Chapter 798: Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation
Seeing that Hanxue was still refining the Sacred Source, Zhang Ruochen did not disturb her. He left the Scroll World alone to continue observing the Fallen God Cemetery Forest, monitoring the movements of those undead spirits.
This time, Zhang Ruochen made a new discovery.
At the periphery of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest, he detected several other powerful auras, including both human cultivators and high-ranking barbarian beasts. They too were hidden nearby, not daring to charge into the Fallen God Cemetery Forest immediately, clearly still waiting for something.
"The commotion in the Fallen God Cemetery Forest has indeed roused all the powerful beings in the Fallen God Mountain Range. I wonder what their purpose is in coming here?" Zhang Ruochen mused.
The current Fallen God Cemetery Forest was extremely dangerous. Ordinary cultivators would want to flee as far away as possible.
At this moment, anyone who dared to come here, whether human or barbarian beast, surely had a special purpose.
To venture into the Fallen God Cemetery Forest, Zhang Ruochen would inevitably face great peril—a matter of life and death. For this reason, he had to be even more cautious and absolutely not act recklessly.
"Wait a little longer. Perhaps there will be new developments."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and instructed it to observe the Fallen God Cemetery Forest from outside, notifying him immediately if anything changed.
The Devouring Elephant Rabbit's cultivation had reached the Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation, and it was quite clever. Zhang Ruochen felt reassured leaving it there.
Returning to the Scroll World, Zhang Ruochen took out the Glazed Sacred Pill and held it in his hand.
This Glazed Sacred Pill was extremely precious. It was the reward Zhang Ruochen received for placing in the top ten of the Liangyi Sect's sword dao competition.
A cultivator at the peak of Fish-Dragon Eighth Transformation could immediately cultivate the "Glazed Sacred Body" and reach Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation by refining it.
"Now that the situation in the Eastern Domain has undergone tremendous changes, only by becoming stronger can I have a better chance of survival. Once I break through to Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation, my cultivation will rise another level."
Zhang Ruochen swallowed the Glazed Sacred Pill.
In his mind, the operation diagram for the fifth layer of the *Nine Heavens Bright Emperor Scripture* appeared. Streams of sacred qi surged from his Qi Sea, flowing rapidly through thirty-six meridians and five sacred veins.
The glazed sacred energy contained within the Glazed Sacred Pill continuously emerged, merging into his blood and bones, rushing toward his five organs and six viscera.
"Whoosh!"
Half a day later, a five-colored glazed sacred light appeared on the surface of Zhang Ruochen's skin, completely enveloping his body.
Another day passed, and Zhang Ruochen successfully cultivated the "Glazed Sacred Body," reaching Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation. Everything happened naturally, without encountering any bottlenecks.
Having reached Fish-Dragon Ninth Transformation, Zhang Ruochen found that his physical constitution had improved to a certain extent. If he had divine blood, he was confident he could now refine two more drops.
However, the four drops of divine blood he had were already fully absorbed. From now on, if he wanted more divine blood, he would have to find it himself.
"With my current strength, even if I face a top-tier expert at the Second-Step Half-Saint level, I will definitely not be at a disadvantage," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Next, Zhang Ruochen spent another day consolidating his realm.
Soon, three days had passed. Finally, Hanxue completed the initial refinement of the Sacred Source. The sacred power of the Sacred Source had perfectly merged with the sacred qi within her body.
At the same time, her cultivation broke through to Fish-Dragon Sixth Transformation. Every move she made now erupted with powerful force.
Even Zhang Ruochen at Fish-Dragon Sixth Transformation was not as strong as she was now.
The Thousand Bone Physique was simply too heaven-defying. At that time, Zhang Ruochen only had the Three Spirit Sacred Body, so he was far inferior to her. Now that Zhang Ruochen had cultivated the Four Spirit Sacred Body, his physique had closed some of the gap with her Thousand Bone Physique.
Zhang Ruochen took out two clusters of Half-Saint Light from the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure and gave them to the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape.
Both the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape were rare breeds among barbarian beasts. Not only did they have powerful physiques, but they had also cultivated two formidable techniques passed down by Xiao Hei: *Great Demon Ten Heavens* and *Heaven-Swallowing Art*.
Both techniques were extraordinary, coveted even by saints. Once cultivated successfully, they would surely undergo a tremendous transformation.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen had been vigorously nurturing them, investing a large amount of cultivation resources.
Leaving the Devouring Elephant Rabbit and the Demon Ape in the Scroll World to refine the Half-Saint Light, Zhang Ruochen and Hanxue walked out of the scroll and arrived at the periphery of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest.
Although three days had passed in the Scroll World, only three or four hours had passed in the outside world.
More and more powerful beings were gathering at the periphery of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest. Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power and soon discovered over a dozen groups of cultivators hidden in this area, along with the auras of several powerful barbarian beasts.
"Why is this happening? More and more beings are coming to the Fallen God Cemetery Forest." Zhang Ruochen found it very strange and became even more cautious about acting rashly.
Hanxue stood beside Zhang Ruochen, carrying the Void Sword on her back, staring toward the Fallen God Cemetery Forest. Her physique was quite special; even without opening her Heavenly Eye, she could see the ferocious undead spirits.
Her heart beat rapidly. She pursed her rosy little lips, wanting to ask Zhang Ruochen what place this was.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen made a silencing gesture.
Because he noticed that someone could no longer resist and had charged toward the Fallen God Cemetery Forest.
Three hundred miles from the Fallen God Cemetery Forest, behind a pitch-black mountain peak, a patch of blood-red cloud qi rose and rushed toward the entrance of the cemetery forest.
A powerful being of the Undying Blood Clan flew inside the blood-red cloud qi. His body was withered and thin. As his wings flapped, he moved at extreme speed, about to charge in.
"Anyone who dares to enter the Fallen God Cemetery Forest will be killed without mercy."
The black-armored man standing at the periphery of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest snorted coldly. He took a shield-shaped ghost artifact from his back and struck it into the blood cloud.
The black shield was carved with patterns of ancient corpses, white bones, ghost soldiers... As it flew out, it immediately emitted a vast wave of yin-cold qi.
That Undying Blood Clan expert was quite formidable. Holding a long spear, he knocked the black shield flying backward, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Boom!"
The collision of the spear and shield created a ripple of energy, shaking countless ghost soldiers and ghost generals into oblivion, turning them into wisps of ghost qi.
The black-armored man snorted coldly, grabbed the black shield, and led a group of ghost soldiers, charging into the air to meet the Undying Blood Clan expert.
"That's a Ghost King and a Saint clashing."
Zhang Ruochen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, glad he hadn't rashly charged into the Fallen God Cemetery Forest earlier.
Otherwise, even wearing the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, he would have been too close to escape the Ghost King's eyes and ears. Once discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The world was filled with black ghost qi, emitting a wailing sound.
The Ghost King's power was terrifying. He fought fiercely with the Undying Blood Clan Saint, and any stray force that fell to the ground caused massive destruction.
"How strange. Isn't the Undying Blood Clan supposed to be allied with the Ghost King in the Fallen God Cemetery Forest?" Zhang Ruochen was very curious and found it quite puzzling.
Logically, the undead spirits escaping from the Fallen God Cemetery Forest must have been related to the Undying Blood Clan. But why were they fighting each other?
Could it be that the Undying Blood Clan was merely using the undead spirits of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest and were not actually allied with them?
Just as Zhang Ruochen was pondering, a deafening barbarian beast roar sounded in his ears.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
The earth trembled continuously. A pangolin over three hundred meters long, with a golden body, moved like a small golden mountain, charging toward the Fallen God Cemetery Forest.
Low hills were instantly crushed under its feet.
The pangolin's massive foot stepped right next to Zhang Ruochen and Hanxue, leaving a huge footprint on the ground.
"Golden Armored Lion Beast."
Zhang Ruochen gasped in shock. He never expected to encounter such a formidable creature here.
The Golden Armored Lion Beast was an eighth-rank barbarian beast, as powerful as the Azure Flame Black Tortoise. It had the body of a pangolin but the head of a lion, its body forged like gold, emitting a dazzling golden light.
It was said that the Golden Armored Lion Beast fed on saints.
After devouring a saint, it would not need to eat for ten years and would enter the ground to hibernate.
However, this Golden Armored Lion Beast was clearly not yet mature—just a cub, its strength not yet reaching that terrifying level.
Otherwise, a single roar from it could shatter Zhang Ruochen and Hanxue's bodies.
The Golden Armored Lion Beast naturally noticed Zhang Ruochen and Hanxue, but in its eyes, they were like two ants on the ground, not worth bothering with.
"Roar!"
The Golden Armored Lion Beast charged to the periphery of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest, stretched out a golden claw, and slammed it onto the ground. A golden shockwave surged in all directions.
In an instant, a large number of undead spirits were obliterated, turning into wisps of ghost qi that dissipated into the air.
At the same time, the golden shockwave spread out, shattering all the vegetation in the mountains and forests into powder. Several huge cracks appeared on the ground, extending hundreds of miles away.
Seeing the golden shockwave surging toward them like a tidal wave, Zhang Ruochen grabbed Hanxue's hand and used his movement technique to flee into the distance.
They retreated another hundred miles before stopping.
"Master, that big lion's power is truly terrifying," Hanxue said, her small hand on her chest, still shaken.
Zhang Ruochen activated his Heavenly Eye and looked toward the Fallen God Cemetery Forest.
He saw that beautiful woman in the blood-red long robe riding a cloud of ghost mist as she soared into the air. Her crystal-clear palm struck forward.
"Whoosh!"
Her figure vanished from the spot.
The next moment, her palm print had already struck the Golden Armored Lion Beast's forehead, releasing a vast yin-cold qi that emitted a "hissing" sound, actually freezing the Golden Armored Lion Beast solid.
"Another formidable Ghost King," Zhang Ruochen said.
Although the woman in the blood-red long robe was a Ghost King, she was not at all ferocious or terrifying; on the contrary, she was exceptionally beautiful.
Her condensed ghost body was very graceful. Her chest and buttocks were full and round, but her waist was extremely slender. Her legs, exposed from under the robe, were long, smooth, and crystal clear, as if carved from white divine jade.
Even among the living, few were more beautiful than her, let alone among ghosts and fiends.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the Golden Armored Lion Beast shattered the ice and charged out. Its golden radiance became even brighter and more dazzling. It lunged forward, directly knocking that beautiful female Ghost King flying.
With both Ghost Kings occupied, several figures rushed out from the periphery of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest, charging toward the entrance.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen grabbed Hanxue with one hand and wrapped her in the Meteor Invisibility Cloak.
Their bodies became semi-transparent, then completely vanished from the spot, silently rushing toward the entrance of the Fallen God Cemetery Forest.