Chapter 566: Fish-Dragon Second Transformation
The Xuanwu Qi was a treasure capable of rapidly increasing cultivation, and Zhang Ruochen certainly wouldn't keep it all for himself. He had already decided who to give it to.
The last bottle was intended for his Ninth Sister and Fourth Brother far away in Yunwu Commandery, though he wasn't sure if they could make it to the Eastern Domain Sacred City before the wedding.
Carrying eight bottles of Xuanwu Qi, Zhang Ruochen walked out of the Scroll World.
Four days had passed inside the Scroll World, but only one night had passed outside.
It was now early morning, the sky just beginning to brighten, with a faint chill in the air.
Zhang Ruochen found Kong Xuan and handed her six of the bottles of Xuanwu Qi, instructing her to deliver them to Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Chang Qiqi, Si Xingkong, and Lei Jing.
Before she left, Zhang Ruochen specifically told her to make sure the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Vase was personally handed to each of the five recipients.
Kong Xuan's cultivation had already reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, enough to handle matters on her own. Zhang Ruochen felt quite reassured entrusting her with this task.
After Kong Xuan left, Zhang Ruochen found Hanxue, along with the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape, and brought the two beasts into the Scroll World.
Xiao Hei had taught the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape top-tier cultivation techniques, and now their strength was far beyond what it had been.
The Devouring Elephant Rabbit practiced the "Heaven-Devouring Art," while the Demon Ape practiced the "Great Demon Ten Heavens."
The demonic aura and beastly might emanating from the two beasts were extremely formidable. Following behind Zhang Ruochen, they looked like two ancient ferocious beasts emerging from the wilderness.
Especially the Demon Ape.
It was a descendant of an ancient species. After cultivating the "Great Demon Ten Heavens," it had fully awakened the bloodline of the Ancient Giant Spirit Demon Ape.
Now, its body stood over sixty meters tall, like a small black mountain. Every step it took rumbled with a "boom," shaking the ground continuously.
As for the Devouring Elephant Rabbit, it sported a round, bulging belly and revealed two snow-white, sharp rabbit teeth, looking quite comical.
However, the Devouring Elephant Rabbit had swallowed Di Yi's demon heart, and combined with its cultivation of the "Heaven-Devouring Art," which was no weaker than the "Great Demon Ten Heavens," its strength was not to be underestimated.
Zhang Ruochen brought them to the base of the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree and instructed, "From now on, you two will follow Hanxue and cultivate in the Scroll World. Absolutely no causing trouble."
Then, Zhang Ruochen took out two bottles of Flood Dragon Blood and handed them to the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape.
In the Xuanwu Ruins Realm, Zhang Ruochen had killed many Red Cloud Python Flood Dragons and collected a large amount of Flood Dragon Blood. Now, he was using it to help the two beasts improve their cultivation.
With their strength enhanced, they could become a major asset to Zhang Ruochen in the future.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen also took out a bottle of Xuanwu Qi he had prepared earlier and gave it to Hanxue, patting her little face and telling her to go cultivate on her own.
After arranging everything, Zhang Ruochen finally relaxed and began to improve his own cultivation.
No matter the time, one must never slacken in cultivation. Only by continuously enhancing one's own strength could one accomplish more meaningful things.
The first step was, of course, to refine the Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil and continue cultivating the Three Spirit Treasure Body.
At the Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection, Zhang Ruochen could only refine one jin and two liang of Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil before his body reached saturation. Now, he had first broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm's Supreme Extreme Realm and then achieved the Fish-Dragon First Transformation.
Having broken through two realms in succession, he would surely be able to refine more Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil.
With his current cultivation, could he use this opportunity to successfully cultivate the Three Spirit Treasure Body?
The Three Spirit Treasure Body was comparable to a Saint Body.
Zhang Ruochen naturally yearned deeply to succeed in its cultivation.
If successful, he would become even stronger at the same cultivation level.
"Refining one jin of Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil saves a year of bitter cultivation. Even if I can't cultivate the Three Spirit Treasure Body, it should still increase my cultivation by several years."
Zhang Ruochen took out the Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil and began to refine it.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Ruochen refined seven jin of Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil into his body, merging it with his sinews, bones, flesh, and blood.
Adding the one jin and two liang he had refined before, he had now refined a total of eight jin and two liang, bringing him quite close to the Three Spirit Treasure Body.
Zhang Ruochen let out a long breath. "My body has reached saturation and can no longer absorb Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil. However, refining seven jin of Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil is equivalent to seven years of bitter cultivation. My cultivation has advanced from the initial stage of Fish-Dragon First Transformation to the middle stage of Fish-Dragon First Transformation."
"If my cultivation could reach the high stage of Fish-Dragon First Transformation, I could refine even more Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil, and I might be able to cultivate the Three Spirit Treasure Body in one go."
Zhang Ruochen had achieved the Supreme Extreme Realm four times in total, allowing him to fight at higher levels despite being at a lower realm.
However, with advantages came disadvantages.
The disadvantage was that every time he broke through a realm, it was ten times, or even a hundred times, more difficult for him than for other cultivators.
At the same cultivation level, he also consumed dozens or even hundreds of times more resources than other cultivators.
Therefore, refining seven jin of Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil had only advanced him from the initial stage of Fish-Dragon First Transformation to the middle stage.
Next, his goal was to break through to the high stage of Fish-Dragon First Transformation.
If he followed normal cultivation speed, it would take him ten years to reach the high stage of Fish-Dragon First Transformation.
However, he possessed many top-tier cultivation resources. Once consumed, they could save a great deal of cultivation time. For example: the Black Skeleton Flood Dragon King's Flood Dragon Pearl, Half-Saint Flood Dragon Blood, Xuanwu Qi, and Xuanwu Sacred Blood.
Any one of these four treasures could be considered priceless.
Among them, the Black Skeleton Flood Dragon King's Flood Dragon Pearl was the most precious. Zhang Ruochen planned to save it for when he broke through to an even higher realm.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen decided to consume the Xuanwu Sacred Blood.
The Azure Fire Xuanwu was an eighth-rank savage beast, comparable to a Saint King. Every drop of its blood was like a top-tier pill, brimming with abundant sacred power and blood energy.
Zhang Ruochen poured out the first drop of Xuanwu Sacred Blood from the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Vase, using true qi to suspend it above the palm of his left hand.
The Xuanwu Sacred Blood emitted a dazzling red light, like a translucent red gem.
"Hua!"
He swallowed the Xuanwu Sacred Blood into his mouth, feeling as if he had swallowed a mouthful of flame.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen's internal organs and meridians began to burn, emitting a crackling "pa pa" sound. Zhang Ruochen couldn't suppress the powerful energy contained in the Xuanwu Sacred Blood, and wisps of flame seeped out from his pores.
After one breath, within ten steps of Zhang Ruochen's body, a raging fire blazed, turning the area into a small sea of flames.
Even with the Dragon Pearl protecting his body, Zhang Ruochen still felt extremely uncomfortable, his entire body aching as if it were splitting apart. His heart, lungs, liver, and gallbladder, along with every meridian, every blood vessel, and every bone, were all burning.
It seemed that in the next moment, he would be burned to ashes by the heat of the Xuanwu Sacred Blood.
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and slowly moved his hands, bringing his palms together. He let out a loud roar: "Fifth Layer of the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture, Mysterious Embryo Pacifying Demon Heaven."
With his powerful martial soul, Zhang Ruochen controlled his body and began circulating his true qi according to the fifth layer's technique route of the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture.
As the true qi circulated faster and faster, the thirty-six meridians absorbed the Xuanwu Sacred Blood at an increasingly rapid pace.
Gradually, Zhang Ruochen entered a state of complete cultivation, simultaneously experiencing the profundities of the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture and operating the technique to frantically absorb the Xuanwu Sacred Blood.
No one knew how much time had passed, but the pain in Zhang Ruochen's body completely disappeared, replaced by a feeling of comfort that spread through all thirty-six meridians.
After fully absorbing the Xuanwu Sacred Blood, Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes again and let out a long breath.
His clothes had been burned to ashes by the earlier flames.
Zhang Ruochen looked at his skin and found that a layer of golden luster had appeared on its surface, with golden patterns seemingly flowing across it.
He looked like a man cast from gold, sitting beneath the tree.
"Bang! Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen struck his chest twice with his palm, producing a metallic collision sound, like an iron block hitting a golden bell.
"Incredible Xuanwu Sacred Blood. Just one drop allowed me to break through to the Fish-Dragon Second Transformation."
That was right.
Zhang Ruochen had already reached the Fish-Dragon Second Transformation.
Zhang Ruochen had never imagined that a single drop of Xuanwu Sacred Blood could possess such terrifying power, nearly refining him to death.
Fortunately, he hadn't consumed the Black Skeleton Flood Dragon King's Flood Dragon Pearl; otherwise, Zhang Ruochen would have been even less able to withstand that power and might have exploded and died in an instant.
After this experience, Zhang Ruochen had learned his lesson.
However, Zhang Ruochen had managed to endure it and had even broken through to the Fish-Dragon Second Transformation, turning misfortune into fortune.
The Fish-Dragon Second Transformation was called "Refining Skin into Gold."
So-called "Refining Skin into Gold" was like putting a layer of golden armor over the cultivator's entire body. Its defensive power was several levels higher than the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Shirt.
In particular, the golden skin Zhang Ruochen had cultivated was fused with the power of the Azure Fire Xuanwu and the Golden Dragon. Not only was its defense far superior to cultivators at the same level, but his own strength had also increased several times.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen had just broken through and couldn't yet control the surging power within his body at will, which was why his skin emitted a golden radiance and was as hard as iron.
Once he spent more time consolidating his realm, he would naturally be able to control the power within his body, achieving a state of free release and restraint.
The process of refining the Xuanwu Sacred Blood seemed to have taken only a short while, but in reality, Zhang Ruochen had spent half a year.
Adding the time spent refining the Saint-Nourishing Sacred Soil, Zhang Ruochen had been in the Scroll World for nearly seven months.
By this calculation, about twenty days should have passed in the outside world.
However, when Zhang Ruochen broke through to the Fish-Dragon Realm, he could already sustain himself on internal qi, refining heaven and earth's spiritual energy as his own sustenance, reaching the state of fasting. So, he didn't feel hungry; instead, his energy had become even more vigorous.
Zhang Ruochen operated the fifth layer's technique of the Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture and cultivated for another half a month, finally fully consolidating his realm.
"Withdraw!"
The golden luster on the surface of Zhang Ruochen's skin gradually dimmed and finally disappeared completely.
His skin returned to normal, no longer as hard as iron, but his defensive power had not only not weakened but had actually increased somewhat.
"With my current realm, cultivating the Three Spirit Treasure Body shouldn't be difficult. However, the wedding date is drawing closer. I can't continue in seclusion; I must first go to the Chen Clan to present the betrothal gifts."
Zhang Ruochen stopped his cultivation and began to think about the betrothal gifts. What should he offer to show sufficient sincerity?