# Chapter 515: Xuanwu Qi
"Quite interesting."
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly, mobilized his true qi, and channeled it to his fingertip, pressing it against the bottom of the pill bottle.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the surface of the pill bottle was covered with inscriptions.
The pill bottle, which had been only the size of a palm, gradually expanded, growing larger and larger, until it finally reached a height of three zhang.
"Is this a wish-fulfilling treasure bottle?" Xiao Hei asked, somewhat surprised.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "No, but it is a hundred-pattern sacred artifact. Its current size has reached its limit. Its storage space is far inferior to that of a wish-fulfilling treasure bottle."
The wish-fulfilling treasure bottle was a space treasure Zhang Ruochen had refined, capable of storing all the water from a pond. In the future, as Zhang Ruochen's cultivation increased, the space within the wish-fulfilling treasure bottle would become larger and more expansive.
However, this pill bottle could only expand to a height of three zhang at most, and its space was limited to that. It could not increase further.
So, what exactly was stored inside this pill bottle?
Zhang Ruochen used his true qi to refine the artifact spirit of the pill bottle, then slowly opened the lid.
"Boom!"
The moment the lid was opened just a crack, it shook violently, like a great river bursting its banks, producing a loud roar. From within the bottle surged a mass of five-colored qi clouds, completely enveloping Zhang Ruochen, Xiao Hei, and Huang Yanchen.
Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen both tensed up, quickly releasing their protective heavenly armor and assuming a defensive stance.
Xiao Hei's eyes, on the other hand, lit up, and he said joyfully, "Don't worry, this is Xuanwu qi, not miasmic poison gas. Good stuff! Truly good stuff! Even an ordinary person, by absorbing just a wisp of Xuanwu qi, would gain immense strength and become a master capable of defeating a hundred enemies."
"Is it really that miraculous?"
Huang Yanchen withdrew her protective heavenly armor, immediately closed her eyes, quietly circulated her cultivation technique, adjusted her breathing, and took a deep breath.
Wisps of five-colored airflow, making a rustling sound, surged toward her body.
Each wisp of Xuanwu qi, upon entering her body, transformed into a river of true qi, converging into the qi sea at her brow. Then, it flowed out from the qi sea, entered her meridians, and surged through all the major channels of her body.
It took an entire day and night for Huang Yanchen to fully refine that mouthful of Xuanwu qi.
Xiao Hei stared at her and asked, "How is it?"
"Incredible Xuanwu qi! By refining just this small amount, my cultivation has already reached the peak of the Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Extreme Position. If I can continue to cultivate with Xuanwu qi, within three more days at most, I can break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Extreme Position. Within a month, I might even have a chance to impact the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection."
Huang Yanchen was extremely shocked, finding it hard to believe. Her eyes were fixed on that pill bottle, and her heart could not calm down.
Xiao Hei laughed loudly and said, "If you cultivate for a month in the inner world of the scroll, only three days will pass in the outside world."
Huang Yanchen nodded. "That's right. Both the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and the Xuanwu qi are extraordinary treasures. They absolutely cannot be revealed, or it will bring Zhang Ruochen deadly trouble. Xiao Hei, you were too careless. You revealed such a secret to Ao Xinyan and Orange Moon Star Envoy. What if something goes wrong?"
Xiao Hei chuckled, showing a look that said, "Everything is under control."
Of the Xuanwu qi that had escaped from the pill bottle, Huang Yanchen had only absorbed one-tenth. The remaining nine-tenths were all drawn into Zhang Ruochen's body.
While Huang Yanchen was refining that mouthful of Xuanwu qi, Zhang Ruochen also refined the remaining Xuanwu qi, finishing almost at the same time as Huang Yanchen.
Zhang Ruochen was sitting cross-legged beside Huang Yanchen. He slowly opened his eyes and said, "Even without the Cosmic Divine Wood Map, there are probably countless people who want to kill me. The Dragon Pearl, the six sacred swords, and the Kshana Sword Art—any one of them would be enough to drive Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators mad, making them come after me recklessly to seize my treasures. To survive, I have no choice but to strive to become stronger."
"That's right. Only with greater pressure can one progress faster."
Xiao Hei asked, "So, how much has your cultivation improved?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "That mass of Xuanwu qi just now has boosted my cultivation by a significant margin. It shouldn't be long before I reach the mid-stage of the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection. That's even more powerful than I imagined. If I could obtain a large amount of Xuanwu qi, breaking through to the Fish-Dragon Realm, or even impacting the Half-Saint realm, shouldn't be too difficult."
Xiao Hei chuckled. "Of course. Legend has it that in ancient times, the Xuanwu could slay gods. Xuanwu qi has boundless wondrous uses. It's not just immensely beneficial for Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists. If word got out, even Half-Saints and Saints would scramble to fight over it. Because Xuanwu qi is also infinitely beneficial to them."
"Originally, the divine wood qi of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree could also rival Xuanwu qi. But all the divine wood qi of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree was used to nurture the new sapling and has long since been exhausted. That's really a pity."
The Xuanwu qi in Huang Shenyi's pill bottle was not much. The mass that had just escaped accounted for about one-thirtieth of the total.
If Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen absorbed and refined it together, it would soon be depleted.
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "The Xuanwu qi is definitely not limited to this amount. It's just that Huang Shenyi didn't have a space treasure, so he could only collect this much. If we can find the place where Huang Shenyi received the Xuanwu inheritance, we're sure to find more Xuanwu qi."
Huang Yanchen said, "You mean, we should go to the Xuanwu Ruins Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded.
It was in the Xuanwu Ruins Realm that Huang Shenyi had obtained the Xuanwu inheritance.
If Zhang Ruochen wanted to find more Xuanwu qi, he had to go to the Xuanwu Ruins Realm.
The uses of Xuanwu qi were immense. Not only could it help Zhang Ruochen rapidly elevate his cultivation, but it could also help those around him grow quickly and become strong.
After all, Zhang Ruochen's enemy was the number one figure of the Kunlun Realm, Empress Chi Yao.
Relying solely on his own strength, he could never contend with Empress Chi Yao. So, he needed help, he needed powerful allies.
The news that Zhang Ruochen had become number one on the Heavenly Ranking had surely already spread. Even if he wanted to keep a low profile, Empress Chi Yao would soon notice the name "Zhang Ruochen."
Eight hundred years later, would Empress Chi Yao still remember the name "Zhang Ruochen"?
There were many people with the same name in the entire Kunlun Realm, but not many who shared the same name and also topped the Heavenly Ranking at the same time.
Even if Empress Chi Yao only had the slightest suspicion, she would certainly send experts to investigate Zhang Ruochen.
Therefore, the time left for Zhang Ruochen was limited. He had to go to the Xuanwu Ruins Realm to collect more Xuanwu qi, so that his cultivation could rapidly improve and he could deal with the coming changes.
Huang Yanchen frowned. "The Xuanwu Ruins Realm is a mid-level ruins realm, ten or even a hundred times more dangerous than a low-level ruins realm. Moreover, a mid-level ruins realm is extremely vast. Trying to find the Xuanwu inheritance site is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I don't think you need to take that risk."
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Since Huang Shenyi could obtain the Xuanwu inheritance in the Xuanwu Ruins Realm, why can't I? I must go to the Xuanwu Ruins Realm—not just to search for Xuanwu qi, but also to accumulate military merit points and impact the supreme extreme realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm."
Then, Zhang Ruochen's gaze fell on Huang Shenyi's remains. "Besides, there might be some clues on his body."
Zhang Ruochen continued searching Huang Shenyi's remains. He pressed his palm against the area of Huang Shenyi's chest and suddenly felt something unusual.
Under the skin on Huang Shenyi's chest, there was a layer of hard material.
What could it be?
"Rip!"
Zhang Ruochen's five fingers hooked, pulling up that piece of skin and tearing it downward. He found an extremely thin bone fragment attached to the layer of skin.
"Hiding it so secretly—what is it?"
Curious, Zhang Ruochen took down the bone fragment and placed it on the ground.
After careful examination, he discovered that it was actually a scroll of bone books.
A "bone book" was a book refined from the bones of powerful barbarian beasts.
It looked like just a single bone fragment, but in reality, it contained nine pages of bone books. Each page was connected by inscriptions without any gaps, so it appeared to be a single piece.
On the surface, this scroll of bone books was plain and unremarkable, no different from ordinary bones.
Zhang Ruochen infused it with true qi, opened the bone book, and saw the content recorded on it. He immediately became delighted.
"It's the legendary Xuanwu Sacred Canon! The techniques Huang Shenyi practiced must have been comprehended from the Xuanwu Sacred Canon," Zhang Ruochen said with a smile.
For example, the supreme techniques Huang Shenyi had used—"Xuanwu Divine Execution Sword Formation" and "Xuanwu Force, Black Hole Devouring God"—were all comprehended from the Xuanwu Sacred Canon. Their power was boundless and extremely formidable.
Although Zhang Ruochen cultivated the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture, which was of extremely high rank among countless cultivation techniques and secret manuals, he still needed to comprehend the martial arts of a hundred schools, absorb the strengths of each, and then integrate them all, in order to have a chance to reach the Half-Saint realm.
Transcending the mundane and entering sainthood was the dream of all martial artists.
The Xuanwu Sacred Canon, like the Peacock Sacred Canon, was an extraordinary cultivation technique. It surely had many merits. By diligently comprehending it, Zhang Ruochen could certainly make up for some of the deficiencies in his own martial path. At the same time, he might also have the opportunity to comprehend some powerful martial skills from the Xuanwu Sacred Canon.
When Xiao Hei heard the words "Xuanwu Sacred Canon," he immediately squeezed over, craning his neck to look at the content on the bone book.
After looking for a while, he directly snatched the Xuanwu Sacred Canon and flipped through the later pages.
Half an hour later, Xiao Hei sighed, closed the Xuanwu Sacred Canon, looking somewhat disinterested. He shook his head and said, "This isn't the original Xuanwu Sacred Canon at all. It's just a copied version, and it's incomplete. It only records at most one-fifth of the content."
...
(The WeChat public account for "Eternal God Emperor" is: 5. The first wave of spoilers, "The Secret of the Nine Emperors," has already been published on the WeChat public account.)