Chapter 1766: Great Success with the Eleventh Palm Technique
After he spent a few days with Chi Kongyue, an unknown feeling welled up within Zhang Ruochen’s heart, and the loneliness within became much lighter.
In fact, he was a little reluctant to leave her. Sadly, he had no choice.
Zhang Ruochen inscribed the Sword of Time’s second technique, organized it into a volume, and handed it to Chi Kongyue.
Chi Kongyue held the volume, and her eyes flickered with crystal-clear luster as she said, “I heard that the dark gods of the Infernal Court are about to infiltrate the Kunlun Realm’s Altar of Heaven and Earth. I am afraid that a war may break out soon. Would you go back and fight beside us against our foe?”
“For many cultivators of the Kunlun Realm, I am more like an internal enemy who deserves nothing but death,” Zhang Ruochen said.
It seemed like Chi Kongyue could feel the pain and helplessness in Zhang Ruochen’s heart because she abruptly became silent.
Zhang Ruochen put his hands behind him as he stepped into the void and formed circular ripples as he traversed ten miles in a single step, quickly disappearing before Chi Kongyue.
The Holy City of Tiandu, the Palace of Flowers.
Zhang Ruochen saw the Fairy of a Hundred Flowers, Ji Fanxin, and immediately after, he opened some boxes on a bronze table and inspected the items he had previously ordered.
“The Royal Sacred Chalcedony.
“The Rootless Cranebloom.
“The Heavenly Bloodstone. Not bad, not bad. You truly are a person of many means, so much so that even a Heavenly Bloodstone is not beyond your reach.”
As Zhang Ruochen opened the fourth box, he found a black vial inside. Upon checking the liquid in the vial, he frowned slightly and said, “There are only fifty drops? But I wanted a hundred.”
Ji Fanxin was sitting behind a screen. The pretty fairy, who was as beautiful as a creature in a painting, rolled her eyes at Zhang Ruochen. “A single Tear of the Void is already difficult to find. I have pulled every single one of my connections for these fifty drops.”
Zhang Ruochen closed the box and smiled. “Well, fifty will do then! All of this, plus twelve Saint-King elephant souls, how many saint stones does everything add up to?”
“Eight hundred million saint stones,” Ji Fanxin said.
While Zhang Ruochen was mentally prepared for the price, it still came as a big shock to him.
That price was astronomical for the vast majority of Saint Kings, and even with a thousand years of savings, it would be impossible to accumulate such wealth.
“I am an old customer. Can’t you give me a discount? Zhang Ruochen asked.
Ji Fanxin’s expression was impassive, and she said, “You know, just that Heavenly Bloodstone alone is worth three hundred million saint stones. Besides, with your current status, it is impossible for you to get one.
“On the market, the Tears of the Void cost close to ten million saint stones for a single drop, and fifty drops is worth 500 million saint stones. As for the other items, which one of them would be less than 100 million saint stones?
“Since we are friends, I have naturally given you a big discount, and 800 million saint stones is the discounted price.
“Of course, if you think these are too expensive, you can instead go for items that are a tier lower, something a little worse to temper the soul of your sword.”
Zhang Ruochen realized for the first time that the usually austere Fairy of a Hundred Flowers would be incredibly shrewd when it came to business. It was very difficult to gain any favors from her.
“No need. I will take all of them.”
Without further delay, Zhang Ruochen pulled out one treasure after another from his Ring of Dimensions. There were sacred artifacts of many marks, sacred pills, talismans, and some bizarre objects.
They were all spoils that he had collected from the battle at Xumi Dojo.
Zhang Ruochen’s Ring of Dimensions was like a treasure trove with countless valuables inside it, and Ji Fanxin’s eyes lit up as she looked at everything. “It appears that the Heavenly Realm has really suffered a great loss and earned you a fortune. No wonder the gods in the Heavenly Realm were all startled and rushed over to the Celestial Domain of Truth in their true bodies.”
“There are gods from the Heavenly Realm in the Celestial Domain of Truth?” Zhang Ruochen was surprised.
Ji Fanxin motioned Qian Liwen to appraise the treasures before she slowly spoke. “I did hear some rumors, but if you want to know more, let us exchange news?”
“What information do you want?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Ji Fanxin then asked, “What actually happened in the battle of Xumi Dojo?”
Zhang Ruochen was a little taken aback. “You couldn’t find any news even with your status?”
Ji Fanxin shook her head and said, “The Fane of Truth has locked down all news, and aside from those within the Kunlun or Heavenly Realm, no one else knows much. The outside world only knows that many died in the battle of Xumi Dojo, and the Heavenly Realm suffered great losses. As for what happened, the extent of casualties, and which important people died, there has not been any information.”
Zhang Ruochen was slightly astonished, and he realized that the Xumi Dojo incident had a more serious and far-reaching impact than he had anticipated.
He could understand why the Fane of Truth blocked news of the battle. After all, a serious incident with so many casualties had never happened since the Fane of Truth’s establishment, until now.
What intrigued Zhang Ruochen was how the Fane of Truth was going to handle the matter.
Would they ask him to release all of the Saint Kings who were being held captive in the dojo?
Zhang Ruochen directly gave her a rough recollection of what happened in Xumi Dojo, and Ji Fanxin’s expression constantly changed as she heard it. In the end, there was a look of horror in her eyes.
Next to her, Qian Liwen blinked in fright as he wanted to immediately step away and keep a distance from Zhang Ruochen for fear of being involved.
Ji Fanxin’s state of mind far surpassed Qian Liwen’s, and she quickly recovered. “Why, though? This was originally a matter that concerned the Kunlun Realm, so why did you need to get involved? With the Heavenly Realm suffering such a heavy loss, they will surely retaliate against you next time, brutally. When they do, they will not give you any chance of survival, and the cultivators around you will be affected as well.”
Zhang Ruochen seemed indifferent as he said, “Even if I hadn’t gotten myself involved, the Heavenly Realm would not have let me go, anyway. Which of the Heavenly Realm’s gods have gone to the Celestial Domain of Truth?”
“Yanshen,” Ji Fanxin said.
Disdain filled Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. “He is just an old dog. What is he doing in the Celestial Domain of Truth?”
Shang Ziyan had tried so many times to kill Zhang Ruochen, and Yanshen must have been the one instructing him from behind. So naturally, Zhang Ruochen hated him.
Qian Liwen’s legs trembled from fear, and he found that Zhang Ruochen was too brazen to insult a god. Moreover, that god was now in the Celestial Domain of Truth, and being a god, he could have very well heard Zhang Ruochen’s insults.
Qian Liwen’s back was soaked in cold sweat, and he looked up fearfully, afraid that Yanshen would call upon divine retribution and kill off every living being there.
Ji Fanxin remained calm and glanced at Qian Liwen. “Elder Qian, you do not need to be so nervous. This is the dojo of the Mandala Goddess, and Yanshen cannot hear us.”
She immediately continued, “Yanshen has probably come to the Celestial Domain of Truth to protect the Saint Kings whom you’ve held captive. But now that such a thing has happened, even if Yanshen wants to rescue them, he would definitely have to pay a huge price.”
“Master Ruochen, if the Heavenly Realm and Celestial Domain of Truth come to an agreement, and they ask you to release those captives, will you?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled without a word and did not answer Ji Fanxin’s question. Instead, he said, “Elder Qian, based on your evaluation, how much are these treasures worth?”
Qian Liwen walked over cautiously, and when he looked at Zhang Ruochen, there was a tinge of awe in his eyes. He no longer dared to treat the latter as a younger junior. “Master Ruochen, the value of all of these treasures is about 570 million saint stones.”
“So in other words, I am still short of 30 million saint stones?”
Zhang Ruochen was about to take more treasures out of his Ring of Dimensions as Ji Fanxin’s voice rang out. “Forget about the 30 million saint stones! Master Ruochen, do not forget about your promise to me. Once you are in the Kunlun Realm, I will come and look for you.”
After Zhang Ruochen returned to Yueshen Dojo, he went to see Su Jing again.
Leading up to that, Su Jing had used a large number of saint stones and connections but only managed to collect five drops of Tears of the Void and a small amount of Royal Sacred Chalcedony. As for the Heavenly Bloodstone or the Rootless Cranebloom, he came up empty.
Zhang Ruochen was a little disappointed and had to temporarily postpone the matter of condensing the Abyssal Blade’s spirit form.
“In that case, let us first cultivate the eleventh palm technique of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike.”
Zhang Ruochen took twelve Saint-King dragon souls and elephant souls into Yueshen Dojo’s underground chamber and walked to the edge of Yin-Yang Lake.
Yin-Yang Hall had occupied Yueshen Dojo for quite some time now, and both the Yin and Yang Lake established beneath it had gathered a large amount of Yin and Yang Qi, making it a treasured place for cultivation.
The eleventh palm of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike required a place where the Yang Qi was at its hottest for the cultivation to succeed, and Yang Lake was undoubtedly such a place.
Yang Lake was thirteen feet in diameter, and its water was hotter than magma, radiating a crimson light from within.
“My arms already each have a dragon soul and an elephant soul. If I were to infuse these twelve dragon and elephant souls into my arms, the strength and explosive power in my arms would definitely increase exponentially. It would be much easier to break through the Dacheng Realm of the technique then.”
Soon after, Zhang Ruochen sat by Yang Lake and began to temper both the dragon and elephant souls.
It took Zhang Ruochen two hours to temper eight dragon and eight elephant souls. However, when he started to temper the ninth dragon and elephant souls, he found it rather difficult.
After all, the human body had its limits, and if he exceeded the limit, it was very likely that he would suffer a backlash.
In the past, Zhan Yu, a supreme genius in the Blackdemon Realm had tempered twelve dragon souls into his entire body. Meanwhile, Zhang Ruochen was tempering all of the dragon souls into his left arm, and that made the difficulty a lot higher.
While Zhang Ruochen tempered the tenth dragon and elephant souls, a piercing pain surged across his arm as his skin started to rupture, and plenty of blood flowed out.
Both of his arms felt like they were about to explode.
Zhang Ruochen gritted his teeth as he activated the Empyrean Emperor Ming’s Scripture and his Saint Qi to suppress both the dragon and elephant souls. He forced them into his arms, blending them with his skin, flesh, bones, and meridians.
“Two more dragon and elephant souls each. Let’s continue.”
Zhang Ruochen leaped forward and jumped into Yang Lake with a loud splash.
Due to the extreme heat, his Saint robe was instantly reduced to ashes.
Enduring Yang Lake’s high temperature, Zhang Ruochen quickly grabbed a dragon soul and started to temper it. At the same time, the thick Yang Qi in the lake penetrated his pores and entered his body.
Every particle of Yang Qi was like a ball of inferno.
Bam! Bam!!
As Zhang Ruochen tempered the souls, he performed the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strikes, using the technique to temper his flesh and bones, as well as promote the fusion of the souls with his arms.
The process of refining and tempering the eleventh dragon and elephant souls took Zhang Ruochen six hours. During that period, his arms were shattered more than ten times, and each instance was extremely painful. Even with his willpower, he still almost fainted.
Nevertheless, he persevered and did not give up.
In actuality, infusing a single Saint-King dragon soul and elephant soul into his arms was enough to cultivate the eleventh palm technique of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike to the Dacheng Realm.
However, after his battle with Shang Ziyan, Zhang Ruochen realized that there were still many elites in the world who could compete with him and even be stronger than him.
So, he had to do better and could not rest on his laurels.
“One final dragon and elephant soul each.”
Zhang Ruochen persisted as the Yang Qi in his body became denser and denser. His body soon turned crimson gold, and his eyes were two blazing fireballs.
No one knew how many times his arms had shattered, and the blood in Zhang Ruochen’s body was mixed with the lake’s water.
Half a day later, an earth-splitting explosion rang out from Yang Lake.
“Rawrrrr!!”
Not long after that, the sound of a dragon’s roar echoed.
A scarlet-golden dragon along with a dazzling heat wave rushed out of Yang Lake, and its two claws scraped the underground chamber’s roof. Instantly, the dense array of inscriptions within the underground chamber were all activated.
Boom!!
On the surface, the entire Yueshen Dojo shook violently.