhang Ruochen's delaying tactic. Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had deliberately shown weakness to buy time to break through to a higher realm.