Chapter 970: The Path of Darkness
Ding Qiu’s cave mansion was only a few hundred meters above the base of Qianyuan Mountain, making it a cave of quite poor quality.
Even so, the concentration of Saint Qi within the cave was still remarkably high, far surpassing that of other spiritual mountains and treasured lands.
As the two entered the cave, the blood mist on Ji Shui’s body gradually retracted into her form, revealing her tall and slender figure, her perky and firm chest, and a pair of very delicate, fair jade hands.
However, she wore a blood-red hood that completely covered her face, making it impossible to discern her age or appearance.
“There are two items that the Master instructed me to give to you.”
Ji Shui took out a fist glove from her bosom and handed it to Zhang Ruochen.
The purple-black fist glove was extremely heavy, and seven pieces of Sacred Jade were inlaid in the palm.
Each piece of Sacred Jade had a different color, yet they all contained powerful energy, like seven stars hanging in a pitch-black sky, inspiring awe.
“How can the energy fluctuations within the Sacred Jade be so intense?”
Zhang Ruochen had a feeling that once he put on the glove and activated its power, he could probably shatter the earth with a single punch.
Ji Shui said, “The seven pieces of Sacred Jade inlaid on the Seven Kill Fist Glove are not natural Sacred Jade. They were condensed from the bones of seven Saints, calcined over seven hundred years, into bone jade the size of a fingernail.”
“To help you in your charge for the Divine Son position, the Master personally intervened and borrowed this town-protecting treasure from the Seven Kill Sect. I’ll give you three days; you must tame the artifact spirit of the Seven Kill Fist and refine it into your own battle weapon.”
Since it was a town-protecting treasure, how could it be borrowed?
It must have been forcibly seized by Haiming Dharma King.
The mere Seven Kill Sect naturally wouldn’t dare to offend a Dharma King of the Blood God Sect.
Although the Seven Kill Fist Glove ranked very low on the “Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact Ranking,” it was still a Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact, with incalculable value.
Ji Shui then took out a pill bottle and said, “Inside the bottle are thirty Dao Transformation Pills. Take one each day. In a month, you should be able to break through to the middle stage of the Third-Step Half-Saint, or even the late stage.”
Dao Transformation Pills were eighth-grade pills, each worth a piece of Sacred Stone. For cultivators in the Fish-Dragon Realm and low-level Half-Saints, they were considered divine medicines for boosting cultivation.
Of course, the price of Dao Transformation Pills was too frightening. Ordinary low-level Half-Saints simply couldn’t afford them, let alone Fish-Dragon Realm cultivators.
The total wealth of a First-Step Half-Saint was probably only equivalent to one Sacred Stone.
Taking the thirty Dao Transformation Pills, Zhang Ruochen showed no excitement at all, remaining very calm. Even if Dao Transformation Pills were powerful, compared to Divine Blood, they were still more than ten times inferior.
Seeing Gu Linfeng’s unruffled demeanor, Ji Shui revealed a puzzled expression.
She had personally gone to the Yuan Mansion to check Gu Linfeng’s background. This man was extremely frivolous, lecherous, violent, and domineering, yet also somewhat bullied the weak and feared the strong.
After arriving at the Blood God Sect, Gu Linfeng had displayed the same personality.
Although Ji Shui often sympathized with him, deep down she looked down on him and didn’t believe that someone like him could become the Divine Son of the Blood God Sect.
Such flaws in character destined him for no great achievement.
With a temperament like his, how could he remain as calm as an ancient well upon seeing thirty Dao Transformation Pills and the Seven Kill Fist Glove?
Ji Shui quickly sensed something was wrong. She saw that the brat Gu Linfeng’s eyes were staring straight at her chest, revealing a somewhat sinister smile.
“Junior Sister Ji’s figure is no less impressive than the Saintess’s. Why do you always hide yourself in the mist?”
Zhang Ruochen’s fingers rested on his chin, staring at the astonishing curve of Ji Shui’s chest, showing an appraising expression, as if judging its size and dimensions.
Ji Shui let out a cold snort, and a powerful blood aura surged forth, covering the entire cave mansion.
Feeling the chill emanating from Ji Shui, Zhang Ruochen immediately retreated, stopping only when his back pressed against the stone wall.
Ding Qiu’s cave mansion seemed to transform into a sinister hell. Within the blood mist, the harsh sounds of ghostly wails and soulful howls arose, and phantom white bones appeared, looking exceptionally terrifying.
Standing at the center of the sea of blood aura, Ji Shui’s body was completely crimson. “Gu Linfeng, you’d better not go too far. If you set your sights on me, you’ll die a miserable death.”
“Junior Sister, why are you so angry? Your junior nephew is complimenting you.”
Zhang Ruochen showed no fear at all, smiling as he continued, “If I become the Divine Son, I’ll ask the Grandmaster to marry you to me. Junior Sister, guess whether the Grandmaster would agree or not?”
Hearing this question, even Ji Shui’s heart skipped a beat.
Ji Shui was well aware that once Gu Linfeng became the Divine Son, his status in Haiming Dharma King’s eyes would rise to an unparalleled level.
If Gu Linfeng truly wanted to marry her, Haiming Dharma King would definitely agree.
At that time, how would she handle herself? Would she resist Haiming Dharma King?
Ji Shui had wanted to betray the Blood God Sect more than once, to escape Haiming Dharma King’s control.
However, Haiming Dharma King was like an unshakable mountain pressing down on her head. Anyone who dared to rebel would surely die, and their family behind them would be wiped out.
“Say that again when you become the Divine Son,” Ji Shui said, her voice very calm.
Because she knew very well that her fate had never been in her own hands.
In the end, wasn’t she the same as Gu Linfeng? Both were pitiable, tragic figures, like ants. Haiming Dharma King decided if they lived or died. If he told them to go left, how could they dare to go right?
Of course, she also absolutely didn’t believe that someone with Gu Linfeng’s temperament could become the Divine Son. He was ultimately just a servant controlled by Haiming Dharma King.
Ji Shui’s delicate body split into nine, transforming into nine strands of blood aura that flew out of the cave mansion. She had no desire to stay and cultivate with Gu Linfeng.
Seeing Ji Shui withdraw from the cave, Zhang Ruochen’s smile faded, and he muttered to himself, “Finally managed to drive her out. With her here, I can’t use the Cosmic Divine Wood Map to cultivate.”
Looking at the Seven Kill Fist Glove in his hand, Zhang Ruochen curled his lips. “Taming the artifact spirit of a low-grade Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact? Why would I need three days?”
Zhang Ruochen activated the formation of Ding Qiu’s cave mansion, then took out the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and entered the Scroll World.
It didn’t take long for Zhang Ruochen to refine the Seven Kill Fist Glove and successfully control its artifact spirit.
He put the Seven Kill Fist Glove on his right hand. It felt as if the glove had completely merged with his palm and wrist. As long as he injected Saint Qi, he could control it at will.
“With the Seven Kill Fist Glove, even if I don’t use sword techniques or temporal and spatial powers, and only use palm techniques, I can probably contend with a Seventh-Step Half-Saint.”
Since he had the Seven Kill Fist Glove and the Abyssal Ancient Sword, other battle weapons became useless.
Zhang Ruochen took out over a dozen battle weapons from his Space Ring, most of which were True Martial Treasures, along with some Sacred Artifacts.
Among them, the most powerful Sacred Artifacts were the Yu Ling Blood Saber, listed on the “Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifact Ranking,” and the Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact, the Seven Saint Serpent Spear.
Next, Zhang Ruochen took out the Abyssal Ancient Sword and refined all the battle weapons on the ground, merging them into the sword’s body.
The Yu Ling Blood Saber and the Seven Saint Serpent Spear were battle weapons that would make even Saints’ hearts race, yet Zhang Ruochen felt no regret.
As long as he had the Abyssal Ancient Sword, one sword was enough to rival ten thousand weapons.
After melting down all the battle weapons, the Abyssal Ancient Sword became even heavier, its sharpness fully exposed, with the number of inscriptions inside reaching over 1,300.
“Only when the number of inscriptions reaches 2,000 will the Abyssal Ancient Sword’s power undergo another qualitative leap. Unfortunately, I’ll need to refine several more Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts to reach that step.”
Every Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact was a town-protecting great weapon. How could they be so easily obtained?
Putting aside those thoughts, Zhang Ruochen began practicing his sword techniques.
“One Moment, Four Directions Change.”
Zhang Ruochen held the Abyssal Ancient Sword and condensed five Time Imprints in succession, merging them into the sword technique, and thrust out.
Within a radius of a hundred zhang, the flow of time visibly slowed, yet the sword’s speed was astonishingly fast, like a black light cutting through the sky, reaching a hundred zhang away in an instant.
“With this move, within a hundred zhang, who can be my opponent?” Zhang Ruochen said.
One Moment, Four Directions Change was an invincible sword move within a hundred zhang.
If Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation reached the Fourth-Step Half-Saint, even a Ninth-Step Half-Saint would have to be wary of him with this move.
In the following time, Zhang Ruochen continued to hone his Time Sword Art, striving to fully integrate this sword move with the sword intent he had cultivated, thereby unleashing even greater power.
At the same time, he also needed to master the second move of the Eight Variations of Time, “Two Moments, Divine Chaos Change,” to its great perfection.
The power of the second move was even greater than the first.
While Zhang Ruochen was practicing his sword, a black hole ten zhang in diameter flew over from a distance, hovering in midair, absorbing all the light and heat around it, appearing quite eerie.
It could devour light.
From within the black hole, an extremely pleasant female voice sounded, “Such formidable sword techniques. I’ve cultivated in the Cosmic Divine Wood World for several years and broken through to the Half-Saint realm, yet I’m afraid I still couldn’t block even one of his moves.”
Zhang Ruochen naturally noticed the suspended black hole. He withdrew his sword move, a smile appearing on his face. “The Dark Body indeed grows stronger with cultivation. Han Qiu, with your current physique, it will be difficult for anyone at the same cultivation level to be your match.”
The black hole hovering in midair twisted slightly, and a stunningly beautiful young woman slowly walked out, stepping through the void and landing on the ground.
It was Han Qiu.
Han Qiu exuded a chilling aura, yet on her fair face hung an elegant and lively smile. “Unfortunately, compared to you, I’m still far behind.”
Zhang Ruochen stared at her, letting out a soft exclamation. “The path you primarily cultivate seems quite extraordinary.”
In the world, there were three thousand Great Daos and one hundred thousand Minor Daos.
Beyond these, there were also seventy-two Supreme Saint Daos and nine Eternal Daos.
The path Han Qiu primarily cultivated was definitely not a Great Dao, and it even surpassed the Supreme Saint Daos.
“Could it be an Eternal Dao?” Zhang Ruochen was visibly moved.
Han Qiu nodded. “Exactly. One of the nine Eternal Daos, the Path of Darkness.”
No one understood better than Zhang Ruochen how difficult it was to cultivate an Eternal Dao.
When he comprehended Time Rules and Space Rules at the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, he had faced life-and-death crises, pushing his potential to the limit, before he could comprehend the rules of these two Eternal Daos and achieve entry.
“How did you comprehend the Dark Rules?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Even with the advantage of a Dark Body, comprehending Dark Rules at the Fish-Dragon Realm was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
In the history of the Kunlun Realm, a being primarily cultivating Dark Rules might not appear even once in a hundred thousand years.
This showed how terrifying the difficulty was.
Without an earth-shattering encounter, Han Qiu could never have comprehended Dark Rules at the Fish-Dragon Realm.
But before breaking through to the Half-Saint realm, she had always stayed in the Scroll World, with no contact with the outside world.
Could her encounter be within the Scroll World?
If so, that would be even more astonishing, because Zhang Ruochen knew the Scroll World better than Han Qiu. If there was truly something remarkable in the Scroll World, Zhang Ruochen would surely be the first to know.
…
(Reminder: The second chapter will be very late. It’s best if you wait until tomorrow morning to read it. Additionally, the welfare event on WeChat public account has already started.) (To be continued.)