# Chapter 694: Cultivation Progress Again
(Yesterday's update was a bit late, so today's update is coming early! Additionally, due to system issues, some readers didn't see Chapter 692 "Demon Son and Extreme Yang Body" and said the storyline couldn't connect. You can try removing "The Ancient Godly Emperor" from your bookshelf and adding it again, which should allow you to see it.)
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"What exactly happened? Why are you two so excited?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xun Hualiu had at least six sword wounds on his body. Even his Daoist robe, which had some defensive capability, was tattered and stained with blood, clearly showing he had just been through a fierce battle.
Despite this, his face was flushed red, trembling with excitement. He said joyfully, "Brother Lin Yue, do you still remember the bet with Gai Hao?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Of course I remember. What? Have you and Pang Long already fought?"
Zhang Ruochen had once made an agreement with Gai Hao, allowing Xun Hualiu and Pang Long to have a sword duel. If Pang Long won, Zhang Ruochen would give Gai Hao a Sacred Sword.
If Xun Hualiu won, Gai Hao would have to promise to help Zhang Ruochen with one task.
Looking at Xun Hualiu's excited expression, there was no need to guess—he had definitely won the match.
Xun Hualiu laughed loudly. "Boss, you should have seen it. When I defeated Pang Long, the entire venue erupted in excitement. Those disciples from Shangqing Palace were all dumbfounded, unable to believe that their revered Senior Brother Pang Long had been beaten down by me. At that moment, countless junior female disciples were shouting my name. This feeling is simply too amazing!"
"From now on, I must train hard with Lord Hei. I too want to become a top-tier expert. Only the strong can earn others' respect and gain the admiration of countless people."
Zhang Ruochen patted Xun Hualiu's shoulder. "Having such awareness is also a good thing."
Initially, Zhang Ruochen's bet with Gai Hao was entirely because he valued Gai Hao's Yang Spiritual Sacred Body.
But with the appearance of Gai Tianjiao, Zhang Ruochen realized the gap between the Yang Spiritual Sacred Body and the Extreme Yang Body was truly not insignificant.
Of course, since he had won the bet and made Gai Hao owe him a favor, that was also a good thing. Perhaps it would prove useful in the future.
"Brother Lin Yue, I plan to invite the senior and junior brothers from the Demon Suppression Academy for drinks tonight to celebrate properly. You absolutely must come."
Xun Guihai defeating Pang Long was something he had never dared to imagine before. Now, he was completely in a state of excitement.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Don't get too excited just yet. I have something to ask you two. Do you know about Xuanji Sword Saint challenging Jiuyou Sword Saint to a duel?"
Xun Guihai saw that Lin Yue was out of the loop and immediately felt a sense of superiority. "Of course I know. This matter is probably known by everyone in the entire Eastern Domain. Two Sword Saints having a life-and-death battle at the Sword Discussion Assembly is definitely a major event that everyone is watching."
Mu Jiji, standing nearby, sighed. "It's said that Xuanji Sword Saint initiated this duel to avenge his disciple."
Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself, "To avenge his disciple..."
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen understood.
By challenging Jiuyou Sword Saint to a duel and making the matter as public as possible, the hidden Zhang Ruochen would naturally be safer.
Conversely, if Xuanji Sword Saint showed no reaction after his disciple was killed, it would make people suspect whether Zhang Ruochen had truly died.
What Zhang Ruochen hadn't expected was that Jiuyou Sword Saint actually accepted the challenge.
Since Jiuyou Sword Saint hadn't killed anyone, why would he accept the challenge? Moreover, he had never come forward to clarify anything, as if he had tacitly admitted to the killing.
Zhang Ruochen's heart was both moved and deeply worried.
Jiuyou Sword Saint, being one of the three great Sword Saints of the Eastern Domain, was naturally no ordinary person. If something happened to his master, Zhang Ruochen would be guilty for the rest of his life.
"That disciple of Xuanji Sword Saint was truly a prodigy of his generation. Not only did he have remarkable talent in swordsmanship, but he could also control the power of time and space. With such an outstanding heir being killed, even if I were Xuanji Sword Saint, I would be furious." Mu Jiji sighed.
"Jiuyou Sword Saint actually struck down a young martial artist. He has no Sword Saint demeanor at all." Xun Hualiu sneered.
Zhang Ruochen did not reveal his identity. He merely cursed Jiuyou Sword Saint a couple of times along with them, then left with Xun Hualiu and Mu Jiji for the Demon Suppression Academy.
Xun Hualiu's banquet mostly invited inner disciples, though some Saint-Transmitted Disciples also came to offer congratulations.
After a few rounds of drinks, Zhang Ruochen left Xun Hualiu's residence and returned to Zixia Spirit Mountain.
"Master is shielding me openly. I must work hard too and not let him down."
"Master's greatest expectation for me is to cultivate Sword Two to Great Perfection at the Fish-Dragon Realm. I must achieve this before the Sword Discussion Assembly."
Zhang Ruochen clenched his fists tightly, his gaze growing increasingly resolute.
Three months passed.
Zhang Ruochen refined three more drops of Xuanwu Sacred Blood, finally elevating his cultivation to the peak of Fish-Dragon Fifth Change.
His true qi reached a state of fullness throughout his body. His Qi Sea was like an inflated ball—only by breaking through to the next realm could he continue absorbing true qi into his body.
Next, he would have to spend time condensing the true qi within his body, fully stabilizing his realm before he could break through to Fish-Dragon Sixth Change.
This would take at least half a year.
Half a year in the Scroll World was equivalent to about twenty days in the outside world.
Using this time, Zhang Ruochen retrieved the Sword Two notes of Zangyue Sword Saint, Sword Emperor, and Qiangu Nüdi, and began studying the essence of Sword Two.
The first step was naturally to understand the three Sword Two notes and decipher the meaning of each sentence.
He first needed to form a concept of Sword Two.
What seemed like a simple task was actually quite difficult when put into practice.
Relatively speaking, Zangyue Sword Saint's Sword Two notes were easier to understand. Zhang Ruochen spent only three days studying their content.
Zangyue Sword Saint's interpretation of Sword Two was quite orthodox. Every sentence contained profound principles, giving one a feeling of sudden enlightenment.
After reading one Sword Two notebook, Zhang Ruochen felt his understanding of the Sword Dao had greatly improved.
It was only in the Sword Pavilion that he could easily borrow such precious texts.
If it were outside, even a random sword dao note from Zangyue Sword Saint would fetch a sky-high price and be fought over by countless people.
Next, Zhang Ruochen picked up the Sword Two notes compiled by Sword Emperor. The text on the pages was noticeably more obscure.
However, with his Sword Heart Illumination at the high-level stage, he could roughly understand the content after spending seven days.
"Sword Emperor truly is the number one figure in the Sword Dao over the past thousand years. His interpretation of Sword Two indeed has many unique aspects. One can't help but admire him."
After reading this notebook, Zhang Ruochen's understanding of the Sword Dao deepened further.
There was one point, however: if he cultivated according to Sword Emperor's Sword Two notes, his progress would certainly be faster. But Zhang Ruochen would first need to find five women to serve as his sword attendants.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen could only use Sword Emperor's Sword Two notes as a reference, borrowing only the essential parts.
Finally, Zhang Ruochen began studying Qiangu Nüdi's Sword Two notes.
Perhaps because the era of Qiangu Nüdi was too far removed from the present, every sentence in the notes was extremely profound. After spending half a month, Zhang Ruochen could only understand about a third of the content.
On this day, Xiao Hei's voice came from outside the Scroll World. "Zhang Ruochen, Gai Tianjiao wants to see you. If you don't come out of seclusion soon, this emperor won't be able to hold her back."
"Gai Tianjiao."
Zhang Ruochen dared not delay. He immediately withdrew from the Scroll World.
In the courtyard, Xiao Hei was confronting Gai Tianjiao, blocking her at the door.
Zhang Ruochen pushed open the door and walked out. He glanced at Gai Tianjiao and cupped his hands. "Greetings, Senior Sister."
Gai Tianjiao stared at Xiao Hei on the ground and gave an approving smile. "Lin Yue, the beast you've raised is quite impressive, both in intelligence and strength. How about giving it to me?"
In the courtyard, there were traces of scorching from flames and areas struck by lightning, clearly indicating a battle had taken place.
Zhang Ruochen picked up Xiao Hei and patted its head, smiling. "It's just a wild beast. It probably didn't know Senior Sister's power, which is why it dared to fight you. Thank you for going easy on it, Senior Sister."
Seeing that Lin Yue had no intention of giving her the cat, Gai Tianjiao dropped the subject. "Do you still remember your agreement with Zangyue Sword Saint? You need to go to the Sword Pavilion to cultivate for at least nine days each month. This month is almost over, and it seems you haven't gone even once?"
Zhang Ruochen scratched his head, showing a look of realization. "I've been busy with closed-door cultivation recently and completely forgot about this. Let's go. We'll head to the Sword Pavilion now."
Gai Tianjiao looked at Lin Yue across from her and could naturally see that his cultivation had indeed increased significantly.
"In less than a month, his cultivation realm has improved this much. This kid is definitely hiding many secrets," Gai Tianjiao thought to herself.
On the way to the Sword Pavilion, Gai Tianjiao transmitted her voice to Zhang Ruochen. "Qi Feiyu won first place in the Fish-Dragon Eighth Change category at the Sword Dao Assembly."
Zhang Ruochen's eyebrows lifted slightly. He immediately understood why Gai Tianjiao was telling him this, so he asked, "Is her strength really that formidable?"
In the Fish-Dragon Eighth Change category, there were top experts like Qin Yufan, Candong, and Zhao Wuyan. None of them were easy opponents. Even Zhang Ruochen couldn't guarantee he could defeat them all.
Based on the strength Qi Feiyu had previously displayed, she couldn't possibly have won first place.
"I specifically went to watch her battles against Qin Yufan and Candong. Based on my analysis, she has likely cultivated Sword One to the tenth level of Great Perfection," Gai Tianjiao said.
Zhang Ruochen felt something was off. "I feel like she was hiding quite a bit of her strength before."
"I think so too."
Gai Tianjiao's gaze fixed on Zhang Ruochen. "What I can't figure out is why she suddenly revealed her hidden strength. Could it be that she also wants to represent the Liangyi Sect at the Sword Discussion Assembly? But what benefit would that bring her?"