Chapter 408: Black Water Glass Crystal
The group of women imprisoned in the dungeon huddled in a corner. Among them, a fairly neatly dressed young girl cautiously stood up and walked toward Zhang Ruochen.
She still looked somewhat frightened, speaking in a low voice: "You... you're not a disciple of Grand Mage Long Ze, are you?"
Zhang Ruochen glanced at her. She appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with snow-white skin and a delicate, beautiful face. Among that group of women, she was definitely the most attractive.
Moreover, the clothes she wore were clearly made of high-quality material, suggesting she was probably the daughter of some noble family.
Most importantly, there was a faint fluctuation of magical power about her. She was not an ordinary person.
Zhang Ruochen said: "No."
The young girl immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said: "I am Xue Yiyi, daughter of the city lord of Snow Leaf City in the Gilt Federation. Yesterday, I was captured and brought to Demon Ape Ridge by Grand Mage Long Ze's senior disciple, Grand Mage Ye. I beg you, young master, to save us and take us away from this place."
Xue Yiyi could tell that Zhang Ruochen's strength was formidable.
Even though he was trapped in the dungeon, he remained completely unperturbed. Someone like this was definitely no ordinary person.
Although Xue Yiyi did not believe Zhang Ruochen could defeat Grand Mage Long Ze, with her own strength, escape was utterly impossible. Having such a powerful expert by her side at least offered a glimmer of hope.
If she had to stay in the dungeon, serving the old and ugly Grand Mage Long Ze, she would rather smash her head against the wall and end her own life. At least that way, she could avoid further abuse.
Zhang Ruochen stared at the girl named Xue Yiyi, pondered for a moment, and said: "Since you are the daughter of a city lord, you should be fairly knowledgeable. If you answer some of my questions, I promise to save you and take you away from here."
Following that, Zhang Ruochen carefully questioned Xue Yiyi about the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
After half an hour of detailed conversation, Zhang Ruochen gained a general understanding of the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
The Five Elements Ruins Realm was a floating continent in the void, structured like "a round heaven and a square earth." It had not developed into nations, only city federations.
There were a total of ten federations, and the Gilt Federation was one of them.
The Gilt Federation consisted of twelve cities that formed alliances, engaged in trade, and jointly established armies to resist attacks from savage beasts against humanity.
Besides the three major federations, the Five Elements Ruins Realm also had three sacred temples and two evil palaces: the Sacred Fire Hall, the Sacred Water Hall, the Sacred Earth Hall, the Evil Metal Palace, and the Evil Wood Palace.
Among the five spiritual treasures mentioned by the artifact spirit of the "Heavenly Ranking," the "Source of Spiritual Fire" was the sacred object of the Sacred Fire Hall.
The "Purple Cloud Agarwood" was the supreme treasure of the Evil Wood Palace.
As for the other three spiritual treasures, Xue Yiyi had only heard their names and did not know where they were located.
"The 'Heavenly Ranking' really knows how to set difficult tasks. The Source of Spiritual Fire and the Purple Cloud Agarwood are both kept in the sacred temples and evil palaces. How could it be easy to obtain them? The other three spiritual treasures are probably not easy to get either."
Zhang Ruochen was very confident in his own strength, but he was not arrogant. With his power alone, he could not possibly challenge the strongest force of a lower-level ruins realm.
According to reports, the master of the Sacred Fire Hall was known as the number one expert of the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
Based on Xue Yiyi's description, Zhang Ruochen roughly estimated that the Sacred Fire Hall Master's strength was comparable to a powerhouse at the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, possibly even stronger.
Moreover, throughout history, the three sacred temples had produced beings at the Half-Saint level. Although those Half-Saints had died, they had undoubtedly left behind some powerful means. Any Heaven Extreme Realm martial artist who dared to intrude would only meet their death.
"The artifact spirit of the 'Heavenly Ranking' said that even Half-Saints would fight over those five spiritual treasures, as they could save ten years of bitter cultivation. If I could obtain just one of them, I might be able to break through to the Minor Extreme Position of the Heaven Extreme Realm, or even the Middle Extreme Position. Even if it's dangerous, I have to give it my all."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze gradually became resolute. He made up his mind that no matter how dangerous it was, he would go and take the risk.
Xue Yiyi sat to the side, seeing that Zhang Ruochen had been silent for a long time, and said: "Young hero Zhang, if we can escape, you could go to Snow Leaf City. With my father's knowledge, he will surely know the whereabouts of the other three spiritual treasures."
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said: "If I get the chance, I will definitely go to Snow Leaf City."
Zhang Ruochen stood up, stared at the metal walls of the dungeon, curled his lips slightly, and smiled: "I've already figured out a way to break the Five Elements Formation. Since we can't 'use fire to overcome metal,' we'll 'use metal to overcome metal.'"
Using metal to overcome metal meant a contest of strength—overcoming strength with strength, breaking force with force.
Whoever had greater strength would be able to break through the opponent's defenses.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized his true qi and injected it into the dragon pearl within his heart.
Immediately, a vast surge of dragon qi erupted from the dragon pearl, flowing through his meridians and flooding into his blood and flesh.
Zhang Ruochen's body was instantly covered by a layer of golden dragon scales, and his arms transformed into sharp dragon claws.
"Whoosh!"
He swung his dragon claws, striking at the metal wall.
Under the assault of the golden dragon claws, the metal wall was as soft as tofu, easily torn off in large chunks.
Seeing this, Xue Yiyi's face changed in shock, and she involuntarily took two steps back. This young man's strength was so terrifying—with a single wave of his hand, he could pierce metal and shatter stone. What kind of immense power was this?
...
...
Demon Ape Ridge, Poisonous Miasma Deep Valley.
The yellow-robed man and the green-robed man knelt at the feet of Grand Mage Long Ze, their bodies trembling, filled with fear. They were terrified that Grand Mage Long Ze would kill them both in a fit of rage.
The yellow-robed man clutched his chest, which was throbbing with severe pain, his face pale, and said: "Your disciple was incompetent and failed to stop that young man. Please punish me, Master."
Grand Mage Long Ze sat cross-legged on a stone chair, his expression gloomy, and said: "It's not your fault. This person is very likely that unparalleled genius from the Sacred Fire Hall. The two of you are far from his level... cough, cough."
As he spoke, Grand Mage Long Ze coughed lightly twice, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The yellow-robed man and the green-robed man exchanged a covert glance, their hearts filled with shock. That young man's strength was too terrifying—he had even managed to injure their master.
The yellow-robed man said: "Master, what do we do now? That person's strength is so great. The Five Elements Formation alone may not be enough to kill him."
Grand Mage Long Ze let out a cold laugh and said: "The Five Elements Formation is profoundly mysterious. Right now, it's 'metal born from earth.' In a moment, it will become 'water born from metal.' By then, the dungeon will be filled with extreme cold water. No matter how high his cultivation, he will freeze to death in the water..."
"Boom!"
Before Grand Mage Long Ze could finish his words, a dull rumble came from underground.
The miasma deep valley shook violently, and the Five Elements Formation was torn open by a surge of golden dragon qi, creating a fissure.
Grand Mage Long Ze's face changed, and he shouted: "Not good! That brat's strength is so formidable—he's about to break out of the Five Elements Formation."
Knowing that he was no match for Zhang Ruochen, Grand Mage Long Ze immediately mobilized his magical power, reinforcing it upon himself, and charged toward the depths of the valley.
"Whoosh!"
A golden pillar of light shot up from the deep well, soaring a hundred meters into the sky. When the light dissipated, a male figure appeared.
It was Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen activated his Heavenly Eye, and in an instant, he spotted Grand Mage Long Ze, who was trying to escape. He let out a roar: "Where do you think you're going?"
"Swish!"
Using his movement technique, Zhang Ruochen reached the air above Grand Mage Long Ze in the blink of an eye and struck out with a golden dragon claw. The five sharp claws were like five sharp swords.
Grand Mage Long Ze felt as if all the scenery around him had vanished. Walls of wind surrounded him on all sides, and his entire body was immobilized. Above his head, a golden claw as massive as a mountain came crashing down, shaking his very soul with terror.
"No..."
The dragon claw descended without pause, smashing Grand Mage Long Ze's head into pieces. Blood-red cracks extended from his neck downward, piercing through his chest, back, thighs, and feet.
With a bang, his entire body shattered into fragments of flesh and blood.
Zhang Ruochen landed on the ground, looked at his blood-drenched golden dragon claw, and muttered to himself: "Another hundred military merit points in the bag. Maybe I can accumulate enough ten thousand military merit points in the Five Elements Ruins Realm to enter the 'Heavenly Ranking.'"
He had been in the Five Elements Ruins Realm for less than half a day and already had one hundred and forty-two military merit points.
Zhang Ruochen was not accumulating military merit points just to enter the "Heavenly Ranking." He also wanted to break through to the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Heaven Extreme Realm.
Grand Mage Long Ze's body had been reduced to fragments, leaving only the crystal divine staff with the skull embedded in it still intact.
Zhang Ruochen picked up the crystal divine staff and probed it with his spiritual power. Inside the skull, he sensed a strange, icy cold energy.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen channeled his true qi fully and struck the skull with a palm, shattering it into white powder. At the top of the crystal divine staff, there was a black crystal the size of a thumb.
Faintly, one could see golden streaks of light flickering within the black crystal.
That strange, icy cold energy was being released from this small piece of black crystal.
"Such pure water-attributed power fluctuation."
Zhang Ruochen let out a soft exclamation. Using Azure Void True Qi to wrap around his finger, he carefully removed the black crystal and refined it with his true qi.
"Whoosh!"
The black crystal transformed into wisps of black cold qi, merging with the Azure Void True Qi and surging into Zhang Ruochen's palm, entering his meridians and qi sea.
"Crack, crack!"
A series of explosive sounds rang out from Zhang Ruochen's entire body. His bones, blood, and meridians were washed by a wave of cold qi, undergoing a noticeable enhancement.
"Incredible. Just by absorbing such a small piece of black crystal, my cultivation has increased by a large margin, equivalent to a month's worth of bitter cultivation. Moreover, my physique seems to have strengthened as well. Black cold ice patterns have appeared on my bones, and my power has increased significantly."
"Could this be one of the five spiritual treasures mentioned by the artifact spirit of the 'Heavenly Ranking'—the Black Water Glass Crystal?"
Zhang Ruochen became excited. He was certain that what he had just absorbed was the Black Water Glass Crystal. In the Five Elements Ruins Realm, only this substance could have such marvelous effects.
He had only absorbed about one tael of it just now. If he could find more, breaking through to the Minor Extreme Position of the Heaven Extreme Realm would certainly not be difficult.
"When he saw me break out of the dungeon, a normal person would have chosen to flee the valley. Yet Grand Mage Long Ze chose to run deeper into the valley. Could there be some secret hidden in the depths of the valley?"
Thinking of the Black Water Glass Crystal he had just refined, Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred. He decided to venture deeper into the valley to investigate.