Chapter 431: Seizing the Half-Saint Light
The Half-Saint Light contained an immensely vast energy. Every strand of light was like a scorching river of magma, flowing from Blood Spirit King’s brow into Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea.
The true qi within Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea boiled violently. The power radiating from the Half-Saint Light seemed capable of melting his body.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen had reached the Third Unsurpassable Extreme Realm, triggering the Resonance of the Gods three times.
Thus, his Qi Sea was guarded by the power of the gods, allowing him to contain the force of the Half-Saint Light.
Blood Spirit King let out a long howl. The surface of her skin writhed rapidly, and blood-red veins emerged across her body.
Two cyan bumps grew on her forehead. From her mouth, two long, sharp fangs protruded. Her originally beautiful and captivating face twisted in an instant, becoming hideous and ferocious as she transformed into an ugly evil spirit monster.
A bloody aura spewed from her mouth, corroding the surrounding buildings.
At the same time, her power surged dramatically. She swung a pair of blood-red claws, striking upward at the Cosmic Divine Wood Map above her head.
“Boom!”
The Cosmic Divine Wood Map shook violently, tilting to the left as if it might fly away.
“Not good! Her blood energy is so intense—the Cosmic Divine Wood Map can barely suppress her anymore!” Xiao Hei’s voice rang out urgently from within the Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
“Rumble!”
A series of deafening crashes echoed.
Blood Spirit King unleashed thirty-seven palm strikes in succession, finally knocking the Cosmic Divine Wood Map away.
Then, she struck out another palm. A surge of blood energy erupted from her palm, like a crimson wave of water, producing a “splashing” sound.
At the center of the wave, a massive palm print, five meters wide, could faintly be seen.
Freed from the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, Blood Spirit King’s power erupted fully. Even a casual palm strike was beyond what Zhang Ruochen could withstand in his current state.
Seeing the incoming palm print, Zhang Ruochen immediately activated Spatial Displacement, vanishing from his spot and reappearing above Blood Spirit King’s head. He traced a line with his finger, unleashing the power of space.
“Shiiing!”
As his finger moved, space was torn apart, like a sheet of paper sliced by a blade. A long rift appeared above Blood Spirit King’s head.
Sensing the danger, Blood Spirit King swiftly executed a movement technique, darting to the left to evade the attack of the Space Rift.
Zhang Ruochen seemed to have anticipated her leftward dodge. He used Spatial Displacement again, appearing behind her first.
He unleashed a Space Rift, slashing at Blood Spirit King’s right arm.
“Plop!”
Blood Spirit King’s arm was severed by a half-meter-long Space Rift, flying off into the distance.
Blood dripped down.
In the severed hand, a white light glowed—it was the *Divine Fall Scripture*.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed the severed arm, retrieved the *Divine Fall Scripture*, and tossed it to Hanxue. Then, he attacked Blood Spirit King once more.
“Blood Spirit King, I’ve already absorbed all the Half-Saint Light from your body. Without its protection, today is your day of death,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Blood Spirit King’s wrist gushed blood continuously. Her face was twisted with rage, and she said coldly, “If not for that scroll suppressing me and draining my power, how could you have wounded me?”
The reason Zhang Ruochen had managed to sever Blood Spirit King’s arm was not only due to the subtlety of Spatial Displacement but also, more importantly, because Blood Spirit King had indeed been severely weakened by the Cosmic Divine Wood Map’s suppression.
Otherwise, no matter how heaven-defying a Heaven Extreme Realm martial artist might be, they could never harm a cultivator at the Sixth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
Just then, their fierce battle finally alerted Lei Jing in the Martial Market Inn.
“What evil dares to cause trouble in the Martial Market Inn?”
Lei Jing’s eyes snapped open. He let out a long roar, flew out from a courtyard in the inn, and struck out a claw print, hitting the void.
“Crack!”
The empty void, struck by Lei Jing’s attack, immediately revealed a layer of blood-red formation light shield.
At the top of the light shield, a fist-sized blood bead floated.
Looking up at the blood bead from below, one could clearly see strands of inscriptions surfacing on its surface—it was a formation bead.
It was because Blood Spirit King had fixed that formation bead above the courtyard where Zhang Ruochen stayed that the experts in the Martial Market Inn hadn’t detected the battle fluctuations inside.
Even Lei Jing only noticed because of his formidable cultivation.
“Whoosh!”
With a single wave of his hand, Lei Jing tore through the blood-red light shield, charging in and landing beside Zhang Ruochen.
Just before Lei Jing rushed out, Blood Spirit King had already flown out of the Martial Market Inn. With a flicker, she vanished without a trace.
Lei Jing gave chase but failed to catch Blood Spirit King. He soon returned, looking puzzled. “That’s the aura of the blood-sucking evil spirit from Heavenly Demon Ridge. How did it track us all the way to the Eastern Region Holy City?”
“It must have followed us here from behind,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Lei Jing noticed Zhang Ruochen’s pale face and the trail of blood at the corner of his mouth. He immediately walked over, grabbed Zhang Ruochen’s wrist, and checked his injuries.
“Most of the blood vessels inside your body are ruptured. You’re barely holding on with the Sacred Dragon Power from the Dragon Pearl. If you don’t heal immediately, it could affect your future martial arts cultivation.”
Lei Jing glared and scolded, “Heal yourself now! If you leave any incurable internal injuries, it will be a lifelong regret.”
Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had been solely focused on stopping Blood Spirit King and helping Hanxue reclaim the *Divine Fall Scripture*. Despite his severe internal injuries, he had pushed through.
Only after Blood Spirit King escaped did Zhang Ruochen realize how badly he was hurt.
He immediately took a healing pill, sat cross-legged, and began circulating the fourth layer of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture*.
Azure Void True Qi flowed rapidly through his meridians, surging from his Qi Sea, passing through his limbs and organs, forming a full-body Great Cycle.
Wherever the true qi flowed, the ruptured blood vessels automatically reconnected.
At the same time, the Half-Saint Light in his Qi Sea transformed into strands of fine threads, following the Azure Void True Qi into the thirty-six meridians throughout his body.
As the blood vessels reconnected, a small portion of the Half-Saint Light merged into his blood, while most of it was absorbed by Zhang Ruochen’s Martial Soul.
Blood Spirit King had only fused one-third of the Half-Saint Light. The remaining two-thirds were all absorbed into Zhang Ruochen’s Qi Sea, forming a dazzling orb of light suspended at its center.
Back then, Zhang Ruochen had only refined one percent of the Half-Saint Light, yet it had elevated his Martial Soul’s strength to a level comparable to a cultivator at the Fourth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
This showed how immense the energy contained in two-thirds of the Half-Saint Light was.
If fully refined, Zhang Ruochen’s Martial Soul strength would likely reach a level comparable to a cultivator at the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
After a full day and night, Zhang Ruochen’s injuries stabilized.
Almost all the major blood vessels in his body had reconnected, and his injuries had recovered by forty percent.
As long as he didn’t engage in combat within three days, he would fully recover.
Lei Jing had been standing guard nearby, wary of Blood Spirit King’s return.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen stand up, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked with concern, “Zhang Ruochen, are you alright?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled and shook his head. “Thank you for your concern, Master. I have the Dragon Pearl protecting my body. No matter how severe the injury, I can endure it.”
Lei Jing’s expression turned cold. “That blood-sucking evil spirit must have been after your Dragon Pearl, which is why it followed you from Heavenly Demon Ridge all the way to the Eastern Region Holy City. If you encounter her again, be extremely careful.”
Lei Jing didn’t know the real reason Blood Spirit King wanted to kill Zhang Ruochen. He only assumed she was after the Dragon Pearl.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to explain too much on this matter, so he went along with Lei Jing’s assumption. “Those who want to seize the Dragon Pearl are hardly limited to Blood Spirit King.”
Lei Jing nodded. “True. When you used the Divine Dragon Transformation on the Pilgrimage Stairway, you exposed the secret of the Dragon Pearl. There’s no hiding it anymore. From now on, even more experts will come after you.”
“In the Seventh District, with many Half-Saints and Saints stationed, it’s relatively safe. But once you leave the Seventh District or the Eastern Region Holy City, the real danger begins.”
Blood Spirit King had dared to attack Zhang Ruochen in the Martial Market Inn of the Seventh District, likely because she had made thorough preparations in advance.
Now that she had failed, she would never have another chance.
The Seventh District housed the Saint Academy, the Royal Academy, and martial arts schools run by various Saintly clans, gathering countless experts.
For evil-path martial artists, the Seventh District was a forbidden zone. Anyone who stepped in would surely be killed.
Even the Xu Holy Clan, despite gnashing their teeth in hatred for Zhang Ruochen, dared not make a move in the Seventh District.
“Master, I’m fully aware of the current situation. For now, I’ll stay in the Eastern Region Holy City, aiming to break through to the Middle Extreme Position of the Heaven Extreme Realm and strengthen my strength. Only after a breakthrough will I consider heading to the Ruins Realm battlefield,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“That’s a good plan.”
Lei Jing said, “I’m also at a critical point in my breakthrough. I’ll likely go into seclusion for a while and won’t have much energy to help you.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t care whether he could get Lei Jing’s help. Instead, he looked delighted. “Could it be that Master is about to open the Chongling Saint Meridian and break through to the Eighth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm?”
Cultivators in the Fish-Dragon Realm had to open five Saint Meridians in their bodies. The Chongling Saint Meridian was the last one.
By opening the Chongling Saint Meridian, a cultivator could connect all five Saint Meridians, forming a full-body Great Cycle, elevating their cultivation to a new level.
Lei Jing nodded slightly and sighed. “Every change in the Fish-Dragon Realm is a step. Crossing one step brings you closer to the Half-Saint Realm. Honestly, I’m not entirely confident. I came to the Eastern Region Holy City to buy some precious spiritual medicines and pills, planning to give it a try.”
“Heh! I have you to thank for passing me the *Blood God Scripture*. Otherwise, I’d never have reached the peak of the Seventh Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm so quickly.”
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment. “I can lend you a hand, Master.”
With that, Zhang Ruochen took out a massive piece of Black Water Liuli Crystal, weighing about twelve jin, and handed it to Lei Jing.
(Feitian Yu’s WeChat public account: 5)