# Chapter 868: The Border City of the Past
In another direction, Xiao Hei and Wanxiang Wang were also locked in a fierce battle that shook heaven and earth.
Xiao Hei's strength was roughly equal to Zhang Ruochen's, which was originally far inferior to Wanxiang Wang's.
However, it released thirty-six Half-Saint battle corpses, arranging them into a battle formation. The power of all the battle corpses converged onto its body.
Because of this, Xiao Hei managed to entangle Wanxiang Wang, preventing him from going to rescue Hai Min Xiansheng.
Wanxiang Wang was so furious that he roared repeatedly, unleashing a Ghost-rank upper-grade fist technique, shattering six or seven Half-Saint battle corpses into broken bones in a single burst.
Zhang Ruochen glanced in Xiao Hei's direction and said, "That Ministry of War Half-Saint's cultivation is truly terrifying. Even if we join forces, I fear defeat is more likely than victory."
Li Min said, "He should be the governor of Wanxiang Commandery, Gu Yishen. The imperial court has enfeoffed him as Wanxiang Wang. It is said that his cultivation has reached the Sixth-Rank Half-Saint realm. Wanxiang Wang's strength ranks among the top among all the governors of the thirty-six commanderies in Yuan Mansion."
Zhang Ruochen pondered briefly and said, "Since Xiao Hei is holding him back, let's withdraw from Xiang Wang Ancient Forest first."
"Then what about Hei Ye?" asked the Devouring Elephant Rabbit.
"Don't worry. If it wants to escape, Wanxiang Wang won't be able to stop it."
Zhang Ruochen, Demon Ape, Devouring Elephant Rabbit, and Li Min hurried along at top speed, soon rushing out of Xiang Wang Ancient Forest.
Immediately afterward, Zhang Ruochen withdrew the Demon Ape and the Devouring Elephant Rabbit into the Scroll World. Alone, he grabbed Li Min, rapidly activated the Phoenix Divine Seal, and flew into the clouds.
After fleeing ten thousand li away, Zhang Ruochen finally stopped temporarily.
Before long, Xiao Hei caught up and reunited with Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power to probe the direction behind Xiao Hei, guarding against Wanxiang Wang pursuing them.
"Don't worry. This Emperor has already shaken him off. He shouldn't be able to find this place for a while."
Xiao Hei shook his head repeatedly, grinding his teeth, and said, "Zhang Ruochen, since you've already obtained the elephant blood, you must quickly cultivate the ninth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm to success and break through to the Tenth Fish-Dragon Transformation."
"Once your cultivation improves, this Emperor can go find that Ministry of War Half-Saint to take revenge. He destroyed more than twenty of the Half-Saint battle corpses that this Emperor painstakingly refined. This Emperor has never suffered such a great loss before."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Wanxiang Wang knows we fled in the direction of Qingli Commandery. He will definitely send a message in advance to the ten great experts stationed in Qingli Commandery. If we continue back to Qingli Commandery City now, we will certainly be intercepted."
"What do you mean?" asked Xiao Hei.
"First, find a hidden place to lie low. We can take this opportunity to go into seclusion and cultivate the ninth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm," Zhang Ruochen said.
When Li Min heard the conversation between Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei, she immediately widened her eyes and exclaimed, "The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm is the number one palm technique of the Buddhist path. It is said that very few people can cultivate it to the seventh palm, and you're already about to start cultivating the ninth palm?"
"The ninth palm is called 'Growing Scales, Transforming into a Dragon.' Once successfully cultivated, one can transform into a giant dragon, unleashing the power to overturn rivers and seas. Is that really true?"
Zhang Ruochen found Li Min very troublesome and finally realized that bringing her out had truly been a wrong choice.
Zhang Ruochen acted as if he couldn't hear Li Min's voice and gave another instruction to Xiao Hei, saying, "Find me a large abandoned altar and capture some barbarian beasts as sacrifices. I might need them when I break through to the Tenth Fish-Dragon Transformation."
"You want to break through to the legendary Tenth Fish-Dragon Transformation, the 'True God Fate'?"
"How is that possible?"
"It is said that since the Middle Ages, no one has been able to succeed, not even Her Majesty the Empress, who is number one under heaven. Zhang Ruochen, you're not bragging, are you?" Li Min looked sideways at him, utterly unable to believe that Zhang Ruochen could accomplish what even the Empress could not.
Zhang Ruochen's face darkened as he glared at her and said, "Do you believe I can seal your mouth shut?"
After all, Li Min was just a teenage girl. Being glared at by Zhang Ruochen, she immediately stepped back two paces, feeling her legs go weak, like a frightened quail.
Having witnessed the earth-shattering means Zhang Ruochen had displayed earlier, deep down, Li Min was actually quite afraid of him.
"You... why are you so fierce?"
Li Min trembled as she spoke, somewhat aggrievedly: "Actually, I know where there is a large abandoned altar. It shouldn't be far from here. I was going to take you there, but... since you're so fierce, I've decided to think it over."
In truth, she was also afraid of angering Zhang Ruochen, so her voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at her, thought for a moment, then took out a red pearl the size of a fist from his Space Ring and said, "You should know what this is, right?"
Seeing the red pearl in Zhang Ruochen's hand, Li Min's eyes became very bright, and she said, "The fleshy crown growing on the head of a Red Cloud Python Flood Dragon is called the Red Crown Fleshy Ganoderma. It is a spiritual medicine for enhancing spiritual power."
The Red Crown Fleshy Ganoderma was a treasure Zhang Ruochen had obtained on the Ruins Realm battlefield. It no longer had much use for him.
However, for Li Min, the Red Crown Fleshy Ganoderma was an extraordinary treasure. Taking it for the first time could probably increase her spiritual power by one rank, or even two ranks.
"Speak! Where is that large abandoned altar? Tell me, and the Red Crown Fleshy Ganoderma is yours."
Zhang Ruochen held the red pearl in one hand and placed it in front of Li Min. The scene was like an ill-intentioned uncle tempting a little girl to eat a poisonous apple.
Li Min bit her lip. Although she tried to put on a reserved appearance, she still couldn't resist the temptation of the Red Crown Fleshy Ganoderma. She reached out her delicate little hands, snatched it away, and held it tightly in her palms, afraid that Zhang Ruochen would take it back.
"I'll take you there now. According to records in books, our current location shouldn't be very far from it."
Li Min walked over to Zhang Ruochen and took the initiative to grab one of his arms. Because she knew that Zhang Ruochen would soon use Saint Qi to wrap around her and carry her while flying.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at her indifferently, circulated his Saint Qi, sent the Abyssal Ancient Sword flying out, and executed the Sword Control Art, flying off.
Flying by sword control was more stable than using the Phoenix Divine Seal for rapid flight.
The place Li Min referred to was an abandoned ancient city.
It had once been extremely prosperous, but due to the war eight hundred years ago, the entire city had been reduced to ruins, with all humans dead. Only the altar at the city center still stood like a yellow-brown hill.
"Eight hundred years ago, this city was a border stronghold of the Holy Bright Central Empire, even larger in scale than the current Qingli Commandery City."
"Later, when the Holy Bright Central Empire went to war with the Qingchi Central Empire, a Saint in the Qingchi Central Empire's military camp used an evil technique. With a single strike, he killed all the humans in the city, including both the army and ordinary civilians."
"The power of that evil technique has not dissipated to this day, so this ancient city has remained abandoned, and very few people come here," Li Min said.
In the ancient city, a strong evil aura indeed lingered, turning the surrounding hundred li into yellow sand and Gobi, where not even grass grew.
Zhang Ruochen stood beneath the city wall, gazing at the dilapidated city gate before him, feeling quite sorrowful. He took a deep breath and felt slightly better.
He could imagine how brutal the war had been back then, with countless innocent people of the Holy Bright Central Empire dying tragically, their families destroyed, and their homes lost.
"Let's go."
Zhang Ruochen exhaled, suppressing the emotions in his heart, and stepped through the city gate first.
The evil aura in the city was already very faint and had no significant effect on Zhang Ruochen.
Entering the city, Zhang Ruochen went into the Scroll World, completely extracted the blood of the Silver Moon Dragon Elephant, and stored it in a Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Vase.
At the same time, he took out three drops of Dragon Emperor's Blood and placed them before him.
Then, he picked up the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Vase and began to drink the elephant blood, also swallowing a drop of Dragon Emperor's Blood into his mouth.
The dragon blood and elephant blood were like magma, emitting scorching flames that burned inside Zhang Ruochen's body. First, they tempered his five viscera and six organs, then from the inside out, they tempered his bones, muscles, and skin.
Zhang Ruochen's body was like a cauldron.
The dragon blood and elephant blood were the flames within the cauldron.
As the flames burned more and more fiercely, Zhang Ruochen's body generated inexhaustible power, and he felt increasingly swollen and distended.
"Roar!"
A long roar came from Zhang Ruochen's mouth. Dragon scales grew on the surface of his skin, and he transformed into a fire dragon, soaring into the sky.
As he flew, his dragon claws continuously struck out, sending palm prints flying, accompanied by dense explosive sounds.
The ninth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm was called "Growing Scales, Transforming into a Dragon." Once successfully cultivated, the grade of this palm technique would rise to Ghost-rank upper-grade.
Of course, when truly unleashed, it could erupt with the power of a Quasi-Sacred Art, equivalent to an ultimate technique of supreme hardness and fierceness.
As long as no Sacred Art was used, a single palm print could break all martial techniques in the world.
Zhang Ruochen possessed the Dragon Pearl. Even before successfully cultivating the ninth palm, he could already transform into a dragon body.
Therefore, he could first transform into a dragon body and then cultivate the ninth palm, which greatly reduced the difficulty of cultivation.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was in seclusion cultivating the ninth palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm, Wanxiang Wang also transmitted the news of Zhang Ruochen's appearance in Xiang Wang Ancient Forest to Qingli Commandery City.
The five great experts stationed in the commandery city received the message and set off immediately, dividing into five routes and heading toward Wanxiang Commandery. The five of them were like an unfolding net; as long as Zhang Ruochen returned to Qingli Commandery, he would fall into their trap.
In addition, the Ministry of War commanders of the four surrounding commanderies also led elite troops into Qingli Commandery to search for traces of Zhang Ruochen.
Because of Zhang Ruochen alone, the entire northern part of Yuan Mansion had been thrown into complete turmoil.
As the news of Zhang Ruochen's appearance in Qingli Commandery quickly spread to the Central Domain, it naturally attracted the attention of many forces.
Taiji Dao, Bright Hall, Four Sects of Confucianism, Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan, Corpse-Driving Ancient Clan... various major forces all dispatched experts to Yuan Mansion.
Each faction had different purposes. Some wanted to seize the treasures on Zhang Ruochen; some wanted to capture Zhang Ruochen and use him to deal with the Wan Clan; and some were Zhang Ruochen's enemies, coming to take his life.