# Chapter 514: Harvest
Zhang Ruochen's gaze shifted toward Ao Xinyan and said, "Junior Sister Ao, for the time being, you and Orange Moon Star Envoy will cultivate in seclusion within the Scroll World. If you have any doubts about your cultivation, you may consult Xiao Hei."
The Scroll World was a unique cultivation sanctuary, and Ao Xinyan naturally wished to cultivate there. At the very least, she wanted to elevate her cultivation to the Fish-Dragon Realm first.
Only by reaching the Fish-Dragon Realm could one transcend mortality and truly step onto the Sacred Path.
Both Orange Moon Star Envoy and Ao Xinyan wanted to work hard to improve their cultivation and enhance their own strength. Thus, they wasted no more time. They sat cross-legged at the edge of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree's stump and began circulating their techniques, entering cultivation.
Next, Zhang Ruochen, Xiao Hei, and Huang Yanchen walked toward the center of the stump, gradually approaching the new sprout of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
A hint of worry appeared on Huang Yanchen's face. She turned around, looking in the direction of Orange Moon Star Envoy, and said, "Zhang Ruochen, you must never be seduced by Orange Moon Star Envoy's beauty. Her words cannot be trusted."
"I believe her submission to you is entirely for the sake of cultivating in the Scroll World, using its unique environment to grow stronger. Once she has achieved success in her cultivation, she will definitely break out of the Scroll World."
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "I understand."
Xiao Hei walked on his two hind legs and laughed loudly, "Anyone can see that her submission is feigned. A mere little girl with deep schemes—no matter. This Emperor naturally has ways to train her into true submission. Zhang Ruochen, are you interested in personally training her?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "No interest. She is your person, so naturally, I leave her discipline to you. I only hope that in the future, she does not cause any trouble."
Xiao Hei snorted coldly. "How could this Emperor fail to suppress her? But you—you need to help me find the other two physiques: the True God Body and the Innate Extreme Yang Body. All five physiques are indispensable."
"I will keep an eye out for you," Zhang Ruochen said.
One man and one cat soon arrived beneath the new sprout of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree.
The spiritual energy here was even denser.
In particular, the wood-attributed spiritual energy was like countless streams, shuttling through the air before transforming into a white mist.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the sacred giant tree before him and said, "Xiao Hei, do you remember that matter I mentioned to you? When I absorbed the source energy of the Wood Essence Ruins Realm, I once again entered that mysterious and profound state. At that time, beneath the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree, an old man appeared practicing swordsmanship. Do you know who that old man was?"
Xiao Hei was somewhat surprised. His eyes rolled around as he thought for a moment, then he shook his head. "I spent a million years in the Scroll World and never saw any old man practicing swordsmanship."
"But..."
"But what?" Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened.
Xiao Hei seemed to be recalling something. "That old bald monk, Xumi Saint Monk, once demonstrated a set of sword techniques here. Perhaps the old man you saw practicing swordsmanship was a shadow left behind by Xumi Saint Monk a million years ago."
"A shadow can persist for that long?" Huang Yanchen asked, puzzled.
Xiao Hei said, "Other shadows naturally cannot, but that bald monk Xumi Saint Monk was no ordinary person. His power fluctuations were too strong, enough to distort this space. Seeing his shadow a million years later is not impossible."
"That is indeed possible," Zhang Ruochen nodded.
In all the world, the only ones who could merge time into swordsmanship were probably Xumi Saint Monk and Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen speculated in his heart that at that time, the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree had absorbed a large amount of source energy, which would certainly cause spiritual energy fluctuations, thereby re-presenting the image from a million years ago.
Of course, this was merely his and Xiao Hei's speculation; it might not be the truth.
Zhang Ruochen had only just begun cultivating the Time Sword. Even the first sword, "Instant Without Trace," had only reached minor completion. Merging the power of time with swordsmanship would require a long period of cultivation.
"The Space-Time Secret Scripture should contain the method for cultivating the Time Sword."
Zhang Ruochen immediately took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture and began flipping through it from the first page. He continued until the ninth page, where he indeed saw the words "Time Sword."
Previously, Zhang Ruochen could only flip to the eighth page. When he reached the ninth page, no matter how hard he tried, he could not open it.
This was his first time flipping to the ninth page.
On the ninth page of the Space-Time Secret Scripture, nine hundred small figures were drawn.
Each figure was only the size of a mosquito or fly. They held a sword in their hands, in various postures, executing different sword techniques.
Some bent forward, holding the sword with one hand and thrusting forward. Some bent their legs, swung their arms horizontally, and slashed with the sword... Nine hundred images, nine hundred forms.
Each image was a sword technique—thrusting, lifting, blocking, slashing—each one different, yet all extremely marvelous, full of the essence of the Sword Dao.
The Instant Sword Technique was the foundation of the Time Sword. One Time Imprint, one instant, one sword technique.
Nine hundred instants gathered into one moment.
Eight moments gathered into one hour.
Twelve hours gathered into one day.
...
...
The beginning of time was a single instant.
The Instant Sword Technique had a total of nine hundred moves. Zhang Ruochen had only learned one of them so far.
Zhang Ruochen completely immersed his spiritual power into the Space-Time Secret Scripture. His soul seemed to leap out of his body and land on the page.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the nine hundred sword-wielding figures on the page came to life.
They stood all around Zhang Ruochen, continuously demonstrating their techniques. Each figure demonstrated a different move.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power was fully absorbed. He walked to the side of the first figure, carefully observing its sword technique and sword moves, and began to follow along in practice.
Perhaps because Zhang Ruochen had already cultivated one move of the Instant Sword Technique, he quickly succeeded in cultivating the second move.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his spiritual power, drew the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and held his arm straight and level with the sword. He thrust the sword forward.
"Whoosh!"
The sword technique was like a bolt of lightning, flashing past Huang Yanchen's eyes.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen was already standing three zhang away. He sheathed his sword and muttered to himself, "The Instant Sword Technique actually has nine hundred moves in total. Only by completely mastering all nine hundred moves should I be able to cultivate the second level of the Time Sword, the Scale Sword Technique."
The greatest weakness of the Instant Sword Technique was that the moves were not continuous; each move was independent of the others.
However, as Zhang Ruochen mastered more and more sword moves, his swordsmanship would certainly undergo earth-shattering changes. Even relying on just one move, he could claim supremacy at the same cultivation level.
Zhang Ruochen was not in a hurry to go into seclusion to cultivate the Instant Sword Technique. Instead, he put away the Space-Time Secret Scripture and took out Huang Shenyi's corpse.
Since Huang Shenyi had obtained the Xuanwu inheritance, he surely possessed more than just six sacred swords.
What other treasures had he obtained?
"Crack!"
Zhang Ruochen wrapped his palm with true qi and struck out with a palm, shattering the layer of ice on Huang Shenyi's body.
He began searching Huang Shenyi's body.
Around Huang Shenyi's neck was a turtle shell-shaped protective treasure.
This protective treasure could withstand the attack of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, so it was naturally no ordinary item.
That turtle shell was called the Gui Xuan Armor. It was only the size of a fingernail, showing a bluish-green color. Inside, extremely complex inscriptions were carved. It was a twelfth-rank True Martial Treasure of the defensive type.
By using true qi, one could activate the defensive inscriptions within the Gui Xuan Armor, forming a spherical formation barrier.
A martial artist at the Heavenly Extreme Realm, by fully injecting true qi into the Gui Xuan Armor, could withstand a full-force attack from a cultivator at the sixth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
It could only withstand one attack.
If the cultivator at the sixth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm launched a second attack, a martial artist at the Heavenly Extreme Realm, given the amount of true qi within their body, would be unable to activate the Gui Xuan Armor's defense a second time.
Moreover, if the opponent also possessed an attack-type battle weapon of the twelfth-rank True Martial Treasure level, or even a Sacred Artifact, the Gui Xuan Armor might not be able to block their attack.
The Gui Xuan Armor was indeed a rare defensive treasure. It would be too wasteful to let the Abyssal Ancient Sword refine it.
Zhang Ruochen handed the Gui Xuan Armor to Huang Yanchen and said, "Senior Sister Yanchen, I give this protective treasure to you."
Although the Gui Xuan Armor was precious, compared to the six sacred swords, it was insignificant.
Thus, Huang Yanchen did not stand on ceremony with Zhang Ruochen. She took the Gui Xuan Armor and wore it on her wrist.
Next, Zhang Ruochen found two bottles of pills on Huang Shenyi's body.
One bottle contained a single milky-white Fish-Dragon Pill.
The Fish-Dragon Pill was a seventh-grade pill, extremely precious. It could help a martial artist break through martial bottlenecks, shatter mortal shackles, and enter the Fish-Dragon Realm.
For a martial artist at the Heavenly Extreme Realm, the Fish-Dragon Pill was a priceless treasure.
With Huang Shenyi's cultivation, as long as he took the Fish-Dragon Pill, he could immediately break through to the Fish-Dragon Realm. However, he had surely wanted to impact the Unsurpassed Extreme Realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, so he had only carried this pill on his person. Unexpectedly, he died before he could use it.
Actually, there was nothing to regret. Throughout history, many exceptionally talented individuals had suppressed their cultivation levels and refused to break through because they wanted to impact the Unsurpassed Extreme Realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. In the end, not only did they fail to reach the Unsurpassed Extreme Realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm, but they also died violent deaths.
There were too many such examples to count.
Although the Fish-Dragon Pill was a remarkable treasure, Zhang Ruochen had no interest in it. He shared the same thought as Huang Shenyi—he also wanted to impact the Unsurpassed Extreme Realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. Even knowing that this path was extremely difficult and that a single misstep could lead to a tragic death, he would still walk it without hesitation.
Therefore, he also gave the Fish-Dragon Pill to Huang Yanchen.
The other bottle of pills was somewhat peculiar. Even the bottle itself was quite ancient, as if it were a treasure.
Zhang Ruochen tried to pull off the bottle's lid, but no matter how much force he used, the lid would not budge.