Chapter 531: Twenty Million Military Merit Points
The defense of the creature with a human head and a serpentine body was extremely powerful. Its outer layer of crimson dragon scales could easily withstand attacks from tenth-rank True Martial Treasures.
However, it was well aware that the sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand surpassed a True Martial Treasure; it was a Sacred Artifact. Once struck, it would pierce through its defenses in an instant. Unfortunately for you, this move is useless against me.
"Hold on."
The human-headed, serpent-bodied creature quickly added, "Don't you want to know where the Xuanwu inheritance site is?"
Zhang Ruochen paused slightly, scrutinizing its eyes carefully.
The creature felt a surge of joy, thinking to itself, *This outsider is indeed searching for the Xuanwu inheritance site. Perfect. Since he's interested, I'll first tell him about a few ancient killing grounds. If I can stall him for just a quarter of an hour—just a quarter of an hour—until I recover some strength, one claw strike will crush him.*
The creature hastily said, "I, the Commander, have lived in the West Xuan Sea for over a thousand years. I know every hidden place in this sea better than anyone. Now, I'll tell you about those secret locations."
"No need. I can find them myself."
The creature was taken aback. Before it could react, Zhang Ruochen had already used Space Displacement, crossing over ten zhang and appearing at its abdomen.
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen stood suspended in the water. The Sword Heart Illumination at his brow lit up, and surging Sword Dao power converged into the five fingers of his right hand. He swung his sword.
A stream of sword qi followed.
"Chi chi!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword pierced through its dragon armor, leaving a long gash as a torrent of blood gushed from the creature's body.
The creature writhed in unbearable pain, going completely berserk. It swung a claw, shattering the stone cave.
"Boom!"
The entire underwater mountain shook violently, then collapsed inward, forming a turbid pool of mud. Countless boulders flew out from the mud like rays of light, striking in all directions.
"What's happening?"
"How can there be such a powerful energy fluctuation?"
...
The Crimson Cloud Python Dragons at the bottom of the sea were all alarmed. They rushed out from their lairs and gathered around the perimeter of the collapsed underwater mountain.
"Roar!"
A deafening dragon roar erupted from the mud.
The roar transformed into a soundwave that blasted outward, sending all the Crimson Cloud Python Dragons flying.
The seabed trembled. A massive dragon shadow shot out from the collapsed stone mountain and surged toward the water's surface.
If one looked closely, they would see a young human man standing on the creature's neck, gripping a thick iron chain. The other end of the chain was wrapped around the dragon's neck.
The surface of the chain crackled with intense electric fire, continuously striking the giant dragon's body.
"Boom!"
The human-headed, serpent-bodied creature burst out of the water, sending up a spray of waves as it flew into the clouds.
Zhang Ruochen held tightly to the Dragon-Locking Chain, rising higher and higher with the creature, piercing through the clouds and leaving the sea far behind, as if heading into the vast cosmos.
Because the creature moved so fast, the cold wind howled backward like blades, numbing Zhang Ruochen's face and hands with pain.
"Hua!"
Zhang Ruochen pressed two fingers together, forming a sword seal. Using his Sword Heart Illumination, he controlled the Abyssal Ancient Sword. The sword flew through the void, following the giant dragon.
Each thrust of the sword left a bloody hole in the Dragon Pearl Commander's body. In just moments, over a hundred holes had been punched through it. Its injuries grew even more severe.
The creature flew another hundred li before finally letting out a pained, mournful cry. Its body went limp, and it fell from a hundred meters in the air, crashing into the sea and splashing up a massive wave.
Zhang Ruochen still held the Dragon-Locking Chain, standing on its body. He shook his arm, and with a "hua" sound, the bowl-thick chain retracted, flying back to his wrist.
"Finally over. Forty thousand military merit points are in the bag."
Zhang Ruochen flexed his numb, aching fingers and let out a sigh of relief.
A Crimson Cloud Python Dragon at the sixth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm was indeed terrifyingly powerful. If he had faced it at its peak, he probably couldn't have withstood even one of its claw strikes.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the giant dragon's back, circulating the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* to recover his heavily depleted true qi.
Suddenly, a strange sound came from inside the giant dragon.
"Bang!"
A massive cube-shaped hammer burst out from the dragon's mouth, radiating blinding electric light, and struck down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
Danger.
Without a second thought, Zhang Ruochen released his Space Domain and activated Space Distortion.
The direction of the electric light shifted slightly, falling past his forehead and striking the water's surface.
Within a hundred zhang radius, the sea crackled with "chi chi" sounds, turning entirely into an ocean of electricity.
The seawater boiled, bubbling up with fist-sized pockets of air.
"It's already dead, yet it can still control a Sacred Artifact-level war hammer?"
Zhang Ruochen immediately stood up, using his movement technique to retreat to a distance, not daring to approach the war hammer hovering above the giant dragon's corpse.
He then opened his Heavenly Eye and looked at the corpse, finally understanding what was happening. It was the beast soul of the giant dragon controlling the war hammer.
Although the creature was dead, its powerful cultivation meant its beast soul hadn't vanished immediately.
Earlier, its neck had been bound by the chain, giving it no chance to spit out the war hammer from its stomach. Only after death did it use its beast soul to control the hammer and attack Zhang Ruochen.
Once he understood, Zhang Ruochen relaxed and chuckled. "The beast soul of a Crimson Cloud Python Dragon should be quite a valuable treasure."
With that, Zhang Ruochen's martial soul left his body and rushed into the giant dragon's corpse. However, it could help her complete her body refinement in a short time, reaching the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Once her cultivation reached that level, she could contend with the experts of the Black Market, becoming a major asset for your revenge."
Zhang Ruochen was surprised. "The third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm? Can she cultivate that fast?"
Xiao Hei laughed. "With the aid of the Dragon Soul Pill, I, the Emperor, am confident that within two years, she can break through to the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Two years in the Scroll World is only a little over two months in the outside world. Is two months too long?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded solemnly. "Fine. The dragon soul is yours, and I can even give you more dragon souls. But within two months, you must ensure she reaches the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm."
"No problem," Xiao Hei said.
After handing over the dragon soul to Xiao Hei, Zhang Ruochen's gaze fixed on the war hammer hovering above the giant dragon's corpse. A slight smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "It should be a Sacred Artifact, right? Chen Yuan, it's yours."
"Hua!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew out of its sheath, heading toward the war hammer, intending to refine it.
The war hammer was a hundred-pattern Sacred Artifact with its own artifact spirit.
Sensing the hostility from the Abyssal Ancient Sword, it immediately began to fight back.
"Bang bang!"
The two Sacred Artifacts clashed in midair.
It took half an hour for Zhang Ruochen to collect the giant dragon's scales, blood, and the Dragon Pearl.
By then, the Abyssal Ancient Sword had refined the war hammer. Its blade shimmered with lightning, trailing a dozens-of-meters-long electric tail as it flew back.
Zhang Ruochen stood on the sea surface, gripping the Abyssal Ancient Sword, his eyes fixed on the churning waves. "Let's go. Time to keep accumulating military merit points."
...
...
Two months passed quickly.
Zhang Ruochen had been active in the central waters of the West Xuan Sea, like a ghostly assassin, engaging in bloody slaughter against the native barbarian beasts.
Among them, he killed forty-seven Crimson Cloud Python Dragons.
In addition, there were twenty-eight other fifth-rank barbarian beasts, including Silver Belly Sharks, Thousand-Year Mysterious Gold Turtles, and so on. As for the fourth-rank barbarian beasts he killed, they were too numerous to count.
In just two months, he had accumulated nine million military merit points.
This data shocked the entire Chaos Myriad Realms Mountain.
Thousands of martial artists gathered below the *Heavenly Ranking* stele, staring at the top. Behind the name "Zhang Ruochen," the military merit points had already broken through twenty million, drawing closer and closer to the supreme extreme of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
(I'm a bit tired today, so I'll just update a large chapter of 3,900 words! I'll post two more chapters tomorrow at noon.)