Chapter 738: Four Spirit Treasure Body, Five Elements Dharma Appearance
Zhang Ruochen entered the Scroll World and first went to check on Ao Xinyan, who was in the midst of charging toward the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. He saw that a faint glazed light had already emerged from the surface of Ao Xinyan's skin, clearly indicating she was at a critical moment.
Afterward, Zhang Ruochen arrived at the edge of a lake covering a radius of a hundred miles. He sat cross-legged on the ground and took out one of the Five Elements Spirit Treasures, the "Source of Spirit Fire."
Zhang Ruochen had already refined the Black Water Glazed Crystal, the Purple Cloud Sinking Incense Wood, and the Saint-Nourishing Blood Earth, cultivating the Three Spirit Treasure Body.
At the same time, he had already refined a large amount of the Source of Spirit Fire. As long as he successfully cultivated the Fire Spirit Treasure Body, he would reach the level of the Four Spirit Treasure Body.
The Five Elements power was originally the most balanced power in heaven and earth. However, cultivating the Five Elements Chaos Body required breaking this balance, as if opposing heaven and earth, which was obviously extremely difficult.
The further one progressed, the more intense the conflict between the Five Elements powers within the cultivator's body became.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was actually only a tiny distance away from cultivating the Fire Spirit Treasure Body. Yet this tiny distance was like a heavenly moat. To cross it, the difficulty involved was unimaginable to ordinary people.
"Chi chi!"
Zhang Ruochen's hands were placed in front of his abdomen, the left hand above and the right hand below.
Between the palms of his two hands, a radiant cluster of the Source of Spirit Fire floated, emitting an extremely scorching temperature.
"Xuan Tai Ping Mo Tian."
All the true qi and saint qi in his body, following the operation method of the fifth layer of the "Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture," rapidly circulated through thirty-six meridians and four saint meridians.
Instantly, a suction force emerged from the palms of both hands, causing the Source of Spirit Fire to transform into two small vortices that rushed into his palms.
"Boom!"
Every wisp of the Source of Spirit Fire that surged into his body was like a great river of flame charging into a sea of ice, forming a violent conflict with Zhang Ruochen's physical body.
The two forces were as incompatible as water and fire.
However, Zhang Ruochen had to use his powerful will to strive to suppress them, trying his best to merge the two forces into one.
After just half an hour, Zhang Ruochen's robes were completely soaked with sweat. His skin sometimes swelled up, as if he had become a fat giant; at other times, it contracted, making him as thin as a stick.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen was very close to cultivating the Four Spirit Treasure Body, but his condition was also extremely dangerous.
His body could burst apart at any moment, turning to ashes.
It was also possible that the blood qi within his body would be completely devoured by the Five Elements power, leaving him as a lifeless, withered skeleton.
"Ruochen, remember that the moment you set foot on the path of cultivation, it was an adventure. Every strong person has inevitably undergone countless trials and withstood the tests of life and death." In Zhang Ruochen's mind, the words that Xuanji Sword Saint had once spoken echoed.
"I will definitely succeed. No matter how great the danger, I must endure it."
"Fearing danger will only lead to a faster death."
...
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth and persisted. At the same time, he adjusted his own state, striving to maintain a peaceful mindset.
A full three days passed. Blood beads oozed from every pore of Zhang Ruochen's body. Every moment, he endured pain that ordinary people could not imagine, and even his will began to blur.
Only when he could no longer hold on did he stop.
"In the end... failure..."
Zhang Ruochen let out a long breath and examined the inside of his body. He found that all the meridians in his body were almost broken; all his internal organs were on the verge of shattering; and even the bones all over his body were covered with dense cracks.
His body was already shattered and damaged.
One could imagine how dangerous it had been. If Zhang Ruochen had persisted for even one more instant, he would probably have exploded and died.
Although the breakthrough attempt failed, it was not entirely without gain. Zhang Ruochen had gained a great deal of valuable cultivation experience, deepening his understanding of the Four Spirit Treasure Body.
"With this experience of failure, it will certainly be much easier to attempt the Four Spirit Treasure Body again."
Zhang Ruochen did not take any healing pills. He simply lay flat on the ground.
Immediately, the residual saint power of the Half-Saint Light that Zhang Ruochen had once refined, along with the power of the water attribute, wood attribute, earth attribute, and fire attribute, continuously released from the depths of his body, slowly nourishing his broken body.
Zhang Ruochen carefully felt this process, and his understanding of the Four Spirit Treasure Body gradually improved.
A full half month passed before Zhang Ruochen's body fully recovered.
"Boom boom."
Zhang Ruochen practiced palm techniques for half a day, allowing all the true qi and saint qi in his body to circulate freely, before stopping.
"Just one failed cultivation session has already strengthened my physical body considerably. If I successfully cultivate the Four Spirit Treasure Body, how powerful will my physical body become?"
Zhang Ruochen found that his physical body had strengthened a lot, and he naturally looked forward even more to successfully cultivating the Four Spirit Treasure Body.
So, he took out the Source of Spirit Fire again and made a second attempt at the Four Spirit Treasure Body.
He failed again.
This time, Zhang Ruochen's body became as thin as a stick, his skin turned a dark brown, and beneath the skin, the outline of a skeleton could be clearly seen.
He was only a hair's breadth away from having his blood qi completely devoured by the Five Elements power and turning into a skeleton.
Zhang Ruochen spent another half month to restore his body to its original state.
After two close encounters with death, even Zhang Ruochen felt a lingering fear, a feeling of having narrowly escaped disaster.
Other cultivators would surely stop at this point and give up on cultivating the Four Spirit Treasure Body.
But Zhang Ruochen knew that anyone could give up, but he absolutely could not.
Chi Yao had cultivated for eight hundred years longer than him. If he could not cultivate the Five Elements Chaos Body, how could he ever surpass Chi Yao in the future?
The hatred in his heart, the unwillingness in his heart, the anger in his heart—all surged forth.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, his gaze becoming incomparably firm. He said, "If I cannot defeat Chi Yao in this life, what meaning is there in living? Am I to live a life of cowardly survival?"
So, Zhang Ruochen began his third attempt at the Four Spirit Treasure Body.
He failed again.
Zhang Ruochen continued with a fourth attempt.
A fifth attempt.
...
On his seventh attempt, Zhang Ruochen finally touched the realm of the Four Spirit Treasure Body, breaking through the final barrier, and perfectly balanced the four powers of water, earth, wood, and fire.
"Boom!"
At the moment he successfully cultivated the Four Spirit Treasure Body, an immensely vast wave of power surged from within Zhang Ruochen's body, sweeping across a radius of a thousand miles.
"Five Elements Dharma Appearance."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes opened wide, and he let out a light shout.
By cultivating the Four Spirit Treasure Body, he could now unleash an incomplete Five Elements Dharma Appearance.
The Dharma Appearance of a saintly body and the Original Dharma Appearance of ancient remnants were ultimately Dharma Appearances derived from oneself, only able to mobilize one's own power to manifest them.
However, the Five Elements Dharma Appearance was formed by mobilizing the power of heaven and earth, possessing the might of both heaven and earth. The so-called Five Elements Dharma Appearance was, in fact, also a Dharma Appearance of heaven and earth.
Human power is finite, but the power of heaven and earth is infinite.
Even an incomplete Five Elements Dharma Appearance could unleash terrifying power.
"Boom rumble!"
With Zhang Ruochen's body as the center, the Five Elements power in the space grew stronger and stronger, even becoming quite chaotic.
On the ground, plants grew rapidly, visible to the naked eye as they continuously sprouted tender leaves.
In the sky, a torrential downpour descended, accompanied by rumbling thunder.
Around Zhang Ruochen's body, the earth continuously rose up, forming hills, and finally transforming into a massive mountain.
With a loud crash, the top of that mountain suddenly erupted with crimson magma, flowing down from the summit, turning into a great river of magma that flowed past the place where Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged.
The heaven and earth within a radius of a thousand miles underwent drastic changes.
(Rushing and hurrying, I finally managed to update before dark. It should be considered afternoon now, right? Let me emphasize again, this is not an extra update, just making up for the morning chapter. After all, the two chapters this morning were a bit short in word count. Everyone can just treat the three chapters as two.)