# Chapter 778: Ninth Day of Ninth Month, Sword Cultivators Gather
The conversation with Xue Wuye had naturally left a considerable impact on Zhang Ruochen.
Since Xue Wuye could guess that he and Chi Yao likely had an extraordinary relationship, others would certainly have guessed the same. However, because Zhang Ruochen was believed to be dead, they had not bothered to investigate further.
But once news spread that Zhang Ruochen had not died, many would surely dig into the secrets behind it, eventually tracing everything back to the Crown Prince of the Sacred Bright Empire from eight hundred years ago.
Xue Wuye was a clever man who would not do things that harmed others and himself. If he had wanted to spread the news, he would have done so long ago and would never have waited until now.
Most likely, even he himself was still unclear whether Zhang Ruochen was friend or foe.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen was not overly worried for now. He would let everything develop naturally, and eventually, there would be a resolution.
Zhang Ruochen arrived at Xuanji Sword Saint's residence, intending to see Huang Yanchen. After all, following the Sword Discussion Assembly, their opportunities to meet would certainly become fewer.
However, he learned that Huang Yanchen was in seclusion, refining a drop of Dragon Emperor's blood, preparing to break through to the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Thus, he did not disturb her.
That day, Zhang Ruochen spent all his time instructing Hanxue in swordsmanship. It was not until the next day, the evening of the eighth day of the ninth month, that he returned to the Sword Pavilion.
On the first floor of the Sword Pavilion, Room Qing Eighteen.
This was a massive hall, a hundred zhang in both length and width, resplendent and extremely spacious. All the top ten sword dao geniuses from each realm determined by the sword dao competition were gathered here.
Gai Tianjiao, Can Dong, Zhao Wuyan, Han Qiu, Gai Hao, Mu Jiji, Xun Hualiu... dozens of people in total, all of them the most outstanding sword dao geniuses of the Liangyi Sect.
The crowd stood below, simultaneously bowing to Zangyue Sword Saint, saying in unison: "Greetings, Sword Saint."
Zangyue Sword Saint sat cross-legged on a high platform at the center of the hall, wearing a purple robe and a purple-gold dao crown, appearing quite dignified. He said: "Tomorrow is the Sword Discussion Assembly. You are the outstanding ones among the sacred disciples and will represent the Liangyi Sect in this grand event. After recent training, everyone's strength has improved greatly, and I believe you are all prepared."
Following that, Zangyue Sword Saint gave another speech before dismissing the crowd, keeping only Gai Tianjiao and Zhang Ruochen behind.
Zangyue Sword Saint's expression was quite serious. He said: "The sword dao competition did select some elite talents, but unfortunately, they are still too immature. Tomorrow's battle will mainly depend on the two of you."
"Disciple will give it his all and defend the honor of the Liangyi Sect to the death," Gai Tianjiao said.
"Disciple will do everything possible to protect the Sword Pavilion," Zhang Ruochen said.
Zangyue Sword Saint nodded, then turned his gaze to Gai Tianjiao and asked: "Tianjiao, how many drops of divine blood have you refined?"
"Counting the three drops from the divine spring, I have refined five drops," Gai Tianjiao said.
Zangyue Sword Saint said: "Tomorrow during the sacrificial ceremony, do you want to try for a sixth drop?"
Gai Tianjiao smiled slightly and said: "If I had not drunk the divine spring, I might have tried to refine another drop of divine blood. But now, my cultivation has reached the limit of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Once I start refining divine blood, I will definitely not be able to suppress my realm and will break through to the Half-Saint Realm in an instant. Breaking through to the Half-Saint Realm and then refining divine blood would no longer be meaningful; it would be a waste."
The more divine blood a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator refined, the greater the benefit. The key was that the sacred soul had not yet taken form. This allowed the divine seal cultivated from the divine blood to be integrated into the sacred soul.
The more divine seals integrated into the sacred soul, the stronger it became, and the more acute the perception of the sacred path. If one could control the sacred soul and unleash the power of the divine seals, it would be enough to overwhelm Half-Saints of the same realm.
But once one reached the Half-Saint Realm, the sacred soul had already taken form. Even if one refined divine blood and cultivated divine seals, they could not be integrated into the sacred soul.
Of course, if a Half-Saint refined enough divine blood, they could achieve a sacred physical body.
However, even the divine blood stored by medieval aristocratic clans was extremely scarce. Each era could only produce a few drops to cultivate the most outstanding Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators, laying a foundation for their sacred path. That was already quite good.
Where would there be enough divine blood to cultivate a sacred physical body?
As the saying goes, good steel should be used on the blade. The main reason was that good steel was too scarce. If there were enough good steel, who would not want to forge a peerless treasured blade?
Zangyue Sword Saint's gaze turned to Zhang Ruochen, and he asked: "Lin Yue, you haven't started refining divine blood yet, have you?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said: "That's correct."
Zangyue Sword Saint took out a three-inch square metal box from his sleeve. With a gentle push of his palm, he sent it flying toward Zhang Ruochen with a gust of wind, saying: "This is a drop of divine blood. Tomorrow, during the sacrificial ceremony before the Sword Discussion Assembly begins, you can take this opportunity to use the power of the gods to refine it."
Zhang Ruochen caught the metal box, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Zangyue Sword Saint naturally noticed that Zhang Ruochen's expression was somewhat off, so he asked: "What's wrong? Do you have any other questions?"
"Just one drop?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Zangyue Sword Saint was first stunned, then smiled gently: "This time, try it first. If you can refine it, that's naturally a good thing. If you cannot, don't blame yourself for wasting a drop of divine blood. When you break through to the ninth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, the sect will naturally give you another drop. The sect is never stingy with geniuses."
Zhang Ruochen said: "Can't the disciple refine two drops at once?"
Hearing this, Gai Tianjiao, who was standing nearby, burst out laughing first: "Junior Brother Lin Yue, Senior Sister knows you are a genius, but you might not yet understand how immense the power contained in divine blood is. If you can successfully refine one drop of divine blood at the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, that would already be a remarkable achievement. And you want to refine two drops at once?"
"Has no one ever been able to refine two drops of divine blood at once?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Gai Tianjiao shook his head and said: "Throughout the entire Kunlun Realm, the Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators who can refine two drops of divine blood can be counted on ten fingers. After refining the first drop, most need one or two years to adapt to the power of the divine seal within their bodies, constantly tempering their physique before attempting to refine the second drop."
"Since the Middle Ages, no one has ever refined two drops of divine blood at once."
Zangyue Sword Saint also said: "Lin Yue, don't aim too high. Having high talent in the sword dao does not mean you can withstand the power of divine blood. A single drop of divine blood can pierce through a hundred-pattern sacred artifact. Imagine how terrifying the power it contains is? Is your body harder than a hundred-pattern sacred artifact?"
Zhang Ruochen looked at the metal box in his hand and asked: "Since the power of divine blood is so great, how can a cultivator refine it?"
Seeing Zhang Ruochen begin to ask questions humbly, Zangyue Sword Saint nodded with satisfaction and said: "Tonight, I will teach you the method for refining divine blood."
In the time that followed, Zangyue Sword Saint taught Zhang Ruochen the method for refining divine blood, along with various precautions.
It was not until the morning of the next day that Zhang Ruochen had fully grasped everything.
Afterward, Zangyue Sword Saint led Zhang Ruochen to the square outside the Sword Pavilion, walking step by step upward until they reached the top of the altar.
On the altar, thousands of barbarian beasts were tied with iron chains. When the sacrificial ceremony began, they would all be slaughtered, and their blood would be used to open the Heavenly Divine Bridge, communicating with the gods.
Following Zangyue Sword Saint's instructions, Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged at the bottom of a seven-zhang-wide and seven-zhang-long pool at the center of the altar's top.
"Remember, refining divine blood is extremely dangerous. If you are not careful, you will die. If you sense that your body cannot withstand the power of the divine blood, you must immediately cut off your connection with it," Zangyue Sword Saint repeatedly warned.
"Disciple understands."
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes and began to adjust his state of mind.
Zangyue Sword Saint stared at Zhang Ruochen at the bottom of the pool and took a deep breath. He deeply hoped that Zhang Ruochen could successfully refine the divine blood, so that he would have the strength to compete with Shao Lin. Otherwise, he would surely lose.
Of course, Zangyue Sword Saint kept all these thoughts to himself, not saying them aloud for fear of putting too much pressure on Zhang Ruochen and harming him instead.
Then, Zangyue Sword Saint walked down from the altar and headed toward the main gate of the square to welcome the guests attending the Sword Discussion Assembly.
The sky gradually brightened. A five-colored sacred ship, a hundred zhang long, wrapped in a mass of multicolored light, flew from afar, passed through the mountain terrain of the Ancient God Mountain, and landed at the peak of the third mountain.
Sword cultivators attending the Sword Discussion Assembly streamed down from the five-colored sacred ship, entering the square outside the Sword Pavilion and gathering around the altar.
The Martial Market Bank, the Imperial Court, the Ministry of War, the Four Symbols Sect, the Demon Sect, the Eight Trigrams Sect... all the most outstanding forces of the Kunlun Realm were represented, each led by Saint-level sword cultivators.
In addition, there were some independent cultivators with extremely high sword dao realms who had received invitations from the Liangyi Sect and became guests of the Sword Discussion Assembly.
Without a doubt, the cultivators who could come to the Sword Pavilion were either first-rate geniuses, Half-Saints, or Saint-level overlords. Some ancient sword dao masters who had lived for countless years also appeared at the Sword Discussion Assembly.
After all, during the Sword Discussion Assembly, Saint-level sword cultivators could enter the seventh floor of the Sword Pavilion to study the Wordless Sword Manual together. This alone was an irresistible attraction for those ancient sword dao masters.
"Look, Nine Nether Sword Saint has appeared! It is said that today he will fight a life-or-death battle with Xuanji Sword Saint. I wonder who will be the one left alive?"
The younger generation of sword cultivators were all excited upon seeing Nine Nether Sword Saint.
If not for the Sword Discussion Assembly, they might never have seen a Sword Saint in their entire lives. But today, several Sword Saints had already appeared, each a figure renowned throughout the world.
Nine Nether Sword Saint wore a gray-blue cloth robe and a pair of simple straw sandals, appearing extremely ordinary. There was no aura of a strong person about him.
In addition, Nine Nether Sword Saint's five disciples, Saint-level sword cultivators and Half-Saint-level sword cultivators from the Eastern Domain Black Market, and some Fish-Dragon Realm sword dao geniuses—nearly a hundred people in total—followed behind Nine Nether Sword Saint, all appearing together.
Before long, Xuanji Sword Saint led the sword cultivators of the Eastern Domain Sacred Academy and also appeared at the Sword Pavilion.
More and more sword cultivators arrived on the five-colored sacred ship, making the Sword Pavilion increasingly lively. From time to time, legendary figures appeared, causing great commotion.
Everyone gathered below the altar. Conch shells, horns, chime bells, chime stones... all kinds of sacrificial instruments began to play. The sacrificial ceremony of the Sword Discussion Assembly was finally about to begin.