# Chapter 502: The World Within the Scroll
As his realm broke through, Zhang Ruochen's body trembled violently.
Immediately afterward, all the pores on his body opened wide, emitting a suction force that absorbed the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
Zhang Ruochen's body was completely enveloped by a vortex of spiritual energy. It was not until several days later that the spiritual energy vortex dissipated.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen let out a loud laugh and roared, "Caught it! Caught it! I finally caught the Time Imprint."
"Time Sword Art, Instant Without Trace."
His eyes did not open, as if he were still in slumber.
His arm formed a sword finger, and he swung it fiercely, turning it into a beam of light that slashed outward.
"Shua!"
That sword light cut through the Space Domain, tearing open a rift.
Immediately, blood water surged in, completely submerging Zhang Ruochen's body.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes snapped open. His hands formed palm seals and pushed outward in both directions, once again propping up the Space Domain.
He looked at his own hands, then at the Cosmic Divine Wood Map on the ground, and muttered to himself, "Such a powerful Time Sword Art, able to break through a Space Domain. But how did I manage to cultivate the Time Sword Art successfully?"
Zhang Ruochen rubbed his temples, trying hard to recall.
Just now, when he pressed his palm onto the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, he seemed to see a huge ancient tree and an old man practicing sword techniques.
He felt as if he had been practicing swordsmanship with that old man for several months.
But it also seemed as if only an instant had passed.
"It's that same feeling as last time—like a long time has passed, yet also like only a moment has gone by. However, this time, it was much clearer than before. I'm certain that I was indeed learning swordsmanship from an old man, learning the Time Sword Art. The first move is called Instant Without Trace."
Zhang Ruochen tried hard to recall, but no matter what, he could not remember exactly what had happened. In his mind, there were only some vague impressions.
"Could it be that the place I went to was the inner world of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map?"
The Cosmic Divine Wood Map had absorbed the origin energy of the Wood Essence Ruins Realm. The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree should have already grown enough to support the inner world of the scroll.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ruochen immediately infused his true qi into the Cosmic Divine Wood Map. With a "hua" sound, streaks of multicolored light rose from the surface of the scroll.
Those rays of light were as slender as silk threads, converging together to form a Space Gate.
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, crossing through the Space Gate as if passing through a curtain of light. The next moment, his feet landed on a patch of emerald green grass.
Zhang Ruochen looked out. The entire world was lush and verdant. In the more distant places, faintly visible were towering mountain ranges that pierced the clouds, shrouded in mist, with deep forests and ancient trees, giving the scene a wild and primeval marshland appearance.
A moment ago, he had been in the dimly lit blood pool.
The next moment, he had arrived in a whole new world, like a paradise, completely isolated from the outside.
"This... this is the scroll world of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map? How is it any different from the real world? Incredible. I wonder what level of cultivation Xumi Saint Monk had reached back then, to be able to create a world of his own." Zhang Ruochen was utterly amazed.
He immediately thought of the Buddhist saying, "In a single flower, a world; in a single leaf, a Buddha."
He took a deep breath. The air carried a faint fragrance of earth and flowers and grass. A powerful surge of spiritual energy rushed into his body, rampaging through his meridians.
"The concentration of spiritual energy is about the same as in a remote place like Demon Ridge, but far from comparable to the Eastern Domain Sacred City."
The concentration of spiritual energy determined the quality of the cultivation environment.
But that was not absolute.
As long as Zhang Ruochen had enough spirit crystals, he could set up a spirit-gathering formation.
That way, even in the relatively barren spiritual energy of the scroll world, cultivation would not be affected at all.
The most important thing was that ten days passed inside the scroll world while only one day passed outside.
That was the greatest help to Zhang Ruochen's cultivation.
Zhang Ruochen glanced toward the horizon and soon spotted the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree. He then unfolded his movement technique and flew up from the ground.
Before long, he arrived at the top of a small hill closest to the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
Looking into the distance, he saw a withered tree stump standing thirty zhang tall on the ground.
That tree stump looked like a huge, flat circular platform. Stretching out as far as the eye could see, there was no end in sight.
On the tree stump were rings of annual growth marks, densely packed and countless in number—who knew how many tens of thousands of rings there were. Each ring was like a page of a book, recording an ancient story.
An ancient and surging power emanated from the tree stump, giving the feeling that this ancient tree held endless secrets.
Zhang Ruochen was deeply shaken and murmured, "Could this be the legendary Sky-Connecting Divine Tree?"
The Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was a legend known to everyone in the Kunlun Realm. It was said to be a divine tree connecting heaven and earth, also known as the "Root of the Kunlun Realm."
In the Middle Ages, one hundred thousand years ago, the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was cut down. From then on, no one in the Kunlun Realm could become a god. At the same time, historians defined "the cutting down of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree" as the mark of the end of the Middle Ages.
According to Xiao Hei, Xumi Saint Monk had transplanted the roots of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree into the inner world of the Cosmic Divine Wood Map.
What it referred to should be the huge tree stump before Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
Zhang Ruochen spread his arms, riding the wind, and flew to the top of the tree stump, landing lightly.
"As expected of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree's stump. Even after such a long time, it still emits such rich spiritual energy. Within the spiritual energy, there seems to be an even higher-grade current—probably the legendary saint qi." Zhang Ruochen was greatly amazed.
In the inner world of the scroll, the closer one got to the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree's stump, the denser the spiritual energy became.
Especially standing on the tree stump itself, the concentration of spiritual energy was comparable to that of the Holy Mountain in the Holy Academy. Perhaps even surpassing it.
The tree stump beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet was like a flat, enormous training ground. He walked for a long time before reaching the center of the stump.
At the center of the tree stump grew a new sprout.
However, this sprout had been growing for many years and was already very thick. The trunk's diameter exceeded a hundred meters, like a mountain peak piercing straight into the clouds, majestic and awe-inspiring, shaking the soul.
He could clearly feel the immense vitality contained in the new sprout.
"This is the place. The place I came to in my dream is right here. This is the new sprout of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree. It has already propped up this inner world of the scroll."
Zhang Ruochen searched under the tree but could not find the old man anywhere.
"Xiao Hei has been sealed in the scroll world all along. It must be very familiar with this world. Since I can't find the reason, I'll leave this place first. I'll ask it when I get out—I should get some answers."
Zhang Ruochen looked up, his eyes filled with reverence. He pressed his palms together, bowed respectfully toward the new sprout of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, and then immediately turned to leave.
Zhang Ruochen did not know how long he had been cultivating earlier. Afraid of missing the ten-day appointment, he hurriedly withdrew from the scroll world.
"Hua!"
Zhang Ruochen walked out of the Space Gate and returned to the bottom of the blood pool.
The Cosmic Divine Wood Map flashed with light, turning into a speck of light that flew into Zhang Ruochen's brow, then suspended itself in his Qi Sea.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, gradually calming the emotions in his heart.
Only then did he realize that his martial arts cultivation had unknowingly broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection, and his spiritual power had also reached the forty-second rank.
Reaching the forty-second rank in spiritual power was already within Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
After all, if his spiritual power had not broken through, he would not have been able to learn the first sword of the Time Sword Art, Instant Without Trace.
But how had his martial arts realm also broken through?
After all, Zhang Ruochen's martial arts realm had only recently broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position. According to his estimation, it would take at least another half year of cultivation to reach the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection.
"Could it be that while I was comprehending the Time Sword Art, my martial soul transformed into a false god body and absorbed the sacrificial power in the blood pool?" Zhang Ruochen could only think of this possibility.
He released his spiritual power, merging it into the blood pool, and indeed found that the sacrificial power in the blood pool had become much weaker.
"If that's the case, then I must have stayed in the blood pool for a very long time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection."
Zhang Ruochen's expression turned serious as he muttered to himself, "I hope it hasn't been more than ten days."
He channeled his true qi into his legs, stomped on the bottom of the blood pool, and using the rebounding force, shot upward like an arrow released from a bowstring.