Chapter 609: Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
“Playing tricks, Young Master. Let me break through this fog and force her to reveal her true form.”
A towering Snow Clan warrior, his face twisted with cruelty, lifted a three-zhang-long spear and prepared to leap off the Dragon Bone Warship to deal with the white-clad woman on the boat.
Di Yi immediately shot the Snow Clan warrior a glare, intimidating him into retreating.
Then, Di Yi clasped his hands together, bowed respectfully toward the distant white-clad woman, and said with refined politeness, “Di Yi humbly invites the Fairy to board the Dragon Bone Warship. We can discuss matters in detail then.”
The white-clad woman’s voice drifted over melodiously: “No need for formalities. Just answer my question now.”
Clearly, she had no intention of boarding the Dragon Bone Warship.
Regarding the white-clad woman’s earlier question, Di Yi was extremely cautious. After deliberating for a moment, he said, “If I were to become the master of the Black Market, I would first unify the Black Market and establish a system.”
Most of the evil path martial artists present were puzzled, expressing confusion. Hadn’t the Black Market always been unified? How could it be unified further?
Only a few understood the deeper meaning behind Di Yi’s words.
The white-clad woman nodded thoughtfully and then said, “Since ancient times, the Black Market has had a complex system of interests. The Eastern Domain’s Black Market has its own rules of interest, and the Central Domain’s Black Market has its own. Even the Evil Emperor of eight hundred years ago could not ‘unify the Black Market and establish a system.’ How can you accomplish this?”
Di Yi appeared extremely composed, speaking fluently the words he had long prepared.
…
On the Li River, the white-clad woman and Di Yi engaged in a question-and-answer session that continued until sunset without ending.
The white-clad woman was quite satisfied with Di Yi’s answers, even showing surprise at times. Clearly, this young man in his twenties had brought her many pleasant surprises.
As night fell, the world was pitch black, except for the white-clad woman’s body, which emitted a radiant holy light, reflecting off the river like a celestial river.
“All under heaven is the king’s land. The unification of the Kunlun Realm is an inevitable trend. In as little as a hundred years, or as long as a thousand, the imperial court’s army will surely march into the Eastern Domain’s evil lands. By then, do you think the Black Market will completely disappear?” the white-clad woman asked.
This was a very sharp question, causing all the evil path cultivators on the Dragon Bone Warship to show anger. If not for Di Yi’s restraint, they would have charged at her and torn her to pieces.
“No,” Di Yi said decisively.
He continued, “The current imperial court is like the sun in the sky, at its zenith. Yet even in the brightest sunlight, there are shadows where the light cannot reach. As long as people have desires, selfishness, and greed, the Black Market will always exist. If the Black Market were to truly perish one day, it would likely mean the human race had also perished.”
The white-clad woman nodded and asked no more. She took a bright yellow scroll from her sleeve and suspended it in the void.
“Whoosh—”
She extended a slender jade finger, and white holy qi flew from its tip, landing on the scroll and forming elegant holy characters.
After a moment, the scroll absorbed enough holy qi and transformed into a holy decree.
The holy decree turned into a beam of white light, flew out, crossed the water’s surface, and appeared above Di Yi’s head.
“Boom!”
The evil path cultivators on the warship were all suppressed by a powerful force from the holy decree, their legs giving way as they knelt on the deck.
Only then did they realize how formidable the white-clad woman truly was. Those who had earlier wanted to deal with her were now terrified, their legs trembling, cold sweat dripping onto the deck.
Even Di Yi knelt on one knee, raised his hands to catch the holy decree, and slowly opened it.
Although he had already guessed the white-clad woman’s identity, seeing the content of the holy decree still surprised him slightly. “Realm Son candidate.”
“From now on, Di Yi, you are one of the Kunlun Realm’s Realm Son candidates, but not yet a true Realm Son. If you wish to become a Realm Son, come to the Sword Pavilion on the ninth day of the ninth month, holding this holy decree, to find me.”
The ethereal voice still echoed over the water, but the white-clad woman had already vanished. No one saw how she left.
Only ripples remained on the water’s surface, spreading outward.
Di Yi slowly stood up, let out a long breath, and tightened his grip on the holy decree.
“Young Master, who on earth is she, to be able to select Realm Sons?” an evil path cultivator asked cautiously.
Everyone looked at Di Yi, equally curious.
Di Yi did not answer them. Staring at the water, his demeanor grew even more commanding as he murmured, “As expected of the renowned talented woman—one can only admire her from afar, never approach. Ninth day of the ninth month, Sword Pavilion, we meet again.”
A thousand miles away, a small green boat flew above the clouds, heading south.
The white-clad woman sat cross-legged at the bow, took out a book, spread it before her, and used a bronze brush to draw a horizontal line under the name “Di Yi,” marking him for special attention.
Then, behind Di Yi’s name, she wrote a comment: Martial arts talent surpasses the former Evil Emperor; wisdom is extraordinary; temperament is steady; actions are decisive; bearing is slightly lacking; character is third-class.
The book also contained twenty-one other names, each with their own evaluations. Even so, Di Yi’s evaluation ranked among the top five.
After all, even the most outstanding person must have flaws.
In truth, she had already given Di Yi a very high appraisal.
“Next stop is Qingyun Commandery City. The Demon Sect’s Holy Maiden, Mu Lingxi; Red Desire Star Envoy, Ye Honglei; and Blue Garment Star Envoy, Qiao Yan—I can evaluate them together. The Black Market produces talents in abundance, yet internal strife is constant. It’s a pity how many outstanding individuals have withered away because of it.”
The struggle for the position of Young Master of the Black Market’s First-Class Hall was something even the Black Market’s Half-Saints would not interfere with, so she had even less reason to get involved.
The white-clad woman sighed softly and closed the book.
She took out a guqin, elegantly placed it before her, and began to play.
As the music sounded, the small green boat turned into a streak of light, disappearing into the southern sky at ten times its previous speed.
…
…
When Zhang Ruochen was at the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he had swallowed a drop of Black Tortoise Sacred Blood and nearly burned to death from the power of the sacred blood.
Now, his cultivation had reached the mid-stage of the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, having long achieved the realm of “skin turned to gold, bones transformed to jade.” His physical constitution had improved many times over, allowing him to withstand the power unleashed by the Black Tortoise Sacred Blood.
After four consecutive months, Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation advanced rapidly, finally surging to the peak of the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm.
Zhang Ruochen’s entire body emitted a dazzling golden light. Violent energy rampaged through his meridians, like a volcano about to erupt.
The power within him had reached its limit.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly stood up, bent his legs, and his muscles and bones seemed to merge into one. He began to execute the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm.
Through practicing the palm techniques, he continuously digested the surging power within, completely merging the Black Tortoise’s power with his own, achieving a state of mastery.
“Wild Elephant Charging the Earth.”
“Soaring Dragon in the Sky.”
…
“Dragon-Elephant Shadow.”
“Dragon-Elephant Returning to the Field.”
…
“Elephant Force Ninefold Stack.”
“Divine Dragon Tribulation.”
“Dragon-Elephant Divine Furnace.”
A total of seven palm techniques, Zhang Ruochen performed them over and over, striking with fierce power, filling the area with phantom images of divine dragons and divine elephants.
Since mastering the seventh palm, “Dragon-Elephant Divine Furnace,” the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm had advanced to the Ghost-level lower grade. In terms of power, it could even rival Ghost-level middle-grade palm techniques.
After three full days of practicing the palm techniques, Zhang Ruochen was completely exhausted, having fully digested the residual power of the Black Tortoise Sacred Blood.
With his current cultivation, he could attempt to open his first sacred meridian, the Yin Qiao Sacred Meridian.
If successful, he would surge into the fourth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, allowing him to convert true qi into a small amount of sacred qi through the sacred meridian. Once he could use sacred qi, the power of his martial techniques would double, and the sacred artifacts he wielded would also unleash greater strength.
It could be said that the first three transformations of the Fish-Dragon Realm were entirely about enhancing the cultivator’s physique. Only when the physique became strong enough could it withstand the impact of sacred qi on the body.
At the same time, only by opening a sacred meridian and cultivating the first strand of sacred qi could a cultivator truly step onto the sacred path.
Opening a sacred meridian was extremely dangerous and required thorough preparation and optimal condition before attempting.
Among them, the first sacred meridian was the most critical and the most dangerous.
Under normal circumstances, a cultivator at the third transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm needed the help of at least one Half-Saint to open the first sacred meridian.
This was called “guidance.”
With a Half-Saint’s guidance, a cultivator at the third transformation could step onto the sacred path.
Without guidance, a cultivator at the third transformation relying solely on their own power to open the first sacred meridian had a mortality rate of ninety-nine percent, making it nearly impossible.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Some special treasures could also help cultivators open sacred meridians, such as sacred sources or Half-Saint light.
Zhang Ruochen possessed the Dragon Pearl, which allowed him to open the first sacred meridian on his own. However, opening a sacred meridian alone still carried great risk. Only by spending a lot of time accumulating power could the danger be reduced.
“If I use the Dragon Pearl now to open my first sacred meridian, my success rate would be no more than twenty percent.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. The probability of death was too high; there was no need to take the risk.
So, he decided to accumulate more power first, aiming for at least a seventy percent certainty before attempting to open his first sacred meridian.
Next, Zhang Ruochen took out the barbarian lizard beast hide given to him by Red Desire Star Envoy, spread it flat on the ground, and began to study it.
The beast hide recorded a third-level lightning elemental spell.
Electric Fire Vortex.
A third-level spell was ten times harder to cultivate than a second-level spell. It was not only complex and cumbersome but also demanded extremely high spiritual power. A spiritual power master below the forty-third rank could never successfully cultivate a third-level spell.