Chapter 779: Refining Divine Blood
Almost all the important figures of the Liangyi Sect had gathered at the Sword Pavilion. Led by Ning Xuan Dao, they recited the ceremonial prayers in unison.
"The sacrificial ceremony officially begins."
An aged voice spread out from the top of the Third Mountain. The sound waves, like layers of water ripples, surged toward the horizon, reaching the three palaces and seventy-two courtyards of the Liangyi Sect.
For a thousand miles around, all disciples faced the direction of the Ancient God Mountain and knelt in respectful worship.
At the center of the white stone square, on the altar, complex inscription patterns emerged from within the jade stone, converging into a formation that spun rapidly.
"Pfft!"
"Roar!"
The next moment, the barbarian beasts on the altar were all slaughtered. Crimson blood, like a fountain, gushed from their necks and flowed toward the pool at the top of the altar.
Zhang Ruochen, dressed in clean white robes, sat cross-legged in the center of the pool.
Soon, the barbarian beast blood submerged his knees, then his chest. Half an hour later, the seven-zhang-long and seven-zhang-wide pool had completely transformed into a massive blood pond, emitting a thick, bloody stench.
"Hua—"
As strands of inscriptions extended into the blood pond, a light wheel three zhang in diameter formed on its surface. A pillar of blood shot up from the light wheel, piercing through the clouds and extending far into the vast void beyond.
Instantly, above the Ancient God Mountain, ancient, sacred, and ethereal sounds rang out. A vast and mighty force coalesced into a swirling golden cloud, causing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to tremble violently.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged at the bottom of the blood pond. He took out a single drop of divine blood, held it in his palm, and used a secret technique to break the seal that wrapped it.
The divine blood, though just a tiny drop, radiated immense energy, like a blazing sun burning fiercely, threatening to melt Zhang Ruochen's body.
Within the divine blood was not only the blood energy and divine power of a god but also the god's knowledge and some special abilities.
The divine mark condensed from divine blood naturally possessed boundless wonders.
Xue Wuye's Time Imprint and Space Imprint were two such special divine marks, allowing him to wield some power over time and space.
Zhang Ruochen dared not touch the divine blood directly with his hands.
The Yin Wei Saint Meridian and Yang Wei Saint Meridian in his arms underwent some strange changes, causing two small vortexes to form in the palms of his hands.
Using saint qi, he enveloped the divine blood, continuously forming hand seals, and began to slowly absorb its power.
"Absorb the divine blood and first condense a divine mark within my body."
According to the Burial Moon Sword Saint, this drop of divine blood came from a Sword God of the Middle Ages. Refining it could condense a "sword"-shaped divine mark within the body.
But as soon as Zhang Ruochen began absorbing the divine blood, he sensed something was wrong.
The absorbed blood energy and divine power refused to form a divine mark. Instead, they surged through his two saint meridians, straight toward the space between his eyebrows, and entered his Qi Sea.
You see, Zhang Ruochen had triggered the Resonance of All Gods four times during the Four Martial Realms, leaving the imprints of the gods on the walls of his Qi Sea.
The imprints of the gods were numerous, but each individual one was shallow and faint, incomparable to a true divine mark. Now, the power of the divine blood rushed toward the Qi Sea wall and merged with the imprints of the gods.
Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea became shrouded in divine light, emitting a brilliant radiance. One by one, the imprints of the gods manifested, suspended within the Qi Sea.
By the time Zhang Ruochen had fully absorbed the divine blood, he found that the imprints of the gods had deepened significantly, as if he had undergone another baptism of the Resonance of All Gods.
"The power of the divine blood was actually absorbed by the imprints of the gods. How strange. Why is this happening?" Zhang Ruochen found it utterly unbelievable.
Although he hadn't condensed a divine mark, the imprints of the gods had become more solid, which should be a good thing.
"If the solidity of the imprints of the gods all reaches the level of a divine mark, wouldn't that mean I have countless divine marks within my body?"
After absorbing one drop of divine blood, Zhang Ruochen felt no discomfort.
To verify his conjecture, he took out a drop of Divine Dragon blood and began to refine it.
The three drops of Divine Dragon blood finally came in handy.
Since the Middle Ages, no one had been able to refine two drops of divine blood at once, but Zhang Ruochen refused to believe it. After all, he had undergone the baptism of the Resonance of All Gods four times, setting him apart from other cultivators.
What others couldn't do, he might still achieve.
Unbeknownst to Zhang Ruochen, the sacrificial ceremony had already ended by the time he finished refining the first drop of divine blood.
When he began refining the second drop, the Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators of the Taiji Dao, Liangyi Sect, Sixiang Sect, and Bagua Sect had already started their sword debates.
In previous Sword Discussion Conferences, after the sacrificial ceremony, saint-level sword cultivators would head to the seventh floor of the Sword Pavilion to study the Wordless Sword Manual together, discuss and research, create new sword techniques and ideas, and then pass them on to the Kunlun Realm.
This was the true meaning of each Sword Discussion Conference, always making extraordinary contributions to the development of the sword path throughout the Kunlun Realm.
But this year was different.
Because the two Sword Saints of the Eastern Domain were about to engage in a life-or-death duel at the Sword Pavilion. No one wanted to miss witnessing such a pinnacle-level Sword Saint showdown.
For this reason, all saint-level sword cultivators temporarily stayed, thinking they could study the Wordless Sword Manual after the two Sword Saints' duel.
Of course, before that, the Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators of the Taiji Dao and the three major sects would hold their sword debate.
This debate was also of extraordinary significance, as it would determine the ownership of the "Sword Pavilion" for the next hundred years and, to some extent, change the landscape of the cultivation world.
Among the most watched were the Liangyi Sect's "Gai Tianjiao" and "Lin Yue," the Sixiang Sect's "Shao Lin," the Bagua Sect's "Piao Chen," and the Taiji Dao's "Shangguan Linglong" and "Shangguan Nihong."
The strength of Gai Tianjiao, Lin Yue, and Shao Lin needed no introduction. During the Realm Son Banquet, they had displayed great power, dominating the competition, with two of them even becoming Realm Sons.
The Bagua Sect's Piao Chen had also participated in the Realm Son Banquet, sitting on the twenty-ninth King Seat, clearly possessing the strength to contend for the position of Realm Son.
The Taiji Dao's Shangguan Linglong and Shangguan Nihong were a pair of twin sisters, both around twenty years old, born into the medieval aristocratic clan "Shangguan Family." Their cultivation had reached the peak of the Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation, and each had refined a drop of divine blood.
At the Realm Son Banquet, they sat on the ninety-sixth and ninety-seventh King Seats, respectively.
It was said that when the two sisters joined forces and used a sword formation, they could unleash several times their normal power. Before the Realm Son Banquet, they had even repelled the Sword Emperor's descendant, Xue Wuye. Of course, if fighting individually, their strength was relatively weaker.
"Why hasn't Lin Yue come out of the altar? Has something gone wrong?"
The Burial Moon Sword Saint looked toward the top of the altar, a puzzled expression on her face.
For a Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator to refine divine blood, they needed to borrow the power of the gods. Once the sacrificial ceremony ended, Lin Yue could no longer use that power. So, whether he succeeded or failed, he should have come out of the altar by now. Could it be...
The Burial Moon Sword Saint thought of a terrifying possibility, the worst-case scenario.
Lin Yue had failed to refine the divine blood and had died.
In the past, there were countless geniuses who couldn't suppress the power of divine blood and were instead killed by it. But for it to happen to Lin Yue was hard to accept.
With Lin Yue's talent, how could he have an accident while refining his first drop of divine blood? Could it be that she had overestimated him? After all, his cultivation was only at the Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation.
The Burial Moon Sword Saint turned her gaze to Ning Xuan Dao, only to find his expression equally grim, clearly having guessed the same terrifying outcome.
The Burial Moon Sword Saint wanted to ascend the altar to check, but Ning Xuan Dao shook his head at her, saying, "Wait a little longer."
The sacrificial ceremony had just ended, and the divine aura between heaven and earth had not yet fully dissipated. If someone ascended the altar at this moment, it would be an act of disrespect to the gods and could very well incur divine punishment.
Thus, despite her deep worry, the Burial Moon Sword Saint could only hold back.
Shengshu Cainü arrived at the Sword Pavilion, her intelligent eyes scanning the area, but she didn't find Zhang Ruochen.
She was clever enough to constantly observe the Burial Moon Sword Saint's expression and deduced that Lin Yue was likely at the top of the altar refining divine blood.
When the sacrificial ceremony ended and Lin Yue still hadn't come out, Shengshu Cainü truly sensed something was wrong. "Could something have happened?" she thought to herself.
Just then, Shengshu Cainü sensed a pair of burning eyes staring at her. She followed the sensation and looked over.
In the Sixiang Sect's camp, six Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators carried a silver dragon-scale soft couch, shaded by a silk canopy.
Shao Lin sat on the soft couch, wearing a golden embroidered dragon Daoist robe, a long, large red cape draped over his shoulders, holding a bronze goblet in his hand, and staring at Shengshu Cainü with a smiling gaze.
As for the Sixiang Sect's Half-Saints and Saints, they stood on either side of the soft couch, without such treatment. Among them, several venerable Saints had cold expressions, clearly displeased with Shao Lin's behavior.
If not for their hope that he would help the Sixiang Sect win the Sword Pavilion, someone would have already turned against him.
Of course, Shao Lin's "Realm Son" status was also extraordinary. Although the Saints of the Sixiang Sect were furious, they dared not show it, fearing future retaliation from Shao Lin.
Seeing Shao Lin's deliberately provocative gaze, Shengshu Cainü was naturally quite displeased. Not even a Half-Saint, yet daring to be so presumptuous before a Saint—he was truly asking for death.
In truth, Shao Lin becoming a Realm Son had completely surprised Shengshu Cainü.
Before the Realm Son Banquet began, she had calculated everyone's potential and believed Shao Lin could only make it into the top ten of the King Seats.
It could only be said that the Sixiang Sect had invested heavily in Shao Lin to win the Sword Pavilion, which was why his strength had grown so quickly.
Moreover, some unexpected events had occurred during the Realm Son Banquet. First, Lin Yue had crippled several top experts from the Demon Sect. Then, the Undying Blood Clan's Third Prince and Galuo Gu had appeared and crippled some more top experts.
This allowed Shao Lin to take advantage and become one of the nine Realm Sons.