1799 Two Years of Closed-door Cultivation

"The Heavenly Polars Geomantic Compass has been robbed, and even arm cut off, yet Venerable Hiddenheart doesn't come to seek revenge?" Zhang Ruochen remained alert.

In the Royal Mountain, the Saint Qi was dense, and sacred herbs with pleasant aroma grew on the cliff. There was spring water flowing in the mountain, the soil multicolored with beautiful, aurora-like optical haze rose in the air.

The deeper he went into the mountains, the more sacred it was.

A vast blanket of black ghostly air appeared. As rumble rose, a thirty-meter-tall skeleton lunged out.

The black skeleton turned into a bone staff and landed in Zhang Ruochen's hand.

The strength of the evil spirit had increased tremendously after distilling the souls of Yuan Che and others.

After communicating with the evil spirit, Zhang Ruochen learned that, not long ago, the cultivators from the Fane of Youshen had indeed been at the Royal Mountain. But they got stuck in a dimensional array and a time array and attacked by Awesome, the Little Taoist, and the spirits. At last, they left after getting bitten black and blue.

The cultivators of the Fane of Youshen fled and disappeared without a trace.

But Zhang Ruochen did not think the Fan of Youshen would grin and bear it and withdraw from Yunwu Commandery after the defeat. They would surely want revenge, and once they did, it was going to be even more forceful.

There were always countermeasures.

Zhang Ruochen did not harp on the matter, however. He unleashed his mind power and gathered Awesome, the Little Taoist, Xie Chengzi, the Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit, Demon Ape, and nearly a hundred female Saints below a palace-styled refiner pavilion.

Following immediately, he summoned the Demi Saints and Saint-level beings of the Kunlun Realm.

"Your Highness, Prince!"

All the Saints bowed before Zhang Ruochen.

Standing upright like a long spear, Zhang Ruochen took out the sundial and placed it on the ground. "I am going to activate the sundial and enter the cultivation practice in seclusion for a period."

"Time flow within two thousand feet of the sundial will experience changes; a year of cultivation would only be equal to a day on the outside world."

All the Saints were struck dumb by this incredible doodad.

But considering who His Highness, the Prince was, they were relieved.

"Lord, are-are we getting to practice in seclusion together?" asked Mastadon-Devouring Rabbit loudly.

Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Of course. Otherwise, why would I gather you all here?"

"That is wonderful! I want to take this opportunity to break into the Saint-level realm."

"Long live, Your Highness!"

"Long live, Your Highness!"

A round of ear-shattering cheer rose around the sundial.

Zhang Ruochen arranged several thoughtful Saintesses to guard the access road to the Royal Mountain in case the cultivators of the Fane of Yueshen attacked during the isolated practice. He then took out two Godstones and placed them in the two indentations in the sundial.

As the Godstones released their divine power, a rain of light particles emanated from the sundial and was suspended in every corner within an area of 2,000 feet from the sundial.

Of course, the ordinary cultivators could not see those light rain particles.

As Zhang Ruochen sat down with his leg crossed below the sundial, six Saint Souls appeared, each cultivating a distinct thing.

Three Saint Souls were surrounding the imperial artifact of precept, each on one side, and comprehending the precept.

A Saint Soul was holding up the Saint Monk Xumi's long beard, appreciating the Precepts of Time and of Dimension.

Another Saint Soul was studying the Saint skills, such as Ninth Sword, the twelfth move of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Palm Strike, and the Wheel of the Law's Rebirth of the fourth realm of the Sword of Time.

The last Saint Soul was guarding him, distilling the red precept in his left leg.

In the left leg were a hundred thousand red precepts, the distillation of which would enable Zhang Ruochen to use the power of the God's Left Leg at will, unlike now where he was only a cripple.

Zhang Ruochen possessed the Canon of Truth. He was far quicker than other cultivators in understanding the precept.

Besides, those cultivators who possessed the Canon of Truth could comprehend the precept from heaven and earth without the engraving of the Path of Truth. This was the reason even without practicing cultivation in the Celestial Domain of Truth, Zhang Ruochen's Path of Truth had not declined but was gradually improving.

What worth mentioning was, after Zhang Ruochen killed Wang Xu in Mount Yueshen, he had gotten two ten-thousandths of the Canon of Truth.

That meant Zhang Ruochen had twenty ten-thousandths of the Canon of Truth in his body now.

When the closed-door practice was in its third month, Zhang Ruochen had comprehended 450,000 precepts.

The Heavenly Stream palpitated slightly in the Sea of Qi. It was a sign that he was about to transcend to become the Six-step Saint king.

...

The total of precepts had reached 460,000.

The palpitation of the Heavenly Stream became stronger and stronger as if a giant wave was rolling up in a river.

The fourth month into the closed-door cultivation, the total number of precepts had reached 470,000.

Inside Zhang Ruochen's Sea of Qi, a rumble rose.

The Heavenly Stream calmed down and stopped its palpitation, but the flow of the precept was quicker than before.

Obviously, Zhang Ruochen had attained the Six-step Saint King realm.

"Not enough. Continue," said Zhang Ruochen in his mind.

Time ticked away as cultivation continued.

When the two Godstones on the sundial exhausted their divine power, two years had passed.

During the two years of cultivation, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation base had improved by leaps and bounds, the number of precepts in his body had reached 630,000.

Of course, he still had a long way to go before attaining the realm of the Seven-step Saint King.

Generally, only when the number of precepts reached one million, could one enter the realm of the Seven-step Saint King.

There was a big junction point between the Six-step and Seven-step Saint Kinghood. But if Zhang Ruochen was confident that, it would not affect him. So long as he could find more Godstones, he could quickly comprehend the path and enter the Seven-step Saint Kinghood.

Even a person of Luo Xu stature could only buy two Godstones in Martial Market Bank. The possibility of buying the Godstones through other means of the cultivators was very low. By the looks of things, he had to find other means.

Zhang Ruochen thought of Kong Lanyou from the Ming Hall, Murong Yefeng and Murong Yue from the black market, and Ling Feiyu from the Demonic Sect of the Moon.

Ling Feiyu.

She should have returned to the Kunlun Realm.

And she must now be in charge of the Demonic Sect of the Moon.

These people could have access to the Godstones, and they were trustable.

Zhang Ruochen inscribed three communication light runes and sent them out. But as soon as they left the Royal Mountain, a strange power intercepted them.

Due to the close distance, Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power could sense it.

"Prepare for combat!" he shouted as soon as he sensed something was not right.

His voice alerted the others, who were still in the midst of practicing their cultivation.

Zhang Ruochen tucked away the sundial. Using a Great Dimensional Shift to teleport himself to the edge of the Royal Mountain, he looked out into the distance.

Two Saintesses guarding the Royal Mountain flew up behind Zhang Ruochen and gave a bow. "Congratulations, Your Highness. Your cultivation base has made progress again."

"Did anyone intrude into the mountain during my closed-door cultivation for the past two days?" said Zhang Ruochen with his hands behind his back, his aura unusual.

The two Saintesses shook their heads.

As Zhang Ruochen took out the Azuresky Bow and Whitesun Arrow, the dragon soul and elephant soul appeared on both his arms. The glow on the bow and the bowstring was so bright that it almost blinded the two Saintesses.

Bang!

The Whitesun Arrow shot out like a fogbow.

Boom!

After traveling about 100 miles, the Whitesun Arrow hit the void with a thunder-like boom.

On the spot where the Whitesun Arrow hit, a thousand-foot black altar appeared, suspended in the air with flags flying on it.

The two Saintesses were shocked to see that and were kneeling on one knee on the ground.

"Your Highness…"

"I don't blame you two. There is a clever stealth array on the periphery of the altar. Even a Nine-step Saint King could have not noticed that, let alone you two," said Zhang Ruochen.

Dozens of Saint-level cultivators from the Fane of Youshen were standing on the altar.

Standing in the front were three figures—Venerable Hiddenheart, Feng Chengdao, and a faceless figure holding a divine scepter.

This faceless man was the one who intercepted the three communication talismans with spiritual power.

The faceless man looked at the content of the talismans and burst into laughter. "I wonder why a Saint-level cultivator needs the Godstone so desperately."

Feng Chengdao laughed. "There is only one reason: he must have possessed something precious that only the Godstone could activate."

Venerable Hiddenheart was not as patient as the faceless man and Feng Chengdao. "As the exponent of Saint Monk Xumi and the Divine Enjoy of Yueshen, it is unbecoming of you to rob me of my valuable possession in Tongming River. You are an utter disgrace to the two great holy figures! If you still have a slight sense of uprightness, come out of the dimensional array and fight with me one-on-one."

"You got it!"

Zhang Ruochen flew out of the Royal Mountain with alacrity and took out the Ancient Abyssal Blade. "Come on! Let us fight like gentlemen!"

Venerable Hiddenheart was startled.

His shouting earlier was intended to humiliate Zhang Ruochen, goading him to come out and getting himself killed. But Zhang Ruochen took the bait so easily. That worried Venerable Hiddenheart.

"Zhang Ruochen is still too young and easily provoked. Immediately use the power of the altar to suppress him, Elder Wu," said Venerable Hiddenheart to the faceless man through telepathy.

The faceless man shook his head lightly. "Zhang Ruochen has come out of the dimensional array, but he could flee back inside using a Great Dimensional Shift. It could be too reckless for us to use the power of the altar."

"Venerable, I thought you, as a Nine-step Saint King, could apprehend a small fry like Zhang Ruochen with ease? Are you scared?" 

"Am I a joke to you?"

Venerable Hiddenheart stood straight. Not wanting to be looked down upon, he lunged out of the altar with his saintly might toward Zhang Ruochen.

"You are asking for trouble, kid!"