Chapter 2268 - The Nearing Festival

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Peace returned to Vastsea Manor. Apart from Zhang Ruochen and Lord Xia Yu, the other cultivators entered the state of cultivating again.

Lord Xia Yu gazed at Zhang Ruochen.

It was very strange.

It was like…

A luna wolf that had been hungry for many days bared its fangs at the sight of delicious food. Its eyes lit up and it readied to pounce on Zhang Ruochen to eat him.

Zhang Ruochen became vigilant and said, “I want to continue polishing the saintwill.”

He had just turned around and was stopped by Lord Xia Yu before he could climb the steps of the Sevenstar Imperial Palace.

Lord Xia Yu was surprisingly gentle. She said, “Supreme Saint Ruochen, you are the captain of our Bloodysky Clan. Do you want us to get the best ranking?”

“Of course,” said Zhang Ruochen.

“What do you think of my combat strength?” Lord Xia Yu asked.

“Very strong. Among all cultivators attending the festival at the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm, it’s enough to rank in the top 30. Maybe even higher,” said Zhang Ruochen.

Lord Xia Yu walked closer and closer, shaking her head, she said, “It’s not enough. I want to raise my combat strength to another level. I want to reach the top 10 on the list of the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm, or get close to the top 10. Which direction do you think I should improve in?”

She was within three steps of Zhang Ruochen. She was fragrant but not charming enough. Instead, there was a sense of oppression.

Zhang Ruochen said, “What did my uncle tell you? Don’t look at me like you want to eat me. I’ll think that you have other plans for me.”

Lord Xia Yu looked at him coldly and said, “Okay, I’ll go straight to the point. I want to borrow your Violet Gourd to help me fuse the saintwill. If I succeed, I’ll owe you a big favor. In the future, if you run into any trouble, I won’t refuse to go to the Celestial Court to kill for you.”

“So he told you the secret of the Violet Gourd,” Zhang Ruochen said.

Lord Xia Yu said, “Do you agree or not? Be straightforward and give me your word.”

“Of course. A favor from you, Lord Xia Yu, is still very valuable. However, the Violet Gourd is my biggest trump card. I plan to use it to deal with the most powerful enemies at the Celestial-Hunting Festival. You must not expose this secret,” Zhang Ruochen said.

“Don’t worry. Your trump card is the trump card of the Bloodysky Clan as well,” saint Lord Xia Yu.

Lord Xia Yu continued, “But you have to think carefully. The Celestial-Hunting Festival is divided into two parts: the festival and the Celestial-Hunting. During the Celestial-Hunting, all the external forces of cultivators, except for the Divine Mark, will be sealed. They can only use their own power.”

It was the first time Zhang Ruochen had heard of such strict rules from the Celestial-Hunting. He said, “Can’t you even bring weapons, talismans, arrays, and pills?”

“You can’t bring talismans, arrays, and pills. However, you can bring the materials you need to refine them. After entering the Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting, you can refine talismans, arrays, and pills.”

“As for weapons, there are also strict rules applied.”

“Every cultivator can only bring one weapon, and that weapon must belong to you. In other words, even if there are gods, and they wanted their Supreme Saint to bring a Supreme Artifact into the Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting, he can’t borrow it, it has to be bestowed upon.”

Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile. “Most gods only have one Supreme Artifact. If you give it to your Supreme Saint, What can you use it for?”

Lord Xia Yu added, “Even if there are gods, you can give your Supreme Saint a Supreme Artifact. However, the Fane of Destiny has another rule. Each of the ten clans of Infernal Court can only bring one Supreme Artifact into the Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting.”

Zhang Ruochen said, “A complete Supreme Artifact in the hands of the Supreme Saint can be so powerful that it can sweep away everything. If the Fane of Destiny wasn’t in control, the Celestial-Hunting Festival would not be a contest of strength. It will be a contest of the power of the Supreme Artifacts.”

Saint Kings could not exert the power of the Supreme Artifact at all. Only Supreme Saints could do that.

In the Supreme Saint realm, the power of the Supreme Artifact would increase to a terrifying extent.

Zhang Ruochen asked again, “Who will control the Supreme Artifact of the Immortal Vampires? Lord Bladehell or Lady Wind?”

“It hasn’t been decided yet, but it will most likely be one of them,” Lord Xia Yu said.

Blade Hell Emperor was the number one powerhouse of the Immortal Vampires.

Lady Wind was the number two powerhouse of the Immortal Vampires, but she was also a goddess’s candidate. She represented the interests of the entire lower three clans.

Whoever held the Supreme Artifact had the greatest say in the Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting.

Zhang Ruochen said, “It seems that I have to fight for the right to hold the Supreme Artifact and I have to get it.”

Lord Xia Yu looked surprised. She thought Zhang Ruochen must be crazy.

Even the Immortal Vampires and the gods of the Fane of Immortality would discuss the right to control the Supreme Artifact. It was a very serious matter. Only the powerhouse of the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm was qualified to take it.

Zhang Ruochen was a Supreme Saint of the Neverwilt Realm. Even if Zhang Ruochen was powerful, how could he be stronger than Lord Bladehell and Lady Wind?

‘Why did the gods choose you?’ Lord Xia Yu thought.

Zhang Ruochen discussed some details about the Celestial-Hunting Festival with Lord Xia Yu before taking out the Violet Gourd and lending it to her temporarily.

At present, Lord Xia Yu had cultivated two kinds of saintwill. Her main cultivation was the Deva Path of Blood, and her saintwill had reached the fourth grade.

The other kind of saintwill was only of the sixth grade.

If she combined the two kinds of saintwill with the help of Violet Gourd, there was a high chance of condensing them into a third-grade sacred artifact. However, it was very difficult to fuse the saintwill. Otherwise, Lord Xia Yu would not have been unable to cultivate all the way to the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm.

With the help of Violet Gourd, she only had a little more hope.

Success or failure.

It depended on herself.

Zhang Ruochen thought, ‘Since I’m entering the Battlefield of Celestial-Hunting, I can’t use external forces. I might not even be able to bring in a Supreme Artifact. If I want to be absolutely safe, I have to make myself stronger. I have to make two preparations.

‘It’s imperative to improve the strength of my spiritual power. Otherwise, my spiritual power can’t even compare to Lord Xia Yu’s. It’ll be hard for me to resist her Hymn of Soul-sacrification.’

In the past, Zhang Ruochen could resist it. But after Lord Xia Yu broke through to the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm, her cultivation and spiritual power increased greatly. When she played the Hymn of Soul-sacrification, even Shen Nansheng in the Thousand-Koan Realm was affected.

Zhang Ruochen was not absolutely sure that he would not be affected by the Hymn of Soul-sacrification.

At the Celestial-Hunting Festival, there must be a spiritual-power Supreme Saint who was stronger than Lord Xia Yu, such as the Nether Clan, the Deathkin, and the Rakshasis. All of them had extraordinary spiritual power talents.

He had to guard against them.

In addition, the stronger the spiritual power, the more helpful it was for condensing the saintwill.

Since Zhang Ruochen wanted to cultivate Yin Yang Five-Element Saintwill, the stronger the spiritual power, the better. It was best if he could surpass all cultivators in the same realm.

One of Zhang Ruochen’s clones entered the Qiankun Realm and asked the Divine Sky-connecting Tree for advice on how to cultivate after reaching the 61st level.

He finally understood one thing. Taking the sacred pill could cultivate spiritual power.

However, the essence of spiritual power was the development of a cultivator’s brain. At the same time, it also represented a cultivator’s accumulation of knowledge. To think about everything in the world, one needed to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles, to experience the world of mortals.

Of course, there were shortcuts.

Taking the sacred pill was just one of them.

Other than that, one could plunder other cultivators’ knowledge and comprehension, comprehend the gods’ divine intent or enter the illusory realm to experience… and so on.

Zhang Ruochen said, “So, it’s not enough to just take the pill. You have to accumulate enough profound knowledge and experience for yourself. Is it so difficult to improve your spiritual power after reaching the 61st tribulation?”

“Actually, it’s not difficult for you,” said the Divine Sky-connecting Tree.

Zhang Ruochen cupped his hands and said, “Please give me some advice, senior.”

“You have the Heart of the Divine Tree in your hands and it only condensed once every Yuanhui period. It not only had a rich life force but also contained 129,600 years of knowledge of the Divine Sky-connecting Tree. You can cultivate your spiritual power to the 70th level by absorbing all the knowledge contained in the Heart of the Divine Tree. It should be enough to do so,” said the Divine Sky-connecting Tree.

Zhang Ruochen looked pleased and said, “I see.”

The Divine Sky-connecting Tree said again, “Of course, the knowledge contained in the Divine Sky-connecting Tree is still incomplete. It can only help you a part of it. You still have to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles.”

Zhang Ruochen asked curiously, “What level was your spiritual power at that time?”

The Divine Sky-connecting Tree was silent for a moment. It shook its branch gently and said, “It should be very high, but a high spiritual power does not mean a strong combat power. Every spiritual power cultivator uses it differently.

“Some use spiritual power to kill cruelly, some use it to save lives and heal the wounded, and some use it to predict the past and the future.

“Zhang Ruochen, when you can’t improve your spiritual power in the future, you must understand one thing. It is not only used for fighting. It also has wider and better use. You should try everything.”

“I will remember this,” Zhang Ruochen said.

Divine Sky-connecting Tree said, “In fact, with your current spiritual power, you can still improve after taking the sacred pill. However, before that, you must cultivate the 12,302 Spirits that have already been condensed.”

“Senior, are you saying that the Spirits that I cultivate by taking pills are not strong enough, so it’s ineffective if I continue to take pills?” Zhang Ruochen asked.

“You can think of it this way,” the Divine Sky-connecting Tree said.

The Divine Sky-connecting Tree continued, “When you reach the peak of the 61st level with 12,302 Spirits, you can continue to take the sacred pill.”

After leaving the Qiankun Realm, Zhang Ruochen muttered to himself, “How should I cultivate the Spirits?”

“Come out.”

Zhang Ruochen summoned all the Spirits in his body. Some of them were to study the various ancient books that Wargod Bloodximius had stored in the Sevenstar Imperial Palace, some to learn the array formation from Zhou Zhen, and some to ask for help with talisman techniques from Lian Xi, some studied the “Demonstone Engraving”…

Not only did he need to accumulate knowledge, but his Spirits also needed to strengthen themselves.

As for the Heart of the Divine Tree, Zhang Ruochen did not think it would be of any use for the time being. He would think about it when his spiritual power had reached the 62nd level.

Then, Zhang Ruochen sent a telepathic transmission to Xue Tu and called him over. First, he asked about Shentu Yunkong and Gaunt. Then, he took out the purple gold token of the Realm of Star Ocean and gave it to him to buy the stellar core and the Divine Soul Elixir.

After the arrangements were made, Zhang Ruochen continued to think.

If I don’t use the Supreme Artifact, it will be difficult for me to deal with Lord Xia Yu with my current combat strength. How should I deal with the Lord Bladehell, Wujiang, and Lan Ying?

I have to cultivate a trump card that belongs to my own combat strength.’

Zhang Ruochen first thought of the Yanshen’s leg and the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike.

If he cultivated the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike to the high-level Thousand-Koan Realm saint technique, combined with the saintwill and the Precept of Truth, the power would be so great that even a Supreme Saint at the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm wouldn’t be able to withstand one palm.

“I will have to refine five Thousand-Koan Realm dragon souls and elephant souls if I want to cultivate the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike to Thousand-Koan Realm’s level. I haven’t started to break the shackles yet. Can I bear it with only my demigod body?”

After thinking about it, Zhang Ruochen finally made up his mind. He decided to use the Sun-Moon Dragon Spring first to refine the three dragon souls and elephant souls of the Hundred-Shackle Realm that he had already refined.

The Sun-Moon Dragon Spring was precious. He didn’t have much in total.

However, if he could refine the three dragon souls and elephant souls into the Thousand-Koan Realm, he would be able to refine the three dragon souls and elephant Souls. If the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike was a Thousand-Koan high-level saint spell, there weren’t many Supreme Saints in the Hundred-Shackle Realm who could take a hit.

To succeed, Zhang Ruochen opened the copper coffin and collected a large amount of divine soul fog.

He used the divine soul fog to nurture three dragon souls and elephant souls.

At the same time, Zhang Ruochen took the risk of breaking the third seal that Moon Goddess placed in Yanshen’s leg. Instantly, the number of Divine Precepts in his left leg increased from one million to ten million.

Each Divine Precept was scarlet red, like densely-packed strands of flaming light burning. The pain made Zhang Ruochen clench his teeth.

Not only was his leg so heavy that he couldn’t move, but it was so hot that he almost fainted.

Yanshen’s leg was the only trump card he could think of that could rapidly increase his combat power in a short period. Therefore, no matter how painful it was, he had to endure it.

‘Yanshen’s leg has already become one with my leg. It can’t be considered borrowing external force,’ Zhang Ruochen thought.

Time passed unconsciously while Zhang Ruochen was cultivating in seclusion with all his strength.

The day of the Celestial-Hunting Festival was getting closer and closer. Winterpage City was bustling with activity. Every day, a new Supreme Saint would rise and amaze everyone. There were also new powerhouses at the completion of the Hundred-Shackle Realm. They appeared out of nowhere and shocked everyone.

Geniuses gathered and heroes competed.

No.

They couldn’t be called geniuses. They were already Supreme Saints and each of them was an overlord. Each of them had a lot of power and could decide the fate of countless creatures.

However, they were young and outstanding enough to stun this era.

The outside was very happening. The beauties were rare like jade. There were lakes of wine and forests of meat. Fame and wealth flowed in and out. Zhang Ruochen, who was in the Vastsea Manor, couldn’t be bothered. He just cultivated silently.

No matter how he was provoked and insulted, Zhang Ruochen pretended not to hear it. He didn’t move like a rock.

More than 30 years had passed in the area covered by the Sundial.

The day of the Celestial-Hunting Festival was approaching.