1126 Ninth Level Half-Sain

The center of the seven-colored light was the long-abandoned altar. There were many ridges on the altar, with bright red blood flowing through and radiating with sacred light.

The ritual had finished. The divine pill was completed.

The furnace had already been put away. Only Zhang Ruochen remained sitting in the center of the altar. Eyes closed, he was still in a trance.

Earlier, Zhang Ruochen had indeed been injured by Crown Prince Qingtian's Shining Sun Arrow. His vitality had flowed out quickly and he'd almost died. However, after falling into the seven-colored light, the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree in the scroll tree had released a huge burst of vitality. It had penetrated the Spiritual Universe Map and into Zhang Ruochen's body, helping him dissolve the deathly Qi of the arrow.

The injuries on his back and chest had healed long ago. Only some faint scars remained. Right now, Zhang Ruochen had taken a divine pill and was trying for the Ninth Level with all his might.

The divine pill carried the saintly flower and dew of the Saintly Source Spring. Many kinds of saintly medicine were combined to create this divine pill. It obviously had very powerful effects.

As the effects were released, the Holy Qi within Zhang Ruochen grew thicker and thicker. It kept flowing and surging. Seven-colored light seeped from his pores, making his body look like colorful glass.

The divine pill that Blackie had created was much more potent than a Grade Nine Divine Origin Pill. It strengthened the power waves on Zhang Ruochen, until even the space was trembling.

Thankfully, the spatial structure around Dragontop Mountain was sturdy. Otherwise, there would definitely be collapses.

Huang Yanchen, Sun Dadi, Murong Yue and the others had received Blackie's message. They all retreated to the top of the mountain and retreated to the edge of the altar. Looking toward Zhang Ruochen in the center of the altar and seeing how his vitality was getting stronger, they all let out relieved sighs.

"Boss really is immortal." Sun Dadi laughed. "He suffered such a grave injury but didn't die."

"His Majesty has the fate of the Sacred Central Empire and is the crown prince. Who can kill him?" Murong Yue had been horribly injured, but her eyes shone brightly now.

As long as Zhang Ruochen was still alive, the core was there. No matter how dangerous the situation was, they would still be able to keep going.

Blackie stood on the back of the Blue Dragon statue and looked at everyone. It laughed. "I created eight divine pills this time. You can each have one."

Whoosh.

Blackie took out five divine pills. It supported them with Holy Qi so they hovered above its paw.

The divine pills were like egg-sized pieces of suet jade. They radiated with brilliant and translucent light. Faint ripples of Divine Spirit rolled off the surface.

"Great, it's finally completed. I will take the divine pill and go through the second trial." Sun Dadi's eyes were glowing. Yelling, he grabbed a divine pill and swallowed it at once.

Then he jumped to a concave part of the altar. Maintaining the form of a fiery spiritual monkey, he started refining the pill with all his might.

After the battles, everyone was greatly hurt. They'd all sacrificed a lot. Of course, it was all worth it if the divine pill was completed.

Huang Yanchen, Princess White Li, Murong Yue and Qing Mo all took a divine pill and started trying for a higher realm. The divine pill was able to heal injuries. The Divine Spirit flowed out, visibly healing the injuries on all of them.

Blackie continued operating the hallucination formation to stop the savage beasts and Immortal Vampires, making more time for them.

Zhang Ruochen entered a new realm first, becoming a Ninth Level Half-Saint. Holy Qi flooded out from him, creating a huge tidal wave. In that moment, he could feel that his power had more than doubled. He could easily hear explosive cracks within him.

"The divine pill is indeed very strong. I only refined a little bit, but I've already broken past the bottleneck, reaching the beginning of the Ninth Level. If I refine it all, I should be able to reach the pinnacle." Zhang Ruochen nodded softly in satisfaction.

The parts of the Ninth Level were very wide apart. Moving through the beginning, middle, later, and pinnacle stages would vastly improve his abilities. Since the divine pill could help him go from the beginning to the pinnacle of the Ninth Level, it was evident just how powerful the pill was.

Since the pill was completed, Zhang Ruochen released the Carnivorous Holy Flower as well. The flower's roots were like tentacles. They creeped in all directions, covering the entire altar. They also dug into the ground to absorb the Qi of Dragontop Mountain.

Countless Grade Six Beasts had died on the mountain. A great amount of blood had mixed with the dirt. It contained very strong Qi and power. Absorbing it helped the Carnivorous Holy Flower's fruit slowly grow bigger.

As the fruit grew, the flower's cultivation also improved quickly.

"Zhang Ruochen, did you have a breakthrough yet?" Blackie asked. "The formation can't hold up much longer against the savage beasts and Immortal Vampires."

Instead of continuing to refine the pill, Zhang Ruochen stood up slowly. "No need to stop them anymore. Let them in."

"Okay."

Blackie knew that Zhang Ruochen had improved greatly. It smiled and released the formation. A moment later, dozens of Beast Kings and many Immortal Vampires passed through the seven-colored light. They arrived below the altar.

"What is the ancient treasure?" The Immortal Vampires were all very excited.

The Kui Bull Beast King had shrunk to only four or five meters tall. The hairs on its body were like steel needles. Its huge eyes looked in all directions, trying to find the ancient treasure.

However, it only saw Zhang Ruochen standing beside the altar. Its hair immediately stood up straight. "Am I still in the hallucination?" it cried in shock.

A human who'd been shot by the Shining Sun Arrow was standing before it, unharmed. Any creature would think that this scene was a hallucination.

The other Beast Kings also thought that they were still in the hallucination and this was only a phantom. Ignoring Zhang Ruochen, they continued looking for the treasure.

Boom.

Zhang Ruochen pointed forward. A beam of sword light flew out of his finger and turned a Pre-Saint Beast King into a cloud of bloody mist.

"A hallucination. It must be."

Earlier, the savage beasts and Immortal Vampires had suffered great losses in the hallucination formation. They'd even killed themselves. Thus, they were very cautious now and wouldn't be fooled easily.

"It must be a hallucination," an Immortal Vampire elder said, thinking that he'd seen through everything. "They only want to scare us away. The more they do so, the more reason why we can't retreat. They're already at their end. We'll be able to kill them all once we break through the hallucination."

Only the Kui Bull Beast King had a suspicious expression. Its Spiritual Power was very strong—close to a Spiritual Power Saint. It suspected that the previous scene hadn't been a hallucination.

Boom.

Zhang Ruochen pointed again, killing the Immortal Vampire elder that had just spoken with a beam of Sword Qi.

Feeling freaked, the Kui Bull Beast King scrutinized Zhang Ruochen. At that moment, Zhang Ruochen also turned over and stared at it. He had a smile in his eyes.

This was wrong.

This wasn't a hallucination. It must be Zhang Ruochen's true body. He hadn't died.

"Hurry…run!" the Kui Bull Beast King roared, finally sensing that something was wrong. It lifted its four hooves to escape.

But before it could finish yelling, Zhang Ruochen was already before it, punching its mouth with a fist.

Boom.

Now, Zhang Ruochen was extremely strong. Merely one punch knocked out all of the Kui Bull Beast King's teeth. Half of its head caved in and blood flooded out.

Boom.

Zhang Ruochen punched again, his fist landing on the Beast King's neck. It flew into the air.

The Kui Bull Beast King was a Taigu Remain, 42nd on the Half-Saint Rank. Every strand of hair on its body could transform into a black spear. It had once nailed hundreds of human elites to the walls of Yingsha City.

Now, it was powerless and defenseless before Zhang Ruochen. It rolled on the ground from the beating like a young calf. Because its mouth had been beaten in, it couldn't even cry out in pain.

Finally, Zhang Ruochen struck with his palm and slapped the Kui Bull Beast King into a pile of dead meat. Then Zhang Ruochen tossed the corpse to the Carnivorous Holy Flower.

Even now, some Beast Kings and Immortal Vampires still thought the scene was only a hallucination. Only very few of them felt something amiss. They retreated slowly, trying to escape from the peak of Dragontop Mountain.

Zhang Ruochen slid horizontally, appearing behind two Beast Kings. "Where are you going?"

The two Beast Kings felt coldness behind them. "Run!" they yelled in unison.

But they couldn't do so. Zhang Ruochen extended both hands, forming two huge palms and crushing their bodies.

He didn't attack anymore. He just used some attack techniques to kill the fleeing creatures.

The roots of the Carnivorous Holy Flower extended. Each root contained extreme power and killed every creature that ventured into the seven-colored light, turning them into nutrients. Zhang Ruochen didn't worry about rushing out. He protected Huang Yanchen, Murong Yue and the others so they could quickly refine the divine pill.

"Such a strong smell of blood."

Gui Wu flew in the air and looked down at Dragontop Mountain. Sniffing, his eyes hardened. "Your Majesty, something is wrong. Did they run into trouble in the seven-colored light?"

Blackie didn't continue managing the hallucination formation, but it hadn't disappeared completely. The outside world couldn't see what was happening at all.

"It is indeed strange."

Crown Prince Qingtian grabbed the Clear Sky Bow and flew down to the edge of the seven-colored light. Leading the strong cultivators of the Qingtian Tribe, he charged in.